His Majesty's Dragon

His Majesty's Dragon

Author: Naomi Novik

Publisher: Del Rey (2006)

ISBN: 0345481283

pages: 356

genre: fantasy

subgenre: steampunk

3.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: When the HMS Reliant captures a French ship and its priceless cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, Captain Will Laurence is swept into an unexpected kinship with an extraordinary creature and joins the elite Aerial Corps as a master of the dragon Temaraire, in which role he must match wits with the powerful dragon-borne forces of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Summary: Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: His Majesty's Dragon was an enjoyable read. I have seen it listed a number places as a read-a-like to Soulless. And yes, it is fantasy and even steampunk, but it does not feel like Soulless. It lacks the romance and the humor. But it is a nice example of steampunk.

There were many unusual names of both people and dragons in this book. I got confused a number of times with all the names and characters. A character list at the beginning of the book would have been helpful.

Temeraire Series:

1- His Majesty's Dragon

2- Throne of Jade

3- Black Powder War

4- Empire of Ivory

5- Victory of Eagles: A Novel of Temeraire

6- Tongues of Serpents

The Anniversary

The Anniversary

Author: Amy Gutman

Publisher: Little, Brown (2003)

ISBN: 0316381209

pages: 352

genre: thriller suspense

3.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Five years after her boyfriend is executed for the murder of more than 100 women, Laura Seton, the man's defense lawyer, and a true crime author receive disturbing notes that indicate he may still be alive.

Summary: "It's been five years since the execution of Steven Gage, a devious, charming psychopath who took the lives of more than a hundred women." "In those five years, three women connected with his case have moved on. His attorney has rid herself of the stigma of defending Gage. A true-crime writer has started a new project after her bestseller about his rampage. And Steven's ex-girlfriend has made a new life for herself - one where she won't be reminded that she once shared her home with a monster." "But someone hasn't moved on. On the fifth anniversary of Gage's execution, each of the three women gets a private note ... a chilling message that lets them all know they haven't been forgotten, and that in someone's dark imagination, Gage's legacy of terror lives on." At the time of his sentencing, Gage issued a terrifying edict that all three women hoped was meaningless. As threats against them turn deadly, the past explodes into the present. And one woman is in the fight of her life to uncover who is responsible - a killer who is determined to start up the string of murders right where they stopped. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: One of the three thriller suspense novels that I read for this class this one was my least favorite. I still enjoyed it but not as much as the others.

I found the character Laura to be unbelievable. Her boyfriend was a serial killer who killed over 100 women. Laura and Steven Gage were living together while he was doing his serial killing. I find it difficult to believe that she was not suspicious all the time. She did finally figure it out and then only ten years later she is a completely different confident person. I realize this is only fiction but within the narrative of the story it still needs to be believable and I felt like this book was not able to accomplish that.

Read-a-likes:

Tell No One by Harlan Coben

The Ghost by Robert Harris

The Tutor by Peter Abrahams

Sh*t My Dad Says

Sh*t My Dad Says

Author: Justin Helpern

Publisher: HarperCollins (2010)

ISBN: 0061992704

pages: 159

genre: humor

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Tuesdays with Morrie meets F My Life in this hilarious coming-of-age book about a son's relationship with his foul-mouthed father by the 29-year-old comedy writer who created the massively popular Twitter feed of the same name.

Summary: After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, twenty-eight-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his seventy-three-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is "like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair," has never minced words, and when Justin moved back home, he began to record all the ridiculous things his dad said to him:

"That woman was sexy. . . . Out of your league? Son, let women figure out why they won't screw you. Don't do it for them."

"Do people your age know how to comb their hair? It looks like two squirrels crawled on their heads and started fucking."

"The worst thing you can be is a liar. . . . Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is liar. Nazi one, liar two."

More than a million people now follow Mr. Halpern's philosophical musings on Twitter, and in this book, his son weaves a brilliantly funny, touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his quotes. An all-American story that unfolds on the Little League field, in Denny's, during excruciating family road trips, and, most frequently, in the Halperns' kitchen over bowls of Grape-Nuts, Sh*t My Dad Says is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father-son relationship from a major new comic voice. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: This book was an absolute hilarious read! I laughed out loud many times while reading it even while in the waiting room at the doctor's office.

I could visualize both Justin and his father having these conversations. The written dialogue only showed what Sam Halpern was saying and the text used ... to indicate what Justin was saying and I believe this technique made the reading even funnier. I thought it was interesting that Sam Halpern was so well educated and yet used so many swear words in nearly every sentence out of his mouth. There was a lot of swearing but really that is part of what made the book so funny.

Read-a-likes:

Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender

Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon

F My Life by Maxime Vallette

Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite and Hilariously Hostile Writings by Kerry Miller

More Than Human

More Than Human

Author: Theodore Sturgeon

Publisher: Ballantine Books (1953)

ISBN: 0345243897

pages: 188

genre: science fiction

2.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: A company of unusual, nearly monstrous people, each of whom possesses a particular extraordinary talent or faculty, acts in concert as a single superhuman, realizing a power that cannot corrupt.

Summary: There's Lone, the simpletion who can hear other people's thoughts and make a man blow his brains out just by looking at him. There's Janie, who moves things without touching them, and there are the teleporting twins, who can travel ten feet or ten miles. There's Baby, who invented an antigravity engine while still in the cradle, and Gerry, who has everything it takes to run the world except for a conscience. Seperately, they are talented freaks.Together, they compose a single organism that may represent the next step in evolution, and the final chapter in the history of the human race.

In this genre-bending novel- among the first to have launched sci fi into the arena of literature -one of the great imaginers of the twentieth century tells a story as mind-blowing as any controlled substance and as affecting as a glimpse into a stranger's soul. For as the protagonists of More Than Human struggle to find who they are and whether they are meant to help humanity or destroy it. Theodore Sturgeon explores questions of power and morality, individuality and belonging, with suspense, pathos, and a lyricism rarely seen in science fiction. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: I thought this book was rather odd and disturbing. I wish a different selection had been picked for science fiction. I have not read very much science fiction but am still interested in exploring this genre a bit more.

Read-a-likes:

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Dune by Frank Herbert

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur Clarke

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Author: Jeannette Winterson

Publisher: Grove Press (1985)

ISBN: 0802135161

pages: 192

genre: GLTBQ

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: An autobiographical novel about religious fanaticalism and sexual preferences.

Summary: Innovative in style, its humour by turns punchy and tender, Jeanette Winterson’s first novel, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit is a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human obsession. It’s a love story, too. Winterson’s adaptation of the novel was an internationally acclaimed television drama awarded a BAFTA for best drama and an RTS award in the same year; the Prix Italia; FIPA D’Argent at Cannes for best script; The Golden Gate in San Francisco and an ACE Award at the Los Angeles television festival. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: This book was interesting, to say the least. I did not dislike it but I certainly did not like it either. Jeanette's upbringing was unusual and rather disturbing. I felt her sorrow of not being accepted for who she was and for whom she loved. This part broke my heart.

There were some passages from the book that I did not understand. There were some random side stories that did not seem to fit. However, I also thought there were also many bright spots of insight. Such as this thought: "There are different sorts of teachery, but betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it. She burnt a lot more than the letters that night in the backyard." (pg. 112).

Read-a-likes:

Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller

Sacred Country by Rose Tremain

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadaviers

Author: Mary Roach

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (2003)

ISBN: 0393324826

pages: 304

genre: popular nonfiction

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: A look inside the world of forensics examines the use of human cadavers in a wide range of endeavors, including research into new surgical procedures, space exploration, and a Tennessee human decay research facility.

Summary: Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: This was a wonderful book! Nonfiction takes me a lot longer to read than a novel but I still enjoyed this book. The topic was also a bit graphic but I thought Roach handled it with wit and respect. Overall, a very splendid read. Please see my post with my responses to the discussion questions which will give more of my opinions of this book.

Read-a-likes:

Bonk by Mary Roach

Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy by Melissa Milgrom

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Family That Could Not Sleep: A Medical Mystery by D.T. Max

Soulless

Soulless

Author: Gail Carriger

Publisher: Orbit (2009)

ISBN: 0316056634

pages: 357

genre: fantasy

subgenre: steampunk

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: When Alexia, a soulless spinster with the ability to negate supernatural powers, accidentally kills a vampire, her life goes from bad to worse when Lord Maccon, a gorgeous werewolf, is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

Summary: Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Soulless was a brand new experience for me. I had not read anything of the subgenre steampunk before but I found it to be a very enjoyable experience. I really like Victorian England and then adding in the supernatural was especially fun. This book also has a great romance story. I particularly like romances where the two main characters have a love/hate relationship. I cannot wait to read the other two books in this series.

Read-a-likes:

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger

1- Soulless

2- Changeless

3- Blameless

Undead and unwed

Undead and Unwed

Author: MaryJanice Davidson

Publisher: Berkley (2002)

ISBN: 042519485X

pages: 288

genre: romance

subgenre: fantasy

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: After being killed in a car accident, fashion savvy Betsy Taylor becomes one of the undead and, with the help of her newfound friends, the lure of designer shoes, and a sexy vampire, must destroy a dark enemy and fulfill her destiny as the prophesied vampire queen.

Summary: First Betsy Taylor loses her job, then she's killed in a car accident. But what really bites is that she can't seem to stay dead. And now her new friends have the ridiculous idea that Betsy is the prophesied vampire queen, and they want her help in overthrowing the most obnoxious power-hungry vampire in five centuries. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Undead and Unwed is a humorous romantic fantasy. I enjoyed it but I certainly won't read it again or even read the other Undead novels. It was a bit far fetched and silly for me. The main character Betsy is a bit of an airhead which I found to be distracting. It was a light easy read but nothing amazing.

Undead Novels by MaryJanice Davidson

1- Undead and Unwed

2- Undead and Unemployed

3- Undead and Unappreciated

The Last Good Man

The Last Good Man

Author: Kathleen Eagle

Publisher: William Morrow & Company (2000)

ISBN: 0380978156

pages: 374

genre: romance

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Savannah Stephens returns to her hometown in Wyoming with a six-year-old daughter in tow and discovers that one of her former admirers, Clay, still carries a torch for her.

Summary: Savannah Stephens has finally come home to the purple hills of Sunbonnet, Wyoming, after years of living a life far different from the one she's known. But her return has set Sunbonnet's queen bees buzzing. Why has this dazzling, successful woman returned home? And where is the unknown father of Claudia, the beautiful six-year-old daughter she brought with her? Savannah isn't talking. But one person refuses to let her retreat into isolation. Strong, silent Clay's steadfast love for Savannah never wavered while she was gone, and he's not going to give up on her now. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: See my post with the book discussion questions and my answers for my evaluation and thoughts on this book.

Read-a-likes:

Only Mine by Elizabeth Lowell

Rocky Mountain Widow by Jillian Hart

Montana Sky by Nora Roberts

Rebekah: Women of Genesis

Rebekah: Women of Genesis

Author: Orson Scott Card

Publisher: Forge Books (2002)

ISBN: 076534128X

pages: 416

genre: Christian fiction

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Provides a fictional retelling of the story of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau.

Summary: Born into a time and place where a woman speaks her mind at her peril, and reared as a motherless child by a doting father, Rebekah grew up to be a stunning, headstrong beauty. She was chosen by God for a special destiny.Rebekah leaves her father's house to marry Isaac, the studious young son of the Patriarch Abraham, only to find herself caught up in a series of painful rivalries, first between her husband and his brother Ishmael, and later between her sons Jacob and Esau. Her struggles to find her place in the family of Abraham are a true test of her faith, but through it all she finds her own relationship with God and does her best to serve His cause in the lives of those she loves. In Rebekah, Orson Scott Card has created an astonishing personality, complex and intriguing, and her story will engage your heart as it captures your imagination. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Rebekah is an interesting read. There is not a lot of information available about the women of the Bible so for that reason alone this book was interesting. However, I did not think the writing style was very good and I find the patriarchal society of the Bible to be disturbing. I much prefer Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card than this type of book.

Read-a-likes:

Sarah by Orson Scott Card

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Hidden Flame by T. Davis Bunn

Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs

Author: Jacqueline Winspear

Publisher: Penguin (2004)

ISBN: 0142004332

pages: 320

genre: Mystery

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Private detective Maisie Dobbs must investigate the reappearance of a dead man who turns up at a cooperative farm called the Retreat that caters to men who are recovering their health after World War I.

Summary: "She started as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, Lady Rowan Compton, a suffragette, took the remarkably bright youngster under her wing and became her patron, aided by Maurice Blanche, a friend often retained as an investigator by the elite of Europe. It was he who first recognized Maisie's intuitive gifts and helped her to earn admission to prestigious Girton College at Cambridge where Maisie planned to complete her education."

"The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found - and lost - an important part of herself." Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive.

Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different. In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a convalescent refuge for those grievously wounded, ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. It is a working farm known as The Retreat. When Fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat she must confront the ghost that has haunted her for over ten years. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Maisie Dobbs was a big hit in my Reader's Advisory class, but personally I did not love it. The mystery part of the book was okay. But the ending really bothered me; it bothered me enough that I did not much care for the book. When Maisie goes to visit her ex-finance I was surprised to realize he was alive and had been alive in the hospital/nursing home for nearly ten years now since the end of the war. I do not know that Maisie owed him anything, per se, but I was still diappointed in her.

Read-a-likes:

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

Maisie Dobbs Series

1- Maisie Dobbs

2- Birds of a Feather

3- Pardonable Lies

4-Messenger of Truth

5- An Incomplete Revenge

6- Among the Mad

7- The Mapping of Love and Death

No Time for Good-bye

No Time for Goodbye

Author: Linwood Barclay

Publisher: Bantam (2007)

ISBN: 055380555X

pages: 352

genre: Thriller suspense

4 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge wakes up one morning to find her entire family gone. Twenty-five years later, their unexplained disappearance still haunts her.

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire family–mother, father,brother–had vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, she’ll learn the devastating truth.

Sometimes it’s better not to know. . . .

Cynthia is happily married with a young daughter, a new family. But the story of her old family isn’t over. A strange car in the neighborhood, untraceable phone calls, ominous “gifts”–someone has returned to her hometown to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And no one’s innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time Cynthia discovers her killer’s shocking identity, it will again be too late . . . even for goodbye. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: I am really enjoying the thriller suspense genre. I had not read any from this genre before taking this class. I usually prefer a book with depth and substance but have found these quick, page turning, suspense novels to be very enjoyable. This book was great because I could not guess what had happened to Cynthia's family at all. I had no idea nor even a guess as to what would happen next. I also liked the characters in the book and found them to be believable.

Read-a-likes:

The Anniversary by Amy Gutman

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer

Tell No One

Tell No One

Author: Harlan Coben

Publisher: Dell (2002)

ISBN: 0440236703

pages: 400

genre: Thriller suspense

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: It's been eight years since Dr. David Beck's wife, Elizabeth, was murdered by a serial killer. When Beck receives a message containing a phrase only Elizabeth should know, he falls apart. Either someone is playing a sick joke, or his wife is still alive.

Summary: For Dr. David Beck, the loss was shattering. And every day for the past eight years, he has relived the horror of what happened. The gleaming lake. The pale moonlight. The piercing screams. The night his wife was taken. The last night he saw her alive.

Everyone tells him it’s time to move on, to forget the past once and for all. But for David Beck, there can be no closure. A message has appeared on his computer, a phrase only he and his dead wife know. Suddenly Beck is taunted with the impossible–that somewhere, somehow, Elizabeth is alive.

Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn’t. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging headlong into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope.

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret–and someone intends to stop him before he gets there. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Tell No One was my very first thriller suspense novel to read ever. And it was a wonderful surprise. I could not put it down and read it in nearly one day, which is unusual for me. There may have been parts that were unrealistic about this book but it was not distracting. And I was able to guess who did what near the very end. That was a pleasant surprise for me as well. This is a great book to start the thriller suspense genre with.

Read-a-likes:

No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

Darkness Peering by Alice Blanchard

Round Ireland with a Fridge

Round Ireland with a Fridge

Author: Tony Hawks

Publisher: St. Martin Griffin (1997)

ISBN: 0312274920

pages: 264

genre: popular nonfiction

3 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Recounts the author's experiences hitchhiking on a bet all the way around Ireland with a small refrigerator, and shares his impressions of the people and places along the way.

Summary: TV comedian Tony Hawks tries to win a bet by hitch-hiking around the circumference of Ireland in one calendar month, with a fridge. This is the story of Tony's adventures - the people he meets, the difficulties, the triumphs and that fridge. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Round Ireland with a Fridge was a very funny read. I enjoyed the British humor throughout the book. However, I thought it got a bit old by the end of the novel. I was able to finish it but was rather bored. I do think the read-a-likes look quite interesting and may give them a try.

Read-a-likes:

Not So Funny When It Happened by Tim Cahill

Hyenas Laughed At Me and Now I Know Why by Sean O'Reilly

Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need by Dave Barry

Lord of Scoundrels

Lord of Scoundrels

Author: Loretta Chase

Publisher: Avon (1995)

ISBN: 0380776162

pages: 384

genre: romance

subgenre: racy regencies

4 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Jessica Trent arrives in Paris to save her younger brother from the influence of the wild Marquess of Dain. But she ends up attracted to him instead.

Summary: They call him many names, but Angelic isn't one of them...

Sebastian Ballister, the notorious Marquess of Dain, is big, bad, and dangerous to know. No respectable woman would have anything to do with the "Band and Blight of the Ballisters" - and he wants nothing to do with respectable women. He's determined to continue doing what he does best - sin and sin again - and all that's going swimmingly, thank you... until the day a shop door opens and she walks in.

She's too intelligent to fall for the worst man in the world...

Jessica Trent is a determined young woman, and she's going to drag her imbecile brother off the road to ruin, no matter what it takes. If saving him - and with him, her family and future - means taking on the devil himself, she won't back down. The trouble is, the devil in question is so shockingly irresistible, and the person who needs the most saving is - herself! (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: I have not read very many romances but I did enjoy this one. I like the Victorian England setting where everyone must be proper but really people are just the same as now with passions and interests and temptations. The two main characters also had the type of love/hate relationship that I greatly love in a romance.

Read-a-likes:

The Gamble by Joan Wolf

Miranda by Susan Wiggs

Web of Love by Mary Balogh

One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney

Virtue by Jane Feather

Naked in Death

Naked in Death

Author: J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

Publisher: Berkley (1995)

ISBN: 0425220184

pages: 306

genre: romance

subgenre: mystery

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Eve Dallas, a New York police lieutenant, is in over her head when she breaks the rules and falls in love with a suspect in her most recent case.

Summary: As NYPD Lt. Eve Dallas races to find a serial killer, she becomes very involved with one of the suspects. Her overpowering feelings for a man she barely knows could jeopardize her investigation, her faith in herself--and her life. J.D. Robb is the pseudonym for bestselling author Nora Roberts. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: LOVED, LOVED this book. The mystery part was interesting but the romance is what sold me. The relationship between the two main characters was sizzling! I am so happy that there are so many books in this series. I already have two on hold at the library to read over Christmas break when my class is over. I have also been recommended this book to everyone.

Author Read-a-likes:

Julie Garwood

Laurell K Hamilton

Linda Howard

Lisa Gardner

Suzanne Brockmann

In Death Series:

There are over 30 books in the In Death series by JD Robb. Here is a great quick reference link to the series listing the books in order.

Beat the Reaper

Beat the Reaper
Author: Josh Bazell
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2008)
ISBN: 0316032220
pages: 320

genre: adventure

2 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: The carefully orchestrated life of Manhattan emergency room doctor and witness-protection program participant Peter Brown unravels in the course of a day that begins with a mugging and a new patient who knows him from his previous existence.

Summary: Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

Pietro "Bearclaw" Brnwna is a hit man for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he's the last person you want to see in your hospital room.

Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown's new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might--just might--be the same person ...

Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours--and somehow beat the reaper.

Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won't be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won't be able to put it down. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: I did not like this book. I thought it was going to be quite different than what it was. So my expectation colored my opinion of the book. I also did not like any of the characters and there was too much swearing and violence. It made me disinclined to try another adventure book but I am hoping this was just a random bad one and that there are other great reads available in this genre.

Read-a-likes:
61 Hours by Lee Child
Crisis by Robin Cook
The Broker by John Grisham
The Wrong Hostage by Elizabeth Lowell

Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone

Author: Abraham Verghese

Publisher: Knopf (2009)

ISBN: 0375414495

pages: 541

genre: historical fiction

4.5 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: Twin brothers born from a secret love affair between an Indian nun and a British surgeon in Addis Ababa, Marion and Shiva Stone come of age in an Ethiopia on the brink of revolution, where their love for the same woman drives them apart.

Summary: Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Cutting for Stone is a wonderful book. I believe it fits the genre of historical fiction but it also seems like contemporary fiction. This is the type of book I have the most experience reading. I enjoy reading about "normal," real people and the difficult experiences and situations they encounter in life. This book was a great example of these things.

Read-a-likes:

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

Desirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee

Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

Finding Alice

Finding Alice

Author: Melody Carlson

Publisher: WaterBrook Press (2003)

ISBN: 1578567734

pages: 384

genre: Christian fiction

4 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: For years, Alice's "little idiosyncrasies" were excused for her high intelligence, but during her senior year at college it becomes apparent that she is suffering from schizophrenia and must now cope with new demons and "treatments.".

Summary: Sliding into the Rabbit Hole, Would She Ever Return?

On the surface, Alice Laxton seems no different from any other college girl: bright, inquisitive, excited about the life ahead of her. But for years, a genetic time bomb has been ticking away. Because of Alice's near-genius intelligence, teachers and counselors have always made excuses for her little idiosyncrasies. But during a stress-filled senior year at college, a new world of voices, visions, and unexplainable knowledge causes Alice to begin to lose her grip on reality.

As Alice's schizophrenia progresses, she experiences a disturbing religious awakening, believing that God and angels and demons are speaking to her. When others attempt to intervene, Alice is subjected to a wide range of treatments even more frightening and painful than her illness.

Powerfully raw and brutally honest, Finding Alice is a story of individual suffering and hope, a family's shared ordeal, and a search for true mental and spiritual healing. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: Finding Alice was a great heart-wrenching book. It is from the genre of Christian fiction which is not a genre I particularly enjoy, but this good was a wonderful exception. I like Christian fiction where the Christian part of it explores all the different types of problems and rigidity that religion can present.

Read-a-likes:

The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds

Pearl by Mary Gordon

Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard

The Grass is Singing by Doris May Lessing

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft

Author: Joe Hill

Illustrator: Gabriel Rodriquez

Publisher: IDW publishing (2008)

ISBN: 1600102379

pages: 158

genre: graphic novel

2 (out of 5) STARS

Annotation: The story of the Keyhouse, a New England mansion, with doors that transform all who walk through them...and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it opens the most terrible door of all.

Summary: Old New England mansions have a well-earned reputation for strangeness, but no other abode can match the supernatural weirdness of Keyhouse. From the very first page of Locke & Key, the forbidding old house draws you in and binds you, challenging you to guess what's beyond each ghastly door. Bram Stoker Award–winning writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez have delivered a graphic novel in throat-grasping horror seeps to the surface when you least expect. (www.goodreads.com)

Evaluation: The most prevelant part of this book is the violent illustrations. This book was VERY scary. It was a quick, easy read but very disturbing. I am interested in exploring more graphic novels but this type was way too violent and scary for me.

Read-a-likes:

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Whiteout by Greg Rucka

Adolf by Osamu Tezuka

Grendel by Matt Wagner