Mellanie, what did you think of UNDEAD AND UNAPPRECIATED? Sharal Currently reading DEAD WITCH WALKING by Kim Harrison and listening to I IS FOR INNOCENT by Sue Grafton
Up next: TBA What am I babbling about? http://sharalsthoughtsandramblings.blogspot.com/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/sharalsbooks >From: Mellanie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [BookCrossing] Lots of kids' books in June (Mellanie's reading >list--very long) >Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 22:26:44 -0700 (PDT) > >I ordered a bunch of the Dear America books from ebay and read several of >them this month, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I don't think I had >any rereads this month, but this was a fairly eclectic month. > >Slow Way Home--Michael Morris > This was about a boy whose mother runs off with her latest loser >boyfriend, leaving him to be raised by his grandparents. Just as he's >finally settled into life with them, his mother shows up and wins custody, >so the grandparents hit the road with the boy. I really liked the writing >in this one, found it reminiscent (in some ways) of Grisham's A Painted >House. > >Tweed--Lass Small > This is an older Silhouette Romance about a pilot who rescues a woman >stranded in the wilderness. Her uncle has been murdered and she's been >raped by a group of men who saw the signal fire. Tweed, the pilot, is an >orphan, named after his foster father's coat. When Connie collapses after >her ordeal, Tweed is the only one to whom she'll respond. I'm not >describing this well, but this was one of the best romances I've ever read. > Tweed is a truly memorable hero, funny and gentle, and Connie has a core >of strength beneath her vulnerability. I really want to find the rest of >the books in this series because this was so well done. > >Poisoned Vows--Clifford L. Linedecker > A very strange story about a female polygamist who was eventually >convicted for the murder of one of her husbands, this book was rather >circular and repetitive in its story-telling. The case was interesting, >and there was obviously an enormous amount of conflicting information to >sift through, but the presentation lacked a bit. > >The Messies Manual: The Procrastinator's Guide to Good >Housekeeping--Sandra Felton > A lot of this is the basis for FlyLady's program. I learned a few >good tips, but overall, I still prefer FlyLady's method. > >Uncle John's Second Bathroom Reader--Bathroom Readers' Institute > I love books like this, a compendium of lots of interesting and >arcane trivia, suitable for reading in brief chunks of time. I read the >whole thing pretty much straight through, but I get that way sometimes. > >A Most Unsuitable Man--Jo Beverley > Gosh, I remember the cover of this so clearly, because for some >reason, the handsome hunk didn't LOOK British (I know that's irrational, >but I can't explain it). I'm blanking on the details, and I've already >passed the book along. I remember liking it a great deal, though. > >Pillow Talk--Hailey North > I really hate the cartoony covers on these romances, because it gives >the wrong impression about the contents of the book. This one was about a >young widow who marries a guy for a few days for a price, only to have him >shot dead in a drug deal gone awry. Naturally his family are suspicious of >her, and she doesn't want to tell them how her marriage came about. The >crusty old patriarch of the family sends for the heroine's children, and >she and the hero retrieve her stepson from his private school and try to >help him cope with his father's death. I liked this a lot more than I >expected to, and will keep an eye out for more of Ms. North's books. > >Undead and Unappreciated--MaryJanice Davidson > I read this for review. > >The Secret School--Avi > I'm always amazed at the different types of stories Avi can write. >This was about a small rural school whose teacher must leave before term is >over because of an illness in her family. The two eighth graders don't >want to have to repeat a year of school, so they conspire to keep the >school running long enough for the children to finish out the year and take >their end-of-year exams. This was a quick, interesting read. > >Empty Promises--Ann Rule > Another selection of cases from Rule's endless files. I always enjoy >her books, although the cases seem so old all of a sudden. > >Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan, >Delaware Valley, Pennsylvania, 1763 (Dear America)--Mary Pope Osborne > This series is very well-written, and doesn't shy away from harsh >reality, although it does pad it a bit. The research is very well done, >however, although the illustrations are sometimes hard to decipher because >the print is so small and dark. > >When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, >Gordonsville, Virginia, 1864 (Dear America)--Barry Denenberg > Barry Denenberg is one of my favorite authors in this series, because >he is willing to explore the dark edges of the historical eras he writes >about. This volume will definitely give younger teens something to think >about. > >Forbidden--Helen Kirkman > It took me three tries to get into this book, which I bought purely >for the beefcake cover, but ultimately, I enjoyed it. An 8th-century widow >buys herself a slave in a fit of pique because she needs help with a secret >mission: finding proof that the King's Reeve is stealing taxes and keeping >them for himself. A lot of the dialogue consisted of the heroine reminding >her slave of his position in her household, which got rather boring and >annoying after a while. Details got skipped over and things resolved >rather too easily, but the book wasn't awful, just not as good as it could >have been. I'll look for more by this author, though, because I think she >has potential. > >A Woman's Innocence--Gayle Callen > Maybe I'm shallow, because I thought this title was sort of wasted on >a heroine whose sexual past put her out of the norm for Regency-set >historicals. Anyway, the heroine is accused of treason, and the >investigator who built the case against her is the son of the gardener of >her family estate. When he realizes that she is virtually guaranteed a >death sentence, he breaks her out of jail and soon realizes that she's been >framed. They go undercover to her brother's estate to research the crime, >with her disguised as a man. It was a fun book which could have used more >fleshing out at the denouement. > >Because You're Mine--Nan Ryan > I think I've blocked most of the details of this book because I >didn't care for it. > >To Pleasure a Prince--Sabrina Jeffries > I always like Jeffries' work and this was no exception. This is part >of a trilogy about three bastard sons of the Prince of Wales. In this >volume, the hero agrees to let his younger sister be courted by the >heroine's brother if the heroine will agree to a sham courtship between >them. This was a lot more interesting than I've made it sound, because the >brother has ulterior motives, the sister is not the simpering miss she >seems, and the heroine has a doozy of a secret. Definitely recommended for >historical romance fans. > >The Duchess's Next Husband--Terri Brisbin > When a love match turns into a duty marriage after the hero inherits >a dukedom, his asthma and their inability to conceive become huge problems, >further complicated by the fact that the hero has overheard his doctors >agree that he will die within six months. This wasn't flawless, but it was >one of the fresher plots I've read in a while, dealing with upperclass >Regency life with a realism too often ignored in this genre. Brisbin did a >really nice job with this one. > >Princess Nevermore--Dian Curtis Regan > When a princess who lives in the land under a wishing well finds >herself on the aboveground side of the water, she's faced with many >challenges and temptations. Very nice lesson on the consequences of greed >and the desire for power. The only problem with many YA novels, such as >this one, is that they end too fast. > >Hand Quilted with Love--Joyce Livingston > I really wanted to like this one, because the premise seemed >promisingly up my alley. A widow (yep, another one) inherits a sewing >goods store in Alaska and has to move there with her young son in order to >claim her legacy. Unfortunately, the heroine was not very likable, >constantly yelling at the hero and afraid of everything. The hero's >anti-marriage stance (he likes his freedom to come and go as he pleases) >seemed very contrived, particularly as he spends the whole book chasing >after the heroine, in spite of her repeated shrieking attacks on him. I >did not care for this book at all. > >Brian's Winter--Gary Paulsen > I was very intrigued by Hatchet after I encountered it while subbing >last month, so when I saw this book at a consignment shop, I snapped it up. > This is Paulsen's take on what would have happened to Brian if he hadn't >been rescued before winter set in. I LOVE frozen wilderness survival >stories, and this was well done. > >Drop-Dead Blonde--Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, Denise Swanson, and Victoria >Laurie > This was an anthology of four mystery novellas, all of which I >enjoyed quite a bit. I found Laurie's contribution frustrating, though, >because I really liked the premise of a psychic, but the story suffered >terribly from bad writing and virtually no editing. Laurie has enormous >potential if she can be weaned from cliche. > >Dead Certain--Mariah Stewart > This is part of a series that evokes Strangers on a Train on >steroids. After Amanda Crosby's business partner is found murdered, she's >the prime suspect because she'd threatened his life after a spectacularly >bad antiques acquisition. Once another victim turns up, Police Chief Sean >Mercer realizes Amanda's the victim, not the perpetrator, and then he's >free to act on his attraction to her while he tries to figure out who's >gunning for her. Nifty page-turner. > >I'm up to 100 books and 31,756 pages for the year, but observers please >take note of how much YA I've read this year--I've got a lot of those books >to clear out of Mt. TBR! > >Mellanie > > >CROWTHER QUOTES: >Mellanie: Evan, did you pack underwear for the trip? >Evan (age 10): Mom, I am not in the habit of going commando! >Hillary (14): He knows commando?! > >Here's what the Crowthers are reading: >http://bookcrossing.com/referral/magpye29 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >test'; " type=text/css> > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ Have you told a friend today? http://bookcrossing.com/tellafriend Archives and email list settings: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
