Lone Wolf

Fiction by Jodi Picoult.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Very VERY good book.

I only had this for seven days from the library because it's new, but I finished it in less than three.

Interesting and exciting, but also thought-provoking. Capital bit of writing, Ms. Picoult!

Water's Edge

Fiction by Robert Whitlow.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Good book! A fast-paced thriller-type, it was very enjoyable.

This guy is like the Christian John Grisham.

And that's a compliment by the way. (In case you didn't know.)

Shark Dialogues

Fiction by Kiana Davenport.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was a little inconsistent.

Parts of it I really enjoyed, and parts bored me. I don't really know why.

It had some great Hawaiian history, but when it came to the modern characters, they lost me.

So I guess I recommend the first half of it....

A Perfect Mess

Subtitled: Why You Don't Have to Worry About Being Good Enough for God.

Nonfiction by Lisa Harper.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A good devotional book.

It is sort of a modern take on a few of the psalms. Enjoyable writing!

Downfall

    

Fiction by Terri Blackstock.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Good thriller by a Christian author. I always recommend Terri Blackstock for an exciting read.

I mean, I was so interested in this book that I barely noticed the garage took an hour and a half to give me an estimate on my brake replacement.


This is number three in a series, though, so you have to read Intervention and Vicious Cycle first.

Don't worry, they're all major page-turners.

And, Terri Blackstock is popular enough that most libraries stock her. So not a huge monetary investment.

The Kitchen House

Fiction by Kathleen Grissom.



http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Very good book! I read this a few months ago but the characters stay with you.

This is very cool slave-era type historical fiction.

That is, it's historical fiction unless you believe what the author claimed, that the story was in actual fact dictated to her by the spirits of the people involved.

Um....okay....

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Fiction by Lionel Shriver. (Who is a woman, by the way.)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This book was good in a bad way. Or bad in a good way.

By which I mean, this author did such a good job of portraying this awful, awful boy that I was seriously disturbed. As in, I had to stop reading.

That's really bad. I don't ever stop reading a book (unless it's boring.)

It's about a disturbing subject: The mother of a school-shooting perpetrator gives her side of the story. But I knew this going in.

And I've read a Jodi Picoult book on the same subject that was difficult but fair-minded and not horrific. It's called Nineteen Minutes and I highly recommend it.

But I've already sung the prasies of Jodi Picoult on this blog earlier. (Read it here if you're interested.) Love Love LOVE her!!!

However, We Need to Talk About Kevin was just bleak. This boy was irretrievably evil from birth.

It almost makes you feel like shooting people too. Or maybe just yourself.

Which is of course a testament to the talent of the author, the abilty to evoke such emotion. Good job, Lionel! You go girl... I guess.....

So if you want to read a book that kills all hope, this is the one.

Honestly, though.... I'll pass on finishing it.

I Blame Eve

Subtitled: Freedom from Perfectionism, Control Issues, and the Tendency to Listen to Talking Snakes.

Nonfiction by Susanna Foth Aughtmon.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I just finished reading an "advance copy" of this new book.

(I know you are totally jealous that I am cool enough to get an advance copy of a book.  I will admit I shamelessly emailed Susanna's publicist until they sent me one. But I am still cool, right? RIGHT?!)

This was a good book. It was entertaining and had some interesting insights also.

It was all about why we as women strive constantly to be perfect, and why we really shouldn't. (Since we CAN'T anyways! Duh.)

I think this book would be great for a Christian women's discussion group. It was not as great for reading straight through, which is how I generally like reading books.

In other words, I needed some time to think about each chapter. Which is actually a GOOD thing for a devotional/ Bible study type book.

So I'd definitely recommend this book to my own ladies' church group.

And yours too. :)

The House I Loved

Fiction by Tatiana de Rosnay


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was pretty good, but still not as good as Sarah's Key (by the same author.)

It had an interesting historical perpsective though; it was about the renovations of Paris in the late 1800's.

An Echo in the Darkness

Fiction by Francine Rivers.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

GREAT book! This is a sequel to A Voice in the Wind, which I read last month.

Then I waited impatiently for the library to get me the next book. They can be so slow about these things.

Now there's a THIRD book! I'm back on the waiting list!

At least this series is old enough that all the books have actually been written already.

If you like historical Christian fiction, non-pioneer/Amish but from actual Bible times, I definitely recommend this series.

My Man Pendleton

Fiction by Elizabeth Bevarly.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a straight-up, formulaic romance novel. But a pretty well-done one.

It had plenty of witty repartee, convoluted misunderstandings, romantic gazing-into-each-others'-eyes, and (ahem) some adult content. And at the end almost every single female character got a boyfriend, as well as the protaganist getting herself the husband of her dreams.

Not a bad read.