Gone Girl

Fiction by Gillian Flynn.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This may be my choice for best book of 2012.

Seriously. Cool story. I had NO idea how she was going to wrap it up!

Awesome job.

(TWO THUMBS-UP)

The Blessing

Subtitled: "Giving the Gift of Unconditional Love and Acceptance "
Nonfiction by Gary Smalley and John Trent.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Good book loaned to me by a friend.

This has some great advice on really showing your kids you love them. Now if I can just follow through....

(THUMBS-UP)

Kill You Twice

Fiction by Chelsea Cain.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was apparently number five in a series, and I have not read numbers one through four. However, I was still able to follow it and enjoy the story, so that's pretty cool.

Good book but only if you like the "gruesome-serial-killer" genre.

(THUMBS-UP)

What The Heart Remembers

Fiction by Debra Ginsberg.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is about a woman who receives a heart transplant...and it REMEMBERS....

But not in a creepy way. Much. It's more of a character story, which I prefer.

Good book.

(THUMBS-UP)

John Dies at the End

Fiction by David Wong.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Yet another book I chose simply on the merits of the title.

This book had a great beginning but it started to lose me after a while. It was funny though. And weird. Probably a little too weird.

Maybe the movie will be better.

(THUMBS-DOWN)

Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Fiction by Robin Sloan.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Cool book, but a little odd.

It's sort of a puzzle-type book, like those movies with Nicholas Cage searching for clues, et cetera. But quirkier.

However, if you like them, a better puzzle book is "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.

I recently saw a lady at the park reading something else by one of these authors and eagerly wrote down the title to read later.

She probably thought I was crazy.

(THUMBS-UP)

The Loved One

Fiction by Catherine Palmer and Peggy Stoks.


http://www.amazon.com

This was my book club book for this month. Super-short for busy December!

It's about a woman who's studying her family history and feels reluctant to allow her son to enlist in the Army. 

I'll let you infer from the cover whether it's a pro- or anti-military book...

Not a bad story, but in my opinion TOO short. (I know--you can't please me, right?) I would like to have learned more about the characters.

Big Girl Small

Fiction by Rachel DeWoskin.



http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is considered a "Young Adult" novel.

I suppose because it's about a character in high school. (She's a sixteen-year-old dwarf who starts attending a performing arts school.) However, I'd put a lot more emphasis on the "Adult" with this book.

That being said, it was really good. I would like to read more from this author.

Odd Apocalypse

Fiction by Dean Koontz.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's probably completely uncool to say this, but I love Dean Koontz.

I really do. The dude's written, like, a hundred books, and he STILL manages to come up with new weirdness to write about.

The "Odd Thomas" books are a charcter-based series, and this is number five. Amazingly, strange things are still happening to this character! An exciting read.

I like this series, but my favorite Dean Koontz books are stand-alone titles.

My very favorite, I think, is "Lightning."

Check it out if you've never read any Dean Koontz. It's cool.