Middle School The Worst Years of My Life

By: James Patterson & Chris Tebbetts & Art work by: Laura Park, 281 pp.

Rafe Khatchadorian is entering into middle school. To make things more interesting and fun, Rafe (along with his friend, "Leo the Silent") is putting together a game that will need to collect a certain amount of points by the end of the school year. Can Rafe complete this game? Or is he getting into too much trouble before he can get the opportunity to finish his "goal?" This game consists of breaking every rule in the school's code of conduct.

James Patterson teams up with Chris Tebbetts and Laura Park to create this fun book. It is in Rafe's point of view and it is as if Rafe is really speaking to the reader.

Enjoy this fun, emotional read! I sure did!

Hot Six

By: Janet Evanovich, 294 pp.

Stephanie Plum is in need of money again; so she goes into her cousin, Vinnie, to get an FTA (Failed To Appear in court). She is given a couple; one is Ranger, the one who has shown her how to catch her FTA's. She refuses to go after him. She says give it to someone else - even if it is Joyce Barnhart (her enemy)! The other one is of an old classmate of hers.

Stephanie runs into trouble yet again while on the hunt for her old classmate. He isn't very bright though so it makes it really easy for Stephanie to get her "body receipt" on this one.

Even though she has refused to go after Ranger, he still keeps coming to her for help on solving his case - he has been framed.

Find out how this one all turns out when you read Hot Six.

The Rocky Road to Romance

By: Janet Evanovich, 266 pp.

Janet has done it again! She writes for her readers to keep wanting more.

The Rocky Road to Romance is a cute little story of Daisy Adams who has her own talk show where she is called the "Dog Lady." She is in dire need of money to help pay her college loans, so on top of her radio show, she also works as a crossing guard for the local school, she delivers newspapers, and now she has accepted to do the traffic reports with the radio station where she works.

Plus she is watching over her little brother while their parents are out of town, she is doing her internship with a nursing home, and she goes to school full time. With all this on Daisy's plate, how in the world does she find time for true love? She tries to deny it, but she cannot help the way she feels. She has fallen for her boss, Steve Crow. Her life is being turned upside down!

The Hunger Games

By: Suzanne Collins, 485 pp.

I have not read such a great book in a very long time! It is riveting, exciting, and an emotional ride! I plan on buying the triology for my daughter's next birthday!

There is so much happening in The Hunger Games that it would make for a great book discussion.

Sixteen year old, Katniss Everdeen, lives with her sister, Primrose (Prim), and her mother in a place called District 12 - just one part of a future North America. Once a year the rulers hold a televised "game"/battle among each of the districts (12 total) where each district must draw out one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 to 18 to be prepared for this battle. There is usually only one winner, but this year things change a bit. Katniss' sister, Prim (12), was chosen. However, Katniss stands in to take her place. Does Katniss survive the battle? Find out when you read "The Hunger Games!" I am excited to get to read second in the series "Catching Fire." The third in the series is "Mockingjay." Oh and wait, the movie "The Hunger Games" comes out in March, 2012!

Step Fourth, Mallory!

By: Laurie Friedman, Illustrations by: Jennifer Kalis,

175 pp.

Grade school is not always the easiest for kids. However, when Mallory McDonald gets ready to go into the fourth grade, she just knows it is going to be the best year yet! Well, it turns out that she just keeps breaking all of her teacher's rules even though she does not mean to. She tries to make things better between her teacher and herself, but they are just making things a lot worse!

To top it all off, her best friend likes the new boy in school and Mallory likes him too.

Mallory learns to start putting her best foot forward while also learning that as you grow up, you are responsible for your actions whether you mean the things you do or not...I think it is paying off for her - finally.

This is a very cute story. I think a lot of young kids can relate to Mallory's story of starting the fourth grade.

Peach Cobbler Murder ~ A Hannah Swenson Mystery

By: Joanne Fluke, 294 pp.



Hannah Swenson has another murder mystery to solve, but this time she is the main suspect for the police in Lake Eden. Her rival, Shawna Lee, has been found dead.

Along with the murder to try and solve, Hannah and her sister, Andria, have been asked by their mother to help her with a problem (and Hannah knows this is a serious problem because their mother never asks for the girls' help).

Hannah has been proposed to by both Mike & Norman! How does she respond? Will she say yes to either of them or turn them both down?

Find out all the excitement events when you read Peach Cobbler Murder by Joanne Fluke!

Five Wishes

By: Gay Hendricks, 149 pp.
www.5wishesbook.com


I believe everyone has at least one wish that they have told someone about one time in their life. I know I have anyway.

In "5 Wishes," Gay Hendricks tells us how he had a conversation with a stranger at a party back in the eighties, and how that conversation has changed his life.

Hendricks explains his five wishes as if he were on his deathbed and how just by changing his wishes into present tense statements from what he had wished had happened can make a difference in how you see your wish and how you can make it come true for yourself.

Example: "Past tense: I wish I had a better relationship with my family. Know why you are saying this and then change it into the present tense. Present tense: I have a wonderful relationship with my family." Just by saying something in the present tense helps make it more positive for you and you can work with what you have and keep making it yet better instead of droning on about what should have been.

The last section of this book is for the reader to actually put their words into writing. Hendricks has given us a worksheet. He also tells us his website has the worksheet for free. I have mentioned the website above.

John Gray, PHD: "Five Wishes can help anyone find the power within to change their life."

While living on this earth, why should we be unhappy? If there is somehow to become happier with ourselves and with our lives, why not try to change things to feel that happiness we deserve?

Yes, this is a bit of a spiritual book, but it is also a (sort of) self-help book. It depends on what is needed in your life as you are reading this book to decide what it means to you. I am glad I picked up this book to read. It came a perfect time in my life.

If you need some light reading or you are looking for something more in your life, I highly recommend "5 Wishes" by Gay Hendricks.

Turnabout

By: Margaret Peterson Haddix, 223 pp.

Amelia and Anny Beth meet in a place that is doing what is called Project Turnabout. Both women are over 100 years old and as far as their families know, they have already passed away and had donated their bodies to science. However, in order for the science project to work, the bodies must be alive. Each of the people in this place have to have a certain type of body in order for the project to work. The project is an injection that each individual have had in order to "unage." The process is that they still have birthdays every year, but instead of aging, they are getting younger. By the time Amelia is 16 and Anny Beth is 18 (and out of 50 participants), these two are the only ones left as far as the agency knows and they must either go back to the agency and entrust themselves to be taken care of by the doctors there or find someone to care for them before they become infants again.
Will Amelia and Anny Beth find someone in time? Or will they decide to trust the agency to provide for them?
I really enjoyed this book. It took me just a few hours of reading - mostly because I could not put it down. In the author's note at the back of the book, Haddix explains where she came up with the idea of "Turnabout:"

"I bought a card for a friend, joking that it's actually good that we get older, not younger, on our birthdays because - as the punch line went - who would want to live through puberty twice? It made me wonder: What if someone had to? I already had age and aging on my mind because I'd just attended my grandmother's ninetieth birthday party, and I'd recently visited my husband's grandmother in Kentucky, a month before her death. Somehow all those things - the card's question, the ninetieth birthday, the Kentucky visit - meshed in my mind. Turnabout was the result."

B Negative

By: Vicki Grant, 125 pp.

Paddy has just graduated high school and his step dad, Anthony, wants him to go on the road with the band that Paddy is in or go to a music college. However, Paddy does not know exactly what he wants and in order not to do what his annoying stepfather wants, he tells his family he is joining the Army.

His mother does not say anything except that she wants him to get a complete physical. Paddy tries to tell her that the Army will take care of all that, but she still insists - so he agrees.

His pediatrician reads off his results of all the tests and he is looking good and healthy. The only thing is, Paddy is B negative blood type and the doctor warns him that this is a very rare blood type and that it would be difficult if he ever needed a blood transfusion.

Paddy doesn't think much about it - Until later Paddy finds out some strange secrets that his family has kept from him his whole life.

The Maltese Falcon

By: Dashell Hammett, 217 pp.

I just completed reading The Maltese Falcon. I figured if it is going to be our Big Read for next spring, I had better get head start on it. I am getting ready to watch the movie as well. I did like the novel, however, it was almost the same plot as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" movie or even as similar as any of the Dick Tracey's.
Sam Spade and Miles Archer are our detectives who own the agency. Miles gets himself killed on a case of hunting for a bird statue and Sam decides to find out who killed his partner and why, along with the reason why this bird is being looked for by so many criminals.
Sam runs into several mastermind criminals along the way while trying to get to this bird statue (including a gorgeous liar who he believes he is falling for). So far thee have been three murders....
Is this statue worth getting yourself into trouble for and/or possibly getting yourself killed?
I did like this story line, but it is from the 40's, so that will give you some sort of idea where the conversations and plot of this novel are coming from; a whole different perspective than today's mysteries you read or see on tv.

Autobiography of a Fat Bride

By: Laurie Notaro, 272 pp.

OMG!! I hope that is allowed!

This book is so funny ~ Well, really Laurie Notaro is hilarious! She kept me laughing throughout the entire book!

Notaro describes her life as a "big Italian" girl. She tells us everything! She holds nothing back! I think one of my favorite parts is the chapter "Red Mice!" It is a bit gross, yet so true and funny!

Unfortunately, we do not have this title in our system. I borrowed it through MOBIUS.

Place your hold on it today! You will be glad you did!

The chosen one

By: Carol Lynch Williams, 213 pp.

In the mind of a 13 year old girl who lives within a compound of a cult, I felt her pain, her excitement, her fears, her sadness, and her love in this well written novel.

Kyra Carlson has been chosen to marry her 63 year old uncle. She has her eyes set on a 17 year old boy named Joshua Johnson. However, she is told to have feelings for another that is not your chosen husband is a sin and very wrong in their community, and calls for punishment.

Kyra has 22 siblings between one father and three mothers. She loves her family so very much!

Kyra's Mother Sarah is six months pregnant and very ill so Kyra helps her mother cook, clean, and raise her younger siblings (which is a duty of all the daughters anyway).

This strong young girl has to fight for what she believes is right, not what her family and community thinks is right.

Kyra is beaten, humiliated, and forced to marry her uncle Hyrum Carlson. She has to decide what she should do. She wants to escape. Can she get away without hurting her family? Can she get away without being killed by the "God Squad?" If she is able to get away, where will she go?

She has been offered a ride to town by the book mobile driver, Patrick, who comes once a week to loan her books that she is not allowed to read per her community Prophet. So to be able to read these books that she borrows, she hides them in her favorite secret tree and reads on her free time after her chores are done.

To find out more of Kyra's story, read "The Chosen One" by Carol Lynch Williams.

My Parents Were Awesome

Edited by: Eliot Glazer, 220 pp.

Stories turned in by great writers and/or stories by individuals who submitted and won in order to be honored and accepted in this book.

There are stories from (of course) Eliot Glazer, Jamie Deen Paula and Jimmy Deen's son), Laurie Notaro, and many, many more.

Stories that will make you laugh, cry, and reminisce of your own awesome parents!

Also I think a couple of the stories remind me of how I was at raising my own kids (I don't know if that is good or bad ~ lol).

Some parents are people we have all heard of and some we are just now getting introduced to in this comical and fun book.

get lucky

By: Katherine Center, 272 pp.

I learned about Katherine Center from reading another book titled My Parents Were Awesome editing by Eliot Glazer. In Glazer's book, Center has entered her story of how her parents were awesome and I really liked her writing so I looked for books written by her. I am glad I did, too. She has an expertise on writing. She gives you a "feel good" feeling when you read her work.

In get lucky, Sarah Harper lives in New York, but has been fired from her job and decides to go home for Thanksgiving and hang out with her sister for awhile. Before Sarah can tell her sister, Mackie, about her getting fired from her job, Mackie tells Sarah her bad news - that she is still (after trying for six years) unable to get pregnant. So after contemplating this, Sarah decides to do something nice for her sister for once instead of her sister always taking care of her. Sarah becomes the surrogate mother for Mackie and Clive, Mackie's husband by using Mackie's eggs and Clive's sperm.

How this all turns out is absolutely different than I had thought it would from in the beginning of my reading. get lucky is cute, funny, sad at times, and a terrific hilarious read! Even Library Journal says, "[A] thoroughly enjoyable girlish romp."

Trouble Maker, Book One, A Barnaby and Hooker Graphic Novel

By: Janet Evanovich, 106 pp.




For a twist on Evanovich's mysteries, try her graphic novels. I have very much enjoyed her graphic novels just as much as her other mysteries.

Alex Barnaby (Barney) had never had so much trouble in her life before she met and began dating Sam Hooker.

It just seems that trouble finds them everywhere they go. In this story, Barney's good friend, Rosa, comes up missing and while trying to locate her friend, Barney and Hooker come to find out that the owner of the cigar shop where her friend works, Walter, has also come up missing.
In order to get some idea where Walter might be, Barney and Hooker check out Walter's mailbox and come up with a brown package addressed to Walter. When they open the package, however, it appears to be Rosa's chopped off hand!
This is just the beginning of the events. Check out Trouble Maker by Janet Evanovich to find out more of what is to happen and if Barney and Hooker ever find Rosa alive!

The Husband

By Dean Koontz, 400 pp.





I was shocked at how this story ends! I could not put this down! If I had to put it down, I just kept thinking about how I could go back and read more!
This was an amazing read by Koontz. Normally, I do not like his work much, but this one was recommended to me by a patron, so I thought, "Why not?"
I am so glad I did! If there is not a movie out of this story, there should be!

Mitch Rafferty and his wife, Holly Rafferty, live in a small bungalow in California. Mitch owns his own business of landscaping and gardening, and Holly is working as a receptionist at a real estate office while she works on getting her real estate license. So you see they do not make much money...
However, for some reason, someone kidnaps Holly thinking they can get two million dollars from Mitch for ransom!
As Mitch is frantic and feeling useless and vulnerable while awaiting the kidnappers calls on what to do next, he is discovering some family secrets among his own family. Find out what these secrets are in "The Husband" by Dean Koontz! You will be just as surprised and astonished as I was!

The Fast and Furious 5 Step Organizing Solution

by: Susan C. Pinsky, 223 pp.

This was a desperately needed book for my house! I enjoyed this one for sure due to the fact that Pinsky points out the five steps for each individual room! You can enjoy a time saving and a stress-free home by time you are through reading and taking notes from this book!

The Grand Finale

By: Janet Evanovich, 246 pp.





I am really liking Janet Evanovich's books - whether it be her Stephanie Plum or her individual romance novels - they are good in my book!

The Grand Finale does, however, drag on a bit, but it is cute. Berry owns a pizza business called The Pizza Place in the not so good area of town and she is in desperate need of a pizza delivery person, but wound up with (or rather adopting) three old ladies. Needless to say, Berry ends up being her own delivery person while the ladies stay in the shop and do the baking and serving.

One bad thing after another, beginning with one night's pizza delivery. Berry decides to help a kitten out of tree at one of the delivery places. The customer does not seem to be home, so why not? While up in the tree, the customer comes home; and then begins the romance that Berry has always said she did not have time for.

Family Affair

By: Debbie Macomber; 102 pp





I usually do not enjoy romance novels by Debbie Macomber much, but this one was cute.
Lacey Lancaster moved to San Francisco when she got divorced over a year ago and her new friend keeps trying to get her to go out with her neighbor, cute Jack Walker. However, Lacey still does not think she is ready for a romance; besides she has no time.
Lacey's cat, Cleo, has been a comfort to Lacey so Lacey feels she does not need a man anyway.
Besides Jack is always arguing with his girlfriend, Sarah. Then Lacey finds out Sarah is not Jack's girlfriend, but she is his sister. This changes things a bit for Lacey.
This turns into a romance any way for Jack and Lacey, and just when things are going great, Jack gets a promotion and has to transfer to Seattle! Lacey knows that long distance relationships will not work out for her - so does this mean their relationship is over?

It's A Book

By: Lane Smith, 26 pp.

I love this book! I believe everyone should read it! The pictures are cute and the words are hilarious!

It's a mouse, a book, a jackass, and a monkey involved.....

The jackass is curious what the monkey has in his hands; and asks all kinds of questions trying to figure it out. The jackass asks the monkey, "What do you have there?" Monkey replies, "It's a book."

The jackass is curious how the monkey can scroll down with it, can he blog with it, where the mouse is, and does it need a password. However, the monkey just keeps replying that it is a book.

Once the monkey just lets the jackass see it for himself, monkey cannot get it back from him so the monkey decides to go to the library. But before the monkey can leave, the jackass says, "Don't worry, I'll charge it when I'm done!" And the monkey replies, "You don't have to... It's a book, Jackass."

Ok, yes, I probably gave away too much information, but it was too cute not to share all that I have. Enjoy!