Thursday, December 27, 2012

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

In the year 1954, US Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate an unexplained disappearance.  Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept under constant surveillance in a locked,guarded cell.  As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on the island, hints of radical experimentation and covert government machinations add darker, more sinister shades to an already bizarre case.  Because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems.  A real edge of your seat read.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Plain Promise by Beth Wiseman

Plain Promise is the story of Sadie Fisher, a young Amish widow who rents out her guest house to a single man from California.  Shortly thereafter, his autistic son is dropped off by his ex-wife, who then is killed shortly after she leaves in a car accident.  Kade hasn't spent any amount of time with his son and doesn't really know how to deal with his behavior.  Kade is a wealthy developer who,despite all of his toys is deeply unhappy.  Sadie begins to feel attracted to hi, but knows that being with him would mean leaving her family and friends.  To put a twist into the story Sadie has been corresponding with another Amish man in Texas for some time now and believed that he is the man for her until Kade came into the picture.  The story continues with Kade learning more about the Amish life from Jonah and elderly man in the community.  Sadie tries life in Texas for a while be realizes her life is back in her home town with her family and friends.

Notorious Nineteen By Janet Evanovich

Stephanie is back... again... and still pretty much broke and car-less, to make some money she must bring back Geoffrey Cubbin, who embezzled millions from the local assisted-living facility,  the problem is that Cubbin has vanished into thin air while in the hospital recovering from surgery. It takes quite a while for Stephanie to solve this puzzle, so in the meantime to make money she goes after several lower level skips - one with a rather interesting and powerful Tiki statue; Stephanie also joins Ranger undercover as a bridesmaid to help him discover who is plotting to kill both him and the groom, an old Special Forces buddy. As Stephanie digs deeper into Cubbin's disappearance, she uncovers several other missing hospital patients. She also gets several more cars blown up and runs into trouble many times over before problems get solved. I am not fond of the books that has Ranger needing help from Stephanie. That just isn’t suppose to happen. This book isn't as good as the earlier ones but it is much better than the last few. Just like most people I will continue reading the Plum novels if for no other reason but to get a few laughs.


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Crockin' Girls Slow Cookin' Companion

The Crockin' girls are two friends who started a website with crockpot recipes to help get families back together around the dinner table. This cookbook came about due to many requests from followers who love their recipes. The cookbook is divided into easy categories and each recipe has a color picture. Each section has an introduction by the Crockin' girls and they personalize the book even more with many family pictures. I found many recipes I'd like to try. The directions seem easy to follow and most call for ingredients that are easy to find. If you like cookbooks this one is definitely one you will want to try.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon

This book is about a 44 year old woman going through a midlife crisis.  She decides to take part in a survey about her marriage and is soon assigned the name of Wife 22,  As she goes through the survey she finds out that her marriage seems to be running out of steam.  She had no idea she would actually start falling for Researcher 101.  Now everything is in a whirl wind.  Her husband lost his job, her children have problems and she's falling in love with someone she has never met before in her life.  What is she going to do?  This was a great book full of truth and humor. I really loved this book.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah



Wanting to read a book to help put me in the Christmas spirit, I picked this book by an author I have enjoyed before. This is the story of a young woman named Joy.She finds herself not very much in the mood for Christmas because of the difficulties she has experienced over the past year. She not only finds herself separated and divorced, but learns that her sister is now pregnant with her ex's baby. She herself has wanted a child for a long time, but her former husband was never quite ready.
     Joy works as a high school librarian in Bakersfield, California. She has just finished work before the Christmas break. Upon arriving home and finding her pregnant sister with a wedding invitation, she suddenly decides to leave and buys a spur-of-the-moment ticket to Hope, British Columbia..... Not much later the plane has crashed and the wounded Joy walks away into a small town in Washington State. She finds a little place called the Comfort Fishing Lodge, a rundown inn with two people in it who are fighting to survive emotionally. An eight year boy, Bobby, who mother has recently died, and his father Daniel, who hasn't seen the boy much since his divorce, and who is at his wits end as to how to deal with a boy who talks to his dead mother and couple of other invisible people. Joy is able to help the two, spending time with them and becoming close to them. On Christmas Eve they are at a gathering when Joy suddenly blacks out and wakes up in a hospital in Bakersfield.
    Joy is told she has been in a coma for ten days. She is told that her plane crashed 100 miles from where it took off. Join with Joy in puzzling out what actually happened to her. Will she reunite with her sister? What about Bobby and Daniel - do they even exist? Will Joy have the courage to begin a new life?