So, here is my first entry for the Sunday Salon. I am so excited to be part of such a fantastic group of fellow readers. I have been an avid reader all of my life, and my to be read pile is always growing. I have mixed feeling on this because sometimes I think books that I really should read constantly get pushed further and further down my list to make room for my lastest MUST READ!!! Oh well, I am sure many of us have this same problem. What I should try to do, in my spare time (which I don’t really have any of), is make a list of the books I own and haven’t read, and try to rank them somehow. I am too late to join a lot of the challenges that started in January. A great thing to consider for next year as I can then thin my shelves and get some of those books read. Will have to wait and see how that goes.
So, onto my current read. I am reading Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson. This is the first book that I have read by this author, and I am actually reading it for a Virtual Book Tour (to be discussed in a later post). I won’t say too much yet except that I think her writing style is very good and the story line has really grabbed my attention. It is hard to put down, but with two little girls, a puppy, and a hubby that all need my attention (and the housework and packing away some of the winter clothes), I haven’t been able to read quite as much as I normally like to.
We did go to Green Bay yesterday, and while we were there we decided to stop at Goodwill. My hubby loves to look to see what he can find, and I like to look for my daughters as well. We have found some great deals there on gently used items. But, to be perfectly honest, there was only one section that I was interested in, and that was the books. And I did find 3 books (to add to the hoardes I already have) that I was actually looking for, and at 99 cents a piece for hardcovers, it was a bargain. The three books were:
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult – New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
My Sister’s Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child’s life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.
Broken Prey by John Sandford – (I have a few of this series, but have never read them…maybe it’s time to start)
Lucas Davenport confronts a living nightmare, in one of the spookiest Prey novels yet from the number-one bestselling author.
“There are reasons why John Sandford’s Prey series has been so wildly successful, and they begin with our old friends plot and character,” praises the Washington Post. “But in Broken Prey, Sandford has outdone himself. He is at the top of his game. You want to know the only thing wrong with this guy? He makes it look easy.”
But there is nothing easy about what Lucas Davenport faces now.
The first body is of a young woman, found on a Minneapolis riverbank, her throat cut, her body scourged and put on display. Whoever did this, Lucas knows, is pushed by brain chemistry, there is something wrong with him. This isn’t a bad love affair.
The second body is found a week later, in a farmhouse six miles south. Same condition, same display – except this time it is a man. Nothing to link the two murders, nothing to indicate that the killings end here.
“This guy…” Lucas said. He took a deep breath, let it out as a sigh. “This guy is gonna bust our chops.”
And soon he is going to do far, far worse than that.
A suspect emerges early: a man recently released from a prison hospital and who now seems to have cut himself free from his court-imposed ankle bracelet and disappeared. But the more Lucas investigates, the more he wonders: Is this really the man? Could he really have done this all by himself? And where has he gone to, anyway?
And meanwhile, a predator waits….
Brilliantly suspenseful, consistently surprising, filled with rich characters and exceptional drama – once again, “Sandford has outdone himself.”
– The number-one
New York Times-bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell is known the world over for her brilliant storytelling, the courage of her characters, and the state-of-the-art forensic methods they employ.
Portrait of a Killer – Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
In this headline-making new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her trademark skills for meticulous research and scientific expertise on one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in the history of crime-the slayings of Jack the Ripper that terrorized 1880s London. With the masterful intuition into the criminal mind that has informed her novels, Cornwell digs deeper into the case than any detective before her-and reveals the true identity of this elusive madman.
Enlisting the help of forensic experts, Cornwell examines all the physical evidence available: thousands of documents and reports, fingerprints, crime-scene photographs, original etchings and paintings, items of clothing, artists’ paraphernalia, and traces of DNA. Her unavoidable conclusion: Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world’s finest museum.
So, looks like my list of must reads grew a little larger. Besides the fact that I have all the wonderful new blogs to visit and read about all of their books I can just imagine how big the list will get to be. Oh well, there are worse things and vices, right?
Speaking of vices, if you are looking for another chance to win a great book please visit Ardently Book Reviews for a chance to win a copy of Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin…come on, you know you want to!
Gotta run and visit some of my fellow bloggers. Have a great Sunday and happy reading!
7. In order to motivate participants to spread the word, anyone who posts promoting this challenge is guaranteed to be able to choose the theme for one of the weeks this year (their choice of week, first come first served). No need to pick a week now; just let me know when you have a theme idea and you can pick your week then. In addition, I’ll enter the name of each participant who writes a promotional post by the end of April will have their name entered in a drawing for this chocolate monkey. If any of your readers sign up and leave a comment saying they heard about it from you, you get two entries for the chocolate monkey. You may never again have the chance to say to your friends and family, “Yeah, the internet gave me this chocolate monkey.”
I wanted to start this post by giving some details about the setting, which is The International House of Chicago. I was totally unfamiliar with this and wanted to find out more about it, as the setting means a lot to the depth of a novel. Here is the information that I found on Wikipedia:
