Quakertown

Title: Quakertown
Author: Lee Martin
Pub. Date: June 2001

Synopsis: In Quakertown, Lee Martin's eagerly awaited first novel, Martin travels back to 1920s Texas to tell the story of a flourishing black community that was segregated from its white brethren-and of the remarkable gardener who was asked to do the unimaginable.

Based on the true story of a shameful episode in North Texas history, Quakertown draws on the rich texture of the South - of the Pecan Creek running along the edges of Quakertown, the remarkable and rare white lilac, and of the rising tensions marking each nod and greeting. With strength and a deep wisdom of heart Martin carves out the delicate story of two families-one white and one black-and the child whose birth brought a gift of forgiveness.

Recommended Reading:
Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
The Bright Forever by Lee Martin

Received: February 2007

Knight of Darkness

Title: Knight of Darkness
Author: Kinley MacGregor
Series: Lords of Avalon Series, Book #3
Pub. Date: October 2006

Synopsis: For centuries, I've been the assassin for the infamous Merlin, even though the woman who birthed me sits at the right hand of our enemy, Morgan le Fey. Now my mother has decided it's time I take her side of this conflict.

Normally, telling her no wouldn't be a problem. However my mother gave me a harsh choice: join Morgen's side or see an innocent die. I'm all for saving the innocent, but Merewyn isn't as innocent as she seems. Still, leaving her to Morgen is rough, even for me, and the only way to save us both is to face the evilest forces ever known—my mother and Morgen. Now two people who know nothing of trust must learn to rely on each other or die.

Recommended Reading:
Sword of Darkness by Kinley Macgregor (Lords of Avalon Series Book #1)
The Warrior by Kinley Macgregor (Brotherhood of the Sword Book 6, MacAllisters Book 6)
Return of the Warrior by Kinley MacGregor (Brotherhood of the Sword Book 5)

Received: March 2007

The Secret Life of Bees

Title: The Secret Life of Bees (a novel)

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Pub. Date: January 2003
Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Lily Owens lost her beloved mother when she was only four—under tragic circumstances clouded by time and secrecy. She later found a fiercely protective "stand-in," her abusive father's outspoken housekeeper, Rosaleen. Ignoring differences in age and color—and the fact that racial hatred seethed during the summer of 1964 in rural South Carolina—these two unlikely companions set off on a seemingly aimless pilgrimage that ends at the home of a trio of eccentric bee-keeping black sisters.

Lily tells her remarkable tale of longing and love in an idiom and accent heard far south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but the lessons learned during her odyssey into the world of bees and their "secret life" are universal and everlasting.

Recommended Reading:
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
Chinese Cinderella : True Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Received: June 2006

Lean Mean Thirteen (audiobook)

Title: Lean Mean Thirteen

Author: Janet Evanovich

Read by: Lorelei King

Pub. Date: June 2007

Series: Stephanie Plum Series Book #13

Synopsis: Plucky, bumbling New Jersey bounty hunter Plum is reunited with her two-timing lawyer ex-husband, Dickie Orr, while doing a favor for the mysterious, sexy Ranger. But when Dickie disappears from his house leaving behind only bloodstains and bullet holes, Plum becomes the prime suspect in his alleged murder.
Determined to clear her name, Plum and her on-again off-again Trenton cop boyfriend, the irresistible Joe Morelli, uncover Dickie's ties to a shady group of men involved in everything from money laundering to drug running. And when Dickie's jilted business partners decide Stephanie holds the key to the $40 million they believe Dickie stole from them, she's in for a wild ride.

With the author's usual cast of eccentric side characters-everything from a taxidermist with a penchant for bombs to a grave-robbing tax man-Evanovich proves once again that Stephanie Plum and her entourage are here to stay.

Recommended Reading:
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum Series #14) by Janet Evanovich
Eleven on Top (Stephanie Plum Series #11) by Janet Evanovich
To the Nines (Stephanie Plum Series #9) by Janet Evanovich

Received: August 2008 Mailed to: Michigan February 2009

Thirteen Moons

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier

My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Charles Frazier. I enjoyed this book much more than Cold Mountain (maybe because the story was "fresh" because there isn't a movie). The story was funny, heart-wrenching and just plain good.

Pub. Date: October 2006

Synopsis: At the age of twelve, under the Wind moon, Will is given a horse, a key, and a map, and sent alone into the Indian Nation to run a trading post as a bound boy. It is during this time that he grows into a man, learning, as he does, of the raw power it takes to create a life, to find a home. In a card game with a white Indian named Featherstone, Will wins – for a brief moment – a mysterious girl named Claire, and his passion and desire for her spans this novel. As Will’s destiny intertwines with the fate of the Cherokee Indians – including a Cherokee Chief named Bear – he learns how to fight and survive in the face of both nature and men, and eventually, under the Corn Tassel Moon, Will begins the fight against Washington City to preserve the Cherokee’s homeland and culture. And he will come to know the truth behind his belief that “only desire trumps time.”


Recommended Reading:
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
Three Junes by Julia Glass
Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles

Received: January 2008 Kept

2008 In Review

Well, another year of books read. I'm bumping up 2009's goal to 60. Now that I've gotten a few of the door stoppers (Harry Potter and Diana Gabaldon) off my shelf, I can handle reading a few more books in the coming year.
Books Read: 45
Audiobooks: 22
Uncompleted Books: 6
Uncompleted Audiobooks: 5

Favorites:
Strange Candy by Laurell K. Hamilton: A fantastic collection of short stories.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier: I love this book. It was everything that I love about the movie and more.
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling: Amazing right up to the last page. I feel like I've lost a friend with the end of the series, but look forward to seeing what Rowling follows up with.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield: A twisted, dark fairy tale.
The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee: A wonderful and witty bit of chick-lit.
On Writing by Stephen King: It's hard to define why I liked this book. Maybe the fact that he had me laughing on the first page and his humor continued throughout the book. Or maybe the fact that it was honest and unpretentious writing. Every writer, whether a Stephen King fan or not, should read this.
Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series. These books are doorstoppers, but so durn good!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NIght-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon


My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
A fast read. Funny and sad.


Pub. Date: May 2004

Synopsis: Christopher Boone is a fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a great deal about math and very little about human beings. When he finds his neighbors's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his world upside down.

Recommended Reading:
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Robert Nemiroff