Half Broke Horses

by Jeannette Walls. A 'sort of' moir of Jeannette's maternal grandmother. She called it a novel although the stories were recounted by Jeannette's mother Rosemary regarding her mother and her childhood.

A Soft Place to Land

By Susan Rebecca White

The Year of Living Biblically

This memoir from AJ Jacobs was my October book, although it went into November til I finished reading it. My daughter has this as her next book club selection and I had wanted to read it since I heard about it. Very interesting premise, well written. It makes me think about some of the Biblical laws and how to follow them. Also makes me think about tolerance and the outlook of religions towards each other. Will keep this for future reference and have added other books by this author to my to be read list.

Day After Night

by Anita Diamant Intresting story about a portion of history that I knew nothing about. It was based on the true story of the October 1945 rescue of two hundred (plus) prisonsers from an internment camp name Atlit. The camp was run by the British for 'illegal' immigrants to Isreal immediately after the second World War. Very thought provoking.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Second novel in the 'triloby' by Steig Larsson. I like this one much better than the first. It was easier to get into from the beginning. Awesome plot twists and turns, ending was great, need to read the next one SOON!

Needles and Pearls

A sequel to "The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club", this book by Gil Mcneil picked up where the first novel left off. The story has a nice, cozy feel and one can envision meeting the characters in a knitting store one day. This book brought the story around nicely and answered some questions left from the first book.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

This was an ARC by Tom Franklin that I got through Bookbrowse.com. Predictable mystery, likeable characters, quick read.

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood I liked it, however, I'm fairly certain that I have read the book before. This was one of the reasons that I wanted to start a blog--to keep track of books I've read so that I don't re-read unless I want to. Back to the book-the story line was similar to a lot of books around lately--group of women who develop friendships over a shared interest. I liked some characters here more than others. There were one or two that felt very stereotypical.

September memoir

90 minutes in heaven by Dan Piper. Not at all what I expected or was hoping for. There was a relatively brief description of his time in heaven and then the rest of the book concentrated on his long, painful recovery. I was also disappointed in his seeming lack of desire to tell his story after he recovered.

Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this book since my daughter didn't like it and we usually have similar taste in books. I wouldn't say it is the best book ever, but I did find the information about Detroit history and hermaphrodite--ism interesting. The voice of the narrator was compelling. I loved the picture that these particular words painted--"It was the custom in those days for passengers leaving for America to bring balls of yarn on deck. Relatives on the pier held the loose ends. As the Giulia blew its horn and moved away from the dock, a few hundred strings of yarn stretched across the water. People shouted farewells, waved furiously, held up babies for last looks they wouldn't remember. Propellers churned; handkerchiefs fluttered, and, up on deck, the balls of yarn began to spin. Red, yellow, blue, green, they untangled toward the pier, slowly at first, one revolution every ten seconds, then faster and faster as the boat picked up speed. Passengers held the yarn as long as possible, maintaining the connection to the faces disappearing onshore. But finally, one by one, the balls ran out, The strings of yarn flew free, rising on the breeze." page 64

Memoir for August--Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen This book was not what I expected. I did find some parts funny, but there were also some parts that slightly offended. In the process of gently poking fun at her upbringing, she at times turned her family members into caricatures.

Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith Loved it!

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister I picked this up during one of my visits to Borders. It was on the 'buy one, get on 50% off' table. The book follows a pattern that seems to have gotten popular over the past two years--a book about a group of people with a common interest who meet weekly and learn and share their lives. The writing in the book was beautiful, very descriptive and melodic. The one negative, which might be a consequence of the genre, was that the 'story' ultimately did not go anywhere. I apparently am getting tired of the genre. Will try to hold off from the pull of these books for a while.

Same Kind of Different as Me Denver Moore and Ron Hall-This was my memoir for July. I waited a long time to receive it from paperbackswap.com. It was well worth the wait. Although it was at times difficult to read due to the language and the realities of Denver's life, it enriched me to get a glimpse of the friendship that developed between the two men and the courage of Ron's wife.

The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble. Easy read. Good portrait of the tenants of a NYC apartment building. The characters felt real.

South of Broad by Pat Conroy I very much looked forward to this book because I have other Conroy works such as Beach Music and Prince of Tides very much. This one wasn't quite up to previous standards, but it was a moving tribute to friendship. At times the author used quite beautiful descriptive language. The plot was good, but at the end I felt that he added sidelines that were not necessary.

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy Another heartwarmer by this author. Liked the characters and the tone.

John Hart The Last Child

The Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanna Fluke After four of her books, reading about the characters feels a little like catching up with old friends. Some of the storylines could move a little quicker, she feels like she is covering old ground, but overall an easy, relaxing read.

Handle with Care Jodi Picoult I have been telling myself after the last several Jodi Picoult books that I have read my last one. I'll say it again this time and hope I mean it. I get that she writes about difficult subject matter, but there was too much pain in this book. Too much was wrong in the family. It became overdone and unbelievable. Horrible ending.