One For The Money

Penned By: Janet Evanovich

What happens when you mix a New Jersey girl desperate for money with a bunch of criminals, a couple sharp prostitutes, and some really hot guys? Crazy antics and great hilarity ensues. This action packed book follows Stephanie Plum as she enters into her career as a skip-tracer for her bail bondsman cousin. With her street smarts, determination, and fun personality Stephanie is an inspirational and admirable character. This is mystery, romance, and comedy for grown-ups without being overly "grown up."

Quote: "This whole deal was now in the ballpark of doubledare, and childish as it might be, I was not going to walk away from the challenge."

Genus: Whodunit....

Era: Older is Better

Difficulty: 3

Determination: Casual Read

Series: 1st of 18 and 4 companion books

Formats: Print & Audio       Ebook

Film: Yes, in theaters now!

Your type of tale? Try these: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot, and The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun

Cool Stuff: Movie Official Page      Online Store      Stephanie Plum Bio 

LitPool Mentions: The Cat Who Came to Breakfast

Ugly to Start With

Penned By: John Michael Cummings

Follow Jason through a series of defining moments in his adolesence. Well described details bring to life the characters and scenes so the reader feels as if they are in the room themeselves. Explore a place where history is a way of life and the main characters struggle to live in their own time. Though the book is a series of related short stories the writing smoothly flows and allows the reader to move from one to the next without difficulty.

Quote: "Life, I thought, was like finger-painting with a hopeless mess of gruesome colors. You kept smudging it around until you got it right."

Genus: Literary Minded

Era: Everyone

Difficulty: 2

Determination: Casual read

Series: No

Film: No

Your type of tale? Try these: Holes by Louis Sachar, That Was Then, This Was Now by S.E. Hinton, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Cool Stuff: Publisher's page      Harpers Ferry National Historical Park      Author Interview

The Cat Who Came to Breakfast

As you can see, my much loved copy.
Our cat Blue chewed on the corner
when it was under my bed.

Penned By: Lilian Jackson Braun

I just discovered that earlier this month Lilian Jackson Braun Bettinger passed away at the age of 97. Read the New York Times article. In honor of her passing I am reviewing my favorite of her Cat Who novels.

It is not the first in the fun series, but reading these books in order is not required for understanding. A lighthearted murder mystery that seems to step back into time or another, gentler world. Join Qwilleran and his cat's, Koko and YumYum, as their vacation goes awry and a saboteur(?) runs amok. If you like mysteries, cats, and witty informative writing this is a book for you.

Quote: "No one would believe that a man of his size, intelligence, education, and wealth could be tyrannized by a ten-pound animal."

Genus: Whodunit

Era: Everyone

Difficulty: 2

Determination: Casual read  

Series: Yes - Cat Who

Film:   No

Your type of tale? Try these: Pay Dirt by Rita Mae Brown,  One for the Money by Janet Evanovich, The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Ready to buy it?

Kim Asks About Her Future With Ernesto

Penned By: Dan Crawley

This tale is what is known as flash fiction, a newly popular and extremely short form of short stories. (I guess you could say LitPool is the flash blog of book reviews.) I explain because in order to review something that is less than 400 words is difficult... and brief.

Actions speak louder than words but words are sometimes needed to explain ones actions. In this very carefully worded tale a woman decides her life direction with a hug.

Quote: "He imperceptibly -- maybe a quick wince in his left eye -- flinched as she came at him."

Genus: Flash in the Pan 

Era: Older is Better

Difficulty: 2

Determination: Casual read

Series: No

Film: No

Your type of tale? Try these: One Of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Powder by Tobias Wolff, Come into the Garden, Maud by Don Nigro

Kim Asks About Her Future With Ernesto is published at Glossolalia so go ahead and read it now!

The Host

Promotion Picture

Penned By: Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer says that this is "sci-fi for people who don't like sci-fi." I like sci-fi and I love, loved this book (it was better than the Twilight series!) This character driven tale is an adult novel, not young adult. It's not violent or overly sexual but the characters are adults with adult lives and adult issues. With that said it had many of the twists and plot turns that so many have come to love in young adult literature. Melanie and Wanda battle for their lives, their loves, and their people. Who are these two women and who has it the right of it? This is a tale of aliens and a common tale of old told in a whole new way.

Quote: "My house, my rules."

Genus: Tech Minded

Era: Everyone

Difficulty: 3

Determination: Casual read

Series: No, though the end is definitely left open and there has been some contemplation out there about a sequel, Stephenie Meyer has never made any indication that she intends to write another.

Film: Though it has been slated to go to the big screen since September, 2009 nothing has been nailed down as of yet.

Your type of tale? Try these: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Q-Space by Greg Cox

I had a really hard time coming up with suggestions for this book because I haven't read anything else quite like it. Has anyone read The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney and this book? What would the comparisons be? Is there any better suggestions you may have?

Ready to buy it?

Jacob Have I Loved

Photograph by: Amber Murray

Penned By: Katherine Paterson

Twins are an intriguing topic and are a common subject in literature. Often twins are seen as almost mystically connected and two halves of one person. Jacob Have I Loved takes the biblical tact and tells a story of twin sisters who are more disconnected than cats and dogs.  If you've ever been that person that is never "cared for", simply because you're capable of taking care of yourself - this is the book for you. One sister coddled and cared for since birth learns to take for herself and the other left to fend for herself, learns to sacrifice. Is it as the "hated" sister sees it? Or is their hardworking parents love equal but different? Step into a world of 70 years ago on a tiny island and discover that family was just as complicated then as it is now.

Quote: "At bedtime Caroline finally remembered that she had a sister."

Genus: Literary Minded

Era: Everyone

Difficulty: 2

Determination: Casual Read

Series: No

Film: Yes, made for TV in 1989

Your type of tale? Try these: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi, And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle, My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews (Era: Older is Better)

What do you think of my suggested books? Are there other books you would suggest more?

Ready to buy it?