Lover Unleashed by J. R. Ward

Reading Level: Adult
(5 out of 5)

With some authors you can wait for their books to come into the library and you can wait in the hold line patiently for them. With other authors you are at the store as soon as you can be on the day it is released to buy it because there is no waiting. J. R. Ward is one of those authors. I waited a year for this book to come out so I was not waiting any longer. And it was being released on my birthday so it was a birthday present to myself. It was a great present. I'm just sad that I didn't try and slow down because I devoured it within two days and now I have to wait another year for another one.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series is to die for. They just keep getting better and better. But Ms. Ward is being a tease with some of her characters and I'm bursting at the seams to know more. She likes to slip in story lines that never quite get resolved and it just keeps you wanting more. I want more. Like right now not a year from now. If I could live in this world and have my very own vampire warrior I would be a very happy camper. I'm sure they have a library in that big mansion of theirs. I could be their personal librarian. It doesn't really matter if they don't need one. So until the next book I'll try and console myself with other fabulous authors. If you haven't read these books and love sexy vampire stories hurry and check them out now. They are so good.

Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason

Reading Level: Adult

From the back of the book:

When missing teens begin turning up dead in a small Southern town, the FBI sends in Special Agent Samantha Cash to help crack the case. Her methods are invisible, and she never quits until the case is closed.

Homicide detective Connor Wolfe has his hands full. His relationship with his headstrong daughter is in a tailspin, and the string of unsolved murders has the town demanding answers. Connor is running out of ideas and time. Samantha joins Connor in a race against the clock to save the next victim. And the killer starts to get personal.

This is a Christian romance mystery novel. The first in a series called Women of Justice.

The Bikini Car Wash by Pamela Morsi

Reading Level: Adult

Andrea Wolkowicz abandons corporate life to help care for her sister and quickly realizes that her rustic hometown doesn't have any jobs. She revives her father's business: an old fashioned car wash...staffed entirely by bikini clad women. Soon the whole town is in a lather and not all in a good way. Scandalized citizens are howling and neighboring businesses are worried. Someone who is intrigued is straitlaced grocery store owner Pete Guthrie. To him, Andi's brains and bravery are as alluring as the bikini she calls business attire.

This sounds like a good one.

A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic

Reading Level: Adult

This is one I haven't had a chance to read yet but I would like to when I get a chance. The saying, So many books, So little time, is so true.

Taken from the book jacket:

"It should have been an open and shut case." A recently hired history teacher, Samuel Szajkowski, walks into a school assembly with a gun and murders three students and a colleague before turning the weapon on himself. It seems clear that Szajkowski was psychopath beyond help, yet as Detective Inspector Lucia May begins to investigate it doesn't seem so open and shut any more. No one seems interested in the truth just in closing the case quickly. As the pressure to close the case builds and her colleagues' sexism takes a sinister turn, Lucia begins to realize she has more in common with the killer than she could have imagined, and becomes determined to expose the truth.

The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother by Elvira Woodruff

Lexile Level: 740, Grade Level: 3-6

“The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother” by Elvira Woodruff, c1990, is a funny book. I really enjoyed it. Nelly Brown is a girl who wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Her parents are also scientists. Nelly is always performing science experiments. However, she sometimes gets into trouble when the experiments don’t go right. It is the summertime and Nelly’s parents are going on a work vacation to New York. Nelly, however, decides not to go with them but to instead join her grandmother, Emma Brown, at a rented cabin on the seashore. While there, Nelly discovers an ancient looking chemistry set called “McFinney’s Powerful Potions”. With this set, the experimenter is granted one powerful wish. Since Nelly’s grandmother is getting so old, Nelly decides that she will make her grandmother younger. She does but unfortunately her grandmother keeps getting younger and younger, so young that Nelly is afraid she may disappear and she won’t have a grandmother anymore! Read this story to find out what happens!

Submitted by Karin

Naked by David Sedaris

Reading Level: Adult Non-Fiction

I took this book on my recent vacation to the Wisconsin Dells, and found myself awake in the middle of the night reading it. Like other books that Sedaris has written, this book is rich in humor and filled with amusing episodes from Sedaris life. Luckily for me as a reader, Sedaris does all kinds of things I would never consider doing, like hitchhiking across the country or working as a migrant worker, so it gives a great perspective on a way of life that is both funny AND foreign.

Sedaris draws hysterical portraits of other family members, like his sister Lisa and his father. The most touching piece in the collection is a story written after his mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. As always, Sedaris is both touching and amusing, and his writing style and gift for description are nothing short of brilliant. It's always a pleasure to pick up one of his books, and I can't wait till I'm #1 on the wait list of his latest!

Submitted by Gertrude

“The Star Maker” by Lawrence Yep

Grade Level: 3 – 5, Ages 9-12, 112 pages

I just love The Star Maker by Laurence Yep, c 2011. I read one of his other books, Angel Fish, and felt the same way about it. There is something about the way Yep creates his characters and their relationships to one another that leaves me with a good feeling. Through Yep’s stories I have also learned a lot about Chinese customs and what it is like to live in China Town. I have visited the San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago China Towns and along with my family, have always liked Chinese food. So maybe that is why I have an affinity with or interest in China Town. Set in the 1950’s in the San Francisco China Town, “The Star Maker” is based upon Lawrence Yep’s childhood. The story is told from the viewpoint of Artie, an eleven year old boy, who is unpopular with his extended family and who is being bullied by his mean cousin Petey. In order to gain some respect, Artie says he will provide all of the fireworks for the Chinese New Year. Not having any money though, Artie’s Uncle Chester, with whom Artie has a close relationship, saves the day by agreeing to buy them. However, when Uncle Chester falls upon hard times, you wonder how or if he is going to be able to pull this off. Another theme running through the story is how Artie’s Uncle Chester, still single at an older age, meets a woman who becomes special to him. I definitely recommend this book and any of the many other books by Lawrence Yep.

Submitted by Karin