Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult
(5 out of 5)

Desires of the Dead is the second book in The Body Finder Series.  This books starts out a few months after The Body Finder.  Violet right away finds a body of a little boy and she starts getting calls from a Sara Priest of the FBI.  Sara and her associate Rafe know Violet has some sort of ability and want her to work with them.  Violet doesn't want to get involved.  She has kept her secret this long and doesn't feel like sharing now.  Then she becomes the object of someones dangerous obsession.  Normally she would turn to Jay but he has started hanging out with the new kid Mike more and more and since becoming a couple she feels like their relationship has changed a lot.  When Violet starts digging into Mike's tragic family history she stumbles upon a dark truth that could put everyone in danger.

Violet and Jay stumble a little in their relationship in this book but I think that's normal when you go from being best friends to being girlfriend and boyfriend.  I think Violet overreacted a little.  Your partner isn't always going to agree with you and that can hurt.  You can't break up with them over everything they disagree with you about.  I know this was a big thing but she should have talked with him sooner then she did.  Because he did end up being right about part of it.  You learn as you go and every relationship has their trials.  I liked this one just as much as the first one and I am anxiously awaiting the third one.  There will be a fourth book.  Yeah!

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult
(5 out of 5)

I really really enjoyed this book.  Once I read the excerpt provided on the authors website I couldn't even wait to get it at the library I decided to buy the e-book.  I read a lot, so it's not like I haven't read this type of story before but it was the way she told the story.  It drew me in and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  I had to wait a whole day to buy it since my computer decided to get a virus and it was a Saturday/Sunday thing and the book wouldn't be in the library until Monday.  But my husband fixed my computer and on Sunday I bought it and I had it read by that night and I had to read the next one.  Thankfully I had the forethought to order that one with the first one.  I was able to pick that up on Monday.  Since I was off that day I had that read in one day.  These books are just that good.  Or at least I think so.  Now I have to wait for book three since the library doesn't have it. 

Violet Ambrose is a typical sixteen year old when it comes to her first issue.  She is crushing hard on her best friend Jay Heaton.  They have been friends since childhood and she's not sure what do about these new feelings she has towards him.  Then when it comes to the second issue it isn't so typical.  She is able to sense dead bodies.  Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes the dead leave behind in the world...and the imprints that attach to their killers.  At first it was only dead animals that called to her.  But then when she was eight she found a murdered young girl.

Violet never has thought of her power as a gift but now that her town is being terrorized by a serial killer she may be the only one able to stop him.  With the help of Jay she sets out to find the killer.  She may even end up falling in love along the way if she doesn't become prey herself.

I think that the New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray says it best about this book, "You'll be drawn in by the love story-and kept up all night by the suspense." from the front cover.

Enthralled by Various Authors

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I came across Enthralled because I wanted to read the story in it by Kelley Armstrong.  Then after I kept reading it because it had so many great stories by the other great authors.  My only complaint is that I hate short stories.  They are just too short.  They just start to get really good and then they are over.  But this anthology has quite a few authors in it that have short stories from their series.

Kelley Armstrong's Facing Facts continues Chloe Saunders story from The Darkest Powers series.

Melissa Marr's Merely Mortal has Keenan and Donia from her Wicked Lovely series.

Jeri Smith-Ready's Bridge is about Logan from her Shade trilogy.

I found a great new book series and author Kimberly Derting (reviews to come) her story Skin Contact is wrapped in the world of her Body Finder Series.

Rachel Caine's Automatic is about Michael from her Morganville series.

There are several other great stories and they may have to do with series but I'm not familiar with them.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

The Calling is the second book part of the second trilogy in the Darkest Powers/Darkness Rising series.  Let me try and break it down.  The Darkest Powers series started with Chloe.  Those books were The Summoning, The Awakening, and The Reckoning.  In this trilogy you learned about the Edison group and Project Genesis, which happened to be Chloe, Derek, Simon, Tori, and the other kids.  Chloe is a necromancer, Derek is a werewolf, Simon is a wizard, and Tori is a witch. 

Then I was excited to find out that there is a short story called Facing Facts continuing right after The Reckoning in the anthology Enthralled.  If you go here http://www.darkestpowers.com/blog/ and start with May you get to read a free story from Derek's point of view that starts off from the story in Enthralled.  But you better hurry because I don't know how much longer it will be on the blog for free.  And it's a good story.  I love these characters.  I wish she would write more about them.  That's probably why I like the Darkness Rising series so much because it's same world and at the end of this book it hints towards a run in with these characters.  My fingers are crossed.

In  the first book The Gathering you meet Maya.  You find out that Maya lives in a relatively small community that is also run by the St. Clouds which are part of the Edison Group.  Maya has a best friend Daniel and then she meets Rafe and finds out she is a skin walker.  She can shift into a cat.  At the end of The Gathering there is a forest fire and Maya, Daniel, Rafe, Nicole, Haley, Samantha, Corey, and the Mayor which is Nicole's dad are airlifted out in a helicopter.  That is how The Calling begins.

When The Calling begins it becomes apparent right away that the pilot isn't taking them where he says he is and it quickly spirals out of control.  Rafe falls out of the plane, the plane crashes, and the mayor dies.  Now they are stranded in the middle of nowhere hunted but people they don't know.  The kids soon find out that they were experiments in Project Phoenix and that Project Genesis was a failure. Oh and Maya's biological father is one of the men after them.  Towards the end of the book all have been captured but Maya, Daniel, and Corey.  All they have is a contact name and no way of knowing how to find him.  I am so ready for the third book but unfortunately it probably won't be out until next year.  I always seem to be waiting.

Last Breath by Rachel Caine

I did it. I made it through a whole series about the same character and I can't wait for book 12 coming out May 1st. I sometimes have trouble with a long series. Don't get me wrong I love series books like J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books, love her. Each book focuses on a new character but you still get glimpses of the other characters. With series like The Morganville Vampires about the same character I tend to get bored, but Ms. Caine kept me interested from start to finish. I love Claire, Shane, Michael, Eve, Myrnin, Amelie, and even Oliver.

The Morganville world has sucked me in and I'm glad that there will at least be two more books in the series, hopefully more. I do feel bad for them because it seems like they are always having to rescue and save the town but I guess that comes with the territory when you live with vampires. I wish they could have a vacation but the only time they tried to get out of Morganville they ran into a bunch of trouble so it seems to follow them around. I like that the author keeps it fresh with the enemy problems. She doesn't make it the same over and over again which is nice. That would get old. The cliff hanger endings for the first 5 or 6 books helped with keeping them interesting and spurred me on. Towards the end she stops with the cliff hangers and she adds chapters of Shane, Michael, Eve, and Amelie narrating which is cool. This is a great series. If you enjoy vampire fiction I think you will really like this series.

Coping with Kidney Disease: A 12-Step Treatment Program to Help You Avoid Dialysis by Mackenzie Walser

This is the type of book that no one wants to read, but reads by necessity,
probably because a family member is experiencing kidney failure. That said, of
the books I have looked at that deal with kidney disease, which is 2 so far, this is
the better book. Mackenzie Walser has credentials - he is a professor at Johns
Hopkins University's School of Medicine. And while he has an agenda, namely
that a low-protein diet will help stave off dialysis for those with end-stage renal
disease, that conclusion seems reasonable given all the evidence amassed in the book. '

This book provides a good review of the urinary system, and the causal agents
behind kidney disease. It makes a good case for getting high blood pressure and
blood sugar under control, especially for people in middle-age who haven't gotten
any other life-threatening diseases undermining their health. The book points to
diabetes and hypertension (the diseases that go along with high blood sugar and
high blood pressure) as preventable problems which lead people down the path
to kidney disease. It also makes crystal clear how very dangerous kidney disease
is, and has certainly motivated me to take another look at my eating and exercise
habits!

Walser also explains what kidney patients can do when their condition has gotten
to that point of no return, like dialysis and transplantation. His case studies are
interesting, and my only criticism would be that he doesn't have a chart on every
page (or at least on one page!) of what normal lab levels would be for things like
creatinine and AST. Not being a medical professional, I had to constantly rely on
him to tell me what normal levels were (and what those chemicals indicated
about kidney disease!) However, I don't think other non-medical professionals
thinking about reading this book should be put off by that. The book is still an
invaluable addition to the library of any family with someone in renal failure. It
provides answers to questions they haven't even asked yet, and because of that,
provides ways to keep their loved ones alive longer, which should be the point of
any medical treatment.

Submitted by Gerti

The Top 10 Distinctions between Millionaires and the Middle Class by Keith Cameron Smith

This is a simple book that cannot be put down. Unlike many other books on how
to garner financial success, this is a slim volume, filled with short words, making
it a perfect quick read. Keith Cameron Smith lays the book out in 10 easy
chapters of about 10 pages a piece. This makes the book a quick course on how
to think like a millionaire, readable in an afternoon.

Smith does not have any research at his disposal to back up his claims, but the
points he makes are simple to understand and seemingly simple to implement.
He uses snazzy catch phrases like "Millionaire work for profits. The middle class
works for wages." I suppose he already knows that the book will be read by folks
in the middle classes. Nonetheless, he describes some of his own work history
and job experience, which backs up his theories.

While I am disturbed by the lack of research, his catch phrases are appealing,
and his goals seem easy to implement. One of the things that stands out most to
me is near the end, where Smith talks about how millionaires use their money not
to buy things, but to buy other assets. By this he means that they spend their
wages to buy what makes more money for them, like real estate and stock. This
idea resonates, especially after the enormous lottery jackpot we had recently. It
made me remember all those shows about lottery winners who blow through their
money and are left with nothing. It seems we folks in the middle class have a
tendency to spend our money on hot tubs and big cars, instead of investments
like stock and real estate. We fail to see the big picture or plan for the future,
unlike millionaires, who apparently forgo the hot tub today for the mansion ten
years from now.

While Smith may not have set out a foolproof blueprint for success, he does
present some very intriguing ideas in this slim volume. And with a book this easy
to read, I would recommend it to those people who would like 2012 to be the year
they can stop living paycheck to paycheck, and start making and saving more.

submitted by Gerti