July #11 - A BAD DAY FOR SORRY

Title: A bad day for sorry

Author: Sophie Littlefield

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-55920-5

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Prosper, MO

1st Sentence:

Prologue
Whuppin' ass wasn't so hard, Stella Hardesty thought as she took aim with the little Raven .25 she took off a cheating son-of-a-bitch in Kansas City last month.
What was hard was making sure it stayed whupped.
Especially on a day when it hit a hundred degrees before noon. And you were having hot flashes. And today's quote on your Calendar for Women who Do Too Much read Find serenity in unexpected places.
"Fuck serenity," Stella said. And she shot the trailer.

Comments:

I had to write the author and ask for permission to post the entire prologue because that was really what made me fall in love with Stella Hardesty; that was all I had to read to know I would continue on with this book and then this series. Stella rocks. She helps abusive men see the error of their ways, by whatever means necessary. Stella is definitely NOT your typical character, both in her 50s and menopause (a deadly combo), but I think that is what endeared her to me so much. Well, that and her side profession. Gee, I wish I could have her job.

July #10 - TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

Title: Th1rteen R3asons why

Author: Jay Asher

Publisher: Razor Bill

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59514-171-2

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone YA book

Setting: All over the town

1st Sentence:

"Sir?" she repeats.

Comments:

From the book flap:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on the porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains that there are 13 reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself - a truth he never wanted to face.

So, wow! This book was powerful! moving! stunning! spectacular! One of my top 3 favorites this year.

July #9 - LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS

Title: Living dead in Dallas

Author: Charlaine Harris

Publisher: Ace Books

Copyright: 2002

ISBN: 978-0-441-00923-7

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Bon Temps, LA and Dallas, TX

1st Sentence:

Andy Bellefleur was as drunk as a skunk.

Comments:

I read this years ago but I'm re-reading the series because I'm watching the TrueBlood series on HBO and after Season 1, I noticed some discrepancies and needed to refresh my mind. I've been a big fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books for years. I like the show, but I love the books.

July #8 - SWORN TO SILENCE

Title: Sworn to silence

Author: Linda Castillo

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-37497-6

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting:Painters Mill, OH

1st Sentence:

Prologue
She hadn't believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night.

Comments:

The peaceful town of Painter Mills, OH is changed when a serial killer returns after sixteen years and begins killing young women again. Kate Burkholder was one of the local Amish until she survived a brutal nightmare and left the Amish faith. Now, years later, she's returned to serve as her hometown's Chief of police and she is determined to catch the madman terrorizing her town.

A great story with good timing, but most importantly, I actually liked the characters, Kate, John Tomasetti and the whole crew (Glock, Pickles and Skid). Something that doesn't happen often for me.

July #7 - CHERRY BOMB

Title: Cherry Bomb

Author: JA Konrath

Publisher: Hyperion

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4013-0281-8

Series or stand-alone: #6

Setting: Chicago, IL

1st Sentence:

NOT INCLUDED FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET. GEESH, JA, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I CAN'T PUT THE FIRST SENTENCE ON MY BLOG...

Comments:

I'm sure Mr. Konrath wasn't thinking about THE HOOK, LINE AND STINKER when he wrote the first sentence of CHERRY BOMB, but he should have been.
Well, we find out who died at the end of book #5 in the first sentence of this book, Alexandra Kork is back to finish what she's started. Lt. Jacqueline Daniels teams up with some of her favorite people to play Alex's little game. There are a few small surprises, a few BIG surprises and a killer ending. This book has great pacing and JA's typical whit via his characters. I loved it!

July #6 - SWEETHEART

Title: Sweetheart

Author: Chelsea Cain

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-312-36847-0

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Portland, OR

1st Sentence:

Forest Park was pretty in the summer.

Comments:

The body of a woman is found in the park and it reminds Archie of his first case, the first victim of the Beauty Killer, Gretchen Lowell. Of course, it can't be her, because Gretchen is in prison, but along with Susan Ward, a newspaper journalist, they discover the identity which turns into another big case. Then Gretchen escapes, and Archie knows he is the only one who can stop her for good.

This book was another thrilling ride, but not for the weak of heart. One of my FB friends posted the question on his profile lately: Which fictional character would you least likely want as a boyfriend/girlfriend? My answer is Gretchen Lowell.

July #5 - LIFE ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR

Title: Life on the refrigerator door

Author: Alice Kuipers

Publisher: Harper Collins

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-06-137049-6

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone YA book

Setting: Duluth, MN

1st Sentence:

Hey Claire-Bear,

Comments:

This is a book told in letters or more specific, notes left on the refrigerator door, between a mother and daughter. Claire's mom, Elizabeth, is a single mom and a doctor and doing the best she can. One day she finds a lump and the story goes on from there, between mother and daughter, about coping, handling, adjusting, living and dealing.

I had mixed feelings about this book, some of which I found expressed in another blog post about this book. My biggest complaint: A doctor, an OB-GYN at that, who doesn't have a pager or cell phone? Totally unrealistic.

I guess the book couldn't have been an epistolary if phone conversations were included, but still...

July #4 - ACCIDENTALLY DEAD

Title: Accidentally dead

Author: Dakota Cassidy

Publisher: Penguin Group

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-425-22159-4

Series or stand-alone: #2

Setting: Hackensack, NJ - Long Island, New York

1st Sentence:

"Marty?"

Comments:

This is the second in the series but the first one I read because it has, what else? Vampires. Nina Blackman is doing her job as a dental hygienist when she is bitten and turned into a vampire by one Gregori Statleon. Nina is a fun character - she curses a blue streak, she's confrontational - hey, she's a lot like me!

I would recommend to my other vampire reading friends, but I'd hesitate on offering to people I know who are offended by the F WORD. Nina's pretty fond.
I will go back and find the first book THE ACCIDENTAL WEREWOLF and the next book, THE ACCIDENTAL HUMAN, when time allows.

July #3 - ANSWERING 911: LIFE IN THE HOT SEAT

Title: Answering 911: Life in the hot seat

Author: Caroline Burau

Publisher: Borealis Books

Copyright: 2006

ISBN: 978-0-87351-569-6

Series or stand-alone: Non-fiction

Setting: White Bear Lake, MN

1st Sentence:

Maybe you and I have already spoken, but we didn't exchange names.

Comments:

Since I'm married to a police officer, and for the past 10 years I have heard and seen pieces of "the job", I thought that I could relate to this book. And I did. It is a memoir of a 911 dispatcher, who tells stories that any dispatcher or someone related to law enforcement, knows. Funny, sad, disturbing stories about what human beings can and will do to one another or just what can happen to them as individuals.

I thought the story was good but rated it low at a 3 1/4 star. I would have rated it higher, but the editing was poor and I kept getting yanked out of the book. I read it anyways and I enjoyed it but sometimes not enough is too much.

July #2 - THR3E

Title: Thr3e

Author: Ted Dekker

Publisher: West Bow Press

Copyright: 2003

ISBN: 1-59554-341-4

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Long Beach, CA

1st Sentence:

Friday, noon
The offices had no windows, only electric lanterns to light the hundreds of spines standing in their cherry wood bookcases.

Comments:

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up. 28-year-old theology student Kevin Parsons receives a call one day telling him to confess his sin or else something bad will happen. What happens next is a roller-coaster ride of a cat and mouse game between Kevin and someone named Slater, the crazy cat who knows Kevin's sin. This book was made into a movie, but I recommend reading the book first because the movie WILL give away the ending.

July #1 - NO TIME FOR GOODBYE

Title: No time for goodbye

Author: Linwood Barclay

Publisher: Bantam Books

Copyright: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-553-59042-5

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Milford, CT

1st Sentence:

May 1983
When Cynthia woke up, it was so quiet in the house she thought it must be Saturday.

Comments:

One morning, 14-year-old Cynthia wakes up to find that her entire family has vanished - and never a trace of them - never to return. 25 years later, she'll learn the truth about what happened.

This was a real page-turner and one of my favorite's this year! I gave it 5 stars in my little, handy-dandy book log and I have both of his next books at home, ready to read.

June #7 - FINGER LICKIN' FIFTEEN

Title: Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Author: Janet Evanovich

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-312-38328-2

Series or stand-alone: #15

Setting: Trenton, NJ - THE BURG

1st Sentence:

When I was a kid, I was afraid of spiders and vegetables.

Comments:

It's Evanovich. What else can I say? I fell in love with this series what seems like 20 years ago and I look forward to each new one. This book has typical Stephanie Plum moments and she does some side work for Ranger. This book also features Lula a bit more prominently. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments for me and I was sorry to see it end. Well, I guess I'll just wait another year for #16...

June #6 - IMMORTAL DANGER

Title: Immortal danger

Author: Cynthia Eden

Publisher: Brava

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-7582-2006-8

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting: Los Angeles, Las Vegas

1st Sentence:

Prologue
So this is what death feels like.

Comments:

This book had a good storyline but the language at times bordered on pornographic, so much to the point that I did put it down several times. I would not recommend this to many of my vampire readers unless I knew they could take the language presented in this book without offense.

Adam's niece is kidnapped and he searches out Maya to help him track her. Maya used to be a cop before she was turned; her character is sexy and kick ass. For me, Maya's strong character was the saving grace for this book and I will probably not be reading more of this author's works.

June #5 - BONEMAN'S DAUGHTERS

Title: BoneMan's Daughters

Author: Ted Dekker

Publisher: Center Street

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59995-195-9

Series or stand-alone: Stand-alone

Setting: Austin, TX

1st Sentence:

The day that Ryan Evans's world changed forever began as any other day he'd spent in the hot desert might have begun.

Comments:

This book is a real page-turner! Ryan is serving as Naval Intelligence in Iraq when he is captured and caused to witness some severe atrocities. When he finally makes it out and goes stateside, well more drama. There, the BoneMan has resumed his work and he has someone close to Ryan and engages him in a cat and mouse game.
The book has excellent plotting and moves very fast! I couldn't put it down! One of my favorites of 2009.

June #4 - GONE

Title: Gone

Author: Michael Grant

Publisher: Harper Teen

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-144876-8

Series or stand-alone: #1

Setting:Perdido Beach, CA

1st Sentence:

One
299 hours, 54 minutes
One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone.

Comments:

From the book:

In a small town on the coast of California, everyone over the age of fourteen suddenly disappears, setting up a battle between the remaining town residents and the students from a local private school, as well as those who have "the Power" and are able to perform supernatural feats and those who do not.

Reminiscent of LORD OF THE FLIES and with several stereotypical characters, although it was large book (coming in at 558 pages!) it kept my interest and I'll be looking for the second book HUNGER to see if some questions are answered as it just kind of ended. Then I found out it is supposed to be a six-book series, so I guess that answers one question!

Another reviewer said it reminded them of the book THE GIRL WHO OWNED A CITY. Great, another book to look up! Just what I need...

June #3 - OVER MY DEAD BODY

Title: Over my dead body

Author: Michele Bardsley

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22677-8

Series or stand-alone: #5

Setting: Broken Heart, OK

1st Sentence:

Friday, June 21
Killing Braddock Hayes changed my life - such as it was - forever.

Comments:

Simone Sweet is the local mechanic in Broken Heart and has been working on the Invisishield with Brady Hayes. However, she has a secret and she'll do anything to protect it and her daughter. Then her ex-husband shows up and things go all kinds of crazy. This was a quick, fun installment in the series.

Michele's first book made me blush from head to toe; now I rip through them with no problem. Not too much romance; not too much vampire. I think Ms. Bardsley doles out a great combination to satisfy both camps.

June #2 - CARPE CORPUS

Title: Carpe Corpus

Author: Rachel Caine

Publisher: Nal Jam

Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-451-22719-5

Series or stand-alone: #6

Setting: Morganville, TX

1st Sentence:

"Happy birthday, honey!"

Comments:

Bishop is ruling with a heavy hand and keeping a death grip on the town. But a resistance is brewing and people of importance are trying to bring him down. Vampires are still going crazy and he may be the only one to help them.

This book had the intro to some great new characters. My favorite was Ada.

I've been reading vampires since before they were cool and this is one of my top favorite YA vampire series.

June #1 - KITTY AND THE SILVER BULLET

Title: Kitty and the silver bullet

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Copyright: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-446-61875-5

Series or stand-alone: #4

Setting: Denver, CO

1st Sentence:

I hated the smell of this place: concrete and institutional.

Comments:

A good installment in this series. Kitty is called back to Denver because her mom is sick and she finds herself in the middle of some vampire wars. This book had a lot going on to progress the series and I'm looking forward to #5.