Sunday Salon -- Another Two Books This Week

LET THE WARS RAGE ON!!!! --- 5 OF 5 STARS


If you've read my last few reviews, you'll already know that I am on a quest to read only great books for the rest of this year. I'm not looking for mediocre; I'm not looking for good; I'm looking for flat out great books. I've been right on target with many of my recent reads....Cutting For Stone, The Help, That Old Cape Magic...and now it was time for Philippa Gregory's newest, The White Queen. Before I start reading a book, I usually come to Amazon and glance at the reviews. And I do mean "glance" when I say it because many of the reviews here give too much away. Needless to say, when I saw all of the three and four star ratings, I thought that perhaps I should pass on this one for fear of ruining my "great book run." But I had loved so many of Gregory's other books in the past that I decided to go for it.

Her Boleyn series gave us a look at the Tudor dynasty courtesy of King Henry VIII. This newest book is apparently part of a trilogy which will take us through the Plantagenet reign. The "Plantagenet" reign?? This was one I knew nothing about although, once I started reading and found out it was about the War of the Roses and the Lancasters versus the Yorks, some old history classes started coming back to me. The best part of reading a historical fiction book, about a time in history of which you are ignorant, is that some of it reads like a thriller. Since this book covers the kingdoms of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III, I had no idea when one would end and another would begin. Each time Edward IV went off to war, I waited with bated breath to see if he would return. I read many of these pages as if I was a graduate of the Evelyn Woods' School of Speedreading making my way through them as quickly as I could because I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. As I already mentioned, since I had no recollection of this time in history, I was not sure if Edward was King for a long time or if his reign was short-lived. I didn't know if he died in battle, died of some illness or lived until old age. His death came as a shock to me and what ensued thereafter was even more shocking.

Since this book is mostly about King Edward IV of the York dynasty, it details the battles he fought with cousins and even his own brothers to attain power and then keep it. It is also a story of a King and Queen who actually loved each other and struggled to maintain power and peace so as to pass the reign on to their son Edward V. Unfortunately, it is also a story of a family with a curse and that is the curse of ambition. While Edward's family is fighting amongst themselves as to which brother should really be on the throne, it is his wife Elizabeth Woodville's family who is causing most of the problems. When King Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville (in secret), she was a commoner. So her family's rise to prominence is not taken too kindly by England's nobility. In the end, this is the story of how the great Plantagenet family finally destroyed themselves in a bloody struggle known as the War of the Roses.

Midway through the book, I was still wondering what all of these reviewers were complaining about because I really thought this book was so darn good. It has everything I'm looking for in historical fiction....intrigue, betrayal, adventure, deceit, death and, of course, love, And while Edward and Elizabeth were hoping to continue a dynasty with their son Edward V, it is their daughter Elizabeth who will create her own dynasty when she marries Henry VII of the Tudor family. She will become the mother of Henry VIII and will also be the subject of the third book in this trilogy called The White Princess. But first we'll get to see the real power behind Henry VII in Gregory's next book, The Red Queen, which covers Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort.

So while historically this period in history is mostly remembered for its wars, Gregory brings to light what went on beyond the battles and I found this family every bit as fascinating as the Tudors. Let the wars rage on until the next book comes out.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH, HARRY BOSCH IN FOR THE CLOSE -- 5 OF 5 STARS

I'm on a mission right now to get all caught up with the Harry Bosch series in time to read Connelly's newest, Nine Dragons, when it comes out in October. I have Echo Park and The Overlook to finish in order to be ready in time. That sounds like a quest I might be able to accomplish.

In starting The Closers, once again, I had no idea what closers were. I knew what it was in baseball but had no idea what it was in "Harry Bosch Land". The explanation comes pretty quickly in the book when Connelly explains that it's very much like the pitchers who come in for the ninth inning to win or lose the game. But in this case, it's the homicide detectives who come in after many year have gone by and try to close out a case. What they do is apply new techniques and technology to old cases that have gone unsolved. Right now you're probably thinking that it sounds like the TV show Cold Case and you would be right. And, in The Closers, Bosch has come out of retirement and is back at the LAPD working those unsolved cases. In the Los Angeles police department, they say it's the noblest place to work because "a city that forgets its murder victims is a city lost." Harry Bosch will now become the voice of all of these murder victims and, one by one, he will give them and their families what rightfully belongs to them.....their killers.

I sometimes think that no one writes a police procedural better than Michael Connelly. This author knows that while Bosch is trying to solve the crime, so are his readers. He makes sure that Bosch covers every angle and does it in such a way that the reader isn't scratching his/her head wondering why he did what he did. Because when Connelly writes a book, it all just makes sense. There is no confusion when you get to the end of the book. You know how you got there and why you got there.

In The Closers, there was never a moment where I was bored and never a page I didn't find interesting. The case Harry is following is one that took place in 1988 when racial relations between the police department and the community were at a simmer getting ready to boil over. A sixteen year old bi-racial girl had been taken from her home and shot in the chest. Autopsy reports will reveal things her parents and friends didn't know. Harry will uncover things he feels the department pushed under the rug. New DNA technology will lead him to a suspect. While all this is going on, fingers will point to Harry's nemesis Chief Irvin Irving. There's not a fan out there who wouldn't love to see Harry take this guy down. And one of the best things is that Harry is partnered once again with Kiz Rider....a definite fan favorite relationship.

Readers will find that Harry is the perfect detective for this job because he just doesn't give up and, since the crime is so old, there's no one breathing down his neck to get it solved. His only problem will come when he tries to resurrect the old records better known as "the murder book." Many things have been lost, some things have been intentionally removed and other things have been filed in the wrong place. But since Harry is so great at reading between the lines and analyzing each case to the bone, the freedom for these killers will be short-lived. One by one he is going to find them and is going to give one last voice to the victims. That voice is going to be saying, "I can finally rest."

Let's put it this way, Harry could pitch for my team in the 9th inning any day he wants.

Sunday Salon -- Two New Reviews

LOST ON BROAD STREET -- 4 OF 5 STARS


Most of the reviews I've read on this book read like a broken record..."I've waited so long for Conroy to write a new book", "I so wanted to love it and I didn't" or "It didn't live up to my expectations". And these are the reviews from longtime Conroy fans. Yet, even with all of this, most reviewers admit that even a "not great" Conroy book is far better than most of what else is out there. So will my review read like these broken records?...no. But I will say that somewhere along the way, when Conroy was walking "south of Broad", he turned left when he should have turned right and what we're left with is the problem most of the reviewers are writing about.

The book is divided into five parts. While reading the first part, I emailed a friend of mine telling her that I was 100 pages into South of Broad and loving every word I was reading. So, at this point, I couldn't understand all of the so-so reviews. Then I got to Part 2 and I started to understand. Part 3 justified these so-so feelings. Thank goodness for Part 4 and Part 5....otherwise this review might have been heading south all on its own.

It all begins on Bloomsday, June 16, 1969, when, as an upcoming high school senior, Leopold Bloom King meets eight people who will change his life forever. All in one day, his future will be set out before him as it is these eight people who will become his lifelong friends. For those of you who don't know the significance of Bloomsday, it refers to James Joyce's novel Ulysses where all the events take place on the same day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin and, the main character in Joyce's novel happens to be named Leopold Bloom. So it almost makes sense that our Leopold Bloom King will have events occur all on the same day that will shape his life as well. Just in case you're wondering, Leo's mother is also a Joycean scholar and lives and breathes everything James Joyce.

So begins our journey into Leo King's life (better known to his friends as The Toad). As I mentioned before, the book is divided into five parts. The first part delves into Leo's life as a child, living through his own brother's suicide and the ramifications of what this can do to a young child. By the end of Part 1, he has been through hell and back and is ready to begin his senior year of high school, where his mother is the principal and his father is a science teacher. Nobody can tell a story like Conroy and he excels in this part of the book. He tells of Leo's morning newspaper route and I swear no one could make a mundane task such as this sound so exhilerating. In this section, he also explains Leo's upbringing as a Catholic, with a mother who is an ex-nun and whose after newspaper route routine includes serving as an altarboy at morning mass every day. Having grown up going to Catholic elementary school with three brothers who were all altarboys, I could so relate to this part. I could almost smell Conroy's description when he says, "the smell of the Catholic world washed over me" as Leo is entering the church to serve mass.

Part 2 fast forwards to twenty years later when Leo is now working for the same newspaper he delivered every morning as a teenager. All of his friends are still with him and, as a reader, it is fun to catch up with what they have done with their lives. Part 3 finds them all heading out to San Francisco in search of one of the infamous eight who has gone missing. It is these two parts that fell short for me and I can't put my finger on the reason but trust me.....it will happen to you as well. At this point, I emailed that same friend and said I hope one of the later parts of the book brings me back to his life as a senior in high school because so far Conroy hadn't shed any light on those years. Conroy did not disappoint and, once again, writes a good section in Part 4 about this time in the friends' lives. The last section, Part 5, brings us up-to-date with all of them once again, in 1989, as they try to stave off the wind and rain of Hurricane Hugo, while at the same time trying to keep out of the line of fire of someone who is bent on killing them all.

Yes, you read right. Conroy has a killer in this book. This is the part that I just didn't get and didn't feel the need. There's so much I could write about this book but I have to remember that I'm writing a review and not an English paper. This is one author whose descriptions and storytelling I like much more than his dialogue (in this book at least). I felt the dialogue was a bit fatuous (for lack of a better word) and most times, I just didn't like the repartee between the characters.

But the best part of the book is about Charleston itself. Because many of these characters are hurting and Charleston is a city "who" can actually heal you. Let's face it -- Charleston is as real a person as the characters in this book are and, perhaps, as real as Pat Conroy himself. This book is a love affair with Charleston as much as it is a testament to James Joyce's Bloomsday. I finished this book and wanted to book the first flight out to South Carolina. But I also have to say that this book also says something about Conroy's life as a Catholic because he's obviously trying to lash out for something that might have happened to him or someone he knows. Again, growing up as a Catholic, I can totally feel his pain.

Is this a book I won't forget? -- Yes. Is this a book I would recommend to my friends? -- No. The reason is that I only recommend great books to my friends and this is just a "good book". Sad to say, it's just not vintage Conroy. But is he still one of my favorite authors of all time....the unequivocal answer is YES!!!

Is There Anything Sweeter Than Vengeance? --5 of 5 stars

At the beginning of every Christopher Reich story, I usually find myself wondering why I read this author's books because the first fifty pages make me so darn nervous. I guess the answer would be found in a similar question..."Why does someone ride a roller coaster?" They do so because it gives them the chills, a thrill and that sudden quiver of excitement. Well, I read Reich's books for the same reason and he is one author who has yet to disappoint me.

But my real question is.....how is Reich not on the tip of everyone's tongue when they talk about the best mystery/thriller authors out there? When this category comes up, readers always think of Connelly and Lehane and Finder. But guess what....it should be Connelly, Lehane, Finder AND Reich. In any other Reich review I've ever written, I usually talk about how I discovered him all on my own some years ago when he penned Numbered Account (a favorite). I've read everything since so I now consider myself not only a fan but an expert on this author.

Last year, he delighted his fans by starting a series with Dr. Jonathan Ransom as the main character. Working for Doctors Without Borders, he was the perfect protagonist as his job takes him around the world. But it wasn't just Jonathan we were following. It was also his wife Emma who, we found out in Rules of Deception, works for a secret US agency referred to as "Division". This agency does things even the CIA and FBI can't touch. "Deception" ended on such a note that Emma was forced to go into hiding while Jonathan returned to Africa, once again helping those in need. Vengeance finds them meeting up again in London but this will be no honeymoon for The Ransoms. Considering that this doctor is married to someone who is a secret spy/assassin means that their marriage is not going to include a white picket fence and a dog.

There is one thing I can say about Christopher Reich and that is you can never figure out where he is going with a story until HE decides you are going to get there. And, once you do arrive, he still confuses you to the point of wanting to email him and ask him exactly what is going on. You think you know how it ends, but you probably won't know if you're right until the next book comes out.

I'm a huge proponent of reading books in order and honestly feel that to really appreciate Rules of Vengeance, you should read Rules of Deception first. This way you can understand the relationship between husband and wife or, dare I say, mentor and apprentice. For it's hard for this doctor to be married to this woman and not have some of her expertise rub off on him. And it is this rubbing off that will save Jonathan's life as he escapes from the police when he is accused of doing something his wife has done. As everyone is searching for Emma Ransom (after she car bombed a Russian convoy), they feel the only way to catch up with her is to follow her husband. The chase is on and it's quite a ride as Jonathan has them traveling from country to country in Emma's pursuit. But while they just want to catch her, Jonathan wants to stop her as he realizes what her next assignment is.

Emma Ransom (although we find out this isn't even her real name) is so diabolical that I can't even imagine this marriage lasting past this book. As I was reading I was thinking, "how can these two even go out for dinner together." I can't imagine where Reich is going to take us in the next book in this series other than having Division recruit Jonathan as one of their own. He certainly has the skills.

So you did good by me Mr. Reich. For all you other reviewers out there, just know that this is one author who reads these reviews. He's great at taking constructive criticism but, as you can imagine, that is something that is not usually dished out on his behalf. Once again, I applaud you on another great one!!!

Sunday Salon Review

I've just joined an online group called The Sunday Salon as indicated in the title of this post. The idea is to post your book reviews each Sunday and everyone in the group will be able to read them. So here's my first of many reviews for this group.

                                        LOOKING FOR THAT HAPPY PLACE

I would like to think of Russo as being one of my favorite authors but don't feel qualified to make that statement since this is only the third book I've read by him....Empire Falls and Bridge of Sighs being the other two. But I will say that I've loved all three and look forward to going back and reading some of his earlier works. So when writing this review, I'm not sure if his writing style has changed or if he has, in fact, gotten better. All I know is that I think he's a great storyteller and That Old Cape Magic keeps proving that point over and over.

I've been so looking forward to August '09 because there were four books coming out that I've been eager to read....South of Broad by Pat Conroy, Rules of Vegeance by Christopher Reich, The White Queen by Philippa Gregory and That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo. I thought I'd start out with the Russo book and right off the bat I've hit a home run. I loved it!!!!!

There are many authors out there who write stories with very little dialogue and, most times, they are not my favorite books simply because the author's storytelling capabilities aren't good enough to pull this off. In Russo's book, I didn't care if the characters said one word to each other because the story he was telling was just so interesting that I failed to notice the lack of discourse.

And boy does Russo love his bridges. I've only read three of Russo's books but each one prominently mentions a bridge. In Empire Falls, it was the Iron Bridge that separated the mansion of the Whiting's from the rest of blue collar Empire Falls. The Bridge of Sighs is an actual bridge located in Venice and it's the last thing a prisoner walks over before being imprisoned in that famous city. Is Russo trying to tell us something? Do his characters cross over into their own prison of sorts as a penance when crossing these bridges? In this book, the bridge of note is the Sagamore Bridge. It represents two weeks of happiness to Jack Griffin's family as it leads to Cape Cod....their ultimate vacation place and their reprieve from the Mid f'n West as his parents liked to call it.

Russo has so many subplots in this book, one of which is the story of a childhood summer on Cape Cod where young Jack meets young Peter Browning and has the most idyllic two weeks of his life as Peter's family is everything Jack wishes his was and Peter is the friend he always wanted. Four decades later, it is this story (Summer of the Brownings) that Jack is destined to tell and it's something he's had in the works for years but he can never seem to finish it. It makes me wonder if this story (That Old Cape Magic) is also something that Russo has been dying to tell for years and perhaps he too has been sitting on it for a long time.

This is only one of the stories Russo tells. He goes through Jack's life with his academically snobbish parents, Jack's marriage to someone he makes unhappy, Jack's desire to be rid of his parents' influence and, most importantly, his desire for a place to scatter their ashes. This book is chock full of everything an avid reader is looking for. I can't say enough about it.

On a personal note, I really related to the main character in this book being so close in age and experiencing two weeks of bliss each year while on summer vacations with my own family. In my case, it wasn't the Cape, it was Riverhead out near the Hamptons. Taking that car ride from Brooklyn, New York and traveling on Montauk Highway until we finally passed "The Big White Duck" which was, in a sense, our Sagamore Bridge, is something I vividly remember. From that point on, my three brothers and I knew everything was going to be happy. My mother liked my Dad more during those two weeks of the year and even thought her four kids weren't too much of a burden.

Russo talks about happiness perhaps being "a place". This gave me some food for thought because I clearly could relate to that place (Riverhead) bringing me more happiness as a young child than anything I had ever known. Are we all searching for that happy place? Surely Jack was in That Old Cape Magic. You'll have to read the book to see if Jack finds his "place of happiness".

5 of 5 stars

Wondering if this applies to Mary Jo Kopechne's parents' flag??

CBS/AP) Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation Wednesday, ordering that U.S. flags around the world fly at half-mast in honor of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died late Tuesday night.

The proclamation applies to flags at the White House, public buildings, and U.S. embassies, consulates and military installations around the world as well as those on U.S. Navy ships - but the orders are customarily observed by anyone who flies the flag.

The flags are ordered to fly at half-mast until sunset on Aug. 30.

"Senator Edward M. Kennedy was not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy," the president said in a statement accompanying his decree. "

Senator Kennedy was also involved in this accident driving off a bridge into the water and not reporting it for ten hours.  There was a girl in the car at the time who died.....her name was Mary Jo Kopechne. I was nineteen years old at the time and it's something I never forgot.  It taught me that it was great to live in a free country......especially one where money could buy you "real" freedom.   A week after the incident, Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month sentence.  The diver who recovered the body felt sure if he had been called at the time of the accident, he could have saved her.  But Kennedy decided not to call until he had met with all of his handlers to concoct his story which, to this day, is not plausible.

So What Do You Think????

DO THEY LOOK ALIKE????

Brady -- Born 8/16/08............................. Katy-- Born 8/08/09

OUR LITTLE IRISH TWINS

A Multitude Of Reviews Today

THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW OF IT ALL

After finishing The Narrows, I realized it was the 16th book I had ready by Michael Connelly which means I have read more books by this author than any other. Fans of Connelly will understand the reason for this is simply that he doesn't write a bad book (Chasing The Dime being the only exception). Of the 16 books, this was the tenth one in the Harry Bosch series, a character much beloved by Connelly's readers.

Harry starts off this book as a retired LAPD homicide detective....retired not because of age but because he was sick of the bureaucracy. Connelly loves to have characters from one book/series show up in another and this is the case with The Narrows as Harry is asked by Terry McCaleb's (Blood Work, A Darkness More The Night) widow to look into Terry's death. Terry was a retired FBI agent who had crossed paths with Harry during his career. At the time of his death, he was a heart transplant recipient operating a charter fishing boat with his partner Buddy.

Enter the "poet", Robert Backus of "The Poet" fame. He was probably the most despicable of all serial killers thought possibly dead at the end of that book but apparently very much alive at the beginning of this one. And what would Backus be without Rachel Walling, the FBI agent who shot Backus and hopefully killed him in "The Poet". They say all roads lead to one and this story will have many of our favorites involved in catching the poet once again. This time the road involved is called Zyzzyx Road; an exit off a desert highway and also the buriel place of many more of Backus' victims. As the FBI tries to unravel the clues, Harry is one step ahead of them as he realizes that McCaleb's death is tied to this infamous serial killer.

The Narrows also gives us a look at Harry's softer side as he tries to establish some kind of a relationship with his young daughter Maddie who is living in Las Vegas with Harry's ex Eleanor. He sets up an efficiency apartment in Las Vegas just to be closer to her and, little does he know that this next case will bring him to Vegas for reasons other than seeing his little girl.

One of the most exciting things to happen in this book is a phone conversation Harry has with someone from the LAPD who tries to convince Harry to come back to the police force. Apparently there's a three year amnesty going on where they are looking to get back some of those experienced detectives who have left the force on their own. If Harry would consider coming back within this three year period, he would not have to take any of the police academy tests in order to do so. You know that every Bosch fan out there is looking to see Harry back at his old stomping grounds.....Parker Center. Next up for me is The Closers and I'm hoping it finds Harry sporting his badge once again.

If I Don't Like It, You'll Know It

BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER AT SALLY'S OR WHEREVER!!!

Call me insensitive; call me unsympathetic; call me jaded; but don't call me someone who thought this book was inspirational. I usually get my book recommendations from other reader friends or from high ratings from other Amazon reviewers. In this case, I got this recommendation from one of my doctors who told me the book was terrific. After he said that, I immediately came home and checked out the Amazon reviews and it looked like all of the reviewers concurred with my doctor. Why is it then that I don't agree? It's probably because of all of the adjectives I've attributed to myself above. Let's face it.....I didn't like Tuesdays With Morrie either.

But I still can't understand why so many people think this book is so good and even consider it "inspirational". How can I be so wrong? I teetered on despising it. I get the whole homeless thing and how it happens and how it happens many times to people who had great jobs and have lost everything...even their families. But the thing I don't get, and the thing I'll never get, is why don't they just get a job? Okay I know that a job at McDonalds or in a retail store is not going to give them the kind of life they are used to but at least it will give them a bed to sleep in and a stove to cook on. But instead, this particular homeless person (author) decided to live in his car and take handouts from people who actually went to work every day and made money so they could be able to donate this same money to places who in turn feed the homeless.

During parts of the book, I felt like I was reading about the daily existence of high school kids where they go over someone's house in the middle of the day to watch TV and smoke some weed. Because many days, this is what Richard Lemieux did.....when he wasn't playing on the homeless softball team, of course. And why don't I consider someone who lives in their car and drives their friends around during the day, homeless!!! His situation was so much better than someone living on the street. But such is the life of Richard Lemieux who finds himself no longer with the company he founded and the family he supported. His homeless journey will lead him to write a book about his experiences.

The inspirational part of the journey for me wasn't that of the homeless people but that of the people at the Salvation Army and other charity organizations who are so selfless in giving up their time and money to help these people. That was what was truly inspirational to me.

And I know that the writer of the book is not an experienced author but this book read like a high school senior's journal. You might wonder why I even finished it and I'll still wondering what the answer is to that question. I'm sure many of you will not agree with me but I feel I must state my case and my reasons for not being among the dozens of "lovers of this book". I think I mainly feel sorry for his family who had to take this journey with him whether or not they did it alongside of him or in the background.

And lastly, all the political bashing just made me dislike the book even more. I guess the author loved the theory of capitalism and achieving the American dream when it was all going well for him but, once the tides turned, it was obviously the system's fault and apparently not the author's. Well at least he's made enough money from this book to get out of his car. I sure hope he's made it up to his poor dog who was forced to live in a car while Richard went about his daily activities with his friends. At least Richard got to get out of the car most of the day while poor Willow had to stay in there. I think I had better end it here before I get myself even angrier over this situation. Needless to say, it's not a book I'll be recommending to anyone. One last thing though....is the cover picture meant to look like someone who has no teeth or is that accidental?? See I told you upfront I was jaded.

Will Probably Be My Favorite Book of 2009

Last month I decided that I was sick of reading mediocre books and came to Amazon to see what I could come up with. What I was specifically looking for were five star books that had hundreds of positive reviews.....this way I would know it wasn't the author's friends boosting the average. I came up with two books that fit the bill...."Cutting For Stone" by Abraham Verghese and "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I read "Cutting for Stone" earlier in July and it lived up to every positive review on this site. I just finished reading "The Help" and I only have one word for it...WOW!!!!

I was on the edge of my seat reading this book as if it was something in the mystery/thriller genre. But the feeling inside of me was one of pure fear....fear that these women would get caught...fear that all of their plans would be futile and fear that a heroic act would not somehow be rewarded.

This is a story set in the early sixties in Mississippi when "colored" people were forced to use separate water fountains, ride in the back of buses, be persecuted or prosecuted if they were caught speaking to white people and made their livings working for these same white people who enacted all of these laws. Having lived in the north, I can't even imagine what this was like. I went to school in Brooklyn in the early 60's and sat in classrooms with these same people who were being persecuted in the south and ate lunch with them and played with them and never even thought anything otherwise about it. I'm not saying this to sound sanctimonious....I'm just telling it like it was. So to read this book was a real eye opener for me.

There's a real heroine in this book in the form of Skeeter Phelan. She has just graduated from college and is interested in a career in journalism. Many of her friends are already married and have "help" working for them. As Skeeter looks on and sees how they are treating their "help", she sets in motion something that could spell disaster not only for herself but for many of the maids working for these families. She decides to write a book about it and enlists the aid of some of the same maids working for her friends. Talk about an eye opener...this will be a book written from the maid's perspective....something never done before because no one has ever given them a voice. As much of a heroine as Skeeter is, the true heroines will be these "colored" maids who are risking everything, even their lives, to tell it like it is. You can just imagine what's going to happen if this book gets published.

I have to say that I was on the edge of my seat reading this novel as Skeeter was sneaking around in the stealth of the night trying to interview these different maids. It is so well written and is such an inside look at the way things really were. The author herself is from the south so what she is writing is obviously based on first hand knowledge. One of my favorite quotes in the book might even be something she heard while growing up -- "They say it's like true love, good help. You only get one in a lifetime."

When I think of maids, I think of people who might cook and clean and tidy up. In the south, however, these maids actually raised the children of the white people for whom they were working. These young children grew up loving these maids sometimes more than their own mothers. So the goodness pouring out of the hearts of those considered as "help" far exceeded anything I've ever imagined.

If you want to read one great book this year, pick up "The Help". There is no way you will be disappointed. In a few of the other reviews here, others have mentioned reading Mudbound after reading "The Help". I've already ordered it and look forward to continuing my education on this important time in history.....one many would like to forget but one that definitely needs to be acknowledged.

A BOOK REVIEW

FINDER'S TALENT IS NO VANISHING ACT!!!

I don't think there's any mystery/thriller author out there whose new books I look forward to more than Joseph Finder's. His newest one, Vanished, was particularly the case because this is the beginning of a "series" for Finder. I don't know about you but, as a reader, I love getting involved in a series of books featuring one main character.

I have some favorite series that I follow and it seems that the most important thing for the author to do is to develop a character that the reader not only understands but is rooting for every step of the way. Finder scores high points with his introduction of Nick Heller an ex-Special Forces veteran now working for an upscale corporate investigative firm. I will admit here that I often wished that if Finder ever started a series, he would do it based on the main character from Power Play, Jack Landry........he was my favorite Finder character ever.

I'm one of the lucky fans who gets copies of Finder's books prior to their publication as I'm such a longtime fan. I've read everything he's written. But he also knows that this will not sway my reviews in any way.....I tell it like it is.

With that being said, I loved the beginning of this book with Heller being sent on a mission by his employer, Stoddard Associates, to find a cargo plane holding billions of dollars that has gone missing. Within minutes of his arrival at the airport, Heller has it figured out. But at the same time this is going on, a much more important mystery is unfolding. Heller receives a phone call from his nephew telling him that his Dad, Heller's brother, is missing and his mother, Heller's sister-in-law is in the hospital in a coma. Heller drops everything to come to his brother's aid....even though they have been estranged for years.

What follows is the type of story Finder has mastered. On the surface, it appears that his brother has been kidnapped but Heller seems to know better. Working closely with his sister-in-law and nephew, Heller dechiphers every single clue until he's able to unravel the mystery. Throughout his entire discovery mission, he doesn't know who to believe. It becomes more entangled when Nick realizes that his brother discovered some discrepancies in his job involving mergers and acquisitions.I have to say I was a bit lost in this unraveling and the ending was a bit convoluted for me. Whenever I have to go back and reread the end of a story because I didn't understand it, I then know it's a little contrived for me.

I'm excited just knowing that Finder is probably penning his next Nick Heller story. I'm looking forward to some further development of this character and continuing with my corporate education by Professor Joseph Finder. I think the author has a hit on his hands with this series and I look forward to Nick Heller becoming as popular a fictional character as Connelly's Harry Bosch or Childs' Jack Reacher.

Happy 21st Birthday Melissa!!!!

Today is my niece's 21st birthday. Not only is she my niece but she is also my godchild. Melissa was born in Connecticut to my brother Kelly and his wife Barbara. They moved around a bit as a result of my brother's job with Kraft General Foods but settled in Naperville, Illinois when Melissa was young.

She's a senior in college right now but spent most of her high school years playing soccer and was even given the nickname "Boomer" because she scored so many goals. She was my brother Kelly's little athlete. Practically every picture I have of Melissa growing up shows her in her soccer uniform.

Her one wish when she turned 21 was to spend it in Las Vegas so, needless to say, my brother made sure her wish came true. Her entire family is there with her right now along with some cousins, aunts, uncles and her grandmother. We have always referred to my brother Kelly as a "wheeler and dealer" so this request was right up his alley. They're staying at the Wynn Encore and Kelly already texted me telling me how beautiful it is. My only regret is that I'm not there with them. Here's a picture of Melissa with her sister and two cousins....From left to right...Melissa, Ryan (my brother Bobby's son and also my godchild), Tracy (Melissa's sister) and Brendan (my brother Michael's son and also my godchild by personal request).

Celebrating a 21st birthday in Las Vegas was also something I did with Michael when he turned 21 so I think she might be following in his footsteps. I just remember having the greatest time there on that vacation and I'm sure Melissa is going to have as much fun as he did on that trip.

I bought Melissa a special present for her 21st birthday.....a Michael Kors watch. Michael Kors is her favorite designer so I knew she would love this. I made sure my brother had a picture taken of her opening up her gift. I know it's not as good as a trip to Vegas but I bet it runs a close second. I bought her the one with the white chain link band because this seems to be so "in" right now. I hope I picked the right one. This isn't the clearest picture of Melissa with her new watch but it serves the purpose.

Because they've lived so far away from us, I haven't gotten to spend as much time with Melissa as I would have liked but have watched her grow up through pictures and their few visits here back east. She really has grown into a beautiful young woman and I'm very proud of her.

So Melissa, here's a great big 21st birthday wish from your Aunt Nancy. I'm sure it's going to be great having your very first "legal" drink.

Enjoy.

She's Here -- Katy Elizabeth

On Saturday morning at 5:47AM, Katy Elizabeth Love graced us with her presence as she entered the world and became part of our family.

I received an email from Bryan's mother Darlene wondering why this baby is now three days old and I have yet to post it on my blog. So here she is for all to see......our precious little bundle of joy.

I will post more about the delivery tomorrow but wanted to make sure I made the Florida grandmother happy. Enjoy.

A Little Family Reunion

This past weekend was a very special one as three of my cousins and my Aunt Viola drove from Long Island to Pennsylvania to visit my Mom....and me, of course. They haven't seen my Mom since Liz' wedding which was almost five years ago.

From left to right: My cousin Debbie (Viola's daughter), my cousin Pat, my Mom, Aunt Viola, my cousin Carole. Pat and Carole are sisters and their mother was my Aunt Madelyn, who was my mother's and Aunt Viola's sister. She has since passed away. Aunt Madelyn was clearly the sweetest of all the sisters and, I hope they don't get mad at me for saying this, but also the most beautiful. She looked like an angel.

My mother used to live in Queens and was able to see her relatives more often then but, when I moved her to Pennsylvania five years ago, it's been much harder for them to get together simply because my mother doesn't like to drive in a car.

I moved my mother from her apartment in Queens to a beautiful retirement facility here in Bucks County where we joke that she is now "living in the lap of luxury". She has a beautiful one bedroom apartment, goes down to dinner every evening, plays Bingo every Monday, goes on shopping trips once or twice a week and basically lives a stressfree life. That's her reward for raising four children. My cousins and my aunt were excited to see where she lives and they all just loved it.

My Aunt Viola is my mother's oldest sister (92) yet she talks and acts like she is 65. I have a special connection to my aunt as I used to work with her for years at Xerox Corporation. As a matter of fact, she knew my husband Bob even before we were dating as he worked there as well. She must have been in her late fifties when I was working at Xerox and they were looking for a receptionist. Since I practically ran the office, I was able to get her the job. Aunt Viola became a legend at Xerox....everyone just loved her. She is probably a favorite to everyone in our family as well because she's just so nice and so enjoyable to talk to. She always starts a sentence by saying your name first. I knew it was a lot for her to make this trip and I am so appreciative that she did this to see her sister. She hasn't been feeling well since she got home and I know this trip took its toll on her.

We went to eat lunch at Olive Garden which was a good choice because everyone likes Italian food and there's a lot to choose from. We had a big round table which made conversation easy although my mother complained afterwards that she wasn't able to hear anything we were saying.

This trip was in the works for years and it couldn't have turned out any better. As I'm sure all of you know, there's really nothing better than being with your relatives because it's such a relaxed situation. You've known them your entire life and they basically know everything there is to know about you. I never had a sister so my girl cousins are the closest I've ever gotten to having a sister. I just wish we lived closer. It's times like these that I regret our move to Pennsylvania 24 years ago but what's done is done. When you're young and moving away, it's exciting. When you're older and you realize how many family things you've missed out on and will continue to miss out on, it's not so exciting.

I know my Aunt Margie (the youngest sister) is dying to see these pictures and hear about the entire trip so I hope she enjoys this. Since I usually have some funny things in my blog, I thought I might add some of the tidbits that went into planning this trip.

I mentioned this get together to my mother over a month ago and her initial reaction was that they couldn't come because it would be too much housework for her. This surprised me as she lives in a two room apartment and has a housekeeper who comes in once a week. So I waited until three two days before they were actually coming to give her the news.

I called her last Thursday and this is kind of how the conversation went....

Me: Mom, so my cousins are coming this weekend with Aunt Viola.

Mom: They're coming to visit YOU, right?

Me: Well, they're stopping here first and then we're all coming over to see you.

Mom: They can't come on Saturday....you know what I do on Saturday.

Me: Well, perhaps you can do your LAUNDRY on another day.

Mom: Why do they have to come on the weekend? Why can't they come during the week?

Me: Probably because they do have JOBS.

Me: We'll all go to lunch at the Olive Garden.

Mom: You know I don't eat lunch.

Me: Well, perhaps this one time you can.

Mom: Why do they have to come in the summer? Why can't they come in October?

At this point, I had just about lost my temper and I won't even type here what my answer was to that question.

But this is my mother and this is what I have to go through to make anything happen. A few months ago, we had plans to go out to dinner on Mother's Day. I told her about it a week before and she didn't say anything. Two days before Mother's Day, she called to tell me she had stubbed her toe and couldn't go. Typical.

I'm telling you this story because before I hung up on the conversation I described above, my parting shot was, "And please don't stub your toe before Saturday."

But all in all it was a great little reunion that turned out so well despite all of my mother's complaints and I can't wait to do it again.

The Bachelorette Finale

So tonight's the finale where Jillian chooses who she would like to be with. Here is one reason not to choose Ed. He has worn this same bathing suit/tank top combo on every single show. And what's going on with those shorts/bathing suit....this is what guys wore in the 70's. It really goes great with his wife beater tank top.

I can't wait to see who she chooses but, for me, the clothes would have been a deal killer.

EDIT: Well, she picked Ed, shorts and all. And, on last night's After The Rose show, she actually said she liked those shorts and he just bought another pair that were even shorter. Go figure.

A Review That Could Have Been Close To My Heart

NOT THE BROOKLYN OF MY YOUTH!!!

I don't even know where to begin with this review as my thoughts are all over the place so it's best I start at the beginning. First off, I don't think it's a great idea for an author to give a name to a character that a good percentage of his readers won't know how to pronounce. In the novel Brooklyn, we are introduced to an Irish lass named Eilis. I've never even seen this name before and, when I first looked at it, I thought it said Elias. Consequently, every time I saw the name thereafter, I always pronounced it as Elias and clearly this main character was not an Elias. I know this is a minor point but it's one that bothered me.

I grew up in Brooklyn and, when I was living there, I couldn't wait to leave and, now that I'm gone, I'm always in search of any book that will bring me back. I guess that's what nostalgia is all about. Years ago, I came upon another book with Brooklyn in its title, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Jennie Fields, and it's one of my favorites because it really brought me back there. Fields also grew up in Brooklyn so everything she wrote about was very authentic. I corresponded with Fields after that and it was she who recommended this book to me.

This story starts out in Ireland post WWII and it's where we first meet Elias....oh, excuse me, I mean Eilis. She's just out of school and looking for a job but, in her town of Enniscorthy, jobs are hard to find. She lives with her mother and older sister Rose and it's Rose's job that basically supports the entire family. Through a priest, who's visiting Ireland from Brooklyn, Rose arranges for him to sponsor her sister Eilis' emigration to the states where jobs are plentiful and a future is possible. Eilis is heartbroken to leave but goes along with the plan. Once she arrives in Brooklyn and begins her job, she's not sure if she did the right thing. But she perseveres and makes a life for herself working, going to school and eventually finding a boyfriend.

I really enjoyed the story Toibin was telling. Even though his main character is very passive, it works within the story. I loved all the supporting cast and felt they were all believable. But then the main problem came into play for me. It all started when Eilis is at Nathan's with her boyfriend and his brother and the author talks about them putting ketchup and mustand on their hotdogs. At this point, not being familiar with this author, I had to look at the back jacket to see where he was from and I could see he never lived in Brooklyn. I'd like to report here and now that no one, and I mean NO ONE, put ketchup on a hotdog at Nathan's in Brooklyn in the 1950's. The only reason Nathan's even had ketchup on its premises is for the french fries. Then one night, in the midst of a calamity, Eilis decides to take the train to her boyfriend's house in Bensonhurst. The author says that the trip should take a little more than an hour. A little more than an hour??? There's nowhere in Brooklyn that's going to take you more than an hour to get to via train from another location in Brooklyn. You could go all the way out to Suffolk County on Long Island in less time. I know these are things only someone from Brooklyn would probably pick up on but my feeling is if you're going to write a book that takes place in Brooklyn and then make the title of the book "Brooklyn", then you better have your facts straight before you put it out there for your readers. Or better yet, have someone edit it who actually lived there during that time.

Many times an author tries to make a location a character within the book. I love when they do this but there is no way Toibin tried to do this. He couldn't because he simply doesn't know the place. I never felt for one minute that I was in Brooklyn. Other than the trips to Coney Island and Ebbets Field, it could have been Anywhere, USA. While Eilis was working on Fulton Street in a department store, I would have loved to have had her make a visit to A&S or Mays department store. I would have loved for her to sit at a lunch counter drinking an egg cream. I would have loved for her to be walking in the street while watching some kids play stickball. I would have loved to see her witness a dog at a Johnny pump. This is the real Brooklyn but it's not the Brooklyn that came across on these pages.

At one point, Eilis makes a trip back to Ireland and it's here that the author, who is from Dublin, is clearly more comfortable. Even with everything I've already said, I was still enjoying this story and actually stayed up late one night to finish it. At this point, it was a 4 star book for me. Not great but certainly a good read. That is, until the ending where I feel the author must have gotten a call from his publisher telling him he had to wrap it up. Because that's what he did and before I knew it, the book was over. To say I didn't like the ending would be an understatement.....I hated it.

So nostalgia aside, because I never felt any, this Brooklyn was definitely not the Brooklyn of the 50's where I grew up. I agree with other reviewers that Toibin can write but it's a shame that my first introduction to his work was not a 5 star one.

3 out of 5 stars

Book Review Time

You're Not In The Emerald City Any Longer SCARECROW!!!!

I added this up last night and discovered that I have read more books by Michael Connelly (16) than any other author I've read. So I guess one could say I'm a huge fan. The amazing thing is that they were all five star books (except for Chasing The Dime, of course). I find this almost hard to believe but it's true. And I'm actually one of the readers who started reading Connelly before his real fame came into being with the publication of The Poet.

I guess it's only fair then that his latest offering features journalist Jack McEvoy....the same Jack McEvoy who appeared in The Poet. Connelly's true fans have been awaiting a reappearance by one of their favorite characters for years now and in The Scarecrow, Jack's return does not disappoint for one minute. I loved this book from the beginning to the end.

Having started his career as a journalist, I'm sure this book is close to Connelly's heart as he watches the slow demise of the newspaper industry. The fact that technology is killing newspapers becomes only too clear as the book starts off with Jack getting a pink slip from the LA Times. But "our" Jack is intent on going out with a bang and makes it his business to come up with one last story that will be Pulitzer prizeworthy. He will set out to prove that a sixteen year old gang member is not guilty of the murder for which he is being accused. The good news to Jack's fans is that he will need to ask FBI agent Rachel Walling for her help as he starts to get too close to the answer to the mystery and much too close to The Scarecrow. Their "coupling" in this book is well worth the wait as they make such a great team.

We learn at the beginning of the book who the real villain is and I enjoy when an author does this because I then get to follow the thoughts of the "bad guy" right up front. As Jack is closing in on The Scarecrow, we get to view this villain as he becomes a bird being scared by a scarecrow as opposed to the opposite way around. I enjoyed all of the Wizard of Oz references in the book as well. At one point, music is playing in the background and it's Eric Clapton in concert singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." In addition, the city editor of the LA Times where Jack works is "Dorothy" Fowler and guess where's she originally from....you guessed right...Kansas. I also love when an author references one of his other books within the book I'm reading. In this case, Jack mentions reading a series of stories about a lawyer who did his business out of a Lincoln. Nice shoutout to Mickey Haller of The Lincoln Lawyer fame.

Unlike other authors who don't have Connelly's talent, he doesn't have to make his stories so convoluted that you can't even understand them. He also doesn't resort to having the villain be one of the investigators as so many other authors "cop out" and do. He writes a clear-cut story from start to finish and it's always one you can't put down. I always comment that I read very few books in a given year that would get a "10" rating from me. In the mystery/thriller category, this is one for 2009, a "Big 10". The only other two books in this genre that I've read this year and have also received a "10" rating from me were The Lincoln Lawyer and The Brass Verdict. Surprise, surprise, they were also written by Connelly. This is obviously one satisfied fan.

OMG -- I LOVE "BIG BROTHER"

There is no show on TV that I look forward to more than the new season of Big Brother. Tonight began Season 11 and I've actually been counting the days off until it started again.

One of the things I like the most is the motto of the show, "Expect The Unexpected", so that every season is different than the season before. And, unlike other reality shows like Survivor, Big Brother is on three times a week. But that's not even enough viewing to know what's really going on in the house because the show is edited so much that unless you follow the houseguests more than the three times it's on during the week, you will only get to see what the producers want you to see.

So last year, Showtime started three hour live coverage beginning at midnight and ending at 3AM. Oh no, there's no way I can miss that so now I end up losing sleep watching this additional coverage. Thank goodness for DVR's because I'm able to tape what I miss when I fall asleep in the middle of it.

And then CBS also has a live feed that you can purchase where you can watch it 24/7 if you like. Last year I swore I wouldn't do this because I spent too much time the summer before watching these houseguests (or hamsters as they are referred to) 'round the clock. But midway through the show, I caved in and started watching it whenever I got a free minute.

Yesterday, I was on the phone with Michael and reminded him that Big Brother was coming on this week. His response was, "Don't tell me you're going to be watching this on the computer all the time." He knows me too well. It's a good thing I don't have an IPhone because I'd probably be able to watch this when I'm away from the house and away from my computer. Usually this is on while we're at the shore during the summer so I'm spending vacation time watching it. This year, we won't be at the shore so I might not have as much time as I've had in the past to watch it.

One unfortunate thing is that none of my friends watch this show so I can't call them up to talk about it. I tried calling Pat today to get her to watch it but she couldn't be coerced. Linda won't watch it because if it's something Jim doesn't want to watch, we're out of luck. She has enough of a problem trying to catch some of the "Housewives" episodes when he's not around since he won't watch that either.

Tonight they introduced the twelve new houseguests and divided them into four groups....the popular ones, the brainiacs, the athletes and the offbeats. They likened it to being in high school and the cliques these people were probably in during that time. It should be interesting.

One of the new twists was bringing a past houseguest back into the house to compete. There was a chance that my favorite houseguest of all time, Jessica, could get back in but the "popular" group had to win the challenge in order for this to happen. Instead the "athletes" won and Jessie, the bodybuilder, got to go back in. If Jessica had gotten to go back into the house, it would have been a dream season for me. It still will be but to dangle a carrot like that and then to have it slip away is downright cruel to a true Big Brother fan.

So right now, it's about 10PM and I've seen the first episode and there are only two hours to go before the Showtime coverage begins. I say, "Let The Season Begin". I'm in my glory!!!! I just wish I had some friends to share this with but, since I don't, I will regale all of you blogger readers with my Big Brother coverage. I think, however, that Michael will come through for me because he always ends up watching it.

Review of "Cutting For Stone"

A CUT ABOVE THE REST

As a reader, I'm always in search of that book I would rate a "10" but, unfortunately, these books don't come around that often. Sure I've read books in the past year that I've given 5 stars to but their actual rating was less than a "10". They probably fell in the "8" or "9" range. I've read some really good mysteries this year but I rate them according to their genre so I don't really put them in the same category as good literature. I knew the second half of this year had some potential as three of my favorite authors, John Irving, Pat Conroy and Richard Russo, all have books coming out. But then I started hearing some buzz about this book, Cutting For Stone, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's not one I would have picked up on my own simply because the title was so weird. Cutting For Stone....what the heck is that? With the long 4th of July weekend looming before me, I knew I wanted to read something great and decided to take a chance with Verghese's novel. I'm so glad I did.

I've always been the type of reader that loves when an author takes me somewhere I've never been before and, while there, teaches me things I've never known. When they're able to do this teaching without preaching, it's an extra added bonus. I've never been to Ethiopia and I know I'll never go there. When I think of Ethiopia, I have visions of a totally undeveloped country. While I'm sure these visions are partially true, Verghese really opened my eyes to another part of the world in a country where medical teams still strive for perfection without the kind of money that easily flows into many of the hospitals of which we're familiar. Verghese's Ethiopia is filled with people who love their country and their food and their smells and their customs. And when a time comes that they leave their beloved country behind, they miss it as much as we would miss ours. Just recently, I was driving down a street in Manhattan and I saw an Ethiopian restaurant. Other than thinking that they surely have every single kind of restaurant in NYC, my other thought was, "Who would go to an Ethiopian restaurant?" After reading this book, it is clear to me how much business this restaurant probably gets from all of the people who have made their way to this country from Ethiopia and what a blessing it must be for them to get some real home cooking on foreign soil.

When you have an author who grew up in the country he's writing about, it makes everything seem so much more real as these are his real experiences. It reminded me of reading The Kite Runner by Hosseini and how much I got to learn about Afghanistan because it's where that author spent most of his life. In this case, not only did Verghese grow up in Ethiopia but he also became a doctor. The fact that a majority of this book takes place in a hospital lends itself to some more first hand knowledge from this very gifted author. Another part of the knowledge I amassed was about the politics of Ethiopia under the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie and the political coups during that time to try to take him down. I found this part of the book fascinating.

Before I give you the impression that this book has no story and it's just a learning experience about a country and its ruler, I have to say that it is every bit the story for which every avid reader is searching. It's a novel that's epic in scope and begins on a ship sailing from India to Yemen where a young nun meets a very seasick British doctor and is able to nurse him through that voyage. Some years later, they will meet again in a hospital in Ethiopia where she will become his right hand through every one of his surgeries. Until one day, she doesn't show up in the operating room and the real story begins. Twins are born, secrets are not revealed, lives are shattered and all of this will be narrated by one of the male twins...Marion. I am not even going to go into the entire summary of the book because too many other reviewers here have given too much away already. Suffice it to say that you will not be able to put it down. Every time I picked it up, I was wondering where each of these characters had been since I was last reading. The author does an amazing job of inserting you into their lives and developing characters you will come to love...Matron, the ruling nun of the hospital; Hema, the gynecologist; Ghosh her beloved husband and surgeon; Dr. Thomas Stone, head surgeon; Sister Mary Joseph Praise, his loyal assistant and the twins Shiva and Marion. I'm already making this review longer than I wanted so I'll leave the story there because I know you will be reading it yourself.

It's a tale of love and hope and desire and "enlightenment". I say enlightenment for two reasons. Clearly each of these characters will have their eyes opened in such a way that it will make a mark on their souls. But I can't help but think that there are some references to Buddha that can't just be coincidental. In two separate cases, the author has one character returning from prison...after 49 days of imprisonment...while he has another character becoming unconscious....after 49 days of the onset of an illness. This is the exact number of days (49) that Buddha meditated before he became enlightened. I would love to know if this was done intentionally.

Some other reviewers have stated that there were a lot of medical references and explanatons of surgeries that they found tedious. I found these fascinating. They were told in such a way that the lay reader could actually understand what the surgeon was doing. The book also opened my eyes to the importance of donations and how much these foreign organizations depend on us to keep them going. I'm always afraid that my money is not being used appropriately but it's clear to me now just how much these places rely on us to give them aid. My eyes were also opened to the fact that these foreign doctors come to America and never get interviews with the major hospitals which is why you'll find so many foreign doctors in remote areas of our country or hospitals where American doctors wouldn't think of working.

And how can I end without an explanation of the title...Cutting for Stone. It is part of the Hippocratic Oath taken by all doctors and it says..."I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art." So I guess the title wasn't that weird after all. The fact that one of the main characters has the last name "Stone" makes this title even more poignant. English Lit classes would have a field day analyzing this one. I'll just leave it at that.

I recently had a friend tell me that they had given up on reading books that had in excess of 500 pages. I can't understand this statement because most of my favorite books were definitely in that category. So what else can I say about the book that was clearly my favorite so far this year. I just wish there were more books like this and more authors who could tell a story like Verghese. All I can say is thank you for 534 pages of reading bliss.

5 out of 5 stars....It's a "10"

Review of "Trust No One"

TRUST NO "TWITTER"

Oh the power of a simple "tweet". I had no knowledge of this book and hadn't previously read anything by this author until I read a "tweet" by one of my favorite authors encouraging all of his followers to read this "great" book. Within hours, I had the book in my hands and prepared myself for a great reading experience. It had to be great, right? It's been recommended by someone who definitely knows a great thriller when he reads one as he, himself, is a master thriller author.

The book certainly starts off with a bang as Nick Horrigan, dressed in his pajamas, is pulled from his condo while the SWAT team who is taking him away is also thrashing his apartment at the same time. Wow, he must be some kind of terrorist, I thought. I was, however, wrong as Nick is a social worker, who works with homeless people. But the SWAT team is bringing him to talk to a terrorist who claims he will blow up a nuclear reactor, so he must be involved in some way. Wrong again. He doesn't even know this man but the man claims to have known his stepfather and passes on some information and a secret key to Nick.

That's how the story begins....as preposterous as it may sound. I'm not saying the beginning wasn't exciting and I really was on the edge of my seat but, as the story progressed, it just seemed so unbelievable that this could be happening. They say you have to know someone's backstory to understand them and Nick certainly has an involved one. Hurwitz brings us back to a time when Nick was a high school baseball star and his mother is married to a Secret Service agent. He has great respect for this man who will die long before his time. This is where Nick's real backstory will begin. He goes into hiding and doesn't surface for years. Just when he thinks he's in the clear, the SWAT team arrives out of nowhere and Trust No One really begins.

Nick is very adept at sifting out clues. As a matter of fact, Nick, the social worker, is better at this than the U.S. Government as Nick seems to be able to get to everyone who will clear up the mystery before the FBI,CIA, Secret Service and police detectives can. It almost doesn't seem plausible and that's because it isn't. This is my real beef with this book. While there was a good story there, it wasn't believable and I think I had it figured out by the time I had finished the first third of this book. Once that happened, I kept shaking my head as I was reading the rest because it was not to be believed.

I know I'm being unusually critical with this review and there are probably many readers who will think it is a great book as is evidenced by the many positive reviews here. If you read a few books a year and want to bring something with you on vacation, this might be the book. If you're an avid reader and can easily see through a book's faults, then this might not be the one for you. I had to smile when, in the Acknowledgment section, the author thanked his good friend Joe Finder for all his help. Yes, it's the power of this help that got me to read this book.

3 of 5 stars

Review of "Beach Trip"

NOT A GOOD TRIP

I am always, always in search of another great women bonding book similar to Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney or Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. When I came upon Beach Trip, I thought it had potential. Certainly the cover was beautiful, the premise of four college roommates meeting up again some 20 years later was a good one and the author seemed to have a huge fan base. I was getting ready to leave for a Las Vegas vacation and decided this would be the book I would take with me. Reading on the plane, reading at the pool....I could picture it all as I was packing my bag.

So I started it en route to Las Vegas leaving from Philadelphia and probably put it down by the time we reached Ohio and opted instead for a magazine. That was not a good sign as Ohio connects to Pennsylvania. So I tried again at the pool. After about 10 pages, I put it down thinking perhaps it was too hot outside to read. Each time I picked it up, I had a different reason for putting it down. The book jumped back and forth between the years the girls were living together in college in 1980 and their week's vacation on Whale Head Island, North Carolina twenty-three years later. As the story was jumping back and forth, I was doing the same thing in picking it up and putting it down.

At this point, I'd like to make a statement about women bonding books. If you are an author and you want the reader to bond with these women, the reader has to like them. Why would a reader bond with characters they don't like? I didn't like any of these characters. And, here's another tidbit...if you have your characters drinking from the minute they wake up in the morning until they close their eyes at night, I like them even less. I'm not saying that a reader has to like every character in every book they read. But in a "bonding" book, such as this, it would help.

I can't figure out if I liked them less as college students or less as the women they became. In college, we will meet Lola....beautiful and from a wealthy political family where the world will be her oyster. When we meet her again, she has married the man her mother has chosen, seems very ditsy and definitely is not in love. Then there's Mel....very outgoing in college and getting every guy she wants. We meet her again and she is twice divorced, very outspoken and definitely can't commit to one man. In college, Sara stood in the background and didn't go after what she wanted. Later she is a married attorney with an autistic son but definitely able to go after what she wants. Annie is the OCD college student spending more time cleaning than enjoying her college days (or so her friends think). Now she is married and experiencing empty nest syndrome while still cleaning her house with every waking hour she has.

Now I ask you, do these sound like women you would want to be friends with? During the vacation week, when they aren't drinking, they are eating and fighting and shopping and lounging and trying to pick up younger men and drinking some more. It's here that many of the secrets, that were supposedly hidden from the reader and each other, will be exposed. I can't imagine that there are too many readers out there that didn't figure out these secrets long before the author chose to spell them out.

You're probably wondering how I ended up finishing this book after putting it down so many times. It all happened in the Las Vegas airport when my flight home was delayed three separate times because of bad weather in Philadelphia. At one point, we had already gotten on the plane only to be told to get off again. So in a way, the book ended up giving me a respite from all the aggravation I was feeling with my situation. I just wish the book I had chosen for this trip had been a better one.

3 of 5 stars

Reading More Than Blogging

It's seems that lately I've been doing a lot more reading......definitely reading a lot more than I'm blogging since I haven't posted here in over a month. As a result, I have four reviews to post all in one day. So enjoy the recommendations, or should I say, one recommendation.

STUCK IN HIS OWN "TURNAROUND"

My introduction to George Pelecanos dates back many years ago when I saw him at a book signing with his friend Michael Connelly. At the time, he had just written Right As Rain, which was a real departure from his Nick Stefanos' series. I'm guessing I've read at least seven of his books so my review is not coming from someone who is new to this author.

So many of his books have pieces of him in them. He once worked in an appliance store and characters in his previous books have also done so. His father owned a cafe and he used to work at the lunch counter as does Alex in this book. He was known to play around with his father's gun when he was young as does Raymond with his brother's gun in this book. The Turnaround is probably his most autobiographical work so far. He vividly describes his hours working with his father and uses a similar theme I have seen in many of his books where your upbringing is everything...it's the beginning and end of who you are and what you do.

Set once again in D.C., it's always about the journey with Pelecanos and not the actual crime. He's a historian so every book is a learning experience on the history of D.C. At this point, I feel I probably know more about where he grew up than I do about where I did. On the one hand, I understand that Pelecanos is trying to create accurate pictures of the way things were in the eras he's writing about but at times I want to say, "enough is enough". I grew up in Brooklyn and perhaps if he was writing about Brooklyn, I'd be so into going down memory lane with him. He develops his characters and they always have the same interests as his....cars, sports, music, music, music, music...until I can't take it anymore.

Family is always lurking in the background of each of Pelecanos' offerings as he writes about race, crime, social issues and morality. Looking back at the characters' family usually gives you an edge into how the book will turn out.

In life, you find that there are two kind of turnarounds...the one you get stuck in and the one you come out of. This story is one of three kids out for an afternoon summer joyride and driving through an area they shouldn't be in and exacerbating the situation by having words with some of the other kids living there forcing a racial altercation that will have dire ramifications. The driver of the car feels he can just drive in, do his damage, go through the turnaround and leave. But, he will find out too soon that this is the turnaround you get stuck in. In Pelecanos' world, there usually aren't any cops as the justice is dished out right on the streets. And on this day, justice will be dished out on a silver platter or should I say silver "gun".

The book centers around what happens when the characters, who are now in their 50's, come upon each other again some thirty years later. A few have been in jail, some have been disfigured while others live in their own kind of hell with the knowledge of what really happened. If you've read as many of Pelecanos novels as I have, it will be easy to see that what you're reading really isn't what really happened if you remember how much morality and family plays into his stories. So, for this reader, there weren't too many surprises.

When I had read the premise of this story, teenagers doing something bad in their teens, being punished for it and then meeting up again later in life, I had dreams of another "Sleepers" by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

Listen, I love Pelecanos and feel an affinity to him but after so many novels, I think he owes his fans "the book"....the one that's going to push him over the top. I'm not even going to mention the other novels I'm thinking of that separated their authors from the mainstream because any real reader knows who and what I'm referring to. I'm just dying to read this from Pelecanos. And I want him to be able to drop all of his security blankets and leave out the music and sports references completely. Well, perhaps he can add a few. I know certain authors have certain things they must add in each book even if it's just a one line mention. Carcaterra needs to have a St. Jude and Yankee's shoutout while Irving needs his bears and Vienna shoutouts. I get it that Pelecanos needs his music shoutout but he has to know that many of his readers are tiring of it. I understand how it's supposed to set the stage for the time and place but this reader feels he overdoes it.

After I finished this, I actually said to myself that I'm done with Pelecanos. Then I remembered that I had recently bought The Way Home and it was too late to return it. I also have one or two more of his Nick Stefanos' series here waiting to be read. So I guess I'm not done. I'm in my own "turnaround" and hoping one of these days he's going to enter the turnaround that you don't get stuck in and come out with the novel we've all been waiting for.

3 of 5 stars

Pictures for my Aunt Margie

Aunt Margie is my mother's youngest sister and she lives in Michigan. As a result, it has been years since they have seen each other although they talk on the phone every Sunday. My Aunt Margie has been dying to see pictures of my mother with her great grandchild Brady so today is your day Aunt Margie......here they are!!!! Notice "your" picture on the stand in one of the pics.

A Real "Angel"

Well, I cried for two straight hours tonight watching Farrah's Story. Like many people my age, I grew up watching her on TV both in her commercials and on Charlies's Angels. She was only on that show for one season yet it seems like it was more than that. This picture is of the poster that was so popular in the 70's.

In watching the story documenting her fight with cancer, I'm still amazed by her beauty. With no makeup on in an ugly hospital gown, she's still Farrah. Just to see her in all that pain with the rosary beads in her hands and her positive attitude throughout is truly a testament to the kind of person she truly is.

I remember when she left Charlie's Angels because she felt it was too much fluff and she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress. Everyone laughed until she established herself with roles in The Burning Bed and Extremities, playing a battered wife and a rape victim respectively.

Her personal life has not been an easy one. Her relationship with the love of her life, Ryan O'Neal, has been a bit volatile at times although it is obvious throughout this documentary that the love they share is real and he has been with her on this journey every step of the way. Her son Redmond is hooked on drugs and is in prison while she's dying of cancer. She doesn't even know this. Her ninety year old father has already lost one daughter to cancer and now faces losing another. They showed clips of her visiting him and he is so sweet that it just broke my heart.

And thoughout all of this, her friend Alana Stewart has been with her on every trip to Germany filming this entire ordeal. Everyone should have a friend like this in their life and it makes me feel good that Farrah has this. I feel like I'm talking about her like she is my friend but, after watching this documentary, I actually feel like she is. I want her to live although I think it is a foregone conclusion now that she won't survive this.

It's funny how life imitates art sometimes. In the 1980's Farrah Fawcett did many PSA's about cancer and now, almost thirty years later, she has become a victim. Ryan O'Neal is best known for his role in Love Story as he sat at the bedside of Ali MacGraw, as she was dying of cancer. Now he's doing the same thing all over again.

It's a comfort to know that Farrah is a very religious person and believes she is in God's hands. I can't imagine anything more comforting for her. But she just wants to live another day, see another rain and have some hope to have some more time here on earth.

So Farrah, you were once an angel and you still are....may you be here tomorrow and the tomorrow after that and the tomorrow after that. I so admire you.

Continuing with The Boleyn Series

"The Axeman Cometh"

The timing for my reading of this book was perfect as The Tudors, Season 3, is presently being aired on TV and it covers the same period in history as The Boleyn Inheritance does. Henry's beloved wife Jane Seymour has just died as a result of childbirth and he is encouraged to take another wife.

So begins this 6th Philippa Gregory book dealing with the life and many wives of King Henry VIII. This last book in the series takes on his marriages to Ann of Cleves and Katherine Howard. If your memory of what happened with these two wives is scarce, it's probably better because the book then becomes that much more of a page turner. I stayed up until 2:30AM finishing it because I simply could not put it down. I had to know what was going to happen before I went to sleep. With a book like this, it probably wasn't the best idea because it only leads to dreams of The Tower and the "axe". I say this is the last book in the series but I do not know this definitely because there is still one more wife, Katherine Parr, so perhaps Gregory is going to take us into that marriage as well.

This book has three different narrators and each mini chapter is told from their individual voices. We first meet Ann of Cleves as she is hoping to get chosen as Henry's 4th wife. Then there's Katherine Howard, who is hoping to go to court serving the new Queen. Lastly there's Lady Rochford, better known as Jane Boleyn. It was she who was married to Ann Boleyn's brother George and it was her testimony alone that sent him to the scaffold.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. Gregory intersperses her own dose of fiction into the already written history about these years in Henry's life. When you think of the time in history you yourself are born into, you can't help but think "thank God I wasn't born in England during this period". It was such a time of turbulence with an unstable tyrant of a King. I can't even fathom it and, more to the point, I can't even fathom wanting to be his Queen.

I guess there's two ways to read this series....either chronologically or the order in which Gregory wrote them. I chose the latter starting with The Other Boleyn Girl and ending with The Boleyn Inheritance. As it turns out, the first and last books written ended up being my two favorites. I guess an argument could be made for reading them either way but I'm happy I did it the way I did. There's nothing better than beginning and ending a series with two "great" books.

So I encourage any lover of historical fiction to read this book. You won't be disappointed.

I'm On A Reading Frenzy

"My Heart Is So Tired"

I just finished this book last night staying up later than normal because I just could not put it down. I'm the type of reader who finishes everything they start and, I have to admit when I began this book, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue no less finish it. Thank goodness I plowed on because after thirty pages or so, I was hooked. Like many other reviewers have commented, I don't understand why there is a "young" adult sticker right on the front of the book. I think that's poor marketing and, if it wasn't for word of mouth, the average "old" adult reader would not be purchasing this book. Be that as it may, I'm just thankful that so many reviewers here raved about it enough to pique my interest.

There's so much that can be said about this book but the common denominator will always be "words". The main character is a little girl named Liesel (Zusak giving her a pretty name which conflicts with the atmosphere of the book) and right away he adds something to the experience by this word. In a world of war and bombing and fear, we have the word "Liesel" to even things out and give the reader some pleasure every time they say her name. Like the bombs falling on Germany, Liesel is dropped off at the home of the Hubermann's who will become her foster parents. The foster mother Rosa is a big mouth and someone to be feared if it weren't for the fact that she has a huge heart. The foster father Hans is the kind of father every girl should have and it is he who teaches Liesel how to read. Her love of reading and her love of "words" will get her through one of the hardest times in German history.

Showing another side of Nazi Germany, Zusak relates how it wasn't only the Jews who died at the hands of Hitler. There were also so many Germans who died because of this monster. They either had to join the Nazi party or get taken away with the Jews. Those who weren't taken away had to face the bombing of their towns by the Allied forces. At a time when Hitler was destroying people with his words, Liesel found a way of saving them with hers. She learned from Max, a Jew they were hiding in their basement, how to steal these words back from the "Fuhrer" and just how powerful this could be.

To say she was a thief is really stretching it but her obsession with the written word forced her to covet any book she could get her hands on. The goodness of an unexpected woman brings something into Liesel's life that no one else could......a world full of words right at her fingertips.

The most unusual part of the book is the narrator "Death" which might turn the reader off at the onset. But deep into the book, you almost come to love this character and how gently he lifts the souls out of the dying bodies with such care and love. As the saying goes, "Death waits for no man" but this narrator did wait until they were ready to come to him. As you can imagine, this was a very busy time for death himself as war and death are best friends. The narrator (death) explains that war is like the boss at your shoulder wanting more and more until death (the character) becomes very weary. It's almost funny to think of death as a character in this book but you come to forget that he's not real.....or perhaps he's more real than life itself.

I could go on and on about The Book Thief. It's one I won't soon forget and I encourage you to read it no matter what your age. And a note to the publisher....take that stupid "young adult" sticker off the cover!!!

Two Book Reviews in One Week -- WOW

EXIT HERE!!!!

Let me start off by saying that I never met a Douglas Kennedy book that I didn't love!! This book had arrived a few days ago (ordered from Amazon UK because it came out there first) and, each time I passed the table where it was sitting, I actually got a tingle just seeing the name Douglas Kennedy on the cover and knowing that something great was between those covers.

I like to think I discovered Douglas Kennedy all on my own many, many years ago when I read The Big Picture. At that time, whenever anyone asked me to recommend a great book, that's the one I told them to read. Kennedy followed up The Big Picture with The Job....another great roller coaster ride of a book. I don't know if something changed in his life at that point because all of the following books were very different. They were specifically about women or couples who were going through major rifts in their lives. As far as I'm concerned, no one can get inside of the head of a woman like Douglas Kennedy can. I wouldn't want to be his wife.

Kennedy writes that "All novels are about a crisis and how an individual -- or a set of individuals --negotiates said crises." In Leaving The World, the main character Joan Howard lives in the world of academia having gotten her PhD from Harvard and is now working as a professor at a New England college. I think Kennedy makes her so intellectually superior so that some of the things she does end up making her look more than intellectually challenged. Obviously doomed by her impulses, Jane finds herself mixed up in one predicament after another. It's how she deals with her crises that gives this book the depth that Kennedy's readers know he will deliver. She cannot stick to anything or anyone and finds herself lost in a world of people who continually leave her.

Until one day she decides that she will leave them. This is where Kennedy shines as he now puts Jane in charge of her own life and her own destiny and where we see shades of the excitement found in The Big Picture seeping through each page. While some people might say this book starts out slowly, they would be right because this is the way Kennedy sets the stage for things to come. He wants his reader to be totally invested in his character before he asks them to understand her. When we first meet Jane, it is in the present moment but, like everyone else, she has a back story and it's the understanding of this back story that will eventually help the reader to understand why she does what she does. In the book Kennedy says, "Life can only be lived forwards and understood backwards." And so we really come to understand more and more what is propelling Jane. There are times in the book where I was screaming, "NO Jane...don't do it", only to have my words fall on deaf ears.

Jane's life is one of ups and downs never seeming to find that happy medium between living and actually being happy doing so. Kennedy says in the book, "Unhappiness isn't simply a state of mind; it is also a habit." Reading this book is a journey as Jane tries to break this habit. It's another examination of the psyche of a woman by a master storyteller. In the hands of Douglas Kennedy, it becomes an expedition and one I was happy to take.

I know I've quoted Kennedy a lot in this review but some of the things he says in this book had such meaning to me. I leave you with one of the best...."Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that somebody might be looking." Well, I'm now your conscience looking at you and watching to see if you read this book!!!

My Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

This Week's Book In Review

JUSTICE SERVED THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

Having just finished Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer a month ago, I was eager to read this next book featuring defense attorney, Mickey Haller. As if another Haller book wasn't enough of a gift to his readers, the author further rewards us by injecting Harry Bosch into the mix. Be still my heart!!! Haller and Bosch together!!! It's a dream come true for Connelly's avid fans. If you're not familiar with Connelly's previous books, Harry Bosch is the homicide detective who has appeared in more than ten of them and is greatly loved by all of Connelly's readers.

One might say that each of these characters is cut from the same cloth. But almost everything about them is the flip side of the other. One serves the prosecution while the other serves the defense; one lives on one side of the mountain while the other lives on the other side; one has one view of the city while the other has a different view. But this book will show how much they are truly alike and the words "cut from the same cloth" can perhaps be taken literally. I think the thing I enjoyed most was seeing Harry Bosch through someone else's eyes and being able to get a new take on an old and much beloved character. At one point, Harry is standing outside of police headquarters listening to an Ipod. Mickey Haller is as surprised by this as is the reader who has followed Harry for years. There's no way I can picture Bosch standing on the street listening to music through an Ipod. We actually find out it wasn't music he was listening to which puts Harry back where he should be in the reader's mind.

In The Brass Verdict, Connelly dishes out my kind of justice...the brass kind....as Mickey Haller is defending an arrogant Hollywood bigshot charged with some serious murders. Prior to this, Mickey had been on leave for a year after the conclusion of The Lincoln Lawyer forced him to take some time off. The death of a former colleague brings him back to the defense table when he inherits that attorney's cases. Haller is great at picking apart the prosecution's case but, as with all of Connelly's books, it's more about the journey and not the destination. The things the reader learns along the way, about the characters Connelly so obviously loves, makes each and every one of Connelly books something to be greatly appreciated.

When I read The Lincoln Lawyer, I loved it but had no idea that The Brass Verdict would be as good, if not better, than the first book in this series. It's obvious that Connelly has the desire to make all of his books connect in some way. Pairing Bosch and Haller was the greatest of all connections for this reader. When I read books that are part of a series, I keep notes on each main character so I can go back and reference them from time to time. There was a note I made in The Black Ice that told me this connection would come one day. I didn't know who the character would be but I knew it would happen. If this doesn't make you loyal Connelly fans read this book, I don't know what else will.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Best line of the day on Regis and Kelly........

Navy Seals 3

Pirates 0

Edit: I actually wrote this a few days ago but every time I tried to post it, my computer froze. So better late than never.

I'm on a Book Review Roll

Riverton's Past Revealed

This is one book I bought specifically because of all the five star reviews at Amazon.com. Sometimes I buy books based on the old cliche "because of the cover" and sometimes I buy them because I'm familiar with the author. And then there's those times I'll buy them because so many other readers have recommended them to me. But then every once in awhile, I'll come upon a book I've never heard of and don't think the cover is all that interesting yet it has all great reviews on Amazon. Such was the case with The House At Riverton. I was intrigued and that was enough for me.

One hundred pages in, I went back to read all of the reviews again just to make sure I had purchased the right book because, at that point, it wasn't grabbing me. I had just finished watching a few Netflix BBC series all set in the early twenties so I felt my recent connection with this era would surely make me feel right at home at Riverton. Such was not the case. While it had all of the requisite elements of a good Gothic story set in Edwardian times.....the old manor house, its wealthy inhabitants, servants who gossip, secrets revealed, the challenge of female emancipation, the war and its sacrificial lambs and the never-ending desire to escape one's past....for some stange reason it just did not resonate with me.

I do enjoy novels where an elderly person is reliving their past and the book floats between two places in time. While this book did this seamlessly, I just never really felt invested enough to care about the residents at Riverton or even to care about the mystery involved therein.

Grace is the elderly woman in question, once a lady's maid at the esteemed house and now forced to relive her past as a result of a movie being made of an apparent suicide at the same great house. During the course of her many years of service, she had seen enough and heard enough to last a lifetime. She had also been asked to keep many secrets, many of which she'll take to her grave. Or so it would seem until she begins her life "on tape" to be given to her grandson. There is one secret here that I wish the author would have expanded upon and it might have given me reason to add another star to this review. But the secret is left out there without the reader being able to witness what it would have meant to the person involved had they known its truth. I would have to say the last third of the book is much better than the beginning. It's at this point many of the secrets are revealed but, by that time, this reader was just counting the pages until I was done with it.

So suffice it to say I'm in total disagreement with most of the other reviews of this book and that's why I say every book has its day and this day wasn't the day for this book for me.

My Most Scathing Review Yet!!

The Hour I First Believed I Did Not Like This Book!!!

Like many of Wally Lamb's fans, I waited with great anticipation for this book to come out. I had read his two previous novels, She's Come Undone (just okay in my opinion) and I Know This Much Is True (a great read), and was wondering if this next one would put Lamb on the list as one of my admired authors. Based on I Know This Much Is True, I knew he had great potential to be added to a list that includes such esteemed authors as Pat Conroy and John Irving. Unfortunately, with this latest offering, Lamb does not make the cut. Not only does he not make the cut, but, after spending hours upon hours reading this book, I'm not even sure if I'd give him another chance. That's how much I did not like this book.

It all started with the writing which, in many places, can only be called "fractured". I found this kind of writing to be very disconcerting within the context of the story. Here are some examples and these are the actual sentences: Last night? I got up and started combing her hair. And here's another: A maintenance crew, from the looks of it, nine or ten women with shovels, hoes and hedge cutters. Now I ask you all....where is the verb in this last sentence? This went on and on throughout the entire book. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, Lamb constantly repeats himself. He tells a story of Zinnia always hugging Caelum on page 124 and had already told the exact same story earlier in the book. This was done numerous times and it ultimately began to feel like deja vu.

As with many authors who write a great book and get much publicity for doing so (Oprah pick), it must be hard to pen that next book trying to make sure it lives up to the all the adulation the author received from his last book. I think the "Aftermath" section of this book explains this fear and Lamb's own trepidations in trying to come up with a "story". They latch onto something that "might" work and then weave other stories into it. In this case, the author has taken every tragedy imaginable....The Civil War, The Korean War, Columbine, 9/11, The War in Iraq, Katrina....and made it all part of this story. The end result is.....it doesn't work!!!!

In my opinion, one of the most important jobs of an author, especially an author who is asking his reader to invest hours and hours of their time on a 700+ page book, is to create characters and develop them in such a way that the reader feels invested. This is the story of forty-seven year old thrice married Caelum Quirk and his younger wife Maureen, who move to Columbine, Colorado after an unfortunate set of circumstances forces them to leave their home in Three Rivers, Connecticut. For as long as I can remember, I've always associated "Three Rivers" with the city of Pittsburgh. Let's face it, the Pittsburgh Pirates played in Three Rivers Stadium for thirty years. Pittsburgh is famous for its three waterways....the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers. Yet Lamb has "his" Three Rivers located in Connecticut. I can't tell you how unsettling this was for me every time Three Rivers was mentioned. I had to keep reminding myself that they weren't in Pennsylvania but in Connecticut.

There wasn't one minute that I liked either Caelum or Maureen or any of the other myriad of characters who entered these pages. Since you know right away that they're moving to Columbine, you immediately know there are going to be characters there that you won't like either. Even though Maureen is in the school at the time of the shootings, I never felt any empathy for her even though she had been through a horrendous experience. And Maureen and Caelum's relationship was never developed enough for her own husband to feel the empathy Lamb is obviously expecting his reader to offer up.

This book will take the married couple from Connecticut to Colorado and back to Connecticut. It will also take the reader back in time as Caelum explores his heritage after finding some interesting items in his aunt's attic. As Caelum investigates his heritage, as a reader, I got confused keeping everyone straight. The reason for this is that Lamb has given everyone of the narrator's female relatives a name beginning with the letter "L". We have Lizzie, Lolly, Lydia and Lillian. After awhile, I didn't know who was who.

And to me the biggest mistake an author of fiction can make is inserting his own political beliefs into the novel. Once an author does this, whether I agree with his beliefs or not, I'm turned off. Richard North Patterson used to be one of my favorite authors but, with each book he wrote, he jammed his politics down my throat. I haven't read another book of his since. Unfortunately, Lamb has fallen into the same category with me. If he wants to be political, he should write some Op Ed pieces for the New York Times....not insert his views within the fictional pages of his book.

In closing, I don't know how so many reviewers can state that Wally Lamb is their favorite author before even reading this book. Their favorite author of what??? Two books?? (By the way, these last two fractured sentences are reminiscent of Lamb's writing if you're wondering why I did this). If I was going to claim that someone was my favorite author, I think I'd like to have read more than two of their works. I could say that Pat Conroy is a favorite author of mine as is John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. Each of these authors has many, many books in their repertoire and I've read almost all of them.

I think that in the case of this book, I would have liked to have known the ending before reading the middle because it might have explained a lot and perhaps I might have enjoyed it more. I'm not sure. The jury is still out on Lamb as far as I'm concerned. He needs to come up with a much better book to seal his rank as an author whose books I must read.

And lastly (yes I'm almost done with this), I think this review is so scathing because I wanted to like this book. No, I take that back. I wanted to love this book. I wanted to love it as much as I loved I Know This Much Is True. And I didn't and I'm angry about that and, mostly, I'm so very disappointed.

BOOK REVIEW TIME

And He's Not Even From Nebraska!!!!!

Am I the only person in the world who had no idea what a "Lincoln" lawyer was until I read this book? I thought perhaps he lived in Nebraska or else had studied the great works of that famous president Abraham. What a surprise it was for me to find out that the word "Lincoln" had to do with the car in which this lawyer was chauffered around. Not only did he get driven around in this car, it was also his office. He handled his cases out of the backseat. I guess there's not a lot of overhead for these attorneys.

It's great not only to read a good book but to also learn something along the way. I've never thought of Connelly as a teacher before but he taught me something new in The Lincoln Lawyer and kudos to him for doing so.

In this book, we're introduced to a new character, Mickey Haller, attorney at law and attorney who has a fleet of Lincolns. There's no one better at character development than Michael Connelly and the reader is immediately drawn to Haller and, not only understands his way of working, but respects it as well. I just love it when an attorney has that moment in court where he's able to corner the witness -- it reminds me of having the best hand in poker and your opponent doesn't know it yet. This seems to be Haller's forte and Connelly gives Haller ample opportunity to show his wares and reward the reader with the outcome.

This is Connelly's first foray into the defense side of the law. Fans of his Harry Bosch series are used to being on the prosecution side and credit Connelly with writing great police procedurals. This is the author's debut legal thriller and, with just one book, he has proven that he is now a master at both sides of the table.

Another thing I learned from this novel is the importance of a "franchise" case. This is a case that will bring in so much money enabling the attorney to be working in the black.....and some. Thus is the case with Mickey's newest client Louis Roulet, a real estate agent but, more importantly, a rich "Momma's boy". One of Haller's nightmares is that of having an innocent client and not being able to get him acquitted. Louis Roulet, accused of assault and rape, might just be that innocent client Mickey has dreamt about. But believe me when I say, Connelly will not allow it to be this easy. This book is masterfully intricate and the ending is the grand finale to these proceedings. If Mickey had nightmares before this case began, he clearly won't be getting any sleep when all is said and done.

When I finished this book, I was excited to hear that there was a second Connelly book featuring Mickey Haller and picking up where we left off with The Lincoln Lawyer. That was great news to me. What was even better news was the fact that Harry Bosch would team up with Mickey Haller in this next book, The Brass Verdict. As I'm typing this, I'm one hundred pages into it and am just as satisfied as I was when I started The Lincoln Lawyer. There's nothing better than being enmeshed in a great book and I'm convinced that any book, with the name Michael Connelly on the cover, is going to be a winner. He's one author who has NEVER disappointed me. Ooops....I forgot about Chasing the Dime. Oh well, only disappointed once.

I Finally Did It!!!!!

Yesterday I cashed in my first ever live poker tournament. It all happened at the WSOP Circuit Event at Caesars in Atlantic City. It was the Ladies' No Limit Hold'em Event and 263 ladies participated. Out of the 263 who entered, only 27 would get paid.....I came in 11th place which was only one place away from making the final table. My reward for this win, a whopping $631.00. The winner took home $16,000. As much as the money is always nice to get, it's just so rewarding to make it that far and to "almost" make it all the way.

I made the trip to Atlantic City all on my own as Pat had to help her son move into his new apartment. But, since I've play in a number of these tournaments already, I have come to know a number of the other women who play so I didn't feel uncomfortable at all going by myself. I remember the first few tournaments I played in and feeling so nervous and intimidated. Now I'm not nervous at all and really feel quite confident when I play. It must be all the good tutoring I get from Michael and his friends.

I've become friends with one of the girls I met while playing in the Borgata tournament so she and I were meeting for breakfast at 10:30AM before starting the tournament at noon. She (Diane Grippo) actually final tabled one of the Borgata events a year ago and cashed in the Ladies' event at the WSOP this past summer. I told her in person and in emails prior to the tournament that "I WILL CASH IN THIS EVENT" and so I did.

It was an exciting time at Caesars yesterday because not only was the Ladies' event being held but it was also the final table of the $5,000 buyin main event that had started on Thursday and was ending on Saturday. I was happy to be there because a boy I had met, while playing in the Deepstack tournament at the Borgata last year, was at the final table. His name is Chris Klodnicki and he also came in 12th place at the Main Event of the WSOP this past year so he's definitely the real deal. By the way, he won the Borgata Deepstack tournament we played in together. I always kid him that I'm his good luck charm and he agrees, so I thought for sure my being there yesterday would clearly insure his win. Unfortunately it was not to be and he came in 7th place.

I met another nice boy there, Sam Chartier, (I use the term "boy" very loosely as these boys are in their early twenties) who was from Montreal and was friends with a boy who was at the final table with Michael in Monte Carlo (Maxime Villemure). Sam ended up winning the event at Caesars for $331,000 and I was so happy for him. I just love meeting all of these young poker players and I especially love picking their brains. Since they all know I'm Michael's Mom, they are very forthcoming with advice and I so appreciate this. One must admit that I know all of the cutest (and richest) poker players!! Ha, ha.

So, all in all, it was a fun day for me....playing live poker, meeting some new friends and winning some money!!!

A Belated Holiday Book Review

Sparkly Shoes To Make Heaven Brighter

During the past Christmas season, I had decided to read all those books on my shelves relating to the holidays. I had seen "The Christmas Shoes" as a TV movie starring Rob Lowe and thought that would be a good place to start. After reading the book, I can now report that the TV movie was much better than the book. I think had I read the book before seeing the movie, I might have felt differently. There were things that were added to the movie that weren't in the book and I kept waiting for these things to happen and, when they didn't, I found myself disappointed.

I know I shouldn't expect too much when reading these seasonal books and I make sure, when reviewing them, not to compare them to great literature. I try to compare them to similar books in that genre. With that said, this book really did not move me and, as a result, I ended up putting all of the other holiday books back on the shelves. Perhaps next December, I'll start with a better one like "A Christmas Carol".

One of my main problems with this book was the change from one point of view to another. It was not done seamlessly and sometimes I found myself having to reread paragraphs because I thought I was reading one person's thoughts only to find out it was someone else's. I'm actually writing this review a few months after finishing the book and that is not the best thing to do as there were numerous other things the author did that didn't flow well for me, which some good editing might have helped.

With all that said, I think the story, of a young boy losing his mother around the holidays and a very busy attorney almost losing his family because he doesn't have the time to give them his attention, is one that has been told before in many different ways. There's no question that the innocence of a boy, wanting to buy shoes for his mother so she will look pretty when meeting Jesus, will tug at your heart. The part of the story that affected me more was the kindness of the teacher who knew he needed a few extra hugs and much more of her time than any of her other students. It's usually the goodness of someone not attached to the family that gets to me moreso than the natural goodness that would be forthcoming from a relative. And then the defining moment, when the boy meets the attorney while Christmas shopping and the attorney offers to help pay for the shoes so that the untimate gift can be given to the boy's mother, is surely a magical one.

I think if you're looking for a read that is quick and easy and defines what the meaning of Christmas is all about, then you might enjoy this book. I'm sure I'm being a bit more critical than I should be but I sometimes can't let poor editing go unnoticed.

This Week's Book Review

On any given day, most any author can turn out a good book. But it's the great authors who consistently turn out great books. (I'll forgive Lehane for Shutter Island).

This book was obviously a labor of love for Lehane and I believe that he grew up hearing these stories of Bostonian history at the feet of his grandfather. In doing some research on Lehane, I read that he is the son of a union man, which explains a lot about this book and his desire to tell this story. As the daughter of a union man myself, I can totally relate to this. Whether or not you believe in unions, I think Lehane put the question out there quite masterfully by relating the story of the Boston Police strike of 1919.

To call this strike a moral dilemma would be an understatement. You have a police force who was underpaid at a time when the cost of living had gone up over 70%. On top of that, many times they were forced to sleep at the station which was filthy and pest infested. Other laborers were living well post WWI, yet no one would give these civil servants the time of day. When the possibility of joining a union came to fruition, it seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally these workers would be paid equal pay for what they did. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be and a strike ensued causing civil mayhem throughout the streets of Boston. So the real question then became, "Do those in charge of the safety of the public have a right to strike"?

That is the underlying story of Lehane's novel. But the real story, behind the story, is one of the loss of innocence. We meet Danny Coughlin, a young cop in Boston's North End, who realizes that his father, a police captain, isn't as aboveboard as he always thought him to be. We're also introduced to Luther Laurence, whom we first meet on the baseball field with none other than Babe Ruth. He gets involved with some shifty people in Oklahoma and his innocent world comes to an abrupt halt. On top of that, we have a government that promises fairness and equality above all else.....that's an eye opener to all those innocents in 1919. Are the unions the only thing that can possibly bring equality to these people? This is a question Lehane asks but does not answer. You be the judge. Danny Coughlin's official age of innocence will come to an end when he believes the union is the answer and leads his men on a journey that will show them there is no innocence but only guilt in the eyes of an ungrateful and corrupt city.

This year (1918) that Lehane chooses to portray ( the year leading up to the Boston police strike) is one strife with so many bad occurrences. Lehane covers them all.....an economically destroyed country post WWI, domestic terrorism fraught with anarchists and the Spanish flu pandemic just to list a few. He threw so many events into this book that I was surprised he didn't have someone singing Irving Berlin's God Bless America which he wrote in 1918. I love reading these historical fiction novels especially when they're about events in history that I had little or no previous knowledge.

This is an epic novel about political and social upheaval and the right of the haves and the have nots. I've heard that this was meant to be part of a trilogy so it will be interesting to see if this pans out. It's not lost on the reader that there were so many parallels to today's political and social problems. It reminds me of the words in Corinne Rae Bailey's song, "Put Your Records On"...."the more things seem to change, the more things stay the same".

So once again, Lehane hits it out of the ballpark. Which reminds me....I didn't enjoy the Babe Ruth sections of the book. Like his friend George Pellecanos, he can't help writing for men and I guess this was his shout-out to all the baseball fans out there....especially the Red Sox ones.

March Roars In Like A Lion

I don't think I can remember a month of March that didn't have a big snowfall whether I was living in New York or Pennsylvania. The saying "March roars in like a lion" couldn't be more true.

As far as sports go, March was always the month they had the school baseball tryouts and I'll never forget waiting in the car for Michael to come in out of the freezing cold after each tryout. As far as work goes, since I'm in real estate, mostly every listing I get during the month of March has pictures of the home with snow on the ground.

The year 2009 hasn't been any different as the snow arrived before I even had a chance to change the calendar on the wall from February to March. I'm happy to report that I know two individuals who love the snow. One is our beloved border collie Belle.....


And the other is our grandson Brady who witnessed his first time out in the snow yesterday in his adorable "first" snowsuit.

So since there are no longer any baseball tryouts for Michael and I haven't yet listed anything for March, the snow became quite enjoyable.

Hey Paula!!!

Many, many, many years ago, I entered a new phase of my life when I walked down a hallway and came upon a door that said A1-209. Upon opening the door, I was met with the most angelic smile....one I'll never forget. It was the face of Sr. Joan Margaret who would be my homeroom teacher for my freshman year at Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School. I'm posting this picture of Sr. Joan because Paula and I just loved her so very much. In looking for my seat (alphabetically arranged, of course), I came upon another face which was definitely not as angelic as the first one I had seen. It was the face of someone who would become one of my best high school friends. I dedicate this blog entry to my dear friend Paula or, as we sometimes called her, Polly. Paula is the last of the BFON8 that I have written about during this past year. By the way, if you're new to my blog, BFON8 stands for "Best Friends of Nancy" and there are 8 of them!!!!

Paula was everything I wanted to be. She was cool, she was tough and she was popular. But as tough as she was, she had such a sweetness about her which only her real friends got to see. You had to crack down that outer exterior to get to the real Paula. I was one of those people who was fortunate enough to break through her wall and become her friend and I truly considered it a privilege. She lived in Ozone Park, Queens while I lived in Brooklyn. Of course, we weren't permitted to call it Ozone Park as it was better known as OZ (and it's not pronounced like the place where the wizard lived)....the letters are pronounced as "O" as in Ozone and "Z" as in the second letter of Ozone.

Paula was also Italian and, as my mother once said, I was always attracted to Italians. I loved everything about her then and I do now. Over the years, we lost track of each other but reconnected thanks to the Internet and classmates.com. We've emailed each other numerous times during those years and were fortunate enough to see each other again at our high school reunion a few months ago. I can't even tell you how great it was to see her and to be in her presence. I have always been in awe of her. We took pictures that day and I purposely put them aside so I could use them in my blog. Today I practically ripped my entire house apart trying to find them....but to no avail.

Yet Paula's life has had some extreme sadness in it having lost a son who was a civil servant and worked very closely with helping those involved in the 9/11 tragedy and working at the site day after day in its aftermath. I can't definitely say that's what caused his death but I think Paula is quite sure of this. It just makes me so sad to know that she has to live with missing him every single day.

But, there's always a silver lining and there is something in her life that brings her so much happiness and that's her daughter and granddaughter. I'm just so happy that Paula has this in her life. I don't think I've gotten one email from her where she hasn't mentioned this precious little thing.

We also have something else in common as Paula's husband loves to play poker and Paula is great at following Michael's progress in the poker world. I'm so happy to share him with Paula and love it that she gets as excited as I do when he's in a tournament.

I would love to relate some of the things Paula has said to me over the years but I can't as most of them have been "x" rated (like the E.T.B. on her graduation photo above). I go back and read through my high school yearbook and relive those four years with her and I just want to cry. I loved every single minute we spent at that school. Most of these memories, however, happened at a pizza place called Steve's where we would go most days after school to get together but we were primarily there to smoke cigarettes before heading home. This picture was taken outside of Steve's with the whole gang. Can you imagine pizza being 20 cents a slice? Unfortunately, Paula was the one taking the picture so she's not in it. I'm in the middle with the blonde hair and no uniform on. I asked her why I didn't have on my uniform and she told me I was probably getting some stupid award that day. While it really wasn't that cool to be smart, we always tried to downplay it.

The song Hey Paula came out the year before we started high school. When it came out, I had never met anyone with that name. Once we met and became friends, I could never hear that song without thinking about her and without a smile coming across my face. The flip side of that 45 was a song called Bobby Is The One and Bobby was the name of my boyfriend when I was a freshman so that record had a double meaning for me.

I think if I had a wish it would be to see Jersey Boys once again and this time to see it with high school friends......the girls I lived through all of those songs with. I can just see me sitting there with Paula on one side and Ellen on the other. That would be heaven to me.

So today's Paula's birthday. I want her to be happy today. I want everything to be good for her. I want to be there with her and give her a hug and tell her how much she's loved. I'm just so happy she's back in my life and I hope to be able to add some happy days to her life. Together we were a great team. My whole life, I'll never forget a minute I spent with Paula which is truly the sign of a true best friend.

This is the card I would pick out for Paula today. The front says it all.

Happy Birthday my dear friend......Enjoy!!!!

And yet another book review!!!

FROM GUERNSEY WITH LOVE,

Don't get me wrong....this is a nice, little book to curl up with and read on a cold winter's day. Enough reviewers have already given synopses of the story of the German occupation of this picturesque island during WWII, so I'll skip that part. Suffice it to say, it's an enjoyable, quick read with real life characters that are very endearing. So why not five stars from me?

I think I started and put this book down at least five times. Each time I got bored with it. At this point, I had only gotten to about page 50. When I finally decided to push ahead and finish it some weeks later, I had to reread those fifty pages all over again just to get the characters sorted out. At the beginning of the book, it's hard to remember the relationship between the letter writers -- Sidney (publisher) and Juliet (author) and Susan (publicist) and Sophie (Sidney's sister and Juliet's best friend). I kept forgetting who was who. Then when Juliet started corresponding with the residents of Guernsey, I knew I would be totally lost if I did not go back and get all of these characters straight in my head. Once I did this, it was smooth sailing until the end.

I admit to enjoying epistolary novels because I like the way the story flows. What I couldn't understand about this one was how a letter written on the 23rd of a given month could be received in time for the recipient to respond by the 24th of that same month given the fact that the recipient was in another town or country. Even our postal service now cannot perform that miracle so I found it hard to believe this possible in post WWII. Guernsey reminded me of locales in England written about by authors like Rosamunde Pilcher. As I read more and more about the descriptions of the island, I actually felt I was reading either a book by Pilcher or one by Maeve Binchy.

I certainly don't want to turn anyone away from reading this novel. I just think with all the hoopla surrounding it, my expectations were set at a much higher level than could have possibly been achieved by this author. If you, like myself, are a lover of epistolary novels, some of my favorites are 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff and These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. There's nothing like reading someone's back and forth correspondence or writings in one's diary to really get to know them . In this regard, the author was quite successful as I really got a good sense of what the main character, Juliet, was all about. And all in all, it did make me want to visit this tiny little place in history.

As with many books set in a time or place I'm unfamiliar with, I found myself doing so much research about Guernsey and it's inhabitants during the war. On this subject, the book did do justice to this place in time and did open my eyes to a world I'd known little about. One interesting tidbit I did find out was that in 1855, Victor Hugo found sanctuary on the Isle of Guernsey while fleeing political persecution. I've also recently added the DVD of Island At War to my Netflix queue. This is a BBC series of a fictional Channel Island during this time period.

So I'd say lower your expectations a bit and you'll probably enjoy it more than I did.

4 out of 5 stars

The Oscars

So tonight's the presentation of the 81st Annual Academy Awards better known to most as The Oscars. Usually I try to see most of the nominated films prior to the telecast but this year I was only able to see one and that was Slumdog Millionaire.

For some reasons, The Oscars came upon me much too quickly this year. All of the plans we had to go to the movies either got foiled by bad weather or laziness. So I can't even make my usual predictions like I did this year. What I'll do instead is say who I'd like to win which doesn't necessarily mean they deserve to win.

Regardless of who wins and loses, however, the show is well worth watching if for no other reason than to watch Hugh Jackman, People Magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year. He's so talented having appeared both in movies and on Broadway and I don't think it will be too much of a stretch to see him singing and dancing on the stage this evening.

The Oscars are usually so boring and I'm hoping that Jackman will infuse some life into the show. And if it starts in any way to get political, this viewer will be changing the channel. This is one thing I can't stand about these award shows....having to listen to all of these actors and actresses spouting their political views. Who cares who you voted for and how you sway? I clearly don't. I'm watching to be entertained not to be preached to.

So with that said, here are my predictions:

Best Actor -- Mickey Rourke (who doesn't like a comeback story)(I was wrong on this one)

Best Actress -- Kate Winslet (it's about time)

Best Actor Supporting Role -- Heath Ledger (what a shame he's not here)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Marisa Tomei (wrong again)

Best Director -- Danny Boyle

Best Picture -- Slumdog Millionaire

And in order to get to the above awards, we'll have to sit through all of these....

Animated Feature Film

Art Direction

Cinematography

Costume Design

Documentary Feature

Documentary Short

Film Editing

Foreign Language Film

Makeup

Musical Score

Musical Song

Short Film (Animated)

Short Film (Live Action)

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing

Visual Effects

Screenplay (Adaptation)

Screenplay (Original)

But as boring as these awards will probably be, these are the people who really make it work....the unsung heroes who are behind the scenes. So I try to make sure not to leave the TV when their moment of fame is announced. It's only fair that all should witness their achievements as well as those who were paid millions and millions and millions of dollars to be in these films.

The real highlight for me, however, is the red carpet show. This is where you can see who's wearing what and who's with whom. I used to enjoy watching the Barbara Walters' special right before The Oscars but lately she's just so full of herself that I can hardly bear to watch her. So I think I'll stick to the "E" Network's show the entire time until the actual award show begins. Here's hoping all of your predictions come true.

So here's the update:

I thought it was one of the best Oscar's I've seen in years. Hugh Jackman was amazing and so comfortable in his role as host. He also did a song and dance number in the middle of the show with Beyonce that was off the charts.

One of my favorite changes was having past winners say a little something about the nominees. I actually had tears in my eyes during some of these. It was better than just seeing a film clip showing their performances.

I don't think there were any real "standouts" as far as clothing goes. They all looked good but nothing really stood out to me as amazing.

I felt sorry for Mickey Rourke that he didn't win but many people felt Sean Penn was going to win anyway.

I think they should probably sign Hugh Jackman up as a lifetime host....he was that good!!!

Another Book Review

Finder is a "Power Player"

I'll start off by saying, "Yes, I'm a Finder fan and have been since I read High Crimes." I honestly think he's one of the best thriller authors out there and the reason is simply this....Finder never disappoints his readers. In the world of mystery/thriller authors, they can all take lessons from this master of the ultimate roller coaster ride.

With that said, I'm so glad he switched his emphasis from spy novels to corporate espionage. Set amid the steel and glass towers of corporate America, Power Play introduces us to some of the workings that go on inside these buildings, where the wheelers and dealers are nothing more than pawns in a game that some might call "Risk" while others might call "Jeopardy". Finder has his cast of characters leave the comforts of their magnificent offices and travel to the exact opposite end of the spectrum as they embark on a retreat to an isolated and remote lodge. This is a world where cell phones and the Internet are taboo....but where "Deliverance" will be found at the hands of some random hunters.

But the question is....how random are they? This is the one and only mistake in this book. Right on the jacket cover it tells what happens once these executives make themselves comfortable in this lodge. I would have much preferred to have been surprised at the outcome or should I say "shocked" by the outcome because that's what I would have been had it not told me what was going to happen after they arrived. I realize that jacket covers sell books but I feel the publisher does the reader an injustice by laying it out there before one word is even read.

One thing Finder is great at is delivering an unforgettable character to his readers. They always have great names and they're always tough guys down to the core. In this offering, our hero is Jake Landry, who almost reluctantly understands the inner workings of the company almost as much as he does the engineering of the airplanes they build. At Hammond Aerospace, other employees might consider him an underling yet CEO Cheryl Tobin invites him to participate in this corporate weekend raising the eyebrows of the other executives at the top of the ladder. It's here where the men will be separated from the boys. Little do they know how happy they'll be that Landry is with them when the hunters arrive and the mayhem ensues.

One thing is for sure -- I'll never tire of anything Joe Finder puts his pen to. He's in a class all his own and it's so well deserved. Like his main characters, he's surely one of the good guys in this world of "authordom".....a definite "Power Player."

Book Reviews

Lately, I've been reading so many blogs that would be considered "book blogs". These bloggers post book reviews based on many different challenges. Some of them read a book a week and post the review. Some of them decide, at the beginning of the year, to read books by authors from other countries. Some of them read books by authors whose names end in the letter "A". There's so many different challenges that these bloggers undertake.

While I'm not participating in any specific "book" challenges, I do read books and I do review the books I read. I thought it might be a good idea to post my reviews right here on my own blog for my readers' enjoyment. Everyone is always asking me for some great book recommendations and this way you'll be able to read the review as soon as I finish the book. For those of you who would like to look at all of my past reviews, simply click on the link in the right hand column of my blog and it will take you to Amazon where you can view them.

Here is the review of the book I dubbed "My Top Pick of 2008." The book's title is The Art of Racing in the Rain and the author is Garth Stein. To set this up, it's a book that's narrated by a dog who is living with a man who very much enjoys car racing. It's not quite in my usual book review format but it's a review I enjoyed writing because it became so funny.

The Art of Reading A Book You'll Love

This is one of the first times I can remember writing a book review within minutes of finishing the book. I feel the need to do this because I fear if I wait until tomorrow, I won't be able to express to you just how wonderful this book truly is. With tears streaming down my face, I'm urging you to read it.....something I've never done before.

You don't have to be a dog lover.....you don't have to be a race car lover. All you have to be is a reader looking for something worthwhile to read; something you'll never forget; something you will be missing out on if you don't take the opportunity to do something for yourself and begin a journey with a dog and a man.....a journey you won't soon forget. One warning though....do not read the end right before you're ready to go to sleep because sleep will not come. You will be too full of your thoughts and your feelings and a sadness overshadowed by happiness.

As soon as I finished the book, I instant messaged a reading friend of mine to encourage her to read the book right away. This discourse was so funny that I feel the need to post it right here, within my review, since perhaps some of you might feel the same way she did.

Myself: OMG..I just this minute finished The Art of Racing In the Rain and I can't stop crying
Friend: oh no
Myself: I was going to beg you to read it but I feel now I must order you to do so
Friend: it's a dog book, right?
Myself: It is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read
Myself: Yes, it's narrated by a dog but it's so much more
Friend: hmmm
Myself: I just wrote the first two paragraphs of my review if that will get you to read it
Friend: okay okay
Myself: Promise me you'll read it and get Laura to do so as well
Friend: I hate car racing...despise it!
Myself: That is so insignificant
Friend: that turned me off more than the dog narrator
Myself: It's not the racing because there's hardly any of that in it
Myself: It's what makes someone a winner and not a loser
Myself: And they use the car racing as the backdrop for that
Friend: are there more than two paragraphs about car racing?
Myself: I swear to God.....do not ask me one more question about car racing.....Get the darn book because I'm asking you to. lol
Myself: You want great reading experiences.....this is one of them
Friend: the only thing worse would be if it was about car racing in INDIA!
Myself: lol
Friend: ok. so I just read the first 5 pages at Amazon and it has some promise
Myself: thank you
Myself: okay enough already......just read the book and let me know the minute you finish it when you're crying your eyes out and writing about it for that stupid Sunday Salon of yours lol

I posted this chat within my review so you can see just what I have to go through simply to get a friend to read a book I like. Obviously I get no respect in this regard.

Well the bottom line is that she read it and now I see her recommending it to everyone she knows. Needless to say, I'm not going to tell you anything else about the premise or about a dog named Enzo and a man named Denny who has a wife named Eve and a little girl named Zoe. That's all you need to know.

You will laugh and you will cry but, in the end, you will feel fulfilled with a promise of hope....a promise as seen through the eyes of a dog. It doesn't get much better than that.

Super Bowl XLIII 2009

Last year, my team, the NY Giants, was in the Super Bowl so it made it much more exciting for me as I had a vested interest in the game. This year, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals take the field and it really doesn't matter to me which team wins. But, I'm going to root for Arizona because I'd like to see the underdog win. This is the first year in awhile that Michael will actually be home with us to watch the game. I remember last year he was in Brazil at the time and was text messaging us throughout the entire game for updates.

To make the game a little bit more exciting, I entered a pool that's run by one of my brother's friends so I'll let you know how I doing throughout this blog entry. This is how it works. If the score at any point has these numbers in it at the same time, I win some money.

Pittsburgh 0 Arizona 9 Pittsburgh 8 Arizona 9

So, for instance, if the score at any point is Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 19, I win. If it is Pittsburgh 38, Arizona, 29, I win. Or any combination of those numbers.

The game is now over and I didn't win anything!!!

I will be updating this throughout the entire game and, like I did last year, will be giving you my thoughts on the game BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER.....including my picks for favorite commercials. So get your snacks ready and let the game begin.

As I'm sitting here waiting for the game to begin, I found some interesting trivia that I thought you might find interesting. Here's what voters think the Top 10 Football Movies are:

1. Remember The Titans
2. Rudy (clearly should have been #1)
3. Brian's Song (who doesn't remember those words...I Love You Brian Piccolo)
4. The Longest Yard
5. We Are Marshall
6. Invincible
7. Friday Night Lights (a personal favorite and now my favorite TV show)
8. Any Given Sunday
9. North Dallas Forty
10. Jerry Maguire (You had me at "hello")

BEFORE:

The pre-game show has begun with Faith Hill singing God Bless America.....what a voice!! This is followed by the entire crew, from US Air Flight #1549, who helped save all of the passengers on the plane when it crash landed into the Hudson River. That was pretty special. Then Jennifer Hudson sings the National Anthem. This is her first appearance since her mother, brother and nephew were murdered last October. I think it was better than Whitney's performance although Michael and Bob disagreed with me.

DURING:

End of 1st Quarter -- Pittsburgh 10 Arizona 0

End of 2nd Quarter -- Pittsburgh 17 Arizona 7

HALFTIME SHOW:

I think it's about time that there's been a good halftime show. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band put on a great show. He's definitely beginning to show his age as evidenced by his voice. When he kept pointing the microphone at the audience so that they could sing the chorus, I was thinking he was doing that because he couldn't keep up. My only disappointment was that they didn't sing Born In the USA.

End of 3rd Quarter -- Pittsburgh 20 Arizona 7

Final Score -- Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23

At the beginning of the game, I thought Pittsburgh was going to trounce Arizona but, in the end, Arizona held their own and almost won.

So here's what you've really been waiting for.....the commercial winners.

Doritos -- This was so funny when they throw a water globe into a vending machine.

Budweiser -- Conan O'Brien thinking he's filming a commercial that will only be shown in Sweden.

Budweiser -- The dalmation fetches a bone and the Clydesdale outdoes him by fetching a huge tree branch....this was my favorite!!

Budweiser -- Two horses in love....one in the circus and one a Clydesdale.

Once again, Budweiser is the clear winner commercial-wise. There was one commercial that was so irritating and that was career builder.com. It gets your attention but is so annoying that you vow never to use the site.

So that's the end of another Super Bowl. No Giants but still a great game. There's always next year. Until then.....

Miss America 2009 is Crowned......

......and I picked her out right from the start!!! Here's how it went down.

This year (they also did this last year as well), the TLC network had a reality show featuring all 52 contestants living aboard the Queen Mary in the weeks prior to the actual main event. It was called The Countdown to the Crown and was on for only four episodes. But, in those four episodes, the viewer really got to know these 52 women in a way that a two hour show could never accomplish.

During these weeks, the contestants appeared in different challenges and the winner would win a gold sash. At the end of the show, America got to vote for four girls of their choosing and the four who got the most votes would automatically be in the Top 15 when the show appeared live from Planet Hollywood.

Right off the bat from the very first challenge, I set my sights on Miss Indiana, Katie Stam who is a senior at the University of Indianapolis. She's a communications major and an aspiring broadcast journalist. Some thing tells me we will be seeing a lot more of Miss Stam once her year long reign is over.

Deja Vu

It was exactly one year ago when Liz and Bryan came to tell us that they were expecting a baby in August. It was quite a year just waiting for the arrival and decorating the room and making everything perfect for our first grandchild. And our little baby Brady was well worth the wait.

Well, this week they told us that the same thing would be happening again this August.....yes, Liz is pregnant again and the baby is due on August 21st (Michael's birthday). Brady was born on August 16th. I can't believe we're going to be going through this again this year. It's like deja vu.

I grew up in an Irish/Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn and having kids this close was very common. They were always referred to as Irish Twins. So that's what I'll call my two grandchildren. We don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl but I'll post it here as soon as I know.

I remarked to Liz that at least all of her maternity clothes would still be in style. And she said, "Does that mean you're not buying me any new ones?" Some things never change!!

The "L" Word = Linda

When I moved to PA from NY twenty-two years ago, it was very hard because not only was I leaving all of my family but I was leaving all of my friends as well. When you're already in your thirties, what are the chances of finding some other really, really good friends? You might make some acquaintances, which I did in the first years of living here, but can you be lucky enough to find another friendship that will last your lifetime?

I did make some immediate friends but, except for Pat, they had all come and gone. I think I was living here at least twelve years when someone, who had been there all along, became another best friend and is in that special class I like to refer to as the BFON8.....that's right.....Best Friends of Nancy 8....that means there's eight of them.

When I regularly started posting on my blog again last year, it was January 22nd. So I had already missed one of my best friends' birthdays. Actually, at that time, I didn't even know I was going to write about my friends on their special days. Pat's birthday was in March so she was the first one I wrote about and that's how it all began.

My friend Linda has waited almost an entire year for her turn and that day is finally here as it's her birthday. Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a friend can be.....where do I start? I know, I know, you might recognize some of these words from the Love Story theme song but I'd like to think of this as a Friend Story. We actually lived on the same street about seven doors down from each other for about twenty years. Since Linda has been married FOREVER, her kids were older than Michael so I really didn't run across her in the schools or sports programs. I knew her in the neighborhood, and liked her, but we hung with different groups so our paths didn't cross that often. I'm trying to remember exactly when it was that we became friends....a friendship that would eventually lead to best friends.

It goes back to my joining (or being permitted to enter) an already existing bookgroup. I say "being permitted to enter" in jest because Linda always jokes about the fact that the existing members had a vote on it and, thanks to her, I was admitted. She likes to tease me about this.

With this bookgroup, we got involved in other social activites directly related to the group. If we read a book that was eventually turned into a movie, then we all went to see the movie. We once read a book about Vermeer and the group ended up going to the Vermeer exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. So we ended up spending a lot more time together than just a three hour book group meeting once a month. That's how it all started. Then I started walking on a daily basis and Linda decided that she would do it as well. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that in order to walk with someone everyday, you had better like them. At this point, I liked her so much that I actually looked forward to our walks each day.

As I'm thinking about these walks right now, I'm actually laughing because Linda has the habit of starting to talk about something and going off on another whole tangent before I make her get back to what she was originally starting to tell me. When we're together, we don't shut up for one second. And as much of a talker Linda is, she is actually an even better listener. We've told each other things that we probably wouldn't have dared tell anyone else. And if her husband Jim is reading this, forget about it......I'm not telling you anything!!! It's girl stuff anyway.

Sometimes, we can't even finish our thoughts because we're laughing so hard. The bottom line is that I just love being with her. But, I have to share her with so many people as her husband demands so much of her time. lol She also has a beautiful daughter who just gave birth to her fourth child and Linda definitely holds the record as the best grandmother in the entire world.

Linda is that rare breed of woman who is so real.....there's nothing put on about her. She's generous to a fault....especially with her time. She goes out of her way to help people and usually ends up getting burned in the long run but she's still there always willing to lend a helping hand whenever it's needed. Sometimes I beg her to stop putting herself out there so much but it's her nature.

She's now moved out of my neighborhood but is still less than a mile away from my house. We still spend a lot of time having our nails done along with pedicures, going to the movies, going to lunch and shopping. But it never seems to be enough since we always have so much to say whenever we see each other. We talk about going away to one of those "health farms" together but we probably would spend more time gabbing than learning how to live more healthy.

We both treasure the day that we found each other so late in life. I can honestly say if she wasn't in my life, it would be such a loss for me. So Linda, on this your birthday, I honor you as one of the best friends I've ever had. And if Jim thinks he's going to cut into our time together once he retires, he's got another thing coming. That is unless, of course, he plans on getting pedicures with us. I know I've spent time joking about Jim but as lucky as he is to have Linda, Linda is just as lucky to have him. What a wonderful pair they are. That should be her best birthday present of all.

Happy birthday my dearest friend, my forever friend, my best friend forever....I love you!!! As the Jerry Vale song goes, "I count all the charms about Linda." And there are many!!

2009....It has a nice ring to it!!!

In writing this post, I'm not sure if I want to review 2008 or list some of the things I'd like to happen in 2009.

I guess a year in review seems apropos. Every year, when I send out my Christmas cards, I always include "one of those letters" telling everyone what The Martins have done during the year. I started this letter eight years ago when Michael was sixteen. I remember it specifically as this was the year that he refused to take anymore Christmas pictures to be put on the front of the card. My usual bribes no longer worked so instead of the picture, I resorted to what many refer to as "the dreaded letter." I tried to make mine more enjoyable and not the usual "we all excelled in everything this year." I soon found out from my relatives and friends that they actually looked forward to my letter each year. Once I heard this, it put even more pressure on me to make sure it was interesting and humorous. I have saved all of the letters and, the other day, I read them all in one sitting. Some made me laugh and some made me cry. But the one thing everyone waits for is to find out what my favorite book of the year was. There was one year, when I was so busy at work, that I hardly read at all so couldn't come up with a best book. I received many emails from my friends and family telling me how disappointed they were. I never let that happen again.

So I thought I'd post my letter here for all to read. These are the "Greetings of the Season" from the Martin family. I'd also like to point out that the Christmas card, in which this letter was enclosed, had a picture of a Christmas tree outside of Big Ben in London. Now that you get the picture, here's the letter....

2008 HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM "THE MARTINS"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." For the year 2008, this beginning line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities seems appropriate. There's no way I can write a Christmas letter without acknowledging the economic landscape of our country, knowing that, for many, this holiday season might be one of the worst of times. It is also apropos because, as you read on, you will see that part of my tale does involve one of the same cities where this famous novel took place. With that said, and knowing that we were the recipients of some of those worst times (remember…I am in real estate), our bad times were overshadowed by some very good times this past year.

It all began in January when Bryan and Liz came over to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary. I had been asking Liz to bring me some of her "proof" photos from her wedding and she promised to do that on this trip. She had one stipulation though - I was not permitted to take any of the photos that she absolutely "loved." We were all sitting around the kitchen table going through the box of photos and, as she took each one out, she said either "you can have it or you can't have it." Then she got to one and she said "This is our favorite picture and you definitely can't have this one." With that said, she pulled out a picture of a sonogram. At first, we were confused until it dawned on us that she was, in fact, trying to tell us that she was pregnant. From that point on, there was nothing in the upcoming year that could take away from this joyous moment. The baby was to arrive in August and we soon found out it would be a boy.

The next few months were spent shopping and decorating and shopping some more. August has always been a big month in our family as I was born on the 10th, Michael was born on the 21st and Bob and I were married on the 16th. Liz and Bryan also had various other friends and family whose birthdays were in August. So the race was on. It was August 15th when she went into labor and our darling grandson Brady was born the next morning. Yes, you guessed right. He was born on our 28th wedding anniversary, August 16th. What a perfect present for us!!!

The rest of the year was filled with a vacation to Mexico that I won as being one of Coldwell Banker's top agents. Bob and I enjoyed the trip immensely. We went to an all inclusive resort which I highly recommend as you never have to carry any money around - or should I say pesos in this case. This summer, we also rented our favorite house again in Avalon, New Jersey where I spent three weeks enjoying myself. I say "I" because Bob was in a new job so was only able to come on the weekend. We did have a lot of Michael's friends visiting with us and a very pregnant Liz and Bryan made one final trip there before the baby was born.

After Brady's birth, we didn't think we could have another huge highlight in our family….but we did. As many of you have deciphered from my many Christmas letters, Michael is very involved in playing tournament poker around the world. This past year, he's been in Monte Carlo, Budapest, Warsaw, Prague and Amsterdam, just to name a few of the places. He's done very well coming in fifth place in Monte Carlo and second place in Amsterdam. But it was at this year's European Poker Tour in London where he finally did what he's wanted to do in many of the other tournaments he's played in…..he won!!! The prize was 1 million pounds…you do the math. It was a tournament that lasted five days and late on the fourth day, we realized he was going to make the final table. I got a text message from Michael telling me to come and, in no time at all, I was on the last plane out that night headed for London. I wasn't alone as my BFF Pat came with me along with Michael's girlfriend Jenn. We arrived the next morning, two hours before the finale began. The final table lasted ten hours and we were on the edge of our seats the entire time. But, in the end, I was there to witness the win and the joy and excitement of it all. Unfortunately, Bob couldn't come but was able to watch the entire thing on the Internet. Now that I'm writing this, it sounds like poor Bob missed out on a lot this year but his time was yet to come. Between Brady's birth and Michael's big win, I wasn't sure if I could take any further excitement.

But the weekend after Michael's triumph, we were having a surprise 60th birthday party for Bob at the shore. I had arranged for all of his college roommates to surprise him there. It went off without a hitch…he thought we were all there to celebrate Michael's good fortune. Little did he know that we were there to celebrate his getting older. It was an exciting and fun time and I thank them all for making the trip and making his birthday an occasion to remember.

As for the rest of our family, my mother is still living at Twining Village in PA and we swear she's getting younger instead of older. Keith is now living back in New York having transferred from the Delta Fort Lauderdale hub to JFK Airport. Since my lazy brother Michael is not doing a Christmas letter this year, I'd like to report that my godson Jarek was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and spent the summer in Bradenton, Florida playing Rookie league ball. Since I'm not one of his parents, I can brag about him myself and tell you he did an amazing job and we might all be getting free tickets to the Pittsburgh Pirates' games in the near future.

I think I mentioned last year that Bob is no longer traveling to New York City as he's now working in Philadelphia. What a difference a drive makes! He's cut his commuting time in half.So, in essence, he can work longer hours and be less tired.

Liz and Bryan are loving their new home and fixing it up little by little. It was hard for Liz to go back to work after Brady was born but she is managing beautifully. In other news, Bryan's company merged and, just when he thought his job was safe, it wasn't. He was laid off a few days before Liz was to return to work. We had a few teary phone calls where I told her it was for the best and he would probably end up with something even better….which he did. Within two weeks, he had gotten not one but two job offers. One of them was from a medical supply company where his good friend Randy works. Randy happens to be married to one of Liz' closest friends Andrea. Her friends love getting shout-outs in my Christmas letter and I feel Randy and Andrea deserve the biggest one this year for helping Bryan land such a great job.

Since I haven't worked too hard this year, I've had plenty of time to read. My absolute favorite book was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. This book is narrated by a dog and it really puts life in perspective. It's a "must read." I'm also hooked on Netflix and the mailman is constantly delivering those red and white envelopes to my door. Since I also love to write, I have officially become a blogger. Many of the things I've written here have also been written in my blog this year. So, if you have nothing to do, check it out at www.thereader23.blogspot.com

I just realized that I forgot to mention one of the most important things in our life - our beloved border collie Belle. She is the most calming factor in a world fraught with turbulence. One look at her and you can forget anything going on anywhere. If she was narrating this letter, she would hope that all of your dreams and wishes come true in 2009. But since I'm the narrator, I'd like to end with something they say in poker, "May all your cards be live and your pots be monsters." I don't think anyone's ever ended a Christmas letter that way. Have a wonderful holiday season!!

And, with that, I wish all of you, my faithful blog readers, a very happy and healthy 2009.

Christmas 2008

As I sit here typing this, two days after the main event, I'm happy to report that I've survived yet another Christmas. Every year, I don't know how I'm going to get everything done that I want to -- but I do. This year got a bit complicated as a belt broke on my car the week before foiling my shopping plans for that day and the locks froze on Bob's car earlier in the week which meant he had to use my car to get to work so, again, I was "carless." I ended up wrapping my last present on Christmas Eve at about noon. So it was then time for the festivities to begin.

Liz and Bryan arrived with our "First Christmas" baby Brady on Christmas Eve afternoon. Our plan was to decorate the tree in the family room and have an antipasto. I know my friend Eloise loves when I post pictures of the food so here is our Italian feast.

We've basically decorated the tree with pretty much the same ornaments for the past fifteen years but, this year, I went with a new silver and red theme. I love how it turned out. There's some pictures below that show it although I don't think any of these pictures I've posted do the decorating justice. That night, everyone gets to open one present and it's always the new pajamas I give them to wear to bed that night.

Everyone was up at 8AM on Christmas morning and the opening of the presents began. As you can see from the picture of the gifts under the tree, Michael's are in red and Liz' are in white which makes it very easy for them to decipher which are theirs. Of course, Liz always looks it over to make sure she sees more white than red. If she does, she's happy. lol Since we don't have a fireplace in the living room, we like to have the channel on the TV that shows the Yule Log. I have to admit that this is last year's picture as they were already in the room with the baby by the time I came down this year. But, you get the gist of it. The TV this year has been replaced with a flat screen that Michael bought after his win in London. It definitely looks a lot nicer.

Bob then makes breakfast for everyone (sorry no pictures of that) and then we get ready for the rest of the day which includes a big dinner (pork royale) and the arrival of my mother. Here's a picture of the Christmas table before we all descended upon it. Setting the table is one of my favorite things to do. Over the years, I've accumulated so many beautiful things and many different colored tablecloths. It takes me hours just to figure out which one I'm going to use. Once I pick out the tablecloth, everything else seems to fall into place as far as which dishes I'll use and which stemware set will grace the table. I went with a lot of silver and red/burgundy's this year so my dining room table follows suit.

Since Liz and Bryan were staying for the weekend, we had a few more great dinners. Here's some ravioli and meatballs served on our Snowman plates the day after Christmas. When I served the dinner, I was so happy with the presentation. It was right out of the Top Chef competition. Over the years, I've bought a few different holiday dinnerware sets. When Michael was younger, I used to change all of my dishes the day after Thanksgiving so we only ate on those that were holiday related. I always enjoyed the day I pulled out the dishes "of the season."

A special treat this year is the addition of Jenn (Michael's girlfriend) into our lives. We got to witness their gift giving as well and Jenn's gift was so thoughtful that it had Liz and I crying. She arrived with a huge basket which included about 10 numbered picture frames. Michael had to read through a list and find the coordinating picture. What it boiled down to was that it was a weekend in New York City and each picture included what they would be doing. For instance, #1 was a picture of the Hilton Hotel where they would be staying; #2 was a picture of Rockefeller Center where they would be ice skating; #3 was the Top of the Rock Observation Deck at sunset; #4 was the Sea Grill where they would be dining #5 was the NBC studio where they would be taking a tour #6 was the Chelsea Brewing Company where they would have lunch #7 (and Michael's favorite) was New York Rangers' tickets and #8 was Tavern on the Green where they would have brunch before returning home. They're in the City right now and enjoying this gift together.

I was shopping with Michael as he was buying some of Jenn's gifts and afterwards, I call Liz and all I could say was that I wish I was Michael Martin's girlfriend. He has such great taste and she absolutely loved every single thing he bought.

I wanted to post some of my "decorating" pictures so my out-of-town relatives can get to see them. And, since it was Brady's first Christmas, here's a few of him as well so that Bryan's relatives can take part in his first Christmas festivities. They're all avid readers of my blog so here's a shoutout to those of them in Colorado and Florida.

Here's one with my mother and Brady. He just loves when she sings those "old time" songs to him. Here she is singing about Josephine in her "flying machine" and raising Brady's arms every time the plane goes up in the air.

Here's Brady opening his first Christmas present from Santa. And also what we call the "Brady" sandwich. Liz and Bryan just can't seem to get enough of him.

Of my decorating. I've collected these carolers for over twenty years so my collection is quite extensive and I have them all over the house. The majority are housed in my breakfront but, as you'll see in the pictures below, they also appear in the dining room window and family room as well. I also started collecting the Department 56 villages when they first came out in the 1980's. I'm sure I have well over 150 houses and each year I pick out a few to display. My favorite is my "Christmas in the City" collection as it reminds me of growing up in New York. On one end, I have Times Square and that ball actually drops on New Year's Eve. On the other end, I have the Empire State Building and I can change the color of the dome at the top from white to red to green. In honor of the closing of Yankee Stadium this year, I've displayed the stadium right in front of the Empire State building. Mostly all of these have been gifts over the years from Bob and the kids and my brothers. This year, Bob bought me Woolworth's which was really special to me as my father always used to take me to the Woolworth's counter for lunch when he took me to work with him. Michael bought me one that's an old time 1950's diner. These will definitely be displayed when I do Christmas 2009.

So I hope you enjoyed The Martin's Christmas this year. We surely did.

Hallmark Movies

I defy anyone to watch a Hallmark movie and not cry. And, if that's not bad enough, you end up crying during the commercials as well when someone gives someone they love a Hallmark card. I know it's sappy but I just can't help myself. And tonight, they had back-to-back-to back Christmas movies.

First it was Our First Christmas about a blended family trying to work out their first Christmas together. I think I cried at least five separate times during that one. It was followed up with A Grandpa for Christmas about a girl being sent to live with her grandfather while her mother is recovering from an accident. Another movie sure to bring on tears. And after that, it's Silver Bells which is adapted from a Luanne Rice book of the same title about two people finding love in New York City during the Christmas season. I'm in Christmas movie heaven.

I remember, when I was growing up, watching every single Christmas movie that was on TV. I wasn't alone in this as everyone in my family did the same thing so we all sat around the TV all night watching.

But I feel I deserve all these good Christmas movies as I worked very hard all day decorating the house......pictures to follow tomorrow. Michael flew home from Vegas tonight so now the real Christmas celebrating can begin.

And the Decorating Begins

It actually began a few days ago but I had a problem when I tried to download pictures on my newly fixed computer. The Windows Wizard, that used to automatically appear when I plugged in my camera, did not appear. I tried everything to fix it and ended up calling Sony. After 45 minutes on the phone, we weren't even close to getting it fixed so I hung up. After doing some research on Google, I found someone who had the exact same problem and just followed his instructions and it was fixed.

This first picture is a "before" picture. I'm doing this one for my friend JoAnn who can't stand these carolers. I happen to love them and have been collecting them for at least twenty years. Here they are all displayed on my dining room table before I begin dispersing them around the house. I counted them and I have 57 of them.

I pack them away in their original boxes and I have written, on the outside of the box, who gave them to me and the year I got them. It brings back some good memories when I'm doing this especially those of Liz and Michael going to Feeney's (a Christmas store) with me and picking out their favorites each year.

These are made right here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania by a company called Byers. You can even tour their factory and see how they are made which I've yet to do. I will post the "after" pictures shortly.

Christmas Quiz!!

I thought this might be a nice way to jumpstart my Christmas blogging. I borrowed this from my friend JoAnn's blog.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? -- Definitely wrapping paper....and the really nice kind. I also do the kids' gifts in the same color so, when they're under the tree, they know which ones are theirs -- as in Michael's are always wrapped in red and Liz' are always wrapped in white and Keith's were always in green. Keith isn't usually here on Christmas morning anymore so Bryan has inherited that color. I just decided, the other day, that my new grandchild Brady would have his wrapped in silver.

2. Real tree or Artificial? -- There's absolutely no thought given on this answer....a real tree is a must. We actually have two trees -- one for the family room and one for the living room. We open our Christmas presents on Christmas morning in the living room so there must be a tree in that room.

3. When do you put up the tree? -- They were actually purchased this weekend and both of them are up but not yet decorated. I'll do the living room tree this week and we are all doing the family room tree together on Christmas Eve.

4. When do you take the tree down? -- Probably the second weekend in January.

5. Do you like eggnog? -- Love it but only buy one container which takes us through the entire season.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? -- This is going to sound crazy but I always loved finding the 64 box of Crayola Crayons under the tree. In line with that, my other favorite was the Venus Paradise coloring sets.

7. Hardest person to buy for? -- Definitely my mother. I usually end up taking most of the gifts back.

8. Easiest person to buy for? -- Liz -- She loves everything!! (as long as it's a name brand)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? -- Yes. I made one in ceramics years ago and it looks like a Lenox set with the gold trim. It's beautiful but I stopped putting it out as so many of the pieces have broken.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? -- Definitely mail. I do not like emailed Christmas cards so, if you're one of my friends and you're reading this, do not email me my card. Put a stamp on it.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? -- There's a tie here. My first worst was a Chia Pet from my brother Michael. He thought it was funny...I cried. The second worst was a necklace with a black pearl on it that Bob got me a few years ago. I had gone to a local jewelry store and picked out a pearl necklace that I really, really, really wanted. Liz told Bob about it and he went to buy it. Unfortunately, he went to the wrong store and bought the only pearl necklace they had. I cried again.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? -- It has to be the original 1951 Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim. I remember watching this with my brothers every Christmas Eve. Next to that it would have to be Love Actually.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? -- Liz and I usually go the day after Thanksgiving but that's more of a search mission. The actual shopping probably starts online and from catalogs and then the live shopping happens the next week. For instance, this week I'm going to Willow Grove Mall with Linda on Monday, Short Hills Mall with Pat on Thursday and Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island with Liz on Friday -- to have Brady's picture taken with Santa!!! So a lot of my shopping will be done this week.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? -- Definitely not but I wish I'd saved that Chia Pet to send back to my brother Michael.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? -- After we open our presents on Christmas morning, Bob makes us all a special Christmas breakfast. That's my favorite thing to eat that day. The only year I didn't eat it was the year I got the black pearl....I was crying too much. lol

16. Lights on the tree? -- All white and there can never be too many lights on the tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? -- Two favorites -- Hey Santa by Wilson Phillips (which I can't even download on my Ipod because Itunes doesn't sell it) and All I Want for Christmas is You from Love Actually and also on the Mariah Carey Christmas album.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? -- Definitely stay home. We always used to go to New York City on Christmas Eve and everyone (except me) skated at Rockefeller Center. We stopped doing this a few years ago when my mother moved to PA and there was no need to go to New York to visit her on Christmas Eve. I miss it.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? -- Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? -- For a few years, I had a big bow with streamers coming down. Now I have stars for both trees.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? -- We open gifts from relatives on Christmas Eve and I let the kids open one gift each (of my choosing). It's always pajamas as I've always bought them new pajamas to wear to bed on Christmas Eve.

22. Favorite Christmas Tradition? -- It's probably all the dated ornaments we put on the tree that I have bought from Hallmark over the years. It's just fun reminiscing as each ornament comes out of the box. When the kids were little, I had so many more traditions that I've now stopped. For instance, the day after Thanksgiving, I would put all of my regular dishes away and replace them with my Christmas dishes. Then there were the annual visits to Feeney's with Michael, the taking of the Christmas picture and so many more.

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? -- The color theme on the family room tree is red and many of the ornaments are dated. The theme on the living room tree is more of a formal one with a lot of gold and cream colored ornaments.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner? -- I don't have a favorite Christmas dinner as I make something different every year. What we do love, however, is have an antipasto on Christmas Eve after we decorate the tree.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? -- I really can't think of anything I want other than a new cell phone. I was supposed to get one for my birthday but that never happened so perhaps it will come from Santa.

Please feel free to add your comments and answer some of these questions yourself if you like. I would love to see them.

A Belated Thanksgiving Entry

This is so late that I almost decided not to blog about it. But then I remembered how cute Brady looked in his Thanksgiving outfit (given to him by my cousin Colleen) and felt the need to post some pictures. Here he is with Bryan and Liz, who never take their hands off him. Most of the time, they actually bump heads when they go in to kiss him at the exact same time.

I always cook on Thanksgiving except for one year when we decided to drive into Queens to visit my mother. After spending over three hours in the car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, we finally arrived, picked her up and headed off to the restaurant where we had reservations. After eating turkey that tasted like cardboard, we vowed never to eat out again on Thanksgiving. Now that my mother is living in Pennsylvania, it makes it a lot easier.

I think I spend as much time figuring out what tablecloth, dishes, napkins and glasses to use as I do cooking the actual meal. Over the years, I've bought so many different entertaining items and I just love setting up the table for each holiday. Here's a picture of my 2008 Thanksgiving table.

I should have taken another picture after everyone was sitting down but forgot. So please picture my mother and Michael on the left side of the table, Bob at the other head and Liz and Bryan on the right....Brady is on the far right in his infant seat.

Everyone said it was one of the best meals I've cooked yet even though I made the same thing I make every year. Sometimes, though, it just turns out better. There's no rhyme or reason for it. I think as women, we usually follow the same menu our own mother's made on this holiday. Mine consists of mashed potatoes (I definitely make the best), sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, mushrooms (another speciality of mine) and, of course, the turkey and gravy (Bob's speciality). We usually have to wait about two hours after the meal to have the dessert which is usually an assortment of pies.

The day after Thanksgiving, Liz and I usually brave the crowds and go Christmas shopping. We went to Short Hills Mall in New Jersey this year. It's an upscale mall and, while it was crowded, it wasn't unbearable.

So all in all, it was another successful Thanksgiving in the Martin house.

To Repair or Not To Repair.....That was the question!!

Just a little update. My laptop is in for repair. I had to ship it to San Diego to be fixed and have no idea how long that's going to take. I'm lost without it. Everything I do is on that laptop. I had to backup everything so it wouldn't get lost in the transition or the translation. This Sony Vaio is only two years old but everytime I touch it or move it, it shuts down. It became impossible to use. I know I could just go out and get a new one but I really like this one so I'll have to wait for the repair to be completed. And you too, my loyal blog readers, will have to wait for more frequent posts as a result.

Michael left for Prague today to play in the European Poker Tour event there. I've never been but I've heard it's beautiful. He's staying at the Prague Hilton which looks fabulous from the pictures I've seen. I hope I'll be able to report some good news from that tournament. This map shows all of the different stops on the tour for the 2008/2009 season. So far, he's been to Barcelona, Warsaw and London (where he took first place). The next one after this is Deauville in France which was won by one of his best friends, Brandon Schaefer, a few years ago. The weather in this picture looks very mild although I bet it's freezing there.

I have some great pictures of Thanksgiving to post but that will have to be in another entry as they're on my other computer. I've asked my FSIL Bryan to send them to me in an email so I don't have to wait for my computer to come back especially since it might not come back until after Christmas.

Right about now, I'm getting ready to decorate for Christmas and was hoping to be able to post some of those pictures as well. Perhaps I can figure out how to do it from my PC. Until then, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.