Judgment In Death by J.D. Robb

In this next installment of the In Death series Eve is on the hunt for a cop killer. Unfortunately, dirty cops and suspects are turning up left and right. Add to that the fact that one of Roarke's former "business associates" is also a major suspect. This is turning out to be a very important case....a case that will possibly be putting a strain on Eve and Roarke's marriage.
You all know by now that I adore this series. I haven't yet come across a book that I haven't liked. In fact, I've already picked up the next book in this series from the library. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see a little bit more of Peabody and McNab and their relationship (or would you even call it that??) But still I'm rooting for them to get together :) I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Challenges: A-Z Challenge ("J" Title)
My Rating: 4 out of 5

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

This is the second book in the Storm Front series by Jim Butcher. I've gotta say that it's just as good as the first book. Basically in this story Harry is up against some killer werewolves. But there aren't just werewolves; there are hexenwolves, loup-garoes (sp?), and other shape-shifting beings. Fool Moon is just as action-packed as the first story in the series. I loved seeing Bob again in this book (he's the spirit that lives in a skull). There is always a bit of mystery within these books which keeps me guessing until the end. Harry does tend to get himself into some unbelievable situations but really it's an urban fantasy book. What else would I expect? :) And my favorite thing about Harry is his "moral" code that he seems to use with the decisions he makes. He is of some very old school beliefs which get him into trouble sometimes. Now I'm excited to read the next book in this series!! I would recommend starting off with the first book which I believe is Storm Front....but you might want to double check that and make sure I'm right. LOL!
Challenges: Casual Reading Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("F" Title)
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Shoot! I did want to add that my only negative with this book was that it was quite gruesome at a couple of points. Some readers might not like all of that detail. I skimmed a few parts but didn't think too much about it. ;)

The Sunday Salon- Reading Up A Storm

The title of this post says it all--I've been reading like crazy! I finished up student teaching and am in an "in-between" period...so I've been reading. I LOVE having a little extra time to read. So I thought that I would let you know what I've been reading. I recently read and finished up Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. I haven't written my review yet but I'll be getting to it soon hopefully. I will say that I enjoyed it a lot but it was a bit gory. I really enjoy this series and wonder what Harry will be up against next.
I've also picked up Judgment In Death by J.D. Robb. I've been reading this off and on all morning and just finished it while my daughter was taking a nap. Another great book in this series. So now I have two reviews to catch up on. Oh well...later this week.
Now I'm off to check out other Saloners blogs and get me some more book recommendations. (like I really need any more :) I've gotta start back to work this week so my reading will probably slow down a bit. But that's life, right? Hope everyone is enjoying a good book and some fresh spring weather.
BTW- You know it's spring when you get dandelions as flowers picked from your child. Gotta love it!

Haunting Rachel by Kay Hooper

Loved this book! I flew through it and couldn't put it down. Another great find for me and I'm excited to read other books by this author! The story (in a nutshell) is about a woman named Rachel whose fiancee disappeared years ago and is now believed to be dead. Unfortunately, Rachel buried her heart with her missing fiancee and is now only going back to the place where she grew up to settle her dead parents' estate. But danger arises as it looks like someone is trying to kill Rachel for reasons unknown. Plus, a man that looks amazingly like her dead fiancee is also in the picture...and always seems to be in the right place at the right time when Rachel is in danger. Intrigued yet?? This was a fast-paced novel that had me enthralled. I couldn't put it down and didn't want to :). At the beginning I kept trying to figure out how the author was going to end it and who the bad guy was. Then I realized that I was overanalyzing it and decided to just settle down for the ride. I sure am glad that I did! Now I'm off to figure out where this fits in with the Suspense/Thriller challenge that I'm involved in. Hmm....
Challenges: Suspense/Thriller Challenge
My Rating: 5 out of 5

Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie

I neglected to write a Sunday Salon post yesterday because I hardly read anything all weekend. Why you might ask? Because I was doing something even better! I was spending QUALITY time with my family. We went to a waterpark hotel for the weekend and had a blast. My son loved every minute of it...I could hardly get him out of the pool! :) Lots of fun but little reading time as I was trying to keep up with him and introduce my daughter to her very 1st swimming experience. It was chaos but of the best kind!
On to the book review, I'm becoming a fast fan of Agatha Christie. This was a fun little whodunnit for me. Hercule Poirot is asked to investigate a murder where a man has already been convicted and is about to be hung for the murder. And he is asked by the leading police investigator who found the evidence that convicted the man soon to be executed. With little to no clues as to who the murderer might be, Poirot has to use all of his skills to solve this case. I enjoyed reading this book. Poirot is a very pompous character who thinks quite highly of himself. It made me laugh at one point just reading his thoughts about himself. The mystery had a few good twists and turns...and I didn't figure out who the murderer was so all in all, a good book!
Challenges: Anything Agatha Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("C" Author)
My Rating: 4 out of 5

342,745 Ways To Herd Cats Challenge

I'm hopeless. I cannot stop joining challenges and am starting to think that it is an addiction. But this one looks easy and sounds like fun so really, why not??? For the challenge I needed to choose 10 books that I love. The books I chose are all special to me in some way. If you want to know about a specific one, email me and I'll tell ya why I chose it. Here's my list:

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky

2. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

3. Naked In Death by J.D. Robb

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

5. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

6. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

7. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

8. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult

9. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

10. They Cage The Animals At Night by Jennings Burch

I haven't quite figured out what 3 that I'm going to read. But since the challenge host seems pretty easygoing and doesn't care if we start early...well....I'm gonna read as many as I see fit. I'll just list them when I figure it all out :)

Heard It Through The Grapevine Challenge

I can never resist a fun little challenge and this is one of them. All I have to do is read three books that have been recommended to me. Since 3/4 of my TBR list are book recommendations that I get from fellow bloggers and my Yahoo bookgroups....well...I think you get the picture. I see that others have been naming the sources at to who recommended what but I haven't the slightest. LOL! Here's my list with a few alternates:

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (recommended to me by one of my students :) and the only one where I know who told me to read it)
• Shadow Game by Christine Feehan
• Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
• Cocktails For Three by Madeleine Wickham
• The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Laurie

Yay, I found a new series to read....like I don't have enough. I really liked this book! Abby Cooper is a psychic intuitive who knows things often before they are going to happen. After joining an online dating service, she comes across a man named Dutch who she is really attracted to. Until she finds out that he is a police detective. When one of her clients is murdered, Dutch and Abby have to work closely together to find the killer before Abby finds herself in danger.

This was a cozy mystery that was a lot of fun for me to read. I liked Abby's personality and loved reading about her "predictions". The mystery was a good whodunnit and I didn't figure it out which is always nice. This book is different from other series that I am reading which is most definitely a good thing! I'm excited to continue on reading books from this author.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge ("A" Title), Suspense/Thrillers Challenge (Cozy Mystery)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Born On A Blue Day: A Memoir by Daniel Tammet

What an interesting read this was. I read this book for the nonfiction yahoo group that I belong to and it was a worthwhile read. Daniel is an autistic savant which he equates to being a more highly functioning "rain man" (the Dustin Hoffman movie) Basically, he is really smart in certain areas. For instance, he loves numbers. Every number is a visual experience for him that he pictures in his head. He says repeatedly that numbers are his friends. In fact, for a fundraiser (I believe) he learned over 22,000 numbers of pi. (*Remember that pi is an infinite number -something that some of us...meaning me....might not have remembered :P) And he didn't miss a single number. How amazing is that?!?!!!
This memoir takes us from when Daniel was a baby to his present day life. I found it very interesting to see how he progressed and grew as an individual. He is very up front with the things socially that he is not good at-and also gives facts that relate to Aspergers as to why many individuals with this condition are not good at certain situations. I hope that made sense. Anyways, I'm really glad that I read this book. It was interesting for me and gave me a better sense of what someone that has a disease like this goes through. Just a sidenote: because Daniel is so intelligent some areas are a bit dry. But that's just because he knows so much and he explains it all to you. Others might find those tidbits really fascinating. I recommend this one!
Challenges: In Their Shoes Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("B" Title)
My Rating: 4 out of 5

The Sunday Salon- Where Did This Week Go?

That's the question I felt like asking myself when I woke up this morning. I haven't posted since last Sunday and I didn't even realize it. Oops, now I'm behind in reviews again. ;) I have finished Born On A Blue Day since I last talked to you as well as Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Victoria Lane. Both were good reads that I really enjoyed. The question remains: what to read next?? Not to worry, I have ten or so books checked out from the library. I just haven't decided yet on what is next. I'll get my review up hopefully by tomorrow.
I've spent the morning reading book club emails (I'm way behind on these too!) which has been relaxing. After feeding my daughter and doing various chores around the house, I got back on the computer. I've been blog-hopping and writing down book suggestions like crazy. I should probably look into updating my blog a bit and then I'm going to check out the new challenges that have been posted at A Novel Challenge reading group. Hopefully the rest of my day will consist of reading, computer stuff, laundry, and most importantly spending time with my family!! I'll let you know what I decide to read next.

Sunday Salon- My Reading Progress

This is my 1st Sunday Salon post and I figured I would start off by talking about what I'm reading and so on. I've been working for the past week on the book, Born On A Blue Day: Inside The Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet. I'm reading this for April's read in the nonfiction yahoo bookclub that I belong to. I had heard about it previously so when I saw that they were reading it for this month I decided to read it sooner rather than later. (Sidenote: This is the first book that I've read for this club-I always tend to lurk. LOL!) I've been enjoying this book but not getting a lot of reading time in. Such is the life when you have children and a ton of stuff going on.
Born On A Blue Day is an interesting read. Mr. Tammet is extremely intelligent and it has been interesting (for lack of a better word) to read about his life and struggles. He is able to speak ten languages fluently and is very smart with numbers and mathematical equations. I think I remember him likening himself to a higher functioning "rain man" (the movie with Dustin Hoffman..I haven't seen it so I was kinda lost there) Anyways, the book is good so far and I need to get going on it so I can discuss with the group.
Now I'm off to check out some of the others Sunday Saloners blogs and see what everyone else is reading. Maybe add some more to my TBR. And tonight my plans include reading and relaxing.

Witness In Death by J.D. Robb

Here it is...my last review and then I'm caught up! Woohoo! In this installment of the In Death series, Eve and Roarke are watching a play when the lead actor is murdered before their eyes. With literally thousands of eye witnesses to the crime, Eve has her hands full. Add to the fact that some of the suspects are actors and the "truth" is all in how they decide to portray it. All of these ingredients make a pretty darn good whodunnit.
One of the things that I liked about this paticular book in this series was that we got to see the beginnings of a...dare I say relationship...forming between Peabody and McNab. I'm anxious to see where it goes. We are also getting to see how much closer Eve is letting people into her life. I love her personality and think that it really makes this series great. As always I'll just keep recommending this series! :)
Challenges: Spring Reading Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("W" Title)
My Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling

Love, love, love this series!! This series just keep getting better and better for me. My students have been asking when I was going to read this one (I won't let them tell me about the movie until after I've finished the book) and I'm glad that I read this sooner rather than later. I can already tell you that this series will be reread by me multiple times!
So in this book, Harry is in danger not from Voldemort, but from Sirius Black who was one of Voldemort's biggest supporters. Harry has to deal with dementors, Malfoy, and of course Snape all while trying to not worry about being attacked by Black. We learn a little more about the circumstances of Harry's parents' death. Plus, there are all sorts of other exciting happenings going on at Hogwarts. This is a great read and my favorite so far! (I might say that every time I read one of these :) ) Once again, if you haven't read this series yet then GIVE THEM A TRY!!! They are so worth it.
Challenges: Spring Reading Challenge
My rating: 5 out of 5

Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich

This is the second in the famous Stephanie Plum series. I say famous because it seems live EVERYONE is reading this series. Guess I gotta join in, huh? I always enjoy a good laugh and these books do it for me. The situations that Stephanie gets herself into have me laughing so hard that I"m practically in tears. I love these books so far!

In this one, Stephanie is on the hunt for Kenny Mancuso. It should be an easy case for Stephanie but things are more complicated than she realized at first. With some help from Grandma Mazur and Lulu (back from the 1st story), Stephanie is working hard to catch Kenny before he puts her and her family in danger. This story was just as fun as the first in my opinion! Can't wait to get started on the third book!

Challenges: Numbers Challenge, Casual Reading Challenge, A-Z Challenge ("E" Author)

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

So I'm trying to catch up on my book reviews and I recently finished this book for the 1st in a Series challenge. I've heard lots of good things about this author so I've been anxious to read this one. It was pretty good. Dead Until Dark is the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress who can read people's minds, and her experiences after meeting a vampire for the first time named Bill. Women are getting killed in the small town where she lives and many people suspect Bill as being the murderer. All of this is going on while Sookie and Bill are beginning to try and start a relationship together.
This is a paranormal romance wrapped up into a mystery. It was a fun story for me. I'm definitely going to be on the look out for the next in this series. Which causes me to laugh and say THANKS JOY! (host of the 1st in the series challenge) since I keep adding even more books to my TBR. Always a good thing in my opinion. Charlaine Harris has other series of books as well that I have on my TBR that I'm going to bump up now that I've read something by her. Good, fun book for me!
Challenges: 1st in a Series, A-Z Challenge ("H" Author)
My Rating: 4 out of 5
P.S.- For all of the Sookie fans out there, I personally liked Sam better and hope that in further books that they possible date!! :)