71. Touching Stars

By Emile Richards
Rated ★★★★½

From Publishers Weekly:

The setup of Richards's 50-somethingth book is wince-inducing: Gayle Fortman's ex-husband, hot-shot TV journalist Eric, has had a nasty run-in with the Taliban; at Gayle's invitation, he returns to the Shenandoah Valley, Va., B&B they bought together to convalesce. Eric, who is in a relationship with L.A.-based fellow journo Ariel Kensington, knows little about the three sons he left behind 12 years ago: 13-year-old Dillon, 16-year-old Noah and 18-year-old Jared. Over 500-plus pages, each boy confronts his father in his own way, while Gayle harbors hopes that Eric will stay. Sidelines include Jared's relationship with hot-to-trot Brandy Wilburn (which may jeopardize his chances at an MIT scholarship), and a neighbor, Travis Allen, waiting in the wings for Gayle. Romance Writers of America award–winner Richards gets the emotions right and writes credible dialogue when the adults speak to children. The result is a fine, light family melodrama. (July)

Don Juan DeMarco - Movie

Rated: ★★★★★+

Shaun who is a major Johnny Depp Fan ordered this movie from amazon. I had never seen it before. It's soo cute.

It's a quirky romantic comedy about a mental patient played by Johnny Depp who claims to be Don Juan, the world's greatest lover, and he gets quite a few women to believe it's true. Marlon Brando plays the psychiatrist who tries to analyze his patient's apparent delusion, and Faye Dunaway plays Brando's wife, who wants to inject some Don Juan-ish romance into their marital routine. Walking a fine line between precious comedy, wistful drama, and delicate fantasy, the movie gets a big dose of charm from its esteemed cast, with Depp delivering dialogue that would have sounded ludicrous from a lesser actor.

If you haven't seen this movie and you need a periodic Johnny Depp fix then you certainly need to see this movie.

70. Niccolo Rising

By Dorothy Dunnett
Rated ★★★★★

I began reading this with the DANTZ group but something came over me and the other day I just started reading and couldn't stop until I got to the end.

It's the first book in the House of Niccolo series where the reader is introduced to Claes, who is never what he appears to be or is really doing what he appears to be doing. Set in 13 century Bruges, it's filled with minute details of the time, and evocative imagery and scenes, such as an attempt on Nicholas' life involving fire and a barrel.

We also meet the women who will overshadow his life, the beautiful but extremely silly Katerina and wilful child Gelis, as well as a host of memorable characters. The imagery of Europe in the Middle Ages is almost overwhelming. Since this was another one of my rereads I was reading with a greater eye to detail than I did the first time. I also had the advantage of 20/20 hindsight and still I often found myself lost in the plot with no idea of where things were going. This is why reading these books with a group is so attractive to me.

Dunnett piles more into a paragraph than any other writer I have ever read. But I have learned that she is definitely an author where with a little effort and concentration you can tag along for the most thrilling ride through history ever written.

69. Hunting and Gathering

By Anna Gavalda
Rated ★★★★½

This is another one of those books that I really liked but for the life of me I could explain exactly what I liked so much about it. It starts off very slow and is written in a choppy style, the punctuation is awkward and the story is long and drawn out.

But the characters are lovely and since the book deals with suicide, addiction, eating disorders, poverty and abandonment I had to stick with the book to make sure they came out all right. The characters, Camille, the intellectual artist waif; Philibert, the stuttering young aristocrat who rescues her from a freezing garret; Franck, the angry, overburdened young chef; and Paulette, Franck's ailing grandmother become an impromptu family.

It's a sentimental fairy tale and I loved it, warts and all.

68. Broken Journey

By Janet Woods
Rated ★★★★½


This is not one of those WOW, page turner kind of books, it just a sweet and gentle story about lonely souls overcoming adversity. I rated it high because I loved it. I am a sucker for sweet and gentle relationship stories. I have copied the blurb from my library site.

"During World War II in Dorset, England, young Jilly Turner lives with her mother, half brother, and half sister while waiting for their father to return from the war. Her flighty self-centered mother entertains an American GI, while Jilly, much younger than her siblings and lonely, makes friends with London evacuee Alec Frampton, an evacuee from London, who is her consolation through a difficult wartime childhood. But when Alec is orphaned and sent to Australia.

Lonely and missing Alec she becomes involved in an affair and ends up pregnant at seventeen with no choice but to give up the baby she loves so much. Jilly never stops missing the child she gave up. When Alec eventually comes back from Australia they find that their friendship has survived the long separation. The book has a happy ending. After all that I would have forcefully wall banged it if it hadn't.

67. Lean Mean Thirteen

By Janet Evanovich
Rated ★★★★


When Dickie Or, Stepahnie's Ex Husband disappears from his house leaving behind only bloodstains and bullet holes, Steffie becomes the prime suspect in his alleged murder. Determined to clear her name, she teams up with Ranger and Joe Morelli, manage uncover Dickie's ties to a shady group of men involved in everything from money laundering to drug running. And when Dickie's jilted business partners decide Stephanie holds the key to the $40 million they believe Dickie stole from them, she's in for a wild ride.

As mysteries go this is one of Evanovich's better ones but as far as I am concerned she did a pretty hit and miss job as far as the characters went. I admit that would have enjoyed it much more if I had been reading it instead of listening to it. Spoken some of the language is a lot more offensive than it is when I read it. Go figure that one!

Grandma Mazur and Lula were both way over the top. Again it may be spoken vs. written. But the interplay between Steffie, Ranger and Morelli was great this time. The person who read this did a great job on Steffie. Overall I gave this four stars as the mystery carried it past the offensive parts. And oh, of course Morelli and Ranger always rate an extra star.

66. Then Came Heaven

By LaVyrle Spencer
Rated ★★★★½

I say the dumbest things about myself sometimes. One of the dumb things I say is that I will not read books with a religious theme. That's obviously not true since some of my favorite books have religious themes. This is one of them.

This is the story of a young widower and the attraction between him and Sister Regina, a young nun who teaches his two daughters. This romance reveals the depth of their commitment to Catholicism, their budding love for one another and their struggles to create new lives for themselves.

It's also LaVerle Spencer's last book and that is a shame. The woman writes lovely romance novels.

A Walk in the Woods

By Bill Bryson
Rated: ★★★★★

Since I want to be a Travel Writer when I grow up this is my favorite non-fiction author. I love his style and witty sense of humor and pithy observations.

In A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson tackles what is, for him, an entirely new subject: the American wilderness. Accompanied only by his old college buddy Stephen Katz, Bryson starts out one March morning in north Georgia, intending to walk the entire 2,100 miles to trail's end atop Maine's Mount Katahdin. If nothing else, A Walk in the Woods is proof positive that the journey is the destination. As Bryson and Katz haul their out-of-shape, middle-aged butts over hill and dale, the reader is treated to both a very funny personal memoir and a delightful chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through.

65. Walking Home

by Goldreich, Gloria
Rated ★★★★

This was an accidental reread for me. I didn't realize tht I had read it before until I was about ten pages into it. Still I enjoyed it just as much this time as I did the first. It's very well written.

Rochelle Weiss's life is turned upside down when she learns both of her parents are dying of cancer. When she requests a leave of absence from her job is denied and when she states that she is determined to take the time to care for them she finds herself fired.

When both of her parents die within hours of each other Rochelle finds herself alone and almost entirely without funds. She takes over a friends dog walking clients and uses the time to reevaluate her life, her values and what kind of future she wants.

64. Love You Soldier

By Amy Hest
Rated ★★

This book was really just a short story as it was only 47 pages long and was written for very young readers. While I often enjoy children's books just as much as any other child, this was not one of them.

The story of a young girl in New York whose father is killed in WWII just never came together for me. It could have been very touching had the author had her act together when she wrote it.

63. Flower Confidential

By Amy Stewart
Rated: ★★★★

I checked this book out from the library because I liked "From the Ground Up" by this author so much. While I didn't like it quite as much I did find it fascinating. I certainly learned a lot about the flower business. Here is a blurb from the book jacket.

"For over a century hybridizers, geneticists, farmers, and florists around the world have worked to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature could provide. Almost any flower, in any color, is for sale at any time of year." "Amy Stewart travels the globe to take us inside this dazzling world. She tracks down scientists intent on developing the first genetically modified blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world's most popular lily (the 'Star Gazer'); a breeder of gerberas of every color imaginable; and an Ecuadorean farmer growing exquisite, high-end organic roses that are the floral equivalent of a Tiffany diamond. She sees firstHand how flowers are grown and harvested on farms in Latin America, California, and Holland. (It isn't always pretty.)"--BOOK JACKET.

62. From the Gound Up

By Amy Stewart
Rated: ★★★★

Since I'm one of those people who can happly get their complete gardening experience by browsing through seed catalogs and visiting the local farmer's market on Saturday mornings this was just the book for me. I get all the vicarious thrills I need by reading about someone else's hard work.

And in the same spirit of piggy backing on someone else's hard work I have copied this review from amazon.

"When the author and her husband bought their first home in California, she was eager to grow the bountiful, colorful garden she had so long envisioned. With much enthusiasm and little knowledge, she began her weekly trek to the local nursery to stock up on all varieties of seedlings. Why, she wondered, did they not flourish after being planted in the bare backyard? Only after many mistakes, much expense, and worrisome encounters with weeds and bugs was she able to transform her little plot into "a garden with soul," jumbled and luxuriant. Along with a witty description of her mistakes, the author shares her solutions. She gives other beginning gardeners tips on making earthworm manure, improving the soil by sheet composting, encouraging beneficial insects, and sharing excess produce with neighbors.
"