79. Your Not You

By Michelle Wildgen
Rated 1 1/2 Star

From the book jacket:

"College student Bec is dangerously adrift. Self-conscious and increasingly uncertain about her long-term plans, she's studying a major that no longer interests her and is caught up in a bewildering affair with a married professor. In an impulsive attempt to redeem herself, she answers a want ad seeking a caregiver." "What she finds is a wealthy, cultivated woman in her midthirties. Once an advertising executive, accomplished chef, and skilled decorator, Kate is now in the advanced stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). She and her husband, Evan, handle their situation with mordant humor, careful planning, and a lot of determination. Yet while Bec perceives the couple as charmingly frank and good-humored, strains exist beneath the surface." "Bec is soon a vital part of her employer's household, and their increasing closeness transforms both women's lives and their relationships. The more she acts on Kate's behalf, the further Bec strays from her stringent comfort zone. She performs every task, from the most administrative to the most intimate, and she translates Kate's speech for strangers, friends, and even family. Sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes reluctantly, Bec advances further and further into Kate's world, surprised by her own increasing dedication and ease. But how closely can Bec intertwine her own life with Kate's?" "The two confront their obstacles unsentimentally, with dark humor and unflinching candor, as their relationship is slowly stripped of pretense. Honesty becomes their touchstone: They may find humor in the most devastating moments, but they won't pretend to believe in silver linings that don't exist. With crystal clarity, debut author Michelle Wildgen has crafted a deeply affecting novel about the singular relationship between two women, balancing humor and regret, sensuality and necessity, and testing the outer limits of friendship

81. Privilege and Scandal

By Janet Gleeson
Rated 4 Stars

It is an account of the life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of the more well known Georgiana, Dutchess of Devonshire. I have been reading on this book for a while as I had to take a break in the middle of it because her life is such a train wreck and I was getting very annoyed by her consistent self destructive behavior. But it is very well written and contains a wealth of details about the Regency era that Georgette Heyer never mentions

Below is a better description of the book that I copied from Amazon. I think what blew me totally away and was the reason I had to put the book down and take a little rest was when Gleeson wrote that at one point Georgiana had run up 100,000 pounds in gambling debts and that in today's money it would be 6 MILLION pounds or converted to US dollars roughly 12 MILLION dollars! I found that beyond shocking. And guess what, it didn't stop her, or Harriet who was almost as bad. Me, I get in a snit if I lose $10 on the nickel slots.

"The first biography of Lady Harriet Spencer, ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and devoted sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Harriet Spencer was one of the most glamorous, influential, and notorious aristocrats of the Regency period. Intelligent, attractive, and eager to please, at nineteen she married an aloof, distant relative; the only trait they shared was an unhealthy love of gambling. Harriet began a series of illicit dalliances, including one with the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Then she met Lord Granville Leveson Gower, handsome and twelve years her junior. Their years-long affair resulted in the birth of two children, and concealing both pregnancies from her husband required great skill. Harriet was an eyewitness to the French Revolution; traveled through war-torn Europe during the time of Napoleon; quarreled with Byron when he pursued her daughter; and became one of the leading female political activists of her day.--From publisher description."

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Movie

★★★★★

This was the best film since the first one. The story basically involves Harry being persecuted by the government for telling the truth. There are some chilling comparisons between what happens in the movie and what is happening today with the current regime that is in power in this country. I was puzzled that I didn't pick up any of this when I read the book but when I got home I checked the copyright date and it was 2003. This means that either Rowlings is a prophet or that repressive tin pot dictators are pretty much all the same. No originality there at all.

But getting back to the movie, it is impossible to squeeze a 900 page book into a 2 1/2 hour movie without loosing a lot of the story. However the essential parts were there. I thought that the acting was the best ever and I loved/hated Imelda Staunton as Delores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter the demented Bellatrix LaStrange was excellent. I was surprised to see that Neville had grown so much. He must have shot up at least 4 or 5 inches since the last movie. Loved the battle scenes.

73. Zombies of the Gene Pool

By Sharon McCrumb
Rated ★★★

Engineering professor and famed science fiction author Jay Omega and his significant other, Marion Farley, a professor of SF, investigate the murder of another science fiction writer.

In the 1950's, a group of science fiction fans decided to drive to WorldCon to meet their writer idols (and basically to have a big blast). They didn't make it to WorldCon, but they did make it to Wall Hollow, Tennessee, where all the members each wrote a story and buried it in a time capsule.

30 years later, several of the members of the group have hit it big as SF writers. Their reunion at Wall Hollow becomes a huge media event, with publishers bidding on the rights to the stories buried in the time capsule. But just before the reunion starts, someone is murdered.

72. The Ride of our Lives

By Mike Leonard
4 stars

Copied from Review:

"Today" correspondent Mike Leonard decided to take a month off to accompany his aging parents on a journey to the places of their youth, along with a number of American landmarks. He tells the story of their RV trek with good humor, recalling their fascination with the roadside landscape, as he reveals how his parents, always blunt and unique, deal with the indignities of age and memories of the past. Although there are tense moments as the family awaits news of a new addition to the family, his tone is usually comic. Leonard's ride won't necessarily teach you anything about family relationships, but it's an entertaining yarn you'll enjoy on your own road trips.

My Comments: I personally thought the DVD was much more intresting than the book. But then filming stories is what Mike Leonard DOES so it is no wonder that it's better. But I am glad I really enjoyed going along on their trip with them.

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.