My Own Little Book Corner

About My Sisters by Debra Ginsberg 5 stars The true story of family - mainly the relationship of 4 sisters, but it includes the parents and the lone brother. Ms Ginsberg does a nice job of taking current events and reflecting back to childhood. While not everything is perfect between them all, there is a true sense of love. This is the type story that shows the importance of family. I enjoyed it and by the end of the book felt as if I knew them all. Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans by Jed Horne 4 stars This is another work of non-fiction. This is the story of Curtis Kyles - a black New Orleans man that was charged in killing a older white woman in the parking lot of a Schwegmann's grocery store. The book follows Kyles through 5 trials and 14 years in prison, detailing not only the legal and investigative issues, but the emotional toll that this case took on many of the people involved. A well written book that makes you think about our system.

The Pawn by Steven James 5 stars I was interested in this book because I have been in workshops taught by Steven James on how to tell Bible story's to youth. He actually has a Masters in Storytelling - who knew there was such a thing?! This is his first novel in a series. It follows a geographical profiler trying to help solve a serial murder case. Intertwined is a "secondary story about a survivor of the Jonestown cult suicide/murders. Very well written - suspenseful and believable. I'm looking forward to the next one in this series. Playing for Pizza by John Grisham 4 stars Another one of John Grisham's "non-legal" novels. This one is about a washed up quarterback who goes to Italy to play football. Truth be told he was pretty much ran out of the USA by the way he played in his last game there. Once there he finds things aren't quire as his agent had told him they would be, but he makes the best of it and adapts to the culture and the league in his ow

The Collectors by David Baldacci 4 stars I like Baldacci's books. I find them interesting but they are not the kind of books that make me sit on the edge of my seat. This book has the Camel Club in the midst of murder and intrigue. Mr. Baldacci takes two different plot lines that end up melded together. An interesting book that is left open for a sequel. Come Back - A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine 4 stars A true story of a daughter's drug addiction and recovery. This is told by both the mother and the daughter. It is a depressing and an encouraging story at the same time. Depressing to see how far Mia, the daughter, fell and encouraging to see the love of her mother, Claire, to help her at all costs to overcome. It took a little tough love from Claire but mainly it was the love that Mia had already had from Claire that helped her decide that being clean was something she desired and was ready to work for. A good look into

Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke 5 stars I enjoyed this Dave Robicheaux novel more than the last one. Burke still had a lot of his signature plot lines - the corrupt rich family, Clete getting in major trouble, Helen cutting Dave some slack and of course the rain. But things seemed a little "toned" down and more believable. The Law of Similars by Christ Bohjalian 4 1/2 stars I like Bohjalian's books. He presents a moral dilemma that always makes me think about what I would do. This story was the weakest one of the 3 of his I've read though. It is the story of a widowed lawyer who goes to a homeopathy and falls in love with her. When one of her patients ends up in a coma, he faces hard choices and decisions about how to help her. I think why I found this weak is because I felt more like he was in lust instead of love, even though we are told it's love. I just had a hard time reconciling some of his decisions and actions based on feeling there had not been

A Live Coal in the Sea by Madeleine L'Engle 3 1/2 stars This is a story of family asking what makes a family? Is it important to know your bloodline or is your family based more on relationships? This is a story of love, forgiveness, mercy and grace. All wonderful spiritual type concepts. I personally have a hard time reading L'Engle's books though. While her stories are interesting, her style gets in the way for me. Songs of the Humpback Whale: A Novel in Five Voices by Jodi Picoult 4 stars This was Picout's first novel. The story is about a family that has fallen apart. Oliver is the dad, a marine biologist, Jane, a speech pathologist is the wife and then there is the 14 about to turn 15 year old Rebecca. Jane and Rebecca embark on a cross country trip to see Jane's brother, Joley, who is working at an apple orchard in Massachusetts. The story is full of interesting twists on their journey there and during their stay. It is full of emotions - good and bad - and

I've already recommended Paperbackswap.com as a great place to get and get rid of your books. I've recently signed up at another site - Bookins . This site is different from Paperbackswap in several ways. At Bookins each book is assigned a different point value where at PB each book is one credit (except audio books which are 2.) The other main difference is that with Bookins you print out the postage for any books you send out at no cost to you. You then pay $3.99 for each book you receive. UPDATE - I got the Bookins newsletter today and beginning Sept. 23 the price will increase to $4.49 per book. Not so sure if that's going to be a good deal for me or not. Other minor differences are that there is no "community" at Bookins. The books are all sent "delivery confirmation" so there is no need to log on and confirm that you received the book. Paperbackswap is my favorite of the 2 because of the simplicity of 1 credit for 1 book. Plus while I like the i

Twelve Years as a Slave by Solomon Northup This was a surprisingly good book. When I saw all the footnotes, appendixes, etc. I was afraid that it may read too much like a textbook, but I was wrong. This account of Mr. Northup’s life from freeman to slave and back to freeman was very interesting. It was a straight forward account depicting his slave owners as he saw them. One was a kind, Christian man, but the one he labored under for 10 years was a drunk who was fond of the whip. This book brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. 5 stars Cutting Lisa by Percival Everett This book promised to be much more than it was. In fact, reading the summary on the back is more thought provoking and entertaining than the book. The book does have it moments of wit and dialogue, but overall a big disappointment. Good premise – not carried out though. 2 1/2 stars Savannah Comes Undone by Denise Hildreth An enjoyable book, but not as enjoyable as the first one – “Savannah from Savannah.”

Vote here for the state of Louisiana and our children could receive 50,000 new books to read! You can only vote once a day, but you can vote everyday until the end of the contest on July 31st. Please help put Louisiana in the #1 spot!

Check out Paperback Swap . This is a place to get rid of books you no longer want, and to get some new ones to read. Condensed version - you sign up and post 9 books. You then recieve 3 credits that can be used to order 3 books. (Each book is 1 credit whether paperback or hard cover. The exception - books on tape are 2 credits.) Your books are listed and can be ordered by others. Your cost is in mailing books that others order. These are sent Media Mail and most books cost $2.13 to send. When the person you sent a book to recieves it, you recieve a credit and the cycle continues. If you sign up, use me as a reference (jantalk) . If you do, I will recieve a credit, which I will return to you. So, you can get 4 credits to start your trading. Be warned - this is an addictive site and you may find yourself at the post office more than ususal,, but it's well worth it.

Summer was always a season of reading for me growing up. Those were the days that Jackie and I could go to the library, browse, get our books and then take them home and read. Now there are reading incentive programs to encourage summer reading. Most libraries have them and a few bookstores. (If you have children in grades 1 - 6, check out the program at Barnes & Noble . For reading any 8 books and keeping a brief journal, your child can get a free book. Not a bad deal. ) Of course the library programs are always good too. I'm participating in the one with the East Baton Rouge Parish Library . They made it easy for adults - read 3 books, record them with a brief summary and turn it in for prizes. The prizes that made me sign up were a $5 certificate for the Recycled Reads sale and a cookie on a stick from Cookies by Design . If they had only had a coupon for CC's it would have been perfect - a book, a cookie and a cup of coffee. What more do you need?!

Here's the latest book reviews (trying to keep it short and sweet): "The Goodbye Summer" by Patricia Gaffney This is the story of a few months in the life of Cadie Winger. These months find her living alone for the first time in her 32 years of life as her grandmother moved into Wake House, a place that those who do not need intensive medical care, just a little help, can go and live together. Caddie quickly makes friends with the residents, visiting them and helping them to record their biographies among other things. There's more than one goodbye in the story, but the main goodbye is Caddie’s goodbye to her old self. 4 stars "The Virgin's Lover" by Philippa Gregory The follow up book to “The Queen’s Fool” this chronicles the time in England when Elizabeth became queen. A tale of politics and love as Elizabeth and Robert Dudley become close companions in both areas. Those around them see the pitfalls – the largest being that Dudley is married and that

Time for the monthly reviews. I'm really trying to shorten them up, so here goes - First I read the novel that the movie "Simon Birch" was based on - John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" . I didn't see the movie - but enjoyed the book. It is a good story of friendship, faith and politics. I like how Irving fits it all together. Owen Meany is the type character that I would have liked to know. He may have been short in stature, but he was a big person in many other ways - unselfish, kind, loving. The story has it's funny moments and it's serious times. I give it 5 stars. The next book I read was "S is for Silence" . In this book Kinsey becomes involved in a search for a missing mom. The catch is that the mom has been missing for years. Foul play is suspected, but then again with the lifestyle the mom had, she may have just ran away. Leave it to Kinsey to solve it. Another good one from Sue Grafton - 4 stars. "Jewel" by Bret

Hard to believe that another month has flown by and it's time for my much anticipated book reviews. (Read sarcasm there.) But whether you like them or not, I'm going to keep them up. I will try to keep them short though. So here goes - The first book of the month was "The Time Travelers Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. This book will mess with your head. This is the story of a man who has a genetic disorder that causes him to travel through time. It was a little confusing to me at times because of the past, present, future thing – even at times there being 2 Henry's at different ages. But it is an interesting concept and story. I would have liked to read more about why Clare was so attracted to him, but overall a good read - 5 stars. "Light on Snow" by Anita Shreve was my next read. It is a touching story of a father and daughter coping with the loss of their wife/mother and daughter/sister. The father couldn't stand the memories, loaded up the girl, N

Note to my BR friends - if you would like to read any of these books, let me know. If I still have them, I'm happy to loan them out! March was a busy reading month for me. I started the month with "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt. This is a memoir of his life growing up in Ireland. His was a poor family with a father that couldn’t stay away from the pubs. Through all the pain and sadness, Mr. McCourt tells his story with a touch of humor. It's not my favorite writing style but I soon found the rhythm and could hear the story being told. Jan's rating - 4 Stars "Original Sin" by Brandt Dodson was the next book I read. Easy reading mystery about an ex-FBI agent and his first case as a private investigator. Brandt Colton is hired to investigate who killed Emma Caine – a “upstanding” high school counselor. Her nephew is in jail accused of the crime, but his girlfriend, Angela, believes he is innocent. Colton is a good PI and enters the investigation w

I was able to read 6 books this month and while they weren't quite the "jackpot" of January, they were good books. Here's a quick review of each one. "Split Second" by David Baldacci was the first book of the month. I've read several of his books and generally enjoy them. While this one was an easy read and entertaining, I found there were several weak spots in the plot. The basic story is about one ex-secret service agent and a current secret service agent who both had "lost" presidential candidates - one through an assassination and the other through a kidnapping. They join in an investigation of the latest event. Not my favorite book, but not a complete waste of time either. This one gets 3 1/2 stars from me for being barely above average. The next book, "Life on the Color Line:The True Story of A White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black" by Gregory Howard Williams was a disappointment to me. I think I expected too much from it. Las

January's over so I thought I'd give a brief review of the books I've read this month. I discovered some real gems. I started the year with "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. This is the tale of a family that faces some hard decisions when they discover their daughter has leukemia. They have a baby so they can have a donor to help save their daughter's life. This story is years later and is about the effect all of this has had on the individual members of the family and the family as a whole. It is very well written and makes you think. I give it 5 Stars. My next book was the classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Very easy to believe that the events took place - unfortunately. A classic tale about the racial divide. Another 5 Star book. "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards is a story that begins in the 60's. Dr. David Henry ends up delivering his babies due to a snow storm. The fact that it was twins was

1. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 2. The Brambles by Eliza Minot 3. Night by Elie Wiesel 4. City of Light by Lauren Belfer 5. My Brother's Keeper by ReShonda Tate Billingsley 6. The Justice Game by Randy Singer 7. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 8. Summer Island by Kristin Hannah 9. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay 10. Idyll Banter by Chris Bohjalian 11. A Stolen Season by Steve Hamilton 12. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld 13. Carry Me Home by Sandra Kring 14. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik 15. Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card January Reviews 16. The Risk Pool by Richard Russo 17. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling 18. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling 19. Good to Great in God's Eyes by Chip Ingram 20. The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg 21. Club Sandwich by Lisa Samson 22. Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon 23. Bad Ground by W. Dale Cramer 24. Wicked by Gregory Maguire 2

1. Everything Must Go by Elizabeth Flock 2. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson 3. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch 4. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar 5. Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund 6. Red River by Lalita Tademy 7. Ahmads War, Ahmads Peace: Surviving Under Saddam by Michael Goldfarb Book Reviews 8. Three Junes by Julia Glass 9. Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier 10. Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore 11. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 12. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute 13. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux Book Reviews 14. Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress 15. When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan by Peggy Noonan 16. The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin 17. Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison 18. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult Book Reviews 19. Born Standing Up: A Comics Life by Steve Martin 20. Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halima Bashir