Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Hidden


By Heather Graham
Audiobook format

Estes Park, Colorado is a simply lovely place and the setting of this book. Part love story, part ghost story, this story discovers the identity of killers from long ago and today. The story is well told and intriguing but you have to accept communications with ghosts. I listened to the CD in my car and really enjoyed the entertainment, I think you will too.

~ Beckie H.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Winter

Lunar Chronicles #4

By Marissa Meyer


Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. Winter despises her stepmother and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

~Crystal

Monday, December 28, 2015

Very Merry Cookie Party: How To Plan And Host A Christmas Cookie Exchange

By Barbara Grunes

Today's busy bakers want to make a gorgeous variety of delicious Christmas cookies without spending days upon flour-smudged days mixing, rolling, and baking. This is a guide to the Christmas cookie exchange, where everyone shows up with a few batches of homemade cookies to swap. It's all the variety without the fuss, with 120 recipes to choose from, plus tips for decorating, planning, and throwing the party.

~Crystal

Saturday, December 26, 2015

First Sight

By Danielle Steel

At the center of the storm and avalanche of work that is Fashion week, that is four cities on four continents in a month, is American Timmie O’Neill, whose renowned line, Timmie O, is the embodiment of casual chic, in fashion and for the home. She has created a business that inspires, fills, and consumes her life.  Timmie has built an international empire in the last two decades that has brought her enormous satisfaction and success. Yet as blessed as she feels by her success, Timmie harbors the private wounds of a devastating childhood and past tragedy. She is too smart, too experienced, and too hurt to want much in her personal life beyond a succession of convenient, very limited relationships. Always willing to take risks in business, she never risks her heart.

But despite her well-ordered and highly controlled world, it turns out that Timmie O’Neill is not immune to magic when it strikes in Paris during Paris Fashion Week, when an intriguing French doctor comes into her life when she gets sick. At first, Timmie and Jean-Charles Vernier are only patient and physician. They become confidants and friends, corresponding at a safe distance between Paris and Los Angeles once she goes home. There is every reason why they must remain apart. But neither can deny their growing friendship and the electricity that sparks whenever they meet. 

~Crystal

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Déjà Dead

Déjà DeadBy Kathy Reichs

Her life is devoted to justice; for those she never even knew. In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Temperance detects an alarming pattern and she plunges into a harrowing search for a killer. But her investigation is about to place those closest to her, her best friend and her own daughter in mortal danger.

~ Crystal

Friday, December 18, 2015

Staff Favorite Christmas books from years past!

  


Friday, November 21, 2008

An Irish Country Christmas


An Irish Country Christmas
by Patrick Taylor

The wonderful characters of Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’ Reilly, his young protégé Dr. Barry Laverty, and their housekeeper Kinky are brought to life again in An Irish Country Christmas. Share their warmth, humor, and holiday traditions, and get to know the patients and people living in the cozy Irish village of Ballybucklebo.

Other delightful books by this author are An Irish Country Doctor andAn Irish Country Village. You will enjoy reading how Dr. Laverty came to Ballybucklebo to join Dr. O’Reilly’s medical practice and how he gained the trust and respect of Kinky, the village, and Dr. O’Reilly.

- Rose

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror


The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
by Christopher Moore.

If you are NOT in the mood for a sappy Christmas tale, try the The Stupidest Angel. It isn't brand new (published 2004) but it is definitely worth a look if you enjoy black comedy. It's the story of Christmas in tiny Pine Cove, California. Though Pine Cove is a typical small town, where everyone knows everyone else's business, this particular Christmas is anything but typical. An angel's blunder makes this year's Christmas celebration go terribly, terribly wrong. I liked this laugh-out-loud tale very much - just be aware that, if books were rated like movies, this would be rated R!

- Linda

Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas on Jane Street

Christmas on Jane Street
by Billy Romp with Wanda Urbanska

This is an uplifting, real-life tale of the Romp family from Salisbury,Vermont and their annual trek to ManhattanNew York to sell Christmas trees on Jane Street. They arrive the day after Thanksgiving and leave just in time to make it home for Christmas morning. For a few weeks, this family transforms a corner of the Big Apple into a Frank Capra-esque small town alive with heartwarming holiday spirit. An ideal Christmas story, it is about the lasting and profound difference one person can make to a family and one family can make to a community.

- Ann

Monday, December 21, 2009

Christmas Tale

Christmas Tale
(DVD - French with English Subtitles)

Catherine Deneuve stars as Junon, matriarch of the troubled Vuillard family. The family gathers at Christmas after Junon discovers she needs a bone marrow transplant from a family member. However, a family holiday with the Vuillard family is no ordinary gathering.

I loved this French Christmas film. It's funny, sad, dramatic, emotional & unpredictable. In other words - very French.
-Holly

Monday, October 20, 2008

A Cedar Cove Christmas

A Cedar Cove Christmas
by Debbie Macomber

It's the holiday season and Mary Jo Wyse is single and pregnant. The baby's father, David Rhodes, has not contacted Mary Jo but she remembered he was spending Christmas with his father and stepmother is Cedar Cove. Mary Jo goes to Cedar Cove to find David, but instead finds comfort with strangers who open their hearts and homes to her. This is a delightful Christmas story that will warm your heart.

- Rose

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Kissing Christmas Goodbye

Kissing Christmas Goodbye
By M. C. Beaton
Agatha Raisin is a private investigator who owns her own detective agency in the Cotswolds of England. The only joy in her life is the anticipation of her upcoming Christmas festival and hopeful reunion with her ex-husband, James Lacey.
Excitement begins when a wealthy widow hires Agatha because she is afraid a member of her own family is about to murder her. Her premonition comes true and she drops dead after high tea is served at her manor with her family in attendance.
Follow Agatha and her teenage detective trainee, Toni, as they uncover clues in and around the quaint and sleepy village of Gloucestershire. Will they solve this murder in time to finish planning her Christmas party? Read on and find out!
- Ann

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

1225 Christmas Tree Lane

1225 Christmas Tree Lane (A Cedar Cove Novel)
by Debbie Macomber

It saddened me to learn this is the final book of the Cedar Cove Series. I eagerly waited for each sequel and looked forward to reading about the families, how they grew, and solved their problems.

I decided not to write a summary about 1225 Christmas Tree Lane but to let the you, the reader, enjoy the final chapter of the town of Cedar Cove and the families we intimately came to know and love. A good read for the holiday season!

- Rose

Monday, December 13, 2010

An Amish Christmas

An Amish Christmas
by Cynthia Keller

Follow Meg Hobart and her family as they go from being rich and successful in Charlotte, North Carolina to being penniless and homeless, brought on by her husband's bad decisions and lies.

Forced to go live with Meg's parents, they head north with only the shirts on their backs, when a frightening twist of fate forces the Hobarts to take refuge with a kind Amish family in Pennsylvania.

I highly recommend this holiday story, where forgiveness, hard work, and the power of love overcome a desperate situation.

- Ann

                

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Girl Waits with Gun

By Amy Stewart

Constance Kopp is a farm girl who becomes a pistol packing dame with a flair for detective work.  She lives with her sisters on a farm near Hackensack, NJ, and when their buggy collides with gangsters, she learns to fight back with the help of the local sheriff.  Little did she know how much she would enjoy outsmarting the bad guys.

This book is based on actual events involving Constance and her two sisters, Norma and Fleurette.  Amy Stewart's fictionalized account brings to life all the characters.  I fell in love with fearless Constance, carrier pigeon trainer Norma, and fashion designer Fleurette.  I can't wait until the sequel comes out next summer.

-Holly


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

First Sight

By Danielle Steel

At the center of the storm and avalanche of work that is Fashion week, that is four cities on four continents in a month, is American Timmie O’Neill, whose renowned line, Timmie O, is the embodiment of casual chic, in fashion and for the home. She has created a business that inspires, fills, and consumes her life.  Timmie has built an international empire in the last two decades that has brought her enormous satisfaction and success. Yet as blessed as she feels by her success, Timmie harbors the private wounds of a devastating childhood and past tragedy. She is too smart, too experienced, and too hurt to want much in her personal life beyond a succession of convenient, very limited relationships. Always willing to take risks in business, she never risks her heart.

But despite her well-ordered and highly controlled world, it turns out that Timmie O’Neill is not immune to magic when it strikes in Paris during Paris Fashion Week, when an intriguing French doctor comes into her life when she gets sick. At first, Timmie and Jean-Charles Vernier are only patient and physician. They become confidants and friends, corresponding at a safe distance between Paris and Los Angeles once she goes home. There is every reason why they must remain apart. But neither can deny their growing friendship and the electricity that sparks whenever they meet. 

~Crystal

Monday, December 14, 2015

Very Merry Cookie Party: How To Plan And Host A Christmas Cookie Exchange

By Barbara Grunes

Today's busy bakers want to make a gorgeous variety of delicious Christmas cookies without spending days upon flour-smudged days mixing, rolling, and baking. This is a guide to the Christmas cookie exchange, where everyone shows up with a few batches of homemade cookies to swap. It's all the variety without the fuss, with 120 recipes to choose from, plus tips for decorating, planning, and throwing the party.

~Crystal

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Devil’s Bridge

By Linda Fairstein


Detective Mike Chapman is met with his toughest case yet. His girlfriend is kidnapped and he can’t sleep or think of anything but finding Alex Cooper. At first he thinks the abduction is due a case she has prosecuted in the past, and then he realizes that she has been abducted for a totally different reason. Listen to this book on CD or you can enjoy it in print, I think you will find it intriguing and have you on the edge of your seat.


~ Beckie H.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar

By Martin Windrow

Martin Windrow’s older brother and his wife own a farm in the countryside of England near the town of Kent called Water Farm.  His brother is a falconer and his wife has a pet owl that she keeps in the house.  After an extended visit to his brother’s farm, Martin couldn’t resist the desire to have an owl of his own.  His first attempt ended with his owl flying away from the ‘bird sitter’ when Martin was out of town.  His second attempt was a fifteen year success story.  What a delightful book!  This type of relationship with a wild bird is every child’s dream (and mine).  This book is very eye opening regarding what life would be like with a wild bird.  Some aspects are life changing and wonderful and some are a bit disgusting.  It is very obvious that Martin felt that the wonderful aspects far outweighed the less wonderful.  Fiction is fun but a true story such as this tops any imaginary story.

~Beckie

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Sparrow Sisters


by Ellen Herrick

When Henry Carlyle, the new young doctor, moves to a tiny seaside town, he catches everyone's attention in the tight-knit community--including that of Patience Sparrow, local healer, who runs a garden and nursery with her sisters, Sorrel and Nettie. Patience has a knack for knowing just what people need, whether it be an herb or tincture, or just a good chat, and her moods are revealed through the mystical scents of her garden that seem to follow her around. Just as the two most skilled at mending people begin to grow closer, a tragedy and an accusation against Patience stir up the townsfolk and lead to a legal battle that will reveal where loyalties truly lie. The fears that threaten to tear the town apart--both literally and figuratively--may actually bring everyone closer together. Written with a touch of magical realism, this first novel from Ellen Herrick is rightly called in a review "a haunting, magical, modern-day fairytale. A feast for the senses."


~Kaleena

Monday, November 16, 2015

Birding for the Curious: the easiest way for anyone to explore the incredible world of birds

by Nate Zwick

Written by an editor for the American Birding Association blog, this entry level birding manual focuses on the fundamentals of bird-watching.  Chapters discuss which guides are best, how to buy binoculars, birding with friends,  how to ID birds, and attract birds to your backyard.   Nate is very informed.  His ability to condense information is invaluable to the beginner birder.

If you want to try a new hobby, this book is a great place to start.  It would also make a nice Christmas gift for that family member that has everything.

-Holly

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Death Comes to Pemberley

TV Mini-Series based on the book by P.D. James

It is October 1803, the eve of a ball hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. On their way to the ball late that evening an argument breaks out between George Wickham and Captain Denny in the carriage, with Wickham's wife (and Elizabeth's sister), Lydia, also present. The two leave the carriage in anger and disappear into the woodland, where two gunshots are heard. Upon hearing the news, Darcy sends out a search party and Wickham is found distraught and hysterical holding Denny's body, blaming himself for his murder.

We get to see most of the major characters from Pride and Prejudice once again and see how they all weather through this murder trial and how it effects their lives.

~Crystal

Monday, November 9, 2015

The Hands on Home: a seasonal guide to cooking, preserving, and natural homekeeping

by Erica Strauss

This book, written by a famous blogger,  is an ingenious book that everyone should own.  It is chock full of recipes and advice that could make the most reluctant housekeeper confident and frugal.

The recipes cover everything from homemade ricotta to rhubarb syrup.  The homemade cleaners include Greasy Grime Spray and Fizzy Bath Bombs.   Erica Strauss is an intrepid domestic.  Check this book out for inspiration.

-Holly

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely #1)

By Melissa Marr

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Rule #2: 
Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.

Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens. Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

~Crystal
 

Friday, October 30, 2015

Pirate Hunters

Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship
By Robert Kurson

I’m not all that interested in pirates.  I’m not into scuba diving.  But from the first sentence, I couldn’t pull this book out of my hands.  The author takes you on an adventure to find a pirate shipwreck.  You can feel the frustration of the searchers, share in their excitement, and get lost in the history of Captain Bannister.  It was a different kind of story for me to read, but the writing style is so easy to read you’re through the book in no time.  Give this one a try if you want a little adventure!

~Becky

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Hollywood Vampires

A CD review!

If you love good old classic rock, this will be a fun listen for you.  (Originally, the Hollywood Vampires were a drinking club formed by Alice Cooper in the 1970s)  All the songs are covers, such as “I Got a Line on You”, “School’s Out”, and “Break on Through.”  Most of them have Alice Cooper doing the main vocals, but he’s not alone—Sir Paul McCartney, Brian Johnson, and Perry Farrell join in, with musicians like Joe Perry, Kip Winger, and Johnny Depp.  This is awesome rockin’ music, dude.

~Becky

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Letters to the Lost

by Iona Grey

A woman hiding from an abusive boyfriend stumbles across a letter from someone trying to find a lover from World War II.  She can’t ignore the plea for help to reunite the two—and time is not a luxury.  The book waffles between the past and present, and even as the reader, you desperately want to find out what happened all those years ago.  A review on the back cover encompasses it perfectly: “An epic story of love and loss that will break your heart.


~Becky

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

500 Words You Should Know

By Caroline Taggart

Words are beautiful and versatile things, but when used incorrectly they can lose a lot in transition, and the more complex the word, the more misused it can become. And as words eternally evolve in their everyday use, they can begin to be interpreted as something other than their original meaning. This book will inspire the reader to use uncommon words in their correct context, to utilize the English language to its full potential, and to test themselves on the words they think they already know.

~Crystal

Monday, October 26, 2015

The Wife's Tale

By Lori Lansens

On the eve of their Silver Anniversary, Mary Gooch is waiting for her husband Jimmy to come home. As night turns to day, it becomes clear to Mary that he is gone. Through the years, disappointment and worry have brought Mary's life to a standstill, and she has let her world shrink to the path from the bedroom to the refrigerator. But her husband's disappearance startles her out it and she begins a desperate search. For the first time in her life, she boards a plane and flies across the country to find her lost husband. So used to hiding from the world, Mary finds that in the bright sun and broad vistas of California, she is forced to look up from the pavement. And what she finds fills her with inner strength she's never felt before.

Despite my best efforts, I could not get into this book. It’s just not my kind.

~Crystal

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Hot Chocolate

By Michael Turback

‘Tis the season for hot cocoa. This book has many different hot chocolates, you will find your favorite in here. Spicy, old world, different countries, adult; so many variations on my favorite thing during cold weather.

~Crystal

Friday, October 23, 2015

Garden of Lies

By Amanda Quick

This book is full of mystery and intrigue and a fair amount of sizzle.  Ursula Kern, the heroine, wants to discover who killed her good friend and employee Anne Clifton.  But what was Anne involved in that got her killed?  Ursula goes undercover to solve the mystery and discovers some unexpected truths.  Ursula owns a temp agency for secretarial work and accepts help from one of her employers.  While she and Slater Roxton, the previously mentioned employer are un-covering clues, she falls in love. I’m sure you will be very entertained by this book (or book on CD).

~Beckie

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The making of home: the 500-year story of how our houses became our homes

By Judith Flanders

This fascinating work discusses the change of how a dwelling to provide shelter morphed into what we now call home. It examines the technological advances that came along, i.e. chimneys, indoor plumbing, sewers, public water supplies, heating, cooking space, lighting, household appliances, etc. and how they affected the structure of houses.

Flanders also considers the emotional and sociological changes of what describes a family and the effect they had on the home/house. She discusses the changing role of wife as partner to wife as housewife, an economic non-entity, due to the Industrial Revolution.

An interesting look at the past with the focus on HOME.

~ Rochelle

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Drones For Dummies


By Mark LaFay

Packed with information, photos, screen shots, and websites, this edition of the "Dummies" series will not disappoint. With the current popularity of drones as well as their place in the evening news, the timing of this book is right on target.

Some topics that are covered include:
  • How to choose the right drone for you 
  • Getting started with your drone 
  • Taking pictures & videos 
  • Following FAA regulations (including creating a flight log) 
I bought my husband a drone for Christmas from the mall and it didn't come with very many instructions. I am checking this book out for him and my son.

~ Paula

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Family Ties

By Danielle Steel

Annie Ferguson was a bright young Manhattan architect with the world in the palm of her hand—until a single phone call altered the course of her life forever. Overnight, she became the mother to her sister’s three orphaned children.

Now, at forty-two, as independent as ever, with a satisfying career and a family that means everything to her, Annie is comfortable being single and staying that way. With her nephew and nieces now young adults and confronting major challenges of their own, Annie is navigating a parent’s difficult passage between lending them a hand and letting go. The eldest, twenty-eight-year-old Liz, an overworked, struggling editor in a high-powered job at Vogue, has never allowed any man to come close enough to hurt her. Ted, at twenty-four a serious and hardworking law student, is captivated by a much older, much more experienced woman with children, who is leading him much further than he wants to go. And the youngest, twenty-one-year-old Katie—impulsive, artistic, rebellious—is an art student about to make a choice that will lead her to an entirely different world she is in no way prepared for but determined to embrace. Then, just when least expected, a chance encounter changes Annie’s life yet again in the most unexpected direction of all.

~Crystal

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Throne of Glass

By Sarah J. Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince, who offers her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena trains with the captain of the guard, but she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another, then another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim?

~Crystal

Monday, September 28, 2015

Water From My Heart

By Charles Martin

Charlie Finn is a likable fellow. He is also a drug dealer. On his own since the age of sixteen, he earned a scholarship to Harvard. He is book smart and street smart. That comes in handy with the lucrative venture he runs off the coast of Miami. For a long time, he is successful at keeping his personal and business lives separate but that changes suddenly and with terrible consequences.

While in Nicaragua he meets some wonderful people that he suspects his business dealings have affected. Especially a beautiful woman and her young daughter. Now he is determined to make things right if he can. If he lives long enough.

~ Dixie

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Trust No One

By Paul Cleave
Audiobook format, 10 CD set

Bestselling-fiction crime-writer Jerry Grey has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at age 49 - but that is the least of his problems. We first meet Jerry when he is in a police interrogation room confessing to a murder that he has committed. There is a policeman and a beautiful woman in the room with him explaining to Jerry that he is an author and that the murder that he is confessing to is from a scene in his first crime novel: A Christmas Murder. He learns that the beautiful woman sitting next to him is his daughter, Eva.

We learn about Jerry from Jerry during his lucid moments, his deranged moments, and from Jerry in his "madness journal" writing to future Jerry (FJ). Eventually, his pseudonym Henry Cutter begins "talking" to Jerry and we learn about him from yet another angle.

He begins to doubt his sanity as he begins to fear that he may be acting out murderous acts from his books. But is he? This is a riveting story of Jerry's descent into madness as we watch it through his eyes.

The audio version, read by Paul Ansdell, is outstanding - there were times that I didn't get out of my car until I finished a chapter! I will be reading more mystery-thrillers from internationally best-selling author, Paul Cleave.

~ Paula

Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape

By Emma Gingerich

Emma Gingerich was raised in an Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri. She disagreed with the beliefs and traditions of her Amish life and felt that she would never fit in and be happy. At the age of eighteen she left the only life she had ever known. She had no idea what to expect when she left her parent’s home and had to be told by other Amish who had escaped, how to live in a world of freedom where she could decide for herself how she wanted to live. She learns the hard way that all “English” are not to be trusted as she suffers theft and a rape. She didn’t know anything about sex or life in general.

She certainly is a brave girl and hasn’t let these bad experiences stop her. She has pushed on and at the time of the writing was continuing her college education.

~ Dixie

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Age of Adaline


DVD
Rated PG-13

Adaline Bowman has miraculously remained 29 years old for almost eight decades. She has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones reawakens her passion for life and romance. Then a weekend with his parents threatens to uncover the truth. Adaline has to run away again. This time it will change her life forever.

~ Dixie

Monday, September 21, 2015

Sparkly Green Earrings

By Melanie Shankle

I enjoyed Nobody’s Cuter Then You so much that I had to read this one too. I wasn’t disappointed. She has a great sense of humor. Even the chapter titles are funny - “I wanted my Epidural in the first trimester”, “Lifestyles of the sick and feverish” and “Like a band of idiots we go down the highway”. I put the book on hold for my BFF and we read it at the same time. We had a few phone calls like this: “Page 35 is hilarious!” and “ Yep. Birthday party competition. I knew there was a name for it”.

Melanie takes you along on her journey of pregnancy (eight tests? really?), labor, delivery and finally motherhood. Like she says “Before I had a child of my own, it was super easy”. Yep.

~ Dixie

Friday, September 18, 2015

Perfect Touch

By Elizabeth Lowell

Designer Sara Madina owns a shop called Perfect Touch in San Francisco.  The shop specializes in fine and folk art from all over the world.  Sara travels to Jackson, Wyoming (one of my favorite places and probably the main reason I chose this book) to visit a client with some very fine art to sell.  The art is by Harris “Custer” Armstrong; one of his paintings was in a movie, raising the appeal of his art to the movie going public and then some.  Sara is hopeful that the paintings will command a great deal of money for her client who eventually becomes her lover.  Yes, this book gets saucy but not to the determent of the story line.  Also, the writing can be a little sappy in places, but not too often.  This book has a dramatic ending that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I think you will enjoy this story even if you have never been to Jackson, Wyoming.

~Beckie H.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Wildest Dreams


By Robyn Carr

Robyn Carr fans will truly enjoy this feel-good addition to the Thunder Point series. One of the things I like about Carr’s books is the happy endings. Her books have the right amount of conflict and just enough intrigue to keep you guessing about the outcome of the romance.

Thunder Point’s richest, most frail inhabitant is Winnie Banks and she is cared for by special care nurse Lin Su Simmons. Lin Su and her son Charlie plan to stay as long as Winnie is able to live in her home (Winnie has ALS). Triathlete Blake Smiley moves into the house next door to Winnie and makes a big impression on fourteen year old Charlie. Lin Su feels she only has time for her job and taking care of Charlie, when Blake starts helping with Charlie, her opinion of Blake changes…

I hope all Thunder Point fans enjoy this latest edition by Robyn Carr.

~ Beckie H.

The Nature of the Beast

by Louise Penny

Armand Gamache is back in Louise Penny's eleventh Three Pines Mystery.  Armand and Reine-Marie are enjoying their retirement in Three Pines.  Isabelle Lacoste is now Chief Inspector of the Surete du Quebec.

In this installment,  a young boy is murdered in Three Pines after discovering something hidden in the woods.  Then there is a second murder.  At the heart of the mystery is Project Babylon, a weapon of destruction, that can claim the lives of thousands.  Secrets long buried by poet Ruth Zardo are the key to solving this crime.

I really enjoyed this mystery based on the true character Gerald Bull - a scientist turned arms dealer.  I can't wait to read the next Three Pines Mystery!

-Holly


Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome

By Reba Riley

Reba Riley's twenty-ninth birthday was not a good time to undertake a spiritual quest, but when chronic pain prompted her to focus on one thing she could fix - her whopping case of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome - she undertook a challenge: Visit thirty religions before her thirtieth birthday.

During her spiritual sojourn, Reba: Danced the disco in a Buddhist temple; Went to church in virtual reality, a movie theater, a drive-in bar, and a basement; Got audited by Scientologists, mobbed by NPR junkies, and killed (almost); Fasted for thirty days without food; Learned to meditate with an Urban Monk, sucked mud in a sweat lodge with a Suburban Shaman, and snuck into Yom Kippur with a fake grandpa; Discovered she didn't have to choose religion to choose God ... or good. For everyone who has ever needed healing of body or soul, this poignant, funny memoir reminds us all that transformation is possible, brokenness can be beautiful, and sometimes we have to get lost to get found.

~ Crystal

Saturday, September 5, 2015

The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest

by Melanie Dickerson

Jorgen is the forester for the wealthy margrave, and must find and capture the poacher who has been killing and stealing the margrave's game. When he meets the lovely and refined Odette at the festival and shares a connection during a dance, he has no idea she is the one who has been poaching the margrave's game.

Odette justifies her crime of poaching because she thinks the game is going to feed the poor, who are all but starving, both in the city and just outside its walls. But will the discovery of a local poaching ring reveal a terrible secret? Has the meat she thought she was providing for the poor actually been sold on the black market, profiting no one except the ring of black market sellers?

The one person Odette knows can help her could also find out her own secret and turn her over to the margrave, but she has no choice. Jorgen and Odette will band together to stop the dangerous poaching ring . . . and fall in love. But what will the margrave do when he discovers his forester is protecting a notorious poacher?
 
~Crystal

Friday, September 4, 2015

The Screwtape Letters

by C. S. Lewis 
(Audiobook version)
 
The Screwtape Letters are a series of letters between Screwtape, a Senior Undersecretary in Hell and his nephew, Wormwood, a Tempter Spirit assigned to bring the human John Hamilton to Hell. Screwtape gives Wormwood advice on different ways to tempt humans to sin.
 
The book is simply letters from Screwtapes point of view, but the audio version is a full cast dramatization and is exceptionally well done. 

~Crystal

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Fool Me Once

By Steve Hockensmith & Lisa Falco

The second book of the Tarot Mysteries (first was the White Magic Five and Dime) is as engaging as the first. Alanis continues to right the wrongs her deceased mother put upon past clients of the store, but finds that sometimes when she thinks she’s helping, she’s only making things worse.  Her belief in the tarot cards wavers a bit, straying a bit from her initial feelings that they are a complete scam.  There are even new romance possibilities, which if you love Alanis, you’ll be rooting for a positive outcome.  The last word of the book is a huge cliffhanger, and will leave you dying for the next one.

~Becky

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Chef


DVD - Rated R

This all star cast features Jon Favreau as a moody, depressed and volatile chef who has become stale in his current restaurant. After receiving a very negative review from an important food critic, the chef loses his mind and walks out of his kitchen without a plan. His ex-wife, played by Sofia Vergara, suggests that he buy a food truck.

Partnering with his young son and his former sous chef, the Chef travels across the U.S. on his new venture which brings his estranged family together.

Quirky, smart and irreverent!

~ Paula