A Confusion of Princes

By Garth Nix

YA Book

Prince Khemri grows up knowing that he, with all his enhanced, nearly immortal powers, will be the next Emperor of the vast Intergalactic Empire. However, when he comes of age he quickly realizes that he is but one of thousands who must compete with and battle each other if he can escape assassination attempts by the other competitors. He survives long enough to be sent on a secret mission where he has to battle aliens and space pirates, meets a young human woman Raine and learns more about the inner workings of the empire and of humanity. Can he escape his destiny? Can he retain what he still has of his humanity?

~ Sue

The Unexpected Houseplant

220 extraordinary choices for every spot in your home

By Tovah Martin

ISBN 9781604692433

This is a wonderful book about alternatives to the standard houseplant. Martin looks at each season and how it affects growing plants indoors. Beautiful pictures help inspire. Part of her creed is about the beauty/appropriateness of the container. Taking a poor looking supermarket item with a plastic pot and finding it a new home that will be the proper setting for the beautiful plant it will become. Some of the plants that are listed, we usually consider for our garden outside. She shows you how to use these beautiful and colorful plants as works of natural art in your home.

I had forgotten how plants can change a home.

~ Rochelle

The Third Gate

By Lincoln Child

Audiobook format

World-famous archeologist Porter Stone has assembled a team of experts on a top-secret search for King Narmer’s Egyptian tomb and the legend “double crown” of Egypt. The tomb is located in the Sudd, a tangled and treacherous swamp land in the northern Sudan. Professor and paranormal investigator Jeremy Logan has been added to the team after unexplained accidents have begun to happen at the site. One team member who has had a near death experience is being used for receiving communications from the dead, making her a valuable asset, as well as a threat, to this mission.

The pacing of the story keeps the listener interested as the mystery unfolds. Are the unexplained events the result of a five thousand year old curse, or is it sabotage?

~ Paula

How to Make Stuffed Animals

By Sian Keegan

ISBN 9781592537990

This book contains modern, simple patterns and instructions for 18 adorable projects. All you need is just a ¼ yard of fabric to produce these cute little stuffed animals to give your favorite little ones. My favorites are the spring dear (love her flower necklace), the hedgehog mobile, raccoon and fluffy sheep. Make them for gifts, decorations or just for fun. These little animals will become family treasures.

~Rochelle

Complete without Kids

An Insider's Guide to Childfree Living by Choice or by Chance

by Ellen L. Walker, Ph.D.

This book analyzes the pros and cons of having a childfree life whether it is by choice, happenstance, or circumstance. It is written by a psychologist who compiled interviews of childfree adults of all ages and pulled out repetitive themes these people experienced. As she points out in the book, we live in a society that celebrates the idea of having children and the idea that this is a choice is not discussed often, if ever at all. This book gives those who are starting their lives out a guide of what this childfree path is like--the reasons some people choose it and how some cope with it.

I found it to be very accurate, while avoiding any negative dialogue against those who chose to have children. The ideas go against what is considered normal in our culture, and it is refreshing to hear a different perspective.

~ Becky

The Tiger’s Wife

By Tea Obreht

While living in a nameless Balkan country, a grandfather shares the stories of his life through tales of the “tiger’s wife” and “deathless man” with his young granddaughter, Natalia. After her grandfather dies alone in a strange place, Natalia realizes that these childhood tales were about events in his life and unlock a secret that she has been searching for. The descriptions of the people and the countryside are rich and vibrant and the story and dialog are refreshingly original.

Our Tuesday night book club recently read this novel and the reviews were mixed. Several of our members felt that the story was too long and moved back and forth through time so often leaving the reader feeling confused. I enjoyed the audiobook format of the book which was performed by two very talented readers who portrayed Natalia and her grandfather.

Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has won several awards for “The Tiger’s Wife”.

~ Paula

Gone Missing

By Linda Castillo

This is the 4th novel at Police Chief Kate Burkholder of fictional Painters Mill, in Holmes County, Ohio. Kate is a former Amish woman who left her faith and family after a horrific experience during her teen years. She is a dedicated police officer, though often takes matters into her own hands when she should wait for back-up! In this story, the police are just realizing that there is a pattern forming concerning the disappearance of Amish teen girls in Northeast Ohio and western PA. Part of the investigation even takes place in Geauga County. I think Linda Castillo has become a better writer over the course of this series - the plot was tighter, the characters better developed and the violence less graphic. The series is an interesting mix of police drama and Amish culture in our area.

~ Linda

Born of Silence

By Sherrilyn Kenyon

The latest of the League series focuses on Darling Cruel, one of the many members of the Sentella (an otherworldly group of ex-assassins out to protect the innocent from a corrupt intergalactic government). While the story could be read without the previous novels it would be more enjoyable to know the background of the characters first, so starting the series from the beginning book is highly recommended.

Darling's character follows the same storyline that all the League Assassins have, which is the physically abusive past, secret assassin double life, and the girl who betrays him. The interesting twist is we have previously been led in the other books to believe that Darling is a homosexual, and this book gives us the intricate story of what Darling's true preference is. While the basic underlying story is almost a carbon copy of the previous books, Kenyon still is able to make it exciting enough to keep reading and rewards us with a jaw-dropping ending.

I loved it!

~ Becky

Juno’s Daughters

By Lise Saffran

I felt transported to the island community of San Juan in the Pacific Northwest, where single mom Jenny and her teenage daughters get involved in a local summer Shakespearian production of Tempest in a Teapot. Jenny's relationship with her daughters forms the heart of this novel and provides plenty of tension throughout. I appreciated Jenny’s growth as a mom and a person as her daughters began to negotiate their own journeys.

~ Sally

I, Michael Bennett

By James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Michael Bennett is a widower, father of ten ethnically diverse children, grandson of a priest and a member of the NYPD. Bennett is given information that Manuel Perrine, a notorious drug kingpin, is coming to New York. During the attempt to apprehend the criminal, police officers and a bystander are killed. While waiting for trial, Perrine orchestrates additional attacks against the legal establishment from his jail cell. To get away from the chaos, Bennett takes the kids, grandfather and nanny to the family cabin in upper New York. Before long, he realizes that trouble has followed him there. The continuing conflict between Bennett and Perrine gathers momentum, ending with a cliffhanger.

Terrific read. I can’t wait for the next book.

~ Rochelle

Wallflower in Bloom

By Claire Cook

Another sweet beach read! If you have ever felt taken for granted, Deidre is just the heroine to help you get yours back! This story is a really fun mix of pop culture and real life, including a spot on Dancing With the Stars.

~ Sally

Gold

By Chris Cleave

Just in time for the London Olympics, Gold tells the story of two Olympian cyclists. Zoe and Kate have a difficult relationship. They are best friends, yet Olympic rivals, making their lives on and off the track complicated. The story revolves around their polar opposite personalities, the choices they make, and the effects these have on their lives both on and off the track. Gold succeeds not only in its absorbing description of the drive, discipline, and ambition necessary to be an Olympian, but also because of its realistic and eye-opening account of the cost this determination has on families as the athletes pursue their dream of winning the Olympic Gold. A great read – perfectly timed for the upcoming Olympics!

~ Kathy S.

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed

By E. L. James

In the first book of this incredibly popular trilogy (more than 2200 holds in CLEVNET!), we meet Anastasia Steele, a young woman close to college graduation who is preparing to go into the field of publishing. Due to her roommate’s illness, she agrees to interview the wealthy, powerful, and attractive Christian Grey, owner of Grey Enterprises, for the school newspaper.

From the first moment, Christian is enthralled by Anastasia and must have her as his own. She quickly learns of Christian’s “alternate lifestyle” in the area of masochism and erotic “play”. Ana is faced with the decision of whether she should pursue this relationship (as one in a long line of Christian’s contracted submissives) and see where it leads, or to run in the other direction. Ana decides to continue the relationship, but defines many of her own rules. Throughout the trilogy, we witness the blossoming love between Ana and Christian as Christian battles to overcome his tortured past.

Despite all of the erotic and dominant/submissive elements and hundreds of creative usages of the “f” word, this is basically a love story. I found myself rooting for the characters to overcome their many obstacles: Christian’s early childhood trauma which leaves him mentally and physically afraid of true intimacy; his beginnings as the submissive of a much older woman (and family friend); those set on vengeance to hurt Christian; and Anastasia’s innocence and desire for true love.

I will not give away the ending, but it follows the basic formula of a love story: boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. While this is not my usual type of reading material, I thoroughly enjoyed this series.

~ Paula

Close Your Eyes

By Iris and Roy Johansen

This mother and son duo has written another tight action-paked story.

Kendra was blind at birth. She developed her other senses to extraordinary levels. When her sight was restored, she learned to notice details others often overlooked.

Because of these skills, Kendra was drawn into helping the FBI solve cases. She stopped when the emotional stress became too much. When the FBI agent she worked with disappears while working a case, Adam Lynch from the Justice Department asks for her help. The investigation gets tense, dangerous and complicated.

A wonderful thriller anyone can enjoy. Great audio book for a couple on a road trip.

~ Rochelle

Gypped (A Regan Reilly Mystery)

By Carol Higgins Clark

Also available in audio book format.

Private investigator Regan Reilly takes a trip to Los Angeles with her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. While Jack attends meetings with the LAPD, Regan shops and sees the sites in LA. Coincidentally, she bumps into an old acquaintance, Zelda, who she has not seen in seven years since their joint appearance on the game show “Puzzling Words”. Zelda shares with Regan that she inherited 8 million dollars a year ago from a neighbor whom she barely knew.

Regan’s interest is piqued after a series of curious events begin happening to Zelda while she is spending the week in a rundown Hollywood mansion that she had won as a prize: a butcher knife is found in the woods outside the mansion; Zelda’s financial advisor gives her some tea (which makes her feel groggy) and pushes her to sign documents; her father marries a near-stranger in Vegas. Of course, Regan wraps up all of these seemingly unrelated events into a neat package and solves the mystery.

I would not recommend this book; the characters are shallow, the dialog unnatural, and the plot line is very weak. It was easy to figure out “whodunit?” early on in the book. This is the first Regan Reilly Mystery that I have read and I truly feel “Gypped”.

~ Paula