My Book Reviews

To those of you who don't know I am a reader. I read anything I can get my hands on, and have since I was a young child. I have read 90% of the classic children's books, most of them once as a child & then again as an adult. If you have a question about a book there is a good chance I have read it. When I sit down to read a novel I usually finish it in under 48 hours, so I have to limit myself to only starting one novel a week. My book reviews will start with what I have read since November 2006. Since starting my book reviews I have noticed that I can read anytime, but I can only write about the books when I feel like it, therefore this page will most likely be updated in bulk, after reading a few books I will then come back & tell you all about them.

I have added a age appropriate rating to all of the books, because I realize that I do have several young visitors to this site. A = Adult (18+), T = Teen (13+), C = Children (under 12).

If you have a book you would like me to read & review please contact me on the contact page. I would love suggestions! I would also love it if you actually sent me the book!

• JRR Tolkien
• Ann Rule
• Patricia Cornwell
• Robin Cook
• C.S. Lewis
• V.C. Andrews
• Gregory Maguire
• Whitley Strieber
• Dan Brown
• Christopher Moore

• The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (T)
• Go Ask Alice, Anonymous (T)
• Wicked & Son of a Witch, Gregory Maguire (A)
• Dinotopia, James Gurney (following series by several authors)(C)
• Communion, A True Story, Whitley Strieber (A)
• Lilith's Dream, Whitley Strieber (A)
• Les Miserables, Vicor Hugo (A)
• Anne of Green Gables Series, L.M. Montgomery (C)
• Sonny Elephant, Madge A Bingham (C)
• Little House Series, Laura Ingalls Wilder (C)
• Angels & Demons, Dan Brown (A)
• A Dirty Job, Christopher Moore (A)
• Harry Potter Series, J.K. Roling (T)

• Suspense
• True Crime
• Thrillers
• Sci Fi
• Personal Accounts & Biographies
• Historical Fiction
• Really, anything well written

Genre - Humor/Fiction

A Dirty Job was loaned to be by Dani V., I have to thank her for this great book. I not only plan on owning this book, but all of Christopher Moore's books. I recommend you to do the same.

This is a dark comedy type book with a classic everyman character, Charlie Asher. I laughed out loud in several areas. With this being such a comical book, I was suprised to find that I not only identified with the characters, but it made me think about this world we live in and the truth about my personal beliefs on souls and afterlife.

Instead of taking up my time & yours writing a synopsis of what happened in the book I am going to let you click here, to read about the book at Wikipedia.

A Dirty Job won the 2006 Quill Award, approached 9th on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and the movie rights have been acquired by Chris Columbus and his company 1942 Productions.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

Harry Potter grows up should be the name of this excellent book. In this book Harry, Hermione, and Ron decide not to return to their last year at Hogwarts and start fighting the Dark Forces on their own. They travel together and they learn alot not only about the dark forces and the people involved in them, but about themselves as well.

Harry is being chased in this book by the Dark Lord, and in a sense he is chasing the Dark Lord by searching for his final horcruxes and destroying them. In the end their is what can only be described as a epic battle that we loose alot of great people in. That battle took me forever to read because I kept having to stop and cry over the loses suffered.

The end of the book raps up what happened to all your favorite characters in a nice neat fashion. To nice, to neat and to perfect in my opinion. We want more of Harry and his kind. This should not be the last book. If it must be the last book in this series, J.K. Roling, please we beg you start another series with his kids, or a prequel kind of thing. Gives us something of Harry and his Hogwarts world!

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

This book was so great. For those who haven't read it I am going to do my best not to give away what happened. When I finished this book my heart hurt and I felt betrayed by the characters in it. You know it's a great book when you feel betrayed by the characters. This book starts alot of the 'Love Connections' that will blossom in the rest of the series. Harry & Ron decide that they want to be Aurors. Snape becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Ron & Hermione are constantly fighting and Harry is falling for Ginny. Harry & Dumbledore start collecting & destroying the Horcruxes that the one who must not be named made to make himself invincible.

This is a must read for the Harry Potter fan. You just cannot get out of reading these final books by watching the movies. Because, unlike the first part of the series alot is not covered in the final movies that needs to be covered in the final books.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

These books just keep getting better and better. In this book Ron gets to join the Quidich team and Ron & Hermione become Prefects. This is a very trying time for Harry. Lord Voledemor has returned and The Order of The Phoenix has returned to fight him. Harry has very vivid dreams about what Lord Voledemor is doing, and through these dreams saves Ron's Dad's life. Hogwarts has begun to be interfered with by the ministry of Magic through Umbridge, the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher. Since they are not learning anything in Defense against the Dark Arts in class in these dangerous times they decide to start their own study group, Dumbledore' Army. Umbridge is making their school life miserable, and handing out cruel & unusual punishments. All the while Harry's dreams continue, through one of these dreams Harry and Dumbledore's army is pulled into a trap. In this trap they fight Lord Voledemor and the Death Eaters. When all seems hopeless The Order of The Phoenix shows up. Harry looses Sirius in this fight to the killing curse from Bellatrix Lestrange.

Another one of my favorite characters is introduced in this book, Luna Lovegood. She is very quarki, and I just love her.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

In this equally exciting installment Harry, Ron & Hermione go to the Quidich World Cup, where there is a Death Eater incident, and the poor House Elf Winkie is accused of shooting the dark mark. After all the excitement they return to Hogwarts, where they find out that their is to be the first Triwizard Tournament in a very long while. Students from two other schools come to compete. There is just suppose to be one student from each school come out of the famed Goblet of Fire, but something odd happens and two students names from Hogwarts, Cedric and Harry. Harry now has to compete with the older students, something he is not all to happy about. Harry makes it through all of the task well, and in the end is tied for first with Cedric. Little do they realize, that when they enter the maze only one of them will return, and the Dark Lord, The-One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will return. In this book we are also introduced into the first 'sexual tension' of these young wizards lives. Hermione goes to the ball with Victor Krum, Ron has a bit of an obsession with one of the students from the other schools, and Harry gets turned down for the ball by Cho Chang.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

In this third installment of Harry Potter, Harry finally discovers that he does have a relative that cares for him, his Godfather, Sirius Black. He doesn't know until the end of the book that this escaped Azkaban Prisoner is looking out for his well being, and not out to kill him like everyone says he is. Harry and Hermione work together at the end of this book to free Hagrid's hippogriff Buckbeak and Sirius, while Ron is sick in the hospital wing. In this book Hermione is doing way to much, using time travel to take several classes at once, they use the time-turner to do the rescuing at the final of the book.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

The second book is this wonderful series was just as well written & exciting as the first. In this book The Chamber of Secrets is opened once again at Hogwarts. Who will come to the rescue but Harry, Ron, & Hermione?! In this exciting adventure they work together and save Ginny from the Diary of Tom Riddle, a young Lord Voledemor. We learned all about polyjuice potion, more about pure blood wizards, and general information about wizardry. In this book we also meet one of my favorite characters of the series Dobby, who, at the end of the book, Harry helps free from his service of the Malfoys.

Genre - Teen Sci-Fi

The long awaited time has finally arrived. I have started on the Harry Potter series. I started when Yvette brought me the first four books on Friday. My ultimate goal is to finish all of the first six books before we get back from our vacation next weekend. I figure I have a good chance, then I will get book seven as soon as we return and find out if Harry dies (I hope not, but I think it's completely possible).

The first book in J. K. Rowling's wonderful adventure was an excellent read. I have of course seen the movie several times, but it still held my attention fully. This book had some dark undertones, but was fine for any age child who could read at the appropriate level. I can't wait to get through the next one, and to finish the series. After I finish the seventh book I will write a review for the entire series, along with the ones for the individual books.

Genre - Children's Mystery

Nancy Drew a cool Novelization of the hit movie is a great book, but I don't recommend it for people under the age of 8 years, because it may be a little scary. This book is about a girl named, Nancy Drew, who in this book, is trying to solve the mystery of "Dehlia Draycott!" Although Nancy is great at mysteries, she doesn't know have a clue on being a normal teenager. She once wore, a long skirt, penny loafers, and a flipped hairdo! But anyway, it was one of my favorite books and I believe it should deserve four stars and I hope whoever reads this book will like it as much as I do.

Genre - Children's Short Story

This adorable story about a pet tortoise, Alfie, his owner, and upstairs neighbor is absolutely adorable for any age child. It's very short and is very cutely illustrated by Quentin Blake. At just about a fifteen minute read it's great for a fun bedtime story to read to your child, or to read together. It won the 1990 Smarties Award.

Shy Mr. Hoppy has been in love with his downstairs neighbor, Mrs. Silver for years. Though they are nearly strangers living only a story apart & exchanging pleasantries on their balconies. One day Mrs. Silver mentions how much she would like Alfie, her only love, her pet tortoise, to grow bigger. Mr. Hoppy comes up with a brilliant plan to make Mrs. Silver his bride.

Genre - Thriller/Horror

I absolutely love Richard Laymon. The Horror & Thriller 'greats' all say that reading Laymon is a must for any fan of the genre, and for good reason. After reading yet another Laymon masterpiece I am left with a gritty taste in my mouth, just like I am suppose to be.

After Midnight is about 'Alice', who while house sitting is thrust into a crazy 48 hours, where she murders (some accidentally, some not) about four people, and doesn't get caught because she cleans up after herself so well. It's pure excitement from the beginning where she introduces herself and lets the reader know that she is using an alias for herself and everyone and all the places in the book, so she doesn't get caught. Richard Laymon is such a convincing author that it's believable. You feel like you are reading a confession of sorts. It's excellent!

I recommend this, and any Richard Laymon book to others who enjoy thrillers as much as I do. It was an excellent read that I had trouble putting down.

Genre - Sci-Fi Historical Thriller

I am starting to think that I am not picky enough with books. I have really enjoyed reading everything I have read lately. I am afraid, you, my reader, will get bored if I just like everything. Maybe I just have a nack for picking out good books.

Timeline was recommended (and loaned) to me by Yvette Coleman, if you need to buy or sell a home in central Kentucky give her a call at Crye-Leike.

Timeline was an amazing read. The only issue I had with it was that it had alot of Quantum Physic Technology discussed & that is something that is usually very boring to me. I was never really a 'science' kid. I am however a history buff. This book literally took me back to the middle ages for a page turning adventure. Even the physics was easily understood, and enjoyable. After finishing the book I not only was elated over finishing a excellent read from cover to cover, but I also felt as if I had learned something. I have a certain respect for any novel that is followed by a bibliography.

Genre - Sci-Fi Thriller

Wow. This book was excellent. It's the best Richard Laymon I have read thus far. He incorporated murder, magic and intimacy in a seamless way. It was an extraordinarily hard read. On occasion I had to sit the book down for a day or two so I could deal with what was happening to the characters I had fallen for so quickly. He not only made me love his characters in this wonderful novel, but he made me feel their pain, their joy, their failures & triumphs.

In Body Rides Neal rescues a beautiful woman on his way to return videos. She rewards him with a magical gift. That night changes the course of his life fully & totally, making this normal screen writers life and exuberating read. I highly recommend this books for adults. Be forewarned, it does contain graphic violence & sexual content.

Genre - Techno Thriller

I just finished Digital Thriller. It took three days, but they were work days so I would guess about six hours. It was AWESOME! Another Dan Brown masterpiece.

Digital Fortress is about the NSA, National Security Agency, and the way they gather information through the internet & our emails. All I have to say is, if you think your emails are safe, even if they are encrypted, think again. The government reads whatever they want!

This book was an amazing thriller. From the moment it started I was hooked. I totally recommend it to other dorks who love cryptology like me.

Genre - Juvenile Fiction - Science Fiction

I just finished Eldest the sequel to my earlier read Eragon. Eldest proved to be just as excellent of a book. One difference I noticed was the obvious difference between Christopher Paolini's first work and this one is how Christopher Paolini has grown. It should be expected from such a young writer. He has matured in ways that men do, and Eragon follows that maturity, it fits the book well.

This book follows the adventures of Eragon, Rhoran, and the Varden in their continued fight against the Empire. In the second book of the Inheritance trilogy Eragon continues on the land of the elves to continue his rider training. The Raz'ac and the Empire's soldiers attack Carnhall and Rhoran has to take control over Rhoran the villagers of Carnhall to save their lives, and lead them on their own journey. The Varden set out on their own journey from the land of the dwarves to the country of Surda, allies of the Varden and enemies of the Empire.

This was a good read I finished quickly because it was so exciting. I recommend this read and it's adventures to all ages, young and old.

Genre - Medical Thriller

This is apparently the book that preceded another book on this page, Seizure. It is about the fertility clinic that the biotech company later goes off shore to use their new facility. The fertility clinic use to be outside Boston, but with it's more than questionable, and extremely illegal practices they were forced to go offshore. This book is about two young Harvard graduate students whom donate eggs at the fertility clinic and later wonder what happened to their eggs. They go back to the clinic and get jobs with false names and start their research. Within a day they know more then they should and are in incredible danger.

This is another excellent Robin Cook medical thriller. Not only will it make you think twice about donating eggs, but it also makes you think about how badly the fertility medical field needs to be regulated before Robin Cook's horrible imagination becomes reality.

This is a must read for other medical thriller lovers & anyone thinking about donating eggs or receiving fertility treatment.

Genre - Thriller/Horror

Wow. This was my first Richard Laymon book. I didn't think I would like it because the forward made it sound all Stephen Kingish, and I am just not a Stephen King fan. Odd, I know, but his books & movies based on his books give me really weird dreams. Anyway, I had run out of things to read & I needed something. The nice man at the bookstore had recommended Island to Jonathan, so I thought, why not. I loved this book! I bought several more Richard Laymon's today.

Island is about a family that goes on a boating trip together, the boat explodes while they are picnicing on a deserted island, within 2 days 3 of the 4 men of the group are thought dead, 2 murdered & one that blew up in the boat. It all goes hay wire from there, as if that's not hay-wire enough!

This is a book I just couldn't put down, and when I finished it, my reaction was to throw the book down and yell, "No WAY!" Which did shock Jonathan since I had been quietly reading for hours....

This is a must read for anyone who like a thriller....

Genre - Children's Historical Literature

This is one of the books we got for Tessa to read this summer. I like to read them all first, so I will be able to answer any questions she might have. I will also be posting her thoughts on this book here after she reads it.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is about 4th grader Cassie Logan. She lives with her family in Mississippi in 1930's. They are an African American family who, unlike most in that time period, are land owners. This book is about the struggles they, and their share cropping neighbors are going through.

I think this was a wonderful book, it did have some very adult subject matter, but the lessons it holds for the young reader are priceless. It won a Newberry Medal in 1977 and is considered to be one of the greatest children's novels of all time. I can't wait to get the sequel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken.

Genre - Children's Historical Literature

This is one of the books we got for Tessa to read this summer. I like to read them all first, so I will be able to answer any questions she might have. I will also be posting her thoughts on this book here after she reads it.

Our Only May Amelia is about a pioneer girl in Washington State in 1899. We picked it out because we thought Tessa would like reading about a girl who grew up in Washington (where she lives with her mom & step-dad) in 1899. May Amelia is always getting into trouble, being the only girl in a family with seven older brothers, I guess that is to be expected. This book discusses what a hard time May has becoming a "Proper Young Lady" in pioneer country.

Our Only May Amelia won the 2000 Newberry Honor Book, Parents' Choice Silver Honor, and several other notable awards.

Genre - Children's' Fantasy/Science Fiction

This is one of the books we got for Tessa to read this summer. I like to read them all first, so I will be able to answer any questions she might have. I will also be posting her thoughts on this book here after she reads it.

I have to admit, I LOVED this book. It was so cute, exciting and fun! It is about a field mouse, widowed Mrs. Frisby, who lives in the garden during the winter. One of her children gets very sick right before moving day in the spring & something must be done, or the spring plow will plow them to bits. The mouse Frisby family and the neighboring rats have an adventure that is worth reading for any age!

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH won the 1972 Newberry Medal.

Genre - Children's' Fantasy/Science Fiction

This is one of the books we got for Tessa to read this summer. I like to read them all first, so I will be able to answer any questions she might have. I will also be posting her thoughts on this book here after she reads it.

This is one of my favorite children's books. I read it, and some of it's following books in elementary school. I also watched the movie.

The Borrowers is about a family of little tiny people who live under the kitchen in an old house & 'borrow' things from the people living there. 'Borrowing' always includes the risk of getting caught, until Arrietty meets a boy visiting and he starts bringing them everything they need. But the riches of having a boy help you 'borrow' can't last forever...

The Borrowers won the Carnegie Medal in 1952 and in 2007 it was selected as one of the ten most important children's novel of the past 70 years.

Genre - Medical Thriller

Coma was one of my first medical thrillers. I choose well, Robin Cook is considered the master of medical thrillers. If you enjoy shows like CBS House then you will enjoy Coma & other novels by Robin Cook.

Coma starts on the first day of a group of medical students internship. It turns into a hunt for a killer, but it's not really a killer Coma has a plot that you won't believe. It will make you think twice about going in for minor surgery.

Coma is a true thriller from beginning to end - I couldn't put it down!! The ending was not expected, but it was also not believable to me, which was a disappointment after the rest of the novel being totally believable from a medical standpoint.

Genre - Biography

Communion was one of the creepiest books I have EVER read. Though not a fan of horror movies, I love a horror book, and this is definitely one. Written by an author I have enjoyed before, he wrote one of the best Vampire novels ever written - giving Ann Rice a run for her money. This was supposedly a true story that happened to the author.

It goes over his experiences of being abducted by aliens. I have one thing to say about his novel, though I can't make myself believe that aliens visit us like he said, I wanted to believe him. The book felt so true. It felt like a personal account of horrible experiences.

If you believe in aliens this book will confirm your beliefs, if you don't believe it will make you rethink your stand.

Genre - Horror (Vampire)

As I said in Whitley Strieber's Communion review, this is one of the best Vampire novels of all time in my opinion.

The mother Vampire comes back very upset because no one has been caring for her in her slumber for hundreds of years. She is pissed, and the last humans she remembers were in ancient Egypt. It has some comic relief, but is truly one of the scariest& seductive vampire stories of all time.

Genre - Thriller/Mystery (Murder/Crime)

Jonathan & I read Predator at the same time. I would read it while he was not home and be very careful to keep his place and not to loose the book mark Miss Tessa made him for Christmas. Predator was an excellent book in a series I just started about Dr. Kay Scarpetta. I of course did not start at the beginning, but somewhere towards the end. Which seems to be fine because there were very few references to past cases, and when there where it was

The book held me to the end, and Jonathan too (he is much harder to please with books). It is well & intelligently written. The cases were believable, and gruesome. It had everything you would expect or want from a Thriller/Mystery. The ending was a bit far fetched, but besides that it was an excellent book.

Genre - Faction (by the authors definition, fiction based on historical fact)

I just finished this one last night, and WOW is all I have to say. In case you aren't familiar with Dan Brown, he wrote The Da Vinci Code that the recent movie was based on. This book is actually the first book in Langdon series.

If you have seen or heard about the controversy over The Da Vinci Code you should read this book. It was excellent! Extraordinarily well written, eloquent & controversial. I loved it!

In Angels & Demons Langdon is helping solve another murder case involving the ancient, supposedly extinct, Illuminati. While reading the book you will also learn true facts about Rome, the Catholic Church, modern Physics, and the Illuminati (they were/are real).

Genre - True Murder Story

This book will make you think twice about visiting Seattle's SeaPac strip. It goes over the true story of a mass murder/ serial killer, who was on the loose for over two decades, killing over 40 known victims. Ann Rule gives you perspectives from the victims, victims families, 'near miss' victims, detectives & the killer himself.

A case that started in the early 1980's didn't lead to an arrest until December 2001. It is said to be one of Ann Rules best accounts ever.

Ann Rule has also written about other murders, famous & other wise including Ted Bundy. An interesting fact I came across while reading this book - Washington State has the highest rate of serial killers in the United States. Historically of course, to my knowledge there is not a serial killer active in the area now.

Anyway - this is a great true murder case. It will give you incite you could have never imagined, and might not want to.

Genre - Thriller/Mystery (Murder/Crime)

The books I have been choosing lately are taking a toll. After I finish Seizure which I already have, I will be choosing something lighter, I will be taking suggestions.

On to the matter at hand. The Body Farm is another Cornwell masterpiece. I enjoy her writing so much because it is written for intelligent people by an intelligent woman. It's written to assume you are on an adults reading level, instead like so many books out there today written on a middle school reading level, because that's where most Americans test. I am sorry for my rant on badly written books....

The Body Farm is in Cornwell's Scarpetta series, just like Predator. It is earlier in the series, so if you read Predator first you will already be able to guess some of the subplots outcomes. The Body Farm was written from just Scarpetta's point of view instead of jumping around like Predator did. Which made it easier to follow, but not as intriguing. It involves the brutal murder of a child, and others, so it's not for the weak stomached, but nothing I have read by Patricia Cornwell has been. I recommend this book, just follow it with something happy. To much murder, even if fictional can get to a person...

Genre - Juvenile Fiction - Science Fiction

What an excellent book!! I absolutely recommend this book if you are in between the ages of 8 to 102. It's a good strong read for an adult, but is easy enough for children who are strong readers.

Eragon is the first book of a trilogy, written by a child prodigy who graduated high school at 15 and started on this wonderful book. You might be familiar with it due to the fact that they recently released a movie based on this book.

Eragon dives deep into your sci fi genre much like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with dragons, elves, dwarfs, evil kings, and an unlikely hero. It's a book that is hard to put down. It's a book that when you come to the end you can't wait for the next book in the series, which is Eldest. The final book in the series is not out yet.

Genre - Biography

American Son is a portrait of John F. Kennedy, Junior when this book came out in 2002 it caused an uproar. JFK Junior had been a very private man about his personal life, despite being the most famous president of our times' son, being American Royalty, and being an Editor of a major political magazine. I can understand the uproar felt by JFK Junior's family & friends, this book portray's JFK Junior, in a very personal light from the time that he started George until his death in 1999. I can understand the outcry because after reading the book I felt like JFK Junior's privacy deserved protecting& respect.

Despite the fact that I agree with the outcry, I loved this book. It made me wish I had been friends with the famous, that I had been able to protect him from the havoc of the everyday life of American Royalty.

John F Kennedy Junior, was not the party boy the papers portrayed in his earlier years, this book made me respect our upper crust, our Royalty in a way I hadn't before. If only every American in the limelight, and out acted & thought like American Son portray's John F Kennedy Junior, then this country could once again be on the right path.

Genre - Faction (by the authors definition, fiction based on historical fact)

I am not sure if my view on The Da Vinci Code is skewed because I saw the movie first, or because it is just less superior than Angels and Demons. My thoughts are it is both.

The Da Vinci Code is an excellent book, don't get me wrong. But Dan Brown's first book in the Robert langdon series was better.

As I am sure you know from the Tom hanks previews The Da Vinci Code is about solving a series of murders involving the Catholic Church and The Priory of Sion. This book and subsequent movie highly irritated the Catholic Church, making it all the more enticing.

This book as it's predecessor are both excellent books, based on highly researched historical and religious facts. It was, to say the least a Joy to read.

Medical Thriller

Seizure is an excellent book. Being published in 2001 it is much more relevant than Dr. Cooks first book on this list, Coma. I felt that every part of this book could actually happen, beginning to end.

I absolutely recommend this book, it not only gives you new insight into the field of medical research, but politics, and the mob. A new biotech company has discovered a cure for parkinson disease with stem cells, only to be getting ready to go bankrupt because of a a senatorial committee discussing banning the procedure. When the head of said committee offers them a deal to save their company, hard work and research, they can't refuse.

This book, as it self proclaims, is an epic Greek Tragedy set in the modern world.