Great book. Very satisfying end to "The Girl Who..." trilogy.

A history graduate student, Connie Goodwin, discovers a name, Deliverance Dane, and a key hidden in the 17th-century bible in her granmother's family home. Her quest to discover its meaning leads to a book of Physick recipes and the mystical powers surrounding the Salem witch trials. Good mystery!

If you enjoyed The Glass Castle by Walls, you will also like Half Broke Horses. Walls tells the story of her maternal grandmother, a strong woman during the first part of the 20th century, growing up in the west. The story also adds insight into her own mother, and herself. Very good read.

Yikes! A sentimental and melodramatic story of a group of diverse friends that met in High School in Charleston, SC. The unlikely trials and tribulations of there lives is sometimes interesting, but mostly just unbelievable. Too sappy for me!

This is a wonderful retelling of the Goose Girl fairy tale. The Goose Girl, while not good with people-speak, learns to communicate with the animals and the wind, overcomes adversity, and lives happily everafter! What more could you ask for?

A story of the results of domestic violence, shattered faith, and angels.

This book is the recounting of the life of Pat Tillman: From childhood, through his professional football career, and his untimely death by friendly-fire from a fellow Army Ranger in Afganistan. It certainly made me wonder how often these tragic events come to pass. Well written and an interesting read.

A birthday party is being held in South America in honor of a powerful Japanese businessman when terrorists break in and take everyone hostage. But what begins as a terrifying scenario turns into something different as terrorists and hostages forge an unexpected bond and love blooms in an unlikely place. (WCFL catalog summary). Very good, especially if you like opera.

How do you forecast the future of the world? Expect the unexpected. What shape will warfare take? Where will power arise as the century unfolds? What will be the role of China, the Muslim countries, Russia? Friedman takes a stab at predictions that are worth considering.

If you weren't already angry enough about how greed rules our society, this book will help get you fired up. A simply amazing story that would almost be unbelievable- except that we are living through it! It helps me understand the government's attempts at finally regulating Wall Street, and confirms my conviction that most of these top guys should go to jail...

Book 10 in the Jack Aubry series. By far, my favorite! Aubry and Maturin are dispatched to the western coast of South America aboard the HMS Surprise just before the ship is to be taken out of service. Many fine adventures, and they become marooned twice! Very enjoyable!

More adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, this time in Malta and the Red Sea. More espionage and high-sea adventure, where Aubrey learns the HMS Surprise is to be decommissioned, and Maturin's diving bell is put to use retrieving false prize from the bottom of the sea. Five stars.

A must read for all animal owners. Excellent insight into your animal's behavior! Four stars!

In the future, a world of bioengineering and central control, a religious group, the Gardeners, try to preserve the natural world created by God. A waterless flood, a world pandemic, threatens to distroy mankind, yet a few Gardeners are able to survive. Interesting view of the future. Three and a half stars.

I was surprised how much of this Orwell classic is still relevant in today's world.

This audio book is a fascinating look at the resource we have all come to know. How does a resource that anyone can modify at any time work at all? The philosophy, technology, history and future of Wikipedia are all discussed in a knowledgeable and thoughtful way. Four stars.

This is the story of Jane Takagi-Little, a documentary film maker, who begins a year of filming of "My American Wife!", a Japanese Saturday morning show, sponsored by a beef lobbying group to promote beef consumption, where "Beef is Best!". The author's dry humor, combined with an interesting story full of great characters is very entertaining and thought provoking. Although a work of fiction, the story exposes the darker side of feed-lot beef production in the US. I thought this book was very good. Available in audio from Maryland's Digital eLibrary Consortium. Four stars.

The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissanceincest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs. Yet, as bestselling biographer Sarah Bradford reveals in this breathtaking new portrait, the truth is far more fascinating than the myth. Neither a vicious monster nor a seductive pawn, Lucrezia Borgia was a shrewd, determined woman who used her beauty and intelligence to secure a key role in the political struggles of her day. (google books overview)
Interesting and amazing!

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession, a dazzling new novel that spans the years from the Victorian era through World War I and centers around a famous children's book author and the passions, betrayals, and secrets that tear apart the people she loves. (from the WCFL catalog)

Full of rich descriptions, and fanciful stories, this is an enjoyable book that takes place in the center of the Arts and Crafts community in England at the turn of the century. I enjoyed the pottery, jewlry, and illustrator references that keep popping up. There is much inter- and intra-generational interplay creating complex relationships, as the children grow, become adults, and go off to war. At times I thought the story wandered, but it did hold my interest. I give it 3.5 stars.

I was eager to read this because I enjoy the Anna Pigeon books so much. Was very disappointed. Complicated far-out, stupid story. Barr should stick with the National Parks.

2008