Run for Your Life by James Patterson

Run for Your Life by James Patterson

Det. Michael Bennett is just coming off of a particularly difficult hostage negotiation in Harlem when the Commissioner calls him personally to head up a task force to stop a seemingly connected string of murders targeting the wealthy of New York City. This is the second book featuring Detective Bennett after Step on a Crack. I liked this one more than Step on a Crack and I enjoy the character, his nanny Mary Catherine, his grandfather Seamus, and his brood of ten children.

Force of Nature by Laird Hamilton

Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, and of course Surfing by Laird Hamilton

I saw Laird Hamilton on Chelsea Lately promoting this new book. It sounded so inspirational, I just had to check it out. The book opens with a quote from Mark Twain that I think sums up the book well:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

This book is written in four parts: Mind, Body, Soul, and Surfing. Each section discusses Laird's philosophy on how to live life to the fullest, how to feed your body, how to excel in every aspect of life, and how to appreciate the world and people around you. I did indeed find it very inspirational. He is an amazing athlete and an amazing person.

In addition to the great advice in this book, the photographs are beautiful. I can't stop looking at them!

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

I don't want to talk about it....not yet anyway....

The Dead Room and Coraline

The Dead Room by Heather Graham

Leslie McIntyre has become a famed archaeologist for her uncanny ability to find dead people with ease. When she is asked to return to New York City to work on another historic dig she is anxious to return to the historic home where an explosion killed her husband and nearly ended her own life. Leslie is determined to help the ghosts reaching out to her by finding their burial sites, help her late husbands cousin, Joe (a private eye), discover the truth behind the explosion and also help Joe find a missing heiress and the missing prostitutes she was helping. All seem to be connected in some way, Leslie and Joe just need to fit the pieces together.

It took me a while to read this due to my car accident, but I did enjoy it. There is an interesting twist at the end that I did not see coming. So far, I have enjoyed all of the Heather Graham books I have read.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

While exploring her home out of boredness one day, Coraline discovers a door that leads to another world. This world looks very much like her own and has all of the same people, only it is different. Her "other mother" and "other father" with the button eyes want to keep Coraline. Will she ever find her way back out? To her real home, real mother, and real father? This is a fun and creepy read. I look forward to seeing the movie!

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Graphic Novel

This is the story/memoir of a young Iranian girl growing up through the revolution. I really fell in love with Marjane's strength, independence, free-spirit, and plain old chutzpah. The details about the revolution and what the Iranian people went through was heart wrenching and I feel like I gained a whole new perspective of Iran's history and the Iranian people. I loved this book.

Never Tell A Lie by Hallie Ephron

Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron

Ivy and her high school sweetheart husband, David, buy an old Victorian home in their hometown. At eight months pregnant, with a serious need to "nest," Ivy convinces her husband to help her clear out the previous owners belongings left behind and hold a yard sale. At the yard sale, Melinda White, an old classmate of Ivy and David's shows up looking completely different. Melinda was a strange girl in high school and her odd behavior at the yard sale made Ivy uneasy. When Melinda goes missing immediately following the encounter, Ivy and David become the prime suspects.

I really liked this one. I have never read any books by her but this was a good mystery. Will definitely read more.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Juliet Ashton becomes famous during WWII writing humorous and "sunny" anecdotes during and after the war under nom de plume, Lizzie Bickerstaff. Juliet receives many letters from readers but one letter, describing the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from the German occupied island of Guernsey in the English Channel. Juliet begins writing back and forth with members of the society on Guernsey.

Guernsey is written in letter form between Juliet, townspeople on Guernsey, Juliet's editor Sidney and his co-workers as well as her best friend Sophie. This was a wonderful book. I loved the story and loved the characters. I highly recommend it.