My FAVORITE BOOKS......NOT COMPLETE BY A LONGSHOT

“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.”
― Harold Kushner

Favorite Books

I have to start with The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin....It has helped me to change my life for the better......I also love her blog    http://www.thehappinessproject.com/


The first book I remember reading in grade school which is still one of my favorites, is Desiree by Anna Marie Selinko.  This is the story of Napoleon’s first love (before Josephine). Wonderful.

The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks

Jane Rosenal, the narrator of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, is wise beyond her years. Not that that's saying much--since none of her elders, with the exception of her father, is particularly wise. At the age of 14, Jane watches her brother and his new girlfriend, searching for clues for how to fall in love, but by the end of the summer she's trying to figure out how not to fail in love. At twice that age, Jane quickly internalizes How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right, even though that retro manual is ruining her chances at happiness. In the intervening years, Melissa Bank's heroine struggles at love and work. The former often seems indistinguishable from the latter, and her experiences in book publishing inspire little in the way of affection. As Jane announces in "The Worst Thing a Suburban Girl Could Imagine": "I'd been a rising star at H----- until Mimi Howlett, the new executive editor, decided I was just the lights of an airplane." Bank's first collection has a beautiful, true arc, and all the sophistication and control her heroine could ever desire. In "The Floating House," Jane and her boyfriend, Jamie, visit his ex-girlfriend in St. Croix, and right from the start she can't stop mimicking her beautiful competitor, in a notably idiotic fashion. "I'm like one of those animals that imitates its predators to survive," she realizes--one of several thousand of Bank's ruefully funny phrases. But even as Jane clowns around, desperately trying to keep up appearances, she is so hyperaware it hurts. Again and again, the author explores the dichotomy between life as it happens and the rehearsed anecdote, the preferred outcome. In The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, even suburban quiet has "nothing to do with peace." Bank's much-anticipated debut merits all its buzz and, more to the point, transcends it.

Nelson DeMille Books,  ESPECIALLY The Charm School

This book is absolutely amazing. It is the second book I have read by Demille, and is by far one of the stories I will most recommend to my friends. It is a fantastic page-turner that truly captures the heart and soul of the Russian people and the differences between their perspectives and American attitudes toward life. All of the characters are amazingly believable; the plot also comes across as being extensively researched. Demille's world of espionage and foreign service comes to life in a manner tha most authors cannot match: this was our world during the Cold War. Mrs. Ivanova's Charm School did not exist that we know of, but the reality of national security policies are exemplified in this fictional account.

Word of Honor by Nelson Demille

In 1968, Ben Tyson was a lieutenant in Vietnam. There, the men under his command committed a murderous atrocity. Now Tyson is being held responsible. And only one woman can reveal the truth of his past--and set him free.

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

In the town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, not much happens. The highlight of 35-year-old Ave Maria Mulligan's week comes on Friday, with the arrival of the Bookmobile, the sight of which sends her into raptures. Her favorite book concerns the ancient Chinese art of reading faces. Through her face-readings, we come to understand the hostilities simmering within her family: her father whose small eyes are the clear "sign of a deceptive nature." Her aunt who "has a small head and thin lips. (That's a terrible combination.)" Adriana Trigiani's first novel concerns the family scandals that befall Ave Maria in this seemingly uneventful town. Greed, lust, envy--all the ancient emotional elements--manifest themselves even in this hamlet of "ordinary folk." Fans of Fannie Flagg or Rebecca Wells will enjoy this down-home tale, full of small, everyday details and colloquial revelations. The writing is often awkward, but so too are the characters who inhabit this place: the Bookmobile lady who thinks of herself as the sexiest woman alive; the amateur actors in the local Outdoor Drama who bristle with ambition when they hear that Elizabeth Taylor is coming to visit. In Big Stone Gap, her visit is so anticipated, it's like she's an angel sent from heaven. --Ellen Williams --This text refers to the Hardcover edition

.Bad Girl Creek by Jo Ann Mapson

The bestselling author of such hits as Hank & Chloe and Blue Rodeo launches a trilogy with this sentimental novel of communal life and reinvented family, centering on four women who come together, tending to each other and healing old wounds. Phoebe DeThomas has lived carefully all her life. Thirty-eight years old and in a wheelchair because of a bad heart, she's always felt dwarfed by her flamboyant aunt Sadie and her successful brother James. Now Sadie has died, bequeathing her a flower farm on California's Central Coast. In order to make a go of it, Phoebe takes in three women as boarder/farmhands. Each of the three is "homeless," having recently undergone traumatic life changes: Ness, a black cowgirl with a horse and a secret fear that she has AIDS, has lost her job; Nance, a down-on-her-luck Southern belle, has broken up with her boyfriend; and Beryl, a former kindergarten aide with a prison record, has been evicted from her apartment. All have families that are less than perfect and, living under the same roof, they soon become like blood relatives as they share their secrets and learn to trust again. Mapson combines poignancy with the good-natured banter of girlfriends in her tale of women in transition, waiting to be reborn.

In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees,

14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their Georgia peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart's answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily's beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of--Tiburon, South Carolina--determined to find out more about her dead mother. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed, The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lily's story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidd's debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic.

Biography - Historical

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland  (triology)

Since completing high school history, few of us have managed to keep straight the details of the French Revolution. Beyond suggestions of eating cake and the effectiveness of the guillotine, this sordid time period has remained--for many--somewhat obscure. Now, through the novel The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., not only do we learn of the many differences between Robespierre and Rousseau, but we gain insight into the marriage of one of history's greatest political couples: Napoleon and Josephine. Standing beside the charismatic Napoleon, Josephine's own importance and fascinating history have often been overshadowed. In a fictionalized account of Josephine's diaries and her correspondence, author Sandra Gulland has shed light on Josephine's pre-Napoleon life. This, the first of three books about Josephine, covers her childhood in Martinique, her first marriage, the birth of her children, her life during the revolution, and her marriage to Napoleon. A poor Creole outsider as well as a rising socialite, Josephine experienced both the horrors of imprisonment and the privilege of connections. Utilizing these different perspectives, Gulland takes special care to bring forth the reality of life in late 18th-century France. Though she can only theorize on Josephine's emotions and desires, Gulland's talented writing and the restrained use of footnotes keep the reader properly informed on pertinent details, whether they be obscure political events or voodoo beliefs. While professional historians may bristle at the artistic license Gulland employs, most readers will find her novel a satisfying and engaging introduction to this dramatic period. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien

YEAR OF WONDER BY Geraldine Brooks
Story of how the plague may have started in Europe. Great read.


LIFE AND TIMES OF ROSE KENNEDY BY Charles Higham

excellent biography of the Matriarch of an American Dynasty. Charles Higham has done a thorough job of researching Rose Kennedy, her forebears as well as those of Joe Kennedy, Sr. This book takes a daring peek behind the curtain of Rose's outward gentility; one is forced to confront the adulterous Joe through her eyes; one feels sympathy for Rose as she, by many accounts, those of her children included, becomes even more religious and reclusive. One feels her anguish over Joe's decision to have poor Rosemary lobotomized without at least consulting her; one feels her anguish over the violent, devastating deaths of three of her four sons. I liked the parts that detailed some of the interactions Rose had with her many grandchildren; I especially loved the parts about her son Robert, the then future Attorney General and Senator.

I found the dynamics of intrafamilial relationships quite interesting. In many accounts, the indomitable matriarch and Jack locked horns and had many personality clashes. In all accounts, she and RFK had a unique bond. The resemblance between Rose and Robert is quite strong; indeed, the matriarch left her stamp on this penultimate son who would later comfort her in her old age and invite her to accompany him on his 1964 senatorial campaign. This pair has been described as being extremely devout and loyal to their children; again, this similarity is emphasized in the bonds the future Attorney General had with his own children.

I felt this was a very well researched and well written biography. For anyone who is seriously interested in Rose Kennedy, I would recommend this book highly.

I have read all the Prey books by John Sandford. Great Read (mystery,with a great detective at the center), all of the Stuart Woods books and Yes, John Grisham.  All books by Harlin Coben.  All of the books by Lee Childs about Jack Reacher (my secret boyfriend)..,..Books by Greg Isles.

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Series....Loved it and currently rereading all the books.  Its about time travel and you will love it.....

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner

Based on the real-life exploits of the author's great-grandmother, this fictionalized diary vividly details one woman's struggles with life and love in frontier Arizona at the end of the last century. When she begins recording her life, Sarah Prine is an intelligent, headstrong 18-year-old capable of holding her own on her family's settlement near Tucson. Her skill with a rifle fends off a constant barrage of Indian attacks and outlaw assaults. It also attracts a handsome Army captain named Jack Elliot. By the time she's 21, Sarah has recorded her loveless marriage to a family friend, the establishment of a profitable ranch, the birth of her first child?and the death of her husband. The love between Jack and Sarah, which dominates the rest of the tale, has begun to blossom. Fragmented and disjointed in its early chapters, with poor spelling and grammar, Sarah's journal gradually gains in clarity and eloquence as she matures. While this device may frustrate some readers at first, Taylor's deft progression produces the intended reward: she not only tells of her heroine's growth, but she shows it through Sarah's writing and insights. The result is a compelling portrait of an enduring love, the rough old West and a memorable pioneer.

The Twilight Series by Stephanie Myer.....yes, I loved them!

1,000 White Women by Jim Fergus

An American western with a most unusual twist, this is an imaginative fictional account of the participation of May Dodd and others in the controversial "Brides for Indians" program, a clandestine U.S. government^-sponsored program intended to instruct "savages" in the ways of civilization and to assimilate the Indians into white culture through the offspring of these unions. May's personal journals, loaded with humor and intelligent reflection, describe the adventures of some very colorful white brides (including one black one), their marriages to Cheyenne warriors, and the natural abundance of life on the prairie before the final press of the white man's civilization. Fergus is gifted in his ability to portray the perceptions and emotions of women. He writes with tremendous insight and sensitivity about the individual community and the political and religious issues of the time, many of which are still relevant today. This book is artistically rendered with meticulous attention to small details that bring to life the daily concerns of a group of hardy souls at a pivotal time in U.S. history