Tag: Books

An Angel For Emily, by Jude Deveraux

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An Angel for EmilyFinished 5-17-08, rating 3/5, romance, pub.1998

“I’m your guardian angel and we have been together for a thousand years.”            Chapter 1

Emily is engaged to a popular newscaster in the city and she runs the local library in the small town of Greenbriar.  On a night when Emily was the center of attention and being awarded Librarian of the Year, her fiance, Donald, stands her up.  Upset, Emily hits a man with her car on a dark road and is faced with a man who called himself her guardian angel.

Michael, her personal angel, has been sent down to earth to help Emily, but he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do.  Emily can’t believe he’s an angel, especially considering that he’s on the FBI Most Wanted list.  The two reach an understanding and some very unangelic feelings arise.

To enjoy this fun romp you must be totally willing to suspend disbelief and common sense beginning on page one.  With that said, it was fun.  The way of this spiritual world has its heart in the Hindu tradition of reincarnation, although I’m pretty sure Hinduism doesn’t believe in ‘relations’ between angels and humans.

Jumbled Books

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Here’s how to play…Identify the title and author. Leave a comment with the # and the answer and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! If you know them all, please don’t guess every one, maybe five max? Hint: These are all current NYT Bestsellers.

1. HTE PAPALE by HJNO MHSIRGA, Jason, THE APPEAL by John Grisham

2. TTNYEW SSHIWE by EEBIDB MMCABORE  TWENTY WISHES BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

3. LDHO ITTGH by LAARHN NECBO, Jason, HOLD TIGHT by Harlan Coben

4. ETH OWLEH HURTT by IDDVA DCACBLAI Jill, THE WHOLE TRUTH by David Baldacci

5. HGECAN FO ARTHE by IJDO CULTIPO  Jill, CHANGE OF HEART by Jodi Picoult

6. NETSA EF ADED by TARTUS DOWSO SANTE FE DEAD BY STUART WOODS

7. YASDUN TA FITSAYN’F by JESMA NAPTRTOSE Jill, SUNDAY AT TIFFANY”S by James Patterson

8. HEREW ERA UYO OWN? by RYAM GGIIHNS LACKR Sarah, WHERE ARE YOU NOW? by Mary Higgins Clark

9. REECSST by JEDU VEERAXURD Sarah, SECRETS BY JUDE DEVERAUX

10. KEELSNOTS TA ETH AFTES by RICHS JOHLAANIB  SKELETONS AT THE FEAST BY CHRIS BOHJALIAN

How To Be Invisible, by J.J. Luna

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Cover ImageFinished 5-14-08, rating 3.5/5, non-fiction, revised 2004

Full title-How To Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life

“If, in fact, you have ever received a letter or a package at your present address and under your real name, the only way to protect your privacy is to move.”  Chapter 6

This quote is the starting point of every step in this book and if that scares you or makes you shake your head in amusement, you should take a look at this book.  In the few days it took me to read it I felt like not only was Big Brother watching, but so were Giant Daddy, Nosy Momma, and Little Sister.

First, this book is full of ways to make yourself disappear, but also full of stories from people who actually have.  There is information why it is important that no one have your name and correct address (the author has no mailbox) and how to obtain a ghost address.  A Limited Liability Company is one way to protect yourself and the author keeps spares on a shelf.  He suggests using nominees (friends, family) to help you open up bank accounts.  But, even if you do not to any of these things, just reading the book will open your eyes to ways where you might be vulnerable.

There were a couple recommendations that were new to me.  He gives instructions on how to bury ‘treasure’ (whatever that may be to you) in the desert and then how to leave directions after you die.  He also recommends that you raise your children to be self-employed, no college, so that they can always be invisible. 

I was somewhat naive about all the ways the government, companies, people could keep track of me, but not anymore.  I don’t think that the average person can do all or even most of what he suggests.  While I see the benefit, not too many people are willing to live this way unless they are forced to.  It takes a lot of time and effort to make yourself invisible.  If you feel like you need to hide then this is the book for you.  It was a very interesting read.  If you are curious, I’d recommend checking out his website, www.howtobeinvisible.com.

The Poet by Michael Connelly

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The PoetFinished 5-13-08, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 1996

“It’s lucky no one else knows what our most secret thoughts are.  We’d all be seen for the cunning, self-aggrandizing fools we are.”    Chapter 15

This was a great mystery.  A killer was mutilating bodies after he killed them and then once a detective became obsessed with the case the detective was killed too.  This went undiscovered for many years because the detective’s deaths were ruled suicides.  But reporter Jack McEvoy just lost his twin brother and doesn’t want to believe it was suicide so he sets out to prove it wasn’t.

Once Jack convinces his brother’s partner he sets out to see if he can prove it had been done before.  Jack flies to Washington DC to investigate and inadvertantly opens a FBI task force before he can go public with his own story.  Jack then must force his way into the story and begins his whirlwind journey with the FBI.

This book has it all: grief, revenge, love, murder, guilt, and the chase.  If you love mysteries you cannot go wrong with this one.  This will keep you guessing til the end.  I know Connelly has a current mystery series and I bet when I find the time to read one it will be good too!

Similar Authors

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I am in the process of starting a page of Similar Authors.  “If you like___, you’ll like ___…”  I will only be recommending authors that I have read and my recommendations will only be my humble opinion, of course.  But, if you have any suggestions of your own, please leave them as a comment on the page. 

If you are interested in a comprehensive list (not just my own much shorter offering) try this website

http://www.literature-map.com/

This is a fun interactive map that can help you find authors that are similar to the ones that you like.  Type in your author and his or her name will be in the middle with other authors floating around.  The names closest to your chosen author are the most similar.  You can also click on any name on the map and it will put that author in the middle and start again.  Try it- it’s fun!

And don’t forget to check out my Similar Authors page once in awhile, right now it is still a work in progress.

Gangsters and Goodfellas:The Mob, Witness Protection & Life on the Run by Henry Hill

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Book CoverFinished 5-4-08, rating 2.5/5, non-fiction, pub. 2004

The bestselling book Wiseguys and the movie Goodfellas was based on the life of ex-mobster Henry Hill.  This book is about his life, how he got caught, the witness protection program, his addictions and where he is now. 

I don’t like mob movies.  I know I’ve seen Goodfellas, but I’ve washed away the memories.  I know with the success of the Sopranos people seem to know more about the mob than they used to, but I’ve never seen it.  So, I actually learned quite a bit about the mob and what goes on and I did find it interesting.  I was more interested in his witness protection experience.  He admits to jerking around the Marshals and being a pain to the men protecting him.  After reading WITSEC I found his attitude a little disheartening, but I guess that’s because I sympathize with the law.

Hill seems to have built a life by people rewarding him for all the bad things he’s done.  The government still pays him to consult or something which I find maddening as a tax payer.  Judgment aside the book was entertaining.  It reads like he is sitting in front of you telling his story, sometimes straightforward and sometimes in circles.  If you are at all interested in this stuff you will probably like this book, but even if you find it a little repulsive you will not be bored.  Hill seems like quite a character.

Carla Neggers book signing

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Last night I attended a book signing at Joseph-Beth in the Cleveland area.  Carla Neggers was there signing her new hardcover, The Angel.  I have never read any of her books, but they sound just up my alley.

Carla was charming and warm and talked to us for an hour about her books and the writing process.  She was very encouraging to those of us who are trying to write our own books. She has written over 50 books and her love for writing was evident and contagious.  I came home ready to start writing! 

The Angel, her new novel, is set in Ireland and involves a mysterious Irish legend.  I am looking forward to reading it.  You’ll read about it here when I do. 

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore

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Cover ImageFinished 5-1-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2002

This is a book that I would not have picked up on my own.  I don’t think I have a very good sense of humor when it comes to God or Jesus and the title alone might have offended me.  But, my friend Mark recommended it and that alone was enough for me to try it out.  I also felt better about it since Moore is a born and bred Buckeye (although he has left ‘paradise’ to suffer through the hardships of living in Hawaii and San Francisco 🙂 ).  Anyway, on to Levi also called Biff and Joshua who is Jesus.

Biff has been brought back to the land of the living some 2000 years later so that he can set the record straight on Joshua’s childhood and young adulthood.  The gospels of the New Testament leave out Biff and now Biff must write his own gospel about his time as Joshua’s best friend and constant companion from the age of six.  Biff was brought back and watched over by the angel, Raziel, and the interplay between the two is hysterical. 

Biff starts with when he and Joshua met when they were six.  Joshua was bringing a lizard back to life after his brother killed it.  After that they became inseparable.  Mary had told Joshua he was the Son of God, but when you are six what does that mean?  He and Biff spent their childhoods being boys and loving Mary Magdalene called Maggie.  This section of the book really brought to life the landscape, the people, and the politics of the time. 

Joshua decides he needs to travel to find the three wise men of his storied birth and Biff goes with him.  After all who will do all the lying, cheating, and sinning that is necessary?  As Joshua and Biff travel east to find each of the wise men we see where Joshua learns to be the Messiah.  He and Biff’s many adventures will have you laughing and wishing that you too had a best friend as loyal as Biff.

As they make their way back home the story becomes intertwined with the gospels and Biff tries to explain what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John got right and what they missed.  Biff’s story ends and we find out why he was left out of the New Testament altogether.

Moore writes with a light touch that is full of sarcasm and wit.  Given the subject matter I was surprised that Moore was able to bring so much humor and still respect the nature of Jesus. I could have done without Biff trying to explain sex to Joshua (although this may be more of a girl thing) and I didn’t like the swearing, especially in the last third of the book.  Actually, I loved the book up until the point when they return to Nazareth, but at that point it lost some of its heart in my opinion.  It was still worth the read and I’d still recommend it, because you’ll never meet another character like Biff.

I really enjoyed this book, although it probably is not for everyone.  If you think you have a wicked sense of humor or can take a certain amount of irreverence then you should give it a try.  You will laugh out loud, guaranteed.  Thanks for the recommendation, Mark.  You’ve helped add to my must read author list.

Famous First Lines, Part 2

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Here’s how to play…Identify the first lines of these famous novels by telling me what book it’s from. Leave a comment with the # of the first line and the title of the book and I’ll cross it off the list. No Googling, that’s cheating and no fun! If you know them all, please don’t guess every one, maybe five max? Mid week I’ll offer hints if needed.

 1. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. Jason, Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by Rowling

2. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Mark, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald

3. Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her. HINT: This was the beginning of a famous movie trilogy. Amy, The Godfather by Puzo

4. At a village of La Mancha, whose name I do not wish to remember, there lived a little while ago one of those gentlemen who are wont to keep a lance in the rack, an old buckler, a lean horse and a swift greyhound.  DON QUIXOTE by Cervantes

5. The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended.  2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY by Clarke

6. Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood.   THE DIVINE COMEDY, INFERNO by Dante Alighieri

7. Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery. Mark, The DaVinci Code by Brown

8. Call me Ishmael. Jason, Moby Dick by Melville

9. All children, except one, grow up.  PETER PAN by Barrie

10. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Amy, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy