Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers always get my attention.  Ever since I went to the museum in Waco!  If you are ever anywhere near there, go, go go, it is right outside the Baylor campus and well worth it.  The Seventh Victim only received three stars from me, but consider the fact that there is a LOT of romance in this book, which I didn't expect, and I still have it three stars.  It really is a good mystery.  I just am NOT a romance girl!  I probably will read the rest of the series, because it was very good and it is set in one my favorite cities, Austin! 

WOW David is gonna HATE this!

While I loved Puddin', the companion to Dumplin' I just KNOW that David Levithan would hate, hate, hate it! Author Julie Murphy has written about yet ANOTHER young girl who is comfortable being a person of size. 
Can you believe it? 
Fantastic. 
I might even like it more than Dumplin' but I don't know...maybe just the same.  I loved it. 

Iris

I don't think I have ever known someone named Iris.  I mean I know of a gal named Iris, but I have personally never had a relationship with anyone named Iris.  And the book Irises is not about girls named Iris.  Rather it is about two sisters, neither or whom is named Iris.  But the one sister loves to paint and is a talented artist and she is painting Vincent van Gogh's Irises.  The book is by another new-to-me author, Francisco X. Stork and let me say that I want to read more from him because I found this book to be just excellent.  An excellent look at sisterhood and loss and the church and faith and the meaning of life and sacrifice.  I learned a lot, too.  I learned about PVS and the difference between a PVS and a coma.  Many people, myself included (is it me or myself here!) find the term "vegetative" when applied to human beings to be offensive.  It is not surprising that this term is much more common in the UK than in the US!  I mean, to me.  I am not a big UK fan!  Anywaaay...excellent book. 

Turn, Turn, Turn

to everything, there is a season...The Season is neither about the Byrds not about the Bible.  It is about Texas debutantes.  Here is some information about the Texas Dip!  Here is another article about Dallas Debs.    One of the reasons why I liked this book so much was that I know a family who lives in one of the Park Cities.  They live in Highland Park.  When I visited her I could see that it was a wealthy area, for sure!  Sometimes I like reading about places I have been.  I talked to my friend and she said that her daughter won't be doing the deb thing, but does think that probably some of her friends will.  Anyway, I really did like this book and if you aren't familiar with debutante balls, you will learn something, too!

WOW

The 15th Jesse Stone book, Debt to Pay is just incredible.  Incredible.  Reed Farrel Coleman has done incredible things with Jesse.  And I would bet that Robert B. Parker is proud.  And just as blown away as Jesse fans must be.
This book is a must-read for Jesse fans.  If you have not read the others, you will want to do that first, but man, you need to get to this one.  Wow.

Must Be Hard

It has to be hard for Gustavo Arellano to read some of the letters written to his syndicated column Ask a Mexican.  The book of the same name was painful to listen to for a lot of reasons- NONE of them related to Arellano. Wait.  I can't figure out if Ask a Mexican is still going on.  I mean, it is still going on, but I guess Arellano isn't do it?  I am so confused!
Anyway--people ask the dumbest, rudest questions.  And I know that it is great to see these stupid idiots ask these questions and then see Arellano really make fun of them and point out how stupid they are, even though they are probably too stupid to realize that he is making fun of them, because this guy is really funny and smart.  But still, I mean, should people this stupid be allowed to ask the stupid things that they ask?  Yes, of course.  We all have the right to be wrong.  But really.  Blah!

Little Dumplin'

Dumplin' was recommended to me by my dear, dear friend Kara who always recommends fantastic books to me.  And this one was just fantastic.  Not only does the main character, Will(ow) love Dolly Parton, who I believe is an angel walking on earth, but she is fat, like me and man, could I relate to this story.
Dumplin's mom is a former beauty pageant winner and my mom could have been, had she not been so shy and had she lived in pageant country like Will(ow)'s mom.  Texas is pageant country, Southwestern PA is not.
I wonder if Julie Murphy is a person of size because she really hit the nail on the head with this book.  Dumplin knew just what it is like.
Just a great, great story that doesn't fall into predictable traps.
I bet David Levithan hates this book!

Powerful Read

The Truth about Alice is one of best books I have read in a long time.  It takes place in a small town in Texas, but it could take place anywhere.  Its due out later this year and tells the story of power of rumor.
Alice Franklin was never one of the super popular girls in school, but she had friends and boyfriends, too.  One night after a party given by the most popular girl in school, Elaine, the most popular guy in school, Brandon, tells everyone that Alice slept with him and a college student on the same evening.  Alice becomes the school slut, but it gets much worse.  Brandon is killed in a car accident a few days later and now that he is gone everyone blames Alice for this death.  She is made a complete outcast.
The book is told from the POV of Elaine, Kelsie, Kurt, a shy kid with no social standing, Alice's former friend and Josh who was Brandon's best friend.  A really tough but great book.  The characters are real even and not stereotypical even though there is the whole super popular guy, super popular girl, nerd guy, side-kick going on.  I really like what Elaine has to say about wanting to stay in her whom town.  "Despite how odd this year has been in many ways, the thing is, I like it here and I don't ever want to leave.  I want to go to UT and then marry a guy who wants to stay in Healy forever and I want him to take over the business from my dad and I'll help run it, and I want to have a daughter who's just like me, and I'll join Healy Boosters and be the dance squad mom and help out during the Christmas Carnival and all of that.  I know what you are thinking.  So lame.  So small town.  But why is it lame?  Why is it lame to want to be in a place that feels safe to you and that you like?"

Many Thoughts...

While I was reading New Zapata on my iphone a text message from CNN came in saying that Texas may be close to passing some very strick abortion laws as soon as next week.
In New Zapata, the year is 2052 and Texas is no longer part of the United States of America, it is its own country, the Republic of Texas.  In the R of T abortion is illegal, as is divorce.  The story is told through the eyes of Rebecca, who is married to Chad.  They had to get married when Rebecca became pregnant as a teen.  When Rebecca had her baby, Luke, she nearly died.  Her own mother is in a coma, has been since she gave birth to her.  Rebecca could have ended up the same way when she had Luke, but she made it and was told never to have children again.  The thing is, birth control is also illegal in the R of T.  And so Chad and Rebecca don't have sex anymore, until Chad can't hold back any longer and rapes Rebecca, getting her pregnant again.  Rebecca can file for an exemption, an abortion because her life would be at stake if she had a child.  But these are rarely granted and they only have a possibility of being granted if the husband agrees.  Chad won't.  Rebecca finds help in her aunt, her best friend, Bonnie and a group of women who belong to a secret group.
The book is more balanced than you might think.  There is a lot of discussion here.  When does the soul enter the body, what is right and what is wrong, that kind of thing.  It isn't a pro-abortion rant at all.  It really makes you think.  I downloaded it because Teri Hall wrote The Line and Away and I was wondering when the third book is due out.  I still don't know, but I guess it will be soon!

Funny Book

Let's Pretend This Never Happened:  A Mostly True Memoir isn't my typical kind of book at all.  I like funny things!  I like David Sedaris a lot.  I was at work on Saturday and a young girl recommended this book to me.  I am embarrassed to say that I hadn't heard of Jenny Lawson before!  I must be under a rock.  Before listening to book I started reading her blog some, and she is very, very funny!  This book is also very funny.  Lawson is extremely likable.  It received mostly really great reviews on goodreads.com, but some people were upset by it and wrote that it was not funny and/or offensive.  I am not sure what is offensive about it.  I mean, there is swearing, but is swearing offensive anymore?  I don't really swear anymore.  I used to do it a lot, but I got tired of it, but I don't think that it is evil.  And I know a lot of really nice people who swear, who even swear way too much.  I don't know.  There are also some people who say that she is failing at trying to be a David Sedaris or a Dave Barry.  I like Dave Barry, but I haven't read much of his stuff.  And like I said, I love David Sedaris, but I don't think that Jenny Lawson is trying to be either of them.  No more than they are trying to be each other.  Or that they are trying to be Erma Bombeck.  I don't know.  Very weird.  I also think maybe the people who don't like this book were thinking, "I could have written this book." A few people said that in their negative reviews, actually.  Maybe they can!  But they didn't.  And so well, either write it and maybe the world will love it, or just be quiet.  She also has some serious stuff in it, too.  Which I found to be very touching.  When she talks about meeting her husband, it is very sweet.  When she talks about losing her first babies, it is very sad and open and real.  I don't read blogs much, but I will read any books that come out by her, because this was just a really good one.  

Finally

I am probably the last person on earth to read Naomi Shihab Nye, but I finally did!  Everyone I know always says, "Have you read Naomi Shihab Nye?"  "Naomi Shihab Nye is one of my biggest influences."  "I can't believe you haven't read Naomi Shihab Nye yet!"
And so for many years, I have felt very left out.  Very sad.  But I just finished There's No Long Distance Now and so I can finally say, "Yes!  I read There's No Long Distance Now!" I can't wait until the next person asks me!  Watch, it will be months or years.  Don't that just figure.
The sad thing is, I didn't really love the book.  But I did enjoy reading about Ms. Nye.  And she seems like a really cool person and so now after I finish all of the books I have checked out I am going to read another book by her.
I just wish I would have liked this book more.  There are forty REALLY short stories that make up TNLD.  Some are SUPER short!  Unlike the Sharon Flake short story books I've read, I don't remember a lot of these.  Maybe that was my problem, comparing one author to another when I am so totally biased toward Sharon G. Flake.  So next time I am not going to compare Nye to Flake or to anyone, and I'm just going to read!

Terrible Cheesy Cover, Really Great Book

Where I Belong has a sad cover.  Not sad as in the picture makes one feel bad, but sad as in the cover looks so dated and annoying that it will be hard to fight that urge to judge what's inside by what's on the outside.  I have to admit that if I saw this on the shelf, I never would have read it.  I checked it out from the library as an ebook and so I didn't pay much mind to the tiny cover and I am glad, because this book was really good.  Right now there is a special on the ebook and if you're looking for a good read, download it.  You won't be disappointed.
Corrinne lives in NYC with her mom, dad and little brother Tripp.  They live the high life, galas, Barneys, private schools, the whole deal.  Corrinne's a snob and she admits that right away, so it is hard to dislike her.  She also admits that her life sounds like a stereotype, but it isn't at all.  She's living a dream, headed to Kent in the fall to room with her totally spoiled BFF, snag a hot upperclassman named Smith of all things.  But then, the recession comes to Corrinne's family.  Her dad loses his job and all of a sudden, Corrinne and Tripp are headed to a tiny Texas town, a few hours from Dallas, a few hours from ANYWHERE actually.
The culture shift is a lot for Corrinne as you can imagine, but her true character shines through.  The book was surprising in that it really didn't fall into the easy stereotypes that where there for the easy falling.  As one reader on goodreads.com said, this is a charming book.  I loved it.  I'll be looking for more from Gwendolyn Heasley.

So that's an interesting title...

Maybe there is just something wrong with my mind and the way I think. Maybe no one else even thinks twice about the title of the book Shooting the Moon.
I just absolutely loved this book. I thought it was beautiful and wonderful and simple and complex and powerful. Frances O'Roark Dowell is a truly blessed author. She is excellent at character development and putting the reading right inside the character's head.
The last book that of her's that read was Ten Miles Past Normal, which I loved as well.
Shooting is told from the POV of Jamie a twelve year old girl who lives the on the US Army base of Ft. Hood in Killeen, TX. Her father is a Colonel and pretty much the top guy at Ft. Hood. Jamie and her brother TJ have always grown up loving their country and the army. Their family is tight and strong and pretty cool. The Colonel is a serious man who loves his family first, then the army, then football, as Jamie sees it.
TJ is set to go off to college in the fall but instead, he enlists in the army because his best friend is MIA in Vietnam. Jamie is thrilled. She can't wait to hear all about war and she wishes she could enlist as well. The Colonel and Jamie's mom aren't quite so excited and try to talk TJ out of it, but his mind is made up.
While TJ is in country, he sends letters home to his mom and dad and undeveloped film home to Jamie. Jamie learns to develop the film and learns a lot from what she sees and from getting to know the other young soldiers at Ft. Hood.
Man...man...this is just a really solid, good, good historical fiction book. I can't see anyone not loving the way this story is told and the questions and emotions that it will raise.