In a Short Story Collection

this year I was introduced to J.A. Jance.  For some reason I used to think that Jance was British and you know how I am about off-putting Briticisms, so I never gave her much thought.  The short story captured my interest though and so I thought I would try the first in the Joanna Brady series, Desert Heat, even though I am not big on female detectives.  This was good though.  I did enjoy it very much and I hope to read the second one and keep going if it is as good as this one was!  It's set in the real town of Bisbee, AZ. 

Mrs. Spinelli?

There has been rumor that Jerry Spinelli has written about his wife, Eileen, in the books Stargirl and Love, Stargirl.   I have only met the Spinelli's once, but I would have to say that they lovely, lovely people and indeed, I can see Mrs. Spinelli being the inspiration for Stargirl.  She is one of those truly magical people.  Stargirl is the story of a teenage girl who takes an average high school by storm, with her charm, love, generosity and purity.  It is told from the POV of Leo who is one of the crowd.  Just a normal guy, who learns to see the beauty in the ordinary through Stargirl.
Love, Stargirl is Stargirl's own story, written during the year after Stargirl.
There were complaints that the second book wasn't as good as the first.  That it took away some of the magic that was Stargirl, herself.  But I think that Love, Stargirl made Stargirl more real.  It made sense to me.  And it made the way that Stargirl acts seem more attainable.  Because everyone should try to be a Stargirl.  There's even a a Stargirl Society, which I think I would love to start around here!

Another Series Ends

Even though I know it was time for The Lying Game to end, I am sad to see it go. It really couldn't have gone on much longer, but I loved this series.  Seven Minutes in Heaven is the final book.  I loved the Tucson setting and I recalled time I spent in Arizona on my way to San Diego.  It makes me wish I was back on the road, just trekking across country.  And I will miss Emma Paxton and Sutton Mercer.  I have to say I was unsure of the killer up until he or she was revealed (no spoilers here.) I also loved that the author took the time to make sure we knew that Nisha's cat was going to be okay. Unlike some evil books.  Read this series from the beginning.  Great one.

Butter

Remember this commercial?  I loved those commercials with the talking tub saying, "Butter!"  How cute!  Butter the book just didn't excite me the way I hoped it would.  I think it is a good book.  But not an awesome book.  I don't know...I liked the beginning a lot.  It was funny and heart-breaking and all the rest, the stuff that great books are made of.  But somewhere in the middle I just lost interest.  It could just be my state of mind these days, but I don't know.  Like I mentioned in the previous post,  it's about a teenager who weighs more than 420 pounds and decides to eat himself to death on the internet.  The thing is, when he posts his plan, he finds "friends" and now he doesn't want to die anymore, kind of.  I am not sure.  I am going to meet with my book group friends this month and I hope I will have better insight, but for now, it was just meh.  I gave it two out of five stars on the goodreads and I just can't go higher than that right now.

Telling the Truth

I love The Lying Game and Hide and Seek was no exception.  They are fast-paced, dramatic, funny, and suspenseful.     Good one!  Start with the first one, to learn the story of twin sisters, separated at birth, one now dead, murdered and the other has taken her place and is trying to figure out who killed her sister.  Great and fun series!