"Book of the Dead", "white hot", "a spot of bother", "Stone Cold"

I read all four of these books at the beach, and started on Fern Michaels, "Hey Good Looking" which is based on Baton Rouge and is about the old guard of citizens, historic preservation and is generally quite light reading. "Book of the Dead" was another Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta novel and it is based on Charleston, SC. It was very interesting to read about places I am very familiar with and the story is also quite good.

"a spot of bother" by mark haddon reminded me of the old man in "Michael Clayton." The guy retires and goes through a series of panic attacks but all ends up well in the end. It is based in England.

Sandra Browns, "white hot" was also based in New Orleans pre-hurricane Katrina. It involves a daughter who hates her father and has moved away, only to return because of the death of a brother (similar theme to the "Hey Good Looking" book.

"Stone Cold" by David Baldacci seemed more interesting to me than the last book I read. It also involved a daughter who hates her father only to reconcile in the end, amongst all the high technology and hidden government facilities that we are not supposed to know about.

She's Come Undone, The Thirteenth Tale, The Chronicles of Narnia

"She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb reminded me of "Running with Scissors" that I felt like I had to hide the book while I read it on an airplane because I was embarrassed by the subject matter. The main character in the book, a girl, had a disfunctional childhood, not as crazy as Augusten Burroughs, but very similar. Despite the love affair details, the book overall was a good page turner as you tried to find out if the girl actually ever really found herself.

"The Thirteenth Tale," by Dianne Setterfield started off slow for me. There was so much descriptive writing and musings by the main character. However, if you hang with it, the book turns into a real "page-turner." An antique book seller and a reclusive writer come together in a tale to discover the secrets behind the writer's past. Written in the true "Gothic" style, the book itself becomes the writer's thirteen tale.

"The Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician's Nephew" and "The Horse and His Boy," are the only two books of seven that I have read so far. We are missing "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," but I feel that I have seen the movie so many times that it doesn't really matter if I read the book now. However, anyone who has not read the first book, "The Magician's Nephew," will thoroughly enjoy this introduction to Narnia and it explains a few things about the "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."

'Remember Me', 'The Quickie','The Bone Garden'

Sophie Kinsella's, "Remember Me" was right in line with all the previous Kinsella books with that great British humour and twisting, turning ending whereby the main character isn't as 'dumb' as she seems! I do recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed the previous books, but it is not quite up to par as the other ones. Still enjoyable though.

Tess Gerritsen's, "The Bone Garden" was a great twist and turn of present day and history. It was even more interesting to me since we visited Boston last summer and I could place in my mind where the setting took place. It was the most enjoyable of Gerritsen's books I have read. A woman buys a house that is neglected, finds some bones in the backyard and this starts her on a journey to find out who the bones belong to.

"Quickie," by James Patterson was such a quick read that I am now trying to remember what is was about...Oh yeah, a 'quickie' that turns into a mistake and gets the ball rolling on all kinds of other things. It shows you how one lie can snowball into more lies. It was obviously a quick read, but enjoyable nonetheless.