Book Review - Fall Leaf Project by Margaret McNamara

Title: Fall Leaf Project (Robin Hill School)
Author: Margaret McNamara
Genre: Children’s
Challenges: PB & J Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, A to Z Reading Challenge, The Year Of Readers – 2009, Pages Read Challenge, Young Reader's Challenge 2009, Read a Book a Month Challenge, Summer Vacation Reading Challenge 2009, Summer Reading Challenge 2009

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 32
Published: 2006
From the back: The First-graders of Robin Hill School love to look at all the different fall leaves. When they hear that in some states the leaves don’t change color; they come up with a plan to share fall with other first-graders.

Mine: My youngest nephew is sorting through his early books. He’s going to donate them to the local used book store, but in the mean time we are going to try to read them before they go. I love reading with my nephews

What a cute story about sharing with others that don’t have the same things as you. The teacher in the story is also trying to teach the children about other states, so there is geography involved. It’s also about the seasons of the year (Fall).

Book Review - 4:50 to Paddington by Agatha Christie

# 9
Title: 4:50 to Paddington
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery

Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR Challenge 2009 , A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Numbers Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (320)
Published: Originally 1957 (Audio 2005)

From the back:
Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the 4:50 train from Paddington station to visit her friend Miss Marple. During the journey, another train pulls alongside, and through the window Mrs. McGillicuddy witnesses a tall, dark man strangling a blonde woman. She reports what she has seen, yet no one takes any notice. There is no report of any murder, no dead woman found on any train, and the police have no record of any persons reported missing that match the descripton given by Mrs. McGillicuddy. Only Miss Marple believes her account, and realizing that the body must have been thrown off the train, with the help of maps and train timetables she pinpoints the exact spot where the body must be. With the help of her young friend Lucy Eylelesbarrow, she goes about the tricky task of uncovering a murder – and a cunning murder…….

Mine:
Mrs. McGillicuddy sees a murder – but no one wants to believe her , but her good friend Miss Marple does. Now all she has to do is solve the crime, since the police won’t believe them. She enlists her friends Lucy Elylelesbarrow to check out the family. Who could be the guilty one, the family of dark horses all have a secret to hide.

Book Review - Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

#8
Title: Murder in Mesopotamia
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery

Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009 (completed), A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (352)
Published: Orignally 1936 (2001)

From the back:
Nurse Amy Leatheran is recruited to care for th frightened wife of an American archeologists at an excavation in the Iraqi desert. Are the wife’s fears mere hallucinations? When she is found bludgeoned to death, her paranoia proves, too late, fully justified. Famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, nearby on another mission, gets involved and realizes that every member of the team could be a suspect. Can Poirot stop the murder before he or she strikes again?

Mine:
Nurse Leatheran is brought in to take care of the wife who is fearful for her life. She keeps getting threatening letters telling her that she can not be with another man. She thought when she left America that she was safe, but the letters catch up to her in Iraq. One afternoon she is murdered and Poirot is brought in to help solve the crime.

It seems that every member of the excavation is a suspect, but who did really do it. Is it a crime of passion? We must understand that she was previously married and thought that her previous controlling husband was dead – but was he?

Poirot to the rescue to prove that the current husband is truly the previous husband and is a very jealous fool and does in fact kill his wife.

Book Review - Knitting Bones by Monica Ferris

#5
Title: Knitting Bones
Author: Monica Ferris
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, From the Stacks 2008, Series Challenge Season 3, Winter Reading Challenge 2009, To be Continued…Challenge, Books Around the States Challenge,

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 268
Published: 2007
From the back:
The stitchers of the Embroiderers Guild are thrilled to have raised over $20,000 for charity-but they're less pleased when the representative who accepts the check disappears with it. After breaking her leg in a fall from a horse, Betsy's confined to her apartment and loopy on pain killers-she can't possibly investigate. But Godwin, her store manager, insists that he can do the legwork. Little do they know that a man across town has a similar injury-and he too is wondering what happened to that check. Betsy and Godwin have got to figure it out first, or it'll be a bad break for everyone.

Mine:
Betsy still has the knack for solving a mystery even though bed-ridden. Goddy takes over as her eyes and ears and learns a lot in the process. The time line is the same as the criminal was in the hospital the same time as Betsy.

The crow does put a little dent in the ointment though.

Book Reveiw: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

#4 (2009)

Title: Around the World in 80 Days
Author: Jules Verne
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, Numbers Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio ( 304 pgs. )
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From the back:
English gentleman Phileas Fogg wagers half his fortune so he can travel around the world in only 80 days. Along the way he meets a beautiful princess, rides an elephant through the jungle, and survives an Indian attach. Meanwhile, his arch enemy Detective Fix does his best to keep up with and deter Fogg from his itinerary. Will Phileas Fogg overcome these obstacles to fulfill his destiny? Only the calendar will tell in this exciting tale.

Mine:
The race is one – will Fogg make it in time with all the interruptions? He has staked half of his wealth on a bet to make it around the world in 80 days or less. He meets many interesting people along the way – the princess he must rescue, the owner of the elephant he must ride to catch up ( I recommend not riding a elephant in shorts – very bristly hairs. Found out by doing so), Detective Fix who is determined that he his the guilty party of a robbery that has taken place.

Book Review - Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

#1 (2009)

Title: Alice Throught The Looking Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: Audio (pgs. 240)

From the back: Through the Looking Glass revisits Alice, back form Wonderland, and ready for a new adventure. This whimsical tale of imagination and fantasy finds Alice stepping through her parlor mirror into a chess game that encompasses the entire land beyond. Along the way, Alice encounters such favorite nursery rhyme characters as Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and the Lion and the Unicorn.

Mine:
What a wonderful story to listen to you forget about the nursery rhyme characters that exist in Alice’s world. What a neat story of investigation. These girls know how to figure things out by just thinking.It was easy for them to find the “hidden treasure” before the many adults that were looking.Would read more from this series again.

TBR *LITE* CHALLENGE 2009

January 1 - December 31, 2009

The TBR *LITE* CHALLENGE asks you to:

** Choose from ONE of the following 3 options:

OPTION A: read 6 books in 12 months (January 1 - December 31)...your list CANNOT change after January 1st. You ARE allowed to create an "Alternates" list of up to 6 books, though.

OPTION B: read 6 books in 12 months (January 1 - December 31)... your list CAN change at any time throughout the year.

OPTION C: create a list of however many books you want to read between January 1st and December 31st, as long as they're from your TBR list/stacks. You must have at least 3 books on your list.

* audiobooks & eBooks ARE allowed
* overlaps with other challenges ARE allowed