Book Review: Power Play (Kingdom Keepers #4) by Ridley Pearson

Title : Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play by Ridley Pearson
Author: Ridley Pearson
Publisher: Brilliance Corporation
ISBN: 161106970X
Release Date: April 5 2011
Pages: 448
Genre: YA
Format: Audio
Source: Library

GoodReads: Just when life for the five Kingdom Keepers is beginning to settle down, an intriguing video suddenly appears on Philby's computer at school. It's a call to action: it seems that the Overtakers, a group of Disney villains, are plotting to rescue their two captured leaders, who were hidden away by Disney Imagineers after a recent violent encounter at Disney's Hollywood Studios. A staged attack by some mysterious new Overtakers at DisneyQuest confirms the Keepers? fears. One of their own, Charlene, has been behaving oddly. Has she tired of her role as a Keeper, or is there something more sinister at play? When she's caught sneaking into Epcot as a hologram ? which is strictly against the group's rules ? Finn and Philby know the Keepers must act. The Keepers have so many puzzles to solve: has the impossible occurred? Have the Overtakers created their own holograms? Have they found a way to ?jump? from the Virtual Maintenance Network onto the Internet, and if so, what does that mean for the safety of the Parks, and the spread and reach of the Overtakers? Are they recruiting an army of kids for their evil purposes? Trouble looms as the Kingdom Keepers struggle to differentiate friend from foe and battle new and increasingly dangerous enemies, all the while knowing they may be nearing a point of no escape

Mine: Will the Keepers be able to defend against the overtakers? Finn and his friends are certainly going to try. The odd thing is that those closest to them seem to be affected by the Overtakers, including some of the Keepers. The green eyes are what are the enemy this time. Time will run out quickly if the Keepers can’t figure out how to keep the Overtakers leaders from escaping their jail.

The Keepers seem to always come to the rescue, but this time they must have the help of adults – some of their own parents are joining in to make it possible for the kids to win over evil or will they?

Reading Challenges:
101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge
150+ Reading Challenge for 2013
2013 Audio Book Challenge
2013 A-Z Reading Challenge
2013 Just For Fun Reading Challenge
2013 Mystery/Crime Reading Challenge
2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
2013 Read-A-Latte Challenge
2013 Sequel Reading Challenge
2013 WHERE Are You Reading Challenge
2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge
50 States Challenge 2013
Book Around the States Challenge
Let Me Count the Ways Reading Challenge
Library Books Reading Challenge 2013

2013 Audio Book Challenge

1/1/2013 - 12/31/2013

Welcome to the Original Audio Book Challenge. This challenge is for Audio Book lovers as well as those who are brand new to them.

There are five levels to the challenge
• Flirting-Listen to 6 Audio Books - I'm going to do this one
• Going Steady- Listen to 12 Audio Books
• Lover- Listen to 25 Audio Books
• Married-Listen to more than 25 Audio Books
• You Define the Relationship- Create your own challenge (choose your own name and level starting as low or going as high as you’d like)

This is a fairly laid back challenge and I want it to be as enjoyable as possible.

• Audio Books can be any genre
• You can cross challenges
• You don’t have to be a blogger to participate. You can tell us about what you are listening to in the comments of the monthly link up.

There will be a monthly link up so that we can share what we’ve listened to and make suggestions to each other.

I hope I’ve enticed you to join in the 2013 Audio Book Challenge. I’m really looking forward to reading your reviews and experiences over the next year.

For more information and to sign-up, please see this post.

1 Angels at the Table by Debbie Macomber
2 Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke
3 Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke
4 Love, Lies and Liquor by M C Beaton(Agatha Raisin #17 )
5 A Spoonful of Poison (Agatha Raisin, #19) by M C Beaton (Audio)
6 Disney in the Shadow (Kingdom Keepers #3)by Ridley Pearson (Audio)
COMPLETED

Book Review : 1225 Christmas Tree Lane (Cedar Cove #12 – last one) by Debbie Macomber

Title: 1225 Christmas Tree Lane (Cedar Cove #12 – last one)
Author: Debbie Macomber (read by Sandra Burr)
Publisher:Brilliance
ISBN: 978-1455886869
Release Date: 2011
Pages: 5 CDs ( 6hr 10 Mins) (288 pgs)
Genre: Romance
Format: Audio CDs
Source: Library

Box Back:
Welcome to Christmas Town!

The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects this Christmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise.

But…someone recently left a basket filled with puppies on her doorstep, puppies she’s determined to place in good homes. That’s complication number one. And number two is that her daughters Baily and Sophie have invited their dad, Beth’s ex-husband, Kent, to Cedar Cover for Christmas. The girls have visions of a mon-and-dad reunion dancing in their heads.

As always in life – and in Cedar Cove – there are surprises, too. More than one family is going to have a puppy under the tree. More than one scheme wil go awry. And more than one romance will have a happy ending!


Mine:
Wow I definitely have to go back and read the ones I missed in the series, because I didn’t know who some of the players were.

What a wonderful Christmas story from Macomber again as usual. Beth is overwhelmed with Christmas her daughters have invited her ex-huband telling him that Beth wanted him to come. They tell their mother of course that it was their dad that wanted to come.

If that wasn’t stressful enough – she has 10 puppies that she must find homes for before Christmas
What Beth doesn’t expect is that there is a woman that comes with her ex. Beth has to deal her feeling of still loving her husband, but feels he’s moved on.

Not to worry there is a Christmas Miracle. Of course all the puppies find wonderful homes. And dreams do come true as far as Beth and her ex Kent are concern.

Book Challenges
101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge
2012 100+ Books in A Year Reading Challenge
2012 100+ Books Reading Challenge
2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge
Pages Read Challenge
2012 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge
50 States Challenge
Audiobook Challenge 2012
Reading Romances Challenge 2012

Book Review - Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

Title: Summer Island
Author: Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author), Joyce Bean (Reader)
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
ISBN: 1441841865
Release Date: February 28th 2010
Pages: 416
Genre: Romance
Format: CD (9)
Source: Library

GoodReads:
Thirty-four year old Ruby Bridge is a not-too-successful comedienne who uses her mother, a nationally-syndicated "moral and spiritual counselor" as the main fodder for her cynical, rather bitter humor. Her mother Nora, long divorced from Ruby's father, is a woman whose past is just about to catch up with her - in the form of blackmail by a former lover.

After an accident (an attempted suicide?) Ruby returns to care for her stricken mother - bitterly resenting the fact that once again her mother's life has colonized hers. When she is approached by a publisher to write a biography of her mother, Ruby is desperate for the princely sum offered. Yet her research into her mother's past reveals a woman very different from the one Ruby expected. And what began as "mommy dearest" ends as a love story - not only between mother and daughter, but involving two very different men who play a key role in linking the past to the present.

Mine:
I really enjoyed this book had not read anything from this author before ( I will definitely being checking on other books now). I like the strong characters – Ruby (the youngest daughter) and Nora (the mother). Ruby must finally learn how to forgive her mother for leaving when she was younger. She learns some hard facts about her parents and realizes that maybe her mother wasn’t all that bad.

Ruby also learns to love again – her childhood sweetheart. The past intertwines with the present and it’s not all bad. I would have to say the ending was a little disappointing, since it seem that there is still a little of the story left to tell. But any good writer will leave you wanting more.

Book Review - The Christmas Blessing by Donna VanLiere

Title: The Christmas Blessing
Author: Donna VanLiere
Genre: Holiday (Christmas)

Challenges: To Be Continued…Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, Read Your Own Books 2010, TBR Challenge 2010, Reading From My Shelves Project 2010, 100 + Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge 2010, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Romance Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, Every Month is a Holiday 2010, Contemporary Romance Challenge in 2010

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 224 (Audio)
Published: 2003

Back Cover: In The Christmas Shoes, young Nathan Andrews was a child who lost his mother to cancer. Now his deepest wish is to become a doctor. When a stranger named Robert gave him the money to buy his mother a pair of shoes for her last Christmas, both Robert and Nathan learned the deepest lessons of love and giving. Now a medical student in his third year, Nathan realizes there are still things to be learned about faith, blessings, and sacrifice. Lessons he will learn from Meghan Sullivan-a young woman born with a hole in her heart that has not kept her from becoming a champion runner. And lessons learned from a young boy named Charlie, who teaches how to live a life of true courage. Together, they will help guide Nathan through the darkest period in his life. The Christmas Blessing is an inspiring about hope existing in the darkest places, and love is always the greatest gift of all.

Mine: In the continuation of The Christmas Shoes, Nathan is now grown up and a medical student with a crisis of conscience (is he really cut out to be a doctor).

He runs into Robert (not knowingly at first) as he visits his mother at the cemetery as he leaves the shoes. Robert notices and tries to track him down.

Meghan Sullivan is a friend of Charlie’s and a patient that Nathan has to deal with. Meghan meets Nathan as she is looking for people to sponsor and participate in a charity race. Meghan and Charlie teach Nathan the meaning of Christmas and the gift of giving and faith again. Nathan thought that this was forever lost.

Book Review -Big Girl by Danielle Steel

Title: Big Girl
Author: Danielle Steel
Genre: Chick Lit

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, TBR Challenge 2010, 100 + Reading Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Contemporary Romance Challenge in 2010

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 536 (Audio)
Published: 2010


Back Cover: Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious L.A. Her father, Jim, is tall and slender, and her Mother, Christina, is a fine-boned, dark-haired beauty. Both are self-centered, outspoken, and disappointed by their daughter’s looks. While her parens and sister can eat anything and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch everything she eats, as well as endure her father’s belittling comments about her body and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods give her comfort, but only briefly. The one thing she knows is that she has to get away from home, and after college in Chicago, she moves to New York City.

Behind Victoria is a lifetime of hurt and neglect she has tried to forget, and even ice cream can no longer dull the pain. Ahead is a challenge and risk: to accept herself as she is, celebrate it, and claim the victories she has faught so hard for and deserves. Big girl or not, she is terrific and discovers that herself.

Mine: What a wonderfully timely book as we talk about bullying and obesity. Victoria suffers both, but worst of all the bullying comes from her own family. She’s just the “tester cake” that comes before her perfect sister. There are time while listening to the book – it was frustrating to think that her family is the cause of a lot of her heartache.

The wonderful thing about this story is we travel with Victoria through her journey of self-discovery and healing. She does finally discover she is worth of someone’s love as the person that she is, not what her family thinks of her.

Book Review - Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber

Title: Hannah’s List
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Chick Lit

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge. Book Around the States Challenge, Monthly Mixer Mele, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge 2010, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, Contemporary Romance Challenge in 2010, A to Z challenge,



Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (354)
Published: 2010


Back Cover: On the Anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written to him.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request – I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn’t spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider.

First on Hannah’s list is her cousin, Winter Adams, a trained chef who owns a café on Seattle’s Blossom Street. The second is Leanne Lancaster, Hannah’s oncology nurse. Michael knows them both. But the third name is one he’s not familiar with – Macy Roth.

Each of these three women has her own heartache, her own private grief. More than a year earlier, Winter broke off her relationship with another chef. Leanne is divorced from a man who defrauded the hospital for which she works. And Macy lacks family of her own, the family she craves, but she’s a rescuer of strays, human and animal. Macy is energetic, artistic, eccentric – and couldn’t be more different from Michael.

During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne, and Macy, learning more about each of them… and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He’s a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah’s list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

Mine: As ever Macomber gets to the heart. Michael must live with the fact that his wife Hannah who died over a year ago is giving him permission to move on with his life. She has left him a letter with 3 choices of ladies who might be suitable. As always the least likely on paper is probably the best choice for him; if he will just let his heart open.

Book Review - Half Magic by Edward Eager

Title: Half Magic
Author: Edward Eager
Genre: Yough Adult
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, 1001 Childrens book Before I Grow Up

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (208)
Published: 1954


Back Cover: Beloved by children (and the parents lucky enough to share it with them) since it was first published in 1954, Half Magic is the uproarious tale of four siblings who discover a charm that grants exactly half of whatever they wish for – with results that are twice as unpredictable (and hilarious) as you might expect.

Jane, Mark, Katherine, and Martha manage to cope with an unexpected trip to the Sahara and a nearly disastrous trip to the time of King Arthur. But can these plucky and resourceful children deal with the changes magic is bringing to their tight-knit family?

Set in Ohio in the late 1920s, yet fresh and funny now as the day it was written, Half Magic weaves its spell anew in this full-cast recording that will entrance newcomers as well as fans who have loved this wonderful book for decades.

Mine: What a wonderful story – I’d never heard of this book until looking in the 1001Childen’s Books to Read Before I Grow Up. A thoughly enjoyable book for all young adults or chapter book readers. The magic charm only allows for ½ the wish, the children soon realize that they need to wish for 2x more if it is to really work. The wishes are simple and elaborate (Going to King Arthur’s time). Since the children are big readers every summer they know all about it and Lancelot needs to be saved by the children, but does take offense.

The magic coin also brings new people into their lives also. Mr. Smith comes into the picture several times during precarious times for both the kids and their mother. He seems to be in on the magic of the coin.

Book Review: Superfudge by Judy Blume

Title: Superfudge
Author: Judy Blume
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, The Naming Convention Challenge, Monthly Mixer Mele, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge, 1001 Childrens book Before I Grow Up

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio
Published: 1992


Back Cover: He knows a lot of big words, but he doesn’t know where babies come frm. He’s never heard of a stork, but he plans to be a bird when he grows up. He’s Superfudge, otherwise known as Farley Drexel Hatcher. And, according to his older brother, Peter, the biggest pain ever invented. Among other things.

As fans of Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing already know, nothing is simple for Peter Hatcher. He is far from overjoyed at the turn the family fortunes are taking. It looks as if Peter wil be spending sixth grade far from Central Park, Sheila Tubman, Jimmy Fargo, and Henry the doorman. (He won’t miss Sheila) And it also looks as if Fudge will no longer be the baby of the family. How will Peter ever survive if his new sibling is a carbon copy of Fudge?

Mine: This is much better as an audio book (actually read by the author). I had tried reading this when I was younger, but never read the first book, so the story was hard to follow. How Fudge can bring on such troubles is humorous.

Moving from New York City to a small town where he must meet new friends and start at a new school along with this brother Fudge. He does such innocent things, but they turn in to unmanageable problems for Peter his favorite brother.

Book Review: Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins

Title: Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras
Author: Cathy Hopkins (Audio)
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 160
Published: 2002 Bolinda Publishing


Back Cover: A turning point is exactly what Lucy does NOT want. Everything is changing around her, and suddenly she is required to make all sorts of decisions. Everyone else knows who and what they want to be, except her.

Izzy has become friends with the glamorous Nesta and Lucy isn’t certain she likes this new threesome

Nesta and Izzy look sixteen, but Lucy, at fourteen, can easily pass for a twelve-year-old.

But then the day Lucy see the most wonderful boy crossing the street, things start to change – in all areas of her life……..

Mine: A wonderful coming of age story – Lucy must get her crazy family to realize that she is growing up. Her best friend Izzy finds another Nesta – Lucy figure 3 is a crowd. The funny thing is that they should all be together, since they complement each other so well.

Who could be the mystery man that Lucy finds – low and behold he’s related to Nesta – Lucy’s new nemesis, who could that be. Lucy can never tell the girls who it is now.

Change is good for everyone. Nesta the new girl in town learns to accept Lucy, Lucy gets her first kiss and new friend and a new perspective on life. Izzy gets to learn about new friends can always mix with old.

Still trying to understand the concept of snogging (very British term). First time I’ve heard of an inflatable bra, but the concept is great.

Book Review: The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank

Title: The Christmas Pearl
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank (Performed by Celia Weston)
Genre: Fiction - Holiday
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Winter Reading Challenge 2010, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge,

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 176 (Audio)
Published: 2007


Back Cover: Theodora is the matriarch of the family that has grown into a bunch of truculent knuckleheads. While she’s finally gotten them all together in South Carolina to celebrate, this Christmas looks nothing like the extravagant, homey holidays of her childhood.

What happened to the days when Christmas meant tables groaning with home cooked goodies, over-the-top decorations, and long chats in front of the fire with Pearl, her grandmother’s beloved housekeeper and closest confidante?

Luckily a special someone hearing Theodora’s plea for help arrives, pockets full of enough Gullah magic and common sense to make Theodora’s Christmas the love-filled miracle it’s meant to be.

Mine: What a wonderful “Spirit” of Christmas tale. The true spirit of Pearl comes to Teddy when she needs it most to help – her whole wacky family comes to celebrate the holiday. The outrageous cavorting is bright to light, the children’s misbehaving is corrected and in the end all is well. Christmas is finally found in an around everyone’s heart.

Book Review: Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Title: Off Season (Dairy Queen, #2)
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock (Audio)
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: To Be Continued…Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Young Adult Reading Challenge, YA Through the Decades, Audio Book Challenge 2010, 2nd Chance Challenge, Pages Read 2010, A to Z challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 288
Published: 2007 Random House


Back Cover: Life is looking up for D. J. Schwenk. She’s made it to eleventh grade, finally. After a rocky summer, she’s reconnecting with her best friend, Amber. She’s got kind of a thing going with Brian Nelson. Plus there’s the fact that she’s playing for the Red Bend High School football team as probably the first girl linebacker in northern Wisconsin.

But then the season, which began so well, starts to go suddenly, horribly wrong. As autumn progresses, D. J. Struggles to understand what’s happening with football, Brian, Amber, and most of all her family. And as her life turns completely upside down, she discovers she’s a lot stronger than she – or anyone – ever thought.

Mine: This is the second in a series and I definitely have to back and read the first part. This is a coming of age story where D.J. becomes the most adult of everyone. Her parents are struggling with finances, her older brother gets injured in a football game and her younger brother (the brains of the family) wins a science contest, but can’t tell anyone about it.

D.J. can’t figure out her relationship with Brian the star quarterback from her schools rival team. Does he like her or not? He takes her on a trip to pick up some truck parts in Minneapolis and they have a great make out session, but when they return to town – he sees her in the local hang out and ignores her and leaves.

Her brother Will suffers a football injury that should bring the family together, but for a time breaks them apart. D.J. becomes an adult in no time and must help her mom – who hurts her back, her brother Will with his injury her younger brother who takes the truck to the science fair and he’s only 13. Everything that can go wrong, does and there is D.J. to pick up the pieces.

Looking forward to the next part of the story.

Book Review: The Invisible Island by Ron Roy

Title: The Invisible Island (A-Z Mysteries)
Author: Ron Roy
Genre: Mystery – Children’s

Challenges: To Be Continued…Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, PB & J Challenge, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010


Rating: 3/5
No. of Pages: Audio (96)
Published: 1999


Back Cover: While picnicking on Squaw Island, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose find a hundred dollar bill, and when they return to explore further they find an entire cave full of money.

Mine Well it’s summer and time for the summer reading program at the library. This is when most of my children & young adult books. I try to read some of the same books as my nephews. The older one loves the A-Z and Capital Mysteries.
I have to say this is a very cute series. This book takes out to an island (more like a sand barge in the middle of the lake). The kids find money and turn it in to the police, they go out to check to see if there is more money and they find a whole cement box full – mostly on shelves and then in dog food boxes. They get scared off by someone, but they don’t see who it is, since it’s a foggy day.

They soon discover from the police that the money is found to be counterfeit – now the mystery solving starts. They look around to find out who might have poison ivy, since the island is covered with it. They get a clue when Josh has to go get lotion for his own poison ivy. They are on the trail and soon solve the mystery.

Book Review: The Haunted Hotel by Ron Roy

Title: The Haunted Hotel (A-Z Mysteries)
Author: Ron Roy
Genre: Mystery – Children’s

Challenges: To Be Continued…Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, PB & J Challenge, Young Readers Reading Challenge 2010


Rating: 3/5
No. of Pages: Audio (87)
Published: 1999


Back Cover: A ghostly guest has checked into the Shangri-la Hotel! It's almost Halloween and reports of strange sounds and even stranger sights are coming from Green Lawn's only hotel. Hotel guests and neighbors are being scared away, and it's up to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to figure out what's going on--before Green Lawn turns into a ghost town!


Mine: Well it’s summer and time for the summer reading program at the library. This is when most of my children & young adult books. I try to read some of the same books as my nephews. The older one loves the A-Z and Capital Mysteries.

I have to say this is a very cute series. I love the fact that the kids are not scares (well maybe Josh is) about taking on adults. Many children don’t know how to talk to them. The kids have convinced the owners of the hotel that they can solve the mystery, if they don’t the owners will have to sell the hotel to be knocked down. They get to spend the night to see if they see the ghost also. The ghost seems all too familiar with who is stay at the hotel. It goes to each door of the room that the kids are staying in and knows their names. Who else is at the hotel that would know their names?

There are funny smells in the hallway that seem familiar. What could it be? It seems the kids are on to something with this clue. The clue leads them to the only other guests in the hotel – what is the connection?

In the end the kids figure it out and save the hotel from the demolition ball.

Book Review: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L Swanson

Title: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer
Author: James L. Swanson (Read by Richard Thomas)
Genre: Fiction
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, US Presidents Reading Project, Monthly Mixer Mele, Read and Review Challenge 2010, 2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge, 100 + Reading Challenge, Audio Book Challenge 2010, Pages Read 2010, American Civil War Challenge,
Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: 367
Published: 2006


Back Cover: The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history – the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin let Union cavalry troops on a wild, twelve-day chase from the streets of Washington DC, across the swaps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.

At the very center of this story is John Wilkes Booth, America’s notorious villain. A confederate sympathizer and member of a celebrated acting family, Booth threw away his fame, wealth, and promise for a chance to avenge the South’s defeat. For almost two weeks, he confounded the man hunters, slipping away from their every move and denying the justice they sought.

Manhunt is a fully documented work, but it is also a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you’ve never read it before.


Mine: What an intriguing book, I’ve always been interested in anything Lincoln, but was a wonderful way to learn more about the background of JW Booth. Too learn he was a southern sympathizer and had plotted to try to kidnap Lincoln before he finally killed him. That he led them on such a long chase and the troops were so close several times. Fate helped Booth in that he actually went the wrong way up the river in the beginning and was able to hide out longer.

The key player of the day - Seward ran the military and set the wheels in motion to have Booth captured. The Vice President was reluctant to take on the role of President and did let Seward go after Booth. There was a great plan to kill several other key officials, but the conspirators couldn’t go through with they assignments.

Audiobook Challenge 2010

January 1 - December 31, 2010


The Royal Reviews is hosting The Audio Book Challenge in 2010. They write:

With most of us having IPods or MP3 players these days listening to audio books has become an easy activity. Personally doing housework, driving the kids to school or sitting waiting for soccer training to finish has never been more enjoyable.
Challenge Guidelines:

Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Non-Bloggers: Include your information in the comment section on the post about the challenge.

Audio books only.

You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
Only books started on January 1st count towards this challenge.
There are four levels of participation:

Curious – Listen to 3 Audio Books.
Fascinated – Listen to 6 Audio Books.
Addicted – Listen to 12 Audio Books.
Obsessed – Listen to 20 Audio Books.

Want to join? Visit the post about the challenge.

Book Review - Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff

Title: Water Street
Author: Patricia Reilly Giff
Genre: Young Adult
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Book Around the States Challenge, A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge, 2009 YA Challenge, 100+ Reading Challenge – 2009, Summer Vacation Reading Challenge 2009,

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: Audio (176)
Published: 2006
From the back: Brooklyn, 1875. Bird Mallon lives on Water Street, where you can see the great towers of the Brooklyn Bridge being built.
Bird wants nothing more in life than to be brave enough to be a healer, like her mother, Nory; to help her sister Annie find love; and to convince her brother, Hughie, to stop fighting for money with his street gang. And of course, she wishes that a girl would move into the empty apartment upstairs so that she could have a friend close by.
But Thomas Neary and his father move in upstairs. Thomas, who writes about his life in his journal – about Pop, who spends each night at a bar; about the mother he wishes he had; and about the Mallon family downstairs, which he desperately wants to be part of. Thomas, who has a secret that only Bird suspects, and who turns out to be the best friend she could ever have.

Mine: What a wonderful period story and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. It must have been such an exciting time to watch the bridge being built. The times were so different and what was expected. It tells the story of 2 children who become friends and protect each other from the evils of what may be.

What a nice way to hear about how the city was buzzing about the new bridge and how it affected all the levels of the city. Nory the midwife and healer, Annie the box maker and a wonderful baker, Hughie here brother becomes hard after getting the bends after going down in the water to help with the bridge.

Book Review - Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

# 10
Title: Death in the Clouds
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

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio Complete & Unabridged (5 CDs)- (333)
Published: Originally 1935 (Audio 2001)

From the back:
On an airplane bound for London from Paris, one of the eleven passengers is dead. The small red puncture wound on the woman’s neck might have been accepted as a sting from a wasp, but luck is not on the killer’s side. Hercule Poirot is aboard the plane, and he discovers a thorn typically used with a blowpipe near the victim’s feet. As he tackles the case suspicion points in all directions, even back to Poirot when the blowpipe is found tucked behind his seat. Can Poirot prevent the culprit from getting away with murder?

Mine:

Poirot must round up the usual suspects (the 9 passengers left) and narrow down the who did it. It seems like a daunting task – there are twists at every turn. The least likely suspect might be guilty, then again maybe not. Well we do know that Poirot is not guilty.

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.

Library Loot #1

I went to the library on Saturday to pick up my holds. I've decided that this is really the year to get library books and cut back on buying unless it comes from the Friends of the Library sales (4x a year) or from the Book-Go-Round which is the used book store that is run by the Friends of the Library. It is actually housed in the orignal library building in town, which is now a historic building.



I got Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks. I am intersted in reading all the non-Plum books by Janet Evanovich. I'm using this in my Support your Library Challenge amoung others.



I also got Murder in Mesopotania by Agatha Christie. It's on CDs so I can listen to it to and from work and while running errands. I'm using this the the Library Challenge and also my Agatha Christie challenge.