No Turning Back, A Witness to Mercy, by Donald H. Calloway, MIC

I'm having trouble writing about this book, and I don't know why.  Maybe because this amazing story speaks for itself.  Just know this:  If your child is a drop-out/stoner/criminal, there is hope.  They may not go from drop-out/stoner/criminal to Marian Priest, but don't give up.  And that's all I have to say about that!

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was not really on my book radar until my daughter asked me if I'd read it.  Apparently all of her friends LOVED it.  Fast forward to a few days later at Lindbergh Field, where we were getting ready fly to Ohio to visit some friends.  Well, there it was, just waiting for me in the airport bookstore, so I bought it.  Have I mentioned that I love airport bookstores?!  Anyway...I read it all the way to Atlanta.  Then I read it while waiting in Atlanta.  Then I read it all the way to the Akron/Canton Airport and finished it before we arrived.  Needless to say, I LOVED it!

This is not the type of book I normally enjoy.  It takes place in the future, in what used to be the United States.  The people in charge are cruel despots, and their sport is watching the children of their subjects kill each other in the annual Hunger Games.  Think of the Olympics, but with only 1 boy and 1 girl from each country, and the winner is the one who manages not to die.  (Sounds awful, doesn't it? Just try to put it down once you've started.)  As soon as we got home I raced on over to Barnes and Noble and picked up the next installment in the series, Catching Fire.  Unfortunately I haven't started it, because I know I won't want to put that one down, and then I'll have to go get the third book in the trilogy and nothing will get done around here.

So, if you haven't read The Hunger Games, do so SOON!  I'll get back to you on the 2nd and 3rd books, but I have a daughter that needs to get to college first.  Bye for now!

And Now for Something Completely Different

After plowing through Undaunted Courage I felt the need for something light and fluffy.  Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich fit the bill!

Smokin' Seventeen is the, and I'm not trying to state the obvious here, 17th book in the Stephanie Plum series.  Stephanie is a reluctant bounty hunter in the city of Trenton, NJ, a place where pot-roast-making mothers, Tony Soprano wannabes, and crazy curse-wielding grannies all meet to gossip at the local deli. Which means that EVERYONE knows your business in Trenton, which can be helpful when trying to track down FTA's.  (That's "failure to appear" in bounty hunter-ease.)  The trouble with Stephanie is that she attracts trouble.  And explosions.  And really psychotic perps.  Not to mention TWO gorgeous but complicated men.

So if you are looking for a light read and a good laugh, try Smokin' Seventeen.  Then go back and start at the beginning...One for the Money, Two for the Dough...etc., etc.  Enjoy!

PS:  Thank you to Monty Python for the title of this post!