A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen

Subtitle: And How He Saved My Life -- This guy in England was a recovering drug addict and was getting his life back in line.  He was a busker in a local park and that was how he was getting by.  One day he came home and found this cat on the doorstep.  He had grown up with cats and knew that this one needed some help.  His intention was to get him taken care of and then let him go.  He was having a hard enough time taking care of himself, he did not need anything else.  Well Bob, the cat, had other plans and stuck with him. Having this responsibility helped James look beyond himself and really work to get better and have a better life.  Simply written but a great story about how something that seems so small can make a huge difference in your life.

Final Exam by Pauline W. Chen

Subtitle: A Surgeon's Reflection on Mortality:  We all know that doctors go through a lot of training and spend many years learning and practicing.  What I find totally amazing is the lack of training in dealing with death.  Chen sheds light on how she was taught and how you keep death out of it.  You are to fix the patient, death is really not an option.  There are many layers when it comes to dealing with the end that play into how doctors deal with it.  If patients have hope the doctor does not want to dampen that and keeps them going.  The same goes with the family.  The one that disturbs me most is money driven, not only in the fact that the longer the patient is alive the longer they make money, but the malpractice of it all.  If there is one thing that is known in our life is that we are going to die.  Having dealt with death recently and knowing that it can be done in a loving and peaceful way, why would people want it any other way.  This was an enlightening book, that for me, really let me know that I need to be in charge and make sure that everyone knows what I want because the doctors are going to be looking at the bottom line, not always what is best for you.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

I have always loved Hiaasen's kids books and this one did not disappoint me one bit.  He had a few different plot lines going on that all really dealt with things that kids would be going through in our current environment along with an environmental issue that can't be taken lightly.  The big story was that the biology class went on a field trip, a fire started, one of the teachers went in and did not show up again.  It is all the little things that make the story fun. The teacher, Mrs. Starch, was not loved by her students.  So as happy as they were to not have her teaching, they were concerned about where she was.  Nick was missing his father who was in Iraq.  Duane was just one of those bully students who did not care much about things, but made a change through out the story.  On top of all of that there was some illegal oil well digging and an issue with the endangered Florida Panther.  Hiaasen does a great job weaving all of these things together and you are rooting for the good guys and the panthers and you just don't want it to end.  Great book!!  I hope he writes some more for kids.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Picoult always takes on difficult subjects, or ones that are going to push the comfort zones of people.  A happily married couple is trying to have a baby.  After many failed tries the husband, Max, is done and wants a divorce.  Zoe is crushed.  As she comes out of her depression she starts hanging with Vanessa.  They end up together and decide they want a baby.  There are still frozen eggs from Zoe's earlier attempts at IVF and she wants them, but has to go through Max.  He has gotten involved in a church that is very conservative and the church takes over this case and really lays it on thick.  Many subjects that people do not like to discuss, but Picoult puts it right out there and has the ability to make you feel for all of the characters.  The ending was kind of what I expected, but I was not really disappointed.  There was a music CD that went along with the book, but I did not listen to it.  I did not want it to influence me in any way with the book.

Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett

It took two tries for me to get into this book and then I finished it in two days!!  A murder in a bookstore that specializes in mysteries, go figure.  There are many fun characters and Tricia, the shop owner, just can't let things go.  She has to figure out who did this and was not going to wait for the police to get to the bottom of things.  She of course gets herself in a few pickles, but seems to come out smelling like a rose each time.  This is the second book in the series and they are hard to find.  I will definitely be watching for next next one!!

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber

A very easy story to fall into on Blossom Street.  Macomber again brings together three characters that you would never imagine putting together and creates a beautiful story.  Each woman has their own problems -- divorce, loss of most of savings in bad housing investment, moving away from everything she has known.  Not only do the characters have problems, but so does Lydia, the yarn shop owner.  It all tied together and made a story in which you felt a part of.  The only problem that I had was there was a lot of repetition.  You know how in reality TV when they come back from a break and do a re-cap, I felt this was done a bit much here.  This was the second book in a series and I am looking forward to see what Macomber comes up with, I will just be taking a little break from her for now.

Dance of Death by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

What an amazing book!!  The way these two work together is great!  Pendergast is trying to outwit his brother and gets many people involved, working for and against him.  D'Agosta is helping him as much as he can and looses much, but never his faith in Pendergast.  The book just keeps you going and going.  I was surprised when it ended.  It did not leave me hanging like the last one, but I really want to know how this story will progress.  This is a series that you really need to read in order to feel the continuity and have feelings for everything that builds and builds with the characters.  A wonderful and exciting series.