Last Kiss

Last Kiss by Jon Ripslinger is a good mystery novel. Lisa Wells had it all--beauty, intelligence, wealth, athleticism, popularity and a promising future. But Billy O’Reilly knows how unhappy she really is, how lonely she really feels and how trapped she is by her ultra-controlling father. No one knows about the secret relationship Billy and Lisa have been having. He has been sneaking into her bedroom for the last several weeks. But the relationship has gone sour. Lisa is back to dating her “father-approved” boyfriend and making plans for college. However, Lisa begs Billy to come and see her one more time. But the next morning, Lisa is found dead and Billy is the prime suspect. What follows is a good mystery as Billy and his friend Windy turn into amateur detectives in order to clear his name and discover what really happened to Lisa.

Love, Meg

I have been terrible about not reading lately. I hadn’t read a book since Spring Break. Last week was the National Junior College Men’s Basketball tournament here in town and my house was filled with family. So between school all day, basketball all evening and playing cards all night, I didn’t get anything done. But it was a fun week. This week I am trying to get back on schedule.

I was tired this week, but it was great to have my family around. The book Love, Meg by C. Leigh Purtill is all about family. Meg is 15 years old and the only family she has ever known is her sister Lucie. Lucie is always looking for something better so she and Meg move around a lot usually once or twice a year. So Meg is used to finding new friends and then moving and having to start all over. The latest move has been to Hollywood where Lucie has a new boyfriend and maybe a decent job. Meg has just started Hollywood High School when she comes home one afternoon and meets Lucie’s brother Lonnie. Lonnie tells Meg of a family she didn’t know existed and turns her world upside down. Meg feels that Lucie has betrayed her by hiding her family from her and she moves to New York to find out what it is like to have a family.

Dragon's Keep

It is always hard to get back into the swing of things after Spring Break. And it is raining this morning so that doesn’t help. I went to Natchez, Mississippi for the week. Natchez sits on the Mississippi River and the weather was really nice. I was disappointed when I got back to Kansas and it was cold. I heard that it was nice several days last week. Maybe with the start of spring on Thursday, we will start to get some warm weather.

Natchez is a neat town that time seems to have forgotten. In 1850, there were more millionaires per capita in Natchez than anywhere else in the US. The town was surrounded by huge cotton plantations and the town was filled with huge antebellum mansions. Each spring these mansions are opened for public tours. They are fabulous. I am a Great Plains girl—born in Oklahoma and raised in Kansas. My ancestors came to the plains in covered wagons, so they didn’t bring much with them. However, the people who settled in Natchez had furniture shipped from Europe. And it is still sitting in these antebellum homes where the people still use some of it today. It is incredible—a real eye opening experience. I felt like I had walked back into the time of Gone with the Wind!

I thought that I would get some reading done over the break, but with traveling and touring, I didn’t get much read. I did finish Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey. The great magician Merlin prophesied that the 21st queen of Wilde Island would “redeem the name of Pendragon, end war with the wave of her hand, and restore the glory of Wilde Island.” Rosalind is born to be the 21st queen of Wilde Island. Her parents have high hopes for what she will accomplish. However, Rosalind is born with a dragon claw in place of the ring finger on her left hand. Most of her life is spent trying to hide this deformity and find a cure, so that she can marry. When she is 17, Rosalind’s father goes to war to help England and hopefully make a match with the King’s son. But Rosalind is captured by a dragon and her life is changed forever. How will she fulfill Merlin's prophesy?

As I have said before, I am not crazy about fantasy books, but this is a good book. I enjoyed reading the adventures with the dragons and Rosalind’s search to be free from the dragon’s curse.

The Appeal by John Grisham

I was excited to see that John Grisham was returning to writing books about lawyers and trials when I read The Appeal. I loved The Firm and The Client and A Time to Kill—all fantastic books about trials and lawyers set in Mississippi. I enjoyed some of his other books; Playing for Pizza was fun and Bleachers was good, but those books don’t compare to his legal thrillers.

The Appeal is about a trial in Bowmore, Mississippi where Krane Chemicals has dumped a lot of toxins in the soil and contaminated the ground water. The people of Bowmore have a higher cancer rate than anywhere in the US, in fact, it is 17 times higher. There are so many people who have cancer in the county that it has gained the nickname “Cancer County.” Jeanette Baker lost both her husband and son to cancer and she is suing Krane Chemical for their deaths. Wes and Mary Grace Payton have risked everything to represent her case because they believe that Krane Chemical should pay for what it has done. At the beginning of the book, the jury rules on the Baker case and then the entire book is about the appeal. And what the huge multi-billion dollar company will do to get out of paying for what it has done to the city of Bowmore.

Of course, like all of Grisham’s books, many of the legal and political practices make me angry! But I really enjoyed this book! And I am glad that Grisham has returned to what he does best!

Skin Hunger

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey is a fantasy novel with two different story lines. The first is about Sadima a poor farm girl whose mother dies giving birth to her and is raised by her brooding father and brother. Sadima discovers that she is able to communicate with animals when she meets Franklin a servant from the city. He encourages her to come to the city when she is old enough. After several years, Sadima heads to the city and discovers a new life living with Franklin and Somiss his master who are secretly working as magicians in a world where magic has become illegal. Somiss is cruel and selfish and Sadima tries to find a way to save both Franklin and herself.

In the other storyline, Hahp is a second child who has been given to the wizards to train in the magical ways. He is taken to the school where the students are forbidden to work together in anyway and they are kept dirty and hungry until they learn to conjure their own food. Many of the boys die of starvation. Hahp resents the wizards and his father for sending his there and vows his revenge.

The connection of the two stories is not revealed until near the end. And the ending leaves the book open for a sequel. In fact, it is the first book of a planned trilogy called A Resurrection of Magic. I can’t wait to read the next book. I hope that the author writes it quickly!

Girlfriend Project

If you are looking for a light-hearted, quick read The Girlfriend Project by Robin Friedman is just the book. It isn’t anything new, but it is a fun. Reed wants a girlfriend. He’s a senior in high school and has been afraid of girls since he asked one out as a freshman and she laughed in his face. However, now Reed has grown several inches, gotten contacts and doesn’t look like so much of a dork. With the help of his two best friends, Ronnie and Lonnie, Reed starts the girlfriend project in an attempt to learn about girls and find the perfect one for him.

If you like this book, then you will really like 24 Girls in Seven Days by Alex Bradley. It has a similar plot with the main character’s friends helping him find a date for prom using a dating site. However, I liked this one better. There’s more to the story and it is an entertaining guy’s eye view of dating.

Both of books are fun reads filled with humor and romance!

Stuck in the 70s

Today is the last day of the trimester before final exams. It is usually a busy day. However, if you need something to read during final exams. This is a fun read.

Stuck in the 70s by D.L. Garfinkle is a light-hearted book. Tyler wakes up in the middle of the night to find a gorgeous naked girl in his bathtub. Shay thinks this is a practical joke. One minute she is partying in 2006 and the next thing she knows there’s a dorky guy staring at her insisting that it is now 1978. Spoiled rich girl Shay wants nothing more than to get back to 2006 while Tyler wouldn’t mind if she would stay for a while. They strike a deal. Tyler will try to figure out a way to get her back to the future and Shay will help Tyler shed his science geek reputation and become part of the popular crowd. Soon Shay is turning Tyler’s life upside down with her modern ideas.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Shay and Tyler so the reader sees both sides of the story. It is a fun story of finding love and one’s true identity and what is really important in life. It is not a deep book, but a fun read.