11-5-11 Goodnight Irene by Jan Burke - Fiction

4 - This is the first Irene Kelly book and it is a great debut. Full of twists and turns, Goodnight Irene introduces us to a feisty reporter who gets involved in a murder investigation when her good friend is killed in a bombing. As it turns out, her friend had just made a new break in a decades old unsolved murder. The question is who killed the earlier victim and who killed her friend and are they related. I enjoyed this mystery because it kept moving and kept the reader shifting blame until the end. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

11-2-11 Still Life with Chickens by Catherine Goldhammer - Non-Fiction

3 - This was a semi-amusing story about a woman starting over from a divorce. She moves her daughter and herself to a little cottage on the Atlantic ocean where they get chickens as new pets. The trials of raising chickens in a semi-urban setting are very funny at times, but this story just lacked anything to truly interest me. It's the typical story of a woman starting over when she didn't believe she would have to and adjusting to being single and raising a child alone. OK I guess if that's the kind of story you are looking for.

10-31-11 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Fiction

5 - Holy Crap! This really is as good as everyone says it is! Within two chapters I was hooked and I flew through this just mesmerized by Lisbeth Salander and her completely unorthodox yet entirely reliable methods. She is hired as a researcher by Mikael Blomkvist to assist him in solving a decades old missing person/murder case. The search for the truth about Harriet Vanger is funded by her grandfather, the head of the Vanger clan. What comes out of the investigation is shocking, not only to the characters, but to the reader as well. All the layers and detail in this book will suck you in and leave you begging for more.

10-9-11 My Friend the Mercenary by James Brabazon - Non-Fiction

3 - This is a real life story about a journalist who ended up in some of the most dangerous situations in Africa and through the experiences befriended a mercenary. Nick used to be in the South African Defense Force and became a freelancer when South Africa began changing after apartheid was thrown out. Brabazon and Nick become involved with the resistance force in Liberia and are threatened with bounties on their heads and death by gunfire and explosives in the field. This book almost reads like a military thriller (it's a little less gripping) with all the ins and outs of politics in Liberia including bribery and propaganda. Brabazon includes a lot of pictures in the book that give faces to the people involved and make the story more real. An inside look at the business of politics that takes place in Africa when the world isn't really watching.

9-14-11 Will to Live by Les Stroud - Non-Fiction

4 - This is a very interesting look at some real life survival situations, some with happy endings, some not so happy, as Les Stroud, also known as Survivorman, reviews what is known and what the people involved did correctly or could have done better. He is never condescending in the reviews and backs up all his suggestions with reason. These stories are about everyday people caught up in extraordinary situations which, in some cases, could have been prevented with a little bit of foresight. An intriguing read for anyone interested in what if scenarios.

9-12-11 - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - Fiction

4 - OK, I love Sookie Stackhouse! These stories just keep you interested with all the politics of the vampire, human, fae, and shifter worlds meshing and colliding depending on the day. Sookie gets involved in an investigation after Merlotte's is firebombed and she has a lot on her plate with Eric and Pam trying to figure out a way to get out from under Victor's thumb. Plus you learn more about Sookie's fairy heritage from her grandmother. Oh yeah, so addicting.

9-9-11 Gone for Good by Harlan Coben - Fiction

4 - Harlan Coben just writes a great thriller. Full of twists and turns, Gone for Good will keep you up rushing to get to the end so you can see what the heck is going on. Will's brother was his idol and then he was accused of the murder of a neighbor girl. He disappeared and no one, not the authorities or his family, has seen or heard from him since. Or so Will thought. Eleven years later he finds that nothing is as it seems concerning his brother and goes on the hunt to find out the truth. As always, a real page turner.