House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Jacob is an 18 year old boy with Asperger's syndrome (a type of autism). He is a bright young man and is very engrossed with crime scenes and things to do with crime forensics. When a local young woman is found dead, all fingers point to Jacob. Because of his Asperger's and the traits that go with it, the cops all assume it was Jacob. The story follows the events leading up to the girl's death and the trial that follows.

This Picoult book rates up there with My Sister's Keeper. Such a moving book. Picoult pulls you into the mother's world and into Jacob's world as well and really makes you FEEL both sides. As a mother, I couldn't imagine the difficulty dealing with Jacob's breakdowns and crazy routines. As Jacob, I couldn't imagine not being able to say what I was feeling, or not feeling at all.

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

How far would you go to protect your children? Would you spy on them? Snoop through their things? And what would you do with the information that you found? This is the issue that is brought up in Hold Tight. At the same time, nearby, someone is kidnapping women and killing them. And what starts out as two separate plots slowly weaves into one larger plot where you see how several people are connected, be it unknown to them.

I just recently finished Caught by Coben a few weeks ago and found this one to be much better. You know that the two plots are going to come together eventually, but Coben gives you just enough information for you to want more. I was propelled to keep reading to find out how the bit of information I was just given fits into the other plot. I was a tad disappointed with the ending, expecting a bigger bang at the end, but over all, a very good read

2010 Challenge Updates

First in a series challenge

I'm into several different series', but there are more on my wish list, so I thought I'd give this one a try. You can find it here:
http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/1st-in-series-challenge.html

Books Read / Name of Series

1. Shop Till You Drop by Elaine Viets
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The Shunning (The Heritage of Lancaster County #1) by Beverly Lewis
4. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
5. Killer Mousse (Della Cooks Mystery) by Melinda Wells
6. The Tea Rose: A Novel by Jennifer Donnelly
7. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

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CHALLENGE:

Read 12 Young Adult novels in 2010.

Books read:

1. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
2. Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. All Hallows' Eve: 13 Stories by Vivian Vande Velde
6. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer
7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
9.
10.
11.
12.

Where to find this challenge:

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-reading-challenge-2010-young-adult.html

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First in a series challenge

I'm into several different series', but there are more on my wish list, so I thought I'd give this one a try. You can find it here:
http://theroyalreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/1st-in-series-challenge.html

Books Read / Name of Series

1. Shop Till You Drop by Elaine Viets
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The Shunning (The Heritage of Lancaster County #1) by Beverly Lewis
4. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
5. Killer Mousse (Della Cooks Mystery) by Melinda Wells
6. The Tea Rose: A Novel by Jennifer Donnelly
7. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Charlie is what you call a Death Merchant. After the death of his wife (during childbirth), Charlie begins to see things that are glowing red. At first he thinks he's going crazy, but then he learns that he is supposed to take these items, which contain souls, and hold on to them until the next person is ready to have that soul. Charlie meets some interesting characters along the way and discovers that it's "a dirty job" but someone's got to do it.

This is the 2nd Moore book that I've read. I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of it, but thought that the last bit went downhill. I did like the last couple of lines of the book, though

Caught by Harlan Coben

Wendy is a reporter who is known for her tv show in which she sets up and catches pedophiles. When she sets up Dan, she feels that something is not right. At the same time, a teenage girl, Hailey, has been missing for 3 months. The story weaves the two issues together with a great feeling of "what really happened?!?!". Is Dan responsible for Hailey's disappearance? Dan's friends think he's innocent. So what exactly happened to Hailey?

I am a bit disappointed in the outcome of what happened, but it does bring up a current issues that makes you think and debate on. There was a slight twist at the end, but I had kind of thought of that scenerio earlier in the book, so it wasn't a complete surprise. But over all it was a really good read and I will probably check out other books by him.