Desire in Disguise

Desire in Disguise
By Rebecca Brandywine
335p

Who didn't see that 'twist' coming? Was it supposed to be a surprise? Cute book, good characters.
8/10

The World's Last Mysteries

The World's Last Mysteries
Reader's Digest
089577044X 318p

Found a few things to research, maybe go see some day. Nice overview of many different sites around the world.
8/10

Price of Passion

Price of Passion
By Susan Napier
9780373820610 187p

Pretty good. Liked the characters, including the pets! Could have been longer, more in depth.
7/10

Speed Dating

Speed Dating
By Nancy Warren
9780373217694 245p

Cute. They skipped the explicit parts for me, which was nice!!
8/10

The Third Sister

The Third Sister
By Julia Barrett
1556114966 247p

Eh. Too flowery. Not enough depth of character. Storyline not very developed. Interesting, but not developed enough.
7/10

Proof by Seduction

Proof by Seduction
By Courtney Milan
9781426845994 251p

Better than I thought it would be! Pleasantly surprised, I liked all the characters. Even the secondary characters such as Blakely's sister were well-done and interesting. Would have liked to hear more about Ned's intended and engagement, they were fun in the beginning of the book. But still, very well done.
8/10

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman
By Thomas Hardy
via www.gutenberg.org

Hated the ending, seemed out of character actually. And yet the rest of the book was beautiful and haunting. I really liked Tess until the end. Good characters all around actually, good story.
9/10

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins
By Rupert Everett
9780446579636 406p

What a name dropper! Very funny, completely irreverent. Definitely a good book, really enjoyed it.
9/10

Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul
By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, et al.
1558744150 328p

My favorite, from page 141:
Marriage Advice from 1886
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them.
Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindnesses you bestow on your friends.
Please hand this down to your children and you children's children: The more things change the more they are the same.
-Jane Wells, 1886
8/10

Katharine Hepburn Once Said...

Katharine Hepburn Once Said...
Compiled by Susan Crimp
0060581727 154p

Too short! Good picks though, for the quotes and the pictures. Some of my favorites:
Why slap them on the wrist with a feather when you can belt them over the head with a sledgehammer?
Life is hard. After all, it kills you!
In a world where carpenters get resurrected, anything is possible! -Keeper of the Flame, 1942
8/10

Women on the Front Lines

Women on the Front Lines
By Michal Ann Goll
078420202 153p

Didn't like whenever she quoted scripture, she put a ton of stuff in parenthesis. Distracting and unnecessary. Otherwise, decent book, nothing too earth-shattering.
7/10

32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny

32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny
By Phillip Done
9780743272391 288p

Well-written, funny, loved it! I'll have to find his other books and read those as well!
9/10

Vanishing Acts

Vanishing Acts
By Jodi Picoult
9780743454551 418p

Wow. Twists and turns like always. Shocks all the way to the last page! Beautifully written. I love the alternate characters chapters. And I love that it's not pretty or Hollywood, especially with Ruthann and with Eric.
10/10

The Mensa Genius Quiz Book 2

The Mensa Genius Quiz Book 2
By Marvin Grosswirth and Dr. Abbie Salny
0201059584

Cute, fun quizes. I did semi-well on them, passing grades at least! Book is a bit old, so some things were dated. My favorite question was on page 75: "The New York Cosmos are to soccer as the Toronto Maple Leafs are to _____." Mainly because the Cosmos no longer exist but I'm a huge fan of the soccer team in the area now- Red Bulls.
8/10

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
1558746161 324p

I like the teen books the best of these- they're more upbeat and positive.
9/10

Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain
By Charles Frazier
1400077826 449p

What a total crap ending. Loved this book until about the last 15 pages, where it got more and more contrived, convoluted, and ridiculous. Honestly, I'm so annoyed right now at this book that I can't even say any more about it. UGH!
7/10

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul

A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul
By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
1558743790 331p

Good, cute stories as always.
8/10

A World of Movies

A World of Movies: 70 Years of Film History
By Richard Lawton
0517347008 369p

Beautiful photographs. Oddly set up book, though. Basically all the text was in the first few pages, instead of, for example, an introduction to each section. And then every 2 pages had 3 pictures and a snippet of information. The snippet referred to one of the photos, the other 2 were just there. And there was usually no link between the photos. Vaguely chronological. And I thought some of the major players weren't featured as much as they should/could have been: Bogart, Bacall, both Hepburns, Tracy, I'm sure there are others. For example, there was one photo of Bacall, not in any of her most famous roles, and I think there were 4 of Marilyn Monroe. Not that Monroe wasn't important, but 4 times as important as Bacall? I thought it was cool to read it now, since it was written in the 70's, so I know 30 extra years of films that weren't made at the time.
7/10

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol
By Dan Brown
9780385533133 339p

A lot more preachy than The Da Vinci Code. Langdon is still all-knowing, which gets tiring after awhile. A few mentions on how famous he was in certain circles after he wrote about the events in The Da Vinci Code, which was frankly annoying. It was Dan Brown patting himself on the back. Fast-moving. Ridiculous torture/killing devices, I never understand why the bad guy doesn't just shoot the good guy.
7/10

The Seamstress

The Seamstress
By Sara Tuvel Bernstein
0425166309 343p

I think it's sad that the author's name on here is not her real name, Seren. Amazing book, what a brave and resourceful woman. Told very matter-of-factly, which I actually liked, if you can use the word 'like' in relation to a Holocaust memoir.
9/10