Sandy's 2012 Booklist Continues

                     
                                       

SANDY'S 2012 BOOK LIST CONTINUES

I have been reading the Chet and Bernie Mysteries about a complex private detective and his great dog, Chet the Jet.

51. THEREBY HANGS A TAIL by Spencer Quinn ***1/2 light reading

52. TO FETCH A THIEF by Spencer Quinn***1/2 a fast read


53.  GHOSTLY MEN : THE STRANGE BUT TRUE STORY OF THE COLLYER
BROTHERS,NEW YORK'S GREATEST HOARDERS, AN URBAN HISTORICAL by Franz Lidz****
Very interesting book about two brothers well educated at Columbia U, one an engineer, one a lawyer.   They became reclusive at a young age and their 12 room mansion on 5th Avenue NYC became a hoarders paradise.  Twelve Grand pianos, a Model T, millions of newspapers,and  almost every musical instrument known to man.  I myself am a hoarder of all things sentimental, and everything I have is sentimental to me in some way. You may not know this but our  Gamama is a blouse hoarder, and Josh is a hoarder of all things musical so I really can identify with these brothers.


54. A KILLING IN IOWA by Rachel Corbett **1/2 A true account of a murder/suicide.

55. MAMA SAYS: A MEMOIR BY Peggy McClain Barr ** So So.


56.  THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen****1/2   I love a Jonathan Franzen novel.  I love a vivid character study of family life.  I love this wonderful dysfunctional family and their struggles with parental decline.  Franzen won a National Book Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in fiction for this book.  That was the year they awarded the Pulitzer to Richard Russo for EMPIRE FALLS and I have to say he deserved it.  Love, love Richard Russo and Empire Falls is one of my all time favorite books.  An intense novel about a failing New England mill town with in- depth characters you can see in your mind's eye.  If you haven't read Richard Russo I highly recommend that you try him. 

SANDY'S 2012 BOOK LIST CONTINUES

I found this online and think this girl looks so much like our Lauren age 9.

                            SANDY'S 2012 BOOK LIST CONTINUES


47. BLOOD, BONES, AND BUTTER:  The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef  by Gabrielle Hamilton***1/2   An entertaining memoir of the chef and owner of PRUNE Restaurant in NYC.

48.  LEFT NEGLECTED by Lisa Genova **** I liked this book about a medical phenomenon I had never heard of called Left Neglect.  It sometimes happens after a severe head injury causing the patient to be completely unaware of anything to the left side.  After reading this  Genova novel i know have to get ahold of her book STILL ALICE.



49.THE ART OF RACING THE RAIN by Garth Stein***1/2  Fast read.Enjoyable.

50. A DOG'S PURPOSE by W. Bruce Cameron*****  Lovely novel written from a dog's perspective.  This book left me thinking about it long after I'd finished reading it.  To me, that's  a great book.

SANDY'S FAVORITE AUTHORS

Our family stays so busy and I realize that maybe some don't have a list yet this year.  So let's all make a page of our favorite Authors. Here are some of my much loved authors in no particular order.

and yet I can not look away.

• Anne Tyler
• John Steinbeck
• Jodi Picoult
• Augusten Burroughs
• Stephen King
• JK Rowling
• Toni Morrison
• John Irving
• Ernest Hemingway
• John Grisham
• Scott Turow
• Jan Karon
• Suzanne Collins
• Louisa May Alcott
• Harper Lee
• Harriet Arnow
• Amy Tan
• Larry McMurtry
• Anna Quinland
• Maya Angelou
• Jonathan Franzen
• Carson McCullers
• Wally Lamb
• Anita Shreeve
• Truman Capote
• Elizabeth Berg

               

               Sandy's Book List 2012 Continues

35.  THE EYE IF THE DRAGON by Stephen King*****Great story.I don't remember reading this when it came out.  I usually jump right on any new King novel. Don't know how I missed this one. 
I think it is fascinating that the evil in this book's name is Flagg and the evil in my favorite Stephen King book, THE STAND is also Flagg. Also the heroine in this book's name is Naomi and that is the name of his daughter in real life. Just saying.

36.  MILE 81 by Stephen King **** a Kindle short. Reminded me a little of CHRISTINE.

37.  MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND by Ann B. Ross
***1/2  This is a series of books about a small town in North Carolina and its people.  Amusing, light reading.  You can practically read one of these books in a sitting.Carol had  9 of these Miss Julia books on her kindle so I read all. Give all of them a ***1/2
38. MISS JULIA STANDS HER GROUND
39.MISS JULIA PAINTS THE TOWN
40.MISS JULIA STRIKES BACK
41.MISS JULIA DELIVERS THE GOODS
42.MISS JULIA MEETS HER MATCH
43.MISS JULIA RENEWS HER VOWS
44.MISS JULIA'S SCHOOL OF BEAUTY
45.MISS JULIA ROCKS THE CRADLE

46.THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows****I saw this title on several Best Books of 2010 lists and wanted to read it.  Then Aunt Denise brought it to me awhile back and I just read it over Easter weekend.  A charming book consisting only of letters to and from different people during the German occupation of Guernsey Island. An uplifting story of survival after World War II. This book recognizes the bond that can be brought about by literature. I enjoyed this book.