Currently Reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Audiobook "Mirror Image" by Sandra Brown

The crash of a Dallas-bound jet wasn't just a tragedy to TV reporter Avery Daniels; it was an act of fate that handed her a golden opportunity to further her career. Mistaken for a glamorous, selfish woman named Carole Rutledge, the badly injured Avery would find that plastic surgery had given her Carole's face, the famous senatorial candidate for a husband, and a powerful Texas dynasty for in-laws. And as she lay helpless in the hospital, she would make a shattering discovery: someone close to the senator planned to assassinate him. Now, to save the life of the man she loved, Avery must live another woman's life - and risk her own . . .

Currently Reading "Dark Angel" by David Klass

Seventeen-year-old Jeff thought he would never again have to deal with his older brother, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence. But after six years, Troy’s sentence has been overturned on a technicality and he is released from prison. He returns to a family deeply divided about having him back home. Jeff can’t forget how his life was disrupted by his brother, how his family had to move to another state and start over. Still, his parents believe things will be different now. But Troy’s return makes a mess of Jeff ’s life – at home, at school, and with his girlfriend. When Jeff ’s rival on the soccer field turns up missing, Jeff suspects Troy is involved, and he sets out to prove it. But nothing could prepare Jeff for what happens as he gets closer to the truth.

With unexpected flashes of humor, David Klass once again gives readers a gripping, multilayered novel about good and evil and the powerful bonds of family.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Seventeen-year-old Jeff Hastings is a good kid. He plays soccer, has nice friends, and does fairly well at his New Jersey shore high school. He has a sweet, beautiful girlfriend, Beth. The church-going Hastings look like a perfect family. However, they have a dark secret–they have another son, who is a murderer. Jeff is terrified when Troy is released from prison and horrified when his parents decide to take him in. Jeff's girlfriend leaves him, and his friends soon follow. When Jeff's teammate disappears, Troy is assumed guilty. The witch-hunt that follows ruins what's left of the teen's former life. Troy is a masterfully drawn wolf in sheep's clothing. Klass's spot-on use of ex-con stereotypes makes him extra smarmy–falsely pious, muscle-bound, and in love with the sound of his fancy new vocabulary. Jeff's frustration at his manipulation of their parents is palpable, as is his fury as his life unravels. He despises and fears Troy throughout the novel, so his loyalty at its climax seems odd, and mildly sentimental. The plot builds ferociously in tandem with Jeff's suffocating conflict and burgeoning courage. The deliciously suspenseful mood, sheltered setting, and flawed but sympathetic narrator compare to those in Kate Morgenroth's Jude (S & S, 2004). Klass's clean, direct prose is a departure from the pained, hilarious narration of You Don't Know Me (Farrar, 2001) but the sober style suits the gravity of the story. Recommend this fast-paced, thoughtful story to older reluctant readers, especially boys.–Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. Seventeen-year-old Jeff lives with his parents in a small New Jersey town, living a regular life despite his family's great secret. No one there knows that Jeff has an older brother serving a life sentence for premeditated murder. When that sentence is reversed on technicalities just five-and-a-half years in, the carefully kept family secret is released from prison and brought home to begin a new life--one that marks the end of Jeff's normal teen years. Despite outward appearances, despite his parents' great faith in their God and the essential goodness of all human beings, Jeff is certain something is fundamentally wrong with his brother. Klass tackles large issues here with varying degrees of subtlety, thoroughness, and success: unconditional love, religious faith, scientific theories of human behavior, family bonds, friendship, prejudice, fear, and the very essences of good and evil. Though readers may find the ex-convict overblown and many supporting characters little more than markers for message delivery, Jeff is both interesting and sympathetic. Holly Koelling
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Audiobook "No Second Chance" by Harlan Coben

Marc Seidman awakens to find himself in an ICU, hooked up to an IV, his head swathed in bandages. Twelve days earlier, he had an enviable life as a successful surgeon, living in a peaceful suburban neighborhood with his beautiful wife and a baby he adored. Now he lies in a hospital bed, shot by an unseen assailant. His wife has been killed, and his six-month-old daughter, Tara, has vanished. But just when his world seems forever shattered, something arrives to give Marc new hope: a ransom note.

We are watching. If you contact the authorities, you will never see your daughter again. There will be no second chance.

The note is chilling, but Marc sees only one thing-he has the chance to save his daughter. He can't talk to the police or the FBI. He doesn't know who he can trust. And now the authorities are closing in on a new suspect: Marc himself. Mired in a deepening quicksand of deception and deadly secrets-about his wife, about an old love he's never forgotten, and about his own past-he clings to one, unwavering vow to bring home Tara, at any cost.
Both a white-knuckle thriller and an emotionally powerful tale about the loyalty of old friends and the bond between parent and child, No Second Chance is another masterpiece from an author who writes “suspense at its finest” (Jeffrey Deaver).

Currently Reading "The Cradle Will Fall" by Mary Higgins Clark

A minor road accident landed county prosecutor Katie DeMaio in Westlake Hospital. That night, from her window, she thought she saw a man load a woman's body into the trunk of a car...or was it just a sleeping pill induced nightmare? At work the next day, Katie began investigating a suicide that looked more like murder. Initial evidence pointed elsewhere, but medical examiner Richard Carroll saw a trail leading to Dr. Edgar Highley. He suspected that the famous doctor's work "curing" infertile women was more than controversial -- that it was deceitful, depraved, and often deadly. But before Richard could tell Katie his fears, she left the office for the weekend and an appointment for routine surgery...in Dr. Highley's operating room.

Harlan Coben Books

Play Dead

Deal Breaker*

Drop Shot*

Fade Away*

Back Spin*

One False Move*

The Final detail*

Darkest Dear*

Tell No One

Gone for Good*

No Second Chance*

Just One Look*

The Innocent*

Promise Me*

The Woods*

Hold Tight

Long Lost

Caught

*marks the ones I've read/listened to...

Audiobook "Private" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

The police can't help you

Former CIA agent Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily—and his staff of investigators use the world's most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases.

The press will destroy you

Jack is already deep into the investigation of a multimillion-dollar NFL gambling scandal and the unsolved slayings of eighteen schoolgirls when he learns of a horrific murder close to home: his best friend's wife, Jack's former lover, has been killed. It nearly pushes him over the edge. Instead, Jack pushes back and devotes all of Private's resources to tracking down her killer.

Only one place to turn: Private

But Jack doesn't have to play by the rules. As he closes in on the killer and chooses between revenge and justice, Jack has to navigate a workplace love affair that threatens to blow the roof off his plans. With a plot that moves at death-defying speeds, Private is James Patterson's sleekest, most exciting thriller ever.

October 16 Challenge - pieces provided by Sandy

Oc

I had provided the pieces we had to use. Those were the pieces in question:

October 16 Challenge - pieces provided by Michele

Michele had provided the pieces. Here are the pieces in questions:

Halloween Card - Card Exchange October 2010

Card Recipe:

*Cardstock: - Off white

- Purple

- Olive Green by The Paper Company

*Patter Paper: Witches Brew by Colorbök (Cloud 9 Design)

*2” Circle Punch

*Ink: -Crême Brulée by Close To My Heart

-Desert Sand by Close To My Heart

-Black Ink (Stampin’ Up and StazOn)

*Stamps:

-“Beware” stamp set by Close To My heart (D1381)

*Ribbon by Craft Essentials

*Miscellaneous: -Pop Dots

-Glue Dots

Audiobook "Don't Blink" by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

THE GOOD

New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons—the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.

THE BAD

Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas—on both sides of the law.

AND THE DEAD

Back off—or die—is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own. Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.

I've been driving around taking pictures of the foliage and the sky and such... Really beautiful this time of the year...

Hayride

Paul and I invited friends over to go on a hay ride. It was a lot of fun...