Reading Roundup I - Some Favorite Books for Adults from 2011

Books make great Christmas gifts, so if you're thinking of buying books for Christmas, here's a list of some books I've read this year. This list is for books for adults. I'll post my suggestions for children's and young adult books in the next week. You can find my complete reviews of most of these books on Bookreporter.com

ON CANAAN’S SIDE by Sebastian Barry is an elegantly written, touching story of love and loss, sorrow and joy, secrets and surprises.


KILLING LINCOLN: THE SHOCKING ASSASSINATION THAT CHANGED AMERICA FOREVER by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard is a suspenseful historical narrative that chronicles events that changed America.

THE PRIEST’S GRAVEYARD by Ted Dekker is a fast-paced thriller that doesn’t shy away from dark and bloody scenes, while at the same time being surprisingly tender.

THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAE ALCOTT by Kelly O’Connor McNees imagines the summer of 1855, a summer that would change the course of Louisa Mae Alcott’s writing career.

THE MAID: A NOVEL OF JOAN OF ARC by Kimberly Cutter is written with vivid details and lovely prose, portraying the range of emotions of Jehanne (Joan of Arc), an uneducated peasant teenage girl who struggles with the destiny she must fulfill.

O'Reilly, and Whoopi, and Joy--Oh, My!

Even though there wasn't a full moon yesterday, it was a weird day.

On the national scene, Bill O'Reilly and two of the ladies on The View got into a heated discussion over who was responsible for what happened on 9/11. After Bill made some remarks that seemed insensitive, Joy and Whoopi got spitting mad and stormed off the set. They eventually returned, but the passions and emotions ran high on both sides of that couch.

In my little world, my usually sweet-natured grandson Michael was in a foul mood when I picked him up from school. He turns 12 next week, so maybe it's his hormones kicking in, but I think the next few years are going to be interesting.

Then, my 16-year-old granddaughter had a volleyball game. She forgot half her gear at home, so I drove it to her school after picking up Michael. Then she called to tell me she forgot one more item, so I drove to her game, which was at another school. Her team won the first set, lost the second, then lost 30-28 in the final. No smiles on the way home. After dropping her off at a friend's house to do homework (or so she said), I headed for the grocery store.

The strangest thing happened there. I was bent down look at something on a bottom shelf when I overheard a father say something that I found creepy to his young son who was sitting in the shopping cart. Their cart was heading in the opposite direction, and by the time I stood up the man was skip-walking down the aisle. At first I couldn't believe what I heard, then I wondered what to do. I didn't see the man on any other aisled and won't go into details, but what the guy said to his son was disturbing, even if he was just joking around.

When I got home I asked my husband Walt if he thought it was weird and he agreed it was. Then he told me about Michael's football practice. Apparently, the coach had a tirade and lectured the parents. Maybe it's the changing seasons affecting people's moods?

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking I should've at least tracked that man in the grocery store down and told him that what he said to his son, even in jest, wasn't right. But I had a bad experience after speaking up to a bully.

I'll tell that story next week.