Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

This is a 2011 Abraham Lincoln Books selection.



This book raises the question when/if parents are justified using some of the technology available today to spy of their children.  It is a thought provoking question.  The plot centers around a high school boy who has been acting strangely.  In a last ditch effort to find out what is going on with their son (who has a computer in his bedroom--a big no no in the first place) they put a spy program on his computer.  Later in the book they use the GPS on his phone to track him. I'm sure the High School set (the age group the Abraham Lincoln Books are aimed for) would side with the boy in the book and be outraged that the parents were spying.  The way the book turned out, the author seemed to be saying that spying was bad.  I'm going to say that children of any age (High Schoolers included) must prove that they are trustworthy by being open and honest about their activities.  If they break that trust they have to deal with the consequences.  Yes, spying is extreme, but if I thought I was about to loose my child to drugs, suicide, etc.  I would do it. 

On another note, there was a side story that seemed weird to me.  It didn't seems to add much to the main plot line and it didn't seem very believable.  There was also what I thought was unnecessary violence.  Not that by High School kids haven't been exposed to this and worse.  It just didn't seem necessary to the story.

More books to come

Believe it or not, I have even more books to blog about to when I have more time.  I have been reading a lot in an effort to hibernate until spring comes.  Plus, my husband has been home a lot of evenings watching Bizarre Foods and Man vs. Food and I have had about enough of it.  This leaves my evenings free to read all I want.  I do insist upon watching Supernatural on Friday nights and Parenthood on Tuesday evenings; my two favorite shows.

Vampire Romance Part 2

I'm the Vampire, That's Why and Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire by Michele Bardsley



I had to put these next two books in their own entry, because I loved them so much.  There is no fun escape read I like better than vampire romance, and it gets taken to a whole new level when the book also makes me laugh!  These did that so well.  There was an interesting supernatural world and problem to overcome, plenty of believeable romance, plenty of humor, and even better the heroines are were all mothers before being turned into vampires!  (Four Fangs)

Vampire Romance

If anyone has been following by blog, you will have figured out that I am a huge vampire book fan.  (No it didn't start with Twilight, It started with Interview with a Vampire.)  Here are a few I have read lately:

 From Christine Feehan's Dark Series--Dark Prince and Dark Melody.  The vampires in this series are at risk of loosing their soul's to the Darkness unless they find their life partner.  I love the utter devotion the vampires have for their soul mates, but the books tend to bog down when the hero and heroine sit around for page after page talking about how much the other one means to them.  Will this stop me from reading all bazillion of the books in the series, no way! (Three Fangs)

Kate MacAlister, A Girl's Guide to Vampires.  This one is a bit misleading, because it is not mainly about vampires.  Vampires are a part of the book, however and story is interesting.  There are also more books in this series and they are being rereleased soon.  Here the male vampires are born with darkness as a result of their father's sins and only their soul mate can bring them out of the darkness.  Pretty good.  (Two Fangs)

Kerrelyn Sparks, How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire.  The first book in another long series of books.  This book was a bit lighter than the previous two, but still interesting.  The author has thought up an interesting vampire/supernatural world here with good story lines and romance.  (Two Fangs) 

Note:  My vampire book scale is from one to four fangs.  One being not so hot and Four being on fire. 

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver

The back of this book states that this is "America's original courtroom thriller."  It is copyrighted 1958.  It was an engaging read.  Interesting enough that I clipped through the book fairly quickly, but not so nail biting that I wanted to put my life on hold to finish (which I hate, because I do have a life that I have to live).  I like to read books written in other times because it gives me glimpses of how life was then.  This was no different and I must say--I'm glad we are no longer living in the 1950's.  The antiquated, chauvinistic attitudes toward women in this book were shocking.  Most of the humor was mean spirited and aimed at women. 

As I said in a previous entry, I picked this book up because it was recommended in a Moon Handbook on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  There were a few descriptions of the local life and scenery that were nice.  Over all, I liked it.  If you are a fan of the T.V. series Law and Order, you will like this. 

Moon Handbooks

Preparing for Vacation by Reading!

This is the time of year when my thoughts turn toward summer vacation.  When I start planning a vacation, I always reach for Moon Handbooks.  They are by far my favorite.  I like the way the information is presented, the quality of the information, but most importantly...The Resource Section. 

The Resource Section contains a list of recommended books and sometimes movies relating to the area.  I love this!  What better way to prepare for a vacation?  I recommend selecting one or two movies and at least one fiction and one non-fiction book.  See if any of the recommended books are available on CD so the whole family can listen to it one the way.  Get the kids involved too.  There are a plethora of children's books about states, study the map, see if there are any child friendly selections on the list. 

Last year, we went to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  We watched two movies from the Resource section before hand.  I didn't have time for much reading, but I did a quick review of a couple books.  While in Marquette, I picked-up Anatomy of a murder by Robert Traver from the Resource list.  (The movie based on the book staring Jimmy Stewart is one of the two we watched.)  I am finishing this book now and my thoughts on the book will be coming next.

Life Changing Reads

The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn

This is a compilation book of monthly newsletters written in the 90's by Amy Dacyczyn.  I heard of it from a co-worker back when I was working full-time, but is wasn't until several years later that I began seriously reading it.  At that time, I quit my full-time state job so my husband could pursue an opportunity to further his career.  Needless to say, money was tight.  Reading The Tightwad Gazette completely changed the way I think about spending, saving, and consuming.

We live in a consumer, throw-a-way culture, but we, as individuals, do not need to follow along with this corporate driven model.  The author is pretty extreme about her cost saving measures, doing things I would never do like rinsing out and reusing sandwich bags and aluminum foil, but the book opened me up to a completely new way of thinking about spending.

It is not always easy and I sometimes find myself straying and spending unnecessarily.  That is when I need to reread and strengthen my resolve.