The Giver, is about a person who holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life in the world that is described as a futuristic one. And the twist is that he is the ONLY one who has this capacity to keep memories, and saves his world from the pain they might bring. The novel follows a 12-year-old boy named Jonas who experiences shocking truths, revelations, and hidden philosophies about the world around him as he has been SELECTED to be the next GIVER. The one who shall hold the memories for the entire world around him. Memories of joy, love, happiness, enjoyment, safety, danger, sorry, surprise, admiration, disgust or fear. The writing is so lucid that when you read about an emotion (Memory - in case of this book), you visualize all the small elements that go into making and feeling an emotion. The innocent and ingenuous way that the young protagonist tries to understand the new JOB profile he has been assigned is very thought provoking. A very GENIUS book!

I enjoyed this book that takes place in Paris just on the verge of the German occupation. Solange meets with a woman with an interesting life story and learns of the connection they share.

There were parts I loved about this book and then parts that I felt oversimplified complex issues.

Very much the Golden Girls we we all know and love. However, it was very difficult to get through this one. It would have made a good episode for the show but not a book.

With NOBODY'S FOOL, Harlan Cohen has once again written a marvelous, witty, thoughtful mystery filled with many twists and turns. Sami Kierce, a disgraced former New York City cop, has picked up the pieces of his life and is now moving on with his loving wife and new baby. Suddenly he is confronted by his post college past from two decades ago. A past that featured a dead body - or did it? The truth unfolds page by wonder ful page. I loved it!

This is a solid book. Some of the (main) reveals were instantly predictable, but the story was well done and interesting. I think it is dun and sad how the story takes place in the era(s) I grew up in. I am getting very old if I related to the timing in the flashback periods of thriller novels. The ending was a little hodgepodge and random. Plus there were still some things that were unexplained (and one unnecessary), but I am excited to read more from Finlay

A cute romance - nice beach read

This was an enjoyable and funny mystery that kept me guessing. Dana, our heroine, is a 29 year old unemployed actress who gets a gig hosting a program for the Shopping Network. On her first day, another star host is found dead. Lots of false leads and romance with two men. A very entertaining novel!

The Nemesis is the tenth book in the Orphan X series by Gregg Hurtwitz. Evan is a highly trained former government assassin that now is a freelance hero. Each book is a high adrenaline entertainment thriller and character intensive. In this book he is dealing with a terrible personal betrayal, Tommy Stokack, who provides his weapons and is one of a very few true friends he has in the world. However, in the last book, ninth in the series, Evan saw that one of the worst murders he’d ever encountered was carrying Tom’s weaponry. Tommy refuses to explain and for Evan the next step is clear. Tommy is now a danger to the innocent and will have to be eliminated. I would read the series in order because the characters in this book have a deep relation with him and each other which develops with each book.

Interesting book about a southern women who helps save the life of a Northern soldier during the Civil War