Heart in the Right Place -- Carolyn Jourdan

Carolyn Jourdan is used to a life of lavishness. She is used to rubbing elbows with some of the Nation's dignitaries. She is accustomed to being "in" on the latest cause -- and she enjoys feeling like she is making a difference in Washington, D.C. But when her mother has a heart attack, and Carolyn returns to her backwoods Tennessee roots, Carolyn begins to realize that maybe, just maybe, making a difference back home is more important than making a difference in Washington.

Filled with stories of her father's patients in a rural doctor's clinic, this memoir follows a year of Carolyn Jourdan's life working as her father's receptionist. She discovers what life is about, and she learns that her father is a true hero to so many. And little by little she finds out what it feels like when her heart is in the right place.

**This was a cute memoir. I enjoyed the stories and laughed at a few. Others were touching and poignant.

The Shade of the Moon -- Susan Beth Pfeffer

It has been 2 years since the Evans family left their home in Pennsylvania and headed for the enclave in Sexton, Tennessee. Much has changed in those 2 years for the family. Matt and his wife Syl moved out on their own and Matt became a courier. Miranda married Alex Morales and became pregnant. Jon moved in with his step-mother Lisa and his 3 year-old half brother, using Alex's slips to permit them entrance into the enclave where food was as plentiful as the privileges they enjoyed. Their father died on the journey to Sexton, and their mother lives in White Birch, just outside of Sexton, with Alex and Miranda, working at a school teaching "grub" children -- those not fortunate enough to be "useful" outside of doing grub work for the more fortunate "clavers."

Two years of living a life of privilege, even when most of his family isn't, gives Jon a sense of entitlement. He sees nothing wrong with the way he lives: the abundance when those around him hunger and live in ignorance; the ability to satiate all his physical desires anytime he desires. But then he meets Sarah, the girl who moved into the enclave with her father, the town's new doctor. While most of the clavers dislike her, Jon is drawn to her. And he is soon forced to choose between her and her ideals and his friends. His comforts and those of his step-mother and little brother are at stake.

But the more Jon hears what Sarah has to say, the more he sees what he ignored before. And when riots break out in White Birch and life changes drastically again for Jon and all his family members, Jon has to choose which side he is on for good -- and deal with the consequences.


*Wow... I was incredibly disappointed in this book. I loved the series... Until this book. The characters seemed shallow and not well thought-out anymore. The book was full of every horror imaginable (which, frankly, disgusted me). And many of the situations and dialogue seemed fake and forced. The author mentions at the end that she isn't sure if there will be a 5th book. Well, I hope there isn't. Because if it gets any worse than this, I don't think I would be willing to slog through it. Very disappointing.

Night -- Elie Wiesel

It is 1944 before the lives of the Jews living in Sighet, Transylvania feel the effect of Hitler's plan.  Until then, they'd lived their lives as though nothing was different; as though nothing ever would be.  They believed the war would end before they were impacted.

But they were wrong.

What begins as a sort of lock-down in their own community eventually becomes the horror of evacuation, separation, starvation, desperation, and for some, cremation.  Fifteen year-old Eliezer and his family are among them.  He loses touch with his mother and three sisters shortly after they arrive at Auschwitz, a concentration camp where he Elie witnesses horrors beyond imagination.  His one goal is to not lose his father.  So together they are herded from one camp to another.  They are beaten, abused, forced to watch others murdered, starved, worked to the brink of death and delusion.  Some lose their faith, others hold to it for dear life.  And in the end, none is spared the atrocities of knowing horrors no human should ever need to face.


** Though incredibly hard to read, considering the subject matter, this is a good book.  I felt horrified by some of what is shared.  Though I have long known of some of the torture and abuse which occurred at the concentration camps, there were some things in this book that shocked me; for I had never even considered the possibility of some of the atrocities that actually happened.  Call me naive, I guess.  I just cannot understand what kind of a mind could think to perform some of the hideous acts described.  It was eye-opening on so many levels.  And though there are images I will probably never be able to forget (conjured by my own mind as I read), I am glad I had the opportunity to see things from the perspective Mr. Wiesel.

The Silver Chair -- C. S. Lewis

Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are students at Experiment House, a place where many are bullied and bullies aren't punished. After a run-in with some of the school bullies, Jill Pole hides behind a building where no one can see her cry. But Eustace happens upon her, and they begin to talk of a place quite different than Experiment House. A place Eustace has visited before where animals talk and thinks are beautiful and full of hope. Longing to go to such a place and leave the unhappiness of Experiment House behind, Eustace and Jill begin pleading to go to the other world.

And somehow, they get there! They soon learn they have been summoned to Narnia by Aslan; for Aslan has a mission for them. They are to rescue Prince Rilian, son of the aged king Caspian. Rilian disappeared years before and no one has seen or heard from him since.

So, with the help of Puddleglum, a Marsh-wiggle, Jill and Eustace set off to fulfill their mission. But the journey is long and hard, and soon the children forget their mission -- thinking only of the comforts for which they long. Forgetting proves to be to their detriment, and they find themselves on the menu for some giants' feast, held captive underground, and enchanted by an evil queen. Soon they are unsure if they will ever succeed in finding Prince Rilian -- or if they'll ever see their world again.


*Cute. I like the parallels between the novel and Christian doctrines. Look forward to reading this with my children one day.

Body of Lies -- Iris Johansen

Eve Duncan, a nationally-known forensic sculptor, enjoys the life she is living in a lovely lake cottage in Georgia. She has her boyfriend, her adopted daughter, and has finally been able to lay to rest the remains of her biological daughter on a hillside on her property. She is at peace and has no desire to leave her sanctuary; so when she if offered a job in Louisiana, she has no problem turning it down.

But someone wants her on the job enough to dig up information which would shatter Eve's utopian life and cause her to flee her home and her life with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn, at least until she could sort out her feelings and emotions about the new -- and devastating -- information. And so Eve runs, right into grave danger. She is surrounded by half-truths, deception, and attempts on her life; because while some people want her to learn the identity of a skull in Louisiana, someone else wants to keep the skull's identity a mystery -- enough to kill for it.

Determined to identify the skull, Eve continues her work in the face of danger. With the help of Galen and Quinn, who, much to her dismay, arrives on the scene when he learns her life is danger and when he discovers some unsettling news back in Atlanta which leads him to believe Eve was tricked into taking the job; Eve is moved from safe house to safe house until she is able to finish her work and turn the skull over to the FBI. But soon they all realize they are playing in a game with very high-rolling players who have more power than any of them realized. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.


*I decided to read this book because it had been several years since I'd started the Eve Duncan series, and I remembered liking it before. I've definitely not been missing much. Though there was suspense at times, the characters are not really believable to me. All of them are too "perfect" at what they do. And Eve Duncan is too dramatic. I'm pretty sure I'm done with this series of books now, as I don't anticipate enjoying any others in the series either.

Insurgent -- Veronica Roth

Seeking safety with the Amity faction, Tris, Tobias, Peter, Caleb, Susan, and Marcus know the time they have there will be short. But before they make their plans to leave and head back into the city, their presence is discovered by the Erudite and the traitor-Dauntless; causing them to flee and seek refuge with the factionless.

There, Tris realizes that being factionless isn't as bad as she was led to believe; for the Factionless are strong in number and unity. And the Factionless leader has big plans for taking down the Erudite and the current factioned society. She seeks out Tobias and invites him to join her cause, telling him to become important to the loyal Dauntless so they will follow him.

Deciding they will need the help of the Candor, Tris and Tobias go to Candor headquarters and are subjected to their truth serum. Their deepest secrets and regrets are revealed, and before long, everyone knows Tris is Divergent. And so is Tobias. The Candor grant the loyal Divergent safety once they know Tris and Tobias were not involved in the simulation massacre of Abnegation. But their safety is short-lived. Because the Erudite and traitor-Dauntless launch an attack on Candor headquarters, injecting many there with a simulation serum which Jeanine can control anytime and for as long as she'd like -- a serum never before known among them. When Jeanine causes some to leap to their deaths with the threat of more if the Divergent don't give themselves up, Tris surrenders herself to Jeanine and her torture. Fully expecting her own demise, Tris learns as much as she can while imprisoned by Jeanine. But what Tris starts to learn is that there is information nobody could ever have imagined. Information that could change their entire world. Information Jeanine will kill over. And once she learns all she can from Tris about the Divergent, Tris will be Jeanine's next target.

*I definitely got sucked into this book and enjoyed it more than the first one. One complaint I have with both is all the childish drama. Tris and Tobias and their over-the-top arguments, etc. I realize it's written from the perspective of teenagers -- and is written for teens as the main audience. But I just get annoyed with how Tris makes huge mountains out of molehills a lot of the time. Otherwise, I enjoy the story and am looking forward to #3.

The Love of Her Life -- Harriet Evans

Running away is what Kate Miller has done best.

Three years ago, after a series of tragic events, she ran away to New York and moved in with her mother. And she tried to close the door on the events of her past in London: the broken engagement, her father's new marriage and new daughter, the friend whose life she destroyed, the man whose heart she shattered.

But then her father falls ill, and she returns to London -- only for two weeks (or so she plans) -- to check on him. But once there, she must face the fact that she hadn't closed the door as tightly as she'd hoped. The memories flood back, and she is forced to come to terms with all that has happened. She begins to mend relationships which were strained during those years away... And she begins to realize and accept that, sometimes, love blossoms where you least expect it.


*I had a hard time getting into this book. Once I was about half-way in, however, I could agree that it was a page-turner.