Books I've Read

A young girl is assigned to protect the young Queen who has been foretold to die by her sixteenth birthday.

A musician recalls the twists and turns of life that led him to success on the stage. A workmanlike telling, I found myself tearing up several times in the last third of the story. I think I am going to read it again. But, I still need to pay the author for the book!

Two boys get separated from their hunting party in northern Canada and must survive the winter. Good thing they both have the skills.

Fairly fast moving story of a boy who is orphaned and invited to join a secret British organization of kid spies. I found most of the characters were jerks. I thought the "s" word was used too many times (four or five) for a book aimed at twelve-year-olds (and up). I would say I have issues with morality issues with many of the actions of the characters, and even the protagonist questions the actions vs. results of the organization. First book in a series.

A rather strange book. It's got spaceship, but there's magic. Magic from BONES! And there are magic SKELETONS! It's all a bit much, I shall have to see what the next book brings.

I am going to cop out and say this book, the second in the series, is too complicated to sum up, at least by me.

In book one of the series, Kendra and Seth learn their grandfather is caretaker of a refuge for magical beings, most of whom are not very nice.

A space shuttle astronaut tells of his life with NASA. I laughed, I cried. One of the most enjoyable books I've ever read.

Although it IS listed in the table of contents, I didn't discover the glossary until I finished the book. I had complained bitterly during the reading...

Sharon McCone is in the hospital, paralyzed from being shot, and her associates try to find out who did it.

Raphael and his family, and many others, live at a giant dump near a big city in a unnamed country, where they sort the garbage. He finds something valuable, something the corrupt police are willing to bribe, beat, and maybe even kill to retrieve for a corrupt politician. Good story.

Story of the women who broke the enemy codes during World War II. Really good, lots o anecdotes!

A non-fiction book about the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia. Good stuff!

A teen in trouble gets couseling at the neighborhood barber shop. Not a bad

Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq as a member of the Civil Affairs Battalion "to help secure and stabilize the country".

Eighteen or so stories by authors I've heard of. Some pretty good stories.

FBI agent Kat Bronsky tries to figure out who is making airliners crash. Humerous in parts, gross in others. .

Page turner about a passenger riot on an ill-run 747 going to South Africa. Pretty good tale.

A retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamlen. Salz is a young boy with a chronic coughing disease. The town's animal are losing limbs, and so are the people. And then they die. The plague of rats is blamed, and the piper is called. A very dark story. The author's postscript reveals the true cause of the disease, and also what Salz is afflicted with.

Fourth-grade Mikey decides to take fencing lessons.

David lives in New York City with his asthmatic mother and sometimes overbearing lawyer father. He gets Cat from the cat-lady neighbor, meets a girl, a burglar (of sorts, not really), and has fights with his friend. Interesting look at the neighborhoods of New York. A gentle book. Newbery Medal winner in 1963.