Blockade Billy by Stephen King

Blockade Billy by Stephen King is a novel about a guy who comes up to be a fill-in catcher for a major league team.  He loves to block home plate in close plays--hence, the name of the book.  I enjoyed it.  Good twist at the end, Stephen King style!

(Gerard's review 6/22/10)

(spoiler alert)
Blockade Billy by Stephen King is a book that I wish I hadn’t wasted my time reading.  The only good thing was that it is short.  It’s about a catcher who really isn’t who he said and who turned out to be a killer.  When the crowd yelled “Kill the umpire,” Blockade Billy took it literally.  I gave this a chance because I like baseball and that’s what it was about but no more Stephen King for me.

(Karen's review 9/25/10)

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"Hats and Eyeglasses: A Family Affair With Gambling" by Martha Frankel

Hats and Eyeglasses:  A Family Affair With Gambling is a true story about a woman who enjoyed watching her parents play cards. Then she played and was good at it. Then discovered online poker and other card games. Fun read. Goes fast, good characters. No deep thought process needed with this one.
(Gerard's review 6/18/08)

"Deeper Than The Dead" by Tami Hoag

Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag is a murder mystery with many victims.  It is a real tragedy in more ways than one.  The author does a fantastic job of delving into the four families of the children who find a dead woman buried in the park and their teacher who is truly concerned about them.  Another dimension of the book is the criminal investigation, which includes an FBI agent falling in love with the teacher and a deputy who is the father of a bully who is one of the boys who discovered the dead body in the park.  I liked the insight into the different families who all had issues.  I felt bad for all the children and enjoyed the surprise twists that kept popping up along the way.  It certainly was not predictable and kept my interest all the way through.  It was a fast read and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.  
(Karen's Review 2/22/10)

Awesome book!  Page turner!  I really enjoyed Deeper Than The Dead by Tami Hoag!  One day four children come across a dead body in the park and from there this book takes off.  The story line between the kids, their parents, the school teacher and the detective trying to solve the crime is superb.  Throw in a lot of of twists and turns and a surprise ending and you get this great book!  Deeper Than The Dead got my attention at page 1 and kept it all the way through.   A MUST READ!  This was the first book I read by Tami, but will be back for more!
(Gerard's Review 2/11/10) (5+ stars)

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"Open" by Andre Agassi

I found Open, the autobiography of Andre Agassi, very interesting.  The relationship with his father is good stuff in the beginning of the book.  That he quit school after 8th grade was something that I did not know.  I enjoyed the part of what he was thinking while playing the matches.  I could have done without the match to match detail.  The best part of this book was finding out that I really didn’t know what made Agassi tick at all!  It’s a bit long but overall it’s a book worth reading. (4 stars)
(Gerard's review 12/19/09)

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"Joseph" by Shelia Moses

I did not care for Joseph by Shelia Moses.  It is teen fiction about Joseph, a high school boy who was a good student but had a tough home life.  His mom was a drug addict who only wanted him to get the child support checks to pay for her wine and drugs.  His dad was a soldier in Iraq who wanted to be there for Joseph.  Joseph was ashamed of his mother and the fact that they lived at a shelter, but felt he had to stay with her to take care of her.  His aunt took him and his mother in, but his mother left with some guy. 

This was sort of a depressing book without any closure.  I was very disappointed in the ending because nothing was really resolved except Joseph I guess came to the conclusion that he was not responsible for his mother and just prayed for God to help her.  The only thing I liked about this book was that Joseph was on the school tennis team and he felt good when he saw people come out to watch his match and support him.
(Karen's Review)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?