"The First Fall Classic" by Mike Vaccaro

A MUST READ FOR BASEBALL FANS!  (100 stars)
The First Fall Classic by Mike Vaccaro has three things that I really look for in a book:  (1) non-fiction, (2) a topic that interests me, (3) a topic I know little or nothing about. 

I really enjoyed reading this book because it felt like I was right there.  The writing is superb.  It is about the 1912 World Series between the Giants and the Red Sox--what a series it was!  The ending has to be read to be believed.  If you are a baseball fan or just a sports fan in general, you owe it to yourself to read this book!  Thank you, Mr. Vaccaro, for writing this very enjoyable book!
(Gerard's Review 11/28/09)


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"The Town" by Chuck Hogan

The Town by Chuck Hogan is about four male friends who rob banks.  One day they take a female hostage and the leader of the gang takes a liking to her.  He decides to pursue her.  The FBI also has her under watch too!  He would love to get out of crime but one more huge job awaits that would be a fitting end to his career.  The whole book takes place in Boston, which is a major plus for me since I am a fan of all Boston teams.  After I read the book, I watched the movie trailer on the Internet.  I enjoyed the book very much!!!!  Loved the ending!
(Gerard's review)

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"Mockingjay" by Suzane Collins

We both liked this one!

Gerard's review:
You know the deal about Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins--the last book of The Hunger Games trilogy!  Some people were disappointed in this book, but I am not one of them.  I thought this was the best of the three because it has tons of action!  I never knew what was going to happen next.  I like how not everyone thought Katniss was all that, the Gale-Peeta-Katniss triangle, and the surprise ending!  I enjoyed Mockingjay a lot!  It was hard to put down and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next!

Karen's review:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy and did not disappoint.  This book is amazing!  There is so much action, well developed interesting characters, and psychological drama that I was engrossed in it right from the start all the way to the end.  To get the most out of Mockingjay though, I highly recommend that you read the entire series.  I felt so bad for Peeta throughout the book but am satisfied with the ending.  There is a lot of suffering but loved that Prim’s cat survived and enjoyed Katniss’ relationship with it.  There is some humor in this book too which helped balance the gravity of it.  I liked Katniss throughout the series and admired her intelligence, determination, spontaneity, skill, compassion and perseverance.  At no point was I able to know how it would end for sure. 

This is a great book to end the series and I highly recommend this series (The Hunger Games and Catching Fire) to anyone 14 and older.  I also think this entire series would work great for a book club, there is just so much to discuss.  This series is a MUST READ for anyone who likes suspense, adventure, excitement and books about relationships.  

Reviews by other bloogers:
Bloggin' 'bout Books: Hunger Games Finale Leaves Me As Mute As An Avox
Scientific Nature Of The Whammy: Mockingjay

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"Who's The Dummy Now? by Terry Fator

10 Stars!  Inspirational!
Who's The Dummy Now? is about Terry Fator, who won $1,000,000 on America's Got Talent 2.  He is a ventriloquist.  He tells his story in a fun way.  He overcame an abusive father, no friends really and everybody telling him he could not do it, but he did. 

Way to go, Terry!  I enjoyed your book so much!  I think everyone would like this one.
(Gerard's review 2/5/09)

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"Word of Honor" by Terri Blackstock

Word of Honor by Terri Blackstock is a fast-paced novel about Frank Harper, a Vietnam war veteran who suffered brain damage while saving others in his unit, who escapes from the mental hospital and plants a bomb in a post office of a small town which kills three people and badly injures a little boy.  Frank gets Jerry, an army buddy whose life he saved, involved by asking him to drive him to the post office that day.  While Jerry waits for Frank to come to meet him at a hotel later, the police arrive instead and Jerry takes Jill, the attorney staying in the adjoining room, hostage.  There is quite a bit of action in Word of Honor which addresses the question of keeping your word with a romantic subplot between Jill and Dan, a firefighter afraid of commitment.   

I really liked this Christian fiction book because the characters were very believable and likable.  Jerry was caught between keeping a covenant he made with his army buddy and breaking it to protect his family and save himself.  I think Terri Blackstock did a great job in this book at incorporating a challenge to be serious about giving our word and having a covenant relationship with God and our spouse.  I recommend it to everyone!

This is actually the third book of the Newpointe 911 series but can stand on its own. Others in the series are: Private Justice, Shadow of Doubt, Trial by Fire, Line of Duty. I look forward to reading these as well! I really like that her books have clean language and a sex free.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?