"The Crown" by Nancy Bilyeau

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau tells the story of a nun, Joanna, who must find a relic crown to save her father who is being held captive.  I thought the first part of this book was really good with lots of action and was into it.  From part two on is when I had a problem with it.  This book is far from bad, don't get the wrong idea.  I just enjoyed the first part much more.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.

"Lone Wolf" by Jodi Picoult (Updated)

 Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult tells the story of Luke Warren who has two families.  A wolf one and a human one.  Both are very entertaining and you will learn a lot from both.  I loved this book very much!  The characters of Luke and his daughter, Cara, were my favorites.  There is not a lot of twists and turns in this one, but the main story is so gripping that you don't need all that.
(Gerard's review)

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult is an interesting read and also thought provoking about Luke, a family man who is also a naturalist who chooses to join a pack of wolves in the wild for two years.  He is divorced and shares custody of his 17-yr.-old daughter.  His gay son left at age 18 to live in Thailand after he and his dad had a falling out.  The dad and daughter were in a car accident which left the dad in a vegetable state hooked up to a ventilator to stay alive.  The brother came right home when he heard and insists that Luke would not want to be kept alive in that condition but the daughter holds out hope that he will get better and they need to give him more time. 

I liked this book pretty well but thought it dragged out more than necessary.  There was a lot about wolves that I found quite interesting, but thought Luke was nuts for living with them.  My favorite part was when Cara got her brother to bring in one of her dad's wolves into the hospital to try to get him to wake up when only the ventilator was keeping him alive.  I also like the brother-sister relationship.  Jodi Picoult tackled yet another controversial topic, euthanasia, in an interesting way.  
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.

How Fast Do Your Read?

At Living, Learning and Loving Life I found this cool test to tell me how fast I read. I knew I was a slow reader, but didn't think I was this slow: 192 wpm (23% slower than the national avg., about a 5th gr. level!) Gerard beat me with 195 wpm which surprised me--I thought he'd beat by more than that.

Click on the image below to go take the quiz and see if you beat us--I bet you will.  Share your results in the comments here.

Source: Staples eReader Department

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.

"Walk a Hound Lose a Pound" by Zeltzman and Johnson

Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound by Phil Zeltzman and Rebecca Johnson gives you the do's and dont's of dog walking. It's pretty basic stuff but I liked reading how other people enjoy walking their dogs.  I so look forward to retiring from work so I can do more dog walking.  The bottom line is that you and your dog both benefit from walking, so just do it!
(Gerard's review)

Walking at the Park

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.

"Southern Comfort" by Fern Michaels

Southern Comfort by Fern Michaels is a good read loaded with humor.  Tick is a good cop, loyal and loving family man, but when he gets home from work one day to find his wife and children murdered, he turns to booze and becomes a beach bum in Mango Key.  He sobers up but likes living on the beach with just his talking parrot that chose to live with him.  It’s pretty deserted except for down about a mile is a building called “that place” by the villagers.  He’s lived there for eight years in peace and quiet until he sees a fabricated building on “his” beach.  The DEA suspects there may be a drug operation going on at “that place” and sends two former female agents, Kate and Sandy, to just keep an eye on the place and report any activity, as well as on Tick.  Tick’s twin brother comes to visit him to try to get Tick back into living.  To make things interesting, Lawrence Tyler, Kate’s former supervisor, is pretty much hated by his colleagues who are trying to get him kicked out of the DEA because he mistreats people and is a glory hound, taking credit for the successes of others.  The dialogue between Lawrence and Kate is entertaining.

I enjoyed this book because of the humor, the intriguing storyline with the investigation into the crime, and the dynamics between Lawrence and his colleagues.  The parrot was funny and the romance helped balance out the intensity of the blackmail and human trafficking.  This would be a great beach read!

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during March to the American Cancer Society.