"Small Town Sinners" by Melissa Walker (UPDATED)

Melissa Walker does a beautiful job of depicting a 16-yr.-old Pastor’s daughter’s struggles of making her faith personal in Small Town Sinners.  This is a teen romance novella but also a book that explores faith, religion, friendship and love.  The story centers around “Hell House” which is a church production done around Halloween as an evangelistic outreach—sort of a “Christian” haunted house alternative.  I think teens would enjoy it and find it thought-provoking.  It primarily focuses on drama and teenage pregnancy while touching on domestic violence, homosexuality and suicide.   

 

I liked this book okay but think teens would like it more than I did.  Although Lacey is the main character, my favorite character was Ty, her boyfriend.  I liked that there were no sex scenes in this book and thought it was well written. 

(Karen's review 11-10-11)

 Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker is an excellent read!  It is about teenagers in a small town putting on a "Hell House" play experience.  I really enjoyed this book a lot.  The theme is friendship and being there for each other.  I liked all the scripture references, and having God in this made it that much better.  Lacey, the main character questions her faith.  It's a great read for teens, but I think anyone would enjoy this book.
(Gerard's review)

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

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"The Puppy Diaries" by Jill Abramson

The Puppy Diaries is absolutely a wonderful book about raising a puppy.   Jill's old dog, Buddy, passed on to the Rainbow Bridge.  Jill wasn't sure she was ready for another dog right away, but when it was time, she picked out Scout.  If you are a dog lover, you will enjoy this book!  It is very funny at times and you will see yourself in the struggles that Jill and her husband experienced.  There are also some great tips on how to handle a puppy.  I LOVED THIS BOOK and think you will too!
(Gerard's review)

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

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“The Crossing” is a complicated mystery about a 10-yr-old unsolved murder case that is re-opened.  Claudia saw her English teacher, a friend, killed on the bus after a football game.  The teacher shares her last thoughts with the reader right before she dies which was an interesting way of giving clues about the killer.  Claudia had nightmares and panic attacks so her husband, the D.A., decided to re-open the investigation and found things that were overlooked. 

This story attempts to show the depravity of man and God’s forgiveness and unconditional love.  Some people repented and sought help and others didn’t with tragic consequences. 

I didn’t really get invested in any of the characters and didn’t care much for this one.  It moved along pretty good, I was interested to find out who the killer was (although that didn't make sense to me) so I guess that's why I didn't care for it much.  It just wasn't as good as I expected it would be.
(Karen's review)

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

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Tuesday Teaser: "The Crossing" and "Finding Danny"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

This is what happens when someone leads a secret life. One day, someone has enough of the duplicity and storms a bus of innocents to punish the guilty.

Taken from page 78 of The Crossing by Serita Jakes.

Gerard's:

"NOOOOO!" I screamed, my feet accelerating at a speed they had never reached before. Then I sprung high and wide, every muscle in my body focused, like a cheetah onto its prey.

Taken from page 54 of Finding Danny by Linzi Glass.  (See the previous post for my review of this one.)

Our cat Spunky Doodle (the black and white one) invites you to Right Where We Belong to see her video of having some Fun Before Work.

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Dog On It" by Spencer Quinn (UPDATED)

Two Paws Way Up For Chet (25 stars)

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn is a fun book to read. It is told by Chet, a trained K-9 dog who helps Bernice, a private eye, investigate a missing person report. You are just going to love Chet's perspective on things! It goes fast and you're into it quickly. The best thing is that there is going to be another book with Chet and Bernice. You can bet I'll be reading that one too.
(Gerard's review 4/1/09)

Karen's thoughts (11/5/11):

I liked this one because the dog tells the story from his point of view.  Chet, the dog, has a wonderful relationship with Bernie, his owner and they make a good team in solving the case.  This is different from the usual mysteries because the reader finds out what happens along with the dog who knows way before Bernie.  Parts are very sad--the dog got abducted, mistreated, and wound up at a shelter where he almost was put to sleep for good!  This is a quick fun read if you like dogs. 

The Dog Who Knew Too Much is another one we read by this author which was good too!  

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