Friday Fill-Ins #69

1. When I fell in love I knew he was "the one"!
2. It's wonderful when the flowers bloom and it heats up outside!
3. Oh no! The internet connection is down, I will frantically run around trying to fix it before I realize that I can't at the moment and will then delve into a book.
4. House is the craziest tv show ever. (But I love it!)
5. Cheese and macaroni make a great meal!
6. I don't really care about having a garden.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing up all the packing, tomorrow my plans include moving to Paducah and Sunday, I want to relax, but I know I will be back in Herrin cleaning up our apartment to finish moving out!

Dark Hollow by John Connolly

Dark Hollow
by John Connolly

Copyright: 2000

Pages: 504

Rating: 3/5

Read: April 18-22, 2008

Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: I dream dark dreams.

Charlie Parker returns to the house his grandfather raised him in. But he cannot escape the feeling that something is not quite right when a good friend of his and her baby are brutally murdered. He sets out to find out who was behind the murder. But he's still reeling from the murder of his own wife and daughter the year before. His emotions will undoubtedly get the better of him from time to time in the chase for the madman.

I'm going to be honest. I was not really impressed by this book. Maybe it was because I was trying to read it when I was trying to get everything situated for our big move to Kentucky. Whatever the reasoning, I just didn't care for it. I had trouble concentrating and it took me way too long to finish it. I had read The Killing Kind last year and loved it, but this one was definitely a disappointment for me.

Finished Challenge - What's in a Name Challenge

I finished my second challenge! Woo! I just finished the What's in a Name Challenge hosted by Annie. This one seemed to be difficult for me. I think I changed every single selection that I had made at the beginning of the year. LOL! Oh well. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, though.

As laid out by the rules, the participants were to read 6 books with different words in the titles. Color, Animal, First Name, Place, Weather Event, and Plant were the words that had to be in the titles.

For this challenge I read:

1. Mary Higgins Clark, Two Little Girls in Blue
2. Tom Coffey, The Serpent Club
3. Erica Spindler, See Jane Die
4. Mark Fuhrman, Murder in Greenwich
5. Iris Johansen, Firestorm
6. Ann Rule, A Rose for her Grave

I believe that the Johansen and Rule books are the only ones that were on my original list. The others I exchanged for some reason or another. LOL. Not quite sure why!! Oh well! I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge. I was able to overlap three of these books with other challenges.

Favorite: See Jane Die (Spindler)
Least Favorite: The Serpent Club (Coffey)

Overall, great challenge Annie!!

A Rose for Her Grave by Ann Rule

A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases: Ann Rule's Crime Files: Vol. 1

Ann Rule

Copyright: 1993

Pages: 513

Rating: 3/5

Read: April 13-17, 2008

Challenge: Triple Eight - True Crime category; What's in a Name - Plant category

First Line: Janis Miranda was a little bit of a thing.

Ann Rule's Crime Files opens up with the story of Randy Roth. Roth was a man who courted, married, killed, and collected insurance on the women he victimized. The way that he appealed to women was amazing! And the way that he demeaned strong, independent women was even more shocking. But that story only takes up the first two-thirds of the book. The rest of the book is spent focusing in on four other true crime cases that Rule covered in the Pacific Northwest. Although Rule is my absolute favorite true crime author, I was disappointed by this one. I think that she does a much better job when she is focused on just one case. The four mini-cases really weren't long enough for her to do them justice. This book was just okay for me. [With this book, I also finish the What's in a Name Challenge. I will be posting a challenge wrap-up shortly.

4th of July by James Patterson

4th of July

by James Patterson

Copyright: 2005

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5

Read: April 7-9, 2008

Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: It was just before 4:00am on a weekday.

Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer finds herself in the defendant's seat after a short car chase which ends fatally. She retreats to her sister's house for privacy before the trial is set to begin. There she is faced with a small town who is in the grips of a string of unsolved, grisly murders. Being the cop, she can't leave things alone and gets involved. Not only is she facing financial ruin in San Francisco, but she is also facing a cold-blooded murderer who will stop at nothing to keep Lindsay from discovering the truth behind the murders.

Another good book in the Women's Murder Club!! This one was not as good as the 3rd Degree, which is the best in the series so far. The middle of this book was a little slow, but the ending ... Oh My Goodness! It was a total shocker! I couldn't believe it, I had no idea who the killer actually was!! I highly recommend this series!!

3rd Degree by James Patterson

3rd Degree

by James Patterson

Copyright: 2004
Pages: 339

Rating: 4/5

Read: April 6-7, 2008

Challenge: Suspense & Thriller Challenge - Terrorist thriller

First Line: It was a clear, calm, lazy April morning, the day the worst week of my life began.

In this third installment of the Women's Murder Club, terrorists are at work on Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer's streets. After more and more people are murdered for the "cause," Lindsay calls a meeting with the girls. But the investigation will put one of the Women's Club members in grave danger.

This book was amazing!! I really, really enjoyed it!! It's almost heartbreaking in places. And the ending is truly shocking. I highly recommend this book. This series is great!! This book is definitely the best one in the series so far!!

'A' is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

'A' is for Alibi

by Sue Grafton

Copyright: 1982

Pages: 215

Rating: 3/5

Read: April 1-3, 2008

Challenge: Celebrate the Author Challenge; Triple Eight - First in a Series Category

First Line: My name is Kinsey Millhone

Private investigator, Kinsey Millhone vaguely remembers the case of the murder of slick divorce attorney Laurence Fife, some 8 or 9 years previously. Fife's wife, Nikki, was tried and convicted of the murder and sentenced to 8 years in prison. Now Nikki is out on parole and comes to Kinsey to prove that she did not kill Laurence. Kinsey is reluctant to take the case, eight years cold and seemingly solved. But she takes it thinking there is no way Nikki would bring this up again if she was indeed guilty. But what Kinsey does not expect to find along the way is a second eight-year-old murder and a brand new murder.

I had read part of this book a few years ago and decided to pick it up again since I now own most of the series (I think I'm missing K, O and T). Overall, I was a little disappointed in this. I felt that the writing was a little lacking. Of course, it's hard to write a novel in 200 short pages. However, I am indeed going to continue this series and can't wait to get to 'B'.

Author Andrew Britton dies...

Okay, so I'm a little bit late. Apparently, Andrew Britton died on March 18. I recently read his book The Assassin. I enjoyed it and am upset that I will only be able to enjoy the two other books that he published before his unexpected death at the youthful age of 27. You can read about his death (again, sorry I'm so late in discovering this!) in this Raleigh Chronicle article.

Friday Fill-Ins #66

1. Tonight I saw a lot of lightning. (Actually it was last night, lol)

2. Any song with a really good beat makes me wanna dance!

3. Splitting a few appetizers between friends always makes for a great time!

4. My childhood best friend who I lost touch with is someone I'd like to get to know better.

5. The smell of rain reminds me so much of springtime!

6. He smiled and that made it all better.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to packing, tomorrow my plans include Tanya's wedding and Sunday, I want to move some stuff to our new place!

BTT - Lit-Ra-Chur

• When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?)
• Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

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When someone says "literature," I generally take it to mean the classics. I should probably broaden my definition, but that's really the first thing I think of when I hear the word "literature."

LOL! Um, no. I do not read my definition of "literature" : classics. Some of the classics are okay, others I just cannot get past the language. I've had Les Miserables on my nightstand for 4 months and have only made it to page 27. (I officially gave up last week). Now, give me a classic like Huckleberry Finn or To Kill a Mockingbird and I'm fine. But I really don't like the really super classic classics. If that makes any sense?! Haha!