I Feel So Unnecessary

 * I received a kindle copy from the authors in exchange for an honest review. Formats: Paperback Kindle  Nook 280 pages Publisher: EditPros LLC (2012) First Edition Synopsis: "Where Have All the Pop Stars Gone? -- Volume 2" tells the true life stories of 21 singers and musicians who achieved fame in the 1960s as soloists or members of hit-making bands -- the Buckinghams, Bobby Goldsboro, the Moody Blues, Donnie Brooks, Sam & Dave, Ray Stevens, and the Grass Roots. Authors Marti Smiley Childs and Jeff March obtained information about all artists from conversations with the performers themselves, and with family members and close friends of some of the deceased performers. The musical artists and others took part in refining the content to ensure accuracy. The book preserves conversations with three performers who have died since Childs and March spoke with them. These musical performers collectively recorded a total of 118 singles that reached...

A couple of days ago my grandfather had a doctor's appointment. The receptionist said he needed to fill out some new forms-more to add to the "few" he's already got. "He's usually has me sign for him", I said. Do you have power of attorney for him?", she asked. "No, but I've been siging forms for him for about five years now." "Well...the company states that if you don't have power of attorney the patient needs to sign them himself.Can he make a mark or something to show it's him?" "He prefers me to sign them." I decided to quit arguing like a five year old and took the papers. I don't know why I was being difficult (I'm not usually, sometimes-but not always) because she was just doing her job.  A few minutes later I took them back up there and she asked if he signed them OK. I just handed them to her and smiled. I signed them, with him sitting beside me and me explaining the papers to him-j...

Paperback, Kindle, or Nook formats 320 pages Publisher: Harlequin (Feb.2013) * I received a complimentary e-book copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Critically acclaimed author Sophie Littlefield brings the 1940s to life in this intense account of innocent Japanese-Americans moved to the Manzanar prison camp, in GARDEN OF STONES, a harrowing and beautifully woven novel about the vagaries of war, the injustice of racism and a young girl’s search for hope and forgiveness.  IN THE DARK DAYS WAR, A MOTHER MAKES THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE Lucy Takeda is just fourteen years old, living in Los Angeles in 1941, when the bombs rain down on Pearl Harbor. Within weeks, she and her mother, Miyako, are ripped from their home, rounded up—along with thousands of other innocent Japanese-Americans—and taken to the Manzanar prison camp. Buffeted by blistering heat and choking dust, Lucy and Miyako must endure the harsh living c...

Yesterday we had a visitor- a cousin-in-law who also happens to be a pastor. He comes by often. The Husband and the pastor got into a discussion over politics and religion yesterday. Yay. I try to remember my grandmother's advice and not discuss politics or religion, especially with someone I disagree with.The Husband does not adhere to that rule. As usual voices got a little louder. I was sitting there muttering "good grief" under my breath every few seconds. wishing they'd shut up. The pastor went to the bathroom and during that time I gave The Husband The Look. Did it work? Nope. So...I decided to take a shower hoping by the time I got done they would have run out of steam. (Get it? shower-steam. Oh, nevermind.) I was wrong, though. The monkeys were still chattering away by the time I got done. Woo Whee. So I decided to escape to rows of cheap tacky goodness. That's right- I went to the Dollar Store. What's your thoughts on discussing politics and reli...

  Format: Kindle 290 pages Publisher: John A.Heldt (February 2013)  * The author sent me a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.     Synopsis: Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In THE SHOW, the sequel to THE MINE, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.   My Review: A ...

What would you do when a germaphobic woman moves in with a relative with no concept of germ theory? Well...if you're me you have a nervous breakdown every other day. "Oohh,Oooh, Ooh!" (Think Daffy Duck) "There's raw hamburger on the counter.", I said. " Just wipe it off", Mom said. "OOOOOOOH!OOOOOOH!OOOOH!" "You can't leave raw hamburger on the counter, it spreads germs", I said. "I'll clean it up.", he exclaimed. "Uh huh." Guess who got it up? Not him. I later sprayed the whole kitchen down with disinfectant and then took a bath in hand sanitizer. A few days later he fixed hamburgers again. This time he opened the pack with his pocket knife, put the knife back in his pocket, put the papers holding the salmonella patties on the stove and proceeded to touch surfaces with food poison fingers until I told him he needed to wash his hands. He then ran them under the water for about 30 second...

Scott on Justin Bieber: Who is that on the radio? Me: That's Justin Beaver. Him: THAT'S Justin Beaver? I thought it was Keshia or somebody. Me: Nope, that's him. He's like 18 and his voice hasn't changed yet. He still sounds like a girl. Scott: Geez, he get his b*lls cut off or something? We're going party like it's 3012...what the freak? At least Prince got it right-partying like it's 1999, I guess Beaver didn't get the reference or something. Now who's that, is that Keshia? Me: That's Nikki Minaj...one of those interchangeable weird girl singers. Scott: This is a fun song, I wish I were high.

Formats: Kindle Nook 203 pages Publisher:  TKA Distribution (November 29, 2012) * I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.  Synopsis: Underachiever Minette "Mini" Monroe has long dreamt of how much better life would be if only she were in charge of the world, said world being the independent bookstore in Westport, CT, where she's worked for the past half dozen years. After her beloved boss Colin Quimby is murdered, Mini gets her wish and also gets a chance to solve the case, aided by hot young Officer Michael "Mickey" Maus. Despite his unfortunate nickname - would any woman really voluntarily become part of Mini and Mickey Maus? - Mini takes a shine to him, but there's no real time for romance, not when Mini has her hands full dealing with Colin's viper's nest full of ex-wives, offspring, former business partners and current business rivals, all of whom had good reason to want to see Colin dead. W...

Mother dear does not like to take medicine. I can't really blame her...I don't like to take medicine either. However, she has some pretty serious medical conditions such as bladder problems and rheumatoid arthritis, so it's important that she takes them on a regular basis. She doesn't. She'll take the med to help her occasionally. Yeah, that'll work. She also doesn't inform her doctors of what she'd doing and what's she's not doing. I however do...she doesn't like that. I've informed her she needs to tell her doctors everything and her doctors have said she needs to take her medicine every day for it to help. Still she doesn't...and then complains of not feeling well. So, I have decided to get one of those cat medicine dispensers...the ones where you put the pill in the end, push the plunger, and the pill shoots into the cat's mouth and down it's throat. I can see me now, "Here Mommy, that's a good girl. Let's t...

Formats: Kindle  Nook Paperback  377 pages Publisher: InGenius Books: Second Revised Edition edition (November 25, 2012) * I received a complimentary copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis:   The year is 2005. The Congress has just approved the war in Iraq and many New Yorkers are fed up with the American dream and thinking of fleeing the country. Kitty Roman is one of them. She is disenchanted with the superficiality of the news industry in which she works, and with her many affairs, which always elude real love. She packs to return to her native Europe, yet, a last minute chance encounter with an eccentric, overly optimistic artist, Desert Rose makes her embark impulsively on the trip of her lifetime -- to the West Coast -- that will unexpectedly spiral into chaos. The accidental odd couple takes us on a fascinating and sometimes hilarious journey through the heart of the American Dream, from New York, filled with in...

Kindle  Nook 44 pages Publisher: Viking (Jan. 29, 2013) I was given a complimentary copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis:   An eSpecial! From New York Times bestselling author Ann B. Ross, a delightful story in which Miss Julia discovers the joy of giving and receiving gifts—and just in time for Valentine’s Day. Featuring the beloved stars of the Miss Julia novels—Luanne, Lillian, Hazel Marie, and of course, Miss Julia herself—Miss Julia's Gift is a funny and moving meditation on love, marriage, and the purpose of gift-giving. Miss Julia finds herself reminiscing about her first year of marriage to Sam Murdoch. Everything seemed perfect—alarmingly so. Miss Julia feared that Sam would morph from a sweet and loveable man into a replica of her loathsome first husband, the boring and deceitful Wesley Lloyd Springer. Even Sam's adorable habit of giving her gifts for all holidays and occasions—no matter how minor...