I Feel So Unnecessary

Even though I am on the cusp of middle age I am averse to sticking my hand into dead animal's body cavities. So in preparing a hen to bake I told Scott: "I may need you in a few minutes because I'm not sticking my hand up this chicken's butt." "I understand." So in a few minutes I called for Scott: " I need you." "Ok." But then I gave myself a pep talk, did some deep breathing, and plunged in. " That's ok. I did it. Woo Hoo I'm a big girl." " Yay."

The Count of Monte Cristo as Retold by Sherlock Holmes By: Holy Ghost Writer 566 pages Genre: Fiction Publisher: Illuminated Publications Limited Publication Date: July 4, 2013 Get it here: Amazon B&N Synopsis: The Count of Monte Cristo as Retold by Sherlock Holmes begins with a condensed retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, related through the voice of Sherlock Holmes. It includes exhilarating new adventures, characters, and ideas, carrying the reader through book I leading to book II and with book III promising an ever-expanding new series based on the classic. The author consulted the original French as well as the oldest English translations of The Count of Monte Cristo , but the style of the retellling, in the distinctive voice of Sherlock Holmes, constitutes a new work. Books II and III, soon to follow, are wholly original sequels although they include characters from the original classic. The author of The Count of Monte Cr...

Dream of the Dead West End Murders Book One By: M.G. Scarsbrook Genre: Mystery 270 pages Publisher: Createspace Publication Date: November 28, 2013 Get it at: Amazon B&N Synopsis: A WEALTHY THEATRE PRODUCER IS FOUND DEAD. A RARE, CORROSIVE POISON HAS BURNED THROUGH HIS STOMACH. NO ONE KNOWS WHY. Enter DI Jack Ravenshaw. A young, talented officer with a secret: he belongs to England's most famous dynasty of actors. When Scotland Yard uncovers his hidden past, his acting experience, and his formidable connections, he becomes the perfect choice to investigate the producer's killing. Against his wishes, he must return to London's West End. Cast back into one of the most vibrant - and violent - areas of the country, Ravenshaw is quickly surrounded by sexy performers, shadowy assistants, and powerful investors. Finding the truth seems almost impossible. Devious suspects lie at every turn. Corrupt officers sabotage his inquiry. Even his mind tricks ...

Yesterday as I was On my Wal-mart to our local friendly neighborhood Wal-mart. As I pulled onto the highway I heard a "THUNK" and when I looked back my mother's kitten was on the road. It's leg appeared hurt but it looked to be scrambling toward the side of the road. When I saw it I immediately turned around with "ohshitohshit, please don't be dead" going though my head. But it wasn't there. I got out, called for it, and drove around the area several times looking for it. Still didn't find it. So... a little while later I finally got up the courage to tell Mom. " Let's go look for it," she said. " But Mom I've looked and looked for it and couldn't find it." " Let's just go look." So we went back to the spot and didn't see it. Mom told me, " Let's go look one more time and call it." So we did. " Here kitty, here kitty." MEOW. MEOW. MEOW. " I hear it!",...

Like Moonlight at Low Tide By: Nicole Quigley 256 pages Genre: YA Christian Fiction Publisher: Zondervan Publication Date:9/23/12 Get it at: Zondervan Amazon B&N Christianbook  * I received this book through BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis:   In Nicole Quigley's debut YA novel, sixteen-year-old Melissa Keiser returns to her hometown expecting to face the same bullies who called her the ugliest girl in school. Instead her new appearance sparks interest from the popular crowd who made her miserable. When Melissa has a chance to escape her rough home situation and find the life she's dreamed of, she must choose between a longtime crush, a new friend, and the brother who doesn't belong. Melissa's choices may have dire consequences. My Thoughts: This book captured my attention after the first few paragraphs. The plot was paced well and the author captured the voices of teenagers perfectly. She tackled social issues ...

Practice to Deceive By: Ann Rule Genre: Non-fiction: True Crime 353 pages Publisher: Gallery Books Publication Date: October 8, 2013 Buy it here: Amazon   B&N   iTunes   Synopsis: Nestled in Puget Sound, Whidbey Island is a gem of the Pacific Northwest; accessible only by ferry and the soaring Deception Pass Bridge, it is known for its artistic communities and stunning natural beauty. Life there is low-key, insular, and the island’s year-round residents tend to know one another’s business. But when the blooddrenched body of Russel Douglas was discovered the day after Christmas in his SUV in a hidden driveway near Whidbey’s most exclusive mansions, the whole island was shocked. A single bullet between his eyes was the cause of death, but no one could imagine who among them could plot such a devious, cold-blooded crime. At first, police suspected suicide, tragically common at the height of the holiday season. But when they found no gun in o...

Christmas at the Homeplace ( The Homeplace Saga Series) By: William Leverne Smith Genre: Historical  Fiction 154 pages Publisher: Vision to Action Publishing Publication Date: October 25, 2013  Get it at: Amazon   B&N   Synopsis: Will they all be home for Christmas? For the first time since their father died, Karen (Bevins) Winslow is expecting all her children in Oak Springs for Christmas 1996. This Christmas of homecomings offers some surprises as "The Homeplace Saga" continues. Will Staff Sergeant Travis Inman arrive home from Bosnia in time to see his baby daughter for the first time at Christmas? Will a life-long friend of the Winslow family move to Oak Springs permanently? Does Peter have a son? The boy's mother insists he does. How would this change the inter-generational dynamics in the family businesses in the Oak Creek valley of the southern Missouri Ozarks? Learn more by reading this latest addition to this continuing family saga. ...

                                        Homecomings are at the Heart of “Christmas at the Homeplace” Several “homecomings” are at the heart of the stories in “Christmas at the Homeplace.” Are homecomings important in your family? They sure are in ours. I am writing this on Veteran’s Day. Many of the stories I see online and on the television focus on Veteran’s returning from overseas service for the holidays. One of these stories is a core story in “Christmas at the Homeplace.” Sergeant Travis Inman has been away from his family, serving a tour of duty in Bosnia, during 1996. His unit is supposed to get home before Christmas, but will they, is the question being asked by his family in Oak Springs. He has a young son, Zach, who is anxious to see his father, again. But, he also has a dau...

A Basket of Trouble ( #3 in the Claire Hanover series) By: Beth Groundwater Genre: Mystery 312 pages Publisher: Midnight Ink Publication Date: November 8, 2013 Buy it at: Amazon   B&N   Midnight Ink   Synopsis When gift basket designer Claire Hanover saddles up for the opening event of her brother Charley's new riding stable, the last thing she expects is for a death to ruin the festivities. But before the grand opening can even begin Kyle Mendoza, one of the stable hands, is found dead in a horse stall. At first it appears that the horse trampled him, until it's discovered someone killed Kyle before dragging him into the stall. Charley's troubles worsen when a rival stable owner starts wrangling up his clients and Kyle’s family decides to sue him for negligence. Claire is determined to find the real murderer before her brother's business is put out to pasture and before the killer strikes again. My Review Received a c...

My grandfather likes smelly stuff. A LOT. Here is my reaction to it. " Mom. Please do not give Bobo anymore smelly stuff. He uses too much. He puts it ALL OVER." " I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd do that." " Really? He has so much on I can taste it. I had to open the windows to air the house out. It smells like the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas up there."

Tinseltown Riff By: Shelly Frome 244 pages Genre: Fiction: Action/Adventure Publisher: Sunbury Press Publication Date: March 2013 Get It Here: Amazon   Sunbury Press   B&N     Synopsis: Tinseltown Riff centers on Ben Prine, a thirty-something hack screenwriter who, on a Labor Day weekend, finds himself in desperate straits. Latching on to a dubious last-minute opportunity, he unwittingly embarks on a collision course with a Montana tracker connected with a Vegas mob; an odyssey which culminates in a fateful showdown on an abandoned Western movie. My Thoughts: * received this free in exchange for an honest review. This book is filled with a quirky cast of characters with a screwball plot. But underneath it has a compelling message. A fun read.     About the Author: Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former pr...

The Litter of the Law By: Rita Mae Brown 256 pages Genre: Mystery Publisher: Bantam Publication Date: October 22, 2013 Purchase it here: Amazon   B&N   Synopsis: Autumn has descended and crops are being harvested all over Crozet, Virginia, ideal conditions for a scenic drive for Harry and husband Fair. Bucolic views are all well and good, but Harry’s nose for trouble leads her straight to a cornfield’s macabre scarecrow—an all too real murder victim that frightens all but the noisy crows. This accountant’s gruesome death is only the first of many disturbing events in this normally pastoral corner of the world. While Harry tends her beloved grapes and sunflowers, a killer edges closer—as does Harry’s protective menagerie of animals. Halloween’s approach brings with it bona fide terror and a beloved local tradition that threatens to become fatal. Rooting out the guilty in the treacherous center of a lucrative conspiracy requires Harry’s farmer...

Aimless Love By: Billy Collins Genre: Poetry 288 pages Publisher: Random House Publication Date: October 22, 2013 Purchase the book here: Amazon   B&N   Random House   Synopsis: From the two-time Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in a decade. Aimless Love combines fifty new poems with selections from four previous books— Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which combines plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard on every page, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience. His work is featured in top literary magazines such as The New Yorker , Poetry , and The Atlantic , and he is a strong draw at reading venues across the country. Appearing regularly in The Best American Poetry series, his poems appeal to readers and live a...

Last night I was not feeling well. I was alternating between hot and cold. My forehead also felt hot to the touch so I asked the husband: " I feel hot. Will you check either my forehead or cheek and see what you think?" " You're on fire!", he exclaimed. " Wrong cheek Dr. Perv."

 Mom and I went to Wal-mart recently. Due to her surgery and still being weak she decided to use a motorized scooty chair for the first time. This was her experience: " It won't go." " Here let me try," I said. " NOOOO!" " Go, go Git up!" " Mom, it's not a horse." " Go, go. Move", she says as she kicks it on the sides. " Mom. Mom, quit kicking it. It's not a horse."

The Girl You Left Behind By: JoJo Moyes Genre: Literature/Fiction 384 pages Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Publication Date: August 2013 Get it at: Amazon   B&N   Penguin   Add it on: Goodreads   Synopsis: * I received a free copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*   Jojo Moyes’s bestseller, Me Before You , catapulted her to wide critical acclaim and has struck a chord with readers everywhere. “Hopelessly and hopefully romantic” ( Chicago Tribune ), Moyes returns with another irresistible heartbreaker that asks, “Whatever happened to the girl you left behind?” France, 1916: Artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his young wife, Sophie, to fight at the front. When their small town falls to the Germans in the midst of World War I, Edouard’s portrait of Sophie draws the eye of the new Kommandant. As the officer’s dangerous obsession deepens, Sophie will risk everything—her family, her reputation, and her l...

The Road From Gap Creek By: Robert Morgan 333 pages Genre: Literature/Fiction Publisher: Algonquin Books Publication Date: August 27, 2013 Purchase it here: Amazon   B&N   Workman   I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of America’s most acclaimed writers journeys to the land on which he has staked a literary claim to paint an indelible portrait of a family in a time of unprecedented change. When Robert Morgan began the saga of the Richards family in his novel Gap Creek, the book became an Oprah Book Club Selection, attracting hundreds of thousands of readers to its beguiling story of a marriage begun with love and hope but beset by chaos at the turn of the twentieth century. Now, in a masterful work of historical fiction, he introduces a new generation of this close-knit family in a captivating story that looks ahead to the uncertainties of the future, the struggle ...