I found out this morning that I snagged a copy of "Have You Found Her: A Memoir" by Janice Erlbaum from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program . I am looking forward to reading this!

Stars: *****

I recieved this book for review from Random House.
Wow. Received for review and I’m so glad. This is similar to A Far Cry From Home but mostly the story of one girl instead of many. I have not read Girlbomb which is the author’s story of herself homeless.

Peter Robinson

Advance Reading Copy

372 pages

I had never read anything by Peter Robinson before I snagged this ARC in the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. I am pleased to say that I have found another author that I enjoy reading.

I was able to complete another book yesterday which brings my total for January to eight. I am pretty happy with that. I managed three chunksters in January. However, my challenge reading got sidetracked a bit by some of the ARCs that I received. For the most part, I have enjoyed them so I don't mind. I will try to catch up on my challenges in February. Here's what I read:

I have completed the Pub'08 Challenge! I have been fortunate to receive several ARCs of books published in '08. For the most part, I have enjoyed them all. Here's what I read:
**Click on the title for reviews.**

Margaret Cezair-Thompson
394 pages

Read for: LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program

From the Publisher:

I haven't participated in BTT lately, not because of my lack of internet access but because I didn't have anything to say for the topics. But this week I'm back.

"What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book
published in 2007?(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007
don’t count.)

What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new
book published in 2007?(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007
don’t count.)

And, do “best of” lists influence your reading?"

I didn't know that when I made my TSS post last week that not only would I not finish The Translator last Sunday, I wouldn't even finish it last week. I had such high hopes for my reading schedule last week too but the real world intervened.

I did finally finish today though. What a powerful book this was!

Daoud Hari
200 pages

Reason for Reading: LibraryThing Early Reviewers title, Pub '08 Challenge.

For those of us living in the United States, the suffering that goes on in other parts of the world is unimaginable. Darfur is one of the places where such suffering takes place. Genocide is occurring there and military power is constantly shifting. The reasons for this are complicated. However, this book contains an appendix that helps to explain it.

Red Rage by Brigitte Blobel (Translated by Rachel Ward)
The Christmas Revolution by Barbara Cohen
Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert
Baby Be Mine by Diane Fanning
Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum
Leaving Simplicity by Claire Carmichael
Looking for Juliette by Janet Taylor Lisle
Nim's Island by Wendy Orr
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

Total: 11
Fiction: 6
Non-Fiction: 5
Best Book: Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Least Favourite Book: Looking for Juliette by Janet Taylor Lisle

Total Page Numbers: 2400

Lisa Samson
325 pages
Library Book

From Barnes & Noble -"Heather Curridge has it all, and she loves her stuff. But every year she thinks there must be more to life--she must be made for more than this.
Heather is coming unhinged, and people are starting to notice. What's wrong with a woman who has everything, and yet still feels miserable inside?
Yet when Heather wrecks her Suburban and spends the summer with two Quaker spinsters and a crusty nun in a downtown homeless shelter, she suddenly finds herself at a crossroads.

Thomas H. Cook
292 pages

Reason for Reading- Book Awards Challenge, Edgar Award Winner

Henry Griswald is a moody, solitary boy whose father is the Headmaster of Chatham School. He dreams of life beyond his existence in the village of Chatham but has no idea that his life and the lives of those around him will be irrevocably changed by the events that take place in Chatham and at Black Pond in 1927.

I had some difficulty getting into this book. I am not exactly sure why. I enjoyed the author's writing style and I loved how the details of the story are handed out slowly making you want to learn just a little more. I can only attribute it to the fact that I am in a mid-winter funk. I am very glad I persevered though because I did enjoy it in the end.

Michael Connelly
391 pages
Read for: The Book Awards Challenge

Terry McCaleb used to be a top FBI profiler but the stress has taken it's toll on him. He suffers a heart attack which leaves him him in need of a heart transplant. He receives his heart transplant and is recovering at his boat when Graciela, the sister of his heart donor, shows up and asks him to help her find her sister's killer. Things get twisty from there.

Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or . . . do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking to?? (grin))

Harrison, Sands, Liu, Pettersson
374 pages
On my Bookshelves

This book is a series of 4 short stories:

I finished Mercy Falls which was my last scheduled book of 2007. It was another great book but I liked Blood Hollow more. I will be posting a review soon but I don't know if I will have much online time today.

Susan Gregg Gilmore
293 pages

Reason for Reading: ARC, Pub '08 Challenge

Catherine Grace Cline was 6 years old on the hot summer day that her mama went to pick berries, fell into the river, and died. The indelible influence of growing up in a small town without a mother makes Catherine long for the day that she can leave Ringgold, Georgia behind her.

When I received the ARC of this book I thought I was in for a fun, light-hearted read. It was that. It was charming, humorous and fun but it was also touching. The evolution of Catherine's relationship to her sister, father, Sunday School teacher, and next door neighbor, Gloria Jean made reading the whole book worthwhile. However, I enjoyed getting to know the residents of Ringgold, warts and all, and I enjoyed the way that the author drew the story to a close. (4/5)

This Sunday morning has been a little more hectic than most but this afternoon promises to be a quiet one for reading.

I only managed to finish one title this week. I had been looking forward to reading it for quite a while since I enjoy the urban fantasy genre from time to time for a little fun & light reading.

Kate Morton
468 pages
Reason for Reading : I received this ARC from The Barnes & Noble First Look Book Club.

Back of the Book:
"Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline.

Although I've read all my life and I've been reviewing books for a few years, I only got serious with my book blogging at the beginning of July. Until then I didn't record all the books I read so a good book may be missing although if I don't remember it at all, I guess it probably wasn't a five star book.

So of the books recorded here in 2007, I rated 25 books at 5 stars.

I started doing monthly reviews in July and these are the best books of each month:

July - The Everything Toddler Book by Linda Sonna Ph.D.
August - Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier
September - Marley and Me by John Grogan
October - Black Creek Crossing by John Saul
November - The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning
December - Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

However not all of these made it to my top 10. So without furthur ado, here is my top 10 books that I read in 2007 (not necessarily published in 2007.)

Amal Rifa'i and Odelia Ainbinder
150 pages

Reason for Reading:
Triple 8 Challenge, Book Around the World, Expanding Horizons Challenge.

Amal Rifa'i(a pseudonym used for her protection) and Odelia Ainbinder are teenagers who met through a student exchange program to Switzerland. Amal is Palestinian and Odelia is Israeli. Their first meeting wasn't great but through the mediation of a foreign correspondant, they were able to start a frank discussion about what it is like for each side in the conflict that rages in their homeland.

William Kent Krueger344 pages Read for the Book Awards Challenge. On the Flap:"Back on the beat as sheriff of Tamarack County, Cork O'Connor has already seen his beautiful Northwoods jurisdiction through an eventful summer.

Kristin Hannah
479 pages

Reason for Reading: LT Early Reviewers ARC, Pub '08 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Chunkster Challenge.

From the Publisher:

About 40 or so pages into my current book, Gate of the Sun, I was still having trouble with feeling like I wanted to avoid reading. I tend to do this if I am not enjoying a book and it takes me a while to figure out why I am playing stupid computer games rather than reading.

Now, I honestly don't feel that there is anything wrong with the book. I am still interested in reading it at some point. It's just not what I am in the mood for right now. However, I have been one that has a hard time setting a book aside and I found myself in the same boat with this title. This is a book I am reading for a challenge as well as for pleasure and I wanted to push through so I could cross it off the list. Not the best way to plan your reading adventures and it certainly doesn't sound pleasurable, does it?

Khaled Hosseini
372 pages
Library Book

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I just read "The Kite Runner" a few months ago and I thought that it was an incredible book. Wonderful as engaging fiction, yet with an amazing amount of information packed in there also.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical that I would like this book as well as I liked "The Kite Runner" since the second book by an author, oftentimes, doesn't stand up to the hype generated by the first.

Stars: ****1/2
I received a copy of this book for review. I also read it for the Pub in '08 challenge.

Summary: In “My Soul to Keep,” Dylan Foster is once again caught in a bizarre and twisted chain of events. A parent’s worst nightmare comes true and a birthday party that should be filled with joy is turned awry when a little boy close to Dylan’s heart is snatched from a local park. With little evidence to point the way, local law enforcement is led through a chain of mystifying events that seem to go no where. With the help of an intuitive six-year-old girl who is eerily connected to the missing boy, Dylan follows a path of tantalizing clues to the truth. With the sinister presence of Peter Terry never far behind, Dylan is led to a place she never expected – or wanted – to go.

I have several books competing for my attention lately. A look at my sidebar indicates that I currently have three books going and I am not close to finishing any of them. They are all very good. However, I have decided to feed my latest obsession and finding myself in a bookstore yesterday I purchased two other books that have been consuming my attention.

Barbara Delinsky
317 pages

Reason for Reading: ARC from publisher, Pub '08 Challenge

Back of the Book:
"Deborah Monroe and her daughter, Grace, are driving home from a party when their car hits a man running in the dark. Grace was at the wheel, but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive, determined to shoulder the blame for the accident. Her decision then turns into a deception that takes on a life of its own and threatens the special bond between mother and daughter."

My Thoughts:
I found this to be a very interesting story of the complexity of family relationships. It deftly illustrates how no decision we make is without repercussions for our family members.
Deborah chooses to shoulder the responsibility for Grace's actions and inadvertently touches off a chain reaction of events that leads to family confessions about pressure, expectations and what it means to be accepted and loved in a family.

The Kobzar Literary Award is a huge, $25,000 biennial award which "recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts through the author's presentation of a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit." How did I miss this year's announcement? I watch for these things! But thanks to The Savvy Reader, I see that a book I really enjoyed recently, The Ladies Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer, has won this year's award.