Wise Blood:

Wise Blood by: Flannery O' Connor
Fiction: religion, 248 pages
Book Count: 44

First, a warning for people that do not know this author. This author was a Southerner that wrote about Southerners during the 1940's -50's. She also explored issues of race in her works, so it includes characters that say things that can only be said by rap stars today.

The story itself is odd and haunting.  It is a story of many people who are lost, not usually physically but in the very essence of their being.  It is also a social commentary of many things, using a combination of comedy, tragedy,and drama to make the readers think much more then anyone in the book does. It is the type of book that is hard to write about.

The Saint Louis de Montfort Collection:

The Saint Louis de Montfort Collection By: St. Louis de Montfort et al, Ed. by: Catholic Way Publishing
Non-fiction: e-book, religion, biography, c.762 pages
Book Count: 37-43 (a 7 book collection)

This book is a collection of books by and about St. Louis de Montfort.  It includes all of his major works as well as a biography of his life.  There are some issues for readers in this edition of the books. One there are a number of passages that have not been translated from the Latin and there is no in text translation for them. (And no Le Ann I can not translate them all for you.) Also there are a number of typos in the books.  Most of them are small and easy to tell what it should be, but towards the end of the book there are more typos and a few cause the passage to mean something different/opposite of what it should read.  But given the small price I still would recommend it to people that are interested in the works of St. Louis de Montfort.

Al Capone Does My Homework:

Al Capone Does My Homework By: Gennifer Choldenko
Fiction: children’s, historical 212 pages
Book Count: 36

This is book three in the series. Click here for book two's info.  In this book the dad gets a promtion, thier house sets on fire and Al Capone "helps" with homework. 

The Gnome and Mrs. Meyers:

The Gnome and Mrs. Meyers By: Susan Klein
Fiction: E-book

This is a light read about a middle aged widow who wins the job of being the first human in an gnome exchange program.  A gnome comes to live with her and they have related adventures.  It is a fun story, but clearly is self published and includes sketches at the end of each chapter.

The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs:

The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs By: Cynthia DeFelice
Fiction: Mystery, Children's, Audio Book

This is the second book in a series about a young girl, Allie, that can see ghosts.  You do not need to read the first book in the series to enjoy this book.  In this book Allie,  is haunted by a younger good looking man, who seams to have something to do with the old, scary lunch lady at her school.  It also is connected with fires.

3.75 hrs 3 CDs

Dave Barry I'll Mature When I'm Dead:

Dave Barry I'll Mature When I'm Dead : Dave Barry's Amazing Tales of Adulthood By: Dave Barry
Non-fiction: Essays, Humor, Biography, Audio Book

These essays are almost all new stories about being any adult.  It includes info o dating, being a parent, technology, and his versions of a couple of famous TV shows and books.

4 hrs. 16 mins. 4CDs

The Shadows:

The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere By: Jacqueline West
Fiction: Children's, Fantasy, Audio Book

When Olive moved into an old Victorian mansion, she knew something was odd.  There were all sorts of old, odd things left over from the last owner, a little old lady that died in the house. There were paintings that just didn't look right, and were glued onto the walls.  And then she found the magic glasses and the talking cats.  She learns that she can explore the paintings, going into them with her glasses, and she learns that there is something sinister behind the house and the paintings, but she has a hard time finding out who and what. 


5 hrs. 30 mins. 5 CDs

Sovereign:

Sovereign The Book of Mortals- Book #3 By: Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee
Fiction: Sci fi/Fantasy, religion, 327 pages
Book Count: 35

The review of the second book in the series can be found here. This book is the ending of the series. 

The book picks up years after book two.  There are only a few Mortals left and they are being hunted by both the Dark Bloods and the Immortals.  Then one of them make a virus that will kill both the Dark Bloods and the Immortals, the only down side is that it could turn them back to what they were before they ever encountered Johnathan. The scientist will not listen to anyone that points out that that will destroy them too, and is going to release the virus no matter what.  Rom runs to Feyn to try to save her and Jordin runs to the desert to find Roland and save the Immortals.

Thank You Notes:

Thank You Notes by: Jimmy Fallon with the writers of Late Night
Non-fiction: Humor 164 pages
Book Count: 34

This book is a series of "letters" written to various things, places, and people in the style of the thank you notes on the show.

Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese:

Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings By: Tenaya Darlington
Non-Fiction: Cooking/Food, 243 pages
Book Count: 33

This book is a guide to artisanal cheeses.  It includes info on the taste, "personality", food to eat with, and wine and beer to drink with each cheese.  It also has info on many cheese makers, the store Di Bruno Bros., recipes using cheese, and other beginner info on cheeses.

Note to Self: The Great Gatsby:

The Great Gatsby By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Fiction: Classics 180 pages
Book Count: 32

Born To Kvetch:

Born To Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods By: Michael Wex
Non-Fiction: Religion 303 pages
Book Count: 31

This book deals with many common Yiddish words and phrases, their meanings, history, and pronunciation.  Do to the nature of the language you also learn about the history of Jews in Europe, the Jewish religion, and Jewish way of thinking.

The Queen is Dead:

The Queen is Dead (The Immortal Empire 2) By: Kate Locke
Fiction: Mystery, Sci-fi/Fantasy 333 pages
Book Count: 30

This book is the second in the series of the book that I reviewed 2 days ago.  In this book Xandra's half brother, Val (same Vamp dad, different courtesan mother) is kidnapped in connection with the group that is running test on half-bloods.  Once again Xandra must work to find him. Although this time she has the help of Vex her werewolf Alpha of a boyfriend, Penny Lane (Val's half sibling who is the best cross-dresser in London and also works at the club he disappeared from), her half sisters, and the goblins, she is still wrapping her head around what she learned about herself in book one.  And not only do unknown aristocrats hate her, the Human League (an anti non human terrorist group) are after her, and she and Queen Victoria aren't all that friendly. 

Better Than Fiction:

Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers Edited By: Don George
Non-fiction: Travel, Memoir 320 pages
Book Count: 29

The title of this book tell you most everything you need to know about this book.  It is 32 true stories about travel that were written by fiction authors. Before each story is a short Bio on each writer including things that they have written in the fiction world.  The stories themselves cover a range of emotions and locations.

God Save the Queen:

God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire 1) By: Kate Locke
Fiction: Mystery, Sci-Fi/Fantasy 348 pages
Book Count: 28

The main premise of this story is that the plague caused changes in the DNA of the royalty. Some became vampires, some werewolves, and some goblins.  Queen Victoria is still on the throne in her 175th year of rule.  She is a vampire, the werewolves live in Scotland and the goblin live in the London underground and are seen more as animals then people.  Most of the people are still humans and there are half-bloods, which work mainly at jobs protecting the vampires and werewolves.   As you can tell this book is alternative history book, that feels a little steampunk at times (their clothing is still Victorianish) but although there are different names for things cars run on gas, computers and cell phones on electricity etc.

The main character is Xandra a half-blood with a vampire duke as a father and a human courtesan who is a carrier of the plague DNA as a mother.  Her half sister (same father different courtesan mother) is taken to Bedlem (with is still a mental hospital in this world) and then kills herself.  Or at least that is the story.  Xandra doesn't believe that she is dead.  First because of her gut feeling, but when she sees the horribly burnt  body she notices that one of the few parts of her body that is still recognizable (her teeth) aren't right.  This sets her up on a mission to find the truth that leads her to find our much more then she wanted to about herself, her family, and the world around her.

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong:

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong By: Prudence Shen & Faith Erin Hicks
Non-fiction: Graphic Novel, YA 280 pages
Book Count: 27

The first thing you need to know about this book is the title on the cover runs out of space and does the curve down to fit it in. So you know it in fact will go wrong.  This story is a twist on the classic nerds vs. jock story.  Both the robotics club and the cheerleaders want the same money for each of their groups. The captain of the basketball team is friends with the leader of the robotics club and dated the captain of the cheerleaders, so he gets stuck in the middle of the argument. First the robotics club leader runs for student president to get the money.  So the cheerleaders sign the basketball captain for president and campaign for him as he won't. Both campaigns get messy and that's when the story takes a surprising turn.

The Henchmen's Book Club:

The Henchmen's Book Club By: Danny King
Fiction: Humor, Literature, Pop Culture, E-book
Book Count: 26

This book is about a British guy who starts a book club.  Sure he works for a secret organization that supplies super villains with their help. Sure he is a henchman, goon, hired thug, etc. He isn't really a bad guy or anything, most of the time he's guarding the vending machines.  In short this book is a humorous spoof of movies like the James Bond series and Arnold Schwarzenegger films. And fact two of his nemeses in the book is a British spy that has to always makes witty comments and innuendos (but don't call him a civil servant) and an American with unusually large muscles who's answer to everything is violence.
 But he only wants to get out of the job alive and with some money, which he only gets if the boss doesn't screw everything up with their need for drama and overly complicated plots.  To pass the time he and some other henchmen start a book club. Then his book club becomes a secret organization with in a secret organization which leads to the dramatic ending.

Other People's Rejection Letters:

Other People's Rejection Letters: Edited By: Bill Shapiro
Non-fiction: 192 pages
Book Count: 25

As the title points out this book is full of rejection letters.  There are from people of all ages, from the many different years, and on many different things.  It includes break up letters, firings, and much more.  Some famous rejection letters include a military report on Jimi Hendrix, F. Scott Fitzgerald's opinions on his daughter, and an art museum rejection for Andy Warhol. Although, there is only the actual letters in the body of the book, there are some that are groupings for one person's many rejections and at the end there is stories and more information on some of the letters.

Gross America:

Gross America - Your Coast-to-Coast Guide to All Things Gross (Featuring Brains in Jars, Frozen Dead Guys, Candy-Coated Insects, the World's Only Poop-fueled Streetlamps, and much more!) By: Richard Faulk
Non-fiction: travel 250 pages
Book Count: 24

This book is a lot like the show "Mysteries at the Museum" but only dealing with gross things.  Sadly, there is apparently no gross things in my state and the near-by states are filled with museums filled with STDs. It includes things that you would expect in a book like this; the Mutter Museum, the SPAM Museum, and the Cockroach Hall of Fame and Museum.  And it includes less famous things like; a restaurant named after a cannibal, flameless cremations (which are a lot like pressure cooking someone into goo), and a biography bound in the subject's own skin.

At Large:

At Large By: Lynne Murray
Fiction: Mystery 288 pages
Book Count: 23

Josephine Fuller is a plus sized women that is comfortable in her skin.  But when she runs into the husband of the woman that her ex-husband was last with, things go down hill fast. First, she gets fired from the charity that she was volunteering at. Next her ex's lover gets killed and she's the one that finds the body. From there she is at the center of a murder mystery that leads her to piss off a group of vegan lesbians, get offered a job in the pron industry, have her home cleaned by a medium, and much more. Over all I liked the book, but the ending seamed a bit hurried.