Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

Nayeli is a young woman who works in a taqueria in Tres Camarones, a coastal village in Mexico too poor to be of interest to most people, attacting a few surfers occasionally. But then the village's remoteness and its lack of men (almost all of whom have gone north to the US) makes it appealing to those involved in the drug trade. With the help of two friends and her entertaining and spunky aunt Irma, Tres Camarones' new mayor, Nayeli concocts a plan to reclaim the village from the criminals. After seeing the movie The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli knows she must go to the US and find seven men to come back to Tres Camarones and defend the people. But this quest is more than just a public service to her village, Nayeli hopes to find her father who has long since disappeared into the US and to bring him home where he belongs.

When Nayeli and her two friends set off on their noble quest, the story really starts cooking along. The girls' travels through Mexico are vivid and not uneventful. After all, what is a noble quest without windmills to overcome? Unfortunately for the girls, the windmills are very often not of their imagining but instead real obstacles to their goal. Getting into the US is not easy and the irony of the matter is that once they are there as illegal immigrants, it will also be illegal for them to try and get back into Mexico. But first they must find seven men who are willing to return with them and then to take back their town.

The characters in the book are vividly written and just plain fun. They are real and entertaining and funny and a delight to spend time reading about. The tone of the book stays fairly light despite the deep and heavy themes of perseverance, illegal immigration, discrimination, poverty, and bravery. But it is this very lightness that allows the reader to think clearly about these loaded political and emotional issues. There is humor galore here and I read much of the book with a smile. Nayeli's strength is apparent to all but herself and she is a totally engaging and appealing main character. A well-constructed, beautifully paced novel, this is a great reading group choice, the adventure and the balanced look at life for illegals in the US make it eminently discussable as well.

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult brings the supernatural world of ghosts and other phenomena to life in an unusual tale of love that transcends time and death.

Second Glance is a story about the difference between life and really living. It is also about love.

As the tale evolves the possibilities of loving and living beyond all time are gently unwrapped and placed before the reader.

There is the mother with a son who has a rare disease, and as she focuses all her energy on him, the child sees the importance of living a rich full life.

A young man who is a ghosthunter enters. He is haunted by past events in his life that grow more and more confusing to him as he delves into the lives of those surrounding him, both dead and alive.

A young girl who lives far away from all of this, is thought to be going mad when she claims to be haunted by visions that are unexplained....

The stage for this story is a building site that once disturbed, seems to trigger a series of unnatural occurrences in a small Vermont town. When these phenomena cause the construction crew to walk off the job until an explanation can be found the ghosthunter is called in. The existence of an Indian burial ground elicits an investigation into that possibility. Between the ghosthunting and the legal and historical investigation, the facts of the past are uncovered, and the events that link everyone together are laid bare,and the truth is revealed.

Each person in Second Glance questions the value of time as it relates to living and loving and Jodi Picoult brings them to a wondrous revelation that will change the very fabric of their lives.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes a world can be turned upside down, inside out, and transform into a hell on earth. That's what happens inside Sterling High School. It's like Columbine happening all over again, only I get to listen in and get acquainted with the shooter, families, and victims.

I love Jodi Picoult's writing technique----the reader is allowed to climb inside every character's psyche, perspective, opinion, and view of the world. And I get to meet the shooter in an intimate way.

Reading "Nineteen Minutes," I thought-- "Who gives a damn about Peter Houghton, he's a killer, a monster." But Picoult being the author she is, brought me on a journey of the past and present of Peter's childhood, the taunting, the bullying, and the terror of his every day existence.

On his first day of Kindergarten, his mom has packed a lovely lunch in his little tin box: sandwiches, Twinkies, an apple. Somebody throws the whole box out of the bus window and I'm left with an image of a large red apple rolling down the cement highway. And this is only the beginning of Peter's tormented school experience.

Alright, this is not a justification for Peter to murder ten high school classmates, which is ridiculous, it is a scenario of how one can be pushed to the edge. I felt empathy and even a little understanding for this poor, redheaded, freckle faced misfit.

The narrative weaves back and forth, each character getting his or her chance to speak, scream, cry, or analyze the tragedy: Peter's mom, the families of the victims, the students, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and teachers.

In the end, I can decide if I truly want to forgive Peter or understand him or sympathize with him.

One thing for sure, Picoult will brought me on a roller coaster ride of emotion and heartbreak and indecision. Nothing, absolutely nothing-- is ever only black or white or this way or that way.

"I never found who I really wanted to kill." Peter confesses to his attorney.

"Who was that?" He asks

"Myself." Peter says.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer

In ZZ Packer's "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere", I was treated to a compilation of eight short stories. Each story depicts a young person in turmoil, learning a lesson or seeking an answer to life's questions.

In Speaking In Tongues, young Tia runs away from her overly strict aunt and church to search for her mother in Atlanta. As with most runaways, she is easily targeted by an area pimp. However her values forces her to fight her way out of his grasp, though there are close calls when it looked as if she would falter.

In Brownies, a group of young girl scouts, lead by bullies Arnetta and Octavia, seeks to fight a white Brownie troop who are also at camp due to trumped up charges that they called one of the girls the "N" word. Only they find out the group is made up of developmentally disabled Brownies.

The Ant of the Self is the only story featuring a male main character. Spurgeon can barely stand to be in the presence of his father, Ray Bivens, Jr. After bailing his father out of jail, Spur is attempting to drive him back to Indiana when Ray coerces him into driving to Washington, DC to the Million-Man March. Spur would rather be back at school participating in the debate team competition. Even after hearing the speeches at the March, Spur and his father still can not see eye to eye and can not improve their relationship.

Reading a collection of short stories is a rare experience for me, but this was an enjoyable one. Each offering is complete and as a reader I was satisfied with each story; not needing them to be any longer or wishing they were a complete book. Each short story offers a lesson and a different perspective on life. Though many of the characters are rural women with very strict religious backgrounds, the author does a wonderful job of developing them all with their own taste of individuality. This book is highly recommended.

Here We Go Again by Betty White

This book was hard to put down! Betty White is like the Energizer Bunny! I learned so much about early television and how the business grew. I realized how Betty White was such a trail blazer. Betty has had a career on television and radio that spans over 70 years! She has had not just one… but several television shows named after her. Early on, she was on TV 5 hours a day all week long! Comments about how they decided to tape talk shows so the host would be able to take time off and re-runs would be shown… and how game shows used to be filmed every day until the idea was that money could be saved by filming many in one day… just seemed fascinating… because, today, we take it for granted.

She seemed to know just about everyone in the industry. I love the way she was so honest and frank as she told her stories and also about her own life and loves. I still look forward to every chance to see her in front of the camera!

Derailed by James Siegel

This book takes the best bits of The Firm and throws in a smattering of Fatal Attraction to deliver a lightning-paced read with enough twists, turns and downright unexpected seismic shifts to keep you turning the pages late into the night.

Charles is a well-paid advertising executive who's living a treadmill-like existence until he meets a beautiful stranger on a train. Besotted by the green-eyed Lucinda, he embarks on an illicit affair, momentarily forgetting his wife of 18 years and their sick teenage daughter. But his moment of pleasure turns quite unexpectedly into a violent nightmare in which rape, blackmail and murder all play a part.

Derailed has been turned into a film, but this book does not read like a padded-out screenplay (hello, Mary Higgins Clark!) Siegel is an accomplished story-teller. His writing is taut and he knows how to deliver enough cliff hangers and shocks to keep even the most jaded reader turning the pages. The dialogue is believable and his characterisation is spot on too.

Despite the unlikely situation that the narrator finds himself caught up in, not once did I find myself suspending belief, not once did I think how ludicrous. And perhaps that's what makes this thriller such a rollicking good one: you know it could happen to you because it's a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or is it?

My only quibble with this book is its its too-neat ending. Still, it's an entertaining read and you'd be hard pressed to find a better thriller that pushes all the right buttons in all the right places. If you like that kind of thing.

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

What would you do if your five year old daughter, your only child, suddenly dies from meningitis? Would you be able to pick up the pieces of your life, after your whole world has come crashing down? Would you ever be able to have joy, happiness and love again? These are the questions that Mary Baxter had to deal with in The Knitting Circle.

Mary and Dylan Baxter were living the goodlife, each was successful in their professions, she was a reviewer for a local newspaper and he was an attorney. They had a happy home life that included their cherished only child, five year old Stella. Their happy little world came crashing down with the sudden death of Stella to meningitis. As they struggled with the the pain of their loss and the grieving process, their marriage starts to crumble as Mary sinks into a deep depression, unwilling and unable to allow anyone, including Dylan, to help her move on with her life.

Paralyzed by her grief, Mary is unable to work, socialize, or perform normal daily activities. Upon the constant unwanted urging of her estranged mother, Mary joins a local knitting circle, even though she doesn't know how to knit. Mary is warmly welcomed into the Wednesday night knitting circle by Alice, owner of Big Alice's Sit and Knit, and the rest of the members: Scarlet, Lulu, Ellen, Beth and Harriet.

At first, Mary is reluctant to share her story with the other ladies,but as each teaches her new knitting techniques, they also share their own personal stories of love, loss, hope and recovery ... for everyone has secrets and a story to tell. Through their mutual love of knitting and comforting
companionship, the ladies of the knitting circle form a strong bond of friendship that helps Mary to heal and start living her life again.

The Knitting Circle is a beautifully written and poignant story that pulled at my heartstrings. The author weaves a deeply moving and emotional story about the trauma of loss, the stages of grief, and how through a strong bond of friendship through knitting one stitch at a time, people can recover and learn to live a happy life again.

This is a painfully realistic portrayal of the grieving process that every person will experience at some time in their life, but mixed with the interesting concept of learning how to knit, one can find the soothing and comforting peace to help their wounded heart and spirit heal.

This story is semi-autobiographical that mirrors the author's own personal tragic loss of her young daughter to a rare form of strep, and while grieving she learned to knit.