The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs by Christina Hopkinson

If you have ever lived with someone as an adult, whether it be a spouse,a significant other or a roommate, you will identify with this book. Mary Gilmour is going through a rough patch in life - nothing catastrophic, just that she has two young sons and her husband is driving her crazy. You have probably seen these crimes in your own home. Perhaps you have even committed them from time to time! Some examples: Joel leaves used tea bags in the sink instead of tossing them. Joel can't find anything in the fridge by himself. If you reread the title of the book you will learn of another transgression! One night Mary gets the brilliant idea of making a spreadsheet based on her husband's actions for the next six months. He can earn or lose points according to what he has done that day. Of course Joel knows nothing about it! The burning question is - what will happen at the end of that time? A very entertaining book and one that everyone should enjoy!

GUINEA PI(G): Pet Shop Private Eye (Series)

Guinea PI(G): Pet Shop Private Eye graphic novel series is a new on the scene. We currently have books 1-4 in this series (I have read them all) and they were so surprisingly fun to read, that I had to recommend them! The cartoons are fun, cute, and interesting to look at, and the story lines are so funny. Every animal in the shop has such great personalities, you can't help but love every goofy character. The kid in me just adores these books, and I think kids of all ages who are looking for a good laugh will love them too.

Hamster and Cheese: This is the first book in the series where we meet the main characters Sasspants PI(G), a very smart and creative guinea pig, and Hamisher, a wanna-be side kick and hyper hamster. They, and the other animals, live in Mr. Venezi's pet shop. Unfortunately for the pets, Mr. Venezie knows nothing about animals, and is constantly mislabeling them (for example: he labeled the hamsters as 'koalas'), feeding them the wrong food, and putting them in the wrong cagest. That's enough for the pets to deal with already, but now there's a sandwich thief in their midst. Hamisher thinks she is a PI (private investigator) since her cage label says Guinea Pi (but in actuality the G has just fallen off). So, he asks her to investigate, and after some convincing she agrees and together they take on the mystery of the serial Sandwich-Napper

And Then There Were Gnomes: In second book we meet up with Sasspants and Hamisher again. Hamisher is ready for another mystery and is dying to be side kick to Sasspants, but Sasspants has no intention of continuing to be a private eye... one time was enough! But soon enough, Hamisher notices that all the mice are disappearing and the other pets in the shop start to worry. When Sasspants wont help him, Hamisher decides to take on the case himself. Will Hamisher be able to solve this case on his own, or will the case of the missing mice go unsolved?

The Ferret's a Foot: The third book in this series begins with Mr. Venenzi hanging up a help wanted sign. Poor Mr. Venenzi really doesn't know much about the animals, but what if the new person isn't nice? So Sasspants and Hamisher volunteer to help out Mr. Venenzi and make new signs for the animal cages with little pictures of the animals on them. Then Mr. Venenzi won't have to hire any one! Soon, however, something is amiss.... all the signs have been changed! The Lizards were now Blizards and the Chinchillas were Gorillas! Every one suspects the new ferrets, but it's up to Sasspants and Hamisher to discover the truth behind this mystery.

Fish You Were Here: The fourth book begins with Mr. Venenzi interviewing potential employees. He's already turned away so many nice sounding people, the pets are starting to wonder if they will be lucky enough to get some one who actually knows what they're doing! Then Viola comes in, friendly and knowledgeable about the animals. Mr. Venenzi hires her on the spot. She is perfect for the job and is takes over all the care for the pets... so well that Mr. Venenzi becomes depressed and feels like he isn't needed any more. Then, one day, Mr. Venenzi doesn't come in at all! Suddenly, Viola starts neglecting the animals and sits at the desk watching TV all day. They animals panic... what happened to Mr. Venenzi? Will he ever come back? Sasspants is determined to find out what happened to Mr. Venenzi, but even if they find out where he is... will it be too late?

Maine by Courtney Sullivan

Can I just say that I want a beach house in Maine. And then I want to sit there and read the third novel that Ms. Sullivan is certainly working on by now! So you have probably figured out that I really liked this book and that it takes place in a beach house in Maine! A multi-generational group of women who are mothers and daughters are all in this beach house one summer. You can guess that already there will be tension and at least a few fireworks. Alice Kelleher is the matriarch of the family - but she is not the warm fuzzy type. She is not very likable but as the story progressed and I learned about her background, I forgave her......a little anyway. Near the main house where Alice spends several months of the year, is a cottage which is occupied by the families of her three children. The schedule has been set by daughter-in-law Ann Marie who is happiest when she is keeping everything organized and running on her schedule. Her schedule did not include the surprise arrival of her niece, Maggie who has run to the beach to decide her future (before she could tell her boyfriend that she was pregnant they had a fight and he broke up with her). So then Maggie's mom, Kathleen, leaves her partner and worm farm to fly across the country to talk face-to-face with her daughter. There is a lot of drinking and church-going happening - is that a contradiction???? Bottom line is this is a great book!!! Check it out - we have both the book and the audio book.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

I started reading this one at the end of June - right after finishing Blood Song... Finished it on 7/14/11, it's taken me some time to get to writing this blog. A little over 2 weeks to read, is really good for me (typical books take 3-4 weeks).

Richard attends a dinner with an old professor Reg, his boss Gordon gets murdered, an Electric Monk believes the Door is the Way and Dirk Gently throws himself into the middle of it all!

This book jumps around a lot, which was confusing at first, but made so much sense once more information was given toward the end (can't tell you without spoiling the story of course!). I have not read his Hitch Hickers Guide series yet, although it is on my "list" to read. So my opinions of this book are based solely on this book alone. It was a very good storyline, however it was hard to follow at first. Now that I know the end, I may re-read it and see if the parts that made absolutely no sense the first time around will make sense now!

Douglas Adams is a classic science fiction author... if you enjoy science fiction books, his name should definitely be on your list!

Overbite: by Meg Cabot

This book is the sequel to Insatiable (an excellent read, I might add). Overbite continues the story of Meena Harper, a psychic who can predict when and how people are going to die. At the end of Insatiable Meena is hired by the Palatine Guard- a powerful, secret demon hunting unit of the Vatican. Now we see her using her powers to help prevent the deaths of the brave men and women who put their lives at risk to hunt and kill demons. Not to mention, all this access to tons of information she would never have normall had, is helping Meena to prove her theory: just because demons have lost their souls, doesn't mean they've lost the good inside of them.
However, not all is as well as Meena had hoped it would be. Her now ex-boyfriend Lucien Antonescu (aka Dracula, aka Prince of Darkness) shows up again when he saves her life from an unexpected attack. Meena's emotions are already mixed up enough, but seeing him again makes things so much worse. Not to mention Lucien seems more vulnerable than ever; but in reality he is more determined than ever to take control of his conflicting emotions about what he is, and finally make Meena his.
After the attempt on her life, Meena is put under constant surveillance. In other words Alaric Wulf, her crazy-about-hunting-and-killing-demons partner, is now at her side 24/7. A nuisance, but one that Meena discovers she doesn't mind so much, since they've recently discovered that a large number of tourists have gone missing.
In light of this, the Palatine has brought in Father Henrique (or Padre Caliente, as Alaric likes to refer to him as). Soon, Meena and Alaric are thrown into a situation they never could have predicted, and Lucien is the only one who can save them.
Unfortunately I did not like this book as much as the first book (and let me tell you, I loved the first book). There was so much humor in Insatiable that was missing from Overbite. None of the characters are the same either, and I feel like the author didn't do a good enough job leading me to understand why they had changed so much. However, there are some great plot twists in the book that I could have never guessed, and that is what kept me intrigued.

The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan

Marissa and Julia have been friends since they were teens. Marissa is the submissive one in the friendship. Julia has always been more out-going and often tries to run Julia's life - including 'making' her break up with her boyfriend Nathan years ago. Today the friends both live in NYC. Marissa is doing well as a senior editor at a magazine (although she is a little tired of all the weight-loss articles that have to be done month after month). Julia is in the ballet. Although they no longer share an apartment, they stay in very close contact. One night Marissa has left work on time to make it the restaurant where she is meeting Julia. But of course Julia is late - as always. Marissa is irritated by this rudeness and fantasizes about leaving when she sees the familiar face headed towards her. That is when the taxi hits Julia. Julia survives the accident but she suffers a brain injury. I learned a bit about how the brain reacts to a trauma and a lot about what a friendship means. It was a good read and I didn't need any Kleenex to get through it!

The Art of Saying Goodbye by Ellyn Bache

Summer must be the season of sentimental books. This is the story of a neighborhood and the women who live there. They vary in ages and background. What they all have in common is their relationship to Paisley. Throughout the book we learn of secrets and how Paisley has affected the lives of each of these women. In order to get back to her tennis game Paisley is having some elective foot surgery. At the clinic it is Paisley's neighbor Julianne doing the pre-op check-in for her. When Julianne touches Paisley she knows immediately that something is wrong - her psychic ability tells her it is serious. With a diagnosis of pancreatic and liver cancer Paisley doesn't have long to live. During the next three months this group of women will try to give back to Paisley some of which she gave to them. Touching and heart-breaking.