My sister gave me this book the other day; I looked at it and saw a horse on it and thought "not another horse book"!  but this is a great book, beautifully written and researched by the author.  The book is based on the song "Tennessee Stud" by Jimmy Driftwood and recorded by many country singers.  The author was intrigued with the story and the song, so he set out to research the orgins of the lyrics.

This is the story of Robert Johnson, a resident of Tennessee.  He lives on a small farm and wants to settle down, marry and raise horses from his special stud horse.  He is  in love with Jo, a neighbor's daughter.  Her family does not want them to marry and they would like to dispute the ownership of the land Robert claims as his own.  They would also like to steal his horse.  They end up framing him for a murder he did not committ.  To escape hanging, Robert takes off through Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas, one step in front of the bounty hunter, MacDonald.  Riding his gifted and beloved "Stud", they have many adventures, do some racing and come close to starving to death several times.  Set in the 1820's, the horse and owner endure many hardships as they avoid being brought in by the bounty hunter.  They meet up with some Indians, who steal the stud, Robert's belongings including his shoes and clothing and leave him to die in the wilderness.  Some Mexican vaqueros find and rescue him and the story continues. 

Will Robert find his horse, return home to the woman he loves and prove his innocence?  Read and see.

Once Upon a River is the story of Margaret Louise or Margo, who lives near the Stark River in Michigan.  She is a tomboy who idolizes Annie Oakley.  He mother has left her with her father and she lives and hunts and fishes along and in the river.  Her grandfather gave her his boat, which she takes with only a few supplies and her bio of Annie Oakley and sets off down the river after her father is brutally murdered and she is raped. 

Margo fishes, hunts and takes up with men as she travels the river, trying to stay away from her relatives.  She tries to contact her mother but her mother won't see her and she ends up living with a sucession of men along the river in their houses.  She is very strong but niave about her relationships, so she ends of pregnant after an encounter with an Indian from California.  Her mother finally agrees to help her get an abortion, but Margo decides, in the end, that she wants the baby.  She becomes friends with a man who lives along the river named Smoke and his friend Fishbone, who help her find shelter and become positive influences on her. 

Margo was a strange character. She loved to shoot things, men and animals.  She was almost a hermit, because she never really liked relationships with others.  She was also strong because she was self-suficient, but almost scary in the way that she could shoot anything and anyone with no regrets. 

A somewhat confusing book about several generations of a family.  The book is hard to read because it skips around and is set in multiple times: 1944, 1961 and 2000.  It is about a secret and a family living in Blackberry Ridge, a very small town in Minnesota.  I did like the characters, Violet, Julia, Alice, Lena, Grace and Jago a lot.  Part of the story is about the women in the book, who get jobs at the shipyards and end up welding boats for the war effort.  There were many hardships involved in taking on this work. 

The more I read, the more confused I became.  There are many, convoluted relationships among the characters.  Although the men dominated the women during this time, the women were very strong.

Serge and Coleman are back with all the gang in Tim Dorsey's new Christmas story When Elves Attack. Our favorite anti-hero decides it's time to celebrate the holidays in a big way and recruits City and Country to help out. With G-Unit along for the ride, you know there's going to be plenty of sparkle. Unfortunately, all these old characters make When Elves Attack a poor choice for newcomers to the Serge mythos. They'll be completely lost. Of course, there's lots of mayhem as Serge deals with bad guys, Grinches and naughty elves using his own special style. Along the way, he helps the Davenports (Jim and Martha) handle some family crises and defends them from thugs with pain in mind. He even guides their daughter Nicole through teenage angst and the pitfalls of young love.

Many people believe Serge is a psychotic serial killer, but in reality he's so much more. He's our collective id, doing battle with 21st century evil and stupidity. Serge is, dare I say it, a new Dark Knight with Coleman as his (literally) dopey Boy Wonder. He's also one of the great philosophers and commentators of our time.

"But why are we wearing elf suit?"

"To spread good cheer."

"What for?"

"Because of the War on Christmas."

"Who started the war?" asked Coleman.

"Ironically, the very people who coined the term and claim others started the war. They're upset that people of different faiths, along with the coexistence crowd who respect those faiths, are saying 'Seasons Greetings' and 'Happy Holidays.' But nobody's stopp;ing anyone from saying 'Merry Christmas.'"

"And they're still mad?"

Serge shrugged. "It's the new holiness: Tolerance can't be tolerated."

Forget what I said earlier. Read the book even if you've never read any of Dorsey's others. Sure, you'll be confused, but that's a common state in Dorseyland. Despite your confusion, you'll discover a great series with quirky, enjoyable characters and wonderful plots, and you'll love the ride.

Season's greetings, merry Christmas, and happy holidays.

An excellent book about Nellie, her little brother, Henry, her rebellious half sister Ruth and their disfunctional parents.  Throw in along the way are the weird neighbors, the Humboldts; she is a huge woman and her brother is a cross dresser.  Dad owns the hardware store which is about to go under due to Home Depot, Walmart and all the other chain stores. Mom is a beautician forced to go back to work to help support the family.  Charlie, the grandpa, owns the junkyard and employs ex-convict Max as a helper.  Add in the bunch of local weird kids that Nellie and Henry go to school with for a place that is never dull. 

To make more money, Mom rents the small attached apartment to her friend's niece, Dolly Bedelia, who is a stripper and exotic dancer at a local watering hole.  She is also having an affair with Mr. Cooper, who wants to buy the family hardware store and whose children go to school with Henry and Nellie.  When Dolly's water heater goes out, Max comes to fix it.  Nellie is watching him.  When he asks Nellie to see if Dolly is home so he can finish the connections, Nellie finds Dollie dead in her kitchen and the house in shambles.  Max is soon arrested but Nellie is sure he did not kill Dolly. She thinks she knows, but no one takes her seriously.  No one will listen.  Instead, her parents take Nellie to a psychiatrist.

Can Nellie get Max off the hook and help the adults discover the real killer?  Read and see! 

This is the second book of the series about lexicographer Abigail Harker and her adventures living on Chapel Isle, NC.  Abby has survived the winter at the lighthouse she lives in and now must survive the North Carolina coastal summer: heat, humidity, flies, and most of all, tourists.  Now there is talk of looking for a shipwreck, there is an arsonist or arsonists on the loose, the visitors can't do much but tear up the rental houses and someone keeps trying to break in to Abby's place.

Abby also meets a guy named Tim who seems to have his eye on her.  Is it romance he's after or something else? 

What would you do if your very rich husband was arrested and charged with bilking all sorts of investors of their life savings in the amount of $14 billion dollars and you had no idea what he was doing?  Meredith Martin Delinn's husband ran a Ponzi scheme and took money from friends, family and complete strangers to finance his scheme.  Unsuspecting Meredith escapes to Cape Cod and her friend Connie's home.  Even though Meredith has no knowledge of what her husband has been doing, the police think she does and offer to let her off the hook, if she can help them recover the money.  Connie helps Meredith and in return, her house gets spray painted with "Crook", her tires are slashed and the seal who shows up daily is killed and left on the front porch.  Meredith must seach through her memories and knowledge of her husband's activities to figure out just where the money is hidden or she also faces going to jail.  By putting the many clues that her husband has left behind, Meredith is able to figure out where the money is and make sure that most of the investors get part of their money back.

A fun book about Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua, the work tells about Gidget's life with her trainer, the author.  Gidget was purchased from a breeder at 6 weeks old and spent her life with Sue, a trainer and friend to the little dog.  Gidget and Sue worked for Studio Animal Services, which provides all sorts of animals for movies, commercials and television programs.  While the book is not the best writing in the world, the story is entertaining and Gidget, who has since passed on, was a funny, sweet dog who loved her work.

This was an interesting debut novel by Ellen Airgood.  It is set in the area she resides in, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the town of McAllaster.  Madeline Stone, running away from her old life, takes a job as a live in helper for Arbutus, a shut in friend of her grandfather.  She comes to a small village where the new people and the old timers are in a feud.  The old timers want things the way that they have always been, although they see that time marches on, and that things can't stay the same.  Madeline gets involved in the community's on going disagreement with the owners of the grocery, who have done away with credit accounts for the eldery folks.  She also meets Paul, who owned the local pizza joint, Randi, an unwed mother with a dear little boy, and may of the town's inhabitiants.

With Madeline's help, the town comes together, joins forces and tries to revitalize the ecomony.  Madeline is able to reopen the hotel, the grocers give in, she goes on to marry Paul and all the inhabitants get a better way of life.  This was not too bad of a 1st novel , although it was a little jumpy in spots. 

I enjoyed this book.  Tim Gunn is a fashion icon, due to the success of Project Runway.  He is the mentor to the 15 or so designers who participate in the fashion reality show.  His famous catchprase is: "Make it Work", and that is what he believes in life.  He believes that treating people well, helping them reach their potential and learning from mistakes will make all of us better.  As he talks about life's little lessons, we also see the man behind the beliefs and learn some things about his family and the Project Runway contestants.  It's a fun but serious book that teaches the reader that being nice has very many advantages.