Cut to the Bone by Shane Gericke

3/10 - Long, meandering thriller. There were so many characters in this book and two different time periods that by the middle I didn't know where I was or who I was reading about. The whole time I'm thinking the author has to tie everything together at the end and then it will make sense, but No! Nothing gets tied together, and the killer is a nobody. What the hell! I liked the main two characters, that was about it. Wouldn't waste your time even if you're into the thriller genre, and I'm not. I read it because a neighbor lent it to me with good intentions.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost

9/10 - A hilarious account of the authors stay on the island of Tarawa in the South Pacific. I really enjoyed the authors sense of humor and personality. It was one of those books that had you googling parts just so you could get a better idea of what he was talking about. I found the whole thing fascinating and it made me further appreciate the comforts of our modern society. Who wouldn't find it funny to watch a man peddle a bicycle one handed while swing a tuna at a dozen hungry dogs.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

10/10 - My beautiful Edward... now what am I going to do? How will I get my fix? My wonderful fantasy life has come to an end. I'm beside myself. I guess there's nothing left to do but wait for the movies to come out. I wonder if they have any clue what kind of hit they have on their hands. They better not screw this one up.

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle

10/10 - I was so hesitant to read this book because of the disturbing subject matter, but Kittle does such an excellent job writing about sexual abuse without sugar coating it, but she also doesn't alienate the reader. The characters are so well developed that you just ache for them. There is a good balance between the despairing parts and the triumphant ones, so you really feel compelled to keep reading. This book has such a great sensitivity. I really loved this one!

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

7/10 - Hilarious book about Armageddon and good vs. evil. This book is full of very funny tidbits and the story overall is strong. However, there is an enormous amount of characters to keep track of, and some serious slow parts to overcome. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not running out to lend it to someone else.

Inspired Passages ~ Good Omens

Okay, so these aren't particularly inspirational, and won't have you pondering the meaning of life or anything, but they are laugh out loud funny!

Many people, meeting Aziraphale for the first time, formed three impressions: that he was English, that he was intelligent, and that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide.

"Hey," he said, but much more weakly this time, "did any of them kids have some space alien with a face like a friendly turd in a bike basket?"

I about peed my pants at those.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

9/10 - My beloved Edward is back! Unfortunately, he brought that annoying Bella character with him. Okay, so I think I'm too attached to the characters in this series. I really liked this one, it brought back all the good stuff from both Twilight and New Moon with only a tough of the incessant whining that drove me nuts in New Moon. Now I can't wait to read the next one, Breaking Dawn, and to see the movie that comes out 12/12! This will be the first series I've ever read start to finish since The Chronicles of Narnia when I was 13.

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

10/10 - Wonderful, simple, and elegant. It was a little bit Practical Magic and a little bit Sleeping With the Enemy. I'm really looking forward to Allen's second book, Sugar Queen, now. This book made me feel very relaxed and comfortable. Very satisfying.

Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut

4/10 - This book makes me feel like my brain has been whisked in a bowl with milk and then poured into a frying pan and scrambled. That's about the best I can come up with. Why do I keep trying to read classics? It just makes me feel like I'm out of the loop, like I'm missing something. So it goes.

Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg

8/10 - I tend to struggle with books that revolve almost entirely on the inner workings of peoples minds. I know it's bad, but I find them boring. I'm kind of childish in my reading. Let's go somewhere, let's DO something. But Elizabeth Berg crafted such nice characters for this book, that I was able to get by nicely. I was so proud of myself for not looking ahead to find out what happens, because that would have ruined it. I did see some areas that could have been improved, but if I talked about them I could ruin the book for you. So I'll leave them unsaid.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

8/10 - A sweeping epic based in Scotland about a woman from the 40-s who's swept back to the 1740's. This book is a quick read despite it's 850 pages with tons of great characters and just enough sex to really keep things interesting. It's is action packed with very few slow parts. I enjoyed it so much, I'm going to hop over to Paperback Swap and order the second in the series.

Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan

2/10 - I'm so relieved to be finished with this book, I felt like it was never going to end. There was no real flow or plot whatsoever. It really should have been billed as a book of short stories. It felt more like the author was trying to find an excuse to talk about Sri Lanka. I love learning about other cultures, but you have to have a story in there too. Otherwise, it just becomes a droning history lesson.

Who are all these characters and why do I care about them? Did we have to hear the story of every family member? I would have liked to see the author delve more into the main characters similarities to Uma. I would have liked to hear more of her story and how it intertwines with the Yalini's. We could have had a little Sri Lankan Bell Jar.

How can you write a book called Love Marriage and not have a hint of romance? Yalini's parent's story was a little romantic, but still there was so much family history that I feel like the characters you really cared to know about got watered down. I was really looking forward to this one, and I feel let down.

Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon

8/10 - Short, suspenseful read. When it arrived from Paperbackswap, I was just glancing over it, reading a few pages. I only got 7 pages in before the phone rang, but I about jumped out of my skin! I had to limit my reading of this book to the daytime hours, because it made me to jumpy to read it after dark. But then again, I'm a wuss when it comes to those things.

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

7/10 - This was an okay book. I liked the main character Evelyn. She was very believable. This is the first book that I've read that is about a girl growing up in the same time period as me. It made it very easy for me to relate to her. I remember friendship pins and watching the Challenger go down on TV. But in the end it didn't really go anywhere, so I felt let down.

Enlightenment for Idiots by Anne Cushman

7/10 - This was a pleasant read. I liked the characters well enough although I thought they all were a bit flaky. My favorite was Devi Das, who was the only character I felt really warm toward. I think my enjoyment of the book was hindered by my inability to identify with any of the characters even though I liked them. I think some of my reformed Neo-hippy friends from college would probably like this book more than me. I thought the story story was well paced and held my interest. It arrived just before I left on vacation and turned out to be good vacation reading. I enjoyed the excerpts which described different yoga poses. My husband found it very amusing to watch me try them out, and I was surprised to find that I can still stand on my head, even if only for a few seconds. ;-) I think readers will find it delivers just what you would expect from the title.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

11/10 - Okay, I don't want to hear any comments about the rating. I just had to set this book on a pedestal somehow and that's how I chose to do it. This is far and away the most moving book I've ever read. It should have been called A Thousand Falling Tears. I implore you to read it. I won't bother to describe the story line because what ever I say won't do it justice. Just read it..Please. I'm blown away.

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

6/10 - Similar to Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, The Spellman Files is an entertaining book about a family of private investigators. I'm usually partial to books that are heavy on character development, but I really felt that character development was all this book was about. There really was no discernible plot. The characters are quite entertaining which makes the book readable, but nothing to write home about.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

6/10 - This was a somewhat entertaining little YA book. Generally though I didn't really understand the whole supernatural concept the book was based on, and the characters were all very cliche. I felt like it followed that unwritten boarding school recipe. I don't think I'll be picking up anymore of this authors.

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

9/10 - Everything I love in a book; love family, great kids. It gave me a cozy feeling down to my bones. Some reviewers complained about predictability, but I didn't see it. I can see how her writing style might not appeal to everyone, it's a bit halting, but I liked it. I think I would have appreaciated the book more if I was a fan of old movies. This will be a great one to pass on to friends.

Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

8/10 - I'm not one who says things like "I just couldn't put it down." when talking about books. But really, I just couldn't put it down. Someone wrote in another review that reading this book is liking driving past a grisly accident, you want to look away, but you just can't. I think that sums it up perfectly. This book contains some of the most unusual characters I've ever come across. How they end up in the same book is amazing as well. But I just could not stop reading it out of morbid curiosity if nothing else. The happy ending queen crosses over to the dark side.