Raging Heat by Richard Castle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I eagerly anticipated the next book in the Nikki Heat series. I was not the only one for my library had a long waiting list.

Raging Heat is another clever publishing tie-in to the TV series with the opening murder done more imaginatively than might be able to do with the budget from a tv episode. The time setting for the book as Hurricane Sandy approaches keeps the book current and Sandy provides additional threats.

I recommend it to fans of both the book series and the television series.

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Nocturne by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was free when I downloaded it from BN.com. I'm glad it was free for I would have hated to spend money on this short story and the next three chapters of the author's next book, No Mark Upon Her.

I was not familiar with this author's previous books, and my seeking them out is unlikely.

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The Wanderer by Robyn Carr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was free when it was downloaded to my Nook library from BN.com
This was a new-to-me author; the author already has a good reputation for writing contemporary romances set in small towns.
It was an entertaining read that only gets three stars because I don't feel compelled to read the second book of the series or any of this author's previous works.

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Personal by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a fan of the series, and I eagerly anticipated #19 in the series.

I enjoyed this entertaining action mystery; but I must qualify my recommendation that this is not my favorite Reacher novel for his time in England and France takes away from a favorite part of mine, the observations about a changing America in a period from 1996 through a current time. Reacher does speak French, thanks to what he learned from his mother, but he is too closely handled and staying on task to have time for observations on the changes he may be observing. I am glad he now has a current passport for I'm eager to see if his wanderings will become international.

I recommend this book to fans of the series.

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The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers by Karl Iglesias
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was free when I downloaded it to my Nook library from BN.com.

This is not a how-to book for writing in a screenplay format for it assumes the writer has learned that from somewhere else. The 101 Habits may seem like common sense; but, we all know how rare common sense can be. Perhaps some of the best advice is write daily in order to work on your craft, and have three completed scripts that have been honed by several rewrites in order to show your best work to an agent.

I recommend this book to all writers for much of the advice is good for any genre.

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The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me by Laura Posey after she attended a seminar by Koch. She came away with some advice such as: do you really have a problem or do you need to make a decision?

Koch recommends the skipping of several chapters if you are not interested in business applications of the 80/20 Principle, and I did that as I am retired. Some take-aways I took from the book are the 7 Daily Happiness Habits and the 7 Shortcuts to a Happy Life, and the suggestion to recover my faith in progress.

I recommend this book to all readers for I think everyone can find encouragement to do something to enhance their life.



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Not a Drill by Lee Child
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a short story for us Reacher fans. Borrow it from your local library.

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Mississippi Writings: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/Life on the Mississippi/Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/Puddinhead Wilson by Mark Twain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had myself called with the four o'clock watch, mornings, for one cannot see too many summer sunrises on the Mississippi. They are enchanting. First, there is the eloquence of silence; for a deep hush broods everywhere. Next, there is the haunting sense of loneliness, isolation, remoteness from the worry and bustle of the world. The dawn creeps in stealthily; the solid walls of black forest to gray, and vast stretches of the river open up and reveal themselves; the water is glass smooth, gives off spectral little wreaths of white mist, there is not the faintest breath of wind, nor stir of leaf; the tranquility is profound and infinitely satisfying. Then a bird pipes up, another follows, and soon the pipings develop into a jubilant riot of music. You see none of the birds; you simply move through an atmosphere of song which seems to sing itself. When the light becomes a little stronger, you have one of the fairest and softest pictures imaginable. You have the intense green of the massed and crowded foliage near by; you see it paling shade by shade in front of you; upon the next projecting cape, a mile off or more, the tint has lightened to the tender young green of spring; the cape beyond that has almost lost color, and the further one, miles away under the horizon, sleeps upon the water a mere dim vapor, and hardly separable from the sky above it and about it. And all this stretch of river is a mirror, and you have the shadowy reflections of the leafage and the curving shores and the receding capes pictured in it. Well, that is all beautiful; soft and rich and beautiful; and when the sun gets well up, and distributes a pink flush here and a powder of gold yonder and purple haze where it will yield the best effect, you grant that you have seen something worth remembering.

from Life on the Missippi p. 417

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The Fat Burning Kitchen by Mike Geary and Catherine Ebeling
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book and accompanying bonus ebooks had been recommended to me by a friend who knew that I had been feeling discouraged by my inability to lose weight despite efforts to choose healthy foods to eat.
The first part of the book recommends the foods that should be discarded from your current pantry and refrigerator because they contain ingredients that may hamper your digestion and metabolism of the food. Many of these foods had already been eliminated from my own kitchen, but not all of them. I was surprised at how many foods marketed as healthy had sneaked ingredients into their foods that the FDA approved but were unhealthy for this reader. There are even certain one-ingredient foods to avoid because the farming practices have changed dramatically for farmed fishes, eggs, poultry, and meat animals.
The second part of the book recommends how to stock your kitchen with one-ingredient foods so that you can prepare meals that supply carbohydrates with vegetables and fruits to go with the protein.


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Evernote Unleashed: Remember Anything. Accomplish Any Goal. Get More Done. by Jason Bracht
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Evernote Unleashed was free from Barnes and Noble when I downloaded it to my Nook.
At 33 pages, this is a fast-paced book of general tips of how Evernote might be used because your paper notes had not been used this way before.
I recommend it to readers who are new to Evernote.

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Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I eagerly awaited the release of the new Mitford novel from Jan Karon because I enjoy the stories of Father Tim and the people he knows in this town.

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good brought me up-to-date with the lives of the characters I have known before and introduced me to some new ones. These characters are perhaps even more real than people I know as acquaintances in my own small town, and that is the reason I enjoy this series so much.

I recommend readers start with At Home in Mitford and read Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good as part of the series so that you can watch the characters grow and change as they mature. Another reason to start at the beginning is the chance to know Uncle Billy, the guy who always had a joke to brighten your day.

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