The Next Book On My List

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer             Jon Krakauer is an experienced climber who was offered the chance of a lifetime to climb Mount Everest , expenses paid, to write an article for Outside magazine. He made it to the top of Mount Everest and back to base camp alive, but he was one of the lucky ones. Nine other climbers died that day on Mount Everest . Another three died soon after. A rogue storm blew through the mountain with little warning and the unlucky ones perished trying to achieve their dreams.           The Mount Everest Disaster is described in detail by one of the survivors, Jon Krakauer. He describes what it was like for him that day, and the preceding weeks trying to prepare to climb Mount Everest . He explains the choices one had to make to survive, and what it was like to wait, not sure of how many would return ...

Eighteen Acres by Nicholle Wallace Yes, ladies and gents, we have the first female US President Charlotte Kramer presiding over the White House and its eighteen acres. A married mother of two will soon be facing re-election and with her female Chief of Staff, Melanie Kingston, by her side the United States is theirs for the taking. Not so fast because of course there is scandal in the mix in the form of a cheating husband. The First Man is having an affair with a member of the press that works closely with the White House known as Dale Smith. Now the fun really begins. The story revolves around these three ladies and the choices women today have to make when it comes to having careers. One situation examines family and how being the leader of the free world can have its draw back. Another situation examines how you can move up the chain of command and yet be steps away (literally) from where you started at. The most controversial situation surrounds that of loving a marr...

So let’s get back to Stephen! (I gave you a break now onward) I’ve read a lot of different authors over a number of years. When it’s an author that I enjoy I will definitely read more novels they’ve written. I have never seen anything like what Stephen King has done with his body of work. I can only describe it as threads in a blanket: the blanket being the complete body of work and the threads being the individual works. Almost everything ties into each other. That does not necessarily include the Bachman books but everything that King put his name on is OBVIOUSLY King. It’s the Stephen King Thread. It’s the DNA that runs through his novels. He mentioned with writing the Dark Tower Series that all of his books come from the same place. It’s true and reflective in all of his novels. I do though take issue with the fact that his books are largely categorized as horror books. He is not (I repeat is not) a horror writer. Yes, some of his novels are extremely terrifying but many of th...

What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman Laura Lippman is an author that you know is going to deliver, whose story is going to be interesting and best of all she is going to have an amazing twist at the end. What The Dead Know is the second novel by Laura Lippman that I have had the pleasure of reading. It is about the appearance of one of the Bethany girls, sisters who disappeared almost 30 years previously and were never seen again. Now one of them has returned and she has a story to tell but is reluctant to tell it, afraid of losing her current identity and being exposed to the media. But not everyone understands her logic. She claims her sister is dead, so why doesn’t she want justice? She was released by her captor decades ago, so why is she choosing now to come forward? Why did she wait so long to return home, if not to tell her story? What is the truth and is she even really a Bethany girl?           A lot o...

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford             Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet examines the lives of a Chinese boy, Henry and a Japanese girl, Keiko and the friendship that ensues between the two during World War II. Henry and Keiko’s friendship is a result of both of them being outsiders in their schools and very much so in their town. The all white school that they both attends looks at both of them as the enemy, even when Henry wears a nametag stating “I am American” people laugh and throw insults his way, it does though keep him from being labeled the true enemy which in his day and age was the Japanese. Keiko doesn’t apologize for her nationality nor does she accept responsibility for the actions of those who attacked Pearl Harbor . The unlikely pair’s friendship brings out both of their strengths and helps them both keep faith that one day things will change.     ...

(Yes, it’s not a Stephen King Post!)                 So I wanted to take a second to introduce everyone to another author that I absolutely adore, Jodi Picoult. I’ve been obsessed with her since college. I needed a book to read on a flight home to Los Angeles and stumbled across My Sister’s Keeper, the story of a young girl suing her parents for the rights to her own body. Yep, you read that right. Medical emancipation. It was great. One of those books you immediately start raving to your friends about. It was the book that made me a fan.             Since then I have read quite a few of her books and have never been disappointed. With every single book I’ve read by her so far I have been able to ask myself one simple question: What would I do if I were in their shoes? What would I do if my daughter wanted to be medically emancipated from me? How w...

I know it’s been a while. I'm reading like a madman, literally. Eight Stephen King books down...I give you Carrie, Salems Lot, The Shining, The Stand, The Long Walk, The Deadzone, Firestarter and Roadwork. It's been, to say the least, very interesting. I had never read Salem 's Lot , The Stand or any of The Bachman books which include The Long Walk and Roadwork. The last two were written under the penname Richard Bachman which King had used for quite some time before someone blew his cover. Honestly, the more books I read the more excited I become about finishing all of his novels. His style of writing has become so addicting to me. I usually start a book intending to only read a few chapters and end up half way through the book before I know it. So lets starts with a few old reads. Carrie Seriously. It's easy to see how King gained a following after releasing this as his first book .You could easily finish it in a day. Unfortunately in this day and age we know...