General Winston's Daughter

I first got to know Sharon Shinn through "Archangel" which was good, and the rest of that series which is relatively good-to-awesome. I continued on with her 12 Houses series which is even better, and her YA books which Rock. Hard. Core. This one is a stand-alone. Her other YA books, "The Truth Teller's Tale", "The Dream Maker's Magic" and "The Secret-Keeper's ....." well, I forget the last word to that title but they were GOOD.

This one is better. Nicely character driven, great love story (this woman writes great love stories) and exciting settings (she's as good as Mary Stewart for that, I think).

Plus, one of the romantic main characters in this is a dark skinned guy, so I got to happily fantasize about my current favorite t.v. crush, the character Mohinder Suresh, from Heroes.

Yum.

YES!

Unless I die or am kidnapped by dwarfs with flying monkeys, bookclub IS happening this week FOR SURE on Thursday at 7:30pm. Please call me if you need directions to my house!

Remember your dish for the cooking contest!

Keturah and the Underground Cooking Contest

You are invited to the Underground Bookclub Town Fair. The highlight of our fair will be our First Ever Cooking Contest. The winner will be dubbed Best Cook, and she will have the option to take home all left-over goodies. Please bring your wares to the town square (i.e. Hannah's house) at 7:30pm on Thursday, November 1st.

P.S. My contribution will be Lemon Meringue pie. This will not be part of the contest because I am not cooking it, and because it ultimately did not keep Keturah from Lord Death.

If Anyone Wants to Read it...

I've got my copy of Keturah and Lord Death here and Nanette did not need it after all so I'll pass it along to whoever wants it -

book club is next week!!

Kristen

This is what it was

This was the other Sci-Fi book we really liked. It's by Heinlein. Fun book. Cool plot. Worth the read. AND it's sci-fi--something you will never see on "the other" book club's list

My two cents

Here's my book recommendation. Chris, Elle and I all enjoyed this sci-fi book about a boy who wakes up one day to find that his body has turned invisible. Very well done. I like all of Andrew Clements' books. Good YA.

Just in case we didn't have enough to read as it was!

Three interesting books

I'm not completely sure what everyone here likes to read. I like fiction, but I have a hard time reading much of it lately. So here are some nonfiction ideas for the days you need a book to enjoy that you can put down (and still smile) when husband, children, or bedtime start calling.

My newest find is Letters of a Nation, edited by Andrew Carroll. It is a collection of all sorts of letters from all sorts of people from all sorts of time periods. I really like this peek into historical or mundane life. I also really like that it is the sort of book that doesn't beg to be read in one sitting.

Another book I've enjoyed recently is My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student by Rebekah Nathan. The author is an anthropology professor who didn't understand her students. She enrolled in the school she teaches at for a year (during a sabbatical) and lived in the dorms as a 50 year old freshman. This book tells about her experiences and the culture she found. I like it.

And my last recommendation for the nonfiction section today is The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. The title tells the main idea, but the author uses fascinating examples to expound on it. I liked learning a little bit about a lot of things like Paul Revere, Blues' Clues, teen smoking, city crime, and more.