The Book Review Club (November 2009)

Welcome one and all to the TENTH get-together of The Book Review Club. The TENTH! I can't believe it! Although considering that last month, I posted it was the NINTH meeting, you'd think I would've realized where we were headed!

Anyway, please pull up a comfy chair. Inhale deeply; the room is filled with the friendly aroma of coffee and sugary donuts. Gaze around. Our shelves are stocked with books. Exceptional previous reviews are only a click away. Oh, but it's great to be here.



SEEING IS BELIEVING. It's the 6th book in this annual Ripley's Believe It or Not series.

How did this book go over in my house?



Well, here's child #4 reading it.



And here's Child #3 following suit.



And here's child #...oops...It's my DH (darling husband)!


The hardcover book is filled with colorful photos and odd and obscure facts. Way-out-there obscure facts. And yet I managed to relate a few of them to my own little life.

Did you know that... "the World Cube Association holds an annual contest for solving a Rubik's Cube--while blindfolded. In 2008, the winner solved the puzzle in just 48 seconds." To give you a little perspective, I once solved a Rubik's Cube by peeling off all the little colored squares and sticking them back on the right order. It took way longer than 48 seconds.

Did you know that... "at O. Noir restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, customers dine in total darkness. There are no lights, no candles, and all cell phones and glowing watches must be removed." I once went on a blind date that might've gone better in this restaurant.

Did you know that... "a dental technician from Utah is one of the world's best tooth artists, having illustrated teeth for more than 20 years...Customers can have anything they want to display on their teeth, including many famous faces from the worlds of sports, politics and entertainment." Oh, oh, oh! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?! Book covers! I could have my book covers tattooed on my teeth!

In my family of four children, three of whom are boys, Ripley's Believe It or Not! SEEING IS BELIEVING is....a coffee table book. And there really is nothing odd about that!

Onto to our brilliant reviewers and their brilliant reviews...

PICTURE BOOK REVIEWS

Sarahlynn of Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips: AN APPLE PIE FOR DINNER retold by Susan Vanhecke and illustrated by Carol Baicker-McKee

YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Stacy Nyikos: BUTT WARS: THE FINAL CONFLICT by Andy Griffiths (middle grade)

Ellen Booraem of Freelance Ne'er-do-well: FORTUNE'S FOLLY by Dave Fagan (middle grade)

Kaye of the Book Review Forum: THE BLUE STAR by Tommy Earley

Thao of serene hours: TEACH ME by R.A. Nelson

Linda McLaughlin: BABY BE-BOP by Francesca Lia Block

Keri Mikulski: THE NAUGHTY LIST by Suzanne Young

Patti Abbott: ROCK 'N ROLL SOLDIER by Dean Ellis Kohler and Susan Vanhecke

Jody Feldman: FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg (middle grade)

ADULT BOOK REVIEWS

Sarah Laurence: THE CONFESSIONS OF EDWARD DAY by Valerie Martin (literary/thriller)

Sandy Levin of Peaceful Heart Stained Glass: STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova

Scott Parker: HEAT WAVE by Richard Castle (adult mystery)

Jenn Jilks of My Reflections: LOST IN THE BACKWOODS by Catherine Parr Traill (1802-1899) (biography)

Alyssa Goodnight of the Writers' Road Less Traveled: HOME TO BIG STONE GAP by Adriana Trigiani (women's fiction)

From the Desk of Bee Drunken: THE GREAT LOVER by Jill Dawson


NONFICTION REVIEWS

Kathy Holmes: GODFATHER OF NIGHT: A GREEK MAFIA FATHER, A DRUG RUNNER SON AND AN UNEXPECTED SHOT AT REDEMPTION by Kevin Pappas



Note to Reviewers: Our desktop computer was carted away, comatose and ill with a trojan, to the Geek Squad. So, if I missed anyone's review, it's due to technology! Well, maybe I can't blame it all on the sick computer! So, if I missed you, leave me a comment and I'll rectify the situation straight away. And award myself one less cookie today!