18. Spoken from the heart - Laura Bush

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bushes! I was so anxious for this book to come out- and I am already on Pre-Order for the George W Bush book. (He and I share a birthday!).

I found some parts of her childhood drag a little but it really did lend itself to explaining the type of woman she was then and is now. It was a great read and the first book I downloaded on my new nook!

See the Collector's Edition of Spoken from the Heart In this brave, beautiful, and deeply personal memoir, Laura Bush, one of our most beloved and private first ladies, tells her own extraordinary story. Born in the boom-and-bust oil town of Midland, Texas, Laura Welch grew up as an only child in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She vividly evokes Midland's brash, rugged culture, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships that sustain her to this day. For the first time, in heart-wrenching detail, she writes about the devastating high school car accident that left her friend Mike Douglas dead and about her decades of unspoken grief. When Laura Welch first left West Texas in 1964, she never imagined that her journey would lead her to the world stage and the White House. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in 1968, in the thick of student rebellions across the country and at the dawn of the women's movement, she became an elementary school teacher, working in inner-city schools, then trained to be a librarian. At age thirty, she met George W. Bush, whom she had last passed in the hallway in seventh grade. Three months later, "the old maid of Midland married Midland's most eligible bachelor." With rare intimacy and candor, Laura Bush writes about her early married life as she was thrust into one of America's most prominent political families, as well as her deep longing for children and her husband's decision to give up drinking. By 1993, she found herself in the full glare of the political spotlight. But just as her husband won the Texas governorship in a stunning upset victory, her father, Harold Welch, was dying in Midland. In 2001, after one of the closest elections in American history, Laura Bush moved into the White House. Here she captures presidential life in the harrowing days and weeks after 9/11, when fighter-jet cover echoed through the walls and security scares sent the family to an underground shelter. She writes openly about the White House during wartime, the withering and relentless media spotlight, and the transformation of her role as she began to understand the power of the first lady. One of the first U.S. officials to visit war-torn Afghanistan, she also reached out to disease-stricken African nations and tirelessly advocated for women in the Middle East and dissidents in Burma. She championed programs to get kids out of gangs and to stop urban violence. And she was a major force in rebuilding Gulf Coast schools and libraries post-Katrina. Movingly, she writes of her visits with U.S. troops and their loved ones, and of her empathy for and immense gratitude to military families. With deft humor and a sharp eye, Laura Bush lifts the curtain on what really happens inside the White House, from presidential finances to the 175-year-old tradition of separate bedrooms for presidents and their wives to the antics of some White House guests and even a few members of Congress. She writes with honesty and eloquence about her family, her public triumphs, and her personal tribulations. Laura Bush's compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other first lady's memoir ever written.

17. Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark

Didnt like it! This is a bummer. My mother in law actually got me hooked on these books because she had quite a few on her bookshelf and was lovely enough to share with me while on vacation. I generally love her writing, but for some reason this book bored me from the first couple of pages :(

I Have Entered the 21st Century!!!!

Yes - I have purchased an e-reader. It is the nook from barnes and noble. I have read one book (to be posted next) and I have to say I love it. I also played Sudoku last night until 1am. It has great features, long battery life (so far) and internet capabilities - although I havent figured out how to update my facebook status yet LOL.

So far- I am hooked! I will admit I was against the e-reader thinking it was the end of old bound books, the smell of the pages, the feel of holding an adventure in your hands - but all of that has subsided and I am totally addicted to my nook! Its great!

16. The 9th Judgement - James Patterson

It was good except one part towards the end. It was like Oh, let me throw this 2 page thing about Joe in there that makes no sense. I think Lindsey is going to be pregnant in the next book, I dont know why I have just been having that feeling.

During an intimate dinner party, a cat burglar breaks into the home of A-list actor Marcus Dowling. When his wife walks in on the thief, the situation quickly teeters out of control, leaving an empty safe and a lifeless body. The same night, a woman and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down in an abandoned garage. The killer hasn't left a shred of evidence, except for a foreboding and cryptic message: WCF, the letters written in blood-red letters. With two elusive criminals on the loose, Detective Lindsay Boxer calls on the Women's Murder Club to help her stop them before they continue their spree. But before they can break either case, the Lipstick Killer changes his act and demands a ransom—not for a single victim, but for all of San Francisco. Lindsay puts her own life on the line—but will it be enough to save the city from this deranged killer?

15. The Moonlit Earth - Christopher Rice

With Christopher Rice being one of my absolute favorite authors - I have to say this book was not nearly as dramatic as the others he has written. It was a good book but I guess I was slightly disappointed.


At the start of this compelling cat-and-mouse thriller from bestseller Rice (Blind Fall), 30-year-old Megan Reynolds has returned to her mother’s house in posh Cathedral Beach near San Diego after being fired as head of a Northern California nonprofit organization for homeless kids that she tried to save using unorthodox methods. Megan soon faces a far greater challenge. Her beloved gay brother, Cameron, a handsome flight attendant for Peninsula Airlines, disappears with Majed, a suspicious Middle Easterner, in the wake of a terrorist bombing in Hong Kong that killed 60 people. When the FBI investigators point to Cameron as a suspect in the attack, Megan embarks on a dangerous mission to find her brother and help clear his name. Megan’s journey will test her endurance and her faith in family in unexpected ways. Rice sensitively charts the relationship of two close-knit siblings. (Apr.) bn.com