Travis McGee Series

If you do get hooked on John D. MacDonald, the last book in the Travis McGee series is number 21. It is The Lonely Silver Rain. It tackles the international cocaine trade.

Recommended Novels for Business leaders

I was just skimming through an old copy of The Week magazine dated Dec. 25,2009 - Jan. 8, 2010. On page 58, Garry Emmons was recommending that business leaders read detective novels by John D. MacDonald to get a dose of reality in the business world.

I looked up MacDonald on amazon and one reviewer suggested starting with Deep Blue Good-by in the Travis Mc Gee series. So, I looked for Deep Blue Good-by and discovered that if you want to tackle the Colorful Reading Challenge then this is it. Every novel in the McGee series has a color in the title.

I am however reading The Shimmer by David Morrel. That book is holding my interest right now. I will have to put the John D. books on my list of books to read in 2010.

Book Buzz

Look out for the chick lit, The Brightest Star in the Sky , by British writer Marian Keyes . It is one of the books that was recommended by the reviewer in the current People Magazine.

Colorful Reading Challenge

Can you find and read 9 books that have a color in the title?

The Colorful Reading Challenge is referring to books like The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and White Oleander; books that we read and discussed ages ago at our bookclub. Here is more information about the Colorful Reading Challenge.

Can't think of a book that has a color in the title? Well, check this list out. It's hard to believe there are so many books with colors (orange, blue, red, black, white) in the title.

Book Bloggers

Check out the blogs of some serious book lovers as they answer 20 book related questions posed by the blogger of Lost in Books.

Let's start with Jenner from Find Your Next Book Here. Read what she has to say about Even The Dogs by Jon McGregor.

Next, see how Carrie answers her 20 questions. Apparently the book she last read was The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. Carrie's blog is actually Carrie of Books and Movies.

Then read how JT of Bibliofreak answers the 20 questions. A book she bought just because of the cover was, The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra.

Jackie of Farm Lane Books indicated that the book she didn't like that everyone else seemed to love was Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.

Sure are a lot of book bloggers out there.

Book Buzz.

The current People magazine has this comedic book listed as a "Good Read", When you Lie About Your Age the Terrorists Win along with The Reliable Wife. Nothing funny about terrorists so the title is an attention grabber.

The political book, Notes From the Cracked Ceiling is also highlighted this week in People.

I saw Avatar on the weekend. I was surprised. I loved it. Chose it over my actor "boyfriend's" movie, The Book of Eli.

Bestsellers: USA Today list

Just came across this article on the novel A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. It's number 12 on USA Today's bestselling list.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is number one on the list no doubt because of the movie. I enjoyed the movie, by the way now showing at the movie theater, and I am glad I read the book first. I was able to appreciate the storyline better.

Nicholas Spark's Dear John follows as number 2 on the list. Again the movie previews are out so it must be pushing the sales.

Stephenie Meyer holds on strong to the number three and four slots on the USA Today bestselling list. Meyer is promoting the YA book, The Lonely Hearts Club by Elisabeth Eulberg, on her site.

Haiti Disaster: Text Yele

I experienced an earthquake January 13, 1993 in Jamaica and it was absolutely nothing like January 12, 2010 in Haiti. I thought the earth was going to open up and swallow me. C0incidentally today is the anniversary of the 1907 earthquake that hit Kingston and Pt. Royal, Jamaica.

I just gave to Wyclef Jean's organization http://www.yele.org/. Will you do the same? Only $5.00 donation by texting Yele at 501501. My heart goes out to the Haitian people and the Haitian diaspora.

Shine your light oh Lord, and guide rescue workers to find those who are buried and still alive.

Haiti will rise from the rubble.

Game Change Revelations

OMG! The book, The Game Change, has got to be the political book of the decade. It's stirring up so much controversy even though one amazon reader/reviewer calls it "gossipy garbage". Here are some of the revelations from the book in this article.

New Books

I received excerpts of these new books from an online bookclub :

Becoming Jane Eyre by Sheila Kohler

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig

Also, take a look at the link to the International Thriller Writers Debut Authors. Never can tell Drue Allen, Lisa Brackmann, Carla Buckley, and the others may one day become household names with future bestsellers.

Read a book a week in 2010!

Happy New Year everyone! I wish for you job security, much laughter, and wisdom in all things this 2010.

I saw Karl Rove briefly on Fox network this morning saying he's going to commit to reading a book a week. I definitely can't commit to that. I am still reading Macedonia Passage. It's taking me a long time to read but it really is interesting. A lot of shipping terms are used that I just skip over but the storyline is good. For those of you who can manage it, go for it, read a book each week.

Note for Anna: This is my mother's pride and joy, her garden!