Book Chat-- I Quit!, A Merry Heart, The Forgotten Garden

I Quit! Stop Pretending Everything if Fine & Change Your Life by Geri Scazzero

*****

"This book was great. It addressed many areas in life.  I love that it gave us permission to not be perfect.  She had many great things to say in her chapters."-- Jenni Wagner

A Merry Heart by Wanda Brunstetter 

****

"A good lesson can be learned from this book - bitterness and unforgiveness hurts you, not the other person your anger is toward.  It can also affect your physical well-being.  Attitude is a choice.  Miriam is not enjoying life and is merely existing.  While she does have an influence on others - she is a school teacher - it is hindered by her attitude.  Miriam must learn to forgive and let her defenses down to live life fully and allow love to bloom once again.  While I did learn from and enjoy this book, I find one of the other "Amish fiction" writers to be a better author and my favorite." -- Grace Snider

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

*****

"I really enjoyed this story of a granddaughter uncovering the secret past of her grandmother.  The book alternates between the early 1900's in England, Australia in the 1970's and modern day." -- Robin Willford

Book Chat - The Language of Flowers, Fifty Shades Darker, Just One Look

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

*****

"This is an amazing book.  Well written.  Great story, very moving.  It has made the list of one of my all time favorite books.  There is meaning in everything.  Find some in Flowers." -- Katy Carroll

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

***

"First book was better; this one was harder to get through.  More excited to read the third book.  Their relationship progresses and you can understand Fifty's psyche more.  Was still a good book, but drags a little." -- Julie Martinez

Just One Look by Harlan Coben

****

"This book has a lot of twists and turns in it. A woman who's husband mysteriously left after she shows him an old photograph she's found, a friend who might not be as loyal as she thinks & a mobster who's befriended her in her plight to find her husband.  She soon learns that her marriage isn't what she thought, her past is coming back to haunt her and her husband is in a lot more trouble than she was aware of.  She finds herself all alone as she tries to unravel the mystery of their tangled lives." -- Amy Jones

Hayley's Children's Book Reviews

Chloe is a cute little bunny with ten older brothers and sisters and ten younger brothers and sisters.  She loves being exactly in the middle!  She especially loves using her imagination during their family fun time.  Read Chloe by Peter McCarty and find out what happens when her dad brings home a surprise that Chloe is not sure she will like?

Cheeky and Chee are two playful monkeys hiding in a tree.  Who are they hiding from?  Find out when you read Two Little Monkeys, a fun rhyming book, by Mem Fox. 

Louise wants to be a very important person but no one ever seems to notice her.  Then one day a new girl, Claire Eclaire, comes to her neighborhood straight from Paris.  She opens the Ooh-la-la Charm School and Louise is just sure she will finally be noticed.  Louise The Big Cheese And The Ooh-La-La Charm School by Elise Primavera teaches kids what it really means to be a good friend.

Has it ever occurred to you back in the mid-nineteenth century most people didn’t have any idea what a dinosaur looked like?  As a young boy, Waterhouse Hawkins loved sketching the world around him, especially animals.  Not only did he love drawing and painting them, he loved sculpting models of them.  Even though dinosaur fossils had been found most people had no idea what a dinosaur looked like.  Waterhouse followed his dream and devoted over three decades to building the first life-size models of dinosaurs.  Barbara Kerley tells his extraordinary story of passion and courage in The Dinosaurs Of Waterhouse Hawkins.

Book Chat: The Passage, Nineteen Minutes

The Passage by Justin Cronin
*****
"This book gives you lots to sink your teeth into with almost 700 pages!  Apocalyptic story that spans 100 year of blood, sweat and tears.  Gripping, fresh, and timely! Can't wait for the sequel due to be released in October 2012!" - Suzanne Eastman

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 
*****
"This book really shows what could happen as a result of bullying.  The author develops the characters so well.   I felt so bad for the parents in this book as well as the kids who were bullied." - Kristen Book

Summer Reading Prize Winners

The summer reading program is over!
Here are the results of our prize drawing on July 14th:

Adult Summer Reading Prizes

The Nook Color = Charlotte Kraft

Healing Waters Basket = Jenni Wagner

Metro Grill / Warren Basket = Laurisa Condray

Donor Basket = Cassie Black

Donor Basket = Sheryl Jackson

Wall Hanging = Valeri Peltier

Scooters / Subway Cards = Robert Wilson

Scooters / Pizza Hut Cards = Rebekah Hubbard

Children’s Summer Reading Prizes

Age 0-4 = Makayla Aumiller

Age 5-7 = Ethan Ward

Age 8-10 = Hannah Hotalen

Age 11-13 = Nikolas Stever

Age 14-17 = Emily Snider

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to everyone who participated!

Book Chat: The Next Always, The Pioneer Woman...

The Next Always by Nora Roberts
*****
"A good summer read - 1st in a trilogy.  Romantic and full of interesting characters and a beautiful setting - Three good friends and three handsome brothers - and the next book has just come out!" - Nancy King

The Pioneer Woman Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - A Love Story by Ree Drummond
*****
"This was a wonderful book!  I enjoyed reading it very much!  A great love story and well written with Ree's funny sense of humor, and it's a true story, not a work of fiction.  There are some wonderful recipes in back of the book also.  She is a great cook! Her two cookbooks and childrens books are great books also, as well as her TV show on the Food Network.  I love the Pioneer Woman's Photography as well; she takes some beautiful pictures for her books.  Check out her website @ www.thepioneerwoman.com.  Her blog is great!" - Robin Wilson

Book Chat: Letter From a Stranger, Gone Girl

Letter From a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford
****
"This is a wonderful book - appealing characters, exotic locales, romance and family love.  A good summer book - leaves you wanting more!" - Nancy King

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
***
"This book is a psychological thriller.  It is also dark.  The story is about a marriage gone awry.  The ending might surprise you!" - Gloria DeJesus

Book Chat- The Innocent, Why My Third Husband Will be a Dog

The Innocent by David Baldacci
****
"Right from the start this story had me hooked! The characters are well developed and fun to root for.  The action is fast and the dialogue witty.  A GREAT choice for Baldacci fans!" - Gretchen Montgomery

Why My Third Husband Will be a Dog by Lisa Scottoline
****
"Need a good laugh? This book is full of them.  Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline open up about her life with four dogs, cats, chickens, a pig, her daughters, and Mom Mary.  No topic is too small or mundane - from spanx to interrupting to toasters. " - Carol Hirsh

Book Chat: We're Just Like You..., The Glass Castle, The Hundred Secret Senses, 11/22/63

We're Just Like You, Only Prettier (Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle) by Celia Rivenbark
****
"I found this book very comical. (I actually did laugh so hard I cried.) Each chapter is a short story in itself, so it is a fast and easy read.  Although some references are "southern," as the title implies, you don't have to  be from the south to enjoy these anecdotes." - Tracy Sitz


The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
****
"A memoir of survival in a dysfunctional family.  The book provides an insight into life on the move, often homeless and frequently hungry.  A great story." - Megan Knowles

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
****
"What a storyteller Tan is!  Sometimes though,  I got lost between the present and the past.  The relationships of the two sisters and the extended Chinese family were a great part of the book." - Karla Armbrister

11/22/63 by Stephen King
****
"I am not usually a Stephen King fan, but I enjoyed this book very much.  It definitely has many surprises that you don't see coming.  It certainly doesn't turn out as you expect, but of course it makes perfect sense."  -
Kristen Book

Hayley's Children's Book Reviews

Kids will enjoy riding a rocket through the solar system as they read Zoom, Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo.   Travel along with the astronauts as they have many exciting adventures exploring new terrain, riding in moon buggies, living in space stations, flying in space shuttles and much, much more.

You can only begin to imagine what would happen if wild animals came inside a house.  Read Eric Pinder’s, If All The Animals Came Inside, and join one family’s wild adventure as animals of every shape and size take over their house and make themselves right at home.  This rhyming story comes to life with colorful collage illustrations by Marc Brown the creator of the bestselling Arthur Adventure book series.    

Zorro is a cute little pug that has a pretty good life.  Then one day, Zorro’s owner gets him an outfit.  Zorro doesn’t want to put it on.  He’s embarrassed!  When he goes out on a walk, other dogs laugh at him.  Even Slim, the cat, makes fun of him in his new super hero cape.  While he is at the park, someone new shows up.  Read Zorro Gets An Outfit by Carter Goodrich and see if Zorro changes his mind.