Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

At fourteen, Amy is supposed to be hanging out with friends and enjoying life as a carefree teenager. Instead, her father announces he's moving the family across the country—away from home, away from friends, and away from the school newspaper that Amy adores. And all to open a bed-and-breakfast in a tiny Northern California town. Why her? Why now? Feeling like the newbie she is, Amy is left out and alone. How is she supposed to fit in where she is obviously not welcome? And how can she help her family with their new business when she is so unhappy? When finally Amy seeks God's guidance, she quickly learns that God's answers to prayer are never what we expect. I love finding little gems of reading goodness that I would have never come across had it not been for being a book blogger. This book was one of those little nuggets of reading joy. Honestly I just could not get over how much I enjoyed reading this book. It had everything I love in a YA book - food, friendships, char...

A touching story about life as it should be lived The Wells family has reached a state of crisis. Essie is burning the candle at both ends as she tries to juggle her job, her motherly duties, and her impulsive husband, Jack. Meanwhile, Hamilton, the patriarch, has taken up residence in a dilapidated sailboat on Lake Lanier, trying to forget his past. The one thing that they all have in common is their search for significance. Told with a unique wit and a genuine Southern sensibility, Essie in Progress is a stirring story about realizing the life God has in store for you. This book was quite a surprise to read. From the front cover and description, I immediately assumed this was going to be another mommy-lit book where the wife has the unruly children and the husband seems to be oblivious to his wife's struggles. Luckily though I was in for a treat as this was not the case. Yes, there is a pregnant mom trying to juggle her kids and her life but there's a twist. She's a wo...

No more viva-ing in Vegas for this Elvis Elvis is dead again. At least that's what Gabby St. Clair has appeared to have found. When a popular Elvis impersonator turns up dead under a house, Gabby uses both her crime scene cleaning skills and her crime fighting skills to find out who committed the murder. Along the way she meets up with competition, laid back surfer Chad Davis, who won't stop to make sure her business is his as well. It soon appears though that Elvis wasn't the only one wanted dead. Gabby needs to find the killer or else she might soon be singing "I get so lonely I could die". Let me get it out of the way first. I LOVED that this book is set in my hometown. I enjoyed recognizing all the places and being able to say "I've been there!" It's also great to see a book set there and not have made up places by authors who use creative license. Now I actually love the story itself. The mystery is extremely good and it keeps you gues...

All in The Family Life was normal for the Carson clan until one day a young teen shows up at their doorstep. Susanne can't believe what she's hearing. This girl claims to be the long lost daughter of her husband. But this can't be true, her husband would have surely told her about such an important fact in his life. As the truth begins to unravel, everyone touched by this secret will never be the same again. I think that I unconsciously select books by different authors that have the same storyline. I had just finished reading "Ocean's Apart" by Karen Kingsbury when I selected this book to read. Interestingly both of the books had similar plots involving unknown children coming to claim their parents. I thought it was interesting to see how the stories parallel each other and also how the characters would react in different ways. In this book it was refreshingly realistic to see the other parent, the one who was left in the dark, be angry and even hostil...

Announcing the best book of 2008 Mayla Strong is back. Only now she's a Christian and that's what's become the focus of her life. But she's still having to deal with her everyday life and the unpredictable outcomes that come of it. When her job becomes eliminated due to nepotism, she finds herself traveling to Florida to stay with her grandmother and aunt. But before she leaves she's in the midst of trying to find a new job, taking care of a stray bunny without her roommate noticing, AND she has to confront her pastor about their relationship. Then while in Florida she has to deal with a pregnant teenager, her grandmother being overly possessive, her gay friend's aversion towards Christianity and the email aftermath of her confrontation with Pastor Paul! Throughout all this, Mayla manages to keep her calm and have her faith grow at the same time. Is it possible to declare the best book of 2008 this early in the year? Because I think I've just finished...

Becoming a believer in today's world Mayla has just become a new Christian. Everyone in her church is surprised because her dyed hair and piercings don't make her look like a normal Christian. However Mayla is eager to know more about God's word and to grow in her newfound faith. She has to battle grumpy church members who prejudge her because of her appearance and old friends who prejudge her because of her new faith. She is also becomes friends with a guy with AIDS and helps him to live out his last days with hopes of reconciling with his estranged family. Then there's finding her niche in church and her growing relationship with Pastor Paul. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to be a new Christian in today's world, read this book! I really enjoyed reading this book. Mayla was such a refreshing, realistic character. I could really relate to her. She's my age, going through the same problems that I am. I loved the fact that she had piercings an...

Father Knows Best? Maybe not. Ruby Taylor is at it again. In her third book, as she and Wesley are trying to figure out their relationship, Ruby stumbles across a string of robberies targeting her work. This leads to her finding out a town's shady history involving a murder. Amid a missing bull and a county fair involving potato recipes, Ruby tries to find out who is committing all the robberies and how it somehow connect to that story from yesteryear. Her attempts at sleuthing lead to comical and scary situations. This was such a great book. I like Ruby more and more with each book in the series. I liked her friendship with Starlight and I was glad that Ruby kept trying to point out to Wes that he needed to stop suspecting them just because they were new in town. The whole scentless hairspray made me curious as well as to how it works. I don't want to spoil the ending but the reasons for all the "activities" happening in the area had a sad story behind it...

Did you know crime scene cleaning can be a six figure job? I knew this book was going to be interesting when I sat down to lunch with the book, opened up the first page, read the first line and promptly had to spit out my lunch. Fragments of skull and grilled chicken do not mix. Gaby St. Clair is a crime scene cleaner. During one of her jobs, she discovers what appears to be the real murder weapon. Since the police don't believe her at first, Gaby tries to find the real killer on her own. Along the way, amid several death attempts, she and her cute neighbor try to unravel whose actually behind all these sinister doings. I knew knew there was such a job as a crime scene cleaner. Well obviously I realized that someone had to clean up the mess, but I didn't think that there could be such a profitable business doing it. I definitely couldn't do that job, my stomach couldn't handle it. This book ended up being a quick read because I couldn't put it down. This book...

A red haired Jessica Fletcher In Sassy Cinderella, the 2nd book in the Ruby Taylor Mystery series, we find Ruby teaching at a local college due to the recent death of a professor. There are questions surrounding his death, whether it was a suicide or not, and why would he kill himself. Meanwhile, Ruby also has to deal with her long lost brother reappearing and disappearing in her house, affecting her relationship with her mother. On top of that, her relationship with Wesley is getting complicated, with him being a police officer and continually catching Ruby in awkward positions. I really admired Ruby in this story. For example when she went into the professor's study, she wasn't scared or nervous or freaked out. If I had known there had once been a dead body in the room i was in, I'd run out immediately. Ruby, on the other hand, examines the fan the body was hanging from! I also liked Ruby's reactions to Wesley. Guys are absolutely clueless when it comes to women and...