John Grogan - Marley and Me

Reader #521 wrote: I love dogs and this story was about a crazy, loving lab. The book made me laugh and cry. This crazy dog teaches its owner and I can relate to the devotion the owners had to their canine friend. It's a great summer read. Grade A.

Juno

Reader #521 wrote: I thought it was OK, but I expected a different ending. I hoped she would decide to keep the baby in the end. Grade: C.

Maid of Honor

Reader #521 wrote: It had a predictable ending, but it was great fun. Patrick Dempsey was very funny, and you wanted him to get the girl in the end.

David Baldacci - The Collectors

Reader #90 says: I recommend reading this because it is well researched, adding reality to the plot. His very good main and sub plots hold the readers interest. I found myself not wanting to put the book down. Grade: A.

Shirley Tallman - The Cliffhouse Strangler

Reader Number 412 wrote: At first is seemed slow like an Agatha Christie book. Then the reading got more interesting with all the murders. You try to figure out the murderer, but you think it's one person, and then they get murdered, too! It keeps you guessing until the end. Rating: B

Lee Child - Nothing to Lose

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ex military policeman and full time drifter Jack Reacher hitchhikes into Despair, Colorado only to be arrested on a trumped up vagrancy charge, and then promptly kicked out of town. There's no way he's going to take that kind of behavior, so hooking up with a policewoman from the neighboring town of Hope, Reacher sets out to find out what the town fathers in Despair are hiding. This was a solid, if formulaic Reacher thriller following the standard plot: Jack drifts into town, gets caught up in somebody's mess, finds a woman to help him (and sleep with him) and then solves the problem with a mix of brains and brawn. While it's not a bad thriller, and Reacher is always a compelling character, I think Child needs to get away from the formula and mix things up a bit during his next book. To his credit though, he has Reacher take a stand about the poor treatment of soldiers injured in the Iraq war, and the misuse of soldiers in general by self-serving politicians.


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Andrew Vachss - Down in the Zero

Librarian Tim wrote: Burke is out of his natural element again, this time called to a wealthy Connecticut suburb by the son of a former acquaintance who is scared about the rash of apparent suicides among his peers. When Burke investigates, he finds more than he bargains for, including sexual exploitation, blackmail and murder. This was a strange Burke novel, not only was he out of his usual New York setting, but it was as if Vachss was trying to have him establish a father-son relationship between him and his client, a very un-Burke like thing to do. The book stumbles along for quite a while before redeeming itself with a very clever finale. It revels itself as a dark, deep and existential novel. Grade: B

Jodi Picoult - The Tenth Circle

Reader #482 wrote: Once again Jodi Picoult spins a compelling tale. Picoult is at her best blurring the lines between right and wrong. A great read I highly recommend. Grade: A

Website review - Hubble gallery

Reader #85 write: This is a wonderful site for exploring the universe, the pictures are amazing and evoke a sense of wonder. Rating A+

Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl

Reader 62 wrote: I've had Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" from the album One of the Boys stuck in my head for a good day or two now. When I first heard it I was blown away; a song about lesbians on Top 40 radio?!

Not quite. The song is not so much about a recently outed lesbian's first sexual experience as it is a glorification of the "straight women who get drunk and make out with each other at parties" phenomenon ("I got so brave, drink in hand/Lost my discretion"). The song's protagonist kisses a girl "just to try it", and you know she's not a lesbian because she expresses concern and "hope[s her] boyfriend don't mind it".

I guess I have mixed feelings about this song and its message. On the one hand, Perry's singing about a random drunken hookup with a girl whose name she doesn't know. She is not at all ashamed to say she liked it, but makes sure to emphasize that it "ain't no bid deal, it's innocent" and that it "don't mean I'm in love tonight". This emphatically removes her experience from the realm of same-sex romance and makes it difficult to stick a "pro-lesbian" label on the song.

BUT.

"I Kissed A Girl" is a powerful statement about women's right to claim their own sexuality, whatever flavor it might be. Perry is unrepentant and states that her "experimental game" is "just human nature". And there's certainly something a bit revolutionary about a #1 Billboard song featuring a female artist going on about how sexy women are ("Us girls we are so magical/ Soft skin, red lips, so kissable/ Hard to resist so touchable/ Too good to deny it.")

I don't think Perry is going to win any awards for furthering the cause of gay and lesbian visibility and acceptance. She has, however, undeniably made her mark on the public conversation in a way that even just a few years ago would probably have been impossible. really catchy. :) Grade: B Worth a listen so you, too, can be involved; it's also