Morgan's Cross & Dance of the Gods, by Nora Roberts

Books One & Two of the Circle Trilogy. If you are in the mood for a quick little vampire page turner, these books are for you. I can't wait to get to the third. It was a simple medieval Irish fairytale that I could not put down.

MABC

Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis

This classic 1920 novel about Main Street in Gopher Praire, Minnesota, brings you to small town America. It provides insights, not just into the physical condition of the town, but the social and cultural state of affairs as well. Back then, this novel was billed as applying to almost any Main Street across America. Reading it today, it is funny how it could almost still apply to the average modern American suburb. Even those here in NJ. A great old fashioned read.

MABC

February 28, 2007

Not exactly a book review but....

I watched the DVD, The Da Vinci Code last night and man, was I disappointed. While I wasn't blown away by the book, I did enjoy it for what it was. The movie however, just didn't do the book justice. It never developed the intracicies of the plot that the book did. Plus they gave away the identity of the Teacher way too earlier. Tom Hanks was grossly miscast as Robert Langdon. Eecch! I am not sure whom I think the role should have gone to but certainly not him. He did bring depth and emotion to the character which is more than I can say for Audrey Tautou's performance as the charming and intelligent Sophie Neveu.

I hope the movie version of Angels and Demons is better.

-- Ilene Lefkowitz

My Reviews of the 50 Books I Will Read (4/50)

"The Player" by Michael Tolkin (4/50)

Griffin Mill, Senior VP of Production at a major Hollywood studio is receiving threatening postcards from a writer ("the Writer") who he promised to get back to without having any intentions to do so. As Griffin becomes more paranoid he tries to contact writers that he has seen to apologize setting a string of events that will have dire consequences to the the paranoid producer.

This book is part mystery, part physcological thriller, part satire.

I enjoyed this book especially the comments about Hollywood; However, set in the mid 1980's it is somewhat dated.

Review: George and Sam: Two Boys, Autism and One Family

George and Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism by Charlotte Moore.

When I read the review of this book in either Publisher's Weekly or Library Journal, it caught my eye and I made a note to read it when it came into the library. I took it home and couldn't put it down. While reading it a particular phrase kept coming into my head: By the grace of G-d There Go I. Thankfully I am blessed with two normal and healthy children. Books like this make me realize how very special and fortunate that is.

Ms. Moore is the single mother to three sons; George, Sam and Jake. Both George and Sam are severly autistic. Jake, the youngest is not. Ms. Moore does not sugar coat nor does she martyr herself in detailing their everyday life and struggles. She does not claim to be an expert in Autism, just a mom trying to do the best by her children.

It was a moving picture of a family that despite the hardships they have been dealt are a family and a fairly happy one at that.

An excellent list of other books and resources on the subject of Autism is included at the end of the book.

Next up: Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers by Amy Stewart

-- Ilene Lefkowitz
Adult Services Librarian
Denville Library

Review: Man in the Middle.

Man in the Middle. Brian Haig.

The sixth and the BEST of Haig's books. As up to date as today!

- Ernie Aiello

Review: Cross

Cross. James Patterson.

Another good one. Patterson continues to grind them out. He and Alex Cross are fun to read.

- Ernie Aiello

Review: The Assassins Gallery

The Assassin's Gallery. David L. Robbins

A more than EXCELLENT read. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a novel.

- Ernie Aiello

Review: End of War

End of War. David L. Robbins

A wonderful end of World War II in Europe novel. Very interesting stuff about the how and why of victory in Europe. Maybe this book should be in the non-fiction section?

- Ernie Aiello

My Reviews of the 50 Books I Will Read (3/50)

"Not Enough Indians" by Harry Shearer (3/50)

Harry Shearer is the former cast member and writer of Saturday Night Live, star of the movies This Is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind, and the voices for about 20 characters on the Simpsons.

Harry's first novel is a satire on the Indian casino business. It takes place in the fictional town of Gammage, NY, "a town so far down on its luck that Wal-Mart would rather site its new store in the middle of a lake than in Gammage".

The citizens of Gammage's idea to survive is to obtain tribal status and open a casino. With characters aplenty , from organized crime figures, rival Indian casino owners, inept civil servants and quirky citizens of Gammage, now the Filaquonsett reservation Shearer has plenty to work with with is sardonic and droll sense of humor.

Two thumbs up on this one.

Get ready for Harry and the Deathly Hallows

This is from the Associated Press. I pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.com/uk. I have British editions of all the others so I need to finish the series with the same. Not the adult ones, the children's versions.

Mark your calendars!
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Final 'Potter' book scheduled for July 21 release

Let it begin: the countdown, the party planning, the predictions, the meaning of it all.

The tears -- for the end of Harry Potter.

The world's most anticipated book finale, ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,'' will come out midnight, July 21, according to author J.K. Rowling and her British and U.S. publishers, Bloomsbury and Scholastic, Inc. Ten years, and a few hundred million sales, after the first Potter book was released, Rowling will wrap up the magical adventures of the boy wizard, his friends and his enemies.

The author posted a brief announcement on her Web site Thursday, followed soon by releases from her publishers.

The news landed like a silent meteor. ''Deathly Hallows'' almost instantly topped the best-seller lists on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com, displacing another industry titan, an Oprah Winfrey pick, Sidney Poitier's ''The Measure of a Man.''

Potter readers, who had speculated the book might be published July 7 (7/7/07 for the seventh book) or July 31 (Harry's birthday), posted dozens of ecstatic messages on the Potter fan site, www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, within minutes of the announcement.

''OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!'' read one typical message.

''WAH!!! I think I'm going crazy!!!! We finally have a date!!!'' added another fan.

Other comments were sadder, noting the series' conclusion.

''I can't wait to read the book, but at the same time, I'm afraid to read it,'' read a message from a fan named Christine, who identified herself as a ''30-something'' mom. ''I can't stand the thought of anything happening to the characters that I've grown to love! What an odd feeling.''

Christine and others have a lot to look forward to -- and to fear. Rowling's stories have darkened considerably since the first release, ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' and the author has said two characters will be killed off in Book 7.

''I don't always enjoy killing my characters. I didn't enjoy killing the character who died at the end of Book 6,'' Rowling said during a reading last summer at Radio City Music Hall, declining to name that person in case someone had yet to finish the book.

''I really didn't enjoy doing that but I had been planning that for years so it wasn't quite as poignant as you might imagine. I'd already done my grieving when I actually came to write it.''

Rowling left millions sobbing at the end of Book 6, with a death and Harry's decision to take on the evil Lord Voldemort. Other cliffhangers for the faithful:

• Who is R.A.B., the mysterious person who took one of the magical items Harry has been searching for? And what did he do with it? And where are the other ones?

• Will Harry and Ginny ever be able to be together?

Still more unanswered questions: How many copies of ''Deathly Hallows'' will be printed and how many pages does it run? Judging from the suggested cover price, a meaty $34.99, $5 more than for Potter 6, ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,'' the last book will likely match or exceed the 600-plus page length of previous releases.

''We have held the price for the past four years,'' Scholastic publicist Kyle Good told The Associated Press. ''In that time, costs of production, paper, trucking, gas and security -- to be sure all readers can enjoy the book at the release time -- have all increased.''

Fans can pay much less for ''Deathly Hallows.'' Amazon.com announced that it would sell the book for $18.89, a 46 percent discount. Barnes & Noble.com offered the same price, but only for store members. Price competition has been so intense over the years that many retailers have acknowledged they don't make money on the fantasy series, depending instead on customers buying other books along with Potter.

Since Rowling first introduced Harry and his fellow students at Hogwarts to the world 10 years ago, the books have sold more than 325 million copies in 64 languages, broken countless sales records and shattered assumptions that young people, especially boys, don't like to read. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,'' published in 2005, had an announced first U.S. printing of 10.8 million copies and sold 6.9 million copies in its first 24 hours.

Four hit movies already have been adapted from the Potter books. The fifth film, ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' is scheduled to come out July 13, just eight days before the release of ''Deathly Hallows.''