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Updated July 25th 2008
Memoirs of a Geisha By Arthur Golden

  This was a very enjoyable story about Sayuri, a young girl, in Japan in the 1930’s and 1940’s. They live in a fishing village and are very poor. The mother is sick, and the father is a fisherman. Mr. Tanaka owns the biggest fish markets in the city.

  One day while coming home from the lake, where all the kids like to swim, the youngest daughter, Chiyo (who will be known as Sayuri when she becomes a geisha) meets Mr. Tanaka and he tells the story of how he was also poor like her but he worked hard and now he owns the largest fish markets around.

  When he stops by one afternoon to speak to her father, she thinks maybe he will adopt her and her life will be wonderful. He takes her and her sister to his house for dinner and they have a great time. When he finally does come for her and her sister, Sayuri is sent to a training house for a geisha and her sister is sent to a whore house. The training consists of being a housekeeper while they are learning skills like music and dance to learn to entertain wealthy men in Japan.

  Geisha try to be adopted by the house they live in as a daughter of the house and be in charge. Their other goal is to find a danna or a wealthy man to support them so they can live very comfortably. They auction off their virginity to the highest bidder when the time is right, and this gentleman is the one who is chosen for her danna.

  Sayuri meets a man in the street when she is only about ten and he is the most handsome man she has ever seen, and her only thought is to grow up and see him again. He is called the Chairman because he is the head of a large company in Japan. Years later, their paths do cross when she is a geisha in training years later.

  This was a good book and it makes you laugh and cry and I certainly enjoyed it.

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Updated June 17th 2008
Full Bloom By Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes
  Well Janet Evanovich has done it again. She has written a fun story full of mystery and fun. The characters are full of charm, life, a little eccentricity, of which we can all relate.

  When Annie Fontenberry inherited her grandmother’s inn, she didn’t realize how much work and money was going to be required. She thought her husband ran off with another woman, bur when his remains are discovered on her property, she must find out who’s responsible.

  Enter the mysterious stranger who rents a room from her who is really working for her former mother in law to prove that Annie killed her son. He is sexy, charming and is sweeping her off her feet.

  She has boarders, Destiny Moultrie, a psychic who writes a column on love for her sister’s local paper and Theenie, an older woman, who is a littlie prudish and a chronic worrier. Her best friend Jamie is getting married at her bed and breakfast with the number one catch of the county.

  Who is the murderer? Will it be her best male friend Danny, her husband’s mistress’s husband, or was it all random?

  The ending is a surprise and I truly enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. I can’t wait for the next one I read from these authors. .I hope you enjoy it a much as I did.

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Updated June 3rd 2008
The Hanged Man’s Song By John Sanford
This is a great story about computer hackers, murder, and if you believe it love.

When Bobby is murdered and his laptop stolen, the group is scrambling. They have none some not so legal things and are worried about being exposed. They must try to track this person down and stop him before all of them wind up in jail.

He is giving CNN live feed and exposing politicians and murdering people for blackmail. He always seems to be one step ahead. Unknown to him, the group has some tricks up their sleeves.

There are many twists and turns in this book that I like, John Sanford has done another great job to hold your interest to the end.

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Updated May 12th 2008
TRUNK MUSIC by MICHAEL CONNELLY

                        This is a series with the character Harry Bosch, a LAPD detective. He has just returned to work after a suspension for “involuntary stress” or anger management. He does things his own way and mote often than not, it leads to trouble.

  The term trunk music refers to a mob hit when you are put in their own trunk when they know too much. The victim Tony Aliso was found in his trunk in LA and has no apparent ties to the mob.

  On the surface it appears that the victim Tony Aliso just makes low budget films and spends much of his time between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Detective Bosch along with detectives Rider and Edgar follow the money and see where it goes.

  While investigating the crime, he runs into his soul mate, Eleanor Wish, a former FBI agent that was arrested and spent time in prison for conspiracy from a series of burglaries involving bank safe deposit vaults.

  It appears everyone from his wife to the mob wants him dead. Who will it be?

This a good book with a good plot. I liked the ending because it wasn’t what you expected.

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 1/3/2008 7:21AM;
Double Cross by James Patterson

This was another amazing thriller from James Patterson. There are two serial killers after our or main character Alex Cross and his friends and family. The first killer is known as DCAK (the DCAudience Killer) and the second is the Mastermind who was featured in another one of his books.

The story begins with DCAK breaking into a crime writer’s upscale condo and slaying her on her balcony in full view of the public. The next was an actor in full view of the audience. He is getting away with the murders and stumping the police.

The DCAK Killer initiates the meeting of Kyle Craig “The Mastermind” He wants to copy his style and be a much bigger success as a serial killer. The letter arrives through Kyle’s lawyer and so begins a twisted thriller of murder that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

The lead detective on the case is Bree Stone, who is also the girlfriend of top profiler Alex Cross. He is involved whether he likes it or not. The killer is orchestrating it so that not only is he involved but also his childhood friend John Sampson who is also an FBI agent.

Alex just wants to work at his private psychiatry office and not be involved, however, due to the fact that Kyle Craig is involved, he just can’t stay away. He will follow where the case leads.

This is another amazing book by James Patterson. It has many twists and turns and you are surprised at the end. I read this book in three days. I can’t wait for the next book.

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1/4/2007 7:21AM;
Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey Archer

It all begins as two women arrive in labor at the same Hospital, One is expecting twin sons and the other is also having a son. The first family struggles to make ends meet while the other is wealthy and she has had had two miscarriages by this time.

Robert and Ruth Davenport are wealthy and the only thing that would make them happy is a healthy son. Robert feels that the miscarriages were her fault and when they conceive for the third time, he orders her to take it easy. She is a very independent woman and this seems too difficult. Their nanny helps as best she can and feels that they deserve a child because they want a family so badly.

Michael and Susan Cartwright come from and entirely different background. They struggle to make ends meet. He sells insurance and she is a teacher. Having grown up together from the age of four, they were always is constant competition. After college the two of them meet up again at a surprise party and were together ever since.

When on the same night in the delivery room, Robert and Ruth’s son dies from being premature, while Michael and Susan’s twins live. While the women rest, the nanny goes to the nursery and switches the children. The Davenports are told that they have a healthy son and the Cartwright’s are advised that one of their sons has died.

They both lead two seemingly different lives but seem to mirror each others in their ambitions. Their lives are somewhat intertwined without coming in direct contact. Fletcher becomes a lawyer, while Nathaniel (Nat) becomes the head of the largest bank in Connecticut. Both have political ambitions and will meet in the political arena in a race for governor of Connecticut.

The story follows them along their paths and the villain Ralph Elliot causes trouble at every turn. He is the good looking rich boy that always tries the easy way by cheating and by lying his way through and always comes out smelling like a rose.

It truly is a great story that I couldn’t put down.

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11/1/2006 10:24PM;
Blow Out by Catherine Coulter

    This is an FBI thriller that has you on the edge of your seat. It’s part of a series of nine books that follow special agents Savich and Sherlock through a few cases.

 This one starts with them taking a much needed vacation when agent Savich has a blowout on the road back from town and a frightened girl appears and begs him to come to her house and catch an intruder who is trying to kill her. It follows right before a Supreme Court Justice Califano is murdered. The girl is Samantha Barrister who was murdered in the house thirty years before. Savich is compelled to find the truth about the girls murder however when there are more murders, he must solve the Justices case first. There are many twists and turns and there is always a surprise ending. The characters pull you into the story and keep your attention throughout the book.

I hope you enjoy.

Trixy

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10/13/2006 9:43PM;
Lucky's Lady, written by Tami Hoag.

   I found the characters to have very strong, independent personalities. Serena goes to Louisiana in search for her grandfather to settle a land dispute. Lucky is the sexy tough man from the bayou that she's drawn to. The story has many twists and turns from dealing with a twin sister that will stop at nothing to get what she wants as well as land developers that want to destroy the bayou to build a chemical plant, all trying to win the heart of the “Bad Boy” Lucky.
  
  As with all of Tami Hoag's other books, the ending had an unexpected twist. This is one book she really nails you with in the end. You will enjoy this book as the action is non stop and continues at a quick pace through out the story.