State of Fear (Michael Crichton) ***

An excellent book with much social commentary on topics including environmentalists, politics, and universities. Crichton wraps some story on what is basically a critique of the envrionmentalist movement -- specifically about global warming and the greenhouse effect. He did a lot of research for this book, and it shows. I even spent time reading the authors notes and annotated bibliography at the end. Highly recommended if for nothing more than to give you food for thought. For sensitive readers, probably rated R for language and adult situations.

Christmas Jars (Jason F. Wright) ***

Very quick read. It's a nice, short, seasonal book, about a family tradition of collecting pocket change throughout the year and giving it to someone in need on Christmas. The book describes how the tradition spreads and the kind of effect it has on people. We're reading it in our Book Group.

The Wednesday Letters (Jason F. Wright) ***

Good book, easy ready. It's about a couple in which the husband wrote a letter to his wife every Wednesday of their marriage, and they are discovered by their children after the couple dies. Uplifting, sentimental, kind of mushy in places, but enjoyable. New York Times bestseller.

Eclipse (Stephenie Meyer) ***

This is the last in the vampire series I read. Twilight was probably my favorite, then Eclipse, then New Moon. It's definitely geared toward young women. But it's an easy read and I enjoyed them.

The Freedom Writers Diary (Erin Gruwell) **

277 pages. Kristen and I read this book together. It is composed of diaries from a group of 150 students living in the hood in LA who wrote about the problems they were experiencing and how they bonded together to graduate from high school, fight intolerance, and make their lives better. At times we got tired of all the "Ms Gruwell is so great" [she's their teacher who helped put the book together, and it's definitely not for little kids (Kendrick) due to the bad words, etc. But overall, it was a good book.

New Moon (Stephenie Meyer) ***

This is the 2nd book in a series of three about a relationship between a normal girl and a vampire. The first was called "Twilight". It's such a good read! Romance, suspense, action, fantasy, etc. I'm really enjoying the series.

My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult) ***

423 pages. Kate was diagnosed with leukemia as a child. Her parents went through preimplantation genetic diagnosis, so that Anna would be born as a perfect match to be a donor of bone marrow and other organs. At age 13 Anna decided she wanted to make her own choices about being a donor. It's a story about how this family deals with it all. Sometimes the language isn't that great, but otherwise it was very good and captivating.