It was a dark and gloomy night.......

.....so begins a lot of stories designed to "scare" you. But there are so many other books out there besides those written to scare the pants off you!!!!  I am afraid I am biased toward the mystery/thriller and legal thrillers but I do read a good romance and historical tombs.  If pressed to choose a favorite author I'd be hard put to choose just one., I LOVE James Patterson....especially his Alex Cross and Women's Mystery Club series but recently read a few stand-along novels and have begun his Michael Bennett series. Love Michael Bennett....I mean, here's a NY detective who works full time and manages to raise 10 adopted children after his wife dies of cancer....of course with the help of a nanny and his grandfather who became a priest after grandmother passed away. Start with STEP ON A CRACK and move forward from there with RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, WORST CASE, TICK TOCK and the latest I, MICHAEL BENNETT.  Very good reads and even gives Alex Cross (same author) a run for his money.

And now to move away from the mysteries and suspense genres.... I recently read a marvelous book recommended to me by my long time friend, Linda Percy called "To Heaven and Back" by Dr. Mary C. Neal. Dr. Neal, while on a kayaking trip in Chili, capsized going down a waterfall and was drowned. She was trapped underwater, tied into her kayak,  and despite everything being done by all those there her rescue became impossible. Finally after she had been under the water long enough to be determined to be dead something happened to dislodge the kayak allowing rescuers to reach her. Numerous tries to resuscitate seemed useless until finally she began breathing again...tho not very well.  Dr. Neal had been raised in a church environment but was never overly concerned about God and his miracles. This incident restored her complete faith that there ARE angels at work in all of our lives. She describes what she saw as she entered heaven. This is a must read book.....tho I have always believed in the existence of angels it wasn't till I read this book (totally unlike the style of books I normally read) did I know fully in my heart that each and everyone of us has an angel....perhaps more then one....watching over us. This is a quick read but one I highly recommend.

Let's don't forget the little folk who are avid readers like my Little Man....Gabriel loves books and is an excellent reader. Last fall we went thru the Mercy Watson series written by Newbery Award Winner Kate  diCamillo and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen. Mercy is a pig....but the Watsons think of her as their daughter!!!!!! Rach book in this series can be completed in 2 readings and Gabriel, who was in first grade at that time, had no problems reading them. It was nice, after 40 years of planning story programs and reading to thousands of children, to be read to!!!!! I might add that Mercy LOVES toast so make a few slices for your young reader and let them dig into the Mercy Watson series!!!!!

There is  a Mercy Watson website with games, Mercy's neighborhood, list of her books and teacher/lesson plans. 

www,mercywatson.com                
Tons of fun.

Hopefully Gabriel and I will tackle another series of Choose Your Own Adventures, Goosebumps series and the Magic Tree House series. But in the meantime I am going to close down this blog for today and go finish my latest mystery by Lisa Scottoline:

                                                                  Come Home

A suspense story of a mother who sacrifices her future for a child from her past.Jill Farrow is a typical suburban mom who has finally gotten her and her daughter's lives back on track after a divorce. She is about to remarry, her job as a pediatrician fulfills her - though it is stressful - and her daughter, Megan, is a happily over-scheduled thirteen-year-old juggling homework and the swim team.But Jill's life is turned upside down when her ex-stepdaughter, Abby, shows up on her doorstep late one night and delivers shocking news: Jill's ex-husband is dead. Abby insists that he was murdered and pleads with Jill to help find his killer. Jill reluctantly agrees to make a few inquiries and discovers that things don't add up. As she digs deeper, her actions threaten to rip apart her new family, destroy their hard-earned happiness, and even endanger her own life. Yet Jill can't turn her back on a child she loves and once called her own.

Happy reading!!!!!!!!!!