Karin

Cinder is the debut novel by Marisa Meyer and is the new, refreshing retelling of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella. Set in the future, but still starting with ‘once upon a time’,the novel is full of both humans and androids in the town of New Beijing.  Cinder is a gifted mechanic with a mysterious past and a secret...she is a cyborg.  A chance meeting with Prince Kai changes her life forever as she is caught at the center of an intergalactic struggle.

This futuristic fairytale is trilling, full of magic and just is utterly brilliant.

Author P.D. James, one of the literary geniuses of our time, has written a mystery using the characters of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, weaving them into a story of murder, deceit and mayhem.

Six years after Elizabeth and Darcy's wedding finds the couple happily married, the parents of two young sons, close neighbors with Bingley and Jane, and enjoying life at Pemberley. On the eve of the annual Autumn Ball, the excitement is put on hold when a coach containing Elizabeth's hysterical sister, Lydia, arrives. Knowing the she is not invited to the ball, Lydia decides to invite herself.  On the way through the woods, the coach is stopped and Officer Denny runs into the woods, followed by Lydia's husband, Wickham, after an argument. When Lydia hears shots ring out she has the coach driver whip the horses into a run. Arriving at Pemberley, she stumbles from the coach screaming that her beloved Wickham has been shot dead.  Darcy organizes a search party to find the two men. Soon, Officer Denny's dead body is found with Wickham kneeling over him, yelling that he has killed his friend. What follows is a story full of suspense, intrigue and excitement.

I have been a huge fan of Regis Philbin for years.  I started watching Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee while pregnant and on bed rest, which then became Live! with Regis and Kelly. I would tape (or in the last couple of years DVR) the show and I felt that as a host, Regis made me feel that I was in the audience.  I was even hooked on his nighttime game shows.

I have just finished reading How I Got This Way, Philbin’s hilarious, entertaining memoir.  He looks back at his years in showbiz and in his personal life. This memoir is filled with stories of life lessons learned, and of stories about his peers that he considered his teacher. As I was reading this book, I could clearly imagine Regis sitting in front of me telling the stories, while I laughed out loud and even sometimes cried.   While reading, you can tell that he is thankful for the life that he is able to lead, and everything it has brought him.

While reading Prince of Ravenscar, I was transported into the mansions, country estates, and lavish balls of 1831 England. Author Catherine Coulter has written another love-mystery-historical novel filled with witty characters and two complex mysteries.

When Lady Corrine Monroe wants her widowed son, Julian, to wed young Sophie Wilkie, Julian has other plans in mind. To please his mother, he agrees to go to London to meet the young lady who he hasn't seen in years. While in London, Julian reconnects with his nephew, Lord Devlin Monroe, a dashing young man who thinks that his bachelor life is extraordinarily pleasant. But, both gentlemen suddenly find themselves enjoying the company of Sophie and her aunt Roxanne Radcliffe. 

A murder that took place three years earlier has come back to haunt Julian, and he must enlist Devlin’s help to solve this old murder or their lives could be ruined.  Crimes of the past could cause trouble for these two men and put the people they love in harm’s way.

Step back in time while reading this book. You will enjoy it and maybe even decide to have some tea and cakes while you’re reading.

If you want to see into the life of a fast-paced law office in New York City, you need to read J'adore New York, by Isabelle Lafleche. In the same vein as The Devil Wears Prada, this tale of the corner office and Haute Couture is stylish and entertaining.

Parisian lawyer Catherine Lambert receives the transfer that she has been waiting for, a move to the Manhattan branch of her law firm.  A dedicated follower of fashion, Catherine is ready for the glamour of 5th Avenue and the chance to make partner at her firm.  She quickly learns that the pace and morals of this office are a nightmare.  She must work with underhanded lawyers, malicious bosses, horrible conspiring secretaries, and clients who can't keep their hands to themselves. She must figure out how to book more billable hours then are actually in a day, and try to find the perfect pair of Dior shoes while she’s at it.

This is my Christmas Season picture book selection. Author/historian David Rubel has written the story of the humble tradition of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. In Depression-era New York City, construction workers at the Rockefeller Center site help a family in need by building a new house for them after the family donates a Christmas tree. The young boy in the family keeps a pinecone from that first tree and plants it by the newly built house. Years later, the pinecone is a beautiful, tall Christmas tree, and the young boy is an elderly man.  To repay the kindness that was given to him and his family, he donates the tree to the Rockefeller Center.

An afterword highlights Rockefeller Center owner Tishman Speyer's partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Each year the tree is milled for lumber for this organization and a family in need is built a home.

I know that this is the book that will be on my coffee table for all to read, and I will purchase many copies as gifts.  I love the message, not just for this holiday season, but for every day.

Last Christmas, I told everyone that they needed to read An Amish Christmas, by author Cynthia Keller.  This year, the author wrote A Plain & Fancy Christmas, which is a simple, charming and compelling tale of two women, Rachel Yoder and Ellie Lawrence. Thirty years ago, these two women were born two days apart in a hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Three decades later, these women receive a letter with shocking information of a long buried secret that will change their lives forever – they were switched at the hospital by a drunken doctor before being sent off with the wrong families.

 Ellie was raised by a family in New York City and Rachel was raised by the Amish Yoder family. The news of the switch brings about life-altering questions and paths to explore.  Who are they really? Where do they belong? What customs and traditions should they follow? Both women deeply love the family that raised them, but they also realize that they have another family that should be part of their lives.