Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo (#32)

A little boy almost 4 years old has emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix, spends 3 minutes in heaven, and comes back to tell his family very surprising details about what he saw.

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews (#31)

Loved it! Three friends plus another woman rent a house in the Outer Banks for the month of August. Each has a life issue that she's dealing with: Ellis has just lost her job; Julia doesn't know whether to marry her long time boyfriend; Dorie has just found out that her husband is gay plus he is the father of her newly conceived baby. Maryn joins the group and she also has a problem; she is running away from a dangerous man. During the month on the beach the four women are working on their problems and also enjoying beach life. I so enjoyed this book!

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon (2011 #30)

A young couple, the girl developmentally disabled and very pregnant and the man a deaf mute escape from an institution in 1968. The girl gives birth on the run and couple hurriedly seeks shelter in a farmhouse where an elderly retired teacher lives. They are being pursued by the institution's workers so the newborn baby is given to the teacher and told to hide her. The story follows all the individuals in the story through the years. Very well done.

Truth Be Told by Larry King (2011 #29)

Comments from Larry King about all topics upon leaving his evening show; very entertaining.

Untied by Meredith Baxter (#28)

Interesting memoir of the star of Family Ties and many other shows---family issues, her difficult marriages, raising 5 children, and finally coming out as gay.

The Girl Who Played with Fire (#27) by Stieg Larsson

Continuation of the story of Lizbeth Salander with a very exciting ending. This is a very long book; negative aspect is that Swedish names are (of course) used so it was challenging to keep everyone straight.

A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block (#26) and If You Ask Me by Betty White (25)

Light, fun reading, so enjoyable and very quick. Betty, her love of animals, take on show business, view of the world at 89.



Lawrence Block is my favorite mystery writer. This is the latest Matthew Scudder mystery with Matt scrambling to maintain his first year of sobriety while dealing with a number of interesting characters in AA and on the street. A series of murders takes place and Matt is on the trail.