FINISHED:

Sedaris, David. (2013). Let's explore diabetes with owls. New York: Little, Brown & Co.


[.]


STARTED:
Konigsberg, Bill. (2013). Openly straight. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.


[.]


*

FINISHED:
Lawrence, Caroline. (2013). P.K. Pinkerton and the petrified man. New York: Penguin/Putnam.


[Having just set up shop as Virginia City’s newest detective, twelve-year old orphan P.K. Pinkerton is hired by Martha, a girl who witnessed the murder of a local “soiled-dove”, to find the killer.  When Martha herself goes missing, P.K. must look for a man who is “tall & slim & blond with a billy goat beard”… which, unfortunately describes half the men in Virginia City.  Told from P.K.’s perspective in “journal” form (chapters are referred to as “Ledger Sheets”), this second book in Lawrence’s recent Western Mysteries series picks up just days after the events of the first, with P.K. starting his detective business out of an old cigar shop.  P.K.’s undefined, though clearly evident, high-functioning Autism is referred to as he meticulously “catalogues” and memorizes the different brands of tobacco left in the shop from its last inhabitants, and still needs some schooling on how to read the emotions on others faces.  Though not as fast-paced and suspenseful as the first in the series, there’s still a good amount of action and surprises, and fans of the first novel, P.K. Pinkerton and the Deadly Desperados (G.P. Putnam’s/Penguin, 2012), will find plenty of enjoyment in this installment what with the duels, poker games, barn fire, and P.K.’s penchant for disguises (including posing as Martha in an effort to flush out the killer).  As in the previous volume, Samuel Clements makes an appearance as he was a writer for the Virginia City newspaper at the time, and a brief glossary is included which defines/describes period terms, people and places.  References to opium, prostitution, and some laissez-faire-treated, gruesome violence make this one best suited for a slightly older audience.]


STARTED:
Sedaris, David. (2013). Let's explore diabetes with owls. New York: Little, Brown & Co. 


[.]


*

There were a few books in between this post and the last, I just need to remember what they were...

FINISHED:
Pfeffer, Susan Beth. (2013). The shade of the moon. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

[.]


STARTED:
Lawrence, Caroline. (2013). P.K. Pinkerton and the petrified man. New York: Penguin/Putnam.

[.]

*

FINISHED:
Mauser, Pat Rhoads.  (1982). A bundle of sticks. New York: Atheneum.


[.]


STARTED:
Willingham, Bill. (2002). Fables #1: Legends in exile. New York: DC Comics.


[Was in the mood for a comic series - and this one, I just read, is being turned into a TV series soon...]


*

FINISHED:
Mull, Brandon. (2012). The candy shop war: Arcade catastrophe. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.


[.]


STARTED:
Mauser, Pat Rhoads. (1982). A bundle of sticks. New York: Atheneum.


[Read this one in middle school - remember it vividly because the title refers to the word "faggot", which is what the protagonist gets called by the school bully...]

*

FINISHED:
Yancey, Rick. (2013). The 5th wave. New York: G.P. Putnam's/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Mull, Brandon. (2012). The candy shop war: Arcade catastrophe. Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain.


[He's one of my favorites...]

*

FINISHED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2007). Split screen: Attack of the Soul-sucking Brain Zombies. New York: HarperCollins.


[LOVE LOVE LOVE these books!  I've said it before many times, but, where were these books when I was growing up??  Funny and matter-of-fact, treating homosexuality (and bisexuality) as plain as one would heterosexuality.  AND, there's a "discussion" between Russel and his parents (who find out about his being gay... and don't handle it so well...) that is BRILLIANT.  I'm going to copy those pages and hold on to them - Russel doesn't back down at all in the talk, and, in fact, makes some brilliant points that render the priest somewhat speechless.  Where's the next one??]


STARTED:
Yancey, Rick. (2013). The 5th wave. New York: G.P. Putnam's/Penguin.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Coben, Harlan. (2013). Six years. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[.]


STARTED:
Hartinger, Brent. (2007). Split screen: Attack of the Soul-sucking Brain Zombies. New York: HarperCollins.


[.]

*

FINISHED:
Hunter, Erin. (2013). River of lost bears (Seekers: Return to the wild #3). New York: HarperCollins.


[.]


STARTED:
Coben, Harlan. (2013). Six years. New York: Dutton/Penguin.


[Look, ma!  I can read books for adults, too!]

*

ABANDONED:
Mull, Brandon. (2013). Chasing the prophecy (Beyonders #3). New York: Aladdin.

[After weeks and weeks of plodding through this one... I finally... gave up!  Sorry Brandon!  You're one of  my favorites, but this series just didn't grab me... and I couldn't even stick it out to the end...]

STARTED:
Hunter, Erin. (2013).  River of lost bears (Seekers: Return to the wild #3). New York: HarperCollins.

[Reviewing for ACL... but it's not a chore because I'm kinda hooked on this series...]


*