Well, I have been reading every spare moment I have had this summer. From author Chrlaine Harris I went to Jim Butcher. I had a few or six of his books on the nightstand to read. The Dresden Files was a show on the SciFi Channel that got cancelled after it's first season. Dresden Files Season one is out on DVD for purchase. I had picked up a compilation called "Many Bloody Returns" with like 10 or 13 authors short stories having to do with vamipires as characters or the things that go bump in the night theme. When I read the Jim Butcher story that reminded me to dig up the 6 books I had yet to read. I have just discovered he was also out in comic books and has a graphic novel I plan to get. Here is a full list of his current works on the Chicago Wizard in chronological order first to most recent:

The Dresden Files Book Titles:
Storm Front
Fool Moon
Grave Peril
Summer Knight
Death Masks
Blood Rites
Dead Beat
Proven Guilty
White Night
Many Bloody Returns (compilation)
Small Favor
Welcome to the Jungle (Graphic Novel)
Mean Streets (compilation)
Turn Coat

I recently was introduced to this author by (e:springfairy)'s mom who had found a bunch of series by this author first was with the main character called Harper Collins who has the ability to find dead people. There will be more coming I guess.
Now I have just finished the 8th novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series, she as the ability to read peoples minds. This is the book series that the HBO TrueBlood Series is based on. I do not have HBO so I have to wait until it comes out on DVD. I am interested in how they are going to stay true to the characters in the book and yet develop the show with some of the new ideas. I do like the series. When I like a series it usually gets cancelled. For example the Dresden Files based on the Jim Butcher books. I digress.
She also has the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries and the Shakespeare Series with several books in each series to her credit, there are no supes in these just good ole fashion mysteries, but I will be deciding in a little bit what I will read before bed.
I really enjoy her novels and I thought I would pass that on to any avid readers out there looking for a good read.

(E:springfaerie) turned me on to a book titled: "something borrowed" by Emily Giffin. It was on the New York Times Bestseller List. This book was a complete page-turner! I was hooked after I knew the characters in the book. I had a friend just like Rachel's when I was in high school. I obviously identified with Rachel, the main character. I am not a successful lawyer in New York City. I do have a profession, Teaching in Buffalo. Just as tough!

    I read this in two sittings of long hours in air conditioning while trying to ignore the dreaded heat index in buffalo. Rachel went through tough decisions, indecisions, realization, letting go, allowing things to happen in her life, let go of he control factor, remembering her dreams and trying to believe and deserve them in reality. Tasking risks in life are not always in the areas we think they need to be in, usually more in the areas of our life that we have difficulty with and hold onto tightest!

    This book is about friendships, the evolution of friendships as we grow older and how they change us or help enable us into behaviors; good or bad! I have known a few friends through grammar school and high school and it is really hard to let them go or even evaluate them unless you have time to step back and analyze, evaluate, and assign them their true worth. Not the ideal but the reality of what that friendship is worth to you.

    Giffin also gives us a real life drama to deal with that could happen to any of us girls. There are several male main figures and they too have a real life drama they are involved in, but it is written from the female perspective. I would love to know what men really think and feel about the women in their lives. I was recently privy to young men ranging from early 20's to late 60's discussing the women they love. They have the same worries, the same feelings, the same heartache, the same depression, the same hurts, the same joy, the same excitement, the dame happiness; it is just we express them differently in different environments. I was honored they let me stay present, but I was happy to know this basic fact. Since we here so much about how very different the sexes are, sometimes I would like to know more about how the genders are the same. No, it is not always obvious to us, male or female!

    She brings up the issue of ethics within boundaries of relationships. I think in the end she tells us to follow our heart. I wouldn't have made the choices Rachel did, but then I am not Rachel. Yet she went for it, she held on, she was disappointed and she made her decision and stuck to it in the end. She also discussed the boundaries in relationship among friends. Darcy her best friends from back home and grammar school, was filled with as many good qualities as bad qualities. Darcy was concerned for Darcy versus Rachel. Friendships are a blessing when they are balanced and have good foundations to survive growing older and dealing with bigger and bad-er problems.

    What does engagements and marriage mean to us? What is the purpose of an engagement? Why does engagement take long periods of time for some and less for others? What does marriage mean in today's society? Does each person have a different perception from the majority of the population? What does it mean to become married? Why do some people decide to get married? Are they for the right reasons? Is it peer pressure? Does it seem like the next logical step in the relationship? Is it because they are in love? Can both partners see each other growing old together; in sickness and in health? Is this the person I want to spend the rest of my natural life with? Or do you just know he or she is the one?

It was a well-told tale of the heart and about relationships. Good Book. I never guessed the ending, yet I hoped, I just had to keep reading.