Fresh Veggies

The local Farmers' Market is open for business and if you're like me, you often wonder how well you'd do at vegetable gardening. If you're up for the challenge, The Everything Grow Your Own Vegetables Book would be a great first stop on your dirt journey. The chapters include information on raised beds, containers, composting, pests, tools, planting, and harvesting. If you've missed the Michigan deadlines for this year...the last chapter's for you: "Plan for Next Season."

Last Ride

FDR's Funeral Train by Robert Klara

This historical narrative is really two stories: one of FDR's death and the transporting of his body to Washington DC and then to Hyde Park for burial and second, a history of the train and especially Pullman cars and the Presidential car, Ferdinand Magellan. It is definitely worth reading.

The Host

In a distinct departure from the vampire romances that have made her a teen lit icon, author Stephenie Meyer focuses on a different, more mature audience with her first adult novel, The Host. In this science-fiction thriller, which takes place in the not-too-distant future, parasitic aliens called Souls have invaded Earth. These creatures have taken over the bodies and minds of humans, all but driving the race to extinction. The Host focuses on one such Soul called Wanderer, who has been implanted into the body of a young woman named Melanie. Only Melanie refuses to fully surrender her mind as expected. Overwhelmed with feelings and memories from the very life she has been trying to erase, Wanderer is soon driven unwillingly to find a colony of surviving humans hidden deep within the desert. Among these survivors is the man Melanie loves and the child she'd do anything to protect. Wanderer's sympathy for the humans turns to curiosity and then to love. How can Wanderer put her feelings aside and complete her mission? Never before has this creature been so emotionally torn about a duty that, before, felt so right. An action-packed story that begs the question: What makes us human?

Memoir

Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir by Wendy Burden

As a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Wendy Burden enjoyed a life of privilege when she was staying with her grandparents but an entirely different life when she was with her mother. The contrast makes interesting reading and the authors seems to be truthful although one wonders how she could remember so many details from her very early years. The details about the mansions in "Burdenland", her grandparent's estates from Maine to Florida are fascinating.

Lake of Dead Languages

The Lake of Dead Languages, by Carol Goodman After the tragic deaths of her best friends, Jane Hudson swears she'll never reteurn to Heart Lake, a once-posh upstate New York boarding school for girls. Now, twenty years later, fate brings Jane back to her old alma mater--this time as a Latin teacher. As history begins to seemingly repeat itself in strange and terrifying ways, memories from Jane's past begin to resurface as if slowly floating upward from the depths of the very lake that claimed the lives of her friends. With these memories dawns clarity and fresh insight into what really might have happened all those years ago. Can Jane uncover the truth before it's too late? Goodman has crafted fast-moving, deliciously gothic mystery. Highly recommended!

Enlightened Photography

If you're planning on vacationing and aspire to take better outdoor photos, you would do well to read Transient Light by Ian Cameron. The book discusses the importance of lighting and how to capture it most effectively with a camera. The author's samples make you see ordinary sights with a whole new appreciation.

A Secret in her Past

In the fine novel, The Biographer, a woman's past comes to light, in spite of her efforts to conceal it. Greer Gorden lives in Italy with her artist husband,Mischa. Married when she met him, they began a passionate love affair that ended in their flight from her marriage, job and friends. Twenty five years later, Mischa becomes a famous artist and a biographer begins to research their life. This forces Greer to re-examine her past while she is trying to conceal it. ML "Duigan is a wonderful writer...a psychologically compelling and thoroughly delectable read." The Sunday Telegraph