Suspect By Michael Robotham

Joseph O'Loughlin seems to have it all - a lovely wife and daughter, and a rewarding career as a clinical psychologist. But things change drastically when the police find a young woman dead with multiple stab wounds, which seem to be self-inflicted.
The police call Joe to see if he could help them understand the crime. It turns out that Joe knows the victim. Her name is Catherine McBride, a nurse and former colleague.
Meanwhile, Joe has been working with a very troubled young patient named Bobby Moran, who has extremely violent dreams. Joe begins to wonder if Bobby's dreams may turn into reality.
This investigation takes Joe through the darkest parts of the human mind.

Suspect provides plenty of twists and turns.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I decided to begin the Harry Potter series for the first time. Many of my friends and colleagues have read the series more than once and all of their comments about the books really piqued my interest. I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in a couple of days and got hooked. I enjoyed watching the friendship between the first year Hogwarts students develop. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is such an interesting, scary place. A place I'd like to visit.

There is so much going on in this little book; sadness, madness, humor, magic, wizardry and evil. There are plenty of ghosts, trolls, strange creatures, strange teachers, mean students, talking portraits, magic mirrors, a spying cat and much, much more. I just started the second book in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, so more on this later.

Lost December, by Richard Paul Evans

Luke Crisp is the prodigal son. Luke's mother died when he was very young. Luke and his father have an exceptionally close relationship, one built on trust, respect, honesty, and love. He has worked hard at the Crisp family printing business since the age of twelve. When Luke and his father are not working, they often play golf together, go to dinner, or go on vacations together. Carl Crisp has big plans, he wants to retire and hand over the family business to his only child. Having recently graduated from college his father wants him to pursue an MBA from a school out east--far away from his Arizona home; to get the education his father never had and to see more of what the world has to offer. Although very reluctant to leave his home and his father he finally agrees to attend Wharton School in Philadelphia.

Although a good student, Luke falls in with a different crowd and problems arise. He drinks too much, cheats on his girlfriend, and spends all his money. In time his girlfriend leaves him and he completely runs out of money. He finds himself alone and living on the street. Can he find his way back into his father's life?

This is a great Christmas story of love, loss, and love found. It is a quick read and again a page turner. I hope you enjoy it and much as I did.

Blue Nights by Joan Didion

Joan Didion, author of the bestselling memoir The Year of Magical Thinking (2005) which is about her marriage to author John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003), has written Blue Nights (2011), a haunting account of the illness and death of her adopted daughter Quintana Roo Dunne Michael (1966-2005). In 2003, Quintana was hospitalized with pneumonia which developed into septic shock, rendering her unconscious when her father died of cardiac arrest in the couple's New York apartment. She was hospitalized again in 2004 due to bleeding in the brain. Barely able to grieve for her husband, Joan became Quintana's caregiver until she passed away in 2005. The reader learns of the adoption and the doubts and fears Didion and Dunne faced, as well as, bits and pieces of Quintana's childhood, her wedding, her illness, and ultimately her death. Didion also discusses her health problems, getting old, and her intense feelings of guilt for being unable to save the lives of those she loved most because she felt she should have seen the signs that might have saved them. "How could I have missed what was clearly there to be seen?"

An honest, humble memoir of love and grief.

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

For all you "Ellen" fans out there, this is the book for you. I admit I have liked Ellen DeGeneres since way back when. I enjoyed her sitcoms, I loved her as Dora in the hit movie "Finding Nemo," (someone PLEASE tell me why there was never a sequel to that movie), and on the rare occasion I actually get to watch her talk show I love that program too. She simply comes across as a good, kind and generous person who is not afraid to laugh at herself. We need way more people like that too!

"Seriously...I'm Kidding" is a funny book with simple anecdotes on life--according to Ellen. She shares her life experiences about recycling, moving, getting older, being a "Cover Girl" over 50, her animals, her family, babies, being nice, being neat, and oh, yes--being funny and so much more. The chapters are short and sweet. I was so engulfed in reading her story when I heard someone laughing out loud. I looked around and then realized, I was the person laughing! This book is that funny.

It is short, sweet and hilarious. Pick it up today and get lost in a great read (or grab the audio version, Ellen narrates it and it is GREAT!)

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist minister who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. Soon after arriving they discovered that what supplies they brought from home will not last long in the Congo. As they try to convert the men, women and children of the village they meet much resistance because of the villagers long held beliefs in nature and their own gods. However, they are prepared to help the family survive their surroundings with meal preparations, food supplies, and planting of crops despite not accepting the Baptist religion.

This story can be quite sad at times when you read of the political warfare going on in Africa at the time and the political games that all the big governments play in trying to secure their "pot of gold" in the Congo's resources, especially the diamond trade.
The Poisonwood Bible spans three generations. The Price family faces many obstacles from the death of one of the children, to one daughter's refusal to leave Africa and marry a much older man, to another daughter's illness that forced her to stay behind and then decide not to return to the United States, and then the mother's return to the United States leaving her husband to remain in the Congo.
Although a long story, it is well worth reading and you may decide you can't put this book down until the last page has been turned.

The Touch a novella by Randall Wallace

Andrew Jones has a special gift-he is an extremely talented surgeon. Following a deadly accident years ago when his fiance Faith died, he no longer practices surgery. He teaches and still treats patients, but he leaves the surgical procedures to his fellow colleagues.

Lara Blair is the CEO of Blair Bio-Medical Engineering. When her father died he left her in charge of the company. Her father was a pioneer in "the development of machines that would make impossible surgeries not only possible but practical."Lara has been attempting to perfect one such surgical procedure and meets with one failure after another. Blair Bio-Medical recruiters present Lara with a microscopic sculpture of Abraham Lincoln standing instead of sitting at the Lincoln Memorial. The miraculous beauty of this carving is that it could easily fit inside the eye of a needle! Andrew Jones is the sculptor! Problem is, Andrew is not interested in performing surgery in any capacity, even in a laboratory.

Lara is confident she can convince Andrew to help them. She reaches out to Andrew to work with her and Blair Bio-Medical to perfect these new and vital surgical procedures to help save lives. Andrew and Lara both struggle with past personal experiences and learn to share their troubles and trust again. When Lara needs Andrew to save her life will he have the confidence he needs and be able to put the demons that trouble him behind him and come to her rescue?