Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern

An autistic boy goes into the woods with a classmate, and only he comes out alive. The murder mystery in the book seems secondary to me, as the story focuses on Adam and trying to unlock the secrets of what he saw. As a mystery, this wasn't a favorite, but I did enjoy the realistic detail of the struggles of raising an autistic child. 3 1/2 stars

Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch

This was another ARC I received that dealt with food...Damrosch tells her story from coffee shop waitress to 4 star restaurant captain. I found her rise to the exclusive restaurant kind of far fetched. The story was entertaining, but nothing spectacular. She also failed to describe a lot of the dishes beyond their name, and I wasn't even sure what some of the food she was talking about was. 3 stars

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn

Flinn lost her corporate job and decided to pursue her dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. This was not a book I normally would have picked up, I received an ARC copy, but I really enjoyed it. Her mishaps and growth at school mirrored her life, and the book was very enjoyable. 4 stars

Thoughts on previous books

Palace of Tears: This is a short book about one man's search for a woman he loves from seeing her in a painting. It was a quick read, but wasn't a book that made much of an impression on me. 3 stars

The Red Tent: A keeper for sure! This tale of biblical times told through the eyes of women was fascinating. 5 stars

The Memory Keepers Daughter: A woman gives birth to twins, one of whom has Down's Syndrome. This baby was given away and the mother was told she died at birth. While the premise on this book was interesting, the characters fell flat. I felt no connection to any of them. For me, this book did not live up to all the hype. 2 1/2 stars

Memoirs of a Geisha: A study of the life of a geisha in their prime. I loved the detail in the book as well as the charcters. This is one that I look forward to reading again. 5 stars

The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club: While mildly funny the author mainly tells of her drunken mis-adventures. I don't plan to read any of her other books. 2 1/2 stars

Icy Sparks: This is the first Oprah book pick that I hated! I considered not finishing it many times, and probably should have just put it aside. I have not read anything else by the author, and am hesitant to try. 1 1/2 stars

The Girls: I had to keep reminding myself that this tale of conjoined twins was fiction! A wonderfully written story, I felt completely connected to the characters. 4 1/2 stars

A Sudden Country: A very slow moving tale of a family's ordeal on the Oregon Trail. I was often confused on who was speaking, and found the book to drag overall. I set it aside many times but did end up finishing it. 2 stars

The Rest of Her Life: A young woman runs over and kills a fellow high school student. This was a quick, light read but was nothing special. 3 1/2 stars

Wild Fire: Usually I am a huge DeMille fan, but I had a hard time getting into this one. Once I got into it the story it moved along better, but the action seemed far-fetched at best. 3 stars

Books read in 2007 prior to creating blog

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The Palace of Tears by Alev Lytle Croutier
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Girls by Lori Lansens
Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning
The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro
A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen
Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Icy Sparks by Gwen Hyman Rubio
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Night by Elie Wiesel
Talk Talk by TC Boyle
Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
The Baby Farm by Karen Harper
Dead Wrong by JA Jance
Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris
Fall on Your Kness by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho
Fresh Disasters by Stuart Woods
The Husband by Dean Koontz
Keeper of the Keys by Perri O'Shaughnessy
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen
One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Plain Truth byJodi Picoult
Short Straw by Stuart Woods
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
To Tame a Highland Warrior by Karen Marie Moning
True Evil by Greg Iles
Twisted by Jeffery Deaver
Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark
Web of Evil by JA Jance
Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher
Be Very Afraid by SK McClafferty
The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty
Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger
Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander