79. The Choice

I read two books at B&N today... I was just in a reading kinda mood. :)

The latest Nicholas Sparks book was up next. Like his others it was a great love story with some sad twists and turns on the road. In a lot of books I read or movies I watch I get annoyed when things happen too fast. When the characters don't get to know each other well enough or have time for a story to really develop before they are in love. For some reason, I don't get annoyed when things happen so quickly in Sparks' books. Maybe I've come to expect it? I don't know. Anyway, this wasn't my favorite of his, but like the others, it was a good read and a good story.

Here's the description from B&N:

Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life-- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies--he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him . . . and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heart wrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

78. Louder Then Words

This was a really good book. I'm pretty fascinated by autism these days. Everything Jenny McCarthy writes makes so much sense. I don't think what worked for her son is a "cure" for every child with autism but she's very right - if it is a possibility that it will work for a child then doctors should be sharing this information.

Anyway, here's the description from B&N:

Known for her extreme honesty about the everyday trials of pregnancy, motherhood, marriage, and divorce, Jenny McCarthy has developed a national fan base that has taken her to the New York Times bestseller list for a total of twenty-three weeks. USA Today ranked McCarthy's first two books as the fourth and fifth bestselling baby books in 2005. But few have known that her son, Evan, has autism. In Louder Than Words, she takes this revelation to parents across the country, starting a dialogue on this complex condition, much as Brooke Shields did for postpartum depression in Down Came the Rain.

Writing with the raw humor and honesty that has made her so popular with women across the country, McCarthy shares her son's symptoms and her attempts to sort through the maze of conflicting medical theories. With Louder Than Words, McCarthy sheds much needed light on autism through her own heartbreak, struggle, and ultimately hopeful example of how a parent can shape her child's life and happiness.

77. Amber Brown is Not a Crayon

At work we have pictures of children's artwork on the walls and one of them was a child's version of what this book cover could look like. I mentioned a fascination with this particular drawing and the next thing I knew someone ordered the book for me as a gift. :)

It was super cute and now I totally understand the title (she got teased and called a brown crayon since her name was Amber Brown).

Here's a description from B&N: Amber Brown and Justin Daniels are best friends. They've known each other for practically
forever, sit next to each other in class, help each other with homework, and always stick up for each other. Justin never says things like, "Amber Brown is not a crayon." Amber never says, "Justin Time." They're a great team--until disaster strikes. Justin has to move away, and now the best friends are fighting. Will they be able to work it out before it's too late?

76. Room for Love

So here's the latest...

Jacquie Stuart has just turned thirty-two and she wants to do a major rewrite on her life. Her salary at a snarky film magazine barely covers her mortgage, her bratty sister has staked permanent claim to her couch, her best friend is in an obscenely happy marriage, and the only guy who really gets her is gay. Worst of all, she keeps falling for broke, self-involved commitment-phobes. Needing moonlighting money, Jacquie gets the idea of investigating a new dating trend—looking for Mr. Right in the “Roommate Wanted” ads. After a bunch of colorful near-misses that bring her into the slums of the East Village, the brownstones of Brooklyn, and the dingier digs of the Upper East Side, Jacquie thinks she's finally found the man she's been looking for and stuns her friends by moving out of her beloved apartment—and into his. Complications ensue when her live-in love reveals some alarming imperfections, the irresistible artist who dumped her wants her back… and what is up with the mystery man living in the charming one-bedroom she left behind? Jacquie has been looking for love in other people’s homes all over town, but could the key to her happiness lie right under her very own roof?

It was quick, and cute, pretty much what i look for in a weekend read at Barnes & Noble. :)

75. Immediate Family

It's mid September and I've now reached the number of books I read in the entire year last year. Oh my... anyway, this was a good one. Kinda surprising yet kinda predictable, but overall a good read.

Here's a review from B&N.com that totally agrees with my feelings on the book: Fifteen years after graduation, four close college friends are dealing with family and romantic relationship issues. Entertainment news reporter Stevie is afraid to commit to Ryan, a documentary filmmaker who's crazy about her but is rapidly losing patience (her life only becomes more complicated when her hippie mother reveals that her father is a Seventies rock star believed to have been involved in an act of violence years earlier). Emerson is a publicist and divorced mom who falls for someone "unacceptable" in her dying-and still meddling-mother's social circle. Literary agent Franny has the proverbial ticking biological clock. And advertising executive Jay is married to the gorgeous and pregnant Vivienne, whose unorthodox suggestion will change her, Jay's, and Franny's lives forever. Goudge's (Otherwise Engaged) novel starts out with a bang and remains compelling thanks to the four interesting main characters and a few genuine surprises, but other developments are not so surprising.

74. Lime Ricky

This one was so-so... the plot wasn't all that great, but it had it's good moments and definitely hooked me. Here's a review from B&N.com:

A gorgeous California chef and an equally gorgeous New York fireman marinate in their hormones as murder stalks The Cooking Channel. Burning curtains in a borrowed apartment lead to the cute meeting between talented chef-turned-set-supervisor Gretchen Darrow and Air Force-vet-turned-fireman Rick Pellucci in Winters's latest romance (after Just Peachy, 2005). Burned by an unhappy affair with a personal trainer at the lush California resort where she whipped up delicious lo-cal for the demanding rich, Gretchen has fled to New York and a new life working in cable television on something awfully like the real-life Food Network, where celebrated TV cooks and their enablers vie to become the next Emeril, Mario or Martha. When scented candles left lit by Gretchen's spacey actress cousin Dana ignite the drapery, it's big, hunky Rick who douses the flames. Sparks fly immediately between the two, but the flames of their lust are quickly doused by misunderstanding. By incredible coincidence, Rick is the brother of Romeo Ramero (aka Brett Pellucci), The Cooking Channel's leading culinary stud. Gretchen's dessert-diva boss Susanna has ordered Gretchen to secure her a guest spot on Romeo's primetime show, leading Rick to think that Gretchen has the hots for his shorter, oilier brother, who has appealed to Rick to find out who's been sending Brett death threats. The misunderstandings begin to clear up only after a bitchy agent is poisoned at a big party in Brett's lavish ski-chalet. Gretchen and Rick begin to explore each other's magnificent anatomies in stolen moments in elevators and pickup trucks, never quite getting it completely on thanks to roommates who barge in and elevator doors thatinconveniently open. Just when Gretchen thinks she's solved the murder, she discovers How Wrong She Can Be. The sex is hot, but the plot barely simmers.

73. The Dog Walker

This one got mixed reviews online but I liked it - a lot. In fact, it will probably be one of my favorites of the year when this whole list wraps up in December.

Here's a description from B&N:

Part voyeur, part dreamer, Nina Shepard, a Manhattan dog walker, has been around the block, so to speak, a few times and yearns to find that something -- or someone -- she can be passionate about. She may not have a boyfriend or a real purpose in life, but she does have a job that offers her one great opportunity: the keys to her clients' apartments. And with these keys, Nina has the freedom to cross several foyers -- and a moral boundary -- and gain access to their lives...where she just might find the things that are missing in her own.

Enter Daniel, a man she thinks she knows from snooping far past his doorway when she comes to pick up Sid, his Weimaraner. Except for owning a designer dog (rather than a stray from the pound), he seems perfect in every way. Now if only she could meet him.

For anyone else that might seem simple, but for Nina life is complicated. Claire, her best friend, is an actress who loses every audition due to nervous sweats. Bono, a sullen and sarcastic eight-year-old, is neglected by his U2 groupie mom, one of Nina's clients. Mrs. Chandler, her eccentric neighbor, would rather discuss Barry Bonds than why the IRS is hounding her. And Isaiah, Nina's ex-con dog-walking colleague, champions the rights of pit bulls. And, of course, there are the dogs themselves: Wallis and Edward, the spoiled dachsunds; Che, the stone-deaf beagle; Safire, the bulldog who stares at walls; and Nina's own beloved mutt Sam.

But it is Daniel who holds the key to Nina's heart. One moonlit night on a pier overlooking the Hudson River they are pulled into the treacherous waters of love. What she doesn't know is that Daniel is an imposter, pretending to be what he is not. And by the time she learns who he really is, after mishaps and mistaken identities, deception and lost dogs, it's too late. She's fallen for someone she never would have expected.

The Dog Walker is the hilarious and heartwarming story about one woman's quest for fulfillment. It is about city life -- any city, all cities -- and the struggle to make real connections. It is about allowing oneself to love fully while being fully oneself. And finally, it is about life itself: unpredictable, joyful, and not to be missed.

72. Emily's Reasons Why Not

This was very worth the $3.99 I paid for the hardback version of the book. It would not have been very worth full, hardback price. It was a quick, cute read.... and that's about it.

Here's a description from B&N.com:

Hollywood publicity pro extraordinaire Emily Sanders is hitting thirty -- hard -- and she wants the life her best friends seem to have: house, kids, perfect man. But finding true love isn't easy in L.A., where image is everything, and where every beauty pageant winner is an eight in a sea of nines, who all wish they were Julia Roberts.For Emily, boyfriend material has always come in many strange shapes and incarnations -- beautiful young surfer god, aging music executive, boss's boss's boss, and a baseball player with two cell phones (one of which she does not have the number to).With her confidence rapidly heading due south (like everything else on her body), it's time to find a smart, sharp-eyed psychotherapist to help her get past her surefire method for choosing the absolute worst man. With a little help, maybe Emily can learn to narrow her focus from looking for Mister Right to looking out for Mister Wrong. Because she knows that, eventually, "the one" comes for every woman ... even for a disarming, unflappable player in the mad, mad world of entertainment, with the edge of an insider and the heart of a dreamer.