Thea Barlow, a journalist from Chicago has moved West to be near her geologist lover. Hog Heaven, too small to even rate a spot on the map, is where in the late nineteenth century old saloon girls went to while away their remaining years. It sounds intriguing to Thea who stops off to find a gas station/convenience store with a proprietor who wants to cash in by changing its name and turning it into a New Age Mecca. She also encounters a dervish of an angry woman who soon turns up dead leaving Thea a major suspect especially after a second murder happens in Hog Heaven. With the help of a vicious chicken, Thea discovers the killer and a plot to defraud.

Caverly knows the West and her authentically depicted setting entwines with the characters and plot for a satisfying read.

Leslie's home life isn't great and school isn't any better. Her one friend has started hanging out with her enemies. When she brags that she know the gorgeous new boy at the high school she is taunted into proving it. When she goes out to "prove it" he kisses her, raising her status in the eyes of her nemisis but starting her into a relationship that is both dangerous and sick. Her only outlet is a journal that her teacher has promised no one will read, where she records everything that Jason does to her. Fortunately she decides to assert herself and go up against Jason even though he seemingly has everything on his side including good looks, a prominent family, and loads of money.

The only quibble I have with Leslie's Journal is that Leslie is an outcast to begin with and the abuse begins almost immediately with a rape. While I'm sure this happens all to frequently, readers who have more self esteem may be lulled into a false sense that this sort of thing couldn't happen to them. In truth many abusive relationships begin pleasantly enough with the abuser insidiously undermining the girl's or woman's sense of self worth and gradually dragging them into the situation. Marilyn Reynolds also wrote about relationship abuse in Baby Help and Katherine Arnoldi in The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom.

This companion novel to Lowry's The Giver is set in a future totalitarian dystopian world where technology has gone by the wayside. Kira has just lost the mother who fought for her when she was born lame and custom decreed that she should be exposed to the elements and left to die in the place of dead. The embroidering skills her mother taught her as well as her phenomenal talent grant her a place in life far removed from the dingy gathering of huts where she has lived her life. She is given a luxurious apartment in a building that is also the home of an orphaned boy with a talent for carving and a young orphan with an incredible singing voice. Kira's job is to restore the cloak that is embroidered with the history of the people for the Singer to wear in the annual ceremony where that history is recounted in song. This is another powerful tale by a master storyteller. It will appeal to teens but also to mature middle grade kids and adults, especially those interested in the fiber arts.

With a daughter named Chani, it is obvious to any reader of Dune that the original book made a huge impact on me. I approached this shared world novel (see Genreflecting or Fluent in Fantasy for genre definitions) with such trepidation that I decided to go the audio route. It is great space opera in the grand tradition. Action, intrigue, romance -- what more could one ask? It tells the story of young Leto Atreides and his ascent to a dukedom because of other's treachery. It also tells of how Duncan Idaho, a young boy hunted as game by the Harkonens, became a loyal retainer of Family Atreides. An exciting story that will gather a whole new audience for the Dune saga.

Hoag has abandoned her romance roots in this tale of Minneapolis cops Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska who are trying to discover if the death of IA cop Andy Fallon's death was a suicide, an accident or a murder. Fallon, the son of a cop who was paralyzed in an incident that turned him into a bitter drunk, may have been gay. It is a suspenseful page turner with myriad twists and turns that in some ways predict the outcome but some of the side paths still surprise.