When a hurricane unexpectedly blows up off the coast of Nicaragua, a giant floating hotel lies in its path. With no escape for the helpless passengers and crew, it’s left to Dirk Pitt and NUMA to launch a rescue and save the day. But in the storm’s wake, Pitt and his team discover clues that point to an ancient mystery with shocking implications for today.

As Pitt investigates further, he uncovers a plot by a mysterious billionaire called Specter to dramatically alter the Earth’s climate, leaving him in control of the only solution. With foes attempting to stop him on every side, Pitt is in a race against time to prevent global catastrophe…

First of all, this author has written a whole Dirk Pitt series, and this is not the first, but I was not lost at all not having read the others. For an adventure junkie, this book is a jewel. It is 650 pages of NONSTOP adventure! But I loved this book because it was such an easy read. Plus, I loved that it incorporates Homer's Iliad story (the story of Odysseus) with the modern day time. There were some great twists all the way til the end. I definitely will be picking up more Dirk Pitt novels in the future! Plus, this book was totally clean as far as language and sex goes, which is always nice to have. You can buy it used on Amazon for less than $1, or brand new for only $2.50.

Recommended by: Bart

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Fifteen-year-old Sean hates the world. After all, with two deadbeat parents, he’s got no one to look up to and nothing left to lose—so why not trash everything? Then he gets caught. Suspended from school and with a mounting police record, the only way for Sean to pay his dues is to do community service on Mr. Hassler’s farm. He can do just what he has to do, or he can confront the mess his life has become. It’s his choice…

First of all, this book is only like 150 pages, so it's a very quick read. Although this is from the viewpoint of a 15 year old boy, it has a fascinating story line. I would really recommend it for any teenager or someone looking for a quick read. It has a great plot, an interesting ending, and talks about a life that you don't like to think a kid of having. I found this book on Amazon.com used for less than a dollar. Its a great last minute gift for your teenager.

Recommended by: Eric

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down Syndrome. For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to taker the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own.

Although this book took me a few chapters to get into, it gives a riveting story of separate lives that are intertwined by guilt, secrets, and love. I think the best thing about this book, for me, was how it ended. Obviously I won't tell you the end, but know that this book ends with a kind of "Happily Ever After" feeling. I found myself emotionally connected to the characters, and often empathizing with them. Side note, I know they made this book into a movie, although I haven't seen it, so I would recommend, as usual, reading the book before seeing the movie. You can find this book used or new on Amazon.com for less than $3, or at WalMart for about $10.

Book Recommended by: LuAnn

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale. As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object — artfully encoded with five symbols—is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon—a prominent Mason and philanthropist —is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations—all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

My Review: This book is the 3rd book in the "Da Vinci Code" series. If you haven't read Angels and Demons, or Da Vinci Code, I highly recommend them. You don't even have to read them in sequence, because although they are in a series, they do not refer to the other stories really, so you won't be missing any important information to the plot. Dan Brown's writing style is a great one. He does so much research on each of his books, so when you are reading them, you are getting a touch of history as well as a novel. In this book, nearly every government entity, scientific fact, conspiracy theory, and idea is true. Dan Brown just uses fictional characters and creates an amazing story that seems to fit perfectly within these parameters. This book starts right off with action and intrigue. Every chapter in this book ends with the reader anxious to start the next. I found this book on Amazon.com for about $10.00 or if you are so anxious to read it that you can't wait for it to ship, you can get it on sale at WalMart for about $12.00 right now. This book would make an excellent christmas present for anyone, including those that don't pick books up very often to read.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Mackenzie Allen Philip’s youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, n the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

My Review: This book starts off with a capturing story of the kidnapping and murder of his youngest daughter. Unfortunately, that ends after the first 75 pages or so, maybe sooner. The back of this book (the summary given above) only gives one tiny sentence referring to his dealing with "God", but it ends up taking over 3/4 of what is happening in the book that is only 250 pages. The religious views imposed in this book are so far from my own that it was very difficult to read and keep my attention. From what I got, to him, God is an African American woman, Jesus is a Middle Eastern handyman, and the Holy Spirit is an Asian lady. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was disappointing because the back of the book barely mentioned God and made the book sound like this big mystery about the Shack in the middle of the Oregon Wilderness. If you own this book, I would try to return it for even a partial refund or throw it in the D.I pile without reading it. You are not missing ANYTHING. I found this book used on Amazon.com for $1.35 or brand new at Costco for about $9.00

My rating: .5 out of 5 stars

Sheri Dew details the life of Gordon B. Hinckley with exaustive research and then relates the facts with eloquent prose. You'll learn more about his family, his travels, his ability to handle tough assignments. You'll receive better insight on his character, his humility, his work ethic, and his sense of humor. This biography does what any good biography should do: Inspire you to do a little better, try a little harder, and believe a little more.

This book tells so many amazing stories about the life of the past LDS prophet. It definitely made me feel like I've been slacking off in life...If you think you are busy and have no personal time, read this book and you'll learn the real definition of "busy", "burnt out", and "overwhelmed". I would highly recommend this book to everyone! It is a really easy read, some great humor, amazing stories, and a great reminder of how wonderful he and his wife were.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Note: This book is almost 600 pages, so it is not really a "weekend" read as I like to call them.

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

This memoir will definitely make you grateful for your family and especially your parents, no matter how crazy you think they are. It was an eye opener to the poverty that actually exists in America, and to how REAL small town life is. I strongly recommend this book for those that need either a reality check, or for those who need to learn to be grateful for what they have. This book tells some amazing stories about how a little girl and her siblings grow up against literally ALL odds and make something of themselves.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Recommended to me by: LuAnn

This book, as with the one Now, Discover Your Strengths, is one that I had to read for my Organizational Behavior class. Most people know what this book is about, and a lot of you may have read it. Basically, this book is broken up into, yes that's right, 7 different habits that each of us need to work on. There are some very interesting concepts this book has to offer. Stephen Covey illustrates this book all the way through with interesting stories that help us to grasp the importance of each of the habits. I think that everyone should read through this book at least once in their lifetime.

My favorite part of this book was in habit 4, I believe, that talked about putting first things first. It gave a very interesting concept of effective time management in which I think most people would benefit from.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

This book is about a mans life of growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan back before political upheavals began. Something happened early on in his life that greatly affected him for the rest of his life, and only later on was he able to redeem himself. In this book he talks about his relationship with his father, his best friend Hassan (who is also his servant), and his constant struggle with his low self-esteem.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a huge eye opener to the cultural differences between the Afghani people and our culture here in the US. I think that we have so many stereotypes about people in that part of the world, that it was nice to get an inside look at how it actually is over there. At the same time, it was also interesting to see the contrast of the book as it went through different political revolutions.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Ok, so I normally don't read these kinds of books, but I had to read this for my Organizational Behavior class. This book is about first, how to identify our strengths, then it talks about 34 "themes" (strengths) that are most common among people, and how to use those strengths.

It was definitely interesting to read because I think everyone should know about their strengths. I think the only critique I have about this book, is that after the first chapter, you basically get the idea of the entire book. The only other thing that is needed is to read through the 34 themes to help you identify some that you might have.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This book, The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston is a true story of a serial killer that hunted the hills of Florence, Italy for over 30 years, and was never caught. The author, Douglas Preston is a journalist and decided to move his family to Florence for fun. He became so involved in this story, that he and his friend, Mario Spezi (who was a journalist in Florence who had been covering the story from the beginning) became suspects for the murders.

This book has a very interesting story line. It goes through every part of the investigation. It really makes me grateful for our justice system here in the United States. It is a huge eye opener to for me to see how corrupt some justice systems can be. Although this book isn't the easiest read, I like the fact that it is a true story. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Because I've been on such a reading kick lately, and I definitely don't see an end to that in sight, I decided to create this blog as one that someone can go to find a good book to read. I've been posting book reviews on my normal blog, but I want to leave that to my family life. So...pass this blog address around to your friends who are big readers!!! And if you have any suggestions of books I may like, let me know!