Mixing the droll, deadpan understatements of the traditional Maine storyteller and the tongue-in-cheek humor of a Sciezska or a Pinkwater, Sarah P. Gibson offers 16 delightful vignettes of native, Maine Islander Sophie Groves’ struggle deciphering what’s easier: living with three crafty, ornery, downright nasty horses or discovering true friendship among her classmates. Her seemingly doomed attempts to win the respect of her family’s three horses, while at the same time navigating the social world of the pre-teen, looking for a friend who is a true friend and not just a (shudder) “horse lover,” provides a unique and funny look at growing up in Maine. Each chapter is an unexpected and humorous tale of trials and tribulations showing the horses who’s in charge and trying to convince new found friends that horses are not the adorable, noble steeds they are thought to be. Sophie Groves’ understated, dead-on, Laocoön-like predictions of the horses’ behavior along with her friends shocked surprise upon experiencing the true nature of horses, never fails to provoke a laugh. Gibson allows the reader to experience the sweet sensation of knowing better than the characters that enter into Sophie’s life. Will anyone ever listen to Sophie when it comes to Sweetheart, Fancy Free, and Really? Are sweets the only means of convincing the horses to cooperate? Can she cope with the Carpwells? How easy is it to tell a moose from a horse on Halloween Night? Is there a true friend for Sophie? Find out the truth behind all these questions in Gibson’s The Truth About Horses, Friends, and My Life as a Coward.

Classic Gaiman. Hapless and spineless main character whisked unexpectedly (can one be whisked expectedly?) from his secure, common, plain life into a world of wonder, dread, danger, treachery, violence, friendship, and love...in that order, too. By the end the hapless and spineless has become the hero and saviour and discovers the safe and secure is no longer comfortable nor cared for. And it all takes place on the London Underground...and the London UNDER ground. Pay attention to that shadow out of the corner of your eye or that rumble behind the wall next time you're standing on the platform waiting for the subway... ;o)

The hero of this adventure fantasy is a simple, humble, african (well African-like)sheepherder. He has incredible magical ability, but a zen-like attitude towards understanding his ability. I love his calm, positive, go-with-the-flow nature. From the Publishers Weekly Review: Etjole Ehombe is a warrior of the desert-dwelling Naumkib and a man of honor. When a dying foreigner charges him with saving the Visioness Themaryl, kidnaped by an evil sorcerer called Hymneth the Possessed, Ehombe reluctantly accepts the task, packing up his spear, his sword made of sky-metal and a sack of potions and simpleseven though he knows nothing about these strange people or their fight, only that they dwell far to the distant north. Thus opens Book I of Foster's (author of the popular Flinx and Spellsinger novels) new fantasy series. Foster shows off his fertile imagination as Ehombe, a "simple shepherd," matches wits with the various denizens of each new territory he enters. The land is alive with talking animals, magical creatures and a vivid sense of ancient folklore come to life. Along the way, Ehombe picks up a couple of sidekicks: Simna ibn Sind, skilled swordsman and voracious treasure hunter; and the Ahlitah, half-lion, half-cheetah and curious as any cat could be. Although the book lacks any resolution, it is top-drawer Foster, featuring a fast-paced mix of wry humor, high fantasy and amazing new places and creatures.

There had never been any physical evidence found of how speciation occurred in the human race. Had Neandertals slowly evolved over millennia into Homo Sapiens Sapiens or had evolution jumped directly to the next step in one generation? Now actual physical evidence had been found in an ice cave in a remote section of the Swiss Alps. That evidence would not only prove that evolution could and would, in stressful times, give birth to the next evolutionary stage but would also give modern humanity the key to unlocking how it could happen again...even as it is, indeed, happening again. Brilliant molecular biologist Kaye Lang, controversial but intuitive anthropologist Mitch Rafelson, and virus hunter, Christopher Dicken find themselves at the center of what they quickly come to know and embrace as nature taking its evolutionary course, but what the government believes to be a genocidal pandemic unheard of in human history that must be stopped at any cost. Part medical thriller, part government cover-up mystery, and all science fiction at its most fundamental best (revealing how people handle events and information beyond their control or most vivid imagination), Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio will not disappoint.

Over 500 pages of photos of fashionable people all over the world.

Whitney, My Love is a fast moving story of betrothals, wrong assumptions, forced seduction and flimsy schemes, but I liked it. Whitney Stone is a spunky young woman who has a habit of doing things her way, until her father had enough of her disobedient ways and sends her to France with an aunt. While in France she acquires beauty, manners, grace and her witty conversation makes her stand out from the other woman looking for a husband, but Whitney is keeping her heart for her childhood crush (who never gave her the time of day). While in Paris, unbeknown to Whitney, the rakish Duke of Claymore sets his sight on dear Whitney and pays her father a large sum for her betrothal. Whitney is sent back to England where the Duke plans to keep his identity unknown so he can make Whitney fall in love with him. But! Whitney hates the Duke and has her mind set on marrying Paul, her childhood crush… and drama ensues. It’s a quick read with perhaps one too many wrong assumptions which drag the story out a bit but over all a good read.