Yellow Medicine--#12 finished

 A policeman from Mississippi gets busted for taking advantage of people after hurricane Katrina and loses his job & his wife--she leaves him with their 2 kids.  He gets another job as a policeman from his ex-wife's brother in small town Minnesota.  He is certainly not by the book officer--gathers info to keep & get against/for favors from people, doesn't write up reports, etc.  But in general does sort of care about people, just looks the other way a bunch.  A group of kids making meth get caught up in a new group that comes to town to take over the meth for the area, this new group starts killing people in grizzly ways.  Comes to find out it was his old MS partner sent them thinking he could get along.  A weird twist with brother in law helping at end & costing his life.  Not really sure about this one--overall have to say not that good but a couple other books written after this one so maybe got better.  Doesn't matter though I am done with series at this point unless falls in my lap. 

I have posted it on PBS, it is the only copy but who knows if it will ever move.

The Unexpected Joy of Being Single--#11 finished

 The writer, a lady in her late 30s has come to realize that being married is no longer a main focus for herself and that being single is a good option.  I am married so wasn't sure why really bought the book--found used for $1.00 so can't beat price and sounded like a funny overall take on life.  It started as funny easy read but did bog down and by end just wanted to get it finished.  Interesting stuff for people to realize that marriage may not be for everyone.  I don't think enough was said for being married is hard work--author quoted a few friends on this but thought could have been emphasized more.  Oh well, like last book, I was not really the main audience for this book so when I say wasn't really that interesting for me figure that is about right.

There were 2 WL for it & I already posted it & it was accepted.  I will mail it off later this week.

The Grace Year--#10 finished

A dystopian world in which the men make all decisions and girls are feared with having magic.  The girls at age 16 are sent off as a group to an isolated island where the thinking is their magic is supposed to be used up & then whomever survives comes back to village & get married or sent to work.  A weird book and idea but it is a Young Adult book so I am not really the audience for it either.  I just thought it could have been better but was still a good enough read.

There are around 18 WL for this book on PBS so will post & send off at some point. 

Willie Nelson--#9 finished

 A book that needed a good editor, just way too much information thrown out there that didn't really add to the story of Willie Nelson.  The author listed out everyone in the band behind Willie during tours and then during the recording of the album, the authors of the songs and everything else you could think of.  The book was exhausting.  I liked the parts where it was more about Willie and by the end it seemed more like that but still I think a good editor could have tightened this book up and made it a more enjoyable read.  Willie Nelson is an interesting character and I did want to learn more about him and I certainly do now but again I don't want to be exhausted after reading a book.

There is 1 WL for this book & I hope to gladly mail it off soon, no reason to keep this book.  If I ever want to re-visit Willie Nelson I will just have to hope there is another book out there.

Amy Falls Down--#8 finished

A humorous look at the writing & publishing business.  The writer Amy hasn't published anything in years and teaches some courses but basically just minds her own business.  On the day of an interview with a local paper about local authors, she falls & hurts her ankle and knocks her head.  She is out for a while & gets up in time to answer the door to the reporter & gives a weird and eclectic sort of interview but she doesn't remember doing the interview just remembers the reporter driving away.  The article catches the eye of some people and starts a snowball effect of putting her back in the news--with the help of her agent.  Amy also starts to write again.  A good & fun read about what all happens and how she is forced out of her comfort zone is all good.

There are 8 WL for this book so I will mail it off at some point.

The Deputy--#7 finished

 Bad things happen one night in small town Oklahoma.  The part-time deputy gets in the middle of corrupt cops, bad guy family and the big business of shipping illegal immigrants through town to other places in the US.  Lots of shoot outs and killings, not really sure who the deputy can trust in all this either.  A good quick read.

There are 2 WL for this one & will probably be posting it & mailing off sometime soon.

The 26th Man--#6 finished

 This is a journal basically kept by a career minor leaguer Steve Fireovid during a season when he was 32 still pitching in the minors trying to get back to the majors.  He did have some time in the major leagues 3 different years but he starts off with thinking this could be his last year.  He talks a lot about his family--he is married with 2 boys & wife is expecting and how baseball season & travel keeps him from a normal family life.  A good inside look at the life of an older minor league baseball player.  He did stick around for 3 more years after this & even broke spring training with the Texas Rangers and pitched some again in the majors a couple years after this book.  I am interested to know what he ended up doing.  He had some offers of coaching but I don't see anything where he took that up.  I am not going to delve too far into, more of a just wondering thing.

At this point I am putting this on my keepers with the Baseball Gods book about baseball cards.  I do have a Steve Fireovid card somewhere too--I just need to dig out all of my old cards & look.

Binocular Vision--#5 finished

This is a short story book with some very good short stories.  The stories were from mostly Europe & New England area with a few other areas thrown in.  They were just good crisp stories that made you think and sometimes wanting more too.  An enjoyable read.  

I am not sure if I will mail off at this point or not.  Some of the stories were good enough that I want others to read but I am usually unable to talk them into it.  There are like 22 WL for the book so can mail it off sometime in future if I want.

Stirring the Pot--#4 finished

 This is a book by Jenny McCarthy, one of it seems several she has written.  It was published in 2014 so not one of her earlier ones but since I wasn't paying attention either not sure if she has a few since or not.  It is basically an advice type book in a funny way, not too bad for that.  Just light reading.  Not really a book I figured I would have bought or read but found it at a Salvation Army for a $1.00 and it is autographed by author so figured why not.  I checked eBay and looks like autographed books by her are selling maybe around $20 so I guess I did alright and was lightly entertained by her book too.

I won't be posting it on PBS since autographed I figure at some point will let my wife sell on eBay or something.

The Unexpected Spy--#3 finished

 A true story by a young lady that from college at USC joins the CIA right before 9/11.  Is on a team tracking terrorists from satellites and also travels to foreign countries and works with those countries CIA. Interviews prisoners trying to gain knowledge of activities.  Sections of the book are marked out--she says has gone through the government and they did this for national security issues.  After a few years in CIA, she decides she wants to have a home and more of a life and applies and is accepted into the FBI.  Her FBI training was rough--I guess the FBI doesn't like the CIA much and doesn't sound like they like women either and they took these out on her.  She makes it through training & is stationed in LA area but seems to be given more typical female jobs rather than challenging ones she wants.  At end she said left FBI after 15 months and now teaches at a girls school challenging her students on foreign affairs and investigations. I good read and sounds like the type of person our government should have kept as a lifer in one bureau or another.

There are like 11 wish list for this book on PBS so will probably post & mail off at some point but no hurry right now.

Shadow Woman--#2 finished

 This is the 3rd book in series of Jane Whitfield, a person that helps people in trouble disappear--start a completely new life and away from people looking for them.  This one she is now married and trying to start a new life for herself and quitting the work of making people disappear.  The last one she helped though gets tracked down & she must come to the rescue.  Interesting and clever things going on but took a while for me to get into this book.  The series continues but the ending doesn't really let on how, I think I have the next book so might try to get on it soon.

I did post this one on PBS, there was 1 copy already in system but didn't seem to matter because it got requested right away.  I will be mailing it off in the next couple of days.

Calico Joe--#1 finished

 A new year & a new books read list.  I had started most of these early finished ones in 2021 with a bunch of off days because of the holidays and was able to finish them on 1st or 2nd.  This is a John Grisham book about a rookie star sensation that comes up hitting & doing everything until he is beaned in the head and never recovers.  It is told from the point of view of the pitcher's son--as a 10 year old and then later as an adult.  A good quick read, kind of sad for most parties involved.

I did post this on PBS, there were only 4 copies ahead of it which for a Grisham book is hardly any but I guess this is not his normal book either.