New Jersey Books

The author brings this series to life! After reading the first two books years ago finding the last two were hard to find. I literally reread two and couldn't put three or four down! A great read if you want to get lost in the book!

In this much anticipated sequel, Jessica Darling is back and more angst ridden then ever. Facing another year without her best friend, Jessica must make decisions that will affect her for the rest of her, including where she will continue her education. With her heart set on Columbia University in New York, Jessica must first convince her parents that the big city isn't set a scary place. Add to this, the stress of her "un-relationship" with Marcus Flutie, Jessica no longer seems to have any control over her life. I loved this sequel to Sloppy Firsts, and found it to be as compelling of a read. This book takes me back to my own highschool years, when the "cool kids" get all the credit, and the "smart kids" get all the labels. I love this series and look forward to reading the third book in the series. All in all, a solid read.

I loved "Sloppy Firsts" but I think I like "Second Helpings" a tiny bit more. I think it has more happening in it and there's more going on.

Usually when it comes to books and sequels, the second (or third, or fourth) is not as good as the first, but I think "Second Helpings" is one of those books that can stand on it's own. Even if you didn't read "Sloppy Firsts" I think you'd still like "Second Helpings."

There were a few little things I didn't care for in "Second Helpings" like how much Jess talked about 9/11 after it happened and how much it affected her. I think that was just kind of thrown in there because Jess was a senior when 9/11 happened, so Megan McCafferty might've thought that she should write about how 9/11 would affect someone like Jess. I don't know, that part kind of felt forced in my opinion. For a while it seemed like that was all Jess wrote about.

But "Second Helpings" took Jess out of Pineville and into the city for a while in the summer and I think that helped give it a fresh spin to the familiar characters and setting. Jess's senior year was filled with ups and downs, but it was a very fun journey to read along :)

In SLOPPY FIRSTS, Jessica Darling dealt with adjusting to life without her best friend, Hope, having feelings for the school rebel, Marcus, and finding who she really is as a person. You know, typical teenager stuff.

In the sequel to SLOPPY FIRSTS, SECOND HELPINGS, Jess finds herself dealing with even more problems as she starts her senior year of high school. After spending the summer at SPECIAL, a summer writing camp for (you guessed it) special high school students, Jess decides that she wants to 1). become a writer and 2). attend the prestigious Columbia University in New York City.

The only problem is that she now has the tough job of convincing her parents.

With Len Levy, her brilliant competition for Valedictorian, crushing on her, and her determination to get over Marcus with only the help of her blonde Barbie doll neighbor, Bridget, Jess gets more than she bargains for as she struggles to plan her future and rediscover her past.

In my opinion, SECOND HELPINGS is even better than the terrific prequel SLOPPY FIRSTS. Through her shocking and entertaining observations about everything from her high school peers to "hot" writing instructors, readers identify with Jess's plights as she tries to reach her dream of getting out of New Jersey suburbia. Another touching book, another realistic story, another fantastic read from Megan McCafferty.

Reviewed by: Amanda Dissinger

After a cliff hanger of an ending that we experienced with "Sloppy Firsts", "Second Helpings" is a welcomed read.

Jessica and Marcus's relationship is much different in this novel, than in the previous. Mostly due to the fact that Marcus had confessed he originally was interested in Jessica as a sexual conquest. I, once again, was thoroughly entertained by the character of Marcus Flutie. He has this inane ability to understand people and their motivations. And by people, I mostly mean Jessica.

Compared to "Sloppy Firsts", I think that "Second Helpings" has improved. We now are quite familiar with all of the characters, and yet McCafferty continues to surprise us with revelations about everyone.

While "Sloppy Firsts" ended in heartbreak, "Second Helpings" ends in a very different manner. I think that readers will be entertained to learn how Jessica deals with the changes in her life, and the discovery of different aspects of the lives of her friends. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a quick, and entertaining read.

Burt's writing is magical. Do you want to know more about the marketing of this book?

Here's what I wrote about Burt in my book, Book Marketing DeMystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing --

Burt S. levy, who wrote and self-published the acclaimed auto racing
novel The Last Open Road [isbn 096421072X], is another master at
event selling.

"My experience is that exhibitions are alternatives for book sales,"
says Burt. "Not so much instead of the traditional bookstore market,
but in addition to it. And once again, it comes down to identifying and
focusing in on your core market and figuring out where and how you
can access them. In our case, we did far better with gift shops and souvenir
stands at racetracks and museums, doing book
signings at major races, auctions and car nut events,
and getting featured in specialty catalogues that sold
everything from car polish to brake linings. In most
cases, we were the only book featured. or at least the
only novel. But it sold copies, spread the word, and
most importantly, made money for our retailers as well
as ourselves. That's key, because they're not going to want you around if
you're not ringing the old cash register."

The Last Open Road is now, 13 years after its launch, still finding
new readers worldwide and is heading into its 7th printing with over
40,000 copies sold. It has also evolved into a four novel series (plus a
short story anthology) with total sales in excess of $1 million.

Burt's books continue to sell well at racetracks. As he proclaims on
his [...] website, "Burt will be shamelessly hawking
and signing books at:" and then he lists upcoming racetrack events he'll
be attending. Burt delightfully admits to a passion for `mooching' rides in the fastest race cars. There is no doubt this author is having fun while
being very successful with his writing.

I have been a sports car enthusiast for almost 50 years. While my life doesn't parallel Buddy Polumbo's, I can relate to his coming of age in and around foreign sports cars. Although fiction, many of the locations that Buddy travels to are real tracks and small towns that I frequented in my youth. The same with the bars and restaurants. The variety of characters belonging to the SCCA (SCCM) and participating in these sports car events are people that I was able to relate to. Perhaps they were the very same individuals. The sports car community was a small group of colorful enthusiasts, all motivated to be involved for different reasons, but the sport was fueled by those with the money to support the racing habit. For those of us that can relate that past era, The Last Open Road is great read. I cannot wait to start Burt Levy's other books.

The Last Open Road
This story starts off with a young man that is called Buddy Palumbo. He has a friend that he trusts very well and no one else would listen to him the same way. Something vey bad happens to him and he got handed some of his responsibilities at the Sinclair. He never actually got hired when he started working there. They just started to pay him. His dad did not want him to grow up and be a grease monkey he told him to work with the Union. A very rich man that owns oil rigs all over the United States. He owns some of the very nicest cars that included Cadillac's and Jaguar. No one has ever seen or heard of them. Buddy got the opportunity to work on them and soon after he figured them out he was the only mechanic allowed to work on them.
I liked this book because I am interested in driving and racing cars. It was fun to read because it was so realistic and talks about real cars and real mechanical problems they have. I can relate to the people in this book because I race and I understand their family problems. You will figure out what I am talking about when you read this book.

mid-prairie teen

B.S. Levy's The Last Open Road is a great read for anyone who is interested in wrenching on cars, particularly classics. I'm college age and I can relate to Buddy Palumbo in a lot of cases. If you're familiar with older British cars, there's some unique humor there as well. Great read.

This is a well-written and enjoyable book that elicits images that are very familiar to folks who were teen-agers during the wonderful 1950's. It is almost as though I know the characters and can easily apply familiar names of real people in my past to them. Highly recommended reading, especially for car enthusiasts!

Excellent book. Well written. Should be read by all New Jersey
citizens...

If you are interested in and fairly familiar with New Jersey politics and politicians this is a reasonably entertaining and informative book. It's no page-turner, but not bad.

According to this well written and documented book the elected have not ever been to New Jersey! It is not only amazing but downright disheartening to read all the unbelievable events that have gone on for years by both parties in all parts of the state. No wonder so many people leave this beautiful place. They can't afford it. What really makes you mad is that there is little hope for future change. This book will make your blood really boil!!

Even if you live a continent away in Washington state, "The Soprano State" will amuse, educate and yes, horrify you. Authors Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure have put together an appalling catalog of the "worst of the worst" New Jersey politicians and public servants and their most outrageous shenanigans.
As the authors note, "why should such a wealth of lunacy and depravity" be enjoyed only by New Jersey? My personal favorite, in a chapter titled "All Aboard the Gravy Train," is an anecdote about how sometimes "the legislative gravy train delivers real gravy." In that case, New Jersey taxpayers coughed up $124,000 over three years to purchase 300 lunches each day the Legislature was in session to feed 80 members of the assembly, 40 senators _ and lobbyists. The lunches were trucked in from a well-connected restaurant 57 miles away!
¶ It's tempting for us outsiders to feel smug, but there's also a nagging worry: what if our politicians are just less obviously outrageous, and our reporters more lapdog and less pit bull?
¶ Beyond the entertainment value, this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us that citizens anywhere can be fleeced by those we elect.
¶

As a former kid from New Jersey I purchased the book as
somewhat of a lark. After devouring the material it was
no longer a lark. The pathetic corruption is so clearly
detailed and documented it makes your head spin.The New Jersey I left in 1974 had an outstanding public school system which has been decimated by the lads in Trenton,
draining resources from small school districts and pumping
those funds into inner-city enviroments. No measurable
improvement is to be found. the State is bankrupt,under-
funded pensions and corrupt at every level of government.
If you live in NJ you have to read this.Then start packing

This time John McPhee turns his hand to one of those
anomalous natural treasures that has survived in
spite of intense urbanization. The Pine Barrens are
two-thirds of a million acres-an area the size of
Yosemite that sit beside a major artery of the most
developed region in the country. With the New Jersey
Turnpike to the west and bustling, chintzy Atlantic
City to the East, it's hard to imagine that this great,
weird wilderness could be so little known.

McPhee is the perfect guide to the Pines. He is as
sensitive to the natural history as he is to the
culture. He has a sympathetic ear for both the natives
and the outsiders who wander in from time to time. He's
a writer who can focus on a detail-a threatened fern or
the quality of water and then pull back to the big picture.

A thoroughly entertaining book.


--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the novel bang BANG. ISBN 9781601640005

I'll keep this short and sweet: McPhee's The Pine Barrens is an entirely outstanding, fascinating look at the unique area that is the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. McPhee covers Piney culture, the unique ecological nature of the region, its history, and its hidden treasures. The writing is poetic and rich, the people interesting, and the information detailed, thorough and never dull. A really great read that anyone living in NJ should get.

I have read many of John McPhee's works. They are all excellent and captivating. He writes on so many subjects, it is amazing that they are all great. No wonder he teaches at Princeton, or did as I remember.

Those of us from the Northeast know that wilderness can be found if you're willing to hit the road and search for it, and also that it's precious and worth protecting from the onslaught of industry and sprawl. But even those familiar with the region's wilderness offerings will be surprised by the natural bounty and remoteness of New Jersey's Pine Barrens area. The masterful essayist John McPhee published this travelogue and study of the area back in 1967, when the depths of the Pine Barrens still offered genuine seclusion form the outside world, with hardy folks still living off the land by picking berries or making charcoal. And this beautiful area was surrounded on all sides by the most urbanized and industrialized blight on Earth. Things aren't quite so rustic there anymore, but reading McPhee's engaging treatise on the area should make modern folks wish to both visit the Pine Barrens area as a valuable slice of nature, and to protect it as a precious and dwindling resource. That's what makes this short but lovable book from the great McPhee a timeless classic for nature lovers. [~doomsdayer520~]

My wife gave me this book in 1978, and I devoured it in one evening. I have since been all over the world, and no matter where I go, the pines are always the reference point for me. My teen years were spent in the pines, with my good friend Tom, where we would travel its dirt roads, canoe its streams and fish its lakes, and hike its trails and roads. Mr. McPhee weaves a story that is so true, so historically rich, and for me, so reminiscent of the years of my youth. Please read this book, and then go and make your own memories.

Wonderful book if you like vintage stories, especially of large innovative families.

There are a number of books related to this one, as well as movies connected as remakes of the books.

Belles on Their Toes, Cheaper by the Dozen, etc. are refreshing insights of life in the early 1900's.

especially for a sequel!

I found this book a couple years after I came across the first one as a teenager. It's a good continuation of the story and lets you know what happened, and how this amazing family all chipped in to make things work after their terrible tragedy.

This book continues the true story of the Gilbreth children or the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.
The story continues after the father died. The mother is now the soul supporter of her family. There is a graet saying in the book that says,"Mother wasn't afraid anymore because the worst had happend."
The mother carried on her husbands works. She held conferences and taught the scince of time saving. She became a very strong woman.
It was a long hard haul but ahe successfully continued her husbands work. The children successfully ran the household.
This story is humorus and very touching. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I can't believe I didn't know this book existed till very recently; I would have bought and read it a whole lot sooner had I known, having read the first book about five or six times. It's in the same funny spirit as the first, though the focus has shifted from the antics of the entire family to the mother's struggle to take care of her eleven children after her husband died. And the funny moments aren't as frequent as in the first book, since the children are older. It also seems like the younger children got the short end of the stick--less time was given to writing about their own humourous childhood anecdotes and stories, since time passes really quickly after Anne gets married. The only other thing in this book I wasn't keen on was how some of it was dated. Some of it, like Mrs. Gilbreth trying to find reasons for the oldest two not to smoke and then instantly retracting each reason, or the youngest boys teaching Jane how to be popular and get dates by not being her true self, is to be expected, given not only the era in which that happened but also when the book was published, but there are a few slang words and references that the modern reader might not understand or find as funny or relevant as someone who was a contemporary of the family might. We all know what a sheik is, but who uses the term "wet smack" anymore, for example? Still, overall it's a sweet fun way to wrap up the story of this funny family.

When I first saw the cover of Rob Ballister's book with the bed-ridden cancer patient, giant chipmunk, priest and big-busted women, I thought, "Oh, no, some existentialist garbage novel with cliched sick room jokes ending with his traditional, further cliched religious beliefs about his mortality, going into the light, meeting Jesus, and getting off on cancer drugs.

Boy was I wrong. Opening the book at random, I began with his vignette, "Christmas in Gingerbread Hell," where his girlfriend keeps the $71.48 gingerbread house gingerly deconstructed by Rob in a bonding frenzy - but gets rid of him. From that story, I was enticed, or rather, hooked further to read the irresistably funny titles, such as: "Why I'm Banished from Victoria's Secret"; "Cindy Brady and the Evils of Nickel Beer Night, "The Appliance Strikes Back," and others. Soon, very soon, I was shrieking with laughter, and as I was at work, my boss assumed I was having reverse PMS.

Ballister's writing is in a word, refreshingly hysterical. Okay, two words. In simple twists of zany verbage, he conjures up scene after scene of real life Monty Python/Seinfeld surrealism that every person can relate to. His creative humor is not exactly subtle, but right in your face - and therein lies his charm.

His most endearing vignettes are about a Chinese man, Mr. Chang, whose English comments as told by Ballister make you roll in the aisle. Chang manages to lose the company vehicle in the woods, returning to the area with the author, who asks in which direction Chang drove before he lost the vehicle. "Oh, I not wemembew. Maybe weft. Maybe not. It is so confuwsing." At the end, you want to strangle Chang, even if the author narrowly avoids doing so.

Ballister's strong point is that he speaks forthrightly about the rocky relationships between men and women (the book is apparently written during his bachelorhood), and his attempts to meet Ms. Right. His date vignettes are bawdy and funnier than Dave Barry's exploding Barbie doll, he unconventionally stereotypes women, while offering blatant, though necessary descriptions of large breasts and other female parts. As a female reader, I was not insulted in the least, but came away howling with laughter at Ballister's view of us gals. One of the funniest and most memorable lines is in his story about advertising to find a roomate. This happens in "Attack of the Avocado Woman," and I won't tell you what the line is, but when you read it, you'll know.

And I bet you'll laugh so hard you'll piss yourself.

After laughing along with Rob Ballister as he tells about his childhood, his bachelor life and dealing with every curve ball and screw ball life throws at him, I can hardly wait for the next installment. The book is well written as a series of essays that stand alone as humorous antidotes on life. As the author states in his forward, "These stories are not intended to educate or preach... but entertain. Some are almost completely fact, because it can be stranger than fiction. Some are absolutely fabricated. Most are somewhere in between." His mixture of fact and fiction is right on target and will make anyone laugh.

Rob Ballister shares his one-of-a-kind sense of humor in this wonderful collection of essays. Ballister's honest appraisal and lack of fear when expressing his emotions exemplify the best kind of writing--from the heart. Whether you're a cancer survivor, US Navy Officer, Sailor or USNA grad, you'll appreciate Ballister's candid and revealing examination of life as he's experienced it. This is a MUST READ for anyone seeking inspiration or the desire to make sense of the craziness of their life.

They say that laughing actually has medicinal value. If that's the case, then this book is truly theraputic. if you are looking for an interesting title that will make you laugh out loud - this is the book to take to the beach this summer!

Rob Ballister's book is a collection of anecdotes from his personal life which reveals his optimistic outlook on the world. Through his unique ability to laugh about his own circumstances and mistakes while taking everything the world throws his way, he shows others the futility of always taking yourself seriously. I found myself laughing out loud in the library, under a tree, on a bench along the sidewalk, and in my room as I made my way through his tales of life, the navy, girlfriends, religion, and illness. I would recommend this book to anyone needing just a quick laugh or a step back from a stressful life in order to refocus on the small things.

His abiding love of trees is evident in this deeply personal account of trees he's found and ...respected enough to photograph, research and write about. I bought this because we already had "Meetings with Remarkable Trees" and we were in no way disappointed. The photos are excellent, the trees selected really are remarkable, and the narrative is engaging. Not much else to say, both my husband and I love the book, and it's on the coffee table right now. We have had guests pick it up and also fall in love... attesting to the wide appeal of this photographer-naturalist.

A very nice book, with remarkable trees, however, from the cover I suppose I wrongly assumed they would be beautiful trees. Quite a lot of the book is spent on African trees of a very strange nature, and to my husband's suprise, very little was done on the banyan tree. I was looking forward to large, ancient trees myself. All in all, it is still a wonderful book, it just wasn't what we were expecting.

Great Book will enough the wonder hopefully they have it in the school systems or county systems

Trees are grouped by various, sensible categories that other books on trees might neglect: Giants: Gods, Goddesses, Grizzlies; Dwarfs: For Fear of Little Men, In Bondage; Methuselahs: The Living and the Dead, Shrines; Dreams: Prisoners, Aliens, Lovers and Dancers, Snakes and Ladders, Ghosts; and Trees in Peril: Do the Loggers always Win? and Ten Green Bottles. Pakenham's text is great fun to read, as can be viewed from those sectional titles, and individual tree titles such as "Tie up my feet, Darling, and I'll live forever" for the Bonsai tree that is the In Bondage section.

I suppose coffee table books really shouldn't be considered exceptional items to read - view, yes; read, not so much. This is an exception. Tolkien's Ents are invoked for a handful of trees, and rightly so; geography students who get a core borer stuck and (somehow) get permission to cut down what had possibly been the oldest tree in the world just to retrieve it are warned against; and, of course, it is mentioned that any fool can climb a gum tree. I've read this about six times this year, high time I count it officially.

In fall 2006, Lansing's forestry department planted a tiny gingko biloba tree between the sidewalk and the street in front of my house.
It had four and a half branches, all oriented in one plane like the candlesticks in a menorah. You could barely roast a wiener with it.
I scrambled into the house for a book I had bought, by sheer coincidence, the previous day -- Thomas Pakenham's "Remarkable Trees of the World."
Yes! There, sprawling across pages 110 and 111, was a gingko nearly 1,000 years old, still living in Tokyo, measuring 30 feet in girth and 66 feet high.
Pakenham, a British historian with Irish wanderlust and a gentle sense of drama, has traveled the world to photograph and research the history and lore of 60 of the world's most remarkable trees.
This oversize book, just now out in paperback, is so relaxed and un-sensational you picture Pakenham walking from tree to tree, a Haydn string quartet playing in the background, not minding the continents and oceans in between. It's a follow-up to another book that's just as good: "Meetings With Remarkable Trees," in which Packenham confined his wanderings to the British Isles. The response to "Meetings" was so warm that Pakenham packed his bags and expanded his search to global proportions.
Pakenham's style is that of a curious, intelligent pilgrim. He pairs generous full-page or double-page images of his subjects with un-fussy, lightly conversational background information. He clearly respects local lore and legend, but doesn't go overboard with it, nor does he bog the text down in scientific details. The result is almost a set of personality profiles.
The images are spectacular -- given the subject matter, most of them can't help it -- but sensitively chosen and framed, with an eye toward the unique setting, mood and attributes of each tree.
It's a low-key approach, but if this book doesn't awaken your sense of awe, nothing can. That little stick of a gingko in my front yard, for example, belongs to a hyper-ancient species/order/family that predates dinosaurs. Its peculiar lineage (it's related to ferns) is betrayed by unique, fan-shaped leaves that have no central fold.
Of course, trees have their own agenda, and don't care whether they get into a coffee-table book or not (it's tempting to think they'd rather not, insofar as books are made of paper). But it was hard not to think of Pakenham's gargantuan gingko as a thundering encouragement for my little tree's stressed-out, brown-fringed leaves and spindly trunk.
For one thing, Japanese Buddhists believe the gingko, not the Bo tree of India, was the tree under which Buddha found enlightenment.
If lore doesn't thrill, Pakenham serves up history and science. For example, a gingko 800 yards from the epicenter of Hiroshima threw up new sprouts even after the atomic bomb hit.
But enough about gingkos. In this book, the reader will meet a panoply of the world's most amazing creatures: General Sherman, a mega-giant sequoia in California that weights 1,500 tons and is probably the largest living thing on Earth; ancient teapot-shaped African baobabs out of a Dr. Suess illustration; the leaning Italian cypress said to have been planted by St. Francis; wind-lashed cypresses clinging to the rocky California coast; great oaks with hollows where 20 people can sit down to a banquet; bristlecone pines now into their fifth millennium of existence.
Some of these magnificent trees are near roadsides or chained off in parks, all but ignored by passersby. The wonder of this book is that it tunes the mind to the low-frequency, centuries-long chords only these creatures can hear. Looking at trees that have lived the better part of a millennium make you wonder whether there will be a California -- the home of a disproportionate number of these giants -- or a Lansing in 1,000 years.
My bet's on Lansing, which is far less likely to slip into the ocean before my gingko grows up.

I lived in Italy for several years, and loved to take cooking lessons.
This book combined both my passion for 'family' recipes, and italian cooking.
I have pulled my pasta machine back out, and am planning to write down every recipe/technique I can remember my grandmother using, so that my kids will have a memoir of their own.

Laura Schenone's book-length essay is an expertly crafted exposition of her search for family history, for barely-surviving traditions, for connections to immigrant ancestors who were strangers to her. She is, by her own admission, "obsessed" with replicating the ravioli of her great-grandmother. She longs for authenticity, for real nourishment in a world of "silver wrapped", mass produced cream cheese. She longs to know who they were, this Genovese couple who came to New Jersey from the isolated, breathtakingly beautiful mountains of Italy so many years ago.

Immersed in the demanding cycles of domesticity, raising two young sons, it is in the chores and delights of the kitchen that she recognizes her mission and begins her quest.

This book speaks to the the mystery of generation, the families who spring forth, the gathering around the table on feast days, and on ordinary days as well. The mothers nourish so that the families may flourish. Schenone's masterful prose absorbed me. I could not put this book down.

I ate this book up and still wanted more. I am 1/2 Italian as well, the same age as the author, have 2 boys as does the author, and have what I thought was the only mixed up crazy family. I chose education and career over learning how to cook, so I loved hearing about her search. Laura write a sequel! More pictures!

This is one of the oddest books I have ever read and I recommend it to anyone -not just food lovers. It kept me facinated until the end. One of those books which enlightens one to the small but exciting adventures people can find themselves caught up with. You don't have to be a movie star or run for president to find some exciting things in your own life. Laura Schenone did this and brought the reader along with her. I don't know this lady but it would be fun having her for a neighbor - especially for Christmas ravioli.

Schenone has written a mesmerizing meditation on food that is a mystery, a memoir and a love letter to ravioli all at once. The book made me wish I had Italian ancestors, so I could go hop a plane and explore the mountains of Italy to track down secret recipes, and hidden family lore, too. Instead I made the walnut sauce--which was delicious. This book is a beautiful and honest memoir about a woman's search to understand her family and herself. Honestly, I didn't want the journey to end.

If you like a good, quick paced, murder mystery peppered with humor, "Mad Mouse" is the mystery for you. Set in a normally quiet seaside town on the Jersey Shore, policemen Ceepak and Boyle track a sniper taking pot shots at people right before the big Labor Day weekend. Grabenstein uses descriptions sparingly, giving just enough backstory to allow the reader the opportunity of filling in some character details and ambience on their own... much the way horror writer Stephen King provides just enough detail for you to scare yourself silly. Even with two murders in one summer, I want to live in Sea Haven. Great story line and surprise ending.

Grabenstein is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I only wish he could write his stories faster.

I wrote a review of TILT A WHIRL last year and gave it five stars, and I was anxiously awaiting the new Ceepak mystery with the same anticipation which, as a kid, I used to reserve for the opening of the baseball season, or going back to the boardwalk. So I dove right into MAD MOUSE with an eager enthusiasm.

It's very good, all right, but to say it's better than the first book is just plain wrong. The plot of the book seems, well, I won't say stolen, but certainly it's "reminiscent" of the teen thriller I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER by Lois Duncan, or everyone's seen the movie version and its sequels. You're reading along, and all of a sudden every scene in MAD MOUSE seems familiar, as one by one all the kids who knew each other when they were 16 get targeted. It just seemed forced to me that all of them are still close enough years later so that the killer could find them partying it up at the beach one night, in the book's opening scenes.

And also I can't figure out, waasn't our boy Danny Boyle dating Becca in the last book? And since this one picks up immediately after the end of TILT A WHIRL, when did he ditch her and start mooning over Katie, Becca's best friend? And since Chris G. is great at making his men characters come alive, and yet he doesn't seem real great at writing women, why make the switch since both of them seem sort of interchangeable?

And talk about a ludicrously over-the-top accomplice!

That said, Grabenstein's a terrific writer, his picture of the Jersey shore is a complex, hard-hitting one, and the interplay between Danny and his guru John Ceepak is outstanding, the best of its kind of genre fiction. Just give them something to detect next time.

In the beach town of Sea Haven, the town council is getting ready for the big Labor Day celebration, a guaranteed money maker for the town. They want everything to go smoothly and all the summer visitors to have the time of their life. Nothing can mess this up..........or can it?
When a paintball incident appears to cause a disturbing injury to Danny Boyle's friend during a beach outing, the town fathers want the incident hushed up. When it is discovered that not only paintballs were being fired, but bullets too, the demand to clear it all up and take care of any loose ends is made perfectly clear.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be possible as repeat incidents occur.
Our heroes enter the picture, John Ceepak, an Iraq war vet who lives by a strict code of honor and Danny Boyle, a care-free guy who lives by the seat of his pants, are partnered in the police force and delve into the case looking for answers, but all they seem to get are more questions. Suddenly it seems that maybe Danny and his friends are in the crosshairs of some deranged individual but the motive for the attacks remains elusive, as does the shooter.
The story is a wild ride, fast paced with unexpected twists and turns that are put together with a deft hand!! Chris Grabenstein is a truly skilled author, creating dialogue that is both clever and sidesplittingly funny!! His characters are witty and entertaining. His story line is unexpected and captivating!!! His cast of characters, while witty and clever, range the gamut from serious cop, care-free kid, mail order brides,goth kids, beach bums to stereotypical town fathers and wealthy overbearing parents. Chris Grabenstein raises the bar to a new standard with Mad Mouse!!

Summer Cop Danny Boyle and his friends have made a tradition of celebrating National Toasted Marshmallow Day. For the last ten years, they have gotten together every year on a beach in their town of Sea Haven, New Jersey to toast marshmallows, drink beer, and hang out.

This year, things turn serious when someone tags them with paintballs. One of the paintballs hits Becca's eye, turning a yearly tradition into a serious night.

Sea Haven is planning a huge bash for Labor Day. Naturally, this incident doesn't sit well with everyone in the business community whose survival during the next nine months rests on the huge business they expect this one weekend of the summer. Danny and his partner, John Ceepak, are assigned the case; with the implication that Danny's application to be a full time cop is riding on a quick solution.

They think they are on the right track when another attack happens. Again, Danny and a friend are the target. Only this time, the paintballs are followed by a bullet.

I'm not normally a thriller fan, but I just couldn't pass up the setting of a resort town. I loved the first one, and enjoyed this one even more. The plot starts quickly. It seems to be moving along fine, but when the second attack comes, things pick up into high gear and the pace never slows down. Since Danny is our narrator, this gives us more of a stake in the outcome, and I must admit to cheating ahead to see who lived until the end.

The only real drawback to the story involves Ceepak. Ceepak lives by a code. Actually, I like his code and respect the character because of it. However, it is mentioned so often I got tired of hearing about it. A few mentions to establish the character were fine, but it should have been dropped by the second half of the story.

Still, this is a minor complaint in an otherwise outstanding story. Give yourself plenty of time to read it because you will be hooked.

Simply put: Mad Mouse did not disappoint!!! I can only add to all the other reviews in my gushing praise of the second installment of John Ceepak and Danny Boyle's adventures at the Jersey Shore!! To the author (who I can't seem to reach by email)--cannot wait for the further adventures of the two above characters and am also looking forward to Slay Ride, your next serial....Thank you, thank you and again---keep up with the terrific writing, plot lines and most of all the giggles that just keep happening!!! Susan

Tomorrow They Will Kiss is a brilliantly crafted novel told in first person narrative by three Cuban-Americans who endure the hardships of minimum wage factory jobs in Union City, New Jersey. They make dolls, or most of the dolls, but are never allowed to attach the heads. The doll is a very interesting metaphor for a novel that reveals just how broken people become when they face what many did when they were forced to leave Cuba for a not always friendly America. I truly adore these story-telling characters: Graciela, Caridad, and Imperio. Often Cuban-American writers indulge themselves in self-pity. That is not what Eduardo Santiago has done at all. Naturally Mr. Santiago has an anti-Castro bias, but the politics of Cuba stays in the background as the three women command the stage, telling not only her own story but telling the stories of the other two as well. And, of course, they tell the stories of the other Cuban-American women working in the doll factory. First person narrative is difficult to master. Most men, in my opinion, do poorly when they try to capture the real voices of women. Not so in this novel. This is a novel that I truly didn't want to end. I only wish there were a sequel.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a voracious reader. For maybe even longer than that, I have had a passion for reading novels written with a Latin American context. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. It takes you into two different worlds, worlds that collide and coincide, intertwining the two worlds along the way. A young Cuban woman, exiled in her own community in Cuba and again in New Jersey, by the same community. She holds herself with a quiet dignity that irritates her fellow Cubans, who grew up with her in her homeland.
This book is about mistakes made and forgiveness sought, but not at a price of humility. A great read!!

Santiago takes you back to 1960's Union City and Cuba via the lives pre and post Castro of three strong women, each with her own perception of life, love and war. I began reading the novel on a plane and devoured it in one sitting - I strongly recommend it!

It is hard to imagine that this book was written by a man. I really got some good laughs reading some passages in this book; but it also deals with some not so funny issues of people following a path of not of their choosing and forced to make difficult decisions. I really enjoyed reading this book. I would strongly recommend it!

EDUARDO SANTIAGO, in my opinion, eventually will win the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished fiction by an American author, and he may be the next writer of Cuban descent to do so. TOMORROW THEY WILL KISS is right up there with other Pulitzer Prize winners. Santiago is young, and he has talent and dedication. And so it is, I believe, a matter of time.

Graciela, Caridad and Imperio--Cuban women in exile--work in a doll factory in New Jersey. Santiago segues back to Cuba throughout the novel, so we can see the life they left during the Cuban Revolution and understand what they're up against in the U.S. Graciela deals with her frustrations just like American women do--by losing herself in TV soap operas.

Conjure up for me the older American who has never escaped into radio soaps, including the one that asked the question, "Can this girl from the little mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of a wealthy and titled Englishman?" (OUR GAL SUNDAY in the 1940s.) Find me the younger American who has never lost herself in THE GUIDING LIGHT, ALL MY CHILDREN, or DALLAS.

Like these beloved sagas, Santiago's TOMORROW THEY WILL KISS will capture your interest, make you laugh, challenge your beliefs, and break your heart.

TOMORROW THEY WILL KISS is a great read, and I can almost guarantee you will love it. You will love it because in this novel you will find not only yourself, but also your parents, your cousins, and the friends you grew up with. One of the things I admire about this writer is his ability to make people from a culture entirely different from mine seem just like folks I have always known.

And ladies, you are in for a treat, because this is a novel by that rarity in the male-dominated world of great literature: a male writer who truly understands women and appreciates us, in spite of the faults--if any--we may have.

Buy this book and read it soon. You will laugh, cry, and delight in your discovery of EDUARDO SANTIAGO, a man who is becoming one of the great writers of our time.