"While Irish Eyes are Smiling" -Suzanne Supplee

Young Adult romances can be simpler love stories; this one fits the bill. It takes place in Ireland during a Study Abroad program.

Delk Sinclair decides to go to Ireland instead of hanging around Nashville, TN. She's running away from her debutante ball, step-mother, and memories of her mother's death from illness. While in Ireland, Delk makes friends, meets Pather, a boy who's also lost his mother, and confronts herself and her relationships at home, all while traveling among the beauty that is Ireland.

I was slightly impressed by this book. It's still a "cheap" paperback but Delk's character development was surprising. She is presented as shallow but not mean or dumb. Her growth is believeable, especially since the "terribleness" she attributes to her life is the normal exaggerations of a teenager. All in all, cute!

Read Also:

It turns out I don't read a lot of contemporary YA fiction but an oldie (and I mean the 80's) Tough-Luck Karen by Johanna Hurtwitz is about a girl who has a lot of things going wrong in her life. She'd go crazy if it weren't for her love of cooking.

Linda Crew's Children of the River is about a girl from Cambodia making her way in America.

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami.

"Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant" -Tony Cliff

I came across this book twice before I finally read it. It was a fun, funny, easy read.

Delilah Dirk is an adventurer with skills ranging from sword fighting to dancing to piloting in situations ranging from polite society to the jungle to tough cities. She takes up with Selim, a Turkish Lieutenant with a taste (and nose) for tea, accidentally in Constantinople. They face a lot together, come to understand each other, and even sacrifice for each other until they stumble upon a friendship they built. It's a happy story considering all the bloodshed...

Read Also:

Shannon Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge and its sequel Calamity Jack are very similar in attitude, writing style, and even artwork. Very funny and exciting!

The "Asterix" series by Iscenko & Goscinny.

Stewart Ross wrote a set of 4 Beginner Reader graphic novels set during Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and China. Although, they are not funny.

"The Crochet Answer Book" -Edie Eckman

I don't usually read entire books that can be considered reference books. Like encyclopedias, you look up what you need, not read from cover to cover. In this case, I read the entire book. I've taken up crocheting again and this time, I'm going wild! I read this to see what tips I could pick up to ease, enhance, and smooth out my crocheting. None of it was a revelation, but there were useful hints throughout.

The format is broken into sections (Yarn, Finishing, Stitching, etc.) and it's treated like a Q&A.

The most helpful section was on blocking and starching which I'd never thought about though I knew I needed to do something similar for some of my projects. The cleverest tip is using a latch hook to weave in the tail ends of the yarn. The funniest tip was [Q: What's the difference between "1 sc" and "sc 1." A: Nothing, they're the same.]

Read Also:

Some of my favorite crochet books are 75 Birds, Butterflies, and Little Beasts to Knit & Crochet by Lesley Stanfield and other similar titled books by her.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amigurumi by June Gilbank was inciteful for stuffed projects.

Basic Crochet Stitches by Erika Knight. Okay, I haven't read this one yet, but it's in the queue!

"Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders" -John Mortimer

You may have heard of the British television show and Yes, this is one of the books the series was based on.

Rumpole is writing his memoirs, recounting his first case as lead council. A boy is on trial for the murder of his father and his father's best friend. The case brings back memories of WWII, airplane pilots, and accusations of treason. While Rumpole glories in his first case, a few past flames resurface.

The writing is a little more styled. I'm not unfamiliar with it but I do a lot of rereading to make sure I understand what's going on. I really liked Rumpole; he's fun and rebellious but disciplined.

Read Also:

Rumpole is a little like Perry Mason, series by Erle Stanley Gardner, in that the lawyer solves the case and the defendant is always not guilty.

British murder mysteries: Agatha Christie's are the best!