I’ve had four books sitting on my desk, waiting to be reviewed, for what seems like forever. I don’t want to move them off my desk until I’ve told you what I thought of them, but in the grand scheme of things, writing these reviews is a low low priority. I was inspired by Lu over at Regular Rumination and her Great Review Catch-Up of 2011. So here’s some very short reviews of the four books that have been begging to be reviewed. I’ll try to keep it to one sentence, but I’m not sure I can do that.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson – Full disclosure: I did a blog tour for the hardcover and have put together a blog tour for the paperback. Even so, I really liked the book. The suspense ratcheted up quite nicely, and while I was able to guess the ending, I devoured it pretty quickly. The author does a great job of keeping the reader wondering who, exactly, is the crazy person in the book.

The All of It by Jeannette Haien – I picked up this book because Ann Patchett loves it and I love Ann Patchett. I want to be besties with Ann Patchett. A book club I’m in chose to read it, and it was okay, I thought there were a few things that the author did particularly well, but for me, it was a forgettable book. Patchett obviously disagrees with me, but I hope that she won’t hold that against me when we do eventually become besties.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen – A decent novel, but not one I’ll be pressing into anyone’s hands.

Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan – One of the best books I read in 2011. FABULOUS. Made me go out and buy his first book. A really well written literary mystery. I was wondering why Amy Einhorn (she was the one who published The Help) was publishing a mystery, and now I get it. Love love love.

I fell in love with The Passage by Justin Cronin within the first 30 pages. By the end of the over 700 pages, I was telling everyone about it and pressing it in to anyone’s hands I could. I’ve got the hardcover, paperback, and a couple of advance copies. I won’t loan out the hardcover (just in case someone doesn’t treat it with the right reverence) but I’ve loaned out the paperback and my advance copies.

The Passage is the first book in a planned trilogy, so for over 18 months I’ve been stalking Amazon and the Random House website to find any information I could about the sequel. I knew it would be titled The Twelve, but I wanted to know when I could buy it. FINALLY! I’ve got the information I’ve wanted!

The Twelve by Justin Cronin is set to be published on August 28, 2012.

Do I have my calendar marked with that date? You betcha. Here’s hoping that date doesn’t get pushed back.

Thanks to Ti from Book Chatter for alerting me of this via Facebook this morning, which she saw over at The Book Case.

Do I even need to say anything to encourage you to do this?

We need 50,000 book-loving volunteers to fan out across America on April 23, 2012! Just take 20 free copies of a book to a location in your community, and you just might change someone’s life.

The goal is to give books to new readers, to encourage reading, to share your passion for a great book. The entire publishing, bookstore, library, author, printing, and paper community is behind this effort with donated services and time. And with a million free World Book Night paperbacks!

The first World Book Night was held in the UK last year, and it was such a big success that it’s spreading around the world! Please volunteer to be a book giver in the U.S. Sign up now to be a book giver. Read more about World Book Night on this site, from the free book list to the FAQs. Thank you!

Here’s the website.

If you were going to give away books to non or light readers, where would you start? What book would you press into someone’s hands?

Title: Kidnap & Ransom [buy the book]
Author: Michelle Gagnon [website] [FB] [Twitter]
Pages: 416
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Date Published: November 1, 2010

Summary:

When the world’s foremost kidnap and ransom negotiator is snatched by a ruthless drug cartel, Jake Riley becomes ensnared in the effort to save him. But he’s up against Los Zetas, an elite paramilitary organization renowned for its ferocity and skill. Now he and his colleagues must navigate the dark underbelly of Mexico, from raging street wars to perilous jungles, in an effort to rescue him before time runs out.

After nearly losing her life on her last case, FBI Agent Kelly Jones may never do fieldwork again. Determined to regain her confidence, she joins Jake on his mission—and quickly realizes she’s in over her head. Then in the slums of Mexico City, she encounters a former nemesis who’s enacting a nightmarish ritual on the weak and vulnerable. Now she has one last, desperate shot to prove herself—by taking down a killer.

My thoughts:

As you know, I love me some good mysteries. Michelle Gagnon has become a favorite author of mine, and my only complaint is that I don’t have 20 backlist titles to choose from when I finish her latest book. At this point, I’ve read everything she’s written, and I’m chomping at the bit for more.

I read this quite a while ago, back in November 2010 when I was still working two jobs and reading was quickly becoming something that I used to do. At a time when reading time was at a premium and getting through a book could take a month or longer, I flew through this one in just a few days.

One of the reasons I particularly wanted to mention this book was because it’s been over a year since I read it, and while I normally can’t remember details from any books, I still remember that she did something in this book I’d have bet she’d never do. It took my head clean off.

If you’re a mystery fan, I absolutely recommend Michelle’s books. I know I haven’t said much about the plot, but that’s what the summary is for. I’m just here to tell you that you’re missing out if you’re not reading her books.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

We’ve got this really cool thing in Sonoma County where this guy, Glen, gives away books. HE GIVES AWAY BOOKS. He started the Sonoma County Free Bookmobile with a trailer pulled by a Chevy Suburban. He did that for a year and a half. He would have to “lug carts from the back of the trailer to allow folks to peruse titles.” About three weekends a month, he and a volunteer, usually one of his children, would drive the backroads of Sonoma County, “stopping at senior centers, low-income apartment complexes and other under-served locations to give away donated books.”

After a year and a half, Glen was able to find a real bookmobile by trawling Craigslist. This bookmobile has built in cabinets and places for people to read. Quite the step up from lugging carts out of the back of a trailer so people can see what books you’ve got.

Why does he do it? In the words of a friend, “He basically loves books, believes fervently in the importance of getting books in the hands of young children and other people who don’t have the budget to buy books.”

Glen has since quit his day job and dedicates his time to running the bookmobile.

Cool guy, right? And what does he do for a living? He gives away books. We all talk about getting people to read more, but this guy IS ACTUALLY DOING IT.

When I contacted him recently to donate some books, he said he’s in dire need of young adult books because he’s down to his last reserve on those. Unfortunately, my donation doesn’t include any young adult books.

That’s where you come in.

I’m putting a call out to anyone who reads this. I’m putting a call out to all my blogging friends, who I know oftentimes have books they want to give away but don’t know who to give them to.

Send me your books! While I would take any books (adult books are always needed), children’s books (includes middle grade) and young adult books are really needed right now.

If you have books you can donate, send them to me and I will make sure they reach the bookmobile. Here’s the books that are especially needed:

NEEDS: We are in greatest need of current titles for youth and young adults, including science, music, art, nature, and popular fiction.  Please click here for a more detailed list of currently popular kids’ books (one-page Word doc).  For adults, our highest priorities are:

• Classics
• Art & Music
• Science & Nature
• Building/Do It Yourself
• Dictionaries/Reference
• Foreign Language (especially Spanish)
• Humor
• History
• Philosophy

WE DO NOT NEED: Our patrons appreciate a wide variety of gently used books.  There are a few kinds, however, that don’t fit within our mission parameters.  Thereby we don’t accept magazines, encyclopedias or other sets, condensed, abridged, or ‘digest’ versions, tear-offs (books without covers), books with illegible spines, torn, damaged, or marked-up books, school textbooks, or out-of-date books.  Old books are often great – especially the classics!  Out-of-date refers to old books without practical value, usually on topics of computers/software, electronics/technology, nutrition, finance markets, microwave cookery, etc.  We don’t circulate other types of media (CDs, DVDs, audiotapes, software).

If you have a box of books you’re willing to send but don’t have the money for postage, I can PayPal the money over so you can send the books via media mail.

If you have some books you’re willing to donate, please email me at trish@heylady.net and I’ll send you my mailing address.

If you don’t currently have books to donate, you can collect books you find at garage sales and flea markets and send a bunch of them later. You could go to a bookstore and buy a bunch of books, knowing that your donation is akin to a secret santa.

Thank you for helping such a worthy cause!

—–

Bookmobile website

Newspaper article about the Bookmobile

Another local blog mentioned the Bookmobile recently

—–

Special thanks to Galleysmith and @book_chatter for their immediate support when I put an initial call out on Twitter.