Where have I been. This is an exciting YA swashbuckler about Mary "Jacky" Faber, an orphan who escapes the streets of London by disguising herself as a boy and joining the crew of HMS Dolphin. She must keep up "The Deception" while finding her sea legs, battling pirates, and falling in love with a fellow ships boy. (Note: There is a creepy pedophile on board who tries to assault our heroine. He gets what's coming to him, but some readers might not be up for that.) (Also noted: The audiobook version is fantastic.)

More fun from Jacky Faber--this time she's wreaking havoc in a Boston finishing school.

I keep thinking I won't need to go any further with this series and then the next one sucks me in! Am docking it one star because the second part (when she gets her own ship) seemed long and wasn't as interesting as the first part.

Indian-born Priya's marriage to Los-Angeles-dwelling Sanjay is arranged and she flies to CA to live with him, his parents, and his sister. As tradition dictates, she does all the cooking, cleaning, serving, and on top of this is told to go out and find a job. She begins as a receptionist for an entertainment magazine but is quickly promoted to journalist (unlikely but whatever). She has to keep her glamorous job a secret from disapproving in-laws while trying to improve her marriage to a handsome mummy's boy.

I enjoyed this one more than For Matrimonial Purposes by the same author. It was a fun read even if it was unrealistic. Priya adapts to a completely new country & culture (and a job that requires you to know everything about movies, magazines, and celebrity gossip) much too quickly, but she's a nice girl and I wanted her to find a way to be happy with her new life.

Maybe I was just in the right mood, but I absolutely loved this. Elinore Pruitt left Denver in 1909 with her young daughter and went to Wyoming to be a homesteader. The book is made up of letters she writes to a friend over the next several years, describing her new home, family, neighbors, and adventures. I found these fascinating and even inspiring. It was kind of like reading Little House on the Prairie from Ma's perspective. She certainly made me want to stop whining about my own life, and to appreciate small pleasures where I find them.

Funny, dark, but not a series I'd want to keep reading.

Funny read about a girl who wants to set her mom up with George Clooney (to stop her from dating losers). Violet does a lot of pretty awful things while dealing with her anger at her dad, who left their family and started a new one with a young actress. I probably wouldn't give this one to anyone under 11 or 12, as it has some older themes & vocabulary, including a bit of swearing.

The 4 stars is based on the importance of the subject matter, NOT on the writing. Wish the co-author had tried harder to get rid of the redundancies. (She said "shocking" again. DRINK!). If you've read anything by Michael Pollan or watched Food, Inc. you already know our food production system (and the head honchos who have lawmakers and enforcement agencies in their pocket$) are evil. But this book talks specifically about kids and how food additives, colors, and genetically-modified ingredients that are so popular in "kid foods" are likely contributing to their increasing health problems (see: allergies, ADHD, Type II diabetes, etc.)

I was mostly reading for the second part, where the author gives advice on how to clean up your family's diet. Her tips are good, but she seems scared that she will put people off if she gives it to them straight. So she'll say things like, "Try using HALF the packet of fluorescent powdered chemicals in your kids' Kraft Mac 'n Cheese." ALSO, did you know that Kraft took the artificial colors OUT of the boxes they ship to England and other countries? That's because England told them where they could put that crap. (In the Americans' food, obviously.)

Quick, easy read set in the real-life 1916 shark attacks. It's exciting but not too graphic.

Skimmed this one at work--a decent read if you are following the series, as a standalone it didn't do much for me.