Bend Your Mind

Are you a fan of movies like Inception or Memento, with shocking revelations and plot twists that make you go whoa, what's going on? (In a good way!) Well, then, I have some books you'll love to be confused by!

The Mirage is the new novel by Matt Ruff, author of the hilarious plot rollercoaster Bad Monkeys. It opens with a Homeland Security agent investigating terrorist attacks by religious fundamentalists from an impoverished third-world country. The twist: this agent works for the United Arab States, the dominant world power, and the terrorists come from the backwards, Balkanized region of...America. So that's how this book starts, and it'll just keep twisting your brain into knots as you get further into the story! Read on for more head-exploding books and authors...

Nightwoods

Being lost means nothing. Especially when being found seems like a thing to avoid. Charles Frasier.

The woods can be a place of peace and solitude or a place of loneliness and danger. Nightwoods, by Charles Frazier, is set in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina in the early 1960s. Luce lives a solitary life away from town as the caretaker of an old abandoned guest lodge at the edge of the woods. She finds the lodge the perfect place to hide away from a life filled with hurt and disappointment. Her life changes suddenly when she acquires the children of her murdered sister, Lily. The blond, dark eyed, fire starting, mute, twin children are even more damaged and emotionally scarred than Luce herself, evoking in her long dormant emotions. When the owner of the lodge, Old Stubblefied, passes away, his grandson comes to survey his inheritance. Acquaintances in youth, Luce and the younger Stubblefield begin a cautious relationship. Luce, Stubblefield and the children are beginning to trust each other when evil arrives, threatening their fragile trust, love and lives. Sometimes it is safer to remain hidden in the woods. This book is about healing, justice and redemption. I liked the edge of your seat suspense but would also recommend this book for its beautiful descriptive language. Charles Frazier is also the author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons.

Smash Cut

I am a fan of chocolate and reading.  I am happy when I get one of those heart shaped boxes of chocolate on Valentine's Day. Sadly, one heart shaped box of chocolate does not last very long. 
Here is my suggestion for the day after Valentine's Day. On your way home from work, stop at the library and check out a romantic suspense book and then stop at the store and buy discounted leftover valentine chocolate. I just finished Smash Cut by Sandra Brown, a perfect romantic suspense to read with chocolate. In this book, Paul Wheeler, wealthy CEO of Wheeler Enterprises, and Julie Rutledge, a beautiful young art dealer, have been meeting every Tuesday at a posh hotel for the the past two years. One Tuesday when Paul and Julie are leaving the hotel, a masked

Hard Truths

So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman

Where is Wendy White? The sweet girl's disappearance is being accepted as one of those unfortunate events that will never be solved. Obviously, an agent from the outside has infiltrated rural Haeden. Wendy was the target. These things happen. These things happen all of the time.

Cleverly Twisted

The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

Two recent incidents prompted me to blog about this great book:

1. Spotting a Superman costume while shopping for Halloween festivities

2. A recent reader's advisory interaction with someone requesting "a fast, clean, unique, suspenseful mystery thriller"

Because I am not blogging about a comic book, the relationship of these incidents may appear uncertain. It is this combination of seemingly unrelated events that reminded me of the author Brad Meltzer.