Book #6: Here We Go Again: My Life In Television: 1949-1995 by Betty White

Anybody who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Golden Girls fan. I watch it every night. If there is a marathon, I watch that, too. I also own the entire series on DVD, so if I can't find something to watch on TV or need background noise while I'm working around the house, I pop one of those in and I'm all set.

Adding to that, my love of the last surviving Golden Girl, Betty White. I was thrilled at her commercial during the 2010 Super Bowl. I watched Saturday Night Live (a show I never watch) the night she hosted. I faithfully watch every episode of her current show, Hot In Cleveland. Last but not least, I have a Betty White calendar in my office.

When my dear friend, @kayakgal, asked if I knew about (or had read) Betty White's book, Here We Go Again, I was surprised that I hadn't. She made sure I received a copy and I couldn't wait to delve into it! I, of course, loved it!

Betty White is most certainly a television pioneer. She was there, doing live TV, before most people even had television sets. There are no tapes, obviously, of the first television shows she was on, so it was a pure delight to read her recount those days and what it was like for her, blazing a trail in this new frontier.

I was surprised to find out about her relationships prior to the love of her life, Allen Ludden. It was wonderful to read about their special relationship and how much they loved each other. She told stories about her famous friends as well. She showed them to all be such down to earth souls. It brought to mind many episodes of the Golden Girls that some of them guested on. I figure that they did the show because of Betty White!

The book reads just like Betty is sitting down with you, telling stories over coffee. Because of this, sometimes she jumps around in time. There were several times when I wasn't sure what year something happened, but all in all, it probably doesn't matter. Each tale was a joy to read.

If you have any interest in the history of television or, like me, are a Golden Girls junkie, you simply must read this book! Betty White is a hoot and she makes me wish I was along for the ride all those wondrous years.

Book #5: Good Dog. Stay. by Anna Quindlen

My fifth book of 2011 was quite short. "Good Dog. Stay." by Anna Quindlen has just 82 pages and over half of those are pages with only pictures on them. It is about Ms. Quindlen's black Lab, Beau.

To be exact, although it is about Beau, it isn't a memoir. It is more of a brief look back at the author's own life and how the dog played a role in it. You don't get much of a look at his personality, but you do get a good glimpse of hers.

It is a pleasant little story and you can feel the love she and her family had for Beau. If you have 30 minutes and don't mind a couple of tears, read about Ms. Quindlen and her dog. I know I would want everyone to get a glimpse of my pets if they could and I bet that is why she shared her Beau in this story.

Book #4: Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

I had heard about this book long ago and thought I should read it. I saw favorable reviews and it was recommended by friends. I thought it would be a book that I would love. Instead, I just kind of liked it.

"Dog On It" by Spencer Quinn is a Chet and Bernie mystery; the human, Bernie, is a private investigator and Chet is his dog who didn't quite make it through police K-9 training. Together they make up the Little Detective Agency. Bernie is hired by a mother to find her missing teenage daughter. Not a few hours after he is hired, the girl comes home on her own. Case closed. Until she goes missing again, this time for real.

Bernie and Chet are on the case even though others think the girl will just turn up again. Bernie follows his intuition and Chet follows his nose. There are a couple of twists that probably should have really interested me, but I just couldn't seem to get into it. Bernie pretty much has the case figured out and lets the reader know "whodunit" in a rough sense. The only mystery at that point is finding the girl and piecing together the details.

I never found myself looking forward to reading what came next. Maybe the fact that I didn't have anything to ponder is what bored me. The characters were very likable, but it didn't seem to matter too much when something seemingly bad happened to them. I knew it would work itself out and I didn't care much how it would happen.

Although I wouldn't tell people it is a "must-read", it's not a bad little story. If you like mysteries, give it a try. If you read it too, let me know what you thought of it.

Just as an aside, I would recommend you check out Chet's blog; it's pretty cute!

Book #3: Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron

My third book for 2011 was "Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions" by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter. It is a follow-up to their best-seller "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World."

"Dewey's Nine Lives" tells nine stories from people whose lives were touched not only by Dewey (either in person or through his book) but were touched by cats personally as well. These aren't simply cat stories, either. They really reveal the person and what their life is like presently as well as before they had their special cat. It's not always pretty, but the story is more complete that way.
My two favorite stories in the book were numbers seven and nine. The last story had a little twist to it-they definitely saved the best for last! Some of the stories I felt were a bit drawn out, but again, it gave you a complete look at a person's life.

This was a great book, but I would suggest you read "Dewey" before you read "Dewey's Nine Lives". You'll need your tissues for both! There are also some children's books about Dewey: "Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library"; "Dewey: The True Story of a World-Famous Library Cat"; and "Dewey's Christmas at the Library".

If you want more information about Dewey, you can check out his website at http://www.deweyreadmorebooks.com/ or the website for the Spencer Public Library, where he was abandoned, found by Ms. Myron, and lived for many years.

Book #2: Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer

This book was yet another gift from my friend @kayakgal. (What can I say? She's awesome and sends me great books I wouldn't otherwise know about!) With the book she included a note that it was her favorite non-fiction book so I was very intrigued. A coincidence about her sending me this particular book is that I love elephants. I have collected them since childhood and they have always been my favorite zoo animal.

"Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived" by Ralph Helfer starts out on the day that both Modoc and her lifetime friend and handler, Bram Gunterstein, were born. They were soul-mates and had a special connection from that day forward. They grew up together and shared a silent language which allowed Bram great success in training her differently than what was typically done in the early part of the 20th century.

The book tells tales that are, at times, unbelievable. There is the sale of the circus Modoc belongs to and the doomed ship that Bram stows away on to be with her. There is the time spent with the maharajah and his mysterious white elephant. The teak forest where the war tears everything apart. The New York circus where Modoc becomes a star. The author explains at the beginning of the book that it is a true story, pieced together as well as possible, from his research and what he has been told. He admits to a little "poetic license" but states that as far as he can tell, it is all true.

It reads very much like a novel and the stories are so far-fetched that I found myself oftentimes thinking there was no way any of this could have possibly happened. I decided at one point to quit doubting and just believe and enjoy the story. Once I did that, I found myself getting lost in the book. I hoped that every struggle would be the last and they would live happily ever after, a man and his elephant.

I would say to any reader of "Modoc" that you need to keep an open mind and believe that it all happened just as Mr. Helfer says it did. Believe that this elephant really was that special.

I do.

Book #1: Paper Towns by John Green

My first book for 2011 was a gift from my lovely friend @kayakgal. She has quite the knack for sending me awesome books! This was no different.

"Paper Towns" by John Green is a young adult novel about Quentin Jacobsen, a high school senior in Orlando, and how his life is turned upside down by his neighbor and childhood friend, Margo Roth Spiegelman, when she takes him on a wildly adventurous journey late one night, then promptly disappears. He follows the mysterious clues that she leaves behind hoping to find her alive, but worried that he will find her dead. His best friends and classmates, Ben and Radar, along with Ben's new girlfriend Lacey, jump on board with the search, but none of them as engrossed as Q.

"Paper Towns" had me laughing hysterically and turning pages as quickly as I could. I found myself thinking about the book while I was at work, anxious to get back to reading it so I could learn where the clues would lead Q next.

Although the book is centered around high school students, it didn't feel like a book for kids at all. I loved every minute I spent reading this book and think it would appeal to a broad audience.

A New Year, A New Challenge

After (barely) successfully completing my reading challenge for 2010, I feel like I'm ready to step things up a bit. A very little bit. Last year I read and reviewed 30 books. Most of them were books I enjoyed and some of them I absolutely fell in love with. Since things went so well in 2010, I will challenge myself to read and review 35 books in 2011.

There is a change I would like to make to my reviews. I feel as though I should develop some kind of rating system for my reviews, so that is at the top of my list for 2011. I'm not sure when it will be implemented, but I will be creating it in my mind as I go along.

Something I am also hoping to accomplish with my reading this year is to get caught up on a couple of series I have been reading. First, I want to get up to speed in the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. This really shouldn't be hard, but I also want to pick up the "Between the Numbers" books as well. Because of this, I may be reading several of these books in a row this year.

Another series I discovered this year was the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. I would love to work through that series as well.

I appreciate all the suggestions I get via Twitter and Facebook about books I should read. I look into each of them and if I think they suit me-or even if I don't, but the suggestion came from a reliable source-I add them to my "to-read" list on Goodreads. I enjoy feedback from readers of books I have reviewed, so please add a comment if you have read a book that I have posted about. Just remember, if there is a spoiler in the comment, give a heads-up first!