The premier book on gun control, Lott shows why adding more gun-control laws merely disarm honest citizens while doing nothing to stop criminals from getting them. He really has done his research and is well documented. It will surprise you. It sure surprised me.   posted May 6, 2013 at 7:39PM

Martin is a master of medieval fiction. While the Seven Nations are fictional, Martin has their history and bloodlines and legends and everything that makes history... well, history. So it really takes you in. Also his characters, both heroes and villians, are all flawed. So be prepared to root for some of the bad guys and for the so-called good guys to do some pretty bad stuff at times. And whatever you do, don't read the Wikipedia article on this book. It will spoil the rest of the book and make it that much harder to finish. That's what I did. If I hadn't, I am sure I would have finished it by now, as I couldn't put it down before.   posted May 6, 2013 at 7:31PM

The second book in the Earthsea cycle, this one is my favorite and the only one to have cover art so that is why I included it. While "A Wizard of Earthsea" is great and "The Farthest Shore" is pretty good, The Tombs of Atuan is the best. Why? Because it is a tale of redemption. Tenar is a young girl who is taken from her home to become the reincarnated high priestess to the Nameless Ones, evil spririts that inhabit the caves of their island. She thinks this is her fate, until a certain wizard comes to the tombs to find a rare magical item. Neither of their lives will ever be the same. The sense of foreboding that Le Guin puts into the first part of the book is contrasted by the hope of the second part. A great book. Actually the whole series is. Start with A Wizard of Earthsea, though. It'll make more sense.   posted May 6, 2013 at 7:18PM

Book Three in the Dark Elf Trilogy. Drizzt decides to take his chances on the surface rather than dying alone underground. He travels the surface world until he can find a place he can call home. Makes friends and enemies along the way. A good ending for the trilogy, although the story continues in the Crystal Shard. There are at least a dozen Drizzt novels by R.A. Salvatore. All of them are good and full of adventure and magic.   posted May 6, 2013 at 3:13PM

Book Two of the Dark Elf Trilogy. Drizzt has left the dark elves behind and tries to survive alone in the Underdark. His family hasn't forgiven him and they still search for him while he fights an internal battle to keep himself from going insane. Explores the Underdark, the underground world full of monsters and evil races. Good read.   posted May 6, 2013 at 2:40PM

Book One of the Dark Elf Trilogy. This one covers Drizzt Do'Urden's early life growing up among the evil race of dark elves. This book shows how different he is from other dark elves, or drow. Not only does Bob (R.A. Salvatore) create a fascinating hero, but he also explores what an "evil" civilization would be like. A matriarchal society devoted to an evil deity. This trilogy is a prequel to the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Drizzt was such a popular character that Bob decided to tell his origin story in three books. Not for kids.   posted May 4, 2013 at 11:46AM

This was a fun little book. A young girl's father is arrested for thievery and she sets out to prove he's innocent by finding the real culprit. Combines the real life struggles of life on the frontier with some folklore and fantasy elements.   posted May 4, 2013 at 11:40AM

This was an excellent book about the power of stories. Both for good and for evil. Starts out like the Princess Bride with a grandfather telling a story to his grandson. None of his regular tales will do, so he tells instead about a young storyteller and what happened to him. It's a good read and very interesting, but it lacks much of the humor of everyday life. It explains propaganda in a way that even young readers can understand without actually using the word.   posted May 4, 2013 at 11:30AM

First book of the Jack Reacher series. Very good. Not for children. Besides the violent way Jack settles "problems", he also has a mature relationship with a local cop. I read this because of the Tom Cruise movie, and while Tom doesn't match Lee's description of Jack Reacher, he did have the right mindset. I'll be interested in reading more of this series eventually.   posted May 4, 2013 at 11:19AM

Last book in the series, this is Mary's story. Jesus's mother Mary was a woman who started out with great faith, but then doubted and finally came to faith in her son as her Savior. Rivers puts you in Mary's shoes and follows her story from beginning to end. This was a great series and it enhanced my appreciation for the Biblicial accounts. There is a study in the back if you want to use it as a personal devotion guide, but I just liked reading the stories.   posted Apr 29, 2013 at 6:33PM