The Big Blue Brain

Fiction              

The Associate - John Grisham

8^th Confession - James Patterson-On Order 

Run For Your Life - James Patterson 

Heart & Soul –Maeve Binchy  

Handle with Care-Jodi Picoult 

Finger Lickin’ 15-Janet Evanovich-On Order 

Just Take My Heart-Mary Higgins Clark-On Order  

First Family-David Baldacci-On Order 

Shack: a novel-William Young  

One Day at a Time-Danielle Steel 

Delicioso y sano by Jessica Seinfeld

It has become common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are increasing every year. But the rates continue to rise. And between busy work schedules and the inconvenient truth that kids simply refuse to eat vegetables and other healthy foods, how can average parents ensure their kids are getting the proper nutrition and avoiding bad eating habits?

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they're stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don't even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month's worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear–out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that "must have" the latest sugar bomb cereal. Jessica Seinfeld's book is practical, easy–to–read, and a godsend for any parent that wants their kids to be healthy for a long time to come.

Koontz (Forever Odd) is likely to have himself another bestseller in this pulse-pounding thriller with echoes of Hitchcock and Cornell Woolrich. One morning, Southern California gardener Mitchell Rafferty gets a call on his cellphone from a stranger saying that Mitch's beloved wife, Holly, has been kidnapped and that he has less than three days to come up with $2 million in cash. Of course, he's warned not to involve the police. While Mitch is still on the phone, the kidnapper proves his seriousness by directing Mitch's attention to a man walking a dog across the street. A moment later the man is shot dead. Mitch must walk a fine line—cooperating with the police inquiry into this murder without revealing Holly's plight. Koontz ratchets up the tension in a manner sure to captivate most readers, though some may find the ending anticlimactic.

Sirena Selena Vestida de Pena by Mayra Santos-Febres

In this titillating debut novel, a follow-up to her well-received short fiction collection, Urban Oracles, Santos-Febres evokes the sometimes dreamy, always seamy world of Caribbean drag queens, hustlers, transsexuals and two remarkable divas. Strung out and singing his dead abuela's boleros, a 15-year-old street urchin/hustler named Leocadio rummages through the garbage in a shabby San Juan alley looking for food. His crystalline singing voice is "as old and as fresh as the perennial pain of love" and his beautiful face and honey-colored mane enchant Martha Divine, a respected, worldly transsexual and owner of the Blue Danube, a seedy but chic drag club. A consummate businesswoman, Martha immediately sees Leocadio's star potential, plucks the androgynous teen off the streets, helps him kick the cocaine habit that's ravaging his nasal passages ("that's not where a young lady is supposed to have her first period"), and transforms Leocadio into Sirena Selena, a spellbinding bolero-singing diva. After successful shows in Puerto Rico, Martha decides it's time for Sirena to take on the Dominican Republic. While auditioning at a posh Santo Domingo hotel, Sirena is bidden to entertain Hugo Graubel III, a rich businessman who recognizes her as "the woman of his dreams." Sirena ditches Martha to stay with Hugo (who nonchalantly sends his wife packing) and performs, with smashing success, at the dinner party Hugo gives for the Dominican elite. Meanwhile, enterprising Martha finds another gig providing live entertainment at an upscale, underground gay club. Flashbacks throughout this lushly lyrical novel reveal decades in the lives of Martha and Sirena, while an array of vibrant narrators animate the plot twists. Deep purple prose strikes just the right campy, melancholy note as Santos-Febres illuminates the essence of these unforgettable, fiery femmes with moving pathos.