Book 22 - True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

Yes... alright... I love Nicholas Sparks... I love the drivel... I love the crap... and I ate the last one right up as well.

It was one of his better books and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read about two people who "can't" be in love... but manage to find a way to fall in love anyway.

It is called True Believer.

Book 21 - Orange Crushed

I followed up Pamela Thomas-Graham's Blue Blood with the final installament in the "Ivy League" mysteries series.

This book -- Orange Crushed -- took our hero to Princeton University where she went to meet her mentor and brother. Eventually, her brother became accused of murdering her mentor (but we all know that isn't going to be the truth friends.)

Once again, for everything that I liked about the first two, I enjoyed the third one even more. Even with very familiar and textbook characters, THomas-Graham is able to make a scathing report on the treatment of minorities in higher education. Her insight is tremendous to me.

I still stick to my guns on this statement. "These are decent books - not as good as Stephen White but decent enough!"

I hope there are more... the ending makes you believe there will be.

Book 20 - Missing Persons by Stephen White

Despite my distraction with the Two Pamela Thomas-Graham books, I received notice from the library that the copy of Missing Persons by Stephen White that I wanted to read had finally arrived.


Entitled Missing Persons, the book follows my favorite psychologist come crime fighter as he delves into the world where a little girl goes missing eight years to the day after Jon Benet Ramsey disappears a few houses down from the Ramsey home.

This Colorado native delves into the whole possible kidnapping in a fantastic and interesting journey.

It is the last book in the series so far. It is a worthwhile addition to the series but will not keep the interest of a new reader that comes along. The characters have developed so much from the beginning fo the series to get the full bang out of this book.

I still say though that Stephen White is the smartest relatively unknown mystery writer out there today.

You have to be kidding me...

... who let Rob Thomas become a homo-boy band guy?

Book 19 - Blue Blood

I followed up A Darker Shade of Crimson with the second book of three in the Ivy League mysteries series.

It was entitled Blue Blood. For everything that I liked about the first one, it was expanded in the second one. The murder mystery was fun and had a few interesting twists, but what really made this book work for me is the insight of the author in race relations in traditionally privilged white societies such as the Ivy League.

These are decent books - not as good as Stephen White but decent enough!

Darker Shade of Crimson -- Book Something or Other...18

I picked up a new author. Pamela Thomas-Graham.

She is the author of three mystery/thriller books creaing a series entitled the "Ivy League Mysteries."

The first book is called "A Darker Shade of Crimson" and follows the only black professor in the Economics Department at Harvard. She gets caught up in a mystery and solves the crime.

What makes the series unique is that the black female professor addresses racial issues within the traditional privileged white sanctums of Ivy League schools.

The author herself is a well positioned black woman and doesn't need to write novels. A Harvard graduate herself, she became one of the most influential women in American business when she was named the first black woman partner at McKinsey & Company, the world's largest management consulting firm. Her credits continue ad nauseum.

She is well qualified to discuss the way the marketplace treats mionorities and you can sense that some of her experiences are portrayed in the fictional account she has written.

Next up... Blue Blood (The next book in the Ivy League series and written about Yale.)