This fantastic young adult novel is compelling reading even for adult readers. Sepetys tells the story of 15 year old Lina and her family as the Soviets deport them from their home in Lithuania to Siberia in 1941. Though fictional, much of the novel is based upon stories Sepetys heard from survivors. She succeeds at making Lina’s story come alive for readers.

I’ve always been fascinated by art crimes, while at the same time being very saddened by them. I enjoy art and art museums and anyone who, by stealing, deprives the public of appreciating masterpieces just really bothers me.

I highly recommend this book. You will not be able to put it down. Though it is nonfiction, it is a very quick read (as evidenced by the fact that I read it in less than a day) and it moves at a quick pace.

The book consists of a collection of essays, many previously published, but a few new ones as well. Morgan’s goal in putting together this book was to focus on more ordinary people, so while there are chapters discussing Ben Franklin and George Washington, the majority of chapters focus on people who are probably less well known to the population at large.

If you enjoy reading about the early history of our country then you will probably enjoy this book. It is relatively short and a fairly easy and quick read. If you want to read an interesting history book without feeling like you are giving up the next month or two of your life, then this book is for you.

Anyone who enjoyed the movie will enjoy reading The Blind Side. I decided to read the book after seeing the movie. I was surprised by how closely the movie followed the book. There were aspects of the story that were understandably condensed for the screenplay, but the story of Michael Oher and the Touhys shown in the movie stayed relatively close to the one presented by Michael Lewis. Lewis did write several chapters that talked about changes in the game of football, hence the subtitle Evolution of a Game. These chapters were really the only noticeable part of the book not included in the film version.

I found Lewis to be a very compelling writer. He’s written close to a dozen books, but this was the first I ever read. I found myself drawn into even the parts of the book that went into detail about football strategy and other aspects of the game, even when I had no idea what any of it meant. I know nothing about football and have no desire to learn more, but Lewis made his topic so interesting that I couldn’t help but be drawn in.

Of course most people will probably read this book for Michael Oher’s story. Certainly that is why I did. I enjoyed getting a more complete picture of the story I found so inspiring in the movie.

Thunderstruck: it reads like a fast-paced thriller, yet every bit of it is true. It tells two stories: Marconi and the advent of wireless and London’s second most famous murder. The chapters alternate between these two stories and eventually climax when the modern invention has a startling impact on the murder investigation.

The book is long: 480 pages in the hardcover edition (though that does include many pages of notes at the end). Despite the length, however, this is a quick read. The chapters themselves are fairly short and so engaging that once you start reading you’ll probably forget to stop. I read the majority of the book in just one day.

If you’re looking for a book to get lost in, Thunderstruck should do the trick.

The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr is a nonfiction book that reads like fiction.

Ever since I took an art history class to fulfill a core requirement when I was a sophomore in college, I have been fascinated by art history. So it was with pleasure that I read Harr’s account of the hunt for a lost Caravaggio masterpiece. The reader learns how a graduate student discovers a clue to the lost painting while doing research on another masterpiece at a family archive that few scholars had visited. The reader also learns about the art restorer who fortuitously stumbles upon the lost masterpiece and immediately recognizes it for what it is.

Harr is a compelling storyteller, bringing a level of excitement to the otherwise mundane tasks of research and restoration. I read this very quickly. Anyone who likes art history or fast-paced nonfiction should give this a try.

The Man Who Made Vermeers tells the story of Han van Meegeren, the Dutch master forger. Author Jonathan Lopez tells the true story of van Meegeren’s career–a story that was suppressed and ignored for decades.

The van Meegeren legend stated that he turned to forgery because of disappointing feedback from art critics on his original work and that he then subsequently fooled the Nazis by selling one of his fake Vermeers to Hermann Goering. Both of these aspects of the legend caused van Meegeren to be cheered in post-WWII Holland, but especially the latter, for obvious reasons. However, the truth is much more sordid. Lopez reveals that van Meegeren was, in fact, a collaborationist, and his legend was a story concocted by both himself and the man who exposed him.

This book is a must-read for anyone with a fascination for art history. In addition to his crimes of being a Nazi sympathizer and master forger, van Meegeren attempted to rewrite history by inventing an entirely new period of work for Vermeer. With extensive endnotes and a select bibliography, it is evident that the author did his homework. Don’t let that put you off though! This book is anything but dry.

The whole album is a pleasure to listen to and I recommend you check it out. “Note to the Unknown Soldier” is a lovely song written as “a letter of appreciation to all American soldiers, past, present, and future.” Those of you who saw The Blind Side may recognize “Chances” as the song that played during the credits. The song that got to me the most though, and which gave me goosebumps as I drove to work, is “Tuesday.” This song is about 9/11 and expresses the writer’s fear that people are forgetting the lessons learned on that Tuesday and returning back to Monday.

I started watching The Mentalist fairly early in its debut season. I had heard of two new CBS shows: Eleventh Hour and The Mentalist. I wanted something new to watch and I liked Rufus Sewell in everything I’d ever seen him in so I chose Eleventh Hour. After suffering through three episodes, however, the stories just didn’t hold me. The characters were uninteresting. Still wanting something new to watch, I decided to try that other new CBS show I’d heard about, the one airing after NCIS.

I was hooked from the first episode and within about a month The Mentalist became a higher priority for me than was NCIS. Unfortunately, the fact that Warner Bros. didn’t (and still doesn’t) allow CBS to put The Mentalist online meant that I saw each of the season 1 episodes only once. This, I think, prevented me from becoming totally captivated by the show. Still, I had enjoyed it enough that I knew I wanted the DVDs.

After rewatching season 1 on DVD over the holidays, The Mentalist is my favorite tv show.

If you decide to watch The Mentalist, do me a favor and give it at least two or three episodes before you make up your mind. Though I said I was hooked from the pilot, there were some things about the characters that I didn’t really get or truly appreciate until several episodes in. This is definitely a show where your appreciation and understanding of it grows as you get to know the characters a little better.

Like NCIS, The Mentalist is a character-centric show in that it focuses on the interactions between the characters, not their personal lives. Like NCIS, you get little glimpses into their personal lives, but that is rarely the focus. At the same time, however, the interactions between the main cast are very much the bigger story than the case of the week. Anyone who enjoys the camaraderie and humor between the NCIS team can probably come to find the same thing between the cast of The Mentalist. And if it’s drama you’re looking for, each of the Red John episodes have provided one of the best hours (ok, 43 minutes) of television I’ve ever watched.

Last week I took my sisters to see The Princess and the Frog, which was very charming. Time will tell if it becomes as loved and as memorable as the fantastic Disney movies I grew up with, but for now, it was a pleasure to see a movie like that again. The main character was pursuing her dreams through her own hard work and that was refreshing. The soundtrack was also a lot of fun.

Like a lot of the classic Disney movies, this is one that both children and adults can enjoy.