Library Loot

I snuck to the Library a day earlier this week then normal. I was out running errands on my lunch break and since the library was close I thought I'd stop by, that way I wouldn't have to make a special trip in on my day off. My son was just getting off the bus when I got home and when I got out of the car with a stack of books he was mad. "I need a book to read this weekend", he complained. Well, I guess I'll have to make another trip into the library. Darn! ;)

Hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at ReadingAdventures, Library Loot is a fun weekly meme that allows others to peek in your bookbag to see what you came home from the Library with this week. Here's what's in my bag:

It only takes a moment for a life to change forever. Ethan Denton is a lucky man. Lately things have gone his way–like being granted custody of Nate, his three-year-old son. But when he takes the child up to Angels Crest early one morning to show him the mountains, Ethan’s luck changes instantaneously. In an impulsive decision any parent might make, he leaves his son asleep in the back seat while he follows a pair of magnificent buck, just for a minute–but when he returns the truck’s door is open, the child is gone, and snow is falling . . .As townspeople gather to aid in the search, the boy’s disappearance resurrects old wounds and regrets for each of them. But it also provides the chance for love and redemption, as they struggle to make sense of the inexplicable. (I checked out the audio book version)

A twelve-year-old girl and her younger brother go on the run in the woods of North Idaho, pursued by four men they have just watched commit murder—four men who know exactly who William and Annie are, and who know exactly where their desperate mother is waiting for news of her children’s fate. Retired cops from Los Angeles, the killers easily persuade the inexperienced sheriff to let them lead the search for the missing children.
William and Annie’s unexpected savior comes in the form of an old-school rancher teetering on the brink of foreclosure. But as one man against four who will stop at nothing to silence their witnesses, Jess Rawlins needs allies, and he knows that one word to the wrong person could seal the fate of the children or their mother. In a town where most of the ranches like his have turned into acres of ranchettes populated by strangers, finding someone to trust won’t be easy. (I checked out the audio book version of this one too)

Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young "picture bride" who journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer wo takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, sje makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, which is growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether it's the daily struggle for survival in Honolulu's tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous of the island's history... With it's passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawaii far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.

Hurry Down Sunshine tells the story of the extraordinary summer when, at the age of fifteen, Michael Greenberg's daughter was struck mad. It begins with Sally's sudden visionary crack-up on the streets of Greenwich village, and continues, among other places, in the out-of-time world of a Manhattan psychiatric ward during the city's most sweltering months. "I feel like I'm traveling and traveling with nowhere to go back to," Sally says in a burst of lucidity while hurtling away toward some place her father could not dream of or imagine. Hurry Down Sunshine is the chronicle og that journey, and it's effect on Sally and those closest to her- her mother and stepmother, her brother and grandmother, and, not least of all, the author himself. (Biography)

After a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa dies, June Parker finds herself in possession of a list. Marissa has written: "20 Things to Do by My 25th Birthday." The tasks range from inspiring (run a 5K) to daring (go braless) to near-impossible (change someone's life). To asuage her guilt, June races to achieve each goal herself before the deadline, learning more about her own life than she ever bargained for. (Heads up Bookies, I'm nominating this at Book Club tonight!)

Which books have I hit a home run with this week? Or am I out before I hit first base? Let me know if you have read any of these and your thoughts on them.