I bought this book initially because I grew up in Cape May. Am I glad I did. Not only is Ms. Kelly true to the Locale,I was pleasently suprised at the great mystery novel I landed on as well. Meg Daniels has become one of my favoite characters. Very sharp, witty, Combined smarty pants, with humor and morality, I look forward to reading the rest of Ms. Kellys offerings.A book chock full of great characters with excellent dialogue. This Travis McGee and Matthew Scudder fan has discovered another favorite. Read this book, You won't regret it.

Cape Mayhem is a terrific read. The quirky characters, the detailed Cape May setting and the unexpected plot twists keep you well engrossed. A great gift for shore lovers.

Very quick and witty dialogue from memorable characters--with all of the twists and turns you would expect from a well-crafted mystery novel. A highly recommended, fun read!

Snaphots was a deeply satisfying read and all the more gratifying because I took a risk and picked up this book by a writer I had never heard of before.

This book has not gotten the attention it deserves. William Norris has a real gift for characterization; the people in his book come alive from the very first. Like Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, Norris details the life of an American family and how they got to the places they are --but Norris chooses a path of sensitivity instead of contempt, and the results are characters that linger.

In his first novel, Snapshots, the author William Norris has crafted a cleverly plotted and worthwhile read. In the tradition of Harold Pinter's works and Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, Norris has told the story of the Mahoney family using the technique of presenting the family in present times and revealing more about them by moving through the past.

Ww first meet the Mahoney clan at the Jersey Shore as the Mahoney parents wait for each of their four children arrive to celebrate Christmas. Each of these children have past histories with each other and themselves and as in any family there are many emotional dynamics at work. The oldest daughter, a doctor, is coping with her demanding lifestyle and a reliance on alcohol to get through her days. The second daughter, who is married, is dealing with an emotional illness and her reliance on drugs to "keep her normal." The third child, a chef in England, longs to be with his girlfriend and is most content living far from his parents and siblings. Finally trhere is the youngest daughter, a vetenarian who can't bear to be separated from her woman lover whom she met in college. And presiding over this holiday reunion are the Mahoney parents who aren't quite sure who these adults belong to.

As the name of the book implies, readers are offered verbal vignettes about this family which serve as literary snapshots of this family. The book ends when the children are quite young and have spent the day at the Jersey shore with their parents. As they pack up and head for home all is before them but already one senses that some of the seeds have been planted for their futures. And while we as readers know most of the future, it is intriguing to see the children evolve and to put the puzzle pieces together till we finish the book.

This was a poignant novel especially for anybody who has raised a child and wondered "what if" or "why?"

This was a fine first novel to read and savor. And now I look forward to another book by William Norris.

My wife and I had some extra time on a combination work/pleasure trip recently. We picked up this book before leaving based on the reviews and found several places that had exactly what we were looking for. Wish Sue would publish a version for Colorado!

The Great New Jersey Shopping Guide has been very helpful for me. I have lived in New Jersey all my life and I still learned new places to go and new sources for shopping. This book is not only good for the serious shopper but also for those who want to try someplace new.

As a seasoned shopper, I thought I knew just about every worthwhile retail destination in the state. I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up this book and discovered interesting locales even I wasn't aware of. Everything is included--from shopping malls to museum shops to gourmet food stores. Best of all, The Great New Jersey Shopping Guide isn't written in standard guidebook form, but rather includes personal anecdotes from the authors, which are quite enjoyable to read. I especially liked Sue Bruskin Clarke's tales of mall shopping in the '60s and '70s and I related to her downtown shopping experiences in towns like Hoboken and Princeton.

This book is a must have for all New Jersey shoppers.

After reading Megan McCafferty's "Sloppy Firsts", I was eagerly awaiting the sequel. As much as I anticipated the novel, I was scared that the second book may not live up to the expectations I had built up after enjoying "Sloppy Firsts". I should have known better than to doubt Megan McCafferty's abilities because "Second Helpings" is a knock-out sequel! It lived up to all of my expectations and then some. If you enjoyed "Sloppy Firsts", you will definitely not be disappointed in "Second Helpings". It is a wonderful follow-up. Jessica Darling is as hilarious, witty, and sarcastic as ever, while still being true-to-life and extremely easy to relate to. An awesome book for any teenage struggling to figure out who you are and what comes next.

I just, literally, finished Second Helpings and am at a loss for words. I must admit that before heading off to college last fall, I went to our local bookstore and picked out a number of novels. I only noticed Sloppy Firsts because I was intrigued by the title. It sat on my dorm room shelf for many months until I picked it up one day so that I would have something to read while on the bikes at the rec. AfterI started reading it, I wanted to go to the rec and work out for hours just so I could finish it. As cliché as it sounds, I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it. I felt connected to Jessica as a character. Her journal entries embody what all teens and even twenty-somethings go through. Things happen in our lives thatmay not seem significant to others, but they are significant to us. Teens are not always over dramatic, but rather just trying to survive life. I'm actually glad that I only stumbled on to Second Helpings after it came out. I don't think I could have dealt with the having to wait for months
until the much anticipated release date was upon me. I felt even more connected to Jessica after reading Second Helpings. Of course I was happy that her and Marcus finally got together, but I was more focused on the other aspects of her life. I could relate to the way she was looking forward to college as being a place where she would finally fit in. Or more than fit in, be herself. And I hope that a third book will provide an answer to whether or not Columbia was the right place for her. If you were to look through my journal over this past year, you would find the very same things in that you find in Jessica's journal.
Even though I want a third book about Jessica to come out so I can read more about what happens between her and Marcus or her and Hope, I want to know how her life is going. At the end of the book Jessica comes to aconclusion that a lot of teens never reach. She is who she is because of all the things she has encountered in her life. As she says, one left turn instead of a right and she may have turned out to be a completely different person. In the end Jessica, instead of bashing where she came from, embraces her school and her peers as the reason she is the person she becomes. Even more impressive is that she is finally happy with who she is. I think that with her knew perspective on life, it would be interesting to see what happens in her first year of Columbia and how those events shape the person she becomes. I'm HOPING for a third installment in the life of Jessica and I hope that just because she has graduated high school, she hasn't said all she can say. She says that Manda and Sara finally realize that high school is the best time of their lives, but I'm not sure she believes that. If anyone can do it, she can prove that there can be and is a happy life after high school!! There is life after prom queens, class gossips, bubblegum bimbos, and assembly-line meatballers.I'm looking forward to the possibility of more books about NOTSO!!

On Monday I read Sloppy Firsts, barely able to put it down. On Wednesday I had the time to sit down with Second Helpings, which was another non-stop read. I had read excellent reviews for Second Helpings, but when I first started it, I couldn't get into the world of Jessica Darling. I had felt so connected with her at the end of Sloppy Firsts and now it was like I didn't know her!
But I kept reading, and quickly I realized that just because things had changed a little didn't mean that Jessica and I couldn't be friends like we had been before. This is another excellent book by Megan McCafferty: more adventures with the Clueless Two, some bonding with Bridget, Len Levy turned hottie, and (my personal favourite) Marcus Flutie. Guest appearances by former crush Paul Parlipiano and ex-friend Hy.
Make sure you've read Sloppy Firsts, and then please, go for Second Helpings!

It's always so nice to find other people that see animals in the same heavenly light. If my husband asked me to make a choice between him and my beloved dog - I'd pick the dog. The reasoning would be, that if he couldn't understand my love and very primary NEED for animals; perhaps he never knew me at all. But you know what? My husband does "get it". His heartstrings have been pulled in the same way as mine. Pets never leave and seldom disappoint. When everything is topsy turvy in my world - precious Molly comes to the rescue. The best part of the book was for me when George decides to take the somewhat bedraggled mother, Lupa. He really IS an animal lover - a man with a soul. I'm the gal that always wants the orphans, the discarded, or the mutts. Great book. So glad this book was written.

Several years ago I discovered this gem in a bookstore at the St.Louis airport when a connecting flight was cancelled. I sat in the food court, crying, and finished the entire book. Since then I have given 6 copies to dog loving friends for special occasions. This is a book to cherish, but it is not just about dogs. It's a wonderful account of the relationship of the two men who rescued the dogs, and to all who were involved in their extremely long and happy lives. The author is a philosopher, and the book is extremely well written and erudite, a commentary on the values that make life worth living - love, devotion, trust - the karma is the same for humans and canines. I have shared my life with eight dachshunds, and I recently buried my beloved Dieter with George Pitcher's eulogy-poem. Thank you, George and Ed.

I found this book at the book store on campus at Princeton University and was delighted to find the author George Pitcher was on faculty at that time. The book was totally fascinating and I was amazed the author's conveyance of the true feelings between man and his dog. Dogs give such unconditional love to their owners/masters but this book develops the reverse also. The men just love their dogs so unconditionally that my emotions were overwhelming. I cried for a half hour after I completed reading this beatiful story. What love.....taking the dogs to Europe on the QEII, cooking for them, caring for them in their old age. These men are true animal lovers. I wish Mr. Pitcher would write more about this subject. Absolutely one of my all time favorites and I read at least 100 books a year.

In DTJ, James Campion journals a summer with "Dog Voices", one of the hardest working cover bands on the Jersey circuit. He manages to infiltrate their camp, gain their trust, and become one of them. His insightful personality and unique writing style make the book incredibly interesting; especially when you consider it's not a chronicle of a celebrity act AND when you realize he doesn't even use song titles during the descriptions of their performance(s). JC has been a long-time columnist for the Aquarian, a popular music weekly on the East Coast. This book, along with his other entitled "Fear No Art: Observations on the death of an American century" (which compiles his "Reality Check" columns from that paper) are great reading for fans of satire and substance.

James Campion is one of the bright young nonfiction writers of the new century, and he got a head start on this one. Back in 1995 the Jersey rock scene was changing and the craziness of life on the road in the clubs began with the swirling tide of Dog Voices. Their outrageous story is all-true in this thrilling page-turner. "Deep Tank Jersey" is "Almost Famous" times one-thousand.

It was one of the best books on rock and roll I've ever read, and I've read my share.

Leave it to James Campion -- the elfin Jack Kerouac of his time -- to expose the soft underbelly of the Jersey bar band scene in a gripping narrative which captures the sights, sounds and (god awful) smells of a Jersey summer as only an insider can do.

Although diminuitive in stature, Mr. Campion's oversized ego makes up for his lack of size and virility, as he becomes -- in essence -- the plot, characters and narrator of his cute little story about a bunch of punch drunk never-was'z.

I first came across Dr. Campion on his weekly cable show, "sports night", in which he was the host, producer, cameraman, gopher, sales manager, & Christ Object -- the Harold H. Heckuba of rancid cable tv.

Of course, the melodrama of Mr. Campion's personal life -- particularly his bachelorette party -- would make for dramatically more interesting reading than the sordid tales of a bunch of losers, but that will likely be saved for his memoir, which we understand is tenatively entitled "Meet me at my Summer retreat in Joe Namath's crotch region," due out in 2025 along with his Jesus book.

Salu, Dr. Campion!

This is a great book of photographs of the old times in Newark
if you are from the area or had relatives there, the
pictures will take you right back.

I thank Michael Immerso for putting this book together. He puts together a history of the Italian-American culture that flourished in Newark. This culture that was so strong that despite the fact that the First Ward is vanished (as the title points out), its legacy still lingers in New Jersey (anyone remember 'Nicky Newark'?)

For fans of this book, there was an New Jersey Network documentary that accompanied it, which airs occasionally on NJN and WNET/channel 13. A copy of the video is available.

Also, the Newark Public library ran an exhibit concurrently with the release of this book, and if I am correct, the exhibit is now part of their archives.

My parents are first generation Italians who lived in Newark. I was born in Newark and lived there until I was five years old. To this day my parents still talk of how great Newark was back in those days. I read the book and loved it. I gave it to my mother who also loved it. Great work. I hope Michael Immerso writes a follow up book.

THE HATCH AND BROOD OF TIME is the first in a series of Natalie Jorday.

Natalie lives in the corner of northwestern New Jersey called Bergen County in a town called Haworth where she has lived her whole life. She is a newspaper reporter that has a talent for getting all the facts.

Natalie has a brother Daniel, who has been in trouble with the law most of his life and now an ex-girlfriend is found murdered, 26-year-old Lydia Dow who was very pretty and obsessed with danger and the high that it gave her, was found semi-frozen beneath the Parkway, she had been missing since Feb 8th, and police suspect that is the same day that she died. Daniel is a suspect because of his past with the police. Natalie feels that she is the only one to clear her brother. This story is about relationships, family betrayal, greed and Natalie must sift through this maze and clear her brother.

The unique characters are all real to life and any one of them could be the murderer. The author has created a woman (Natalie) as fascinating as her world is haunting. Natalie manages to uncover secrets of the past, even though some of them may hurt her and Daniel. What a fabulous character she is!

This is not just a mystery of "who did it?" but "why?" Ellen Larsen's first outing is a force to be reckoned with, expect big things from this author.

I could hardly put this book down. The mystery is gripping and the characters are realistic, with believable emotions and problems.

I especially liked Natalie Joday, who turned out to be a very practical and well balanced human being despite her difficult childhood.

The book is well written with a dash of humor and a hint of romance, and some very surprising twists.

I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Move this one to the top of your TBR pile! Very well plotted. I particularily liked the way newspaper reporter Natalie Joday reflected on her past difficulies with the police, but didn't let her bad experiences cloud her decision making. I'll be watching for the next in the series to see how the hint of romance developes.

This is the first book in the Henry Reed series.

Henry Reed is a young teen living overseas because his father is an American diplomat. His parents decide to send him to rural New Jersey to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle. Henry fears boredom, but within the space of the first few days, he adopts a stray beagle and meets Midge Glass, who becomes his friend and business partner during this and subsequent summers.

Henry and Midge attempt to start a research company using his uncle's old barn and stray animals acquired along the way, but in what is to become a recurrent theme across the series, roadblocks, most of them humorous, result in anything but a routine venture.

This book, and the subsequent books in the series, are well-written, vivid in their imagery, and brimming with facts hidden in the context of a well-told story. The subject matter is appropriate for pre-teens and teens and there is no objectionable material for parents to be concerned about.

This and subsequent books suffer from an unavoidable culture clash between the period the books were written (this first one was in 1959), and today's faced-paced, electronic environment. Pre-teens and teens will have no trouble with the themes and concepts in the story, but may need to look up some antiquated things (presumably not many teens in today's Princeton, New Jersey know what a sickle bar is).

Highly recommended, but with a caution on the cultural relevance to today's children.

Henry Reed, Inc. is the first book in a whole series, written by the American author Keith Robertson. The story begins when 14-year old Henry Reed,the son of an American diplomat stationed in Naples, Italy, arrives in New Jersey to visit his aunt and uncle. Henrys teacher has given him a summer project; to report on American "free enterprise". Henry combines his interest in biology with business, and together with the 12-year old neighbor girl Midge sets up a business selling worms,turtles etc. During the summer Henry and Midge expand their business and are constantly in search of new products. Their business ventures include drilling for oil, hunting for truffles (an expensive mushroom) and developing a weatherbaloon that they plan to sell to the armed forces! Most of the people in the small town are very positive and cooperative about their business. They do, however, encounter some trouble with the quarrelsome Apples, who complain bitterly about Agony, Henry's dog, interloping on their property, and "Henry Reed, Inc". violating zoning laws. This leads to suspicion by Henry and Midge that the Apples are involved in deep criminal activity, but in the end it turns out that the Apples are only interested in safeguarding their own business interests. Although Henry Reed, Inc.is written in diary form it's not introspective. In each chapter Henry relates the days happenings. Te book takes place during about two months in Grovers Corner, New Jersey. The autor only briefly describes characters, landscape, and setting, but instead focuses on the hilarious stories. "Henry Reed, Inc." is an excellent sink-down-in-bed-and-relax book. The text is easy to understand and once you start the book it's not easy to put down. Please e-mail me with further questions and information about the other books in the series. (I haven't been able to get hold of them yet.

Henry Reed, Inc. is the first part of a series of children's books that are sadly underrated and unknown. Henry and Midge are two main characters the reader can truly get to know and fall in love with. The mini-adventures they have in their little pocket of suburbia are just the right mix of realism and absurdity that is sure to delight. Henry and Midge are everyboy and everygirl: ordinary kids who somehow rise above the mundane into the ether of hilarity. Look out Ramona, look out Superfudge -- Henry and Midge are here!

Laura Ingalls tells about her childhood experiences as her family travels from Minnesota to settle in South Dakota. She gives an account of how their lives changed from living in a more settled area in Minnesota compared to living in unsettled land which later becomes De Smet. Mary, Laura's older sister, has lost her sight to scarlet fever, and Laura hopes that she will someday be able to attend a college for the blind. Although Laura works very hard she rarely complains. She enjoys singing with her father as he plays the fiddle. Ingall's gives clear pictures of what life was like for a girl growing up in early American History. As an adult this was my first experience reading one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books; I found it most informative and enjoyable. This book is a great way for children to learn what life was like during the pioneer era.

This book is probably the best book for kids other than Holes! It is about a girl named Laura and her sisters Mary,Carrie and baby Grace also Ma and Pa. She has to move to a new homested on Silver Lake. Her family has just gone through a very hard time-Mary got blind! She has many adventures-one of her scariest would be when a wolf almost atacks her! This is one of MY personle favorites!

In this next book in the landmark "Little House" series, the Ingalls family decide to leave their farm by Plum Creek to find a new homestead on the prairie. The grasshoppers and poor crops in Minnesota were a little too much for them. In addition, some bad times appear for the Ingalls family in the time period between this and the previous book in the series. The whole family had been stricken with scarlet fever and the oldest daughter, Mary, is now blind because of it. In addition, although it is never mentioned in the books, Laura had a little baby brother at this time (Charles Frederic, "Freddy") who died before his first birthday (1875-1876). And, a new baby sister has been added to the family, Grace Pearl Ingalls (1877-1941). Laura's father gets a job acting as a storekeeper for the Chicago and North Western Railroad who are laying tracks through the Dakota terretory. While working for them, he finds a new homestead on the prairie and brings the rest of his family out. There is concern as to whether he will be able to file his claim on time; but, he does. The Ingalls family are among the first to live near the new town of De Smet, South Dakota (although South Dakota doesn't become a state until 1889). The time frame of this book is 1879-1880 and Laura Elizabeth Ingalls is 12-13 years old. The book was a 1940 Newbery Honor Book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best contribution to American children's literature. And, it deserved it! Near the end of the book, Laura gets her first glimpse at the boy who will later become her husband, Almanzo Wilder.