The Last Of The Mohicans : James Fenimore Cooper

I hadn't remembered that I had read this book, until I was about half way through. It didn't really hold my attention and is similar to Louis L Amour's books for boys. There seems to be a lot of dialogue, but little action. The story is basically about some men escorting two young girls to see their father, a British Officer trying to hold a fort against the French. They meet up with him right before the battle and in leaving the fighting get kidnapped by a Huron who wants the eldest for a wife. In the end the eldest and the Huron die while he tries to escape her search party.

An Innocent Man: John Grisham

This is a non-fiction work and is frightening on how the police just grabbed someone in order to close the case and let the murderer go free when they seem to have known with certainty who the murderer was. This story makes you wonder in this day and age how many innocent people could be charged with a crime. This story followed the lives of Ron Williamson, who's only vice was a mental disorder, being charged with Murder and doing his time. It also brings to light two other men doing time for murders they did not commit- Dennis Fritz and Greg Wilhoit. This book is very interesting, not only in these men's live, but it talks about prison life and the heartbreaking struggles of the family members. Ron WIlliamson took his frustrations of being jail out on his sisters by demanding they buy him things for his life in prison (which he would ruin in a fit of rage) and by endlessly demanding they get him out of there. They both had families and financial difficulties and I am sure the pressure and guilt were horrible.

What to Expect When No One's Expecting: Jonathan V. Last

This is very much an "END OF DAYS" book, l which is funny because he pokes fun of an earlier book that does the same thing, but warned people are having too many babies. This was a super interesting read for the statistics. I liked learning on why contraceptives were created and the statistics about the more educated one is, the less likely they are to have children. The statistics on living together before marriage and how likely one is to get married and then stay together was alarming. The chapter about car seats was all new to me; I must live under a rock because I did not know children up to age 8 have to be in a booster seat. The days of my childhood are ancient history! I liked the humor of the author “Americans expect to have just about two kids each, and they get just about two kids each. I know what you're thinking- this is the dumbest statistic you've ever heard"(pg. 121) I laughed out loud, because that was pretty much what I was thinking. I really enjoyed the book and even recommended it to another childless person.

The Juror: George Dawes Green

This book draws the reader in and has just enough suspense. A woman, Annie, is picked as a juror on a Mafia murder case. The judge tries to dismiss her, but she wants to be on the jury for some excitement from her everyday life. She ends up working for the mafia since a man, the "teacher" visits her and tells her he will kill her and her son if she doesn't get the murderer acquitted. After the trial, where she accomplished the unthinkable the man doesn't leave her alone. He has become obsessed with her (that seems to be a theme in the book, men obsessed with women) and even convinces her best friend to kill herself in order to save the little boy. The story stretches across countries as the woman tries to find where to hide her son while she takes care of the "teacher" who keeps coming after them. It had an odd ending, but the "good guys" win

The Fountainhead: Ayn Rand

It would be impossible to do a quick summary of this book and do it justice. I wasn't sure what to expect with this novel since I often read great works and get disappointed. This one was Very good, I wanted to race through it, but at the same time wanted it to last longer. I didn't see how there could be a happy ending, but really wanted one. The story has a lot of depth and meaning you can pull from any and all of it. The novel starts with Howard Roark contemplating suicide after being expelled from Architect school (later another great man will also have a suicide scene) because his work is too different from the other students, too original. The story follows the lives of Roark and his classmate and antagonist Peter Keating. Peter has no pride and uses others to become successful, he is classified as having no real talent, but does what is asked of him- his life seems easy, though filled with jealousy. Roark refuses to conform and has many setbacks and difficulties in finding employment. there are several other important characters including 2 people Roark ends up loving, Dominique and Gail, they both try to ruin him before he gets started because she knows this world can't handle true talent and beauty. There is also a vile character in Elworth Toohey who is compared with Dominique, they both try to ruin people, but for different reasons. The ending was shocking in that Dominique leaves her husband when he needs her most and Toohey just seems to disappear after being fired. I would recommend reading this book; it would be a great choice for a book report since there is so much one could write on.