There are books that skillfully handle sensitive topics and there are mysteries that pull things together and totally surprise the reader in the end; rarely are both of these books the same one as is Marie Drake's wonderful Three Rules.

Right from the start I was pulled in, though I was a bit worried about reading the book because of its subject matter. Marie Drake is an amazing writer and makes Hope Wellman someone the reader truly cares about, sympathizes with, admires, but never pities. The reader probably has more faith in Hope than she does herself. Her horrific past has left Hope with lots of doubts and fears, but she is much more mature and ready to handle them than she gives herself credit for in her life.

Besides being a talented writer who makes every page one to turn quickly, Marie Drake also creates fully fleshed out secondary characters and manages to make a highly suspenseful read remain a believable one. What could have been a big problem (having to wrap up many loose threads at the end without making it seem like everything but the kitchen sink had been thrown in) became something even the most jaded mystery reader would not see coming.

I look forward to more fiction from Marie Drake. Deep, well-thought out page turners are hard to come by these days. Three Rules is not only a very sincere and touching read (I love the deep friendship Joey and Hope share) it is an unforgettable one as well.

Books and music are such a wonderful refuge...

Ghost Trio is simply amazing! It twists and turns and then twists again. One minute you are sure our main character Lee is not quite right in the head, devastated so badly by losing her one true love that she can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy. The next you agree with her that Devorah, her partner of fifteen years, IS still alive, being kept prisoner high up in a castle tower, off the Pacific Coast Highway.

Lee's friends become worried when they realize she is perfectly serious about trying to rescue her beloved Devorah from the evil clutches of one singular and very wealthy patron of the arts, Annajean Eggers. Along the way Lee reconnects with an enchanting old friend named Lily who makes her question everything she thought she knew about her own heart. Part of the suspense, a lot of the emotional anxiety you feel as the reader, comes from wondering where this is all going to go, both as a romance and a mystery.

The novel gets its name (and aptly so) from Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Trio (Opus 70, #1), often referred to as The Ghost due to the eerie mood of the second movement, Largo. It's clear that Lillian Q. Irwin (actually two women who have been together for over forty years!) really know their stuff. Their love and devotion to music and each other comes through so well in every page of Ghost Trio.

I loved Ghost Trio for so many reasons: it's loaded with lots of music references that will delight classical and opera fans, it will make you want to read up more on the things that are new to you (I'd never heard of lied singing before and was charmed by all the passion behind the music) and (most importantly) it has _the_ best love story you could ever ask for in a book.

When I finished the last page my heart pretty much broke, at the fact this lovely novel was over and because while this kind of love borders on the fantastical it is not any less pretty or magical for it.

I would probably give The Marriage four stars if I hadn't read Ann Bannon's outstanding Beebo Brinker Chronicles, next to which this book kind of pales.

The most amazing thing about The Marriage is how much you feel for Page and Sunny, how you actually hope they can work out their situation, even though the last thing they should be is together.

Controversial to say the least, Ann Bannon's novel deals with what happens when two people in love (and married) discover they are actually brother and sister.

"We don't have to apologize for it, we have to do _something_ about it," Page yells at Sunny after his father drops the bombshell on them.

Page, once known as "Roger" to his birth parents, cannot deal with knowing his sister is also his wife. Sunny, his other half, wants to try and overcome everything so they can stay together. Complicated doesn't even begin to describe all the emotions, debates and heartache that goes on.

How Bannon manages to keep you reading despite the incest factor, how she keeps everything from becoming too melodramatic testify to her talent as a writer.

It makes me rather uncomfortable that she constantly compares incest to homosexuality, but I have to remember the time in which this novel was written and that Bannon is never less than compassionate in how she handles things.

There is understandable and intense discomfort on the part of those few who discover Page and Sunny are so closely related. But as Page's adoptive mother says to her her outraged husband: "It's your moral duty to mind your own affairs!"

Format: MP3 Music

Maybe it's super silly for a 40something woman to be so excited about the digital release of Shaun Cassidy's first solo album on vinyl, but, boy, am I!! My inner 70s child is thrilled to hear that almost all of the songs sound as good as ever. ("Take Good Care Of My Baby" isn't nearly as sad or deep as I remember it being when I was a girl, but, hey, that's what time does to your mind!:) )

Off and on over time, I have been hoping _Shaun Cassidy_ would be released in MP3 form. I still have the album, but my LP player died a while ago so it's been ages since I heard the wonderful (and awfully sweet and endearing) sounds of "Morning Girl" (very Davy Jones-lie), "It's Too Late" (an 'I told you so' attitude never sounded so polite as it does here) and "Holiday" (very dreamy as only a 70s song can be.)

"I Wanna Be With You" holds up surprisingly well, even kind of seems edgier than when my eight-year-old ears first heard it. "That's Rock 'n' Roll" has long been accessible in digital format, as has "Da Doo Ron Ron," but I'm still going to go on about how great they both are!:)

For anyone who grew up with Shaun instead of David, this is a must buy! It brought pure, nostalgic happiness to my lips and ears tonight and my iPod even seems to glow a little brighter, too!