Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy is written by Geralyn Lucas and tells her cancer story. It's an engaging and thought-provoking memoir.

Lucas's book gives good insight into what it is like for a young woman in today's society facing the loss of something profoundly and foundationally female: a breast. Cancer, that evil in a cell, manifests in many forms. It claims lives like my friend's; it claims breasts and portions of breasts; it crops up in the most unexpected places. But it can never conquer the human spirit, and it will never, EVER, conquer God.

Rarely does a children's book touch my heart as much as this book does.

Kate DiCamillo's novel about a lonely preacher's daughter tugged at my heartstrings. And as a dog lover, I loved Winn-Dixie. He is always smiling and loyal.

Surprisingly, the movie follows the novel quite closely, except with the addition of a couple of characters. Dave Matthews is charming as the guitar-playing pet store man, and Annasophia Robb shines as Opal.

Read the book. Watch the movie. Both are fabulous.

If you enjoy the USA mystery series MONK, with Tony Shalhoub as the Obsessive Compulsive Detective, you'll get a kick out of the books written by Lee Goldberg with Monk as the main character, and his trusty assistant Natalie as the narrator.

The books are fun. Not without a few faults (which my husband, in typical Monk-ish fashion, found when he read them), but enjoyable nevertheless for this Monk fan.

The titles are:

Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants

I don't remember where I heard about this book, but it's been on my Paperback Swap wish list for quite a while. I received the book this week, started reading it yesterday, and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I fell asleep reading it last night, and finished it today.

The protagonist, Adda Sinclaire, is a romance writer with writer's block. She is the most likeable non-Christian heroine I've encountered in a long time. I was rooting for her the whole book! Each wrong turn, every wrong thing she said or did, I was pulling for her to succeed and come out on top.

If you enjoy romances, you'll enjoy the "insider's view" this book affords of the industry, its own perceptions of itself, and even the way it chuckles a bit at itself. It was a truly enjoyable read. I'll be checking out more of Tamera Leigh, you can be sure!