August Book List

1. Puppy Chow is Better Than Prozac by Bruce Goldstein. Good book, interesting peek into extreme manic depressive problems and a true story. The author was in serious straits when he adopted a dog. Which saved him.

2. Tulsa Zoo's Penguins on Parade. Several years ago, the Tulsa zoo wanted to get penguins. Someone came up with an idea for a fund raiser. Other cities have done this, Chicago had cows - San Antonio had cows but with a unique Texan twist, I've heard of fishes and horses. Tulsa had penguins. They are huge, fiberglass penguins and people bought them and decorated them. They are still all over the city and are really fun.

3. Can't Wait to Get To Heaven by Fannie Flagg. Always a fun read, if it's by Fannie Flagg.

4. Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark. As usual for this author, it's fluff. But it was entertaining although a very fast read.

5. The Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck. Mrs. Bombeck was a treasure. Everything she ever wrote was funny and is still funny, even though she's been gone for years now.

6. The World According to Lucy by Charles Schults. Peanuts, Snoopy, what else can I say?

7. Hardy Succulents by Gwen Moore Kelaidis. Cactus!

8. It's Back to School, Charlie Brown. See # 6!

9. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthus Golden. This is a must-read, it's well written and a very well researched look into the life of a Geisha. It's not what you expect. There was a movie based on this, and I've only seen part of it but I think the movie changes some details. A very good book.

10. The Christmas Scrapbook by Phillip Gulley. I don't remember if it was in July's books or not, but there was a series I found about a Quaker minister. This is part of that series. It's cute.

11. No Place Like Home by Mary Higgens Clark. Not one of her better books.

12. Mosaics Inside & Out by Doreen Mastandra. One of the projects I'm considering is mosaics. I learned a lot from this book.

13. Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli. I've heard a few people say that they were surprised by this book, because she's not the squeeky clean girl people expected her to be, and that they were disappointed in her. But I think she wrote it more as a confessional than as bragging for her misdeeds. And her misdeeds were not quite as bad as a lot of other stars. She made mistakes, but she admits them.

14. Succulents by Gwen Moore Keladis. Slightly different book by the same author as # 7. Or possibly it's an earlier/later version of the same book.

15. How Could You Do That? by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I love this woman's attitude! She calls it like she sees it and she's always right on target.

16. Where Are You Now? Mary Higgins Clark, not quite as predictible as they usually are but still fluf!

17. Making Decorative Boxes. by Cheryl Owen. Another craft idea I was thinking about, but decided against. I will just buy the boxes myself and decorate them. I got a few good ideas out of this book.

18. Color, Create, Decorate by Shannon Quimby. Let's just say that some people need to learn that "less is more" and that clutter can be a very bad thing, especially when it's a way of decorating! Waste of time.

19. Escape by Carolyn Jessop. This book is heart breaking. It's a realistic, honest & very raw look inside the FLDS cult, which is a breakaway from the Mormon church (which I also consider a cult). If ever there was a group of people who needed intervention, this is it. There is a book that I read years ago, Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. It explains the Mormons, LDS (Latter Day Saints) from their very beginning, it shows step by step how the belief system was created and they are a cult in the truest sense of the word. Escape takes it one step further, it is about the FLDS (Fundamental LDS) off-shoot. I highly recommend this one.

Tomorrow is September, which means that I need to start another book list! I have already started one book but I'm only a few pages into it so it isn't on August's list.