2010: My Summer of Books-a reading exercise!

I've combined my two Summer goals by taking a novel on my daily walks. I'm "killing two birds with one stone" and tricking my body into forgetting I'm exercising.

With book #15, "The Compound" by S.A. Bodeen, I read a fascinating story of what happens after a nuclear attack. Nine-year-old Eli Yanakakis' life is turned upside down when his family is forced into an underground compound for the next 15 years.

Things really get scary when Eli starts to wonder if a nuclear bomb was even dropped in the first place. Will he be able to escape the total isolation of the compound, or are he and his family stuck there forever?

If you only read a few books in your lifetime, you need to seriously consider making Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" (my book #16) one of your choices.

Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor, died of pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, but he never let cancer defeat him. He said, "If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you."

Everyone in the world can benefit in one way or another from Pausch's words of wisdom on dreaming big, working well with others and making the most of every day you have on Earth.

For book #17, I read "Dead Air" by Mary Kennedy. Kennedy's story follows radio psychologist Maggie Walsh, a Manhattan transplant who trades in the craziness of New York City for a calmer existence in small town Cypress Grove, Florida.

As it turns out, small town living can be just as crazy. Maggie is thrown into a murder investigation after hot shot New Age author Sanjay Gingii is killed shortly after appearing as a guest on her radio show.

I give this murder mystery an enthusiastic two thumbs up. Kennedy introduces many different characters, and yet, I never felt lost. Her descriptions were crisp and clear, and she kept me guessing right until the end.

It's time for book #18, "Sisters" by Danielle Steel.