The Wall, Mary Roberts Rinehart

When Juliette shows up at her ex-sister-in-law's summer home, no-one is quite glad to see her. But who was so unhappy about it that they killed her? Suspects pile up almost as fast as the body count.

This book says "a novel of romance and suspense" on the cover, but when the first chapter is dedicated to assuring you that everything was solved, and chapters tend to end with phrases like Would that buried memory of Maggie's have helped us? I do not know, but weeks later I was to see the rusty old cage where Arthur had once kept his mice, and to remember what Maggie had forgotten.--there isn't much suspense in your novel.

Not much romance, either.

I realize this book was first printed in 1937, but the male characters are so sexist and dismissive of woman it makes me want to scream.

The heroine's no better either, she keeps fainting and going into fits.

But hey, I read the whole thing, guess it wasn't terrible.

The Nice Girl's Guide to Bad Behavior, Monica Redlich

An old British guide to making everyone hate you. I really enjoyed the cattiness of it all, but some of that probably had to do with all the photos of pretty ladies in fashions from around 1935.

Spawn Batman, Frank Miller & Todd McFarlane

Batman and Spawn meet--and thanks to a mis-understanding, kick each other around for most of the book. Nothing special.

Among Friends, Caroline B. Cooney

A bunch of kids keep diaries for English class and document dealing with two friends' problems. Not bad, fast read.

Princess in the Spotlight, Meg Cabot

Mia's mom is pregnant--by Mia's algebra teacher! On top of that, Mia's getting letters from some secret admirer she really hopes is her best friend's brother. And her royal grandmother is planning a huge wedding for Mia's mom--one Mia knows her mom will despise.

Excerpt:
As a precaution, Michael is trying to keep Boris busy with a computer game he invented called Decapitate the Backstreet Boy. In it, you get to hurl knives and axes and stuff at members of the Backstreet Boys. The person who cuts the heads off the most Backstreet Boys moves up to another level, where he gets to cut off the heads of the boys in 98 Degrees, then 'N Sync, etc. The player who cuts off the most heads gets to carve his initials on Ricky Martin's naked chest.

I can't believe Michael only got a B on this game in his computer class. But the teacher took points off because he felt it wasn't violent enough for today's market.