Well, I have completed another challenge - well, nearly completed. I chose two books to read for the "Reading My Name Challenge" - "Line of Sight" by Sharen Skylar and "The Alleluia Files" by Sharon Shinn.
I chose "Line of Sight" because my first name is Sharen which is fairly uncommon and I was very excited to find an author with the same first name. I've only met 3 other people who spelled their names as I do. My last name also starts with an "S", so I thought it was a double win. However, I really didn't like the book. There was too much sex - violent or potentially violent sex - and it made me very uncomfortable to read it. The cover was pretty though - it was red, one of my favorite colors.
"The Alleluia Files" on the other hand is very good. I'm almost done with it and I like it very much. As you will note, the author's name is also "Sharon" though spelled differently, and her last name also starts with an "S". Sharon Shinn has written a series of books with "The Alleluia Files" being the third one. I chose it because my screenname is Alleluialu. This book stands on its own as well as being part of the series. The story is about a world where angels and humans exist together with the angels as upperclass because they can pray to their "god" and get results. There are two different groups of beliefs about the origin of their world and, of course, the factions go against one another. One family spans the gap having two daughters - one angel and one human, but they don't know about each other. The angel daughter was raised in isolation and is just experiencing the "real world" and the human daughter has struggled in the "real world" all her life. She is looking for "The Alleluia Files" left by an Archangel named "Alleluia" which explains how the original settlers got to their planet and the existence of god as they know it. She is aided by an angel, Jared, who some folks think is in line to be the next Archangel. I can't tell you what happens because, as I said above, I'm nearly done, but not yet. I do recommend this book. I give it 4 stars. I would like to read the rest of the series if I can find the time, but...so many books, so little time...
Black Graphic Novel: The Birth of Evil by Ted Dekker
The Four Month Challenge Part Three is also done today. I did okay on this one. I have never actually completed all the requirements for these challenges, but I really like participating in them. Here are my selections: 
Today, I am reading "Year of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks. When you read the synopsis on the cover, you think it is going to be a really depressing book, but it really isn't. I mean bad things happen right and left, but I'm interested in finding out what happens. I actually feel addicted to this book because I keep putting it down and picking it up again 5 minutes later. It is very good - and not too long, so I should be done with it in a few days. 
This tale from Donna Leon (Uniform Justice, etc.) finds Inspector Guido Brunetti investigating an aristocratic family with a shady past. When a rural landowner discovers the body of Roberto Lorenzoni, who was kidnapped two years earlier, Brunetti immediately suspects the victim's family. The Lorenzoni clan bears the legacy of betraying the Jews of Venice during World War II, and from these ashes, its members have created a thriving enterprise. Roberto's cousin Maurizio, who's next in line to inherit the family fortune and business, is the logical suspect, but Brunetti senses something more insidious at play. As he works his way through Italian three-course meals and family crises, he uncovers disturbing details about the Lorenzoni family.