American Idol Junkie

I admit it, I'm an American Idol addict. I've been watching the show faithfully for years and have my favorites (this year, it's Lakisha Jones). I vote with every available phone in my house, and was so sure my favorite was going to get voted off last night (yeah! that there were no vote-offs, but oh, the agony that two are going to go next week!).

Now, I know Lakisha is not the "favorite," the "darling" of the media. That honor has gone to Melinda and Jordin, both great singers. But Lakisha is a talented singer and to me, she is Everywoman. Melinda and Jordin both have experience as back-up singers with professional bands (Melinda did back up singing with Aaron Neville, I think...it was in my People magazine, and yes, I am one of those people who also reads People :-). But Lakisha was just a bank teller. An ordinary single mom.

I'm staying with my brother this week, and since it's just the two of us, no cooking on my agenda (unless you count frying some chicken in a pan with a little Mrs. Dash as cooking). But I have been reading a lot (there's no TV in the room where I am sleeping, so that means loads and loads of reading at night.

Highly recommend: Second Glance by Jodi Picoult. Great ghost story. Not the big emotional read that Picoult is known for, but still very good, and has a good emotional depth and explores a trigger topic--eugenics.

Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz. Cool storyline, with some nice twists and turns. Kept me up VERY late at night wanting to know how it ended.

Night Life by Elizabeth Guest. Talk about a killer start and a story that takes you on a wonderful journey. Sexy, lush and WOW. Loved it.

Tell No One by Harlan Coben. Haven't finished it yet but I'm almost there and have loved just about every page. A couple slow parts but that might be because he kept me up until two in the morning reading!

Shirley