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Books #36-44

Hi everybody!

I'm just not in the mood to review each book that I have read so I'll just give a quick list of finished books.

36. A Masked Deception
37. The Incurable Matchmaker
38. 
An Unlikely Duchess
39. "The Substitute Guest" in Tokens of Love
40. "The Wrong Door" in Rakes and Rogues
41. "The Best Gift" in A Regency Christmas VI
42.
"The Forbidden Daffodils" in Blossoms
43. "A Handful of Gold" in The Gifts of Christmas
All by Mary Balogh.

44. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - A Flavia de Luce mystery - Alan Bradley (this is good! will read the next book)

Book 52

May. 29th, 2012

At one of the hospitals, free lunch was given to visitors and staff in honor of the holiday; while chomping on my food, I finished up two more Ospreys:

First was Osprey New Vanguard #181: Yangtze River Gunboats 1900 – 49, which dealt with the odd fact that European powers were permitted to have river craft of their own navies in the inland waters of a sovereign nation. Very strange.

Second was Osprey Campaign #143: Caen 1944: Montgomery’s Break-out Attempt, which dealt with the battles to break out of the Normandy beachhead off the British landing sites through the town of Caen. The landings were important, but being bottled up on the beaches would have been disastrous.

#36: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Summary:
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous…you’ll recognize it immediately.

I have resisted this book. A book club I'm in selected it last year, and I opted out of reading it. Then another book club selected it this year, so I finally gave in.

The first fifty pages almost made me give up.

Snow Crash is a weird book. It's an America divided into franchises, where pizza delivery is handled by the mafia and the driver must deliver in 30 minutes or fewer--or else. Law is nonexistent. The internet (as imagined in 1992, when this was released) is a place where you project your avatar, and hackers rule supreme. The first thirty pages felt like one big info dump. I wasn't introduced to the world--I drowned in it. Too many elements felt like they were weird for showy reasons, not that they made any sense.

Fortunately, after about fifty pages things began to happen and the in-your-face weirdness dialed down. Hiro Protagonist fits his own name. He feels very blank, an archetypical hero and not much more. The female perspective of the book, Y.T., is much more interesting and engaging as he performs her Kourier duties and manages to scrape through by her wits.

It's not a book I can say I liked very much, though the blend of neuroscience and Sumerian myth was fascinating, even if dumped in segments. I'm glad I can say I read it and now I can add the book to my trade-in pile.

#20 - Real estate problems

I have fond memories of John Bellairs' young-adult thriller The Dark Secret of Weatherend, so I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the sequels, The Mansion in the Mist, in a charity sale at our local supermarket. Young teen Anthony Monday faces the prospect of a stultifying summer in his small 1950s Minnesota town till his friend and local elderly librarian Miss Eells invites him on a fishing retreat to her brother's northern island summer home. Things go well till Anthony discovers a mysterious chest in the attic that, when opened, transports him to a mirror version of the island, dominated by a mansion in the titular mist so forbiddingly gothic it could have been drawn by Edward Gorey. (Oh, hey - it was.) The mansion, Anthony discovers, is inhabitated by a virtual Shriners' Club of creepy cultists who're planning on taking their nefarious activities beyond the confines of their otherworldly abode. Anthony escapes, though, and it seems that the cultists, despite their ambitions, are safely confined in their extradimensional pocket - until the cult leader comes looking for Anthony...

I liked Weatherend for its genuinely creepy atmosphere and life-or-death struggle founded in eldritch lore successfully contrasted with the cozily oblivious goings-on in the heroes' small town, plus Anthony's cross-generational friendship with the steely, proactive Miss Eells. Unfortunately, Mansion leaves the sleuthing mostly up to Miss Eells's brother, who is kind of too all-knowing and short on character to be a compelling protagonist and whose time in the limelight robs the reader of the Eells-Anthony friendship that drove their debut book. The threat of the cultists is kind of generic and ill-defined, and it's kind of hard to believe Anthony would find weeks on the tiny island, with little to explore and nothing to do but fish and play cards, invigorating. Reviews indicate that Mansion suffered from coming at the end of Bellairs' illustrious career, and it is indeed the last installment in its series; I suppose that I'll have to hunt down Anthony's other two books to find a successful follow-up to Weatherend.

Books 27 and 28 for 2012

27. Blood Trail by Tanya Huff. 344 pages.
Second in the series of supernatural mysteries, featuring Vicki Nelson, former cop and now private investigator and Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII and vampire.
Henry approaches Vicki for help for some friends of his. Two of the Heerkens family have been murdered by an unknown marksman - but the Heerkens can't go to the police because the whole family are werewolves - and the victims were both in "fur-form" when they were killed.
Meanwhile, Vicki's friend and sometime lover Mike Cellucci is suspicious of Henry and becomes embroiled in the case when he attempts a confrontation.
Less laden with sardonic humour than some of Huff's other work, this series is still well-written and enjoyable. This was a re-read for me and a read aloud for Rob, who liked the way the wer had their own distinctive and consistent character. We'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.
28. The Edge of the Cloud by K.M. Peyton. 192 pages.
Also second in a series, but a rather different one - this book is set just before the First World War and follows Christina and Will after they elope at the end of Flambards.
Will becomes involved in aeronatics while Christina gets a job in a hotel and they plan for their wedding.
I mostly read this because I remember watching the TV show when I was young. It's a decent enough read but nothing terribly exciting.

#19: A sense of wonder

The Sense of Wonder was Rachel Carson's final book; her intentions to expand it into a full-sized dissertation were derailed by her premature death from cancer. As it stands in its posthumously-published version (usually presented as part of a nature photo pictorial), it isn't much longer than an essay - but it's probably her most potent book. Its thesis is on how to impart a sense of natural curiosity to the young, and its suggested solution is mere exposure to the great outdoors - not with any particular point or pointed instruction in mind; just to look and see and experience. As Carson explains:

I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response.

Carson interweaves her thesis with treasured memories of exploring the wild with her own young nephew, Roger, venturing out together into the spring woods and pretending the new crop of spruce seedlings woulc make fine Christmas trees for the squirrels, or seated "in the dark living room before the big picture window to watch the full moon riding lower and lower toward the far shore of the bay, setting all the water ablaze with silver flames and finding a thousand diamonds in the rocks on the shore as the light strikes the flakes of mica embedded in them." Carson's genius was in her talent for bringing the workings of the natural world to life for a wide audience with lyrical prose, and The Sense of Wonder, though short, is perhaps her most graceful and compelling synthesis of beauty with fact.

Fed

Fed
by Mira Grant

Fanfiction for Newsflesh Trilogy

Can I really call it FANfiction when it was written by the author herself? I remember shortly after Feed was published Mira Grant saying she wanted to write an alternative ending to feed where one key detail changed and how the story would have ended. With the final installment of the trilogy coming out Grant allowed herself that chance and posted it to Facebook as a teaser for Blackout. I of course devoured the story and then was amused when it was alluded to a little in Blackout as the characters began discussing the same scenario. I felt the alternate ending was well written and believable and it made a nice addition to the other stories sent in this universe. I am glad Grant was allowed the opportunity to play a little more with her characters and share that with us. Read and enjoy but ONLY if you have already read Feed. If you haven't read Feed go read that now and then catch up.

Countdown

Countdown
by Mira Grant

novella in the Newsflesh universe

I read this a little out of order finishing it shortly after I finished the trilogy but it was fantastic anyway. I love books about the apocalypse that are made up of journal entries from the people that were there. I do wish I would have read the novella first as it gives some nice insight into the characters and a little about the disease that caused the zombies in the first place but it was not needed for the plot. I think when I reread the trilogy I might reread this novella first so I have all the information fresh in my mind when I start.

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Blackout

Blackout
by Mira Grant

Book 3 of the Newsflesh Trilogy

I really should have reread Feed and Newsflesh first. Grant is an amazing author that has hints and goodies hidden all throughout every book so I look forward to rereading the trilogy to see what I missed in the first 2 books. Bias disclosure I consider Grant a friend of mine so my review may be somewhat colored by that. The other part of that bias is there are little Easter eggs so when the book mentions Agora and Brainpan I actually know of those names as actually places relating to things I know are important to Grant. This makes reading her books all the more enjoyable for me and I expect as I get to know her better I will have to reread frequently to find all of the real life references only her friends will understand. That being said I think this book is amazing for people who don't know her. Her characters are well written and you actually CARE when one of them dies. Many characters you get to revisit from previous books and they are like old friends to the reader by now. The one problem if you can call it that with this series is characters don't always stay dead. In a world of zombies and clones this is to be expected and handled VERY well in my opinion. All in all a wonderful read, a great way to close the trilogy and I will be rereading all three books soonish. Have a number of other books on my to read list but I might get back to this before the 2012 50 book challenge ends.

Cast in Courtlight

Cast in Courtlight
by Michelle Sagara

Book 2 of The Chronicles of Elantra

Another reread but oh so worth it. This book starts to get a little deeper into the species and classes and how they are divided. I love the political intrigue in this book and our intrepid heroine never fails to put her foot in her mouth. There were a few things I thought were done very well in this book regarding class and species and politics and of course our heroine manages the impossible. This book left me with a lot of questions about some of our supporting characters and I am definitely hoping to learn more about them as our saga continues. I'll be switching gears to another book next but am certain to return to this series very soon.

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Cast in Shadow

Cast in Shadow
by Michelle Sagara

Book 1 of The Chronicles of Elantra

This is a reread for me. I love this book and Sagara is one of my favorite authors though I am a few books behind in the series. Going to finish the ones I have and then start requesting like crazy from the library cuz I want to know what happens next. Great fantasy series, well written characters and a setting you can understand. This book is really a murder mystery they are trying to solve. Who did it why and how. The magic is all tangled in the murders and in the different species of characters and I am really looking forward to learning more about how the magic works in future books. There are believable limitations in both the magic and the character flaws and it makes it easy to see the characters as people. Our main character has issues with punctuality and an eagerness to fight which I can absolutely commiserate with. I love finding out bits and pieces of her background as the book progresses and you learn a little more about why she is so eager to fight. I absolutely recommend this book to my mystery loving friends and fantasy loving friends alike. It was a fast easy read for me and so easy to lose myself in this book.

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May. 28th, 2012

There was time, here and there, for me to finish a couple of books yesterday.

First was Osprey New Vanguard #177: Humber Light Reconnaissance Car 1941 – 45, which detailed the versions and uses of a British armored car of WWII vintage. Mildly interesting.

Second was Osprey Campaign #213: Ireland 1649 – 52: Cromwell’s Protestant Crusade, which deals with the battles to stomp Royalist forces by the Roundheads during the English Civil War period. I can almost hear my wife gnashing her teeth over the English marching around the Emerald Isle...



From the fall of Jeanne d'Arc to the fall of Marguerite d'Anjou, this book - 3rd part of "The Cousins' War" series - follows the life and times of Jacquetta, a lady from the noble house of Luxembourg, who probably wouldn't have made it into history if not for her more famous daughter.

Written in first person, the story begins when young Jacquetta's family houses a trophy of war, Joan the Maid, for their allies, the English. On the eve of Joan's execution she meets John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to the English king, who later makes her his wife, a marriage born not out of lust but of convenience.
While a wife to the powerful duke, Jacquetta meets a young knight of his household, Richard Woodville. The two fall in love and get married after John's death, having to pay a fine due to their difference in status.

The pair produce a child almost every year, their firstborn being a daughter Elizabeth and leaving the children to be raised in their manor in Grafton, serve at court, Jacquetta being the favourite lady in waiting to the young Queen Margaret.

When the civil war comes, the Rivers' (Richard Woodville was egnobled to match his wife's status) remain on the side of the King and Queen and become their constant companions and defenders in the terrible years of what went down in history as the "War of the Roses".


Another well written Gregory book, I find myself rather enjoying this series. The characters are well defined, the emotions not OTT and believable and the atmosphere feels authentic and engrossing.
What I didn't like, and is a hallmark of a Gregory book, is her propensity to take a word and repeat it 4-5 times in 2-3 sentences. It shows an unfortunately small vocabulary and I would expect more from a prolific author.
Also, the progression of years is hardly felt in the characters, the Rivers still behaving like newlywed youngsters, but then they did have 14 kids (the last daughter born when she was in her fourties) so perhaps they were just that passionate.

50 Book Challenge: Book Thirty-Four

I read X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe. This is just a giant book full of great pictures from the comics and movies and a complete overview of the X-Men universe. It was very informative for someone who never got to read many of the comics, but is still a huge X-Men fan. There was a nice history about how the book got started, the writers and artists that have worked on it over the years, how the movies came to be and about the video games. I fully enjoyed it and highly suggest it to any X-Men fan.

ORDER, COUNTER-ORDER.

Apparently there wasn't enough disorder in The Battle of the Crater as interpreted by historians Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, so they took their historical novel so-titled and re-titled it as To Make Men Free.  Whatever.  The book takes its original title from an attempt by the Army of the Potomac to end the siege of Petersburg by undermining a critical fort and dropping it into a pit.  The new title probably refers to the prominent role of United States Colored Troops in preparing for the follow-on attack.

Book Review No. 15 will refer to the work as Battle, as it was by that title that I bought and read the hardback version.  I wonder if the book serves more as an allegory of Washington intrigue than as military history, no matter the title on the cover.  The usual maxim in military matters has a thousand fathers for victory, but the failure of the plan to drop the fort is clearly not an orphan: senior generals and senior engineers and more than a few quartermasters were involved.  I'm not conversant enough with the eastern campaigns to recommend a good analysis of the Battle of the Crater for comparison purposes.  Fortunately for the Union effort, the Confederacy was losing the war faster than the Federals could win it, with the failure at the Crater being followed almost immediately by the surrender of Atlanta.

(Cross-posted to Cold Spring Shops.)

Book #34: The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett



This book follows straight on from the first Discworld book, The Colour of Magic, so – based on the assumption that not everyone read that, the rest of this review is behind a spoiler cut.



The first book ended with Rincewind and Twoflower falling off the edge of the Discworld; however, because Rincewind has a spell in his brain, he is saved by magic, and what follows is another series of catastrophic misadventures as Rincewind tries to get back to Unseen University and get rid of the spell from his head. The book is very funny in places, and has the introduction of Cohen the Barbarian, and the librarian, who has been turned into an orang-utan.

Among the incidents in this book, my favourite is when Rincewind has to save Twoflower from the house of Death, where he meets all four horsemen of the apocalypse, and finds Twoflower teaching them Bridge, providing one of the funniest moments I have come across in any book. I actually noticed on this reading that there was a mention of Mort, Death’s apprentice, and the central character from the fourth book.

The climax is satisfying, with the final confrontation with the evil wizard Trymon and a finale that was made even more spectacular by its portrayal on Sky One’s version starring Sir David Jason and Sean Astin.



This was the first Discworld novel that I read, and it was good enough to convince me to read others, so is well worth a try – but I recommend starting with The Colour of Magic.

Next book: Miracles by C.S. Lewis

Book 51

#56 Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald (1979)

So then, Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald which won in 1979 was my latest Booker read. This is only the fourth Penelope Fitzgerald novel that I have read, and I have to say straight off – I enjoyed it enormously. A very busy weekend has forced me to read it slowly – which I am glad of as I have been able to savour it. It is after all a pretty short book.

A quote on the back cover of this edition caught my eye – so I must share it.

“Reading a Penelope Fitzgerald novel is like being taken for a ride in a peculiar kind of car. Everything is of top quality – the engine, the coachwork and the interior all fill you with confidence. Then after a mile or so, someone throws the steering-wheel out of the window”

Sebastian Faulkes.

A mixed group of people live on houseboats on the Thames at Battersea Reach in the early 1960’s. They are each temporarily lost, often eccentric and have come to belong and rely on one another. Willis, a naval artist who has never been to sea, is hoping to sell his boat The Dreadnought before she inevitably sinks. Richard an ex-navy man dominates the Reach as does his much larger boat, while his wife Laura hates the boats and frequently returns to her upper-middle class family. Richard and Laura are the only inhabitants of the Reach with any money. Maurice, a male prostitute, and receiver of stolen goods has become particularly good friends with Nenna, who abandoned by her husband is living on the boat Grace with her two daughters Martha and Tilda.

 

“During the small hours, tipsy Maurice became an oracle, ambiguous, wayward, but impressive. Evan his voice changed a little. He told the sombre truths of the light-hearted, betraying in a casual hour what was never intended to be shown. If the tide was low the two of them watched the gleams on the foreshore, at half tide they heard the water chuckling, waiting to lift the boats, at flood tide they saw the river as a powerful god, bearded with the white foam of detergents, calling home the twenty-seven lost rivers of London, sighing as the night declined.”

 The two girls forage along the foreshore – and don’t always attend school.  They explore Battersea and Chelsea, but are more at home on the river. Six year old Tilda wonderfully old for her years is a spiky breath of fresh air.

“Tilda knew very well that the river could be dangerous. Although she had become a native of the boats, and pitied the tideless and ratless life of the Chelsea inhabitants, she respected the water and knew that one could die within sight of the Embankment.”

The characters relationships are altered by the changes in their circumstances, the world of this disparate little community is under threat. The reader senses this fragility of a way of life, from the very start. Fitzgerald perfectly pitches this beautiful little novel. The tidal flow of the river, the rise and fall of the boats, the mud along the river bank –  the interactions of her characters come together  to create a wonderful sense of time and place.

I have added these quotes from the book because I loved the Fitzgerald’s writing. The descriptions of the river are particularly good I think. This book is a real little gem.

May. 27th, 2012

I got a bit of break yesterday at one hospital, and had a little lunch (late), and while gnawing on a tuna sandwich, I finished reading Osprey New Vanguard #176: Imperial Japanese Navy Heavy Cruisers 1941 – 45 which I found had good graphics, and was pretty informative. One of my first experience with gaming was when my cousins from Minnesota would visit for Thanksgiving, and they'd bring Midway, an Avalon Hill game. Among the vessels depicted were several Japanese heavy cruisers; I can still recall the names, and, yes, the book does discuss them in detail. One of those odd things that sticks with you for decades, what can I say...

Book 50

Black Butler Vol. 9Black Butler Vol. 9 by Yana Toboso

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A mystery )

for those who don't count graphic novels, the count is books - 26, graphic novels - 24

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May. 26th, 2012

Can someone recommend to me a good murder mystery series that is set in a small town?

Book 48

I was prompted to add this to my wish list having read several great reviews of it on other blogs. I am always a tiny bit nervous about reading a book lots of other people have raved about – as it sometime fails to live up to the hype. So it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago – and I was given a copy by my mum (along with a lovely watch).

So the big question – does it live up to the hype? Yes I really think it does – I loved it anyway. It’s a poignant original story about the complexities of human beings, weaving together themes of faith, hope, love, bereavement and the importance of talking to people.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a deceptively simple tale – although well written with acutely wry observations and marvellous honesty. Rachel Joyce sees people as they often really are, many nursing great sorrows each hiding their own demons.

“The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday. It was an ordinary morning in mid-April that smelt of clean washing and grass cuttings.”

So starts the extraordinary story of Harold Fry, who at 65, quite newly retired and living in South Devon receives a letter unexpectedly from a woman he once worked with, now in a nursing home in Berwick upon Tweed she tells him she is dying. This simple, short letter triggers something in Harold, he remembers a woman who was once very kind to him. Harold scribbles a reply and immediately sets out to post it. However as Harold reaches the post box he feels unable to let the letter go and keeps walking to the next box, and the one after that. Following a conversation with a girl in a garage shop Harold becomes convinced that if he keeps walking then Queenie Hennessy will keep on living. He sends her a message – to wait for him. So Harold begins to walk, in shirt and tie and yachting shoes with no compass, map or mobile phone. He’s a man unused to walking, and the going is slow, but he firmly believes that if he can just keep putting one foot in front of the other he must eventually get there.
As Harold walks he meets many fascinating characters, and takes time to face the reasons he finds himself wanting to save Queenie. He reflects on his once great love for his wife Maureen – with whom he desperately needs to reconnect. The relationship he had with his son David and what he sees as his betrayal of his friend, Queenie Hennessy.
Inevitably the press gets wind of Harold’s pilgrimage to Berwick upon Tweed, and at home his wife gets calls from PR agents while out on the road Harold is joined by a motley crew of followers and a dog that likes to play fetch with pebbles. It’s a long way, and it takes a long time – and there are days when doubts set in and Harold’s faith begins to wobble.

This is the kind of book people call life affirming – which it might well be. For me though it is a deeply touching story about people and how it is possible to re-find one another. It is also a real celebration of England, its people and its places. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is an impressive debut, which is already being enjoyed by many many readers.

2312 Invincible Gadget Kaleidoscopes

You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier
Some parts of this were preaching to the the choir in my case; other parts pissed me off (hey, writers, if you base an extended analogical argument on biological "facts" that are WRONG WRONG WRONGER THAN WRONG, it kills your cred and makes me want to throw your book across the room). Still other parts were deeply alienating in the stop-mischaracterizing-or-ignoring-my-subcultures-and-while-you're-at-it-quit-dichotomizing-so-much sense; a few parts were usefully provocative. I think overall there was not enough of the last of those, too much of the middle two. It did fill me up full to the brim with thinky thoughts while I was reading it, though, which is good.
(100)

Kaleidoscope, by Gail Bowen
I am so fond of these characters. This one has a lot of lectury bits, there are a few people I don't mind being lectured by. The story is good, but as usual the whodunnit is almost beside the point. Start at the beginning with this series, I think? Deadly Appearances is the first one.
(101)

2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson (ARC)
Kim Stanley Robinson is part of my two-handed handful of favorite writers, and so it's unsurprising that I loved this. I was a bit surprised by the experimental nature of the text. The reader has to do a lot of work to keep all the threads together in his/her head, and there are poetic streams-of-consciousness and lists and chapters consisting solely of extracts from fictional textbooks, but it's satisfying work. The structure-building part of my brain was quite sated by the experience. I suspect I will be even more pleased with this book when I eventually reread it.
(102, A2)

Invincible, the Ultimate Collection, vol. 2, by Robert Kirkman et al.
Overall, a joyful, galumphing read. There were some bits, though, that really had an uninflected comics-are-for-stereotypically-immature-het-male-readers thing going on. (Pro tip: If you repeatedly show your sympathetic characters complaining about something being "so gay," IT WILL TAKE ME OUT OF THE STORY and into being-irritated-world. I much prefer being in the story.) In any case, we're talking ... 10 pages? out of about 400, so I'll still be reading these.
(103)

May. 25th, 2012

During lunch yesterday, I finished reading Osprey New Vanguard #173: French Tanks of World War I. Honestly, it was the British who were famous for tanks in that particular war, and the Germans probably have more notice with tanks than anybody, so this is a pretty obscure topic even for Osprey. The author even acknowledges that hardly anyone who speaks much of anything but French have much to say on this issue of history. Having read the book, I can see why...
green hills of earth
Title: The Green Hills of Earth
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Publisher: Baen Books
Year: 1951
# of pages: 270
Date read: 3/21/2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good

Description:

"The arching sky is calling
Spaceman back to their trade.
All hands! Stand by! Free falling!
And the lights below us fade
Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps the race of Earthman,
Out, far, and onward yet --
We've tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool green hills of Earth.
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth
Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies,
And the cool green hills of Earth!" 
-- from the back cover
My thoughts:
I enjoyed these short stories about the Earth and the Moon. Two of my favorites were "'It's Great to Be Back'" about a couple who learns where their home is, and "--We Also Walk Dogs" about a new kind of concierge company.

May. 24th, 2012

Last evening, I finished reading two books.

First was Scalzi's novel, Old Man's War, an SF item in which elderly folks are recruited for a new life defending Earth and its colonies from aliens. Rather well-done; I'm champing at the bit to load the sequel in my Ematic.

Second was Osprey Campaign #242: Metz 1944: Patton’s Fortified Nemesis, or, what happened when Patton hit the belt of fortifications that were built on the French-German frontier. The book clarified an time span that had been mulled over by a number of books I read in my teen years.
Book 58: Down the Darkest Road (Oak Knoll #3).
Author: Tami Hoag, 2011.
Genre: Police Procedural. Crime Fiction. Period Fiction.
Other Details: Hardback. 432 pages

The third in this series moves forward a few years to 1990 and happily Oak Knoll has been free from further serial killers. At the opening of the novel Lauren Lawton, widowed after the death of her husband, has moved with her daughter, Leah, to Oak Knoll. Four years previously in Santa Barbara Lauren's 16-year old daughter Leslie had disappeared. No trace of her was ever found and no one was ever arrested even though Lauren was certain she knew the identity of the man who had taken her oldest daughter. However, with no evidence the Santa Barbara police had been powerless to move against him even when Lauren reported he was stalking her and her remaining family.

When Lauren spots the suspect in Oak Knoll it seems that the nightmare is beginning again. An encounter with detective Tony Mendez brings the case to the attention of Oak Knoll Sheriff's Department and they begin to investigate both the cold case and the possibility that there is another predator in their midst.

Even though now set in 1990, Hoag is still able to explore an earlier time when forensic and other investigative techniques were still being developed. Hoag paints a powerful portrait of a woman whose loss of her teenage daughter and inability to see the man she believes responsible for her abduction brought to justice has taken her to the brink of madness. I didn't find Lauren particularly sympathetic though as the story developed I could better appreciate her character. My sympathies lay more with Leah, who was 12 when her sister disappeared, and since had been over-protected and sidelined at the same time.

I chose this as a final book for a 7-day Read-a-thon confident that once began I'd have a hard time putting it down. I do hope that Tami Hoag continues to write more in this series, as she suggests in her introduction.

Book 59: Two for the Money (Stephanie Plum #2) .
Author: Janet Evanovich, 1996.
Genre: Chick Lit Crime Fiction. Comedy/Drama.
Other Details: Audio Book, Unabridged 9 hours, 1 min. Read by C. J. Critt.

Novice bounty hunter Stephanie Plum attempts to track down Kenny Mancuso, who has just shot his best friend. Mancuso is also a distant relation of Joe Morelli, whom we we were introduced to in the first outing for Stephanie.

A friend who is very into this series advised our reading group at the meeting to discuss One for the Money that the second book was even funnier. As I had certainly enjoyed the first, I decided to have this as my audiobook in the car. I find myself in agreement with my friend. The characters and setting having been established in One for the Money, Evanovich seemed to allow herself to have a lot of fun with her rather inept bounty hunter.

I found myself giggling quite often at the situations that Stephanie found herself in. Overall it proved perfect for in-car listening as the plot is quite simple and its first person narration engaging.

Book 48

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