The Children of the Company by Kage Baker

First sentence:

"The man has an air of authority."

Description:


"Take a ride through time with the devil. In the sixth book of the Company series, we meet Executive Facilitator General Labienus. Hes used his immortal centuries to plot a complete takeover of the world since he was a young god-figure in Sumeria. In a meditative mood, he reviews his interesting career. He muses on his subversion of the Company black project ADONAI. He considers also Aegeus, his despised rival for power, who has discovered and captured a useful race of mortals known as Homo sapiens umbratilis. Their unique talents may enable him to seize ultimate power. Labienus plans a double cross that will kill two birds with one stone: he will woo away Aegeus promising protege, the Facilitator Victor, and at the same time dispose of a ghost from his own past who has become inconvenient."

My thoughts:

While a bit long a times, this was a fascinating look at the Company through the eyes of Labineus and Victor. I especially liked the sections featuring Victor in San Francisco just before the 1906 earthquake and the one featuring Kalugin in the sunken ship telling his story to a worm.

Date read: 11/24/2007
Book #: 104
Rating: 3* = good
Series: The Company, #6
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 076531455X
ISBN-13: 9780765314550
Publisher: Tor Books
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 304
Binding: Hardcover
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Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

First sentence:

"My sweater was new, stinging red and ugly."

Description:

"WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming."

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully written book - both disturbing and poignant. The character Camille certainly made me think as she discovers the truth about herself and her family.

Date read: 11/22/2007
Book #: 103
Rating: 4* = great
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0307341542
ISBN-13: 9780307341549
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 252
Binding: Hardcover
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A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

First sentence:

"Charlie Asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below."

Description:

"Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.

But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .

People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it."

My thoughts:

This was a funny and poignant novel about finding life in death. I liked the characters Charlie Asher, Sophie, Minty Fresh, and the Emperor of San Francisco. I especially liked how Charlie finds courage to face his fears as he both confronts the "sewer harpies" and learns how to be a good father to Sophie.

Date read: 11/19/2007
Book #: 102
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0060590270
ISBN-13: 978-0060590277
Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 384
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Shakespeare's Counselor by Charlaine Harris

First sentence:

"I connected with a hard blow to the nose, rolled on top of him, gripped his neck, and started to squeeze."

Description:

"Welcome back to the sleepy little town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, where secrets "come to hide.

Lily Bard has joined a group therapy session, determined finally to face her past. It sounds positively enlightening, until the murder of a fellow member sends a warning. But who was the message meant for? Why? And who's next to fall victim to a killer's head games?"

My thoughts:

This was another good mystery featuring housecleaner/karate expert Lily Bard. I liked how she and Jack worked together as private investigators to figure out the mystery stalker/murderer.

Date read: 11/17/2007
Book #: 101
Series: Lily Bard, #5
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425201147
ISBN-13: 978-0425201145
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 243
Binding: Paperback
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Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore

First sentence:

"Amy called the whale punkin."

Description:

"Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals. Until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite me.

Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too much time in the sun. `Cause no one else on his team saw a thing—not his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (né Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot—and his research facility is trashed—Nate realizes something very fishy indeed is going on."

My thoughts:

This was a very funny and sometimes poignant book about whales, friendship, loyalty and discovering wonder in unexpected places. I liked the characters Nate, Amy, Kona, Clay and the Old Broad.

Date read: 11/15/2007
Book #: 100
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 006056668X
ISBN-13: 9780060566685
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Year: 2004
# of Pages: 311
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris

First sentence:

"By the time I opened my eyes and yawned that morning, she had been sitting in the car in the woods for seven hours."

Description:

"Shakespeare, Arkansas, is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colorful residents--and the occasional murder. It is also home to Lily Bard, the local karate expert/cleaning woman with a particular knack for finding skeletons in closets.

But when the local woman of ill repute is found murdered, being familiar with her dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespearean to die."

My thoughts:

This was a good mystery. I liked Lily's observations about various townspeople and how she comes to terms with her preconceived notions about the victim. There was also a nice twist at the end as not everything is as it seems.

Date read: 11/13/2007
Book #: 99
Series: Lily Bard, #4
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425196992
ISBN-13: 9780425196991
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Year: 2004
# of Pages: 194
Binding: Paperback
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Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge

That's right - another challenge! This one is hosted by "A Life in Books" and it's called The Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge. It runs from July - December 2007, and the goal is to read six books in which location is a central part of the book.




Here are my books:

• John Burdett. Bangkok Tattoo. (Bangkok, Thailand) -- finished 7/15/2007
  
• Peter Mayle. Anything Considered. (French countryside) -- finished 8/23/2007
  
• Elizabeth Peters. Curse of the Pharaohs. (Egypt) -- finished 10/2/2007
  
• Louis L'Amour. The Haunted Mesa. (American West) -- finished 11/13/2007
  
• Tom Cole. Hell West and Crooked. (Australian Outback)
• Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air. (Mt. Everest)
  

The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

First sentence:

"It was night, and he was alone upon the desert."

Description:

"The Navajo called them the Anasazi: an enigmatic race of southwestern cliff dwellers. For centuries, the sudden disappearance of this proud and noble people has baffled historians. Summoned to a dark desert plateau by a desperate letter form an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn into a world of mystery, violence, and explosive revaltion. Crossing the border beyond the laws of man and nature, he will learn the astonishing legacy of the Anasazi -- but not without a price. Set in the contemporary Southwest, The Haunted Mesa draws on Louis L'Amour's extensive knowledge of Indian lore and mysticism. In this extraordinary book L'Amour tells a tale of epic adventure that takes his readers across the most extraordinary frontier they have ever encountered."

My thoughts:

This book was a good mix of western and science fiction as it looked at southwest Native American culture and offered a parallel world explanation on the disappearance of the Anasazi people. I liked the characters and the story, but I sometimes found the plot repetitive, especially Mike's indecision about what he should do. I also would have liked more storyline set in the other world.

Date read: 11/13/2007
Book #: 98
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Western/SF

ISBN-10: 0553051822
ISBN-13: 978-0553051827
Publisher: Bantam
Year: 1987
# of Pages: 357
Binding: Hardcover
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The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen

First sentence:

"The sun poked out briefly, evidence of a universe above them, of infinite knowledge--and just as suddenly it retreated behind the clouds."

Description:

"Set against the backdrop of one of the most virulent epidemics that America ever experienced–the 1918 flu epidemic–Thomas Mullen’s powerful, sweeping first novel is a tale of morality in a time of upheaval.

Deep in the mist-shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest is a small mill town called Commonwealth, conceived as a haven for workers weary of exploitation. For Philip Worthy, the adopted son of the town’s founder, it is a haven in another sense–as the first place in his life he’s had a loving family to call his own.

And yet, the ideals that define this outpost are being threatened from all sides. A world war is raging, and with the fear of spies rampant, the loyalty of all Americans is coming under scrutiny. Meanwhile, another shadow has fallen across the region in the form of a deadly illness striking down vast swaths of surrounding communities.

When Commonwealth votes to quarantine itself against contagion, guards are posted at the single road leading in and out of town, and Philip Worthy is among them. He will be unlucky enough to be on duty when a cold, hungry, tired–and apparently ill–soldier presents himself at the town’s doorstep begging for sanctuary. The encounter that ensues, and the shots that are fired, will have deafening reverberations throughout Commonwealth, escalating until every human value–love, patriotism, community, family, friendship–not to mention the town’s very survival, is imperiled.

Inspired by a little-known historical footnote regarding towns that quarantined themselves during the 1918 epidemic, The Last Town on Earth is a remarkably moving and accomplished debut."

My thoughts:

It's days later, and I'm still thinking about this book. Choices people make, even with the best intentions, don't always work in the long run. This book is a compelling look at how an epidemic during wartime affects a small town in early 20th century America in ways both large and small.

Date read: 11/8/2007
Book #: 97
Rating: 4* = great
Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 1400065208
ISBN-13: 9781400065202
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 387
Binding: Hardcover
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Glasshouse by Charles Stross

First sentence:

"A dark-skinned human with four arms walks toward me across the floor of the club, clad only in a belt strung with human skulls."

Description:

"When Robin wakes up in a clinic with most of his memories missing, it doesn't take him long to discover that someone's trying to kill him. It's the twenty-seventh century, when interstellar travel is by teleport gate and conflicts are fought by network worms that censor refugees' personalities-including Robin's earlier self.

On the run from unknown enemies, he volunteers to participate in a unique experimental polity, the Glasshouse, constructed to simulate a preaccelerated culture. Participants are assigned anonymized identities: it looks like the ideal hiding place for a posthuman on the run. But in this escape-proof environment, Robin will undergo an even more radical change, placing him at the mercy of the experimenters-and at the mercy of his own unbalanced psyche."

My thoughts:

While this book was sometimes difficult to read, it was a fascinating look at identity and society - what makes you "you" - if one's in a different body, is one a different person? Robin/Reeve and friends discover the truth about the "Glasshouse" in very interesting ways.

Date read: 11/6/2007
Book #: 96
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0441014038
ISBN-13: 9780441014033
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 335
Binding: Hardcover
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