Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh

First sentence:

"Suppose you are contemplating an island."

Description:

"Capturing the mood of William Golding's haunting medieval love story, The Spire, Knowledge Of Angels is a suspenseful fable set on a mythical island in the time of the Inquisition, a time of unquestionable and unquestioned faith and unmerciful justice. The fable spins a tale of two outcasts: a wild, flesh-eating wolf child and a foreign prince, captured separately and taken to the cardinal prince of the island. The wolf girl is remanded to a nunnery, where her caretakers are ordered to teach her to speak but not to speak of God, so that the cardinal can ask her if God exists. On her answer depends the life of the heretic prince, condemned because he does not believe in God. The federal creature and the elegant paladin are used as pawns by the town's religious council to answer the question of whether or not believing in God is an inherent part of being human."

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully written and thought-provoking book about conscience, faith, and being true to one's beliefs. I liked the conversations between Palinor, Benedictx and Cardinal Severo as well as the ones between Josefa and the wolf-child Amara.

Date read: 8/14/2008
Book #: 53
Challenges: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008, Man Booker Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0395686660
ISBN-13: 9780395686669
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Year: 1994
# of Pages: 268
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer

First sentence:

"It had been a good life."

Description:

"Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first-ever radio transmission received from aliens. Thirty-eight years later, a second message is received and Sarah, now 87, may hold the key to deciphering this one, too . . . if she lives long enough.

A wealthy industrialist offers to pay for Sarah to have a rollback—a hugely expensive experimental rejuvenation procedure. She accepts on condition that Don, her husband of sixty years, gets a rollback, too. The process works for Don, making him physically twenty-five again. But in a tragic twist, the rollback fails for Sarah, leaving her in her eighties.

While Don tries to deal with his newfound youth and the suddenly vast age gap between him and his wife, Sarah struggles to do again what she'd done once before: figure out what a signal from the stars contains" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a thought-provoking book about youth and age, ethics and alien contact. I liked the conversations Sarah and Don had about the Draconis aliens.

Date read: 8/5/2008
Book #: 52
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0765349744
ISBN-13: 9780765349743
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2007
# of Pages: 313
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Swarm by Arthur Herzog

First sentence:

"Several facts concerning the incident near Maryville, New York, need to be underscored."

Description:

"FAMILY ATTACKED BY BEES—TWO KILLED
MARYVILLE, N.Y. Sept. 26 (AP)—A family of five on an outing in an isolated spot by a stream were attacked by bees here.
Mr. and Mrs. William Peterson died as the result of bee bites. Their three children were also attacked, one, Karen, age 12, severely.
The local coroner, Dr. David P. Znac, speculated that both adults had allergies to bee bites, which can be fatal. About 30 deaths a year in the U.S. are attributed to bites from bees, wasps and hornets.
What caused the bees to attack is not known.

This was the beginning, barely noticed. Then the terror began to spread—terror that was to erupt into a national panic as the strange, seemingly purposeful murderous attacks of a new and vicious species of bees began to mount. Against this background, a band of scientists draw upon their knowledge to fight an enemy they only partly comprehend in a desperate race against time.

Built around one of man's most haunting fears—that the forces of nature will overrun his defenses and exterminate the human race—The Swarm is a vividly imagined masterpiece of chilling adventure." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good suspenseful book about killer bees and the efforts of a team of scientists to stop them.

Date read: 8/3/2008
Book #: 51
Challenges: TBR Challenge 2008, What an Animal! Challenge, Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0451080793
ISBN-13: 9780451080790
Publisher: Signet
Year: 1978
# of Pages: 271
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds by Joy Adamson

First sentence:

"For many years my home has been in the Northern Frontier Province of Kenya, that vast stretch of semiarid thornbush, covering some hundred and twenty thousand square miles, which extends from Mount Kenya to the Abyssinian border."

Description:

"There have been many tales of animals' return to the wild, but since its first publication in 1960, when the New York Times hailed it as a 'fascinating and remarkable book,' one stands alone as the most original and perhaps best-loved animal story. Born Free is a classic which traces the extraordinary development of the lion cub Elsa in transition between two radically different worlds." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I remember I saw the movie years ago, but I had never read the full story of Elsa and her human family Joy and George Adamson until now. I liked reading about Elsa's curiosity and how even as she gradually left the Adamson's care, she never lost the bond she had with them.

Date read: 7/26/2008
Book #: 50
Challenges: What an Animal! Challenge, TBR Challenge 2008, Non-Fiction Five Challenge 2008
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 039474635X
ISBN-13: 9780394746357
Publisher: Pantheon
Year: 1987
# of Pages: 220
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis

First sentence:

"The house has no name, though it is quite grand enough to warrant one."

Description:

"Lucy Morrigan, a young genetic researcher, lives with her boyfriend, Gray, and a strange collection of tenants in her crumbling family mansion. Surrounded by four generations of clothes, photographs, furniture, and other remnants of past lives, Lucy and Gray's home life is strangely out of touch with the modern world -- except for Lucy's high-tech lab in the basement.

Frustrated by her unsuccessful attempts to attain motherhood or tenure, Lucy takes drastic measures to achieve both. Using a blood stained scrap of an apron found in the attic, Lucy successfully clones her grandmother Mary. But rather than conjuring a new baby, Lucy brings to life a twenty-two-year-old Mary, who is confused and disoriented when she finds herself trapped in the strangest sort of déjà vu: alive in a house that is no longer her own, surrounded by reminders of a life she has already lived but doesn't remember.

A remarkable debut novel, Mary Modern turns an unflinching eye on the joyous, heartbreaking, and utterly unexpected consequences of human desire." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a wonderful book about humanity and the role of memory. I liked the ethical dilemmas Lucy and Gray go through as well as the struggle Mary has in adjusting to a world 80 years in the future.

Date read: 7/26/2008
Book #: 49
Challenges: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0307352587
ISBN-13: 9780307352583
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Year: 2007
# of Pages: 352
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Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

First sentence:

"There's nothing worse than a red-eye flight."

Description:

"Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt.

No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.

And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body--but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week.

And it isn't over yet." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this urban fantasy featuring Joanna Walker who has to learn quickly how to harness her shamanic powers while trying to save the city from the Wild Hunt. I look forward to Joanna's next storyline in the anthology, Winter Moon.

Date read: 7/25/2008
Book #: 48
Challenge: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Series: Walker Papers #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0373802234
ISBN-13: 9780373802234
Publisher: Luna Books
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 344
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Black Ice by Michael Connelly

First sentence:

"The smoke carried up from the Cahuenga Pass and flattened beneath a layer of cool crossing air."

Description:

"Narcotics officer Cal Moore's orders were to look into the city's latest drug killing. Instead, he ends up in a motel room with a fatal bullet wound to the head and a suicide note stuffed in his back pocket. Working the case, LAPD detective Harry Bosch is reminded of the primal police rule he learned long ago: Don't look for the facts, but the glue that holds them together. Soon Harry's making some very dangerous connections, starting with a dead cop and leading to a bloody string of murders that wind from Hollywood Boulevard to the back alleys south of the border. Now this battle-scarred veteran will find himself in the center of a complex and deadly game--one in which he may be the next and likeliest victim." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This story was an intense mystery with lots of suspense. I liked the way Harry followed his instincts even when it meant possibly losing his job.

Date read: 7/23/2008
Book #: 47
Series: Harry Bosch #2
Challenges: Celebrate the Author Challenge, Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0446613444
ISBN-13: 9780446613446
Publisher: Warner Vision
Year: 1993
# of Pages: 427
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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