Ice Hunt by James Rollins

First sentence:

The USS Polar Sentinel was gliding through the dark ocean.

Description:

"Buried deep in the earth's polar ice cap -- carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States -- is the site of a remarkable experiment that blurred the line between life and death. Abandoned for more than seventy years, Ice Station Grendel -- the twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union -- was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible.

But an American undersea research vessel, the Polar Sentinel, has inadvertently pulled too close. And a crew member has seen something alive inside, something whose survival defies every natural law.

As scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives of two powerful nations, and unsuspecting civilians alike are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, no measures undertaken to protect its mysteries will be considered too extreme. Because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could forever alter humankind's future. . .or destroy it. -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller set in the Arctic. The story switches seamlessly between different protagonists, and it's easy to get caught up in the action.

Date read: 12/23/2014
Book #: 45
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0060521600
ISBN-13: 9780060521608
Publisher: Avon Books
Year: 2003
# of pages: 505
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen

First sentence:

"He is coming for me."

Description:

"For untold years, the perfectly preserved mummy had lain forgotten in the dusty basement of Boston’s Crispin Museum. Dubbed “Madam X,” the recently rediscovered mummy is, to all appearances, an ancient Egyptian artifact. But medical examiner Maura Isles discovers a macabre message hidden within the corpse–horrifying proof that this “centuries-old” relic is instead a modern-day murder victim. When the grisly remains of two other women are found, it becomes clear to Maura and Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli that a maniac is at large. Now Maura and Jane must unravel a murderer’s twisted endgame before the Archaeology Killer adds another chilling artifact to his monstrous collection." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this thriller set in a museum and featuring Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles. I especially liked how they followed the clues to places far and near.

Date read: 12/19/2014
Book #: 44
Series: Rizzoli & Isles
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0345509390
ISBN-13: 9780345497635
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2008
# of pages: 418
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder

First sentence:

"As was his habit each morning, James Marshall rose early to walk the gravel bar along his millrace to see if the water was yet deep enough and swift enough to turn the wheel for the sawmill he had built for John Sutter."

Description:

"In one of the most exciting adventure stories of our time, Gary Kinder combines maritime disaster with visionary underwater technology. In September 1857, the SS Central America, a side-wheel steamer carrying passengers returning from the gold fields of California, went down during a hurricane off the Carolina coast. It would be the worst peacetime disaster at sea in American history, claiming more than 400 lives and 21 tons of gold. In the 1980s a maverick engineer named Tommy Thompson set out to find the wreck of the Central America and salvage its treasure from the ocean floor.

With nail-biting suspense, Kinder reconstructs the terror of the Central America's last days, when passengers bailed sea water from the hold, then chopped up the ship's timbers to use as impromptu life rafts before being cast into the sea themselves. He goes on to chronicle Thompson's epic quest for the lost vessel, an enterprise marked by hair-raising weather, the hostility of the deep ocean at 8,000 feet, highly experimental technology, and unscrupulous rival treasure-hunters. The result is a magnificent tale, filled with heroism, entrepreneurialism, and perseverance." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about a shipwreck - both the history of the wreck and what led to it, and the struggle to find the wreck over a century later.

Date read: 12/15/2014
Book #: 43
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 0375703373
ISBN-13: 9780375703379
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year: 1998
# of pages: 507
Binding: Trade Paperback
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As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling by Anne Serling

First sentence:

"The last time I saw my father, it was 1975."

Description:

In Twilight Zone reruns, I search for my father in the man on the screen, but I can’t always find him there. Instead, he appears in unexpected ways. Memory summoned by a certain light, a color, a smell—and I see him again on the porch of our old red lakeside cottage, where I danced on the steps as a child.

To Anne Serling, the imposing figure the public saw hosting The Twilight Zone each week, intoning cautionary observations about fate, chance, and humanity, was not the father she knew. Her fun-loving dad would play on the floor with the dogs, had nicknames for everyone in the family, and was apt to put a lampshade on his head and break out in song. He was her best friend, her playmate, and her confidant.

After his unexpected death at 50, Anne, just 20, was left stunned. Gradually, she found solace for her grief—talking to his friends, poring over old correspondence, and recording her childhood memories. Now she shares personal photos, eloquent, revealing letters and beautifully rendered scenes of his childhood, war years, and their family’s time together. Idyllic summers in upstate New York, the years in Los Angeles, and the myriad ways he filled their time with laughter, strength, and endearing silliness—all are captured here with deep affection and candor.

Though begun in loss, Anne’s story is a celebration of her extraordinary relationship with her father and the qualities she came to prize through him—empathy, kindness, and an uncompromising sense of social justice. As I Knew Him is a lyrical, intimate tribute to Rod Serling’s legacy as visionary, storyteller, and humanist, and a moving testament to the love between fathers and daughters. -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This is a wonderful biography of Rod Serling and memoir of his daughter Anne. Like many, I am a Twilight Zone fan, and this book revealed not just how the show began but Rod's heart and interest in telling the stories he wanted to tell.

Date read: 12/13/2014
Book #: 42
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Memoir/Biography

ISBN-10: 0806536152
ISBN-13: 9780806536156
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Year: 2013
# of pages: 276
Binding: Hardcover
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The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

First sentence:

"There was a time in Africa the people could fly."

Description:

Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.

Hetty "“Handful" Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid.We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved." -- Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I liked this book about the Grimke sisters and the early years of abolition and women's rights. I also liked learning about African customs through Handful and her mother Charlotte.

Date read: 11/29/2014
Book #: 41
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 0670024783
ISBN-13: 9780670024780 
Publisher: Penguin Books
Year: 2014
# of pages: 373
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline

First sentence:

"Nat Greco felt like a cup in a double-D bra."

Description:

"Natalie Greco loves being a teacher, even though she can't keep her students from cruising sex.com during class. She loves her family, too, but her boyfriend fits in better with the football-crazy Grecos than she does. Then a colleague, handsome Angus Holt, talks Nat into teaching a class at a local prison, and her world turns upside down.

A violent prison riot breaks out, and Nat rushes to save the life of a mortally wounded guard whose last words are: "Tell my wife it's under the floor." Nat delivers the cryptic message, but before she knows it, she's suspected of murder and hiding from cops and killers alike. She is forced on the run to solve the riddle of the dead man's last words and to save her own life—and find real love." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this fast-pace thriller. It had many twists and the characters were engaging. I especially liked the way Nat gained strength and confidence.

Date read: 11/1/2014
Book #: 40
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Thriller

ISBN-10: 0060833157
ISBN-13: 9780060833152
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2007
# of pages: 378
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Chasing Shackleton by Tim Jarvis

First sentence:

"I thought I knew Antarctica by now."

Description:

"In this extraordinary adventure memoir and tie-in to the PBS documentary, Tim Jarvis, one of the world's leading explorers, describes his modern-day journey to retrace, for the first time ever—and in period clothing and gear—the legendary 1914 expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton.

In early 1914, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team sailed for Antarctica, attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole. Instead of glory, Shackleton and his crew found themselves in an epic struggle for survival: a three-year odyssey on the ice and oceans of the Antarctic that endures as one of the world’s most famous tales of adventure, endurance, and leadership ever recorded.

In the winter of 2013, celebrated explorer Tim Jarvis, a veteran of multiple polar expeditions, set out to recreate Sir Ernest Shackleton’s treacherous voyage over sea and mountain, outfitted solely with authentic equipment—clothing, boots, food, and tools—from Shackleton’s time, a feat that has never been successfully accomplished.

Shackleton's Epic is the remarkable record of Jarvis and his team’s epic journey. Beautifully designed and illustrated with dozens of photographs from the original voyage and its modern reenactment, it is a visual feast for readers and historians alike, and an essential new chapter in the story that has inspired adventurers across every continent for a century." -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I enjoyed reading this adventure that recreated Shackleton's voyage and mountain crossing. After I read the book, I saw and enjoyed the documentary which included Jarvis and his crew toasting Shackleton at his grave on South Georgia island.

Date read: 10/24/2014
Book #: 39
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction/Adventure

ISBN-10: 0062282735
ISBN-13: 9780062282736
Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2014
# of pages: 272
Binding: Hardcover
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The Art of Cartography: Stories by J.S. Marcus

First sentence:

"I read, in several newspapers, about a man from Los Angeles who wanted to go to Oakland."

Description:

"The young men and women who inhabit these mordantly alive stories move around -- as do the stories themselves -- from city to city, country to country.The characters are in and out of graduate schools, apartments, love affairs, marriages. They go from New York to London to Los Angeles, compulsively studying the facts of their own lives and the facts they can guess at in the lives of those around them, as a way, perhaps, out of their solitude, as if they could map themselves into the world. They long for perspective, permanence -- truth -- although what they find is often something quite different.

A young American working in a London bank is propelled by a random happening -- he gets off his train one day because an unexploded bomb from World War II has been discovered on the tracks -- into a series of chance meetings and invitations that illumine the nature of his loneliness.

A New Yorker, the author of 'unpublished travel books and eight-millimeter documentaries,' while visiting a South Pacific island famous for its archaeological dig, accidentally brings together, and then less accidentally puts at odds, the people at his hotel.

A woman named Sheila, who appears -- at various periods of her life, and in and out of a relationship with a music critic -- in several of the stories, is last seen in southern California, holed up in a mansion, smoking  grass with the maid, and expecting to end up where she began: back with the critic, as if the best she can do is 'shift weight.'

In all twelve stories, we see people in motion, in flux -- again and again deflected by the succession of chance encounters that has become their way of life.

A remarkable collection of stories, a memorable debut." -- from the inside flap.

My thoughts:

This is an interesting collection of short stories. I liked the narrator meeting different people and reflecting on who they are.

Date read: 10/20/2014
Book #: 38
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Fiction

ISBN-10: 0394559460
ISBN-13: 9780394559469
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Year: 1991
# of pages: 129
Binding: Hardcover
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The Circle by Dave Eggers

First sentence:

"My God, Mae thought. It's heaven."

Description:

"When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge." -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I loved this book about an apparent utopia with an eventual decline. Mae's journey was fascinating and eerie to watch.

Date read: 10/18/2014
Book #: 37
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre; Thriller

ISBN-10: 0345807294
ISBN-13: 9780345807298
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year: 2014
# of pages: 497
Binding: Trade Paperback
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George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade

First sentence:

"He was twenty-one years old and knew that in a matter of moments he would die."

Description:

"When General George Washington beat a hasty retreat from New York City in August 1776, many thought the American Revolution might soon be over. Instead, Washington rallied—thanks in large part to a little-known, top-secret group called the Culper Spy Ring.

Washington realized that he couldn’t beat the British with military might, so he recruited a sophisticated and deeply secretive intelligence network to infiltrate New York. So carefully guarded were the members’ identities that one spy’s name was not uncovered until the twentieth century, and one remains unknown today. But by now, historians have discovered enough information about the ring’s activities to piece together evidence that these six individuals turned the tide of the war.

Drawing on extensive research, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger have painted compelling portraits of George Washington’s secret six:

• Robert Townsend, the reserved Quaker merchant and reporter who headed the Culper Ring, keeping his identity secret even from Washington;
• Austin Roe, the tavern keeper who risked his employment and his life in order to protect the mission;
• Caleb Brewster, the brash young longshoreman who loved baiting the British and agreed to ferry messages between Connecticut and New York;
• Abraham Woodhull, the curmudgeonly (and surprisingly nervous) Long Island bachelor with business and family excuses for traveling to Manhattan;
• James Rivington, the owner of a posh coffeehouse and print shop where high-ranking British officers gossiped about secret operations;
• Agent 355, a woman whose identity remains unknown but who seems to have used her wit and charm to coax officers to share vital secrets.

In George Washington’s Secret Six, Townsend and his fellow spies finally receive their due, taking their place among the pantheon of heroes of the
American Revolution." - from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

This is a fascinating book about another side to the American Revolution. Recently I've started watching the AMC drama Turn: Washington's Spies about the same topic and I highly recommend it.

Date read: 10/3/2014
Book #: 36
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Thriller

ISBN-10: 1595231102
ISBN-13: 9781595231109
Publisher: Sentinel
Year: 2014
# of pages: 272
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

First sentence:

"I was born a colored man and don't you forget it."

Description:

In 1856, Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory, a battleground between anti-and pro-slavery forces. When legendary abolitionist John Brown arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry's mater quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave with Brown, who believes he's a girl. Over the ensuing months, Henry--whom the eccentric Brown nicknames "onion" -- conceals hist rue identity to stay alive, eventually finding himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is an engaging, powerful story about John Brown, slavery in the west, and the abolitionist movement. I liked the voice of Henry who could both see the reality Brown wasn't seeing but who could also be self-interested.

Date read: 10/1/2014
Book #: 35
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 1410464857
ISBN-13: 9781410464859
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date:  2013
Edition: Large Print
# of pages: 635
Binding: Hardcover
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Julie and Julia

First sentence:

"Thursday, October 6, 1949.
Paris. At seven o'clock on a dreary evening in the Left Bank, Julia began roasting pigeons for the second time in her life."

Description:

"Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell reclaims her life by cooking every single recipe in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the span of one year. It's a hysterical, inconceivable redemptive journey - life rediscovered through aspics, calves' brains and crème brûlée." -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I liked this book about challenges both culinary and personal. I especially liked the stories about buying and cooking lobsters and how Julie learned that things didn't need to be perfect.

Date read: 9/13/2014
Book #: 34
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir

ISBN-10: 031604251X
ISBN-13: 9780316042512
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Year: 2009
# of pages: 400
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance and Sunny

First sentence:

"The wind was chill and the cold froze the end of her toes."

Description:

"On the make. On the scent. On the edge.

On the Prowl. . .

Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs

The werewolf Anna finds a new sense of self when the son of the werewolf king comes to town to quell unrest in the Chicago pack -- and inspires a power in Anna that she's never felt before.

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks

Kai has a secret gift of sensing thoughts and desires. What she senses in her neighbor Nathan could be dangerous. Because he has a secret gift, too, and it's about to be let loose.

Buying Trouble by Karen Chance

In a New York auction house, a Lord of the Fey crosses paths with a fiery redheaded mage named Claire. But in this strange underground society, the rarity up for sale is Claire herself.

Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny

Among the children of the moon, Mona Lisa is of Mixed Blood--part Monere, part human, and destined to be alone. Then she meets a man who could be her salvation -- or her downfall." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed these stories of paranormal romance. Each one introduced me to new characters and I look forward to learning more about Claire, Anna, Kai and Mona Lisa.

Date read: 9/8/2014
Book #:33
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Paranormal Romance

ISBN-10: 0425216594
ISBN-13: 9780425216590
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2007
# of pages: 541
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

First sentence:

"Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet."

Description:

"When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29, 028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds. . .

In this definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest, Jon Krakauer takes the reader step-by-step from Katmandu to the mountain's deadly pinnacle, unfolding a breathtaking story that will by turn thrill and terrify." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is a bittersweet true adventure tale of the 1996 tragedy on Mount Everest that claimed the lives of twelve climbers. Krakauer recounts with brutal honesty what went wrong amidst the heroism of climbers both on his expedition and from others.

Date read: 9/1/2014
Book #: 32
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction/Travel/Memoir

ISBN-10: 0385492081
ISBN-13: 9780385492089
Publisher: Anchor Books
Year: 1997
# of pages: 378
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Man in the Dark by Paul Auster

First sentence:

"I am alone in the dark, turning the world around in my head as I struggle through another bout of insomnia, another white night in the great American wilderness."

Description:

"From a "literary original" (The Wall Street Journal) comes a book that forces us to confront the blackness of night even as it celebrates the existence of ordinary joys in a world capable of the most grotesque violence. Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident at his daughter's house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget: his wife's recent death and the horrific murder of his granddaughter's boyfriend, Titus. The retired book critic imagines a parallel world in which America is not at war with Iraq but with itself. In this other America the twin towers did not fall and the 2000 election results led to secession, as state after state pulled away from the union and a bloody civil war ensued. As the night progresses, Brill's story grows increasingly intense, and what he is desperately trying to avoid insists on being told." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about families and secrets. I especially liked Brill's imaginary story of a parallel world and how it eventually meets up with reality.

Date read: 8/24/2014
Book #: 31
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Fiction

ISBN-10: 0805088393
ISBN-13: 9780805088397
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Year: 2008
# of pages: 192
Binding: Hardcover
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A Game of Spies by John Altman

First sentence:

"Hagen had not slept well; his head was throbbing with fatigue."

Description:

"It is February 1940, and England is desperate to find out when and how Hitler will make his move toward France. Sleeper agent Eva Bernhardt comes into possession of vital information-and makes a run for it. Uncertain whom to trust, whether she is racing to safety or death, Eva is about to take her future into her own hands-and with it, perhaps the future of the entire war..." -- from the back cover


My thoughts: 

This was a good thriller set during World War II. I liked learning along with the characters whom to trust and whom to definitely avoid.

Date read: 8/21/2014
Book #: 30
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre; Thriller

ISBN-10: 0515134635
ISBN-13: 9780515134636
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Year: 2002
# of pages: 292
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Door to Ambermere by J. Calvin Pierce

First sentence:

"To an observer viewing the avenue from behind a low garden wall, the object, passing as though in languorous flight, would have been something of a mystery, though one perhaps more likely to prompt speculation than active investigation."

Description:

"This World. . .is tough if you play your cards as badly as Daniel. He's a gambler whose luck is about to change from bad to weird.

The Other World. . .is in shambles if you cast a spell as poorly as Rogan the Obscure. He's a wizard who can literally raise hell.

Between the Two Worlds Lies. . .

The Door to Ambermere

It is the gateway between an ordinary bar in an ordinary city and an extraordinary tavern in a magical realm. But when magic goes wrong, anything can happen. Like a trade-off. The gambler Daniel enters a world of sorcery in which the odds are far more dangerous than a poker game. And in exchange for Daniel, a creature is unleashed in humankind's city streets. . .a demon! " -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this meeting of two worlds fantasy. I especially liked the way Daniel figured out how to navigate in Ambermere and how he met his love, Modesty. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Sorceress of Ambermere.

Date read: 8/19/2014
Book #: 28
Series: Ambermere, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0441159443
ISBN-13: 9780441159444
Publisher: Ace Books
Year: 1992
# of pages: 229
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

First sentences:

"So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. But just the one."

Description:

"AN EMOTIONAL, PROVOCATIVE, AND UNFORGETTABLE NOVEL ABOUT HOW WE LOVE, HOW WE TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER, AND HOW THE CHOICES WE MAKE RESONATE THROUGH GENERATIONS.

Broad in scope and setting, wise and compassionate in its storytelling, And the Mountains Echoed is a profoundly moving, captivating novel that demonstrates Khaled Hosseini’s deeply felt understanding of the bonds that define us and shape our lives—and of what it means to be human.

It begins with the heartbreaking, unparalleled bond between two motherless siblings in an Afghan village. To three-year-old Pari, big brother Abdullah is more mother than brother. To ten-year-old Abdullah, little Pari is his everything. What happens to them-and the large and small manners in which it echoes through the lives of so many other people—is proof of the moral complexity of life. In a multigenerational novel revolving around not just parents and children but also brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which family members love, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Propelled by the same remarkable instincts and philosophical insight that made The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns so remarkable, And the Mountains Echoed shows once again that Khaled Hosseini is a born storyteller." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I liked this book about family told from different points of view. I especially liked how the events in the past rippled into the future in unexpected ways.

Date read: 8/10/2014
Book #: 27
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 159463176X
ISBN-13: 9781594631764
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Year: 2013
# of pages: 402
Binding: Hardcover
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The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig

First sentence:

"My father was the best bartender that ever lived."

Description:

"Tom Harry has a streak of frost in his black pompadour and a venerable bar called The Medicine Lodge, the chief watering hole and last refuge of the town of Gros Ventre, in northern Montana. Tom also has a son named Rusty, an “accident between the sheets” whose mother deserted them both years ago.The pair make an odd kind of family, with the bar their true home, but they manage just fine.

Until the summer of 1960, that is, when Rusty  turns twelve. Change arrives with gale force, in the person of Proxy, a taxi dancer Tom knew back when, and her beatnik daughter, Francine. Is Francine, as Proxy claims, the unsuspected legacy of her and Tom’s past? Without a doubt she is an unsettling gust of the future, upending every certainty in Rusty’s life and generating a mist of passion and pretense that seems to obscure everyone’s vision but his own. As Rusty struggles to decipher the oddities of adult behavior and the mysteries build toward a reckoning, Ivan Doig wonderfully captures how the world becomes bigger and the past becomes more complex in the last moments of childhood." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This is a beautifully written book about family and life in a small Montana town. I loved the descriptions of daily life and the interactions between the characters, especially between Rusty and his dad, Tom.

Date read: 8/7/2014
Book #: 27
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 1594487359
ISBN-13: 9781594487354
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Year: 2012
# of pages: 387
Binding: Hardcover
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Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott

First sentence:

"Unrepaired and swollen with rain, the gate in the orchard wall refused to move until Cameron put his full weight against it and pushed, hard."

Description:

"A Cambridge historian is found drowned, leaving her study of Isaac Newton’s alchemy incomplete and a spate of mysterious deaths surrounding Newton's rise in fame unsolved. Her fellow writer, Lydia Brooke, agrees to finish the book as a favor to the historian’s son, a neuroscientist with whom she had a long affair. But her attempt to complete the book’s final chapter, and her return to her former lover’s orbit, put her in mortal danger as she uncovers troubling evidence surrounding Newton. As Lydia becomes ensnared in a conspiracy that reawakens ghosts of the past, the seventeenth century slowly seeps into the twenty-first, with the city of Cambridge the bridge between them." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this mix of history and fiction. I especially liked how Lydia figures out how the past is influencing the present.

Date read: 7/29/2014
Book #: 26
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0385521073
ISBN-13: 9780385521079
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Year: 2008
# of pages: 322
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

First sentence:

"I was the youngest of three daughters."

Description:

"A strange imprisonment.

Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhapss make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, 'Cannot a Beast be tamed?'

Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple: Beauty and the Beast." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this version of "Beauty and the Beast". I especially liked the interactions between Beauty and the two "spirits", and how Beauty and the Beast gradually became friends.

Date read: 7/22/2014
Book #:  25
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0060753102
ISBN-13: 9780060753108
Publisher: Eos
Year: 2005
# of pages: 325
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett

First sentence:

"According to the First Scroll of Wen the Eternally Surprised, Wen stepped out of the cave where he had received enlightenment and into the dawning light of the first day of the rest of his life."

Description:

"Time itself is threatened— and it's up to the History Monks to save it in Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld® series

Everybody wants more time. Which is why, on Discworld, only the experts can manage it—the venerable Monks of History who store it and pump it from where it's wasted, like underwater (how much time does a codfish really need?) to places like cities, where busy denizens lament never having enough of it.

While everyone talks about slowing down, one young horologist is about to do the unthinkable. He's going to stop. Well, stop time, that is, by building the world's first truly accurate clock. Which means esteemed History Monk Lu-Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd have to put on some speed to stop the timepiece before it starts. For if the Perfect Clock starts ticking, time—as we know it—will end. And then the trouble will really begin " -- from Amazon.com

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about time, destiny and the Four, or is it Five, Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I especially liked Monk Lu-Tze and his lessons to his apprentice Lobsang Ludd.

Date read: 7/9/2014
Book #: 24
Series: Discworld  #26
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0062307398
ISBN-13: 9780062307392
Publisher: Harper
Year: 2001; 2014 (this edition)
# of pages: 432
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

First sentence:

"On the day of the miracle, Isabel was kneeling at the cliff's edge, tending the small, newly made driftwood cross."

Description:

"After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This is a beautifully poignant book about hope and loss, good and bad decisions, and how people's choices affect people they don't know.

Date read: 7/9/2014
Book #: 23
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre; Fiction

ISBN-10: 1451681739
ISBN-13: 9781451681734
Publisher: Scribner
Year: 2012
# of pages: 345
Binding: Hardcover
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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

First sentence:

"Lost in the shadows of the shelves, I almost fall off the ladder."

Description:

"The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco web design drone--and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey have landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customer, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything. Instead, they 'check out' impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, longs-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger. Soon Clay has embarked on a complex analysis of the customers' behavior and roped his friends into helping him figure out just what is going on. And when they bring their findings to Mr. penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside he walls of the bookstore.

With irresistible brio and dazzling intelligence, Robin Sloan has crafted a literary adventure story for the twenty-first century, evoking both the fairy-tale charm of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or the young Umberto Eco, but with a unique and feisty sensibility that is rare to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it sounds like: an establishment you have to enter and will never want to leave, a modern-day cabinet of wonders ready to give a jolt of energy to every curious reader, no matter the time of day." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book of books both new and old. I especially liked how Clay and his friends use their skills and interests to solve problems big and small.

Date read: 7/5/2014
Book #: 22
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0374214913
ISBN-13: 9780374214913
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Year: 2012
# of pages: 288
Binding: Hardcover
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Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

First sentence:

"The sounds drifted over the long green lawn, so faint they could have been the crying of ravens in the nearby wood, or the distant braying of a mule on the farm across the brown river."

Description:

"Mount Dragon: an enigmatic research complex hidden in the vast desert of New Mexico. Guy Carson and Susana Cabeza de Vaca have come to Mount Dragon to work shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest scientific minds on the planet. Led by visionary genius Brent Scopes, their secret goal is a medical breakthrough that promises to bring incalculable benefits to the human race. But while Scopes believes he is leading the way to a new world order, he may in fact be opening the door to mass human extinction. And when Guy and Susana attempt to stop him they find themselves locked in a frightening battle with Scopes, his henchmen, and the apocalyptic nightmare that science has unleashed. . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is a good thriller with lots of twists. I liked the mix of desert survival challenges with virtual and physical computer hacking.

Date read:  6/30/2014
Book #: 21
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0812564375
ISBN-13: 9780812564372
Publisher:: TOR
Year: 1996
# of pages: 478
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Fastnet, Force 10 by John Rousmaniere

First sentence:

"When the gale swept over Ireland during Monday night, it seemed like any other summer storm that catches a few boats out in the Western Approaches to England."

Description:

On August 11, 1979, 303 yachts began the 600-mile Fastnet Race from Cowes on the Isle of Wight to Fastnet Rock off the Irish coast and back. It began in fine weather, then suddenly became a terrifying ordeal. A Force 10, sixty-knot storm swept across the North Atlantic with a speed that confounded forecasters, slamming into the fleet with epic fury. For twenty hours, 2,500 men and women were smashed by forty-foot breaking waves, while rescue helicopters and lifeboats struggled to save them.

By the time the race was over, fifteen people had died, twenty-four crews had abandoned ship, five yachts had sunk, 136 sailors had been rescued, and only 85 boats had finished the race. John Rousmaniere was there, and he tells the story as only on who has sailed through the teeth of a killer storm can. In a new introduction for this edition, he discusses the effects of the tragedy and whether it could happen again today." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is an exciting book about storms and the people who battle them. I especially liked learning about the life boats and helicopters and the men who rescued all they could.

Date read: 6/25/2014
Book #: 20
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction, Adventure

ISBN-10: 0393308650
ISBN-13: 9780493308655
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Year: 1980; 2000 (this edition)
# of pages: 266
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

First sentence:

"Wilson sat on the balcony of the Bedford Hotel with his bald pink knees thrust against the ironwork."

Description:

Graham Greene's masterpiece The Heart of the Matter tells the story of a good man enmeshed in love, intrigue, and evil in a West African coastal town. Scobie is bound by strict integrity to his role as assistant police commissioner and by severe responsibility to his wife, Louise, for whom he cares with a fatal pity.

When Scobie falls in love with the young widow Helen, he finds vital passion again yielding to pity, integrity giving way to deceit and dishonor—a vortex leading directly to murder. As Scobie's world crumbles, his personal crisis makes for a novel that is suspenseful, fascinating, and, finally, tragic.

Originally published in 1948, The Heart of the Matter is the unforgettable portrait of one man, flawed yet heroic, destroyed and redeemed by a terrible conflict of passion and faith." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about an assistant police commissioner facing a moral dilemma. I especially liked the interactions between Scobie and Helen and between Scobie and Wilson.

Date read: 6/15/2014
Book #: 19
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0142437999
ISBN-13: 9780142437995
Publisher: Penguin Books
Year: 1948 ; 2004 (this edition)
# of pages: 255
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason

First sentence:

"They were able to guess his age, but had more trouble determining which part of the world he came from."

Description:

"A dark-skinned young boy is found dead, frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The boy's Thai half-brother is missing; is he implicated, or simply afraid for his own life? While fears increase that the murder could have been racially motivated, the police receive reports that a suspected paedophile has been spotted in the area.

Detective Erlendur's investigation soon unearths the tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland's outwardly liberal, multi-cultural society, while the murder forces Erlendur to confront the tragedy in his own past." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this mystery set in Iceland. The possibilities kept me guessing right until the end.  I look forward to reading earlier books in this series.

Date read: 6/2/2014
Book #: 18
Series: Reykyavik Murder Mystery #7
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0099542323
ISBN-13: 9780099542322
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2009
# of pages: 344
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Geist by Phillipa Ballantine

First sentence:

"It was good weather for a riot."

Description:

"Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off malevolent hauntings by the geists. . .

Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha Faris, now thrust into a partnership with the novice Deacon Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aid a Priory besieged by a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.

But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows. Even if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in the hell is she returning to?" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is a very good urban fantasy, featuring battles between the living and the dead. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, especially between Sorcha and Merrick. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Spectyr.

Date read: 5/30/2014
Book #: 17
Series: Book of the Order, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0441019617
ISBN-13: 9780441019618
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Year: 2010
# of pages: 294
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Redgraves: A Family Epic by Donald Spoto

First sentence:

"During the cold afternoon of Friday, March 20, 1908--in a modest, poorly heated room above a newspaper shop on Horfield Road, in Bristol, England--a twenty-three-year-old actress named Daisy Scudamore Redgrave gave birth to a plump, blond-haired boy."

Description:

For more than a century, the Redgraves have defined theater and film while captivating the public eye. Their history is a rich tapestry of singu­larly talented individuals whose influence is felt to this day, yet their story has never before been told. In The Redgraves, bestselling biographer Donald Spoto draws on his close personal relationships with the family and includes both his interviews and unprecedented personal access to them. The result is a groundbreaking account of this extraordinary clan and their circle, including such luminaries as Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, and Sir Laurence Olivier.

The story began in 1907 with the marriage of actress Daisy Scudamore to matinee idol Roy Red­grave and the birth in 1908 of their son, Michael, who became a famous stage actor and movie star. Michael’s family and wide social circle knew that for decades he was insistently bisexual, notwithstanding his marriage to Rachel Kempson, one of England’s most glamorous and admired actresses.

Their daughter Vanessa, a great and revered per­former, is the only British actress ever to win Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Cannes, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards—achievements that have been paralleled by a profound humanitarian commitment even as she tackled difficult and controversial roles.

Vanessa’s sister, Lynn Redgrave, led a triumphant and complex life in her own way, too. From her per­formance in the movie Georgy Girl to her prizewin­ning play about her father and her Oscar-nominated performance in Gods and Monsters, Lynn established herself as a very different Redgrave.

Corin Redgrave, their brother, was known for his acclaimed performances onstage and screen—and he was a tireless and outspoken political radical.

The family tradition of distinction continues with the careers of Joely Richardson and Jemma Red­grave and reached a high point in the life and career of Vanessa’s daughter, Natasha Richardson, who earned a Tony Award for her role as Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret. Natasha’s sudden death after a skiing les­son in 2009 shocked and saddened admirers of her work and graceful spirit.

The product of more than thirty years of research, The Redgraves recounts the epic saga of a family that has extended the possibilities for actors on stage, screen, and television in Britain, America, and around the world. -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a very interesting biography of a fascinating family. I enjoyed learning about the Redgraves and their accomplishments and disappointments both in their career and in their personal lives.

Date read: 5/17/2014
Book #: 15
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Biography

ISBN-10: 0307720144
ISBN-13: 9780307720146
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Year: 2012
# of pages: 309
Binding: Hardcover
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Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart

First sentence:

"I woke up sweaty and shaking."

Description:

"William 'Dead' Kennedy has problems.

He's haunted by family, by dead people with unfinished business, and by those perfect pop songs that you can't get out of your head. He's a 32-year-old Texan still in love with his ex-wife. He just lost his job at Petco for eating cat food. His air-conditioning in broken, there's no good music on the radio, and he's been dreaming about ghost roads.

When Will's cousin ('My dad married your Aunt Dot's half-sister') calls in the middle of the night about a dead girl haunting his garage, helping him out seems an easy way to make a thousand dollars.

But nothing is ever that simple, especially when family is involved. Will's mother is planning a family reunion of epic proportions. Will's ex-wife is married to a former Marine who knows Will is bad news. Will's 12-year-old daughter, Megan, thinks he needs someone to look after him.

And recently his dead relatives seem to want something from him.

Sometimes a guy is haunted for a really good reason." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about hauntings both seen and unseen. I especially liked the characters' interactions, notably between Will and his daughter Meghan, and between Will and the ghosts he encounters.

Date read: 5/3/2014
Book #: 15
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 1931520119
ISBN-13: 9781931520119
Publisher: Small Beer Press
Year: 2004
# of pages: 243
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Book of Dave by Will Self

First sentence:

"Carl Devush, spindle-shanked, bleach blond, lampburnt, twelve years old, kicked up bluff puffs of sand with his bare feet as he scampered along the path from the manor."

Description:

"When East End cabdriver Dave Rudman's wife takes from him his ownly son, Dave pens a gripping text--a compilation about everything from the environment, Arabs, and American tourists to sex, Prozac and cabby lore--that captures all his frustrations and anxieties about his contemporary world. Dave buries the book in his ex-wife's Hampstead backyard, intending it for his son, Carl when he comes of age.

Five hundred years later, Dave's book is found by the inhabitants of Ham, a primitive archipelago in post-apocalyptic London, where it becomes a sacred text of biblical proportions and the template for a new civilization. Only one islander, Symum, remains incredulous. But, after he is imprisoned for heresy, his son Carl must journey through the Forbidden Zone and into the terrifying heart of New London to find the only thing that will reveal the truth once and for all: a second Book of Dave that repudiates the first.

Equal parts dystopian fantasy, religious allegory, detective story, and tribute to the sometimes fraught relations between fathers and sons, The Book of Dave is a profound meditation upon the nature of religion and a caustic satire of contemporary life." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a complex and gripping book about family, madness, love and religion, with a new vocabulary to get used to from the beginning. At first, I wasn't sure I liked the book, but the story soon caught my interest and I wanted to learn more about Dave and the future inhabitants of Ham.

Date read: 4/25/2014
Book #: 14
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 1596911239
ISBN-13: 9781596911239
Publisher: Bloomsbury, USA
Year: 2006
# of pages: 416
Binding: Hardcover
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The Stranger by Albert Camus

First sentence:

"Maman died today."

Description:

"Since it was first published in English, in 1946, Albert Camus's first novel, The Stranger (L'Etranger), has had a profound impact on millions of American readers. Through this story of an ordinary man who unwittingly gets drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed 'the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.'

Now, in an illuminating new American translation, extraordinary for its exactitude and clarity, the original intent of The Stranger is made more immediate. This haunting novel has been given a new life for generations to come." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book set in 1940s Algeria. Mersault's isolation and indifference to others and his own fate was creepy and thought-provoking.

Book #: 13
Date read: 4/15/2014
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0679720200
ISBN-13: 9780679720201
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year: 1942; 1988 (this edition)
# of pages: 123
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

First sentence:

"I keep the Beast running."

Description:

"Hig survived the flu that killed everyone he knows. His wife is gone, his friends are dead, he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, his only neighbor a gun-toting misanthrope. In his 1956 Cessna, Hig flies the perimeter of the airfield or sneaks off to the mountains to fish and pretend that things are the way they used to be. But when a random transmission somehow beams through his radio, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life–something like his old life–exists beyond the airport. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return–not enough fuel to get him home–following the trail of the static-broken voice on the radio. But what he encounters and what he must face–in the people he meets, and in himself–is both better and worse than anything he could have hoped for." -- from peterheller.net

My thoughts:

I loved this story about starting again in a new world. There's joy and heartbreak, excitement and serenity. I liked Hig's interactions with Bangley and especially with his dog Jasper.

Date read: 4/13/2014
Book #: 12
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0307950476
ISBN-13: 9780307950475
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 2013
# of pages: 336
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Nine Tomorrows by Isaac Asimov

First sentence:

"George Planten could not conceal the longing in his voice."

Description:

"These unusual short stories, written by a master of science fiction, are nine uncanny glimpses into the not too distant future of earth people.

I'm in Marsport Without Hilda is a hilarious lesson in outer-space hipster slang conducted by three gangsters suspected of smuggling a vital tranquilizer drug from earth while their frantic interrogator longs for his rendezvous with Marsport's fanciest lady. All the Troubles of the World is the chilling tale of Multivac, the amazing machine that could solve every problem fed into it but the problems of its own humanity. The Ugly Little Boy, the final and longest story in this fine collection, is a subtle, brilliantly conceived study in terror -- as a young child is suddenly catapulted out of the dim reaches of the past to become the subject of a brutal scientific experiment.

Whatever their mood -- wryly humorous or grimly realistic -- these nine stories all reflect Isaac Asimov's masterful ability to combine scientific fact with the unpredictable, 'unscientific' actions of mankind. The collection is spiced with two superb stories in verse (an Asimov specialty) entitled I Just Make Them Up, See! and Rejection Slips." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this early collection of Asimov stories. I especially liked the stories about the supercomputer Multivac and the story "The Ugly Little Boy" about a lost boy far from home.

Date read: 4/1/2014
Book #: 11
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

Publisher: Doubleday & Co
Year: 1959
# of pages:  236
Binding: Hardcover
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The Margarets by Sheri S Tepper

First sentence:

"Once a very long time ago, between fifty and a hundred thousand years, a small group of humans fleeing from predators took refuge in a cave."

Description:

"The myriad alien civilizations populating far, distant worlds have many good reasons to detest the blight called "humankind" . . .

The only human child living in a work colony on the Martian satellite Phobos, little Margaret Bain has invented six imaginary companions to keep boredom and loneliness at bay. Each an extension of her personality, they are lost to her when she is forced to return to Earth. But they are not gone.

The time will come when Margaret, fully grown and wed, must leave this dying world as well—this Earth so denuded by thoughtlessness and chemistry that its only viable export is slaves. For now Margarets are scattered throughout the galaxy. And their creator must bring her selves home . . . or watch the human race perish."  -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about identities and working with others to make a difference. While at times the plot was confusing to me, at the end, it all came together nicely. I especially liked the part when the "Margarets" met each other and learned where they each came from.

Date read: 3/20/2014
Book #: 10
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0061170690
ISBN-13: 9780061170690
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Year: 2009 (Reprint)
# of pages: 528
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Saul Bellow's Heart by Greg Bellow

First sentence:

"On a visit to Chicago when I was eight, I witnessed a terrible argument, in Yiddish, between my father and grandfather."

Description:

In this warm, affectionate, yet strikingly honest memoir, Greg Bellow offers a unique look inside the life of his father, one of America’s greatest twentieth-century writers. Saul Bellow, the famous but fiercely private Nobel Prize winner, was known to be quick to anger and prone to argument, but he shared a tender bond with Greg, his firstborn.

In Saul Bellow’s Heart, Greg gives voice to a side of Saul unknown to most, the “young Saul”—emotionally accessible, often soft, with a set of egalitarian social values and the ability to laugh at the world’s folly and at himself. Saul’s accessibility and lightheartedness waned as he aged, and his social views hardened. This is the “old Saul” most well known to the world, and these changes taxed the relationship between Bellow and his son, now an adult, so sorely that Greg often worried that it wouldn’t survive. But theirs were differences of mind, not of the heart. Interweaving memories, personal stories, and autobiographical references in Saul’s books on which he can shed a unique light, Greg Bellow reveals himself to be a fine prose stylist and never shies away from the truth about his father.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this biography of Saul Bellow. Greg Bellow brings the reader behind the scenes, showing how Saul's life events portrayed in characters like Henderson, Herzog, etc. He also presents a candid look at relationships, especially regarding how they evolve over the years.

Date read: 3/15/2014
Book #: 9
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Biography

ISBN-10: 1608199959
ISBN-13: 9781608199952
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2013
# of pages: 223
Binding: Hardcover
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Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay

First sentence:

"Harry was in his little house on the edge of Back Bay when at half past twelve her voice came over the radio for the first time."

Description:

Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small radio station in the Canadian North. There, in Yellowknife, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a voice on air. He soon discovers that the real woman, Dido Paris, is even more than he imagined.

Dido and Harry are part of the cast of eccentric, beguiling characters who form an unlikely group of colleagues at the station. As summer progresses, we gradually discover their loves and longings, their professional and personal rivalries, the stories of their pasts and what brought each of them to the North. When four of them embark on a canoe trip into the Arctic wilderness, tracing the journey of the ill-fated Englishman John Hornby, their lives are altered, much as the balance of power in the North is being changed by the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which threatens to rip open the Arctic and displace Native people from their land.

Hay has a skewering intelligence about the frailties of the human heart. Weaving stories from the past into the present, she builds a fresh, erotic, darkly witty and moving tale, replete with sentences that will stop you dead because of

Elizabeth Hay has been compared to Annie Proulx, Alice Hoffman, and Isabel Allende, yet she is uniquely herself. With unforgettable characters, vividly evoked settings, in this new novel, Hay brings to bear her  and her ability to tell a spellbinding story. Written in gorgeous prose, laced with dark humour, Late Nights on Air is Hay’s most seductive and accomplished novel yet.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about people at a radio station in the Canadian North. I especially liked the interactions between the characters and the life-changing trip some of them make.

Date read: 3/11/2014
Book #: 8
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0771040199
ISBN-13: 9780771040191
Publisher: Counterpoint
Year: 2008
# of pages: 364
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals by Wendy Dale

First sentence:

"I like to think that I'm a typical traveler, that my idea of a good trip is pretty much the same as the next guy's but every once in a while, something happens to make me suspect this isn't really the case."

Description:

"From salsa dancing in a rum-induced haze and struggling to exercise in Colombia (“the guerrillas were using the track again today”), to crossing international borders unconventionally and dodging bombs in Lebanon (“the good news was that they were ‘small bombs’”), Wendy somehow manages to find herself in the midst of hysterical, adventurous, and often illegal situations. Case in point—every time she heads to Costa Rica, she is forced to visit another prison. Although a jail may not be everyone’s idea of a place to find a date, Wendy soon falls in love with a man, a country, and its people and risks everything she has to clear his name.

Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals is a bumpy and hilarious ride in which Wendy discovers that a successful vacation—much like that elusive thing, happiness—can be found in some of the most unlikely places imaginable. -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

An amusing and sometimes poignant book about finding "home" in places near and far. I liked Dale's honesty as she recounted her adventures in the Middle East, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Date read: 2/15/2014
Book #: 7
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genres: Memoir / Travel

ISBN-10: 0609809830
ISBN-13: 9780609809839
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Year: 2003
# of pages: 326
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Ice Man by Ron Cutler

First sentence: 

"It was December."

Description:

"Snow was falling when they found her floating downriver. She was naked, still chained, her beauty forever frozen in a block of ice. Jason Briscoe, the man convicted of the crime, claims it wasn't murder. Just rough sex gone too far. Prison psychologist Holly Alexander agrees. Sex offenders are her specialty, and she approves the handsome Briscoe's parole. But that's before Holly meets his living victims. Before the strange signs surface. Before the tables are turned and she becomes the hunted. Now Holly knows everything, but can prove nothing. And somewhere in the cold shadows, he waits to kill again..." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is a very intense thriller that kept my interest throughout. As the main character, Holly Alexander, becomes increasingly isolated from friends and family, I wondered how she would survive and overcome her enemy. Cutler doesn't make things easy for Holly and while sometimes I found the obstacles seemingly endless, I now appreciate the problems Holly faced.

Date read: 2/1/2014
Book #: 6
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 078601654X
ISBN-13: 9780786016549
Publisher: Pinnacle
Year: 2004
# of pages: 356
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Milk Treading by Nick Smith

First sentence:

"Where the hell am I?"

Description:

Life isn't easy for Julius Kyle, a jaded crime hack with the Post. When he wakes up on a sand barge with his head full of grit he knows things have to change. But how fast they'll change he doesn't guess until his best friend Mick jumps to his death off a fifty-foot bridge outside the Post's window. Worst of all, he's a cat. That means keeping himself scrupulously clean, defending his territory and battling an addiction to milk.

Life isn't easy for a small cat with a big mouth, uttering words that could lead to a riot - or a war. So when the lovely Moira begs Julius for help, Julius is drawn brutally into a life he has only lived in his novels - the life of his hero sleuth Tiger Straight.

The cats live in a city called Bast, a sprawling world of alleyways and claw-shaped towers. Julius has to contend with political intrigue, territorial disputes and dog-burglars. For murder, mystery, mayhem and milk treading. . .join Julius has he prowls deeper and deeper into the crooked underworld of Bast." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this mystery set in a world of cats and dogs. I liked how Julian used his "cat smarts" to solve the mystery and how the characters interacted with each other.I look forward to reading the next book, The Kitty Killer Cult.

Date read: 1/28/2014
Book #: 5
Series: Kitty Society, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 1842820370
ISBN-13:  9781842820377
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd.
Year: 2002
# of pages: 246
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddoe

First sentence:

"Oxford England, July 1869. Everyone thought she had made it ups, and she had tolerated more taunting and teasing from other children, more lectures and punishments from grown-ups, than any eleven-year-old should have to bear."

Description:

"The Myth:

Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook.

The Truth:

Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss's  parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This book was a good take on the Alice in Wonderland story. I liked how Alyss and Hatter have to navigate in this world and how they and their friends work together to confront Redd. I look forward to reading the next book, Seeing Redd.

Date read: 1/17/2014
Book #: 4
Series: Looking Glass Wars, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0545049369
ISBN-13: 9780545049368
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Year: 2007
# of pages: 358
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler

First sentence:

"On Waverly Street, everybody knew everybody else."

Description:

In 1965, the happy Bedloe family is living an ideal, apple-pie existence in Baltimore. Then, in the blink of an eye, a single tragic event occurs that will transform their lives forever--particularly that of 17-year-old Ian Bedloe, the youngest son, who blames himself for the sudden "accidental" death of his older brother.

Depressed and depleted, Ian is almost crushed under the weight of an unbearable, secret guilt. Then one crisp January evening, he catches sight of a window with glowing yellow neon, the CHURCH OF THE SECOND CHANCE. He enters and soon discovers that forgiveness must be earned, through a bit of sacrifice and a lot of love." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book about family relationships, both good and bad. I especially liked the interactions between Caleb and Daphne.

Date read: 1/9/2014
Book #: 3
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0449911608
ISBN-13: 978044991600
Publisher: Random House
Year: 1996
# of pages: 337
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

First sentence:

"As a child in the early 1980s, I tended to talk with things in my mouth - food, dentist's tubes, balloons that would fly away, whatever - and if no one else was around, I'd talk anyway."

Description:

"Why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) ruin Marie Curie’s reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history?

The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it’s also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold, and every single element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

Why did a little lithium (Li, 3) help cure poet Robert Lowell of his madness? And how did gallium (Ga, 31) become the go-to element for laboratory pranksters? The Disappearing Spoon has the answers, fusing science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, discovery, and alchemy, from the big bang through the end of time." -- from the book jacket

My thoughts:

This is a fascinating book about the elements placed in the context of their discovery and their impact on everything. I liked how Kean groups the elements in various contexts, such as medicine and money.

Date read: 1/7/2014
Book #: 2
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 0316051640
ISBN-13: 9780316051644
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Year: 2010
# of pages: 346
Binding: Hardcover
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