Off the Shelf Challenge 2012

What: Read books from the TBR pile
When: January 1 - December 31, 2012

For more information, see the instructions on Bookish Ardour

My level: 2 = trying.  For this level, I will read 15 books:

1. Carole Nelson Douglas. Dancing with Werewolves -- finished 1/3/2012 
2. Geraldine Brooks. People of the Book -- finished 1/23/2012 
3. Robert C. Fleet. Last Mountain -- finished 1/31/2012
4. Jonathan Carroll. Glass Soup -- finished 2/6/2012
5. John Ramsey Miller. Upside Down -- finished 2/8/2012
6. C.J. Cherryh. The Pride of Chanur -- finished 2/8/2012
7. Greg Iles. The Footprints of God -- finished 2/28/2012
8. Jeffrey Ford. The Girl in the Glass -- finished 3/8/2012
9. Mo Hayder. Pig Island -- finished 3/19/2012
10. Robert A. Heinlein. The Green Hills of Earth -- finished 3/21/2012
11. Jason F. Wright. The Wednesday Letters -- finished 3/28/2012
12. Michael Crichton. Sphere -- finished 3/29/2012
13. Patricia Wallace. Lullabye. -- finished 3/31/2012
14. Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove. Household Gods -- finished 4/9/2012
15. Carl Hiassen. Native Tongue -- finished 4/18/2012
16. Trish MacDonald Skillman. Someone to Watch Over -- finished 4/25/2012
17. Dave Duncan. The Gilded Chain -- finished 5/16/2012
18. Tiziano Terzani. A Fortune-Teller Told Me -- finished 5/27/2012
19. Matt Ruff. Bad Monkeys -- finished 6/2/2012
20. Kelly Link. Magic for Beginners. -- finished 6/20/2012
21. Frederick Forsyth. Icon. -- finished 7/2/2012
22. Poul Anderson. Trader to the Stars. -- finished 7/23/2012
23. Charlaine Harris. Real Murders -- finished 8/14/2012
24. Mark Kurlansky. Salt: A World History -- finished 8/19/2012
25. Karen Chance. Touch the Dark -- finished 8/29/2012
26. Aiden James. Plague of Coins -- finished 8/30/2012
27. Linda Gillard. Emotional Geology -- finished 9/15/2012
28. Keith R.A. DeCandido. The Xander Years, Volume 1 -- finished 9/17/2012
29. Max Barry. Machine Man -- finished 10/12/2012
30. Elizabeth Strout. Olive Kittridge -- finished 10/20/2012
31. Philip Caputo. The Voyage -- finished 11/15/2012
32. Elspeth Huxley. Murder at Government House -- finished 12/6/2012
33. C.J. Cherryh. Serpent's Reach -- finished 12/9/2012
34. Katharine Weber. Triangle -- finished 12/29/2012

Triangle by Katharine Weber

First sentence:

"This is what happened."

Description:

"By the time she dies at age 106, Esther Gottesfeld, the last survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire, has told the story of that days many times. But her own role remains mysterious: How did she survive when at least 146 workers, her sister and fiancé among them, burned or jumped to their deaths? Are the gaps in her story just common mistakes, or has she deliberately concealed a secret over the years? As her granddaughter seeks the real story in the present day, a zealous feminist historian intrudes with her own set of conclusions, but it is Esther's voice echoing insistently through the decades that ultimately reveals the meaning of the tragedy.

A brilliant, haunting chronicle of the event that stood for ninety years as New York's most violent disaster, Triangle forces us to consider how we tell our stories, how we hear them, and how history is forged from unverifiable truths." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a very good book about people and their stories. The ones they tell, and the ones told about them. I liked Esther's interactions with the interviewer as well as her granddaughter's friend George Bostwick composing music based on DNA.

Date read: 12/29/2012
Book #: 43
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0312426143
ISBN-13: 9780312426149
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2006
# of pages: 242
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing page

Serpent's Reach by C.J. Cherryh

First sentence:

"If it was anywhere possible to be a child in the Family, it was possible at Kethiuy, on Cerdin."

Description:

"The constellation of Hydri, known as the Serpent, is compact and obscure from Earth and remained so in the era of interstellar colonization. For it was under strict quarantine--harboring an intelligent race, powerful and alien. Yet there were human colonies within the Serpent's Reach, cut off from the galaxy beyond, with their own inbred culture, and their special relationships to the inhuman majat.

This is the novel of Raen, the last of the massacred Sul Family, and of her lifetime pledge to find vengeance. It was to take her across the worlds of the Reach into the very center of the alien webwork that knit the forbidden constellation into a complex of interbred cultures that no outsider could hope to unravel." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book set in a rich and complicated universe. I especially liked the way the majat are portrayed and how Raen interacts with them.

Date read: 12/9/2012
Book #: 42
Series: Alliance-Union Universe, #13
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0886770882
ISBN-13: 9780886770884
Publisher: DAW
Year:\1980
# of pages: 285
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

New Author Challenge 2012!

What: Read authors who are new to me

When: January 1 - December 31, 2012

Hosted at Literary Escapism

 
My goal: 15 new authors

1. Robert C. Fleet. Last Mountain -- finished 1/31/2012
2. Lev Grossman. Codex -- finished 2/3/2012
3. John Ramsey Miller. Upside Down -- finished 2/8/2012
4. Greg Iles. The Footprints of God -- finished 2/28/2012
5. Mo Hayder. Pig Island -- finished 3/19/2012
6. Jason F. Wright. The Wednesday Letters -- finished 3/28/2012
7. Patricia Wallace. Lullabye -- finished 3/31/2012
8. Carl Hiassen. Native Tongue -- finished 4/18/2012
9. Irene Nemirovsky. All Our Worldly Goods-- finished 4/23/2012
10. Trish MacDonald Skillman. Someone to Watch Over -- finished 4/25/2012
11. Dave Duncan. The Gilded Chain -- finished 5/16/2012
12. Tiziano Terzani. A Fortune-Teller Told Me -- finished 5/27/2012
13. Shalom Auslander. Hope: A Tragedy -- finished 7/15/2012
14. Mark Kurlansky. Salt: A World History -- finished 8/19/2012
15. Richard Castle. Heat Wave -- finished 8/22/2012
16. Karen Chance. Touch the Dark -- finished 8/29/2012
17. Aiden James. Plague of Coins -- finished 8/30/2012
18. Linda Gillard. Emotional Geology -- finished 9/15/2012
19. Keith R.A. DeCandido. The Xander Years, Volume 1 -- finished 9/17/2012
20. Elizabeth Strout. Olive Kittridge -- finished 10/20/2012
21. Jennifer Wilson. Running Away to Home -- finished 11/9/2012
22. Philip Caputo. The Voyage -- finished 11/15/2012
23. Elspeth Huxley. Murder at Government House -- finished 12/6/2013

Murder at Government House by Elspeth Huxley

First sentence:

"Mark Beaton was in that embittered mood that was apt to follow the nerve-racking preparations for a Government House dinner-party."

Description:

"Life in the colonial capital at Chania is relaxed and blooming, barring the odd hiccough in the regional railways, but Olivia Brandeis, a young anthropologist working in the region, senses that there is trouble brewing. When the Governor is found strangled at his desk, her suspicions are confirmed. Falicious rumors fly as Inspector Vachell tries to sort out conflictng accusations and find a real suspect. Then Olivia relates her encounter with a tribal witch doctor--and an even more terrifying series of events begins to unfold." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this mystery set in Africa during the colonial period. I especially liked Vachell and Olivia working together to figure out who killed the Governor and why. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Murder on Safari.

Date read: 12/6/2012
Book #:41
Series: Vachell, #1
Challenges: New Author Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012 
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0140112553
ISBN-13: 9780140112559
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1937
# of pages: 231
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

A to Z Challenge 2012

As described by the challenge host, Strawberry Splash Review, the A to Z Challenge 2012 has three possible choices:

"1. Author - A to Z by authors last name, 26 books.
2. Title - A to Z by book title, 26 books.
3. Double Whammy - Do both Challenge 1 and 2 for a total 52 books."

I will do #2: A to Z by book title


A: All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky -- finished 4/23/2012
B: Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff -- finished 6/2/2012
C: Codex by Lev Grossman -- finished 2/3/2012
D: Dancing with Werewolves by Carole Nelson Douglas -- finished 1/3/2012
E: Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard -- finished 9/15/2012
F: The Footprints of God by Greg Iles -- finished 2/28/2012
G: Glass Soup by Jonathan Carroll -- finished 2/6/2012
H: Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove -- finished 4/9/2012
I: Icon by Frederick Forsyth. -- finished 6/2/2012
J:
K:
L: Last Mountain by Robert C. Fleet -- finished 1/31/2012
M: The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi -- finished 2/23/2012
N: Native Tongue by Carl Hiassen -- finished 4/18/2012
O: Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout -- finished 10/20/2012 
P: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks -- finished 1/23/2012
Q:
R: Real Murders by Charlaine Harris -- finished 8/14/2012
S: Sphere by Michael Crichton -- finished 3/29/2012
T: Trader to the Stars by Poul Anderson -- finished 7/23/2012
U: Upside Down by John Ramsey Miller -- finished 2/9/2012
V: The Voyage by Philip Caputo -- finished 11/15/2012
W: The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright -- finished 3/28/2012
X: The Xander Years, Vol. 1 by Keith R.A. DeCandido -- finished 9/18/2012
Y:
Z:

The Voyage by Philip Caputo

First sentence:

"The sea was gray that morning, and as smooth as the surface of an eye."

Description:

"On a June morning in 1901, Cyrus Braithwaite commands his three sons to set sail from their Maine home aboard the family's forty-six-foot schooner and not return until September. Though confused and hurt by their father's cold-blooded order, the three brothers soon rise to the occasion and embark on a breathtakingly perilous journey down the East Coast, headed for the Florida Keys.

Almost a hundred years later, Cyrus's great-granddaughter Sybil sets out to uncover the events that transpired on the voyage. Her discoveries about the Braithwaite family and the America they lived in unfolds into a stunning tale of intrigue, murder, lies, and deceit.

In the tradition of great seafaring adventures, The Voyage is an intricately plotted, superbly detailed, and gripping story of adenture and courage. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Caputo has written a timeless novel about the dangerous, reerberating effects of long-held family secrets." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This is a very good book about adventure and family. I especially liked the brothers learning to work together in the storms.

Date read: 11/15/2012
Book #: 40
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0679768394
ISBN-13: 9780679768395
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year: 1999
# of pages: 416
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing page

Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson

First sentence:

"Dawn had not yet broken as I wrestled my suitcase out of my room above the bar in Mrkopalj, a tiny Croatian village nestled in a low mountain range that looks like the Alps but with fewer people and more wild boars."

Description:

"'We can look at this in two ways,' Jim wrote, always the pragmatist. 'We can panic and scrap the whole idea. Or we can take this as a sign. They're saying the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. Maybe this is the kick in the pants we needed to do something completely different. There will always be an excuse not to go. . . .'

And that, friends, is how a typically sane middle-aged mother decided to drag her family back to a forlorn mountain village in the backwoods of Croatia.

So begins the author's journey in Running Away to Home. Jen, her architect husband Jim, and their two children had been living the typical soccer-and-ballet-practice life in the most Middle American of places: Des Moines, Iowa. They overindulged themselves and their kids, and as a family they were losing one another in the rush of work, school, and activities. One day, Jen and her husband looked at each other--both holding their Starbucks coffee as they headed out to their SUV in the mall parking lot, while the kids complained about the inferiority of the toys they just got--and asked themselves: 'Is this the American dream? Because if it is, it sort of sucks.'

Jim and Jen had always dreamed of taking a family sabbatical in another country, so when they lost half their savings in the stock-market crash, it seemed like just a crazy enough time to do it. High on wanderlust, they left the troubled landscape of contemporary America for the Croatian mountain village of Mrkopalj, the land of Jennifer's ancestors. It was a village that seemed hermetically sealed for the last one hundred years, with a population of eight hundred (mostly drunken) residents and a herd of sheep milling around the post office. For several months they lived like locals, from milking the neighbor's cows to eating roasted pig on a spit to desperately seeking the village recipe for bootleg liquor. As the Wilson-Hoff family struggled to stay sane (and warm), what they found was much deeper and bigger than themselves." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book of not only researching family history, but living in the ancestors' home village and meeting new relatives. I liked how Jen learned not to stand outside as an observer but instead participate in daily activities, thus making new and valued friends.

Date read: 11/9/2012
Book #: 39
Challenge: New Author Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir

ISBN-10: 0312598955
ISBN-13: 9780312598952
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Year: 2011
# of pages: 317
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page

Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout

First sentence:

"For many years Henry Kitteridge was a pharmacist in the next town over, driving every morning on snowy roads, or rainy roads, or summertime roads, when the wild raspberries shot their new growth in brambles along the last section of town before he turned off to where the wider road led to the pharmacy."

Description:

"At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life --- sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridgeoffers profound insights into the human condition --- its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about a small town in Maine and the people who live there. At first, I considered Olive to be aloof, but as the book progressed, I discovered she was more than I thought.

Date read:10/20/2012
Book #:38
Challenges: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A to Z Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0812971833
ISBN-13: 9780812971835
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2008
# of pages: 270
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing page

Machine Man by Max Berry

First sentence:

"As a boy, I wanted to be a train."

Description:

"Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. His employer, military contractor Better Future, has the resources Charlie needs to explore a few ideas. He begins to build parts. Better parts.

Prosthetist Lola Shanks admires a good artificial limb and Charlie admires Lola. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. Others see a madman. Others still, a product. And Better Future sees a weapon of unparalleled potential." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I liked the mix of human and machine and the way Charlie became more human as he replaced parts of himself.

Date read: 10/11/2012
Book #: 37
Challenge: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0307476898
ISBN-13: 9780307476890
Publisher: Vintage Books
Year: 2011
# of pages: 274
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing page

The Xander Years, Volume 1 by Keith R.A. DeCandido

First sentence:

"The argument started when Cordelia saw what Xander was wearing."

Description:

"Unfulfilled crushes. Awkward first conversations. A date who wants you. . .dead.

Having a Y-chromsome in Sunnydale is never easy. But Buffy the Vampire Slayer's friend Xander Harris seems to find more than his share of trouble with the opposite sex.

At first Xander is happy being the teacher's pet--until his schoolboy crush brings out her true animal instincts. Then his whirlwind romance with the exotic foreign exchange student falters when she demands the ultimate sacrifice.

Some members of the Slaying squad might say that dating Cordelia Chase could kill a guy. But Xander's relationship with the high-maintenance Cordy actually seems to be working out--until she decides he's seriously harming her social standing. His craft plan to win her back may earn him more love than one guy can handle.

Now collected for the first time, are three stories from the hit TV series chronicling Xander's search for love on the Hellmouth." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to read stories based on a television show, even a show I like. But as I continued reading, I started to enjoy reading about Xander's misadventures and finding out how he saw things and what he thought.

Date read: 9/18/2012
Book #: 35
Challenges: Whats in a Name 5 Challenge, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A to Z Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0671026291
ISBN-13: 9780671026295
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year: 1999
# of pages: 227
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

First sentence:

"I talk to the Island."

Description:

"Rose Leonard is on the run from her life.

Taking refuge in a remote island community, she cocoons herself in work, silence and solitude in a house by the sea. But she is haunted by her past, by memories and desires she'd hoped were long dead.

Rose must decide whether she has in fact chosen a new life or just a different kind of death. Life and love are offered by new friends, her lonely daughter, and most of all Callum, a fragile younger man who has his own demons to exorcise.

But does Rose, with her tenuous hold on life and sanity, have the courage to say yes to life and put her past behind her?" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a moving story about love and art, strength and weakness, and learning to trust again. I liked the interaction between Rose and Callum and between Rose and her daughter Megan.

Date read: 9/15/2012
Book #: 34
Challenges: New Author Challenge, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A to Z Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 1905175078
ISBN-13: 9781905175079
Publisher: Transita
Year: 2005
# of pages: 307
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

Plague of Coins by Aiden James

First sentence:

"This looks promising..."

Description:

William Barrow carries a dark secret. A very dark secret.

An archivist for the Smithsonian Institute and also a part-time operative for the CIA, no one would ever suspect the handsome ‘thirty-ish’ William is in fact the most reviled human being to ever walk the earth. His infectious warmth and sense of humor make such an assertion especially hard to believe.

But long ago, William Barrow had another name…one that is synonymous with shame and betrayal: Judas Iscariot.

Forced to walk the earth as a cursed immortal, William/Judas is on a quest to reclaim the thirty silver shekels paid to him in exchange for Jesus Christ. Twenty-one coins have now been recovered—thanks in large part to the help from his latest son, the esteemed Georgetown University history professor, Alistair Barrow.

Ever hopeful the complete coin collection will buy him a full pardon from God and end his banishment from heaven, William plans a visit to a remote village deep within Iran’s Alborz Mountains to retrieve ‘silver coin number twenty-two’. But the CIA has a different objective for this trip, one that pits both father and son against an unscrupulous Russian billionaire searching for something else that’s just as precious within the ancient mountains of Iran…something that threatens peace in the modern world if William and Alistair fail to reach it first." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

Overall, I enjoyed this thriller featuring William Barrow (aka Judas Iscariot) and his quest to reclaim another silver shekel. At first, there was some awkward foreshadowing by Barrow at the beginning, but after a while it ended, and the pace of the story picked up. I look forward to reading the next book, Reign of Coins.

Date read: 8/30/2012
Book #: 32
Challenges: New Author Challenge, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012
Series: Judas Chronicles #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 1466386916
ISBN-13: 9761466386914
Publisher: Aiden James Fiction
Year: 2011
# of pages: 221
Binding: Trade Paperback
LibraryThing page

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

First sentence:

"I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the obituary."

Description:

"Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits-talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead.  The ghosts of the dead aren't usually dangerous; they just like to talk...a lot.

The undead are another matter.

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires.  But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire-and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay..." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book of the Cassandra Palmer series. I like the mix of characters and the way Cassie learned that things were not as she thought. I look forward to reading the next book, Claimed by Shadow.

Date read: 8/29/2012
Book #: 31
Series: Cassandra Palmer, #1
Challenges: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Dark Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0451460936
ISBN-13: 9780451460936
Publisher: ROC
Year: 2006
# of pages: 307
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

First sentence:

"It was always the same for her when she arrived to meet the body."

Description:

"Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly bestselling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of a murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between her and Rook. The one called heat." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

As a fan of the television show Castle, I enjoyed reading the first book of the "Nikki Heat" series. I not only liked the mystery but I also liked remembering scenes from the show and seeing the subtle changes depicted in the book. I look forward to reading the next book, Naked Heat.

Date read: 8/23/2012
Book #: 30
Challenge: New Author Challenge
Series: Nikki Heat, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 1401310400
ISBN-13: 9781401310400
Publisher: Hyperion
Year: 2010
# of pages: 196
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

First sentence:

"I bought the rock in Spanish Catalonia, in the rundown hillside mining town of Cardona."

Description:

"Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. Today we take it for granted; however, as Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates in this world-encompassing book, salt-the only rock we eat-has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind.

Until about 100 years ago, when modern geology revealed how prevalent it is, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities, for without it humans and animals could not live. Salt has often been considered so valuable that it served as currency, and it is still exchanged as such in places today. Demand for salt established the earliest trade routes, across unknown oceans and the remotest of deserts: the city of Jericho was founded almost 10,000 years ago as a salt trading center. Because of its worth, salt has provoked and financed some wars; it was, as well, a strategic element in the American Revolution and the Civil War, among other conflicts. Salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia and have also inspired revolution (Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India); indeed, salt has been central to the age-old debate about the rights of government to tax and control economies.

The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Few endeavors have inspired more ingenuity than salt making, from the natural gas furnaces of ancient China to the drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum, and salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Erie Canal and the Great Wall of China. Salt's ability to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, salt has shaped the history of foods like cheese, sauerkraut, olives, and more, and Kurlansky conveys, in his saga and through 40 historic recipes-how they have in turn molded civilization and eating habits the world over.

Salt: A World History is veined with colorful characters, from Li Bing, the Chinese bureaucrat who built the world's first dam in 250 BC, to Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas who, ignoring the advice of geologists, drilled an east Texas salt dome in 1901 and discovered an oil reserve so large it gave birth to the age of petroleum. From the sinking salt towns of Cheshire in England to the ancient salt work in southern San Francisco Bay; from the remotest islands in the Caribbean where roads are made of salt to rural Sichaun province where the last home-made soya sauce is produced, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale." -- from the inside flap


My thoughts:

This was a thoroughly informative book on salt and its impact on world history. I learned many new things including the fact that the word stem "-wich" as in Norwich means salt works and that there's a rock salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit.

Date read: 8/19/2012
Book #: 29
Challenges: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction


ISBN-10: 0802713734
ISBN-13: 9780802713735
Publisher: Walker and Company
Year: 2002
# of pages: 449
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

First sentence:

"'Tonight I want to tell you about that most fascinating of murder mysteries, the Wallace case,' I told my mirror Enthusiastically."

Description:

"Every month, Real Murders, a society of crime buffs in Lawrenceton, Georgia, met to discuss a favorite infamous murder. Its members were an eccentric lot: Gifford Doakes, the massacre specialist; Jane Engle, lover of Victorian horrors; Perry Allison, a Ted Bundy fan. . .

The night of the last meeting, town librarian Aurora 'Roe' Teagarden discovered Mamie Wright's mutilated body in the clubhouse kitchen. She felt certain the killer was a fellow murder, for the crime bore a chilling resemblance to the club's 'murder of the month.'

And as other brutal 'copycat' killings followed, the only motive seemed a horrifying bizarre sense of fun. . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this mystery featuring a librarian trying to discover who was copying well-known murders from the past. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, A Bone to Pick.

Date read: 8/14/2012
Book #: 28
Series: Aurora Teagarden, #1
Challenges: Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A-Z Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0373261047
ISBN-13: 9780373261048
Publisher: Worldwide
Year: 1990
# of pages: 252
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page

What's in a Name 5 Challenge!

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, I will read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title

Robert B. Fleet. Last Mountain -- finished 1/31/2012

• A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title

Poul Anderson. Trader to the Stars -- finished 7/23/2012

• A book with a creepy crawly in the title
• A book with a type of house in the title
• A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title
• A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title

TBR Challenge 2012!

Time once again for one of my favorite challenges! I selected 12 books plus 12 alternates/extra credit:

Here they are (in no particular order):

• Robert C. Fleet. Last Mountain -- finished 1/31/2012
• John Ramsey Miller. Upside Down -- finished 2/8/2012
• C.J. Cherryh. The Pride of Chanur -- finished 2/8/2012
• Greg Iles. The Footprints of God -- finished 2/28/2012
• Mo Hayder. Pig Island -- finished 3/19/2012 (substitute for Master of Wolves)
• Robert Heinlein. The Green Hills of Earth -- finished 3/21/2012
• Michael Crichton.  Sphere -- finished 3/29/2012
• Patricia Wallace. Lullabye -- finished 3/31/2012
• Judith Tarr. Household Gods -- finished 4/9/2012 (substitute for A Fire Upon the Deep)
• Trish MacDonald Skillman. Someone to Watch Over -- finished 4/25/2012 (substitute for Murder in the White House)
• Dave Duncan. The Gilded Chain -- finished 5/16/2012
• Frederick Forsyth. Icon -- finished 7/2/2012

Alternates/Extra Credit:

• Poul Anderson. Trader to the Stars -- finished 7/23/2012
• Harriet Scott Chessman. Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper
• Daniel Blythe. The Dimension Riders
• Alice Hoffman. The Probable Future
• Javier Sierra. The Secret Supper
• Terry Bisson. Virtuosity
• Philip Caputo. The Voyage
• LA Banks. Minion
• Madelyn Alt. The Trouble with Magic
  

Trader to the Stars by Poul Anderson

First sentence:

"Captain Bahadur Torrance received the news as befitted a Lodgemaster in the Federated Brotherhood of Spacemen."

Description:

"Their space-yacht, pursued by angry Adderkops thirsting for their blood, has run into serious engine trouble. Picking up the trail of another alien spaceship, they decide to board it and force its crew to take them home. But once aboard, its not so easy to find the crew: they're faced with cages full of bizarre, other-worldly animals: Tiger apes, Elephantoids, Gorilloids, Caterpiggles, Helmet beasts, Tentacle centaurs. One set of these extraordinary creatures must be the crew, in hiding. But which? Survival depends on finding the right answer. . .

And this is just the first of the problems facing Poul Anderson's intrepid space-merchant venturers in this masterly SF book!" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this science fiction book of space-faring traders. I especially liked the challenge in the first story of trying to determine who were the crew and the cultural misunderstandings depicted in the last story. I look forward to reading the first book in the series, War of the Wing-Men.

Date read: 7/23/2012
Book #: 27
Series: Polesotechnic League, #2
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2012, What's in a Name 5 Challenge, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, TBR Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0586022147
ISBN-13: 9780586022146
Publisher: Panther
Year: 1965
# of pages: 155
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing page