Support Your Local Library Challenge

Support Your Local Library Challenge

When: 2009
What: Read either 12, 25 or 50 books from the library.

I will read 12 books from the library this year. I'll post the authors and titles after I read them.

1. Charles Stross. The Merchants' War -- finished 1/13/2009
2. Michael Dirda. Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life -- finished 1/29/2009

3. Bob Edgar. Middle Church -- finished 3/30/2009
4. Margalit Fox. Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind -- finished 5/28/2009

5. China Miéville. Un Lun Dun -- finished 9/13/2009
6. David Maine. Fallen -- finished 10/13/2009
7. Travis Holland. The Archivist's Story -- finished 10/26/2009
8. Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity: Snowbound -- finished 11/18/2009
9. John Burdett. Bangkok Haunts -- finished 12/2/2009
10. John Twelve Hawks. The Traveler -- finished 12/22/2009

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks

First sentence:

"Maya reached out and took her father's hand as they walked from the Underground to the light"

Description:

A world that exists in the shadows of our own.

A conflict we will never see.

One woman stands between those determined to control history and those who will risk their lives for freedom.

Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The twenty-six-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins—a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.

Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have inherited their father’s gifts, have always protected themselves by living “off the Grid”—that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern society.

Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers. The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula—ruthless mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A colossal battle looms—one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time.

Moving from the back alleys of Prague to the heart of Los Angeles, from the high deserts of Arizona to a guarded research facility in New York, The Traveler explores a parallel world that exists alongside our own. John Twelve Hawks’s stunningly suspenseful debut is an international publishing sensation that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

My thoughts:

As the first book in a trilogy, this book sets up the characters and the overall situation very well. Twelve Hawks does a good job of bringing the reader into this world, and I liked how everybody, including the antagonists (Brethren/Tabula), believed that they were doing the right thing. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Dark River.

Date read: 12/21/2009
Book #: 62
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Series: The Fourth Realm, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 038551428X
ISBN-13: 9780385514286
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 2005
# of pages: 456
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page

Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett

First sentence:

"Few crimes makes us fear for the evolution of our species."

Description:

"Sonai Jitpleecheep -- the devout Buddhist Royal Thai Police detective who led us through the best sellers Bangkok 8 and Bangkok Tattoo -- returns in this blistering new novel.

Sonjai has seen virtually everything on his beat in Bangkok's District 8, but nothing like the video he's just been sent anonymously: "Few crimes make us fear for the evolution of our species. I am watching one right now."

He's watching a snuff film. And the person dying before his disbelieving eyes is Damrong -- a woman he once loved obsessively and, now it becomes clear, endlessly. And there is something more: something at the end of the film that leaves Sonjai both figuratively and literally haunted.

While his investigation will lead him through the office of the ever-scheming police captain, Vikorn ('Don't spoil a great case with too much perfectionism,' he advises Sonjai); in and out of the influence of a perhaps psychotic wandering monk; and eventually into the gilded rooms of the most exclusive men's club in Bangkok (whose members will do anything to protect their identities, and to explore their most secret fantasies), it also leads him to his own simple bedroom where he sleeps next to his pregnant wife while his dreams deliver him up to Damrong. . .

Ferociously smart and funny, furiously fast-paced, and laced through with an erotic ghost story that gives a new dark twist to the life of our hero, Bangkok Haunts does exactly that from the first page to last." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I liked this installment in the Bangkok series featuring detective Sonjai Jitpleecheep. I especially liked how Burdett, through Sonjai's narration, brings the reader into different worlds and cultures. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Godfather of Kathmandu.

Date read: 12/2/2009
Book #: 60
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Series: Bangkok #3
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0307263185
ISBN-13: 9780307263186
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Year: 2007
# of pages: 290
Binding: Hardcover
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Aunt Dimity: Snowbound

First sentence:

"The holidays nearly killed me."

Description:

"When Lori Shepherd decides to treat herself to a relaxing day hiking through the serene English countryside, she has no idea that the blizzard of the century is about to hit. The storm comes quickly and furiously, but fortunately Lori is able to find refuge in nearby Ladythorne Abby, the fabulous home of the late Lucasta DeClerke. Soon she's safe and dry, along with two other stranded backpackers. But has she escaped one danger only to fall right into the middle of another? In the abbey's cloisters and passages still lingers the haunting presence of Lucasta, a mysterious madwoman who spent the last years of her life locked up alone in the abbey. And Lori must also deal with the threat of an unstable caretaker, who lurks around every corner.

Even her fellow abbey guests turn out to be suspicious. Lori thinks she's learned of their plot to steal a priceless DeClerke family heirloom -- a dazzling peacock panure hidden away at the abbey. Soon she discovers the intended theft is only one piece in a complicated puzzle of ominous secrets and traitorous deeds surrounding the fate of the priceless jewel. As Aunt Dimity says, 'Old sins cast long shadows' and the treacherous events in Ladythorne Abbey's history have continued to plague generations. Can Lori stay out of harm's way long enough to sort out the truth? Only Aunt Dimity's indispensable wisdom can help Lori wade through the deceit and banish the hatred and guilt that shroud Ladythorne Abbey in a blanket considerably thicker than the accumulating snow." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this cozy, wintry mystery set in Ladythorne Abbey. I liked how Lori discovered the truth and, with help, made things right again. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin.

Date read: 11/18/2009
Book #: 58
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Series: Aunt Dimity, #9
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0670032786
ISBN-13: 9780670032785
Publisher: Penguin Books
Year: 2004
# of Pages: 226
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page

The Archivist's Story by Travis Holland

First sentence:

"It is a small matter that brings them together."

Description:

"Moscow, 1939. In the recesses of the infamous Lubyanka prison, a young archivist is sent to authenticate an unsigned story confiscated from one of the many political prisoners there. The writer is Isaac Babel. The great author of Red Calvary is sepnding his last days forbidden to write, his final manuscripts consigned to the archivist, Pavel Dubrov, who will ultimately be charged with destroying them. The emotional jolt of meeting Babel face-to-face leads to a reckless decision: he will save the last stories of the authorhe reveres, whatever the cost.

From the margin of history, Travis Holland has woven a tale of the greatest power. Pavel's private act of courage in the face of a vast bureaucracy of evil invigorates a life that had lost its meaning, even as it guarantees his almost certain undoing. A story of suspense, courage, and unexpected avenues of grace, The Archivist's Story is ultimately an enduring tribute to the written word." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

Though low-key in action, this was a powerful story about personal courage and how one person can quietly make a difference even when it means putting his own life in danger.

Date read: 10/26/2009
Book #: 52
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 038533995X
ISBN-13: 9780385339957
Publisher: Dial Press
Year: 2007
# of pages: 239
Binding: Hardcover
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Fallen by David Maine

First sentence:

"The mark burns upon him all the time now."

Description:

"Once expelled from the Garden, Eve and Adam have to find their way past recriminations and bitterness to construct a new life together in a harsh land. But the challenges are many for the world's first family. Among their children are Abel and Cain, and soon the adults must discover how to be parents to one son who is everything they could hope for and another who is sullen, difficult, and rife with insecurities and jealousies. In the background, always, is the incomprehensibility of God's motives as He watches over their faltering attempts to build a life. In Fallen, David Maine has drawn a convincing, wryly observant, and enthralling portrait of a family -- one driven (and riven) by passions, jealousies, irrationality, and love. The result is an intimate, in-depth story of brothers, a husband, anda wife -- people whose struggles are both completely familiar and yet utterly original." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a compelling story about Cain, Abel, Adam, Eve and the rest of the family. I liked how the story went backwards in time starting with Cain's imminent death and ending with Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden. I also liked how David Maine stretched out the story line so that Cain's offering being rejected isn't followed immediately by his murdering Abel.

Date read: 10/12/2009
Book #: 50
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0312328494
ISBN-13: 0780312828498
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Year: 2005
# of pages: 244
Binding: Hardcover
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Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

First sentence:

"In an unremarkable room, in a nondescript building, a man sat working on very non-nondescript theories."

Description:

What is Un Lun Dun?

It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book.

When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.

My thoughts:

This was a wonderful book filled with quirky and interesting characters. I liked how Mieville played with descriptions and turned London into UnLondon. I especially admired Deeba's courage and her insistence that sometimes prophecies may not come true exactly as written.

Date read: 9/13/2009
Book #: 46
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genres: YA/Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0345495160
ISBN-13: 9780345495167
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 2007
# of pages: 429
Binding: Hardcover
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Middle Church by Bob Edgar

First sentence:

"One cold February day during my senior year of seminary, I did a controversial and, to some people, even radical thing: I boarded a bus and rode to Washington, D.C., to hear a Baptist preacher deliver a sermon on politics."

Description:

"The radical religious right has put the wrong issues at the top of the moral agenda for America, says Bob Edgar, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA and a former six-term congressman. The moral issues that really matter to America's faithful majority -- to "Middle Church" -- says Edgar, are peace, poverty, and planet Earth. Middle Church is a stirring call to progressive people of faith to take back the moral high ground from the right-wing extremists and make America a better -- not a more divided -- country.

The Bible seldom mentions homosexuality, doesn't mention abortion at all, but discusses poverty and peace more than two thousand times. But despite the Bible's emphasis on issues of social justice, the politics of faith have been captured in this country by a radical minority with its narrow and highly divisive agenda emphasizing personal piety above all else. This limited agenda is built around opposition to gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research, rather than the timeless and unifying themes of the Bible. In a stunning reversal of the historic role of religion in progressive change, faith has now been co-opted into a force for preemptive war, indifference to the poor, and reckless environmental degradation.

In Middle Church, Bob Edgar reclaims faith for the American mainstream. He rebuts the distorted arguments of the far religious right and instead offers progressive solutions grounded in Scripture behind which most Americans can unite. He reminds us that Jesus preached mainly about the poor and that social justice and peace were at the heart of his ministry. Edgar agrees that all Americans have a right to bring the values of their faiths to bear on the policies of our government. But faith, as he shows, should lead to progressive solutions for the defining moral issues of our time: peace, poverty, and planet Earth. Middle Church identifies the common ground on which people of faith -- Christians, Jews, and Muslims -- can unite and shows how this faithful majority can put tolerance, social justice, and love at the top of the political agenda in this country once again. " -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a thought-provoking look at how faith can encourage helping others, promoting peace and being better stewards of the planet.

Date read: 3/30/2009
Book #: 22
Challenges: Dewey Decimal Challenge, Support Your Local Library Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 0743298498
ISBN-13: 9780743289498
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 238
Binding: Hardcover
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Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life by Michael Dirda

First sentence:

"Over the past fifty years I've spent a lot of time -- some might say an inordinate amount of time -- in the company of books."

Description:

"Once out of school, most people read for pleasure. But for some of us, there is an equally important reason that we read: to learn how to live. Drawing on sources as diverse as Dr. Seuss and Simone Weil, P.G. Wodehouse and Isaiah Berlin, Pulitzer Price-winning critic Michael Dirda shows how the wit, wisdom, and enchantment of the written word informs and enriches every aspect of life, from education and work to love and death. From essential works for children to the handful of masterpieces that every reader should have at his command, Dirda offers us an opinionated, personal, and idiosyncratic account of what -- and how -- to draw meaning from what we read.

Organized by significant life events and brimming with quotations from great writers and thinkers, Book by Book showcases Dirda's capacious love for and understanding of books. Through his suggested readings and brief essays he draws us deeper into the classics, as well as lesser-known works of literature, history, and philosophy, with an eye to how we might better understand our lives." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book as it introduced me to some new authors and raised some interesting points regarding work, life, love, and the arts.

Date read: 1/29/2009
Book #: 9
Challenges: Support Your Local Library Challenge, Dewey Decimal Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Nonfiction

ISBN-10: 0805078770
ISBN-13: 9780805078770
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 167
Binding: Hardcover
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The Merchants' War by Charles Stross

First sentence:

"The wreckage still smoldered in the wan dawn light, sending a column of grayish-white smoke spiraling into the misty sky above Niejwein."

Description:

"Miriam Beckstein is a young, hip business journalist in Boston. She discovered in The Family Trade and The Hidden Family that her family comes from an alternate reality, that she is very well connected, and that her family is a lot too much like the Mafia for comfort. She found herself caught in a family trap in The Clan Corporate and betrothed to a brain-damaged prince, and then all hell broke loose: a coup against the Clan by the Nobility.

Now, in The Merchants’ War, Miriam has escaped to world three in the turmoil, and remains in hiding from both the Clan and their opponents. She has found her way to her friends, who have a revolution to plan and now must incorporate Miriam to protect her.

There is a nasty shooting war going on in the Gruinmarkt world of the Clan, directed on the Clan side from hideouts in the United States, and we know something that Miriam does not, something that she’s really going to hate when she finds out—if she lives long enough to find out. And the Clan does not know that the United States has discovered them and is Out to destroy them, too.

Nobody is going to stop reading this book, or the Merchant Princes series, before the end. Stay tuned." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This book was a good installment in the Merchant Princes story. I liked the various storyline featuring other characters which intersect at the end. I look forward to finding out what happens next in The Revolution Business.

Date read: 1/13/2009
Book #: 5
Series: Merchant Princes, #4
Challenge: Support Your Local Library Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0765355892
ISBN-13: 9780765355898
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2008
# of Pages: 384
LibraryThing page