Native Tongue by Carl Hiassen

First sentence:

"On July 16, in the aching torpid heat of the South Florida summer, Terry Whelper stood at the Avis counter at Miami International Airport and rented a bright red Chrysler LeBaron convertible."

Description:

"Who stole the voles? Yes, it's true. The precious blue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills in North Key Largo are gone, stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs with much bigger - and deadlier - things in mind.

Joe Winder wants to uncover those "things" and find the voles. Winder is a burned-out ex-muckraking reporter now working for the Amazing Kingdom theme park as their PR man. But now the voles are gone, and Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the sleazy real-estate agent/villain Francis X. Kingsbury and can end only one way. And Winder has no idea what way that will be. Until its damn near too late." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this off-beat book about crooked developers, bungling crooks, and amusement parks.

Date read: 4/18/2012
Book #: 17
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, New Authors Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0449221180
ISBN-13: 9780449221181
Publisher: Fawcett Crest
Year: 1991
# of pages: 407
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove

First sentence:

"Nicole Gunther-Perrin rolled over to turn off the alarm clock and found herself nose to nose with two Roman gods."


Description:

"Nicole Gunther-Perrin is a modern young professional, proud of her legal skills but weary of the daily grind, of childcare, and of sexist coworkers and her deadbeat ex-husband. Then after one exceptionally awful day, she awakens to find herself in a different life, that of a widowed tavernkeeper on the Roman frontier around A.D. 170.

Delighted at first, she quickly begins to realize that her new world is as complicated as her old one. Violence, dirt, and pain are everywhere; slavery is commonplace, gladiators kill for sport, and drunkenness is taken for granted. Yet, somehow, people manage to face life everyday with humor and goodwill.

No quitter, Nicole manages to adapt, despite endless worry about the fate of her children "back" in the twentieth century. Then plague sweeps through Carnuntum, followed by brutal war. Amidst pain and loss on a level she had never imagined, Nicole must find reserves of the sort of strength she had never known." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this book about a modern woman finding herself in a different time, but not because of the time travel. Rather, I liked the way Nicole has to confront her assumptions and how she finds the strength she needs in herself.

Date read: 4/9/2012
Book #: 16
Challenges: TBR Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A-Z Challenge 2012
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 0812564669
ISBN-13: 9780812564662
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Year: 1999
# of pages: 664
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Lullabye by Patricia Wallace

First sentence:

"Wyatt English had been a doctor long enough to know that bad things happened even on the most beautiful of spring days, but until today the bad things had always happened to someone else."

Description:

"Eight year old Bronwyn knew she wasn't like other girls. She didn't have a mother. At least not a real one. Her mother had been in a coma at the hospital for as long as Bronwyn could remember. She couldn't feel any pain, her father said, it was just like sleeping - only she never woke up.

But on visiting days, when Bronwyn sat with her mother, she knew it wasn't true that she couldn't feel anything. Her mother was angry. Angry at the nurses and doctors for the way they treated her. Angry at her own helplessness.

But soon, very soon, she would be helpless no longer. And then she would show them all the true meaning of suffering." -- from the back cover


My thoughts:

This was a good book about revenge, grief, and moving on. I liked the relationship between Wyatt and his daughter Bronwyn. 

Date read: 3/31/2012
Book #: 15
Challenges: TBR Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, New Author Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Horror

ISBN-10: 0821729179
ISBN-13: 9780821729175
Publisher: Zebra Books
Year: 1990
# of pages: 287
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Sphere by Michael Crichton

First sentence:

"For a long time the horizon had been a monotonous flat blue line separating the Pacific Ocean from the sky."

Description:

"In the South Pacific, 1,000 feet beneath the surface, a spaceship rests on the ocean floor -- a spaceship at least 300 years old.

Rushed to the scene are four scientists: an astrophysicist, a biologist, a mathematician and a psychologist. Together they descend into the depths of the sea to investigate this astonishing find, to search for answers.

Has it come from an alien culture? From a different universe? From the future? What happened to the crew and what is the giant silver sphere of alien construction that they find inside the ship?

The riddle seems unsolvable. Then someone or something begins to transmit messages onto their computer screen: messages that grow increasingly hostile, hinting at a terrifying power that threatens to destroy their underwater habitat and their very lives. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a very good thriller with many twists and turns. I like the way it was hard to distinguish what's real and what's not.

Date read: 3/29/2012
Book #: 14
Challenges: TBR Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A to Z Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0330301276
ISBN-13: 9780330310275
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Year: 1987
# of pages: 385
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

First sentence:

"Shortly after 11:00 P.M., Laurel slid under the maroon comforter and into bed next to her husband, Jack."

Description:

"Their story began with one letter on their wedding night.

I made a promise today at the church and I'm making another promise tonight. I'm going to write to you every week . . .Laurel, I will always stand by you. No matter what. . .

It ended almost forty years later, when Jack and Laurel Cooper died in each other's arms. But before he took his last breath, Jack wrote his wife one final 'Wednesday letter.'

When the Cooper children return home, they discover the thousands of letters left behind. As they read them, clues to a shattering family secret emerge--and they are brought face-to-face with a life-changing moment of truth." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a great book about family and discovery. So much is discovered that I had to remind myself that it takes place over just a few days.

Date read: 3/27/2012
Book #: 13
Challenges: New Author Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, A-Z Challenge 2012
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0425223477
ISBN-13: 9780425223475
Publisher: Berkley Books
Year: 2007
# of pages: 280
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein

First sentence: 

"Sure, we had trouble building Space Ship One -- but the trouble was people."

Description:

"The arching sky is calling

Spaceman back to their trade.

All hands! Stand by! Free falling!

And the lights below us fade

Out ride the sons of Terra,

Far drives the thundering jet,

Up leaps the race of Earthman,

Out, far, and onward yet --

We've tried each spinning space mote

And reckoned its true worth:

Take us back again to the homes of men

On the cool green hills of Earth.

We pray for one last landing

On the globe that gave us birth

Let us rest our eyes on fleecy skies,

And the cool green hills of Earth!" 

-- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed these short stories about the Earth and the Moon. Two of my favorites were "'It's Great to Be Back'" about a couple who learns where their home is, and "--We Also Walk Dogs" about a new kind of concierge company.

Date read: 3/21/2012

Book #: 12

Challenges: Off the Shelf Challenge, TBR Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0671578357
ISBN-13: 9780671578534
Publisher: Baen Books
Year: 1951
# of pages: 270
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Pig Island by Mo Hayder

First sentence: 

"The alarms first went off in my head when the landlord and the lobsterman showed me what had been washed up on the beach."

Description:

"SEE EVIL

Journalist Joe Oakes makes a living exposing supernatural hoaxes. But what he sees when he visits a secretive religious community on a remote Scottish island forces him to question everything he thought he knew.

HEAR EVIL

Why have the islanders been accused of Satanism? What has happened to their leader? And why will no one discuss the strange creature seen wandering the lonely beaches of Pig Island?

READ EVIL

In Pig Island, Mo Hayder dares you to face your fears head on and to look at what lurks beneath the surface of everyday normality. It's about the unspeakable things people do to each other." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a very good thriller with lots of twists and turns. I liked the ways the characters interacted and I definitely did not expect the ending.

Date read: 3/19/2012
Book #: 11
Challenges: New Author Challenge 2012, Off the Shelf Challenge 2012, TBR Challenge 2012
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0055381463X
ISBN-13: 97800553814637
Publisher: Bantam Books
Year: 2006
# of pages: 494
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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