The Children of the Company by Kage Baker

First sentence:

"The man has an air of authority."

Description:


"Take a ride through time with the devil. In the sixth book of the Company series, we meet Executive Facilitator General Labienus. Hes used his immortal centuries to plot a complete takeover of the world since he was a young god-figure in Sumeria. In a meditative mood, he reviews his interesting career. He muses on his subversion of the Company black project ADONAI. He considers also Aegeus, his despised rival for power, who has discovered and captured a useful race of mortals known as Homo sapiens umbratilis. Their unique talents may enable him to seize ultimate power. Labienus plans a double cross that will kill two birds with one stone: he will woo away Aegeus promising protege, the Facilitator Victor, and at the same time dispose of a ghost from his own past who has become inconvenient."

My thoughts:

While a bit long a times, this was a fascinating look at the Company through the eyes of Labineus and Victor. I especially liked the sections featuring Victor in San Francisco just before the 1906 earthquake and the one featuring Kalugin in the sunken ship telling his story to a worm.

Date read: 11/24/2007
Book #: 104
Rating: 3* = good
Series: The Company, #6
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 076531455X
ISBN-13: 9780765314550
Publisher: Tor Books
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 304
Binding: Hardcover
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Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

First sentence:

"My sweater was new, stinging red and ugly."

Description:

"WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory.

HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming."

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully written book - both disturbing and poignant. The character Camille certainly made me think as she discovers the truth about herself and her family.

Date read: 11/22/2007
Book #: 103
Rating: 4* = great
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 0307341542
ISBN-13: 9780307341549
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 252
Binding: Hardcover
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A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

First sentence:

"Charlie Asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below."

Description:

"Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male.

But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.

Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . .

People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it."

My thoughts:

This was a funny and poignant novel about finding life in death. I liked the characters Charlie Asher, Sophie, Minty Fresh, and the Emperor of San Francisco. I especially liked how Charlie finds courage to face his fears as he both confronts the "sewer harpies" and learns how to be a good father to Sophie.

Date read: 11/19/2007
Book #: 102
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0060590270
ISBN-13: 978-0060590277
Publisher: William Morrow
Year: 2006
# of Pages: 384
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Shakespeare's Counselor by Charlaine Harris

First sentence:

"I connected with a hard blow to the nose, rolled on top of him, gripped his neck, and started to squeeze."

Description:

"Welcome back to the sleepy little town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, where secrets "come to hide.

Lily Bard has joined a group therapy session, determined finally to face her past. It sounds positively enlightening, until the murder of a fellow member sends a warning. But who was the message meant for? Why? And who's next to fall victim to a killer's head games?"

My thoughts:

This was another good mystery featuring housecleaner/karate expert Lily Bard. I liked how she and Jack worked together as private investigators to figure out the mystery stalker/murderer.

Date read: 11/17/2007
Book #: 101
Series: Lily Bard, #5
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425201147
ISBN-13: 978-0425201145
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 243
Binding: Paperback
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Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore

First sentence:

"Amy called the whale punkin."

Description:

"Just why do humpback whales sing? That's the question that has marine behavioral biologist Nate Quinn and his crew poking, charting, recording, and photographing very big, wet, gray marine mammals. Until the extraordinary day when a whale lifts its tail into the air to display a cryptic message spelled out in foot-high letters: Bite me.

Trouble is, Nate's beginning to wonder if he hasn't spent just a little too much time in the sun. `Cause no one else on his team saw a thing—not his longtime partner, Clay Demodocus; not their saucy young research assistant; not even the spliff-puffing white-boy Rastaman Kona (né Preston Applebaum). But later, when a roll of film returns from the lab missing the crucial tail shot—and his research facility is trashed—Nate realizes something very fishy indeed is going on."

My thoughts:

This was a very funny and sometimes poignant book about whales, friendship, loyalty and discovering wonder in unexpected places. I liked the characters Nate, Amy, Kona, Clay and the Old Broad.

Date read: 11/15/2007
Book #: 100
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 006056668X
ISBN-13: 9780060566685
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Year: 2004
# of Pages: 311
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris

First sentence:

"By the time I opened my eyes and yawned that morning, she had been sitting in the car in the woods for seven hours."

Description:

"Shakespeare, Arkansas, is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colorful residents--and the occasional murder. It is also home to Lily Bard, the local karate expert/cleaning woman with a particular knack for finding skeletons in closets.

But when the local woman of ill repute is found murdered, being familiar with her dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespearean to die."

My thoughts:

This was a good mystery. I liked Lily's observations about various townspeople and how she comes to terms with her preconceived notions about the victim. There was also a nice twist at the end as not everything is as it seems.

Date read: 11/13/2007
Book #: 99
Series: Lily Bard, #4
Rating: 3* = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425196992
ISBN-13: 9780425196991
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Year: 2004
# of Pages: 194
Binding: Paperback
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Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge

That's right - another challenge! This one is hosted by "A Life in Books" and it's called The Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge. It runs from July - December 2007, and the goal is to read six books in which location is a central part of the book.




Here are my books:

• John Burdett. Bangkok Tattoo. (Bangkok, Thailand) -- finished 7/15/2007
  
• Peter Mayle. Anything Considered. (French countryside) -- finished 8/23/2007
  
• Elizabeth Peters. Curse of the Pharaohs. (Egypt) -- finished 10/2/2007
  
• Louis L'Amour. The Haunted Mesa. (American West) -- finished 11/13/2007
  
• Tom Cole. Hell West and Crooked. (Australian Outback)
• Jon Krakauer. Into Thin Air. (Mt. Everest)