The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

First sentence:

"The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought."

Description:

Paulo Coehlo's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets  Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I liked this book, especially Santiago's outlook on life as he adapts to new circumstances.

Date read: 6/1/2016 [approx.]
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3*/5 = good

ISBN-10: 006112416
ISBN-13: 9780061122415
Publisher: HarperOne
Year: 1988
# of pages: 167
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Plainsong by Kent Haruf

First sentence:

Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of his house smoking cigarettes and looking out over the back lot where the sun was just coming up.

Description:

"Ambitious, but never seeming so, Kent Haruf reveals a whole community as he interweaves the stories of a pregnant high school girl, a lonely teacher, a pair of boys abandoned by their mother, and a couple of crusty bachelor farmers. From simple elements, Haruf achieves a novel of wisdom and grace--a narrative that builds in strength and feeling until, as in a choral chant, the voices in the book surround, transport, and lift the reader off the ground." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

A quiet and beautiful book! Haruf's description of place and characters drew me in to discover a family of friends.

Date read: 10/16/2015

Series: Plainsong, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0375705856
ISBN-13: 9780375705854
Publisher: Vintage
Year: 1999
# of pages: 301
Binding: Paperback
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Books I read in September 2015: Dust: Thin Air; Girl in the Dark

20. Dust by Elizabeth Bear

My thoughts:

This is an interesting book of characters on an aging space ship. At times, I would forget that the world of "angels" and gardens were in outer space and the characters of Rien and Perceval kept my interest as they make their way through the ship. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Chill.

Date read: 9/10/2015
Series: Jacob's Ladder, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF
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21. Thin Air by Rachel Caine

My thoughts:

I liked this book featuring Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin who faces the daunting task of saving the world while putting together her memories.

Date read: 9/18/2015
Series: Weather Warden, #6
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy
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22. Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey

My thoughts:

This is a fascinating book about a woman coping with a mysterious ailment leaving her in the dark for most of the day. I liked how she described her condition, her relationships, and how she sometimes was able to tolerate very low levels of light.

Date read: 9/30/2015
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir
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Firestorm by Rachel Caine

First sentence:

"I was thinking that the Wardens needed a new motto."

Description:

Rogue Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is racing to New York to warn her former colleagues of the impending apocalypse. An ancient agreement between the Djinn and the Wardens has been broken, and the furious Djinn, slaves to the wardens for millennia, have broken free of mortal control.

With more than half the Wardens unaccounted for in the wake of the Djinn uprising, Joanne realizes that the natural disasters they've combated for so long were merely symptoms of restless Mother Nature fidgeting in her sleep. Now's she's waking up--and she is angry..." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this entry in the Weather Warden series. I liked how Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin worked to alert her colleagues of the dangerous collapse in the Warden-Djinn relations. I look forward to reading the next book, Thin Air.

Date read: 8/25/2015

Book #: 23

Series: Weather Warden, #5

Rating: 3*/5 = good

Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0451461045

ISBN-13: 9780451461049

Publisher: ROC

Year:2006

# of pages: 292

Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Mermaid: A Memoir of Resilience by Eileen Cronin

First sentence:

"Along the oceanfront at dusk, my friends drag me past the fern bars and wet T-shirt contests to catch up to the aerobic pulse from the disco ahead ,which we call 'flashback' because-his flashing lights leave you with a psychedelic impression of dancing dots when you come back onto the street."

Description:

"At the age of three, Eileen Cronin first realized that only she did not have leg. Her boisterous Catholic family accepted her situation as 'God's Will,' treating her no differently than her ten siblings as she 'squiddled' through their 1960s Cincinnati home. But starting school, even wearing prosthetics, Cronin had to brave bullying and embarrassing questions. Thanks to her older brother's coaching, she handled a classmate's playground taunts with a smack from her lunchbox. As a teen, thrilled when boys asked her out, she was confused about what sexuality meant for her. She felt most comfortable and happiest relaxing and skinny dipping with her girlfriends, imaging herself ' an elusive mermaid.' The cause of her disability remained taboo, however, even as she looked toward the future and the possibility of her own family.

In later years, as her mother battled mental illness and denied having taken the drug thalidomide--known--to cause birth defects--Cronin felt apart from her family. After the death of a lose brother, she turned to alcohol. Eventually, however, she found the strength to set out on her own, volunteering at hospitals, and earning a PhD in clinical psychology.

Reflecting with humor and grace on her youth, search for love, and quest for answers, Cronin spins a shimmering story of self discovery and transformation." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

I liked this book about growing up strong despite having missing limbs due to thalidomide. Cronin doesn't let anything get in her way and her determination to live her life fully is an inspiration.

Date read: 8/23/2015
Book #:22
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Memoir

ISBN-10: 0393089010
ISBN-13: 9780393089011
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Year: 2014
# of pages: 334
Binding: Hardcover
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I was Amelia Earhardt by Jane Mendelsohn

First sentence:

"The sky is flesh."

Description:

"In this brilliantly imagined novel, Amelia Earhart tells us what happened after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea one glorious, windy day in 1937. And she tells us about herself.

There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .

There are her memories of the past: her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.

There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").

And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").

And, most important, there is Noonan . . ." -- from the publisher

My thoughts:

This was an interesting book of the possible life of Amelia Earhart after she disappeared flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Date read: 8/21/2015
Book #: 21
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3*/5 = good

ISBN-10: 0679776362
ISBN-13: 9780679776369
Publisher: Vintage 
Year: 1997
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Windfall by Rachel Caine

First sentence:

"It doesn't take much to destroy the world as humans know it."

Description:

"Leaving Las Vegas seemed like a great idea to Joanne Baldwin. But there is no escaping her past -- and there is no time to recharge. The former Weather Warden's powers are at an all-time low just as the clouds of war are gathering -- and the biggest storm since Atlantis's destruction is heading for landfall.

Joanne is exhausted. When not donning a rain mac and camping it up for the camera as a TV weather girl, she has to contend with a vengeful cop on her tail, her newly divorced sister moving in and getting caught in the middle of a supernatural civil war. Worst of all, her boyfriend in a bottle can't stop draining her powers and is fast morphing from the Djinn of her dreams to the Ifrit of her nightmares.

As the agreement between the Wardens and the Djinn starts to self-destruct, Joanne finds herself forced to choose between saving her lover, saving her Warden abilities. . .and saving humanity." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book featuring Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin as she negotiates her work and life among the Wardens and the Djinn. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Firestorm.

Date read: 8/14/2015
Book #: 20
Series: Weather Warden, #4
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0749079290
ISBN-13: 9780749079291
Publisher: Roc
Year: 2005
# of pages: 496
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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