Skeleton's Knee by Archer Mayor

First sentence:

"I have a body for you."

Description:

"Vermont hermit Abraham Fuller kept mum on his gunshot wound. When it finally causes a fatal aneurysm some twenty years later, Detective Joe Gunther decides to investigate--and, for the first time, must leave his rustic Brattleboro beat.

The trouble starts in Fuller's garden where Gunther's crew digs up an artificial knee joint . . . attached to a very real human skeleton. Worse yet, the victim had been murdered. When a sniper machine-guns the hearse bringing the skeleton to the morgue, Gunther's first step is clear: find the manufacturer of the steel knee. It will mean trading Vermont for Chicago, where big city cops snub small-town gumshoes, too many people are hiding dark pasts, and a deadly trail could lead to a fresh new corpse--Gunther's own." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this mystery featuring Vermont detective Joe Gunther and his experiences in Chicago. I liked how he noticed discrepancies in the crime scenes and how he worked on identifying all the players in the murder.

Date read: 1/6/2011
Book #: 2
Series: Joe Gunther, #4
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0446400998
ISBN-13: 9780446400992
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Year: 1993
# of pages: 311
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Ubik by Philip K. Dick

First sentence:

"Friends, this is clean-up time and we're discounting all our silent, electric Ubiks by this much money."

Description:

"Squeaking in his metal-insect voice, Stanton Mick floated to the ceiling of the room, his arms protruding distendedly and rigidly. 'Mr. Runciter, don't let your thalamus overide your cerebral cortex. This matter calls for discretion, not haste; calm your people down and let's huddle together in an effort to mutually understand.' His rotund, colourful body bobbed about, twisting in a slow, transversal rotation.

'I've heard of this,' Runciter said to Joe Chip. 'It's a self-destruct humanoid bomb. Help me get everybody out of here. They just now put it on auto; that's why it floated upward.'

The bomb exploded...

From first page to last, UBIK is a searing exploration of time travel, telepathy and the human condition faced with adversity. Drawing on his boundless resources of creation, Dick produced in UBIK a winner of a novel--bizarre intrigue, vaulting imagination and an action-packed plot. SF at its very best..." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this science fiction novel of the past intruding into the present. I especially liked the scene where Joe sees an early twentieth-century elevator instead of the modern one that should be there.

Date read: 1/5/2011
Book #: 1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0586037160
ISBN-13: 9780586037164
Publisher: Grafton
Year: 1969
# of pages: 224
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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What's in a Name? 4 Challenge

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, I will read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with a number in the title:
• A book with jewelry or a gem in the title:
• A book with a size in the title:
• A book with movement in the title:
• A book with evil in the title:
• A book with a life stage in the title:

2010 A-Z Challenge

2010 A-Z Challenge
January 1 - December 31, 2010

How does this reading challenge work? Choose the option that works best for you...

Authors -- Read alphabetically by author. Commit to 26 books.

Titles -- Read alphabetically by title. Commit to 26 books.

Authors & Titles -- Commit to reading 52 books

I will read 26 books alphabetically by author:

A: Boris Akunin. The Winter Queen -- finished 2/26/2010
B: Melissa Bank. The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing -- finished 3/16/2010
C: Ana Castillo. Peel My Love Like an Onion -- finished 4/14/2010
D
E: David and Leigh Eddings. The Redemption of Althalus -- finished 4/3/2010
F: Mark Frost. The List of Seven -- finished 3/10/2010
G: Bea Gonzalez. The Mapmaker's Opera -- finished 1/17/2010
H: Sophie Hannah. Hurting Distance -- finished 3/5/2010
I
J: Iris Johansen. Final Target -- finished 1/26/2010
K: Julie Kaewert. Unbound -- finished 2/5/2010
L: Kelly Link. Stranger Things Happen -- finished 2/11/2010
M: Elizabeth Moon. The Speed of Dark -- finished 3/10/2010
N: Larry Niven. Tales of Known Space -- finished 2/22/2010
O: Heather O'Neil. Lullabies for Little Criminals -- finished 2/23/2010
P: Sara Paretsky. Total Recall -- finished 6/10/2010
Q
R: J.D. Robb. Witness in Death -- finished 4/17/2010
S: Asne Seierstad. The Bookseller of Kabul -- finished 2/16/2010
T: Daniel Tammet. Born on a Blue Day -- finished 6/22/2010
U
V: Vernor Vinge. Marooned in Real Time -- finished 2/13/2010
W: Jincy Willett. Winner of the National Book Award -- finished 3/2/2010
X: Garth Nix. Mister Monday -- finished 12/23/2010
Y
Z

Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge 2010

Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge 2010
January 1 - December 31, 2010

This challenge has four levels:

Inquisitive - 3 books
Enthusiastic - 6 books
Addicted - 12 books
Obsessed - 24 books

I will add my books as I read them. Who knows what level I'll reach?

Scott Sigler. Contagious - finished 1/17/2010
Kelly Link. Stranger Things Happen -- finished 2/11/2010
Vernor Vinge. Marooned in Real Time -- finished 2/13/2010
Larry Niven. Tales of Known Space -- finished 2/22/2010
Terri Windling. The Wood Wife -- finished 3/2/2010
Lois Lowry. Gathering Blue -- finished 3/3/2010
David and Leigh Eddings. The Redemption of Althalus -- finished 4/4/2010
Edmund Cooper. Sea-Horse in the Sky -- finished 4/7/2010
Matthew Cook. Blood Magic -- finished 4/22/2010
Eoin Colfer. The Wish List -- finished 5/5/2010
Terry Brooks. The Sword of Shannara -- finished 5/22/2010
Will Shetterly. Elsewhere -- finished 5/29/2010
David G. Hartwell, ed. The Year's Best Fantasy -- finished 6/30/2010
Glen Cook. The Black Company -- finished 7/21/2010
Esther Friesner. Here be Demons -- finished 8/9/2010
Iain M. Banks. Excession -- finished 11/7/2010
Fredrik Pohl. Beyond the Blue Event Horizon -- finished 12/20/2010
Garth Nix. Mister Monday -- finished 12/23/2010

Mister Monday by Garth Nix

First sentence:

"They had tried to destroyed the Will, but that proved beyond their power."

Description:

"Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is supposed to die. But then he meets sinister Mister Monday and everything changes.

SEVEN DAYS. SEVEN KEYS. ONE MYSTERIOUS BOOK. ONE STRANGE HOUSE FILLED WITH SECRETS.

Dare Arthur enter and accept the fate that awaits him within? -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book of the Keys to the Kingdom series. Iliked how Arthur learned to believe in himself and how he interacted with Suzy and the Will. I look forward to reading the next book, Grim Tuesday.

Date read: 12/23/2010
Book #: 53
Series: Keys to the Kingdom, #1
Challenges: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge; A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0007175019
ISBN-13: 9780007175017
Publisher: Collins
Year: 2003
# of pages: 425
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl

First sentence:

"It was not easy to live, being young, being so completely alone."

Description:

Robinette Broadhead, made rich by the Gateway mission that had cost him the woman he loved, joined in bankrolling an expedition to the Food Factory a Heechee spaceship found beyond the obit of Pluto and designed to graze the cometary cloud and transform the basic elements of the universe into untold quantities of food.

Broadhead thought his motives were simple enough, a gamble on a breakthrough that could end famine forever and would make him the wealthiest man in history. But his understanding, tough-minded wife knew something else drove her husband, a vision of his lost love: poised forever at the 'event horizon' of a black hole. . .where Robin had abandoned her.

Every scrap of Heechee lore that could be brought back and interpreted increased the chance that he would someday, somehow be able to reach and perhaps even rescue his beloved Gelle-Klara Moynlin.

After three and a half years, messages came back from the expedition that electrified the wold: the Food Factory was still working. . .they found a human aboard. . .they had discoveed the key to the use of a whole new level of technology. . .

And, it appeared they had found the Heechee!

My thoughts:

I liked this science fiction book about discovery and relationships. I noticed that although there were spaceships and colonization of other worlds, the communication problems resembled pre-telegraph days.

Date read: 12/20/2010
Book #: 52
Series: The Heechee Saga, #2
Challenge: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0345275357
ISBN-13: 9780345275356
Publisher: Del Rey
Year: 1980
# of pages: 309
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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