I'm in the middle of 2 novels, but like DJU I doubt I'll finish either of them before friday, so:
1. Kindred in Death - JD Robb– Eve investigates the murder of a cop’s daughter, while getting ready for a friends wedding. Better than usual I think.
2. Welcome to you Brain – Sandra Aamondt PhD and Sam Wang PhD – Examines how the brain works, dispels myths. Very interesting, well written for the layman.
3. The Jungle – Upton Sinclair – Allegedly a classic, I almost couldn’t get through this. Apparently it made a splash in the early 20th century and lead to reforms for the working man, but I found it badly written and uninteresting.
4. Tom Sawyer Abroad – Mark Twain – and other stories. Mostly a collection of tall tales. Amusing.
5. Blowback – Brad Thor – An espionage thriller involving Muslim extremists looking for an ancient weapon to kill infidels. Good read.
6. A Touch of Dead – Charlane Harris – The collected short stories of Sookie Stacckhouse. A couple I’d read before, but a fun book.
7. The Skystone – Jack Whyte – First of a series apparently. The forming of Arthur’s Britain. Takes place in the 4th Century, a Roman soldier who retires and becomes a smith. Searches for meteorites to forge a sword like his grandfather did. Took me half way thru the book to figure out what sword he’s going to make – probably in the next book.
8. Alex Cross’s Trial – James Patterson – Not about Cross on Trial, it’s a book written by the Alex Cross character about one of his ancestors fighting against lynchings.
9. Heat Wave – Richard Castle – A book from the TV series Castle – it is a coincidence that I’ve read two books in a row by fictional characters. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Patterson wrote this one too.
10. The Bone Garden – Tess Geritsen – takes place in too eras, the present and 1888. Tells the story of a med student, a poor Irish immigrant, a mass murderer and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
11. The Singing Sword – Jack Whyte – Sequel to The Skystone, continues the story, kills some of the character and they actually forge Excalibur.
12. U Is For Undertow – Sue Grafton – The latest Kinsey Millhone, took long enough. Kinsey gets taken into the case of a child kidnapped 20 years earlier, and also learns something about her own childhood. The ending is great.
13. Cravings – Laurell K Hamiltion, et al. – 4 stories of supernatural romance. Not bad. The Blake one was an excerpt from a book I believe.
14. The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli, translated by Daniel Donno – With excerpts from his Discourses as well. Interesting read.
15. Dangerously Funny, The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour – David Bianculli - Interesting story about how the brothers were fired for pushing the envelope too far. I think they got shafted, even though I disagree with 75% of what the said.
16. The Last Striptease – Michael Wiley – This guy sent me a friend’s request on Facebook, so I figured I’d read his book. It was pretty good. An ex-cop, recovering alcoholic PI. It’s been done before, but didn’t feel derivative.
17. The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein – Told from the point of view of a dog owned by a part time race car driver, it’s much better than that description. Lot of tragedy and love, but a truly amazing story.
18. The Eagles’ Brood – Jack Whyte – Third of the Camulod chronicles, we get a new narrator, Merlyn. Still maintaining the story, very good. The next book should feature the upbringing of Arthur.
19. Black Magic Sanction – Kim Harrison – Rachel works on getting her shunning removed. It seems like she’s been raining crap on her the last few books but this one ended more positively.
20. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen – And old man in a nursing home reminisces on his days working for a circus. Nice story.
21. Heart Sick – Chelsea Cain – A detective kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer comes back from medical leave to track another one, and brings a reporter onto the team.
22. Divine Misdemeanors – Laurell K Hamilton – Apparently I was wrong about the last Merry Gentry being the last. Merry is back in LA, back to being a PI and helping the cops find a killer hunting the fey.
23. Flirt – Laurell K Hamilton – Anita is kidnapped by someone who wants to force her to reanimate a loved one. Hamilton adds an afterward about where the idea for the story came from.
24. Fantasy in Death – JD Robb – A virtual video game turns deadly, and Eve and Roarke almost get trapped inside.
25. The Saxon Shore – Jack Whyte – The next chapter, Merlyn begins raising Arthur.
26. Turn Coat – Jim Butcher – A story from the Dresden files, about a wizard P.I. I liked the series thought I’d check this one out. Pretty good. It’s late in the series so missed a lot of history, but it didn’t detract.
27. Forgotten New York – Kevin Walsh – A listing of interesting, historical and forgotten places and things in the five boroughs. Fascinating book, but I wish it had more pictures. Apparently the author leads tours, might be fun to take one.
28. Split Image – Robert B Parker – Probably the last Jesse Stone novel. Some mobsters are killed in Paradise, and a couple of hot to trot twins are involved. Sunny Randall guest stars.
29. The Fort at Rivers Bend – Jack Whyte – Book five in the Camulod series. Merlyn takes Arthur away for safe keeping, till he grows old enough to be a warrior.
30. Going Rogue, An American Life – Sarah Palin – I know a lot of people don’t like her, but I found this to be an excellent book.
31. Settling Accounts: Drive to the East – Harry Turtledove – An alternative history set in 1942. The USA and Confederacy are at war again, with Canada and Mormons as well as other countries weighing in. Pretty interesting.
32. The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis - Jack Whyte – Next to last in the series. Ends with Arthur’s coronation. Lost some ancillary characters which shouldn’t have been a surprise.
33. Grave Secret- Charlane Harris – A different series, about a woman who can sense the dead and relive their last minutes. This is mid-series I believe. She traces a baby no one knew existed and solves a family mystery.
34. Hardball- Sara Paretsky – A VI Warshawski novel. I think I may have read one of these in the past. In this she searches for a missing cousin who is mixed up in a murder case from the 60’s. Mixes in civil rights. There was a really liberal leaning preface, but it didn’t really leak into the book any.
35. Uther – Jack Whyte – I thought this would take off somehow where the last one ended, but instead it goes back and tells part of the story from Uther’s point of view. An interesting way of seeing the story. First one written in the third person
36. Blue-Eyed Devil – Robert B Parker – The next – and last – in the series started in Appaloosa, they come back to that town. Fitting ending.
37. The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett – The classic PI novel. Good story, famous for a reason.
38. Lost – JD Robb, et al – Four short stories, the first concerning Eve Dallas investigating a disappearance on a ferry. The rest were pretty good.
39. High On Arrival – Mackenzie Phillips – An autobiography, telling how she got hooked on drugs, clean, hooked again and finally, hopefully, clean.
40. The Return of Moriarty – John Gardner – Holmes wasn’t the only one to survive Reichenbach Falls. Moriarty returns to London to reestablish his network. Holmes doesn’t play a role here, but the Professor is still foiled in the end.
41. Dead in the Family – Charlaine Harris – Sookie deals with the loss of some family members, vampire politics and a Faerey cousin moving in.
42. The Sinner – Tess Gerritsen – the basis of a new show called Rizzoli and Isles I thought I’d check these out. Teams 2 women – a Boston cop and ME investigating crimes and dealing with life. This one concerns the death of a nun.
43. The Mephisto Club – Tess Gerristesen - Rizzoli and Isles investigate a brutal series of murders and become involved with some freelance demon hunters.
44. The Apprentice – Tess Gerritsen - The second in the series. But the first Rizzoli and Isles. The killer from the first book finds a helper in this one. The first episode of the show was based on this story.
45. The Surgeon – Tess Gerritsen – No Isles in this book, Rizzoli partners with a Detective Moore to track a serial killer. Almost seems more his story than hers.
46. Death in the Afternoon – Ernest Hemingway – A classic on bull fighting. Kinda interesting, maybe too much detail. Hemingway is known for cleane prose, but he loves run on sentences.
47. His Last Bow – Arthur Conan Doyle – the last collection of Holmes stories. I needed a paperback to take on the train. Good stories.
48. Neverland: JM Barrie, The Du Mauriers and the dark side of Peter Pan – nonfiction, tells of how Barrie took over the lives of these families and the tragedies that followed.
49. Sizzling Sixteen – Janet Evanovich – Someone kidnaps Stephanie’s cousin and boss. She’s got to get him back. Hilarity ensues.
50. The 9th Judgment – James Patterson and Maxine Paetro – A cat burglar is used as a cover for a murder, and a serial killer is stalking town. A woman’s murder club mystery – the two cases are oddly linked.
51. Body Double – Tess Gerritsen – Dr Isles discovers she has a twin, and learns who – and what – her mother is. The books are good, I kind of like the characterizations on the show better.
52. Small Favor – Jim Butcher – A Harry Dresden novel, involving a mobster and some wild Sidthe. Oh, and guardian angels. Kind of. I need to start this series from the beginning.
53. The Elysium Commission – LE Modesitt Jr. – Takes place in the distant future, on another world. Concerning a PI/researcher sort of who is also a part time vigilante. Pretty good. Told in the first person, but by 2 different characters, which was a little confusing at first.
54. Vanish – Tess Gerritsen – Rizzoli has her baby, after getting taken hostage, and then gets involved in investigating a sex slave conspiracy.
55. Blockade Billy – Stephen King – Short for a King book. A back in the day baseball story about a very talented rookie catcher who isn’t quite what he seems. In an as told to format. Pretty good, but a very quick read.
56. Antigone – Sophocles – One of Stefan’s summer reading books. Hadn’t read it in years, good diversion for an afternoon.
57. On The Waterfront – Tennessee Williams – Another of his summer books. I’d have to call it an American Tragedy. Holds up well. I should watch the movie.
58. His Last Bow – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The last collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, including the title tale, where he comes out of retirement to trap a Nazi.
59. The Keepsake – Tess Gerritsen – A mummy in a museum turns out to be a recent murder victim, which leads to a story of obsession and murder.
60. I will Fear No Evil – Robert A Heinlein – Took this out of the closet, so I must have read it 20 years ago or so, but it didn’t seem familiar. An old billionaire has his brain transplanted into the body of a young woman, who happened to be his secretary. Heinlein exploring gender roles and sexual mores.
61. Strange Brew – edited by P.N. Elrod – Some famous fantasy authors telling tales of Werewolves and witches and vamps, oh my.
62. America’s Cheapest Family – Steve and Annette Economides – Basically a how to book on living a frugal lifestyle.
63. Storm Front – Jim Butcher – The first of the Dresden files. Harry looks for a rogue wizard killing people with magic. Oh, but the council thinks it’s him.
64. Fool Moon – Jim Butcher – Harry gets involved with various kinds of werewolves.
65. Grave Peril – Jim Butcher – This time it’s ghosts and vampires. And Harry loses his girl.
66. Shocking Cases from Dr Henry Lee’s Forensic Files – Dr Henry Lee and Jerry Labriola MD - Listing cases he’s worked on including the Phil Spector case and Bosnian genocide.
67. Summer Knight – Jim Butcher – Harry gets recruited to investigate a Faerie Knight by Mab herself.
68. Death Mask – Jim Butcher – The introduction of the Fallen – angels that is – as villains. Also someone steals the Shroud of Turin.
69. The Maracot Deep – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Not Sherlock Holmes. The story of 3 explorers who discover the living descendants of Atlantis under the sea.
70. Promise Me – Nancy G Brinker – How a sister’s love launched the global movement to end breast cancer. By the founder of Susan D Komen, part biography, part memoir, part history of the organization. Very moving book.
71. Blood Rites – Jim Butcher – Book six of the Dresden Files. Harry finds family, after taking a protection job on a porn shoot.
72. Dead Beat – Jim Butcher – Necromancers are afoot. And Harry makes peace with the council. Sort of.
73. Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher – Michael’s daughter practices black magic unknowingly and calls on Harry for help.
74. White Night – Jim Butcher – Someone is killing practitioners, and Harry’s first love is investigating.
75. Wicked Appetite – Janet Evanovitch – Not a Plum novel, but features Diesel, who’s appeared in the off number novels.
76. Changes – Jim Butcher – Harry has a daughter. Very dramatic, series changing ending.
77. Mean Streets – Jum Butcher, et al. Four novellas of the mystical.
78. Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen – Dr Isles goes missing on a business trip and is presumed dead. This is the second time she’s done the “Maura is dead” routine.
79. The Gate to Woman’s Country – Sheri S Tepper – Post apocalyptic, a revived civilization divided into women’s country and militaristic garrisons. Pretty good.
80. Songs My Mother Taught Me – Marlon Brando and Robert Lindsey - His autobiography. Interesting, although some of it seems to be BS and his veering into moral relativism is tiring.
81. Dexter is Delicious – Jeff Lindsay – Dexter is a daddy. Different than the show, not quite as entertaining, but very good. There are many elements here I wish the show would use.
82. Side Jobs – Jim Butcher – A collection of stories from the Dresden Files, including a new one that picks up after the ending of the last book, narrated by Murphy.
83. Full House – Janet Evanovich – Not a Plum novel, billed as a mystery but not so much, more a love story with a mystery plastered on.
84. Painted Ladies – Robert B Parker – The latest – maybe last – Spenser novel. Spenser is hired to protect an art historian paying ransom and fails. And thus takes on the case. No Hawk.
85. Angel Time – Anne Rice – A hitman is recruited by a Seraph to save a Jewish family back in the past.
86. Walden, or Life in the Woods – Henry David Thoreau – Another over rated “classic”. There are some good lines in the conclusion, but all in all not very good – and Thoreau comes off as a jerk.
