I read a lot of books as I review books for an indie bookstore in SLC, Utah. I'm also a writer. The Mary Mac trilogy is out now.
The Nikki Doyle trilogy (Rollover, Thunderball and Ms. Scarlett) can also be found at your local indie. Excalibur - the Nikki/Mary crossover was just published.
N.B My blurbs give you just a taste of the plot. Reviews are a pretty subjective matter but the books you'll find here are books I have read and loved.
Dec 17, 2007
Last post of 2007
See you in 2008!
Dec 11, 2007
An Uncommon Reader, Hawke and the End of the World?
Two other books this week 2012 The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck and Hawke by Ted Bell. I have a love of archaeology I used to spend my summers on my hands and knees with a soft brush discovering bits of roman pottery and once a coin, the subject fascinates me. Anyway I saw this programme on the history channel hosted by that guy with the face and body of an angel and a voice that sends me to sleep - forget ambien! and this was the subject, Myan calendars end of the world etc, etc so I decided to educate myself. Also the first in the Hawke series which judging by the blurb makes James Bond look tame - we'll see.
Dec 10, 2007
Sword Song - Bernard Cornwell
In this book the Vikings aren't just coming, they've taken London. Alfred orders Lord U to turf the Vikings out and then give London to his (Lord U's) cousin as a wedding present. The Vikings want to join forces with Uhtred and make him King of Mercia using the "fates" to dangle the offer in front of him. If he takes up the offer U will break his sworn oath to Alfred. No sooner has he made his decision than a prize far greater than London falls into enemy hands and Alfred tasks U to get it back. Chock-full of battles and strategy Sword Song also has enough family betrayal and palace intrigue to keep the book interesting, it also hints at dark things to come.
Nov 29, 2007
There's something in the air
No it's not snow I'm talking about the entire month of November and that something is words. Those people you've seen in internet cafes or at the library etc may have been churning out a novel in a month and I'm chuffed to say I'm one of them, I finished Tuesday afternoon and now I've got a huge dilemma, I love what came from nanowrimo but equally I love Ghostwriter too. I'd like to congratulate each and every winner of nanowrimo and unless we get ambushed by elsewhere I think we won the word war.
So now back to arcs, I've got a Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe - but this isn't) to start but I want to read The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill as well both of these are out now in hard back. Also in the course of sourcing an Anniversary pressie for my father in law I've come across another series which looks good. The "Hawke" series by Ted Bell.
Oct 23, 2007
Critique Week and NanoWrimo
Oct 13, 2007
New Lisa Lutz
I'm trying to keep reading to a minimum this week. Critique time is fast approaching and my supposed 10 pages is actually a measly 2!
Oct 12, 2007
The Ghost by Robert Harris
Of course walking in a dead man's shoes the narrator is apt to repeat the mistakes of McAra but what was his fatal mistake? The one that got him killed. It's all there in the manuscript - the original manuscript The secret that the narrator leaves as his legacy - if you finish the book - you'll know what I mean.
Didn't get to Stiff this week. Life got in the way again.
Oct 10, 2007
Secret History of the War on Cancer
Oct 8, 2007
Spook, more arcs but these are for October 07!
I'll get to Stiff if I get the time. Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis, I've already started it - scary stuff. I heard her interviewed on NPR and then came across the arc in a back room.
Other arc The Ghost by Robert Harris, looks like a ripped-from-the-headlines aka the Blair and Bush smoke and mirrors routine but we'll see. The last Harris I read was Fatherland and that was years ago.
Oct 4, 2007
Review of Seven Deadly Wonders, ARC and Spook
If you like action this is a great book but it has an element of family as well. You’ll cheer the heroes and boo the villians – and you may not like who the villains are. Hey the Brits were the baddies in Ice Station – deal with it, I did.
An international team of commandos, all deadly but charged with raising and protecting a little girl called Lily. It’s a global treasure hunt ten years in the making with high stakes for all of humanity.
Sep 28, 2007
Meeting wrap-up
Sep 26, 2007
Last month's assignment
Seven Deadly Wonders
Sep 25, 2007
Scarpetta's Book of the Dead
Kay and her team, including her computer whizz niece Lucy are trying to stop a killer, one who seems to leave no traces. His latest victim, tennis prodigy Drew Martin, killed in Rome. Along with Drew's baffling murder, and the coprse of an emaciated young boy, Scarpetta has them lining up to run her out of her new home of Charlestown, South Carolina. Funeral Home Directors with agendas. A coroner with secrets pretty close to Kay's home. Marino's reaction to her recent engagement to Wesley is so far over the top that he may regret his actions for the rest of his life and back spinning her deceitful web is Dr Marilyn Self who dropped off the airwaves with a family emergency right after Drew's murder. Self is out to torment Kay by hurting the people she loves, including Lucy and Benton. And then there's another murder.
Will be buying it in softback.
Sep 22, 2007
Carping about Carpe and books for this week
New Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta too, coming out in October. I'm really excited about this one, hope it lives up to my expectations. Also Matt Reilly's Seven Deadly Wonders, yes - the Ice Station guy. This was the title that cracked the NYT best-seller list for him. We've got an ARC for his next one Six Sacred Stones but have to read SDW first. (New trend a countdown in every title?)
Sep 18, 2007
Books that aren't out yet
Still working my way through Making Money the new Terry Pratchett, still laughing my socks off.
I'm right in the middle of a LNF title called Carpe Diem which when it was published in the UK did for Latin what Eats Shoots and Leaves did for grammar. Now I learned Latin at school - for my sins - and it is scary just how much I absorbed - verbs, declensions (who knew there were more than that 3!) Interesting but we'll see if it takes off over here.
Aug 30, 2007
A sudden rush of ideas to the head
I'm trying to figure out how many people it is ok to use in a chapter without confusing the reader. Also trying to get these changes complete before I go off on vacation. This is why no books this week. Although there is one called Ice Station by Matt Reilly which I've been meaning to read. The editor I talked with recommended it (80 - count them - page action sequence at the start of the book) he said it was a good example of pacing. I'll read it when I get back. Break out the Bikinis and Margaritas:-)
Aug 27, 2007
Life - Thud!
Aug 21, 2007
How the Irish Saved Civilisation and Smoke and Mirrors
I bought Smoke and Mirrors sight unseen. I love Neil Gaiman's work - especially the collaboration with Terry Pratchett on Good Omens. It's a collection of his short stories and I highly recommend it.
Aug 18, 2007
Diane Ackerman and Jasper Fforde
This week I've got a real mixed bag. Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman, The Dancer Upstairs, Nick Shakespeare - recommended by the same girl who tipped me to The Oxford Murders by Martinez. How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle.
Aug 15, 2007
Writing Today
Aug 14, 2007
Secret Asset - Stella Rimmington
Aug 12, 2007
Books for this week
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde - second in the nursery crime series - I want the Dorian Grey warranty on my Subaru! - On second thoughts no I don't! The Pippa Piper thing just cracked me up - I couldn't stop laughing and I couldn't say it out loud either. Cuclear energy - priceless.
Secret Asset - Stella Rmmington - I love "At Risk" so lets see how this one works out.
A Natural History of the Senses- Diane Ackerman - not a thriller but a girl has to have options and we've got an event with her coming up - call it homework.
Aug 10, 2007
Blurb - Mark Frost - List of Seven
Frost grounds the lightening paced action using real people and throws in nods to characters and vices Doyle later writes into the Sherlock Holmes novels. The author has a way of creating characters you care about and then doing the most terrible things to them. There was a follow-up. The Six Messiahs which is set 10 years later and while it's a good read, it's not as gripping as List of Seven.
Aug 9, 2007
Hooked - and you will be!
Matt Richtel hooks you on the first page of this tech heavy thriller - I couldn't put it down.
Will I be buying it? Definitely!
Update - I met Matt yesterday and he signed my book!
Intro
Because I'm also a writer (unpublished) I'll blog about that too. Feel free to send me your comments, book recommendations (I'm a sucker for a good thriller) and if you ever figure out who I am feel free to come to the bookstore and challenge me. I'm signing my posts as mystery girl.
First review will be Hooked by Matt Richtel.