tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23235630713376552642024-03-12T22:11:50.064-07:00Lee's BookshelfLeecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-45498758943008848822024-01-12T20:32:00.000-08:002024-01-12T20:32:17.906-08:00<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #66bb33; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">Top 10 Books of 2023</h3><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Here is my Top 10 list of books from the last year. I've slowed way down in reading over the last few years, except for the count of pictures books which the little one just eats up. We read 3-4 pictures books with her every day. </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">I read 56 books this year, averaging 1.08 books a week</span></div><div class="post-header" style="background-color: #66bb33; color: #997755; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.8px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8606247696134395221" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.5; position: relative; width: 568px;"><p style="background-color: #66bb33; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRdcxRuNwvG2Z9ZnCSyqj8Um09cLSYRNJlTszHZs4LczZZ8H-xwIKSJ_vvcqLxVPNdkXXMToss9MBQC4P0_D0zyBJT6SbQUDMURCGZuXNXbqbK3eY1y3QUOHniqmxbEK2crfpXuQ84ToLCGQYn56qp0-S9OdZS3fNx5WCMy4hccmXu9hAG-igwKuriA/s911/tomoor%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; font-size: 14.49px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYRdcxRuNwvG2Z9ZnCSyqj8Um09cLSYRNJlTszHZs4LczZZ8H-xwIKSJ_vvcqLxVPNdkXXMToss9MBQC4P0_D0zyBJT6SbQUDMURCGZuXNXbqbK3eY1y3QUOHniqmxbEK2crfpXuQ84ToLCGQYn56qp0-S9OdZS3fNx5WCMy4hccmXu9hAG-igwKuriA/w211-h320/tomoor%20(1).jpg" width="211" /></a><b style="font-size: 14.49px;">1. <u>T</u></b><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;"><b><u>omorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow </u>by Gabrielle Zevin. </b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.2in;">As
a bookseller for 30 years, I had many people recommend "The Storied
Life Of AJ Fikry" to me. I read it and was disappointed with how much
of a soap opera it was. It was OK, but not my cup of tea. After
reading so many good reviews of Tomorrow..., I decided to give it a
try. I am so glad I did, this is a magical story of real friendship
and love. The main characters love each other, but it is a platonic
love & friendship based on shared passions. One of the things I
really enjoyed about it was how much I learned about video game
design and especially about the use of music in games. I am not a
gamer anymore, haven’t really been since physical arcades fizzled
out long ago, but I absolutely adored this book and highly recommend it.</span></p><p style="background-color: #66bb33; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;"><b>2. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;"><b><u>The Wishing Game</u> by Meg Shaffer. </b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.2in;">I
loved this book! There isn’t any other book on this list that made
me smile as much as this one did. It's a kind of literary Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory. Heck, it's even dedicated to Charlie. A
reclusive author reveals that the winner of a competition among his
fans will win the only copy of the manuscript of the final book in
his immensely popular series of young adult books. It's a simple
book, but it is filled with love for reading and for those around you</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;">.</span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>3. <u>The Wager</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b> by David Grann.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.2in;">The
Wager is a thrilling story of British sailors, shipwrecks, mutiny,
and amazing returns to England, all well before the HMS Bounty. Grann
recounts the story of a 1700s English warship that sank along the
coast of Patagonia. The survivors end up splitting up and taking
different routes in trying to get home. Much like the media coverage
of the Bounty mutiny, those that returned to England first got their
stories heard most loudly by the public</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;">. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>The Fourth Wing</u> – by Rebecca Yarros.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: -0.2in;">Man,
I loved this book. The closest thing to the feeling I got reading the
Harry Potter books and I'm very much looking forward to the next
book. It’s the story of a young woman sent to a dragon-riding
military academy. Yarros borrows from Harry Potter, The Hunger Games,
and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books, but it all worked for me (and
evidently most of the book buyers in the US). Be aware that it does
have a couple of very adult scenes in it and a few too many longing
looks</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>5. <u>The Ferryman</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b> – Justin Cronin.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">I'm
a huge fan of Cronin’s The Passage trilogy, some of the most
literary vampire fiction you’ll ever read (Ok, technically not
vampires). I was curious what he would come up with next. Having
finished it, I’m still not certain what it was, only that I
couldn’t put it down. There were lots of “What the Hell?” type
expletives uttered. The basic story has been done before, a utopia
hiding a dark secret. Of course, nothing is as it seems and you never
quite know what is going on, but I loved it</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-size: 14.49px;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><b>6. </b><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store</u> – James McBride.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
was a little bit of an odd one for me, in that I was almost </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.49px;">halfway</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
through the book thinking that I was still in background info for the
main story. Then I realized the author had been telling the main
story all along, and I was totally OK with that. It's the story of
the Jewish and </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.49px;">African</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
American families </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.49px;">around a</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
grocery store in a small town in Pennsylvania. I enjoyed it very
much.</span></span></span><span style="color: #0e101a;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>7. <u>Empire of the Summer Moon</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b> – S. C. Gwynne.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yep!
I </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.49px;">finally</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
got around to reading this excellent history of Quannah Parker, first
published in 2011. I was about to head to East Texas for Ame's family
reunion and I remembered that some of Quannah's story took place in
that area. Quannah was a fascinating man raised in a </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 14.49px;">culture</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
totally alien to ours. He did horrible things to the settlers trying
to take his tribe's lands but was also an excellent strategist. A
fascinating read.</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>8. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Now Is Not the Time to Panic</u> – Kevin Wilson. </b></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US">Wilson
continues to amaze me with his writing. I think everything he has
written since “The Family Fang” has made one of my Top 10 lists.
This one features a prank by 2 teens in a small town that goes viral
(well before that is really a thing) and ends up spreading across the
nation. Twenty years later as they get closer to being revealed as
the originators, their lives may change. “</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #0f1111; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Amazon Ember, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="en-US"><i>The
edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and
the law is skinny with hunger for us.</i></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US">“</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>9. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>The Last Devil To Die</u> – Richard Osman.</b> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">The
fourth and last, at least for a few years, of The Thursday Murder Club books
is probably the best since the first book. I love Osman's characters
and the fact that a villain in one book can end up helping the gang
in another one. The adventure is set up by the murder of a minor
character from a previous book. It is one of those books that made me
laugh and cry. Please check out this series if you haven't already.</span><span style="color: #0e101a;">. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>10. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Waco</u> – Jeff Guinn</b>. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">Jeff
Guinn does it again with another history book that is both gripping
and informative. I thought I knew quite a bit about David Koresh and
the Waco firefight, but I learned a lot from reading this. I highly
recommend any and all of his history books, but I think “Go Down
Together”, about Bonnie and Clyde is my favorite</span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span><span style="color: #0e101a;">.</span></div><p style="background-color: #66bb33; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: #66bb33; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> Here are a few honorable mentions for the year: Mickey 7 & Antimatter Blues both by Edward Ashton, Prisoners of the Castle - Ben MacIntyre, Things in the Basement - Ben Hatke, Razzmatazz - Christopher Moore, Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson, and Holly - Stephen King</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">. And the wor</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">st book I read this year was Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata, a collection of short stories, many of which featured cannibalism. Odd thing is, Murata wrote Convience Store Woman, which was my number 1 book of 2018. </span></p></div></div>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-67105844539496878832024-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:002024-01-12T18:16:31.911-08:00<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #66bb33; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">Top 10 Books of 2022</h3><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8606247696134395221" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: #66bb33; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 14.49px; line-height: 1.5; position: relative; width: 568px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> Here is my Top 10 list for 2022, only a year late. It's a truncated list - I have the list of books that I compiled last year, but I didn't make notes about them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI956baBoPXnvMvKKCMrf1mRQUsgn1UemMs1vgvG5asvFIELVLJswAHDxneww26cXoHCefCW_-9ne0o-Ai1S1qPAAinvRSrKIJDFKstEanO8WN5lGwit9vLd_AY_2SgBjI6oJ3vrvp-4UJCb0YHHFCBLPxzRtcK77OVRMEKEIDVq04OCb7Al8FiyPbtA/s770/tranq%20(1).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="475" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI956baBoPXnvMvKKCMrf1mRQUsgn1UemMs1vgvG5asvFIELVLJswAHDxneww26cXoHCefCW_-9ne0o-Ai1S1qPAAinvRSrKIJDFKstEanO8WN5lGwit9vLd_AY_2SgBjI6oJ3vrvp-4UJCb0YHHFCBLPxzRtcK77OVRMEKEIDVq04OCb7Al8FiyPbtA/s320/tranq%20(1).jpg" width="197" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><br /><b>1. </b><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Sea of Tranquility</u> by Emily St. John Mandel. </b>This is the third book in a shared universe trilogy that started with "Station Eleven" and is a direct sequel to "The Glass Hotel. All are excellent and all three have been on my yearly top 10 lists. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>2. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>City on Fire</u> by Don Winslow. </b>Excellent organized crime novel set in Rhode Island. First in a trilogy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>3. <u>Remarkably Bright Creatures</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b> by Shelby Van Pelt. </b>Charming story of a woman befriended by an octopus while working in a Pacific Northwest aquarium. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Braking Day</u> by Adam Oyebanji.</b> Excellent science fiction novel about things going wrong on a generation ship approaching its destination.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>5. <u>K</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>aiju Preservation Society</u> by John Scalzi.</b> Scientists open a portal to a planet populated with ain't monsters ala Godzilla. What could possibly go wrong?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>6. </b><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>True Biz</u> by Sara Novic.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>7. <u>The </u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Lincoln Highway</u> by Amore Towles.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>8. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Booth</u> by Karen Joy Fowler. </b>This is a fictional look at the life of the family of John Wilkes Booth.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>9. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Fairy Tale</u> by Stephen King.</b> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>10. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>The Bullet That Missed</u> by Richard Osman. </b> Book 3 of "The Thursday Murder Club" series.</span></div></div>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-86062476961343952212022-01-23T19:21:00.002-08:002022-01-23T22:45:27.165-08:00Top 10 Books of 2021<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Here is my Top 10 list of books from the last year. It marked my official retirement as a bookseller after just over 30 years. Covid blew up my job at Half Price Books and by the time they came back and offered me a different position with less hours, we were settled in with me as Mr. Mom. So, I don't get to see new books every day and I miss that, but I get to spend lots of time with Zaidah and still have time to read. I read Publisher's Weekly every week and that helps some, but I miss the book talk with customers. </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">I read 79 books this year, averaging 1.52 books a week. This was almost exactly the same as last year. I absolutely loved my top two books and then there was a bit of a drop down to the rest of the list.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9CWx_YxRKmckCJnr8ZKcTD8S2MnJrgvaO1XphS5vucqtOP6bz2Tz-4P60ujsYRHjqo8uUE-Kv0IE-jFUs2MpMXs_dAS3wXc26LMd9fchwmC4Vm0chRavqBK_03JuER-Mf02CXO_XuwHydNxiHyePVytnpKfzEPYIqCeUMCVth6jQ0KxW0YaBJrgU=s293" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="195" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9CWx_YxRKmckCJnr8ZKcTD8S2MnJrgvaO1XphS5vucqtOP6bz2Tz-4P60ujsYRHjqo8uUE-Kv0IE-jFUs2MpMXs_dAS3wXc26LMd9fchwmC4Vm0chRavqBK_03JuER-Mf02CXO_XuwHydNxiHyePVytnpKfzEPYIqCeUMCVth6jQ0KxW0YaBJrgU=w213-h320" width="213" /></a></div><br /><b>1.<u>P</u></b><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>roject Hail Mary</u> by Andy Weir. </b>This was by far the most fun I had reading a book in 2021. Weir is a master at writing excellent science fiction with a good dose of humor. Much like “The Martian”, this is a science fiction novel that people who think they don't like science fiction will enjoy. I read a review that said, “This book is half science experiments, half wacky buddy comedy", and that's a great point. At times, the science was over my head, but it made me want to learn enough to understand it. The relationship between the two main characters is hilarious and ultimately touching. I really can't recommend this book enough. I was raving about it to Ame well before I finished it. She read it quickly and it's her favorite book of the year too!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>2.</b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Cloud Cuckoo Land</u> by Anthony Doerr. </b>This is one of those books that will transport you. It takes place across at least 5 different timelines - Ancient Greece, 15th century Constantinople, 1950s Korea, present-day Idaho, and a spaceship several decades in the future. Doerr transported me to all these places, but I found the Siege of Constantinople the most fascinating. All the characters are tied together by a connection to fragments of an ancient Greek text, whether by reciting it, saving it, reading it, or performing it as a play. Look, this is a very hard book to describe, but it's well worth your time. It's very rewarding.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>3. <u>A</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u> Gentleman In Moscow</u> – Amor Towles.</b> I just finished reading Towles's newest book, and while it was good, I kept thinking about how “A Gentleman In Moscow” was much better. In this one, Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian aristocrat, is sentenced to house arrest in Moscow's luxurious Metropol hotel. Over the next few decades, he interacts with other guests, the hotel staff, and the occasional Party officials. Count Rostov is as utterly charming as this book. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>One Last Stop</u> – Casey McQuiston.</b> Oddly enough for me, this is the first of two romances on this list. August is a 23-year-old student moving to NYC for a new start. She shares an apartment with 3 very strange roommates and works in an all-night pancake diner. Nothing is exciting in her life until she encounters Jane, a gorgeous Chinese-American punk rocker, on the subway late one night. August is attracted to her immediately but soon learns that Jane is something between a ghost and a time traveler. August is determined to find a way to save Jane, no matter the cost. Nothing in this book should work as well as it does, but it made me laugh and cry. An incredible, magical romance.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>5. <u>W</u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>ar On the Border</u> – Jeff Guinn.</b> An engaging look at Pancho Villa's attack on a United States town and subsequent US Army Expedition into Mexico. The political machinations behind the scenes on both sides are fascinating. A fascinating read for any Texan.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>6.</b><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Pony</u> – R.J. Palacio.</b> After almost 10 years, RJ Palacio has finally written a book that wasn't tied into her big hit, “Wonder”. Don't get me wrong, I loved “Wonder”, but I wanted to see what else she could do. Let me tell you, this book was worth the wait. Not as magical as “Wonder”, “Pony" seems to be a standard Western tale until you realize that the main character can speak to ghosts. After his father is taken by outlaws, Silas and his best friend set out to find him. He is aided by some strange characters that he meets along the way. Spanning more than a decade, this story is funny, exciting, and heartwarming.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>7. <u>The </u></b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Last Bookshop In London</u> – Madeline Martin.</b> This is the second romance on my list, although I only label it that way because it is published by an imprint of Harlequin. Grace Bennett and her best friend move to London in 1939 to try to get a job at Harrods. Grace ends up working in an old bookshop with an owner who doesn't particularly want her there. When the Blitz starts, it brings some characters together and sends others away. There is a bit of romance in this story, but it is much more about friends, the love of books, and lending a hand.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>8. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>The Galaxy & the Ground Within</u> – Becky Chambers. </b>This is the fourth and final book in the Wayfarers series which just won a Hugo for Best Series. Three of the four have made my top 10 over the years and the other just missed making the list. All of her stories have characters of alien races (including humans) working together. In this book, 5 characters of 4 different races are essentially marooned at an intergalactic truck stop. They must come together to get back in contact with the rest of the universe. The book is both sweet and sad at the same time but above all hopeful.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>9. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>All Systems Red</u> – Martha Wells.</b> This is the first in a science fiction series called “The Murderbot Diaries”, a collection of stories, novellas, and novels that have won 4 Hugo Awards so far. This spot on my list is essentially for all of the series that have been published so far. It features an android designed as a Security Unit that manages to override its governor module, giving it free will. It uses this to watch soap operas and take the occasional job guarding humans. It names itself Murderbot after an assignment goes very wrong. Every one of the stories on the series has been a gem and Murderbot is one of my favorite characters in science fiction. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b>10. </b></span><span style="color: #0e101a;"><b><u>Leave the World Behind</u> – Rumaan Alam</b>. I hadn't heard of this author before, but this book was fantastic and finished on a bunch of Best Of lists for the year. A family of four rents a luxurious house in a remote corner of Long Island for a week. But in the middle of the night, the owners show up in a panic after being trapped in NYC during a strange blackout. There's no TV, internet, or cell phone service so they can't get any information on what's going on. Over the next few days, they discover more problems with the world around them. The sense of foreboding in this novel will get into your bones.</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0e101a; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> Here are a few honorable mentions for the year: Billy Summers - Stephen King, The Boys - Rob & Clint Howard, We Begin At the End - Chris Whitaker, An Unusual Boy - Fiona Higgins, This Is Chance! - Jon Mooallem, The Apollo Murders - Chris Hadfield, and How The Penguins Saved Veronica - Hazel Prior. And the wor</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">st book I read this year was Reprieve by James Han Mattson, a story of murder at a full contact escape room. My other one was Hell Of A Book by Jason Mott, which was on several Top 10 lists for the year, but I found so incoherent that I bailed out 100 pages in. </span></p></div>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-41327584540464592822020-12-30T09:49:00.001-08:002020-12-30T10:17:50.074-08:00Top 10 Books of 2020<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Here are my favorites from the last year. A pretty good year in books (the rest of the year, not so great). I read 80 books this year, averaging 1.54 books a week. This was a full 15 more than the goal of 65 I had set for myself. Chalk this totally up to the pandemic, half a year of not working increased my output quite a bit. A tip of the hat to YA author Andrew Smith whose recommendations led me to Memorial and A Children's Bible. He had those 2 along with Earthlings on his Top 10 list for the year.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaj27RHASG7CPz-hIL0NPAxNwz-qtM_mqoTqGSniDIaNR4YujYUBCe4MsHNn_2f4YNMOJyiQ4IjbJdeIepo04_ag6IK5e6-E4eAQuaP9FVb_FE6e-BRL3JzzIdbDxy3HwPpgTuUdgDOY/s1156/20201228_115350+%25281%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="772" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaj27RHASG7CPz-hIL0NPAxNwz-qtM_mqoTqGSniDIaNR4YujYUBCe4MsHNn_2f4YNMOJyiQ4IjbJdeIepo04_ag6IK5e6-E4eAQuaP9FVb_FE6e-BRL3JzzIdbDxy3HwPpgTuUdgDOY/w134-h200/20201228_115350+%25281%2529.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><br /><b>1. </b><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><u>Utopia Avenue</u> by David Mitchell.</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"> I have never read any of David Mitchell's books before, but I may check some out after reading this novel. Utopia Avenue is the name of a psychedelic folk rock group</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> that forms </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">in late 1960s England. The book kind of meanders through the next three years as the group starts hitting it bigger and bigger. I loved the wandering storyline, but could see that some people might not enjoy it as much. There is a lot of name dropping in the book with cameos from people I was familiar with (David Bowie, the Stones) and others I wasn't (San</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">dy Denny). I found that my Echo was a great reference, having it play artists or songs that I was not as familiar with.Every member of the band was a fascinating character and I came to really care for them and the band overall. Utopia Avenue is all about the journey and not so much the conclusion. </span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>2. <u>Memorial</u></b></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> by Bryan Washington. </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">As the NPR review of this book s</span></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">ays "Memorial </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">is a debut novel that feels like the work of a master." It's the story of Benson and Mike, a troubled</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> couple living </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">in Houston's Third Ward. T</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">heir relationship is filled with fights and a reluctance to figure out what their relationship truly is. Everything is truly thrown upside down when Mike leaves to take care of his dying father in Japan the day after his mother arrives in Houston for a prolonged visit. Benson is left to keep an eye on, </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">and share a one bedroom apartment with, a woman he's never met. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">Both Mike and Benson struggle spending time with people that don't want to be around them, but eventually small breakthroughs are made. This book has some of the most honest looks at relationships, both familial and romantic, that I have ever read. Memorial is just an amazing read and will make you feel pretty much all the emotions. </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">Washington published a collection of short stories that was on</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> Barack Obama's 2019</span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> favorite books list, I plan on checking that out also.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>3. <u>Earthlings</u></b></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"> by Sayake Murata. </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">"Deep in the mountains of Akishima where Granny and Grandpa live, fragments of night linger at midday." That's how Eathlings starts, one of my favorite first lines ever. I absolutely loved Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata's previous book, and I was excited to try this one. I wrote my first mini-review of it 12 hours after I finished it and wasn't sure how I really felt about it. At that point I wasn't sure it would even make my top 10 for the year, but I found myself thinking about it almost every day - wanting to return to that meadow in the Akishima mountain. When </span></span></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">I sat down to compile this list I realized that </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">it belonged here and should be high on the list. Earthlings </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">may the most fucked up book I have read since I finished Geek Love some 30 years ago. It is at turns devastating, joyous, enlightening, and repulsive. It's a hard book to recommend, but I am sure a few friends will love it. It's a very different book from his first, but so worth your time. I</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">t's the story of </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">Natsuki, a young girl that doesn't feel she fits in with anyone. She and her cousin both think they may be aliens abandoned on Earth, and she has been bestowed special powers by a stuffed animal she carries everywhere. Then it starts getting really weird.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>4. <u>A Children's Bible</u> </b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">by Lydia Millet. </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">T</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">his is another odd book that really appealed to me. A group of friends from college still get together every summer along with their families in a huge old mansion. The adults spend their time sampling booze, drugs, and sex. The teens try to find ways to entertain themselves cut off from most of the things they enjoy doing. The book's narrator is Evie, one of these teens and tweens that are contemptuous of their parent's carousing. After a hurricane hits nearby and they are completely cut off from civilization, the parents continue to ignore all around them while the kids decide to run away, leading them into a near apocalyptic environment. It was fascinating to see the adults essentially become the children and the teens step up and look for solutions.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b></b></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdbmBbqVcFGp7vI1hEmAa7dmGuwSzconSQ9ZV2J172lTRQo1puog_-INBa7VNe7AZSH4gC7uFYmtVcqzHIcuFwlRb31rki6YCmia6bp2d1Z9jzlD-gGUlCt6Hoxes2Q54v2XO1t29WmM/s1159/20201228_183411.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="740" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdbmBbqVcFGp7vI1hEmAa7dmGuwSzconSQ9ZV2J172lTRQo1puog_-INBa7VNe7AZSH4gC7uFYmtVcqzHIcuFwlRb31rki6YCmia6bp2d1Z9jzlD-gGUlCt6Hoxes2Q54v2XO1t29WmM/w127-h200/20201228_183411.jpg" width="127" /></a></b></span></span></span></span></div><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b><br />5. <u>To Sleep In a Sea of Stars</u> </b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">by Christopher Paolini. </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">Another bestselling author </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">that is new to me. This is an epic science fiction story of discovery of ancient alien relics and first contact. Kira is a planetary scientist who stumbles over alien tech that fuses with her body and becomes symbiotic. The problem is that at least 2 previously unknown alien races are looking for this tech and it draws the human collection of planets into it. This is Paolini's first foray into adult fiction and he hits a home run with it. "Stars" is a complete stand alone story, but does leave itself open to a possible sequel. This is easily the longest and most fun book I read this year.</span></span></span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>6. <u>The Glass Hotel</u> </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><b style="font-size: 15.2px;">by Emily St. John Mandel. </b><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">Much like her last novel, "Station Eleven", St. John Mandel's "</span><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">T</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">he Glass Hotel" defies easy description. It's told through the lives of two characters; Vincent, a beautiful, tough punk/bartender/ship worker, and Johnathan, a Bernie Madoff type conman investor. As the book skips back and forth through time, the lives of these two and friends/family/victims intersect. This is the second book on this list that keeps calling me. I wasn't sure I loved it when I finished it, but I just keep thinking about it more than 6 months later. Two quotes that I love and seem apropos for this year - </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">"Do you find yourself sort of secretly hoping that civilization collapses just so that something will happen?"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;">"I've always had a weakness for places where it seems like time slows down."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpXJWFTxAdjDwhhJSmuyU-gknnq-7attHjfi68FDXEqNF9B9CuVQaY5jDx5nPKzAUbXpcOLZ2femOAidYwuxZacFbq7IZemonOe-CewbX0TA4ekTf-ceBo4YB3f9CRl8-JPxecdqrGY4/s1166/20201229_114929.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpXJWFTxAdjDwhhJSmuyU-gknnq-7attHjfi68FDXEqNF9B9CuVQaY5jDx5nPKzAUbXpcOLZ2femOAidYwuxZacFbq7IZemonOe-CewbX0TA4ekTf-ceBo4YB3f9CRl8-JPxecdqrGY4/w132-h200/20201229_114929.jpg" width="132" /></a></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b><br />7. <u>The Searcher</u> </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15.2px;"><b style="font-size: 15.2px;">by Tana French. </b><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">I haven't read any of Tana French's works before, but the reviews on this one intrigued me. Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop wants to get away from it all, so he moves to a small village in Ireland. He buys a dilapidated house and works on repairing it. One day a boy shows up and starts to hang around. Eventually the boy asks Hooper to see if he can find his missing brother, a teenager no one else cares about. He puts his detective skills to work, but no one seems to want him to find out anything. The book has a good story and characters, but it is French's writing style that made me love this book. Her words transported me to the Irish countryside and made me want to visit, if not just move there myself. A beautifully written work.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">8</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>. <u>The Splendid and the Vile</u> </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><b style="font-size: 15.2px;">by Erik Larson. </b><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">The best non-fiction I read this year. Larson brings to life Churchill, his advisors, and his family during World War II. It brings a more human look at how Winnie helped save England from the Nazis, from scheming to get the USA involved to dangerous midnight walks through London during the bombing in order to survey damage and raise morale. In my opinion, a fascinating look at this part of history.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">9</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>. <u>Simon the Fiddler</u> </b></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><b style="font-size: 15.2px;">by Paulette Jiles. </b><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">This is Jiles' follow-up to her near perfect "News of the World" from 2016. It takes Simon, a minor character from that book, and tells his story. It ranges from one of the last battles of the Civil War on the Mexican border, to post war Galveston, and settlements in central and North Texas. This isn't an action filled story, it's slow moving at times, but I still enjoyed it all. I loved watching Simon grow as a person, making friends and falling in love.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15.2px;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">10</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><b>. A Pale Light In <u>The Black</u> </b></span><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"><b style="font-size: 15.2px;">by K. B. Wagers. </b><span style="font-size: 15.2px;">This is the first in a series described as The Expanse meets the battle room of Ender's Game. Maxine Carmichael is assigned to Zuma's Ghost, a military spaceship that patrols the solar system. It also fields one of the top teams in the Boarding Games, an annual competition featuring teams from top military infiltration teams. Nothing heavy here, just good fun. I look forward to future books in the series.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"> Here are a few other books that I really enjoyed, but didn't make the list: A Cosmology of Monsters - Shaun Hamill, Two Girls Down - Louisa Luna, Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson, The Best Cook In the Whole Word - Rick Bragg, All Things Left Wild - James Wade, and Recursion - Blake Crouch. And the worst book I read this year was Scavenger Hunt by Dani Lamia. PW actually gave it a decent review, but it was simply stupid and dreadful!</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, utopia, quot;"><span style="font-size: 15.2px;"><br /></span></span></p>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-82868560120292361352020-01-02T08:46:00.001-08:002020-01-02T08:46:22.253-08:00Top 10 Books of 2019<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Here are my favorites from the last year. A so-so year for me, only a couple of what I would consider great books, but lots of good ones. I read 65 books this year, averaging 1.25 books a week. This was 7 titles less than the goal of 72 I had set for myself. I put this firmly on the head of Zaidah - somehow a 1 year old eats up a lot of your time.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel5B269sJnzg9ru7fbC1S4UddUtGHeTMKb5F-O4TXzIswHvhRZxch4cK_67uON9RYUvs6NZCQ5sBv-cGS4Zre7BKId2VtkgRfgvoo25w3E4hn6yE8i0RJNrpaZh9NC2hPdnG1BeZpnx4/s1600/Nickel-Boys-Colson-Whitehead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="678" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgel5B269sJnzg9ru7fbC1S4UddUtGHeTMKb5F-O4TXzIswHvhRZxch4cK_67uON9RYUvs6NZCQ5sBv-cGS4Zre7BKId2VtkgRfgvoo25w3E4hn6yE8i0RJNrpaZh9NC2hPdnG1BeZpnx4/s200/Nickel-Boys-Colson-Whitehead.jpg" width="131" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">1.<b><u> The Nickel Boys</u></b> by Colson Whitehead. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This novel got great reviews and is on several Best Of lists for the year (including Barack Obama's). It is not an easy read, but definitely the most powerful book I read this year. Told in flashbacks, it is the story of one young man's experiences at a dangerous reform school for boys in the 1960s. It is based on a real school for boys in Florida that existed for 100 years. Elwood, a young African American, is </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">sent to the school for a crime he did not commit. While there, he meets another young man, who helps him to survive and get along in this brutal environment. This is a powerful look at inequality that is still an enjoyable read. Whitehead is an amazing writer and I will be going back to look at some of his previous books. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2. <u><b>Once Upon A River</b></u> </span><span style="color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">by Diane Setterfield.<span style="color: black;"> While "The Nickel Boys" was the best written book I read this year, this is the book that has stuck with me the most. I keep replaying scenes in my head almost a year later. "River" is part historical mystery and part fairy tale with a big dose of magical realism thrown in. It worked completely for me. It all takes place along a river in England in the 1800s and involves a long missing girl returned to her parents, a stolen pig, and an ancient inn along the banks of a river with many mysteries under the surface. The writing is mystical and beautiful, nothing moves quickly, but at exactly the right pace. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;"><span class="readable" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">“It was better to tell such stories close to the river than in a drawing room. Words accumulate indoors, trapped by walls and ceilings. The weight of what has been said can lie heavily on what might yet be said and suffocate it. By the river the air carries the story on a journey: one sentence drifts away and makes way for the next.”</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "quot"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "lato" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">3.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> <b>Daisy Jones & The Six</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Taylor Jenkins Reid. <span style="color: black;">The Six is rock band that is rapidly moving to the top of the charts and Daisy Jones is the young singer that joins them in this novel told mostly in excerpts of interviews. A highly fictionalized account of the group Fleetwood Mac, it follows the rise to the top and then breakup of a 1970's rock band. I found the story fascinating and it kept me turning pages from beginning to end. This one finished on several Best Of lists also. I finished it and immediately spent the next hour listening to the music of and researching the history of Fleetwood Mac. </span> </span></span></div>
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4. <span style="color: red;"><b>Full Throttle</b> by Joe Hill.</span><span style="color: black;"> A collection of horror/fantasy stories by Stephen King's son. I continue to enjoy just about everything Hill releases. There are 2 collaborations with King here, but they were probably my least favorite entries. Some of my favorites - "Late Returns" about a haunted bookmobile, "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain" a very Bradburyesque story about a lake monster, and "Dark Carousel" about a vengeful merry-g-round. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD5y_Bn4yDOAtDpP6hJPAsoXUF0GrTCoeodypzDY-UIyBJi5svL3YFQ5s3G0qWFZNO2sop811BhkIqy3mZO9XnVz37U6BEY-LcqrMMyqRtITjkjbbUYCF_7HgOm6kawuq9pYeOzHEHq8/s1600/kevin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="474" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD5y_Bn4yDOAtDpP6hJPAsoXUF0GrTCoeodypzDY-UIyBJi5svL3YFQ5s3G0qWFZNO2sop811BhkIqy3mZO9XnVz37U6BEY-LcqrMMyqRtITjkjbbUYCF_7HgOm6kawuq9pYeOzHEHq8/s200/kevin.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">5.<b> Nothing To See Here</b> by Kevin Wilson</span><span style="color: black;">. From the author of "The Family Fang" comes this story about a woman hired to bee a nanny to two children who catch on fire when angry. Wilson has written 3 novels now, all of them strange and all of them compelling. The narrator is not a likable person, but you are soon rooting for her and the these bizarre twins. Not as good as "The Family Fang", which I loved, but still very good. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: red;">6. <b>Sol Majestic</b> by Ferrett Steinmetz.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"> A wonderfully humorous science fiction novel about the greatest restaurant in the Galaxy. A destitute teen guru wins a meal at The Sol Majestic, the most renown and expensive restaurant in known space. The owner and chef change his life, setting him off down a very different road. This novel is good science fiction and displays a love of food not often found in fiction. This one made me cry and laugh out loud.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">7. <span style="color: red;"><b>The Calculating Stars</b> by Mary Robinette Kowal.</span> The first in a planned trilogy of alternate history novels, it won the 2018 Hugo and Nebula for Best Novel. in 1952, a meteorite strike wipes out most of the East Coast of the US and triggers climate change that will end life on Earth in the near future. This speeds up the space race and the US starts using female astronauts in the 1960s. This story is told by a mathematician that becomes one of the first. I also very much enjoyed "The Fated Sky", the second book in the series. The third one is due out in 2020.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: red;">8. <b>Never Have I Ever</b> by Joshilyn Jackson</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">. I have read everyone of Joshilyn Jackson's books and they have all been very good. My favorite is still "The Almost Sisters", but this one is excellent too. "Never Ever Have I Ever" is Jackson's first true thriller and she knocks it out of the park. Amy Whey is happy with her normal life in a nice neighborhood. Then one might, a new person intrudes on the local book club and she seems to know things about Amy that no one else does. Filled with twists and turns and SCUBA diving, it was a fun read.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: red;">9. <b>The Dreamers</b> by Karen Thompson Walker. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">"The Age of Miracles" by Walker was one of the most original post-apocalyptic novels I have read. Her new novel has been on several Best Of lists for this year. A small community in California is decimated by a mysterious illness that causes people to go to sleep and not wake up. Walker's novels are elevated by her beautiful writing, I very much look forward to more books from her.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: red;">10. <b>The Rosie Result</b> by Graeme Simsion</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">. This is the final book in a trilogy that started with "The Rosie Project". It follows the improbable romantic and family life of Don, a college professor who is very high on the spectrum. While the second book was a bit of a disappointment, Simsion came roaring back with this finale. Don is trying to deal with his 11 year old son who is having trouble fitting in at school. It is very fulfilling to see this character grow so much from a beginning where he could barely deal with other people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"> The first two books on my list are the 2 that will stick with me for a long time. Honorable mentions to "Where the Crawdads Sing", "The River", "Orange World", "The Chain", and "Lost and Found". </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">My favorite non-fiction book of the year was "The Five" by Hallie Rubenhold. It is the story of the 5 women killed by Jack the Ripper, but it is also the story of life for the very poor in Victorian London. It is gut wrenching at times, none of the 5 women are quite as portrayed in Ripper books. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"> And the worst book I read this year was "48 Hours" by William Fortschen, an apocalyptic story about how people react to a coming electrical storm. It wasn't horrible, just really boring. </span></span></div>
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</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-52849602977576333882019-01-07T16:59:00.000-08:002019-01-07T16:59:16.496-08:00Top 10 Books of 2018<div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,Utopia,&quot; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.8px; orphans: 2; position: relative; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 568px; word-spacing: 0px;">
Yes, I am actually trying to get this done before the end of the year (Well, that didn't happen). Pretty good, considering I just posted my Best of 2017 list a few days ago! I read 71 books this year, averaging 1.36 books a week. This was 5 titles less than the goal of 75 I had set for myself. My number one pick was an add one, but one that really resonated with me. It got good reviews when it came out, but I haven't seen it on any Best Books lists for the year. In fact, the only book on my list that has been on several Best Of lists is my 9 choice. </div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">1. </span><strong style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Convenience Store Woman</span></u></strong><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Sayaka Murata. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I read a review of this in "Publishers Weekly" and thought it sounded pretty interesting. I'm very glad that I decided to try it, because I loved it. Murata tells the story of 36 year old Keiko who has been working in the same Tokyo convenience store for 18 years. Registering somewhere on the autism spectrum, she has never fit in with her family, friends, or schoolmates till she starts working here. All the rules for working in the store and interacting with customers and coworkers are laid out in the employee manual. It is only when she starts to deviate from her established life to make others happy that she starts to have problems. I adored Keiko and was rooting for her on every page to make the best decisions for her own life.</span></div>
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<div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.8px; orphans: 2; position: relative; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 568px; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">2. Elevation</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Stephen King.<span style="color: black;"> This is just a novella by the King of Horror, but has jumped into my top 3 of his works. It's not horror at all, in fact, it most reminded my of some of Ray Bradbury's best fantasy. Scott Carey is losing weight, but he doesn't look any thinner. He has decisions to make, including in whom to confide. This is a moving story of friendships, old and new, and determining your own fate.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">3. Binti</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Nnedi Okorafor <span style="color: black;">Another novella, this one won the Hugo and Nebula Awards a few years ago, although I just discovered it. Binti is a young woman from an African tribe who had been accepted into the most prestigious university in the galaxy. Her unique skills are needed when problems arise on the trip there. This is the first in a series of 3 stories and I look forward to trying the other two.</span>.<span style="color: black;"></span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYs_rzJvDUNs-pjrPS2Ml7Sh2dIOA6IxOHQXamzWUp3d6Psf3qlFAcMXk5ctCubWqPdwDq5w57TonJB0G6zp8hamG-0gjCFAJWLwNOoK_xskuuKEpvuIXeAg03nGT84HZlK8vkhZSbF4/s1600/he.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="337" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYs_rzJvDUNs-pjrPS2Ml7Sh2dIOA6IxOHQXamzWUp3d6Psf3qlFAcMXk5ctCubWqPdwDq5w57TonJB0G6zp8hamG-0gjCFAJWLwNOoK_xskuuKEpvuIXeAg03nGT84HZlK8vkhZSbF4/s200/he.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.8px; orphans: 2; position: relative; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; width: 568px; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">4. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">He - John Connolly<span style="color: black;"> A fictional look at the life of Stan Laurel, half of possibly the greatest comedy duo ever. The book starts in the beach house Stan lived the last years of his life in and is told through a series of flashbacks. This is definitely not a sugar coated look at his life, he was not wonderful human being, but neither was he a bad guy. And you can definitely feel the love he had for his partner, Oliver Hardy. Although not based on this book, I'm now looking forward to seeing the Laurel and Hardy biopic coming out this year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;">5. Record of a Spaceborn Few</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Becky Chambers</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> This is the final book in a science fiction trilogy that started with Long Way To A Small Planet, which was on my Top 10 last year. All three books are very well done and extremely readable, although only loosely connected. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;">6. Varina </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">by Charles Frazier</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> Frazier has now written 4 novels, 3 of them have finished on my Top 10 lists over the years. I love his writing, it's very descriptive. This is the story of Varina, the wife of Jefferson Davis. It mostly concentrates on her escape from Richmond at the end of the Civil War, but her whole history with Davis is covered in flashbacks. She was a very interesting person and not at all what you would expect from the wife of the leader of the Confederacy. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;">7. The Great Alone</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Kristin Hannah</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #b00000; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b> </b></span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">A damaged Vietnam vet moves his wife and teen daughter to a small town in Alaska to live off the grid in 1974. Things go smoothly for a short time, then the father starts to deteriorate.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="color: #b00000;"></span><b></b><b></b><span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;">8. Irontown Blues </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">by John Varley</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #b00000; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">John Varley is one of my favorite SF writers. His books harken back to the classic science fiction of the 1940s-1960s, but still feels fresh. This is essentially a noir thriller featuring a private detective living on the moon who is hired by a beautiful young woman. She has been infected with an engineered virus and wants to know why. Needless to say, his investigation leads to deeper and darker secrets.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc3300;">9. There There</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #cc3300; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 15.2px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> by Tommy Orange <span style="color: black;">This is the only book on my list that is on multiple big name Best of lists. This is a slowly developing story about a large group of Native Americans in the Oakland area. As the book progresses the characters are heading to a final resolution a the city pow-wow. </span></span></span></span><br />
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Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-77414843611993825592018-12-27T17:12:00.000-08:002019-01-03T09:21:51.895-08:00Top 10 Books of 2017 For whatever reason, I never posted my best books of 2017 even though I had put the list together. I'm not going to go back and write reviews for them, but there is some good stuff here if you want to check them out.<br />
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1.<span style="color: red;"><u><b> The Almost Sisters </b>by Joshilyn Jackson</u></span><span style="color: black;"> Amid chaos in her extended family's life, a comic book creator finds out she is unexpectedly pregnant. I have enjoyed everyone of Jackson's novels, but this one is easily her best. Funny and touching, this shows what family really means. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>2. <b>My Absolute Darling</b> - Gabriel Tallent</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;">An absolutely brutal punch to the gut. Hard to read, but the fantastic writing makes it worth the read. Fourteen year old Julia lives in a ramshackle house with her mentally ill, paranoid father. </span><span style="color: black;">I don't often read books because of the blurbs, but when Stephen King calls something a masterpiece, I'm interested. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>3. <b>Sourdough</b> - Robin Sloan</span><span style="color: black;"> From the author of "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore", an earlier favorite of mine, comes this humorous story of a sourdough starter that seems to have special powers.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>4. <b>Long Way To A Small Planet</b> - Becky Chambers</span><span style="color: black;"> This is the first in a science fiction trilogy that I really enjoyed. It felt old fashioned (in a good way) and thoroughly modern at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>5. <b>News of the World</b> - Paulette Jiles</span><span style="color: black;"> A short novel about a post Civil War former Army Captain trying to return a young girl that had been a captive of the Kiowa for several years to her surviving family. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>6. <b>Celine</b> - Peter Heller</span><span style="color: black;"> Celine is a 68 year old, ill private detective traveling across the US in a motor home on the track of a criminal with her husband. Based on Heller's real mother, who worked for the FBI and became a detective late in life.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>7. <b>Beartown</b> - Fredrick Backman</span><span style="color: black;"> I am a huge fan of Backman and while this is his best written book, it is dark and depressing. It is the story of a small town in Sweden and it's love and how much it depends on it's youth hockey team.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>8. <b>Killers of the Flower Moon</b> by David Grann</span><span style="color: black;"> The best non=fiction I read this year. The story of the Osage Indians of Oklahoma in the 1920's. When oil was discovered on their land, speculators & con men did everything they could to take it away from them.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>9. <b>Strange Weather</b> - Joe Hill</span><span style="color: black;"> Four short fantasy novels, all good, but one of which I am still thinking about almost 2 years later.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span>10. <b>The Force</b> - Don Winslow</span><span style="color: black;"> Fantastic antihero thriller about a group of bad cops and their attempts to hang on to their ill gotten games. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"> And the book I couldn't stand this year was "George & Lizzie" by Nancy Pearl. She may be a great librarian, but this romantic comedy of a book was just dreadful.</span>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-82729692048281500992017-01-23T09:37:00.000-08:002017-01-23T09:37:36.356-08:00Top 10 Books of 2016<br />
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Hey, January is almost over, it must be time for my top 10 list! I read 75 books this year, averaging 1.44 books a week. This was 5 titles more than last year's total. I got a lot more reading done the last month or so of the year then I had been averaging earlier. My number one pick was an easy choice and I'm excited to have found a great new author, at least in my opinion. I'm still reading at least 90% of my books on my Nook, I think I only read 3 or 4 physical books this year. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">1. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">A Man Called Ove</span></u></strong> by Frederik Backman. <span style="color: black;">I discovered Backman when a coworker at the bookstore raved about "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry". I got a copy, read it, and absolutely loved it. I followed that up with "A Man Called Ove" and a few months later "Britt-Marie Was Here" when it was released. I'm going to cheat here and include all three of those books as my number one book of the year. Overall, "A Man Called Ove" was easily my favorite book of the year. The book made me laugh and cry out loud and I was thoroughly pissed when it was over that it wasn't longer. Ove is a widowed curmudgeon who wants nothing more to be left alone. As he comes into his neighbors as he goes about his well established routines, we learn his back story and how he came to be the man he is today. I highly recommend this book and the Swedish film that was made from it as well. Backman's other 2 books are wonderful reads also - "Britt-Marie Was Here" is a sequel to "My Grandmother.." </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">2. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Good Morning Midnight</span></u></strong> by Lily Brooks-Dalton. <span style="color: black;">An absolutely beautifully written book. Something apocalyptic has happened to mankind, the only survivors we know of are a 78 year old scientist at an Arctic observatory and 6 astronauts headed back to Earth after an expedition to Jupiter. None of them know what has happened, their were rumors of impending war and then nothing - no radio signals, no signs of life at all. Sully, the female communications officer on board the Aether, and Augie, the scientist stranded in the Arctic, have much in common. There is hope that somehow they will be able to communicate with each other. I can't remember ever reading a book with such a profound sense of loneliness, it make my heart ache. But it is a fantastic book and I am glad that I read it. </span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">3. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Fireman</span></u></strong> by Joe Hill. <span style="color: black;">"The Fireman" is an excellent look at a fascinating core of characters after a disease has decimated the world. It is easily comparable to his father's book "The Stand", in my opinion. A horrible plague is spreading quickly across the country. Everyone calls it Dragonscale, and it's a highly contagious spore that produces gold & black marks on their bodies and eventually causes them to burst into flames. An infected nurse and a fireman work together to help a camp of victims survive and find a place of safety. I love Stephen King's books, but this is the second straight book from his son that is as good as most of his. </span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">4. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">To The Bright Edge Of The World</span></u></strong> by Eowyn Ivey. <span id="freeTextreview1693850850"><span style="color: black;">Absolutely beautiful tale of an Alaskan exploration mission by a small American Army group. The story is told in a series of letters, diaries, and newspaper articles. Three stories are going on at once - Colonel Allen Forester, the leader of the expedition; Sophie, the pregnant wife he has left alone at army outpost; and two modern characters writing each other about the history of the expedition. All three stories are wonderfully told and there is a beautiful sense of nature and the religion & mythology of the Alaskan Indians. There are many parts of this book that I will remember for a long time. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">5. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Nix</span></u></strong> by Nathan Hill. <span id="freeTextreview1756800984"><span style="color: black;">In my original review of this book several months ago, I said "The Nix" was a very good book that could have been a great one if it was about 100 pages shorter. While I still won't say it was a great book, it was very good and I now think that the length was just right. It has been several months since I finished it, but I keep thinking about it. Samuel Andresen-Anderson is a 30something small college English professor whose mother abandoned his family when he was 11. Some 20 years later she reemerges when she is filmed throwing rocks at an ultra conservative presidential candidate. He begins a journey to find out all he can about her life, trying to understand why she left him and how she got to this place. Part of Sam's back story is that he obsessed with a World of Warcraft type online game. The first review I read of this book described it as a mix of John Irving and Michael Chabon and I think that it lives up to that. Nathan Hill is an author well worth watching.</span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">6. </span><span style="color: #cc3300;"><strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Moonglow</span></u></strong> by Michael Chabon. </span><span style="color: black;">Speaking of Michael Chabon, here he is with one of his best. </span><span style="color: black;">He takes the life of his grandfather and turns it into intriguing fiction. Chabon is the narrator here and he has flown to his mother's home to spend time with his terminally ill grandfather. As he sits with him, his grandfather starts telling him stories from his life. Those stories take us from prewar </span><span style="color: black;">Philadelphia to London and Germany during WWII; from a prison in New York to working with NASA during the latter days of the space race; and finally to a retirement community in Florida where he takes on a giant reptile eating the neighborhood pets. It's all a heartwarming and sad story of a man's life and some 80 years of American history. . </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">7. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Last One</span></u></strong> by Alexandra Oliva. <span style="color: black;">Zoo is a contestants on "In the Dark", a survival reality TV set in the wilderness of the Northeast. She, the other contestants, and the production crew are cut off from, the rest of the world while they are filming. Unknown to them, a pathogen hits that begins to kill off most of world’s population. Zoo is working alone and has no idea what has happened. She thinks the desolation and death that she sees are just tableaux set up by the production team of the show. Oliva is an wonderful writer and Zoo's thoughts on life and society as she begins to realize what is happening are gripping.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">8. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">North Water</span></u></strong> by Ian McGuire. <span style="color: black;">An excellent literary thriller set on board a 19th century British whaling ship. There's a killer aboard and although we pretty much know who it is, the story is still tight and exciting. Be warned that the storytelling is graphic and gory. </span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">9. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Road To Jonestown</span></u></strong> by Jeff Guinn. <span style="color: black;">Meticulously researched, but fascinating look at Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple from their founding in Indiana to their tragic end in Guyana. I knew the basics of this story, but I learned so much from reading this book. Jones and his church did a lot of good for many years, before things started to spiral out of control. Highly recommended, but you will have to wait until April for it's release.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc3300;">10. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Morning Star</span></u></strong> by Pierce Brown. </span><span style="color: black;">Fantastic conclusion to the "Red Rising" trilogy. I can't say enough about this science fiction trilogy. The publisher marketed it as Young Adult, but the author was nominated for a Hugo Award for the first book. It's possible to make a few comparisons to "The Hunger Games", but I feel that these books are much better than those. </span><br />
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Other books that I loved this year were "Devotion" by Adam Makos (a great nonfiction story of two pilots in the Korean War), "Curioddity" by Paul Jenkins (a Douglas Adams like private eye adventure), "Everyone Brave Is Forgiven" by Chris Cleave (a moving WWII story set during the London Blitz), "The Wonder" by Emma Donoghue (a nurse investigating a possible miracle in 19th century Ireland), "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch (a thrilling parallel world SF story), "The City Of Mirrors" by Justin Cronin (very good wrap-up to The Passage trilogy), and "Orphan X " by Gregg Hurwitz (start of a great new thriller series). I'm not sure if I read "Fortune Smiles" by Adam Johnson in 2016 or 2016, but it is an amazing collection of short stories by the author "The Orphan master's Son".<br /> And finally, the book that I most disliked this year - "Security" by Gina Wohlsdorf. It was a pretty mediocre thriller and I was contemplating just giving upon it. Then I read this paragraph and decided I just didn't have time for this. "Brian's and Tessa's laughter has calmed. They're each looking off in an imagined distance. They share a past. They're watching it like a movie. Brian knew Tessa when she was young and innocent. If he was remotely decent, he guarded that innocence, as did his stupid dead twin brother, but then they abandoned her, both of them, so what right does he have to steal an eyeful of Tessa like the sight of her is a nutrient of which he's been deprived."<br /> </div>
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Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-68749595966404936452016-01-11T20:00:00.001-08:002016-01-11T20:04:59.338-08:00Top 10 Books of 2015 I read 70 books this year, averaging 1.35 books a week. This was 11 titles down from last year's total. I'm not sure if my reading speed is coming down with age or I just read more books this year that are a bit slower to get through. I felt like I read some really good books this year, but nothing that just blew me away like last year's "All the Light We Cannot See".<br />
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1. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Our Souls At Night</span></u></strong> by Kent Haruf. A beautifully written look at the friendship between a widow and widower in Holt, Colorado, the setting of "Plainsong" and several other of Haruf"s books. This was Haruf's last book before he died and that sense of mortality comes through in the writing. It starts with “And then there was the day when Addie Moore made a call on Louis Waters.” Addie is coming over to ask Louis to come over every now and then and sleep with her. Not for sex necessarily, but just for the warmth & companionship, to hold hands and not talk at all. They become the best of friends and the relationship grows until some people become embarrassed by it. This is a book that has stayed with me. Parts of this book keep popping into my head more than 6 months after I finished it. A film is in development and Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are rumored to be interested.<br />
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2. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Golden Sun</span></u></strong> by Pierce Brown. By far the most exciting book that I read in 2016, "Golden Son" is a follow-up to "Red Rising", a book that I really enjoyed last year. But this one blew me away, one of the best space operas I have ever read. Epic in scale, but with characters that I really liked and rooted for. Having fully infiltrated the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues to try to bring down the society from within. There were times reading this book that I remember actually gasping out loud, it is so filled with twists and surprises. I missed this one as soon as I finished it. "Morning Star", the final book in the trilogy is due out next month - I can't wait!<br />
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3. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Undermajordomo Minor</span></u></strong> by Patrick DeWitt. While this may not be quite as good as DeWitt's "The Sisters Brother", it doesn't miss by much. This is kind of a fairy tale, at times laugh out loud funny, at times very dark and twisted. Think of a very dark, R rated "The Princess Bride". Lucien "Lucy" Minor <span id="freeText17589835372661150625">is a compulsive liar, a skinny wimp in Bury, a small town full of brutish giants. He accepts a job sight unseen as the assistant to the majordomo of the remote and frightening Castle Von Aux. While learning his new job , he finds the castle and nearby village are full of dark secrets and strange inhabitants. Once I got into the book, I was grinning ear to ear from beginning to end. </span><br />
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4. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Fortune Smiles</span></u></strong> by Adam Johnson. An amazing collection of short stories from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Orphan Master's Son". Every single story in the volume is a winner, a rarity in collections like this. They will either tug at your heart or punch you in the gut, sometimes both. <i>George Orwell Was A Friend Of Mine</i>, the story of a former STASI prison warden trying to explain to people of a unified German what and why he did, is probably my favorite of the bunch. All the stories here are highly recommended. National Book Award winner for 2015.<br />
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5. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Dead Wake</span></u></strong> by Erik Larson. Easily the best non-fiction I read in 2015, this is an excellent look at the last voyage of the Lusitania. Larson does a remarkable job of bringing the passengers and crew of the liner alive and shows the long list of coincidences that brought her and the German U-boat together off the coast of Ireland. Even though I knew the fate of the ship, I was still holding my breath at the end, hoping that passengers that I had come to know would survive. <br />
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6. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Kind Worth Killing</span></u></strong> by Peter Swanson. While not perfect, this is the first book that I have read that feels like it deserves the too often used description "the next Gone Girl". Alternating narrators, a big twist halfway through the book, and a "villain" that you find yourself rooting for. Two strangers meet in a London airport and through a friendly discussion decide to kill the wife of one of them. I really liked that the book could surprise me (several times) and make me feel sympathetic for a cold blooded killer. In my opinion, much better than the overrated "The Girl On The Train", I was happy to see it finish on the "Entertainment Weekly" Best Books of 2015 list.<br />
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7. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Into The Savage Country</span></u></strong> by Shannon Burke. Outstanding short novel about a fur trader in the American West of the 1820s. William Wyeth leaves St. Louis on a fur trapping expedition. Things don't go as planned and he ends up facing off with Native American tribes, the British government, and other American trapping groups. Featuring exciting action and beautiful descriptions of nature, "Savage Country" reminded me of Phillips Meyer's "The Son". I just saw "The Revenant" at the theater and this book makes an excellent companion piece to that film. <br />
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8. <span style="color: #cc3300;"><b><u>Trigger Warning</u></b></span> by Neil Gaiman. I am still way behind in my Gaiman, this is only the third of his books that I have read. But I loved this collection of stories, featuring a little bit of everything. There is <i>Click-Clack the Rattlebag, </i>a story you should definitely not read right before trying to go to sleep. It features a Dr. Who story, a Sherlock Holmes tale, and a story that is a wonderful tribute to Ray Bradbury. <i>The Return of the Thin White Duke </i>is a homage to David Bowie, one of Gaiman's heroes.<br />
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9. <span style="color: #cc3300;"><b><u>Paradise Sky</u></b></span> by Joe Lansdale. As a kid and well into my twenties I hated Westerns. "Lonesome Dove", "The Searchers", and Elmer Kelton made me a little more open to that genre. But it is still a surprise to me to find two books that could be considered Westerns on this list. "Paradise Sky" is the fictionalized story of the somewhat legendary African American cowboy known as Deadwood Dick. Joe Lansdale is a hell of a storyteller, and his "The Thicket" is one of the best adventure novels I have read over the last few years. "Paradise Sky" is almost that good and I wish it had been even longer, I was sorry to see it end.<br />
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10. <span style="color: #cc3300;"><b><u>Descent</u></b></span> by Tim Johnston. A hard book to categorize. The first half is a depressing as anything I have read in a very long time. While out on a run with her little brother, Caitlin Courtland disappears in the Rocky Mountains. Enough of a downer that I wasn't sure I was going to finish it, but halfway through the story the book makes a fascinating turn and turns into a different type of book. I loved the second half of the story, it managed to surprise me and I love that in a book.<br />
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Other books that I loved this year were "Make Me" by Lee Child (one of the best Jack Reacher thrillers), "Funny Girl" by Nick Hornby (a funny look at the life of a comedienne on British TV), "The Book Of Aron" by Jim Shepard (a sad but sometimes funny child's eye view of the Warsaw ghetto in WWII). "The Alex Crow" is another quirky, confusing, but vastly entertaining YA book from Andrew Smith. "Sweetland" by Michael Crummey is the genre-crossing tale of a man living a lonely life on an isolated Canadian island.<br />
And finally, the book that I most disliked this year - "The Girl On The Train" by Paula Hawkins. This bestselling book, touted as the next "Gone Girl", this is at best an average thriller about the murder of a young woman in London. Told though the narration of three women, one the eventual victim. I was somewhat bored by the whole thing, although I will admit the identity of the killer was a surprise. The story only worked because one of the characters suffered from blackouts, which seemed gimmickry. <br />
And I was very disappointed in the new John Irving novel, "The Avenue of Mysteries". John Irving may well be my favorite living author, many of his books have struck a real nerve in me and have stuck with me many years after finishing them. This wasn't one of those, Still, even a weak John Irving is still a good read and I'm glad that I read it. The main character is a bestselling author that grew up in as an orphan in Mexico. The book switches back and forth between that time and the present in which he is taking a trip to the Philippines.Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-21973508222268808482015-07-12T22:11:00.001-07:002015-07-12T22:30:59.575-07:00Half Year Report Just a quick rundown of a few of my favorite reads for the first half of the year. No in depth reviews here, just a couple of notes about them. In the order I read them, earliest first.<br />
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1. <strong>Golden Son </strong>by Pierce Brown. A follow-up to "Red Rising", a book that I read last year & really enjoyed. This is the second book in a trilogy and it really blew me away, it is one of the best space operas I have ever read. Epic in scale, but with characters that I really liked and rooted for. This is the kind of book that I missed as soon as I finished. <br />
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2. <strong>Descent </strong>by Tim Johnston. A hard book to categorize. The first half is a depressing as anything I have read in a very long time. While out on a run with her little brother, Caitlin Courtland disappears in the Rocky Mountains. Enough of a downer that I wasn't sure I was going to finish it, but halfway through the story the book makes a fascinating turn. I loved the second half of the book, it managed to surprise me and I love that in a book.<br />
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3. <strong>The Kind Worth Killing </strong>- Peter Swanson. While not perfect, this is the first book that I have read that feels like it deserves the oft used description "the next Gone Girl". Alternating narrators, a big twist halfway through the book, and a "villain" that you find yourself rooting for. Two strangers meet in a London airport and through a friendly discussion decide to kill the wife of one of them. I really liked that the book could surprise me (several times) and make me feel sympathetic for a cold blooded killer.<br />
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4<strong>. Dead Wake</strong> - Erik Larson. Excellent look at the last voyage of the Lusitania. Larson does a remarkable job of bringing the passengers and crew of the liner alive and shows the long list of coincidences that brought her and the German U-boat together off the coast of Ireland.<br />
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5<strong>. Into the Savage </strong>Country - Shannon Burke. Outstanding short novel about a fur trader in the American West of the 1820s. Exciting action and beautiful descriptions. Reminded me of Phillips Meyer's "The Son". I grew up hating Westerns - wouldn't read or watch them, but now this period of American history has become fascinating to me. <br />
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6<strong>. Our Souls at Night</strong> - Kent Haruf. A beautifully written look at the friendship between a widow and widower in a small town in Colorado. Kent Haruf's "Plainsong" and "Eventide" are two of my favorite books and this is a beautiful conclusion to those stories. This was his last book before he died and that sense of mortality comes through in the writing. This is a book that has stayed with me, I keep thinking about parts of it for no reason. One of the best of the year.<br />
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A few other titles of note - "The Killing Season" by Mason Cross is a thriller for fans of Lee Child. "The Alex Crow" is another quirky, confusing, but vastly entertaining YA book from Andrew Smith. "Sweetland" by Michael Crummey is the genre-crossing tale of a man living a lonely life on an isolated Canadian island. Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-69276180533980917962015-01-26T18:30:00.001-08:002016-01-11T20:07:21.678-08:00My Top 10 Horror Novels I was shelving books in the bookstore and saw a book by Dan Simmons that reminded me how much I enjoyed his book "The Terror." That set me off on thinking about some of my favorite horror novels. So I put together a short list to post here. These are roughly in the order that I first read them from the earliest to the latest. I hope you enjoy it and maybe find some good reading material here. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUpNePlgIoVJ49tMFNeNvbziQdBVkYKOq5fDiypBMfJv2RhyphenhyphengUbvkMjg6-WRQ5j9nF9_XbI6QNI_Ys3eDfDuR77nzXu09fNfHOZLVugUlkRslIZUsjZ9471-n-kMQHh-J5J0vMBfmtdA/s1600/king.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUpNePlgIoVJ49tMFNeNvbziQdBVkYKOq5fDiypBMfJv2RhyphenhyphengUbvkMjg6-WRQ5j9nF9_XbI6QNI_Ys3eDfDuR77nzXu09fNfHOZLVugUlkRslIZUsjZ9471-n-kMQHh-J5J0vMBfmtdA/s1600/king.jpg" width="120" /></a>1. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Salem's Lot</span></u></strong> by Stephen King. This is the first novel that I can remember reading that really scared me. I was a freshmen in college and a friend asked if I had read anything by Stephen King. I had not and was only barely aware of him as an author (at that point, he only had 3 or 4 books out). So I gave this vampire tale a try and was soon enthralled in the story and characters. In it, a writer returns to the town he grew up in only to find it being taken over by vampires. I read the book in 2 days and became a King fan for life. In several interviews, King has said that this is his favorite of all his books. <br />
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2. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Red Dragon</span></u></strong> by Thomas Harris. Technically, this may not be a horror novel, but it is a book that gave me the creeps and is one of the greatest thrillers ever written. "Silence of the Lambs" is a wonderful book, but I like Will Graham as a main character much better than Clarice Starling. I am fascinated by Graham's ability to walk through a crime scene and get into the mindset of a killer. This plot device is somewhat common now, but it was pretty revolutionary in 1981. I have reread this book several times and it always captures my imagination and creeps me out. There is one scene where Graham climbs a tree behind the victims' home and finds a vital clue that has stayed with me all these years.<br />
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3. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Ghost Story</span></u></strong> by Peter Straub. I really enjoyed this story of four old men in Milburn, NY that accidently committed a horrible act in their youth that has come back to haunt them. The book is very atmospheric and slips seamlessly between the two time periods. We see how these four men act and react to what happened and it's eventual consequences. "Ghost Story" is another book that has scenes that stick with me decades after I read it. Straub has written some other very strong horror novels over the years.<br />
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4. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Mist</span></u></strong> by Stephen King. Actually just a novella, but it packs a hell of a punch. Soon after a powerful thunderstorm passes over a secret military installation, a mysterious mist spread across the countryside near a small town in Maine. When some of the characters drive into town for supplies, they are trapped with several others in a grocery store that becomes enveloped in the mist. There are "things" alive in the mist and they start trying to get to the people inside the store. The situation brings out the best and worst in people as they try to cope and decide whether to stay or attempt an escape. Along with "11/22/63" (not really a horror story), this is my favorite of all of King's works.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GLOmxbHxUpWsfhs_Yid9U4Kr8uxK8zlkviN7MCvwxvku6Wa5tiFtnw-cmjiX1DCT4dDJuYjEaLxdliVgZD0Q4OtqtODGm0jg8MzZdW0F03UvQm95jr_3HkB4U3YXOacZsYaa-QWRNpI/s1600/ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GLOmxbHxUpWsfhs_Yid9U4Kr8uxK8zlkviN7MCvwxvku6Wa5tiFtnw-cmjiX1DCT4dDJuYjEaLxdliVgZD0Q4OtqtODGm0jg8MzZdW0F03UvQm95jr_3HkB4U3YXOacZsYaa-QWRNpI/s1600/ruins.jpg" width="132" /></a>5. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Ruins</span></u></strong> by Scott Smith. I use to tell people that this was the best Stephen King novel not written by King. It is the story of 6 young people on vacation in Mexico that follow a map to a mysterious ruins in the jungle. Of course, there is something very evil that guards the ruins and horrible things start to happen to the visitors one by one. The "monster" here is at first glance somewhat silly, but when you start to realize what it can do, it becomes horrifying. It was made into a pretty bad film.<br />
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6. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Nightrunners</span></u></strong> by Joe Lansdale. Only his second novel, this is not Lansdale's best book, but the circumstances under which I read it put it on this list. "Nightrunners" is the story of a bunch of vicious teens in a 1966 Chevy terrorizing the countryside. This violent, scary, and occasionally funny book is considered one of the first splatterpunk novels. The main reason this book makes my list is that I read most of it one night in a tent while camping. I read it late into the night and when I turned out the lantern, every sound outside the tent was almost certainly a teenager with a very large knife. There was not much sleep that night for me...<br />
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7. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">lost boy, lost girl</span></u></strong> by Peter Straub. This novel introduces us to a a middle-aged writer trying to help his brother Philip and nephew, Mark, after the suicide of Philip's wife, Nancy. There is a possibly haunted house, a serial killer preying on children, and a lost girl. Mark goes missing and Tim and Philip work together to find him before he disappears forever. The fact that the book involves children as victims and a terrifying mix of real and supernatural horrors has made it one that I have no desire to read again, but that stays with me.<br />
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8. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Terror</span></u></strong> by Dan Simmons. A hugely entertaining mix of historical fiction and horror. Based on the real life disappearance of two British ships of an 1845 Arctic expedition, Simmons brings in something very scary out on the ice that is slowly picking off the men. The mixture of the loneliness of the Arctic ice with the horrors of Inuit mythology bring a real sense of dread to this work. At over 700 pages, this was one of the books that got me started on e-books.<br />
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9. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Passage</span></u></strong> by Justin Cronin. First in a series of three books, the second book "The Twelve" is also very good (I'm still waiting impatiently for the final book to come out). "The Passage" is set in current times when a highly contagious virus begins turning people into beings that have some of the same characteristics of vampires. The book then jumps into the future where these creatures have overrun America. A small band of humans try to make it cross country to a rumored place of safety. This was close to being my number one book of 2010.<br />
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10. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">NOS4A2</span></u></strong> by Joe Hill. Stephen King has two sons who also write, Owen King doesn't really do horror, but his one novel, "Double Feature", was quite good. Joe Hill, on the other hand, is proving himself as an excellent horror author. His first novel, "Heart Shaped Box", is about an aging rocker who buys a haunted suit; and his second book, "Horns", was recently adapted as a film starring Daniel Radcliffe. My favorite is his newest novel, "NOS4A2", which is the story of Victoria McQueen, a girl with the power to take shortcuts through another dimension to get places. Later in life she needs to use this power to try to save her son from Charles Manx, a frighteningly memorable villain. Manx drives around in his 1938 Rolls-Royce, offering to take unhappy children to Christmasland, where he says nothing bad ever happens. For me this book was every bit as epic, as King's "It", whose Pennywise the clown Manx reminded me of.<br />
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As a bonus pick, I think the "non-fiction" book "The Amityville Horror" scarred a whole generation of readers. Reading it while alone in the house on a very windy night with a large tree just outside the window didn't help. Jodie the pig and clouds of flies always seem to be just at the edge of my vision, making me hesitate to turn and look. I hope you try a few of these and they don't cause you to lose too much sleep. <br />
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Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-73221597259782696522014-12-29T13:12:00.003-08:002014-12-29T13:12:52.998-08:00Top 10 Books of 2014 I managed to read 81 books - averaging 1.56 books a week, 10 more books than last year's total. It is much harder to keep up with the new releases working at a used bookstore, but I still read Publisher's Weekly every week and have been able to stay abreast of some of the best that way. The upside of working at Half-Price is that I see some fascinating titles come across the counter in buys, and lots of books that I have not thought of for many years.<br />
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1. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">All the Light We Cannot See</span></u></strong> by Anthony Doerr. An amazing and beautifully written novel about two young people in Europe before and during WWII. One a blind French girl and the other a German electronics genius whose lives eventually intersect. The language in this book was just amazing, I could picture every scene in my head as I read it and there are some that are still clear in my memory several months later. And when I finished the book I had a feeling of joy at how wonderful a story it was, as well as being devastated by the ending. It was nominated for the National Book Award and I was glad to see it show up on several of the "Best Of" lists at the end of the year.<br />
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2. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Invention of Wings</span></u></strong> by Sue Monk Kidd. The author of "The Secret Life of Bees" has written an excellent historical novel told through the eyes of two Charleston, South Carolina women in the early 1800s - one white and one black. Loosely based on the life of Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist and proponent of women's rights. At the age of 11, she was presented with Hetty, a slave of about the same age and the book follows their lives together and separately over the next 30 years. One of the things that I really liked about it was that Sarah is not a likable character at the beginning of the book, but over the years becomes more sympathetic, even if not ever becoming totally likable. This is a moving, beautifully written book that takes us deep into the lives of these two women and their feelings about each other and the world that surrounds them.<br />
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3. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Frog Music</span></u></strong> by Emma Donoghue. Emma Donoghue's "Room" was one of my favorite books of 2010. Surprisingly, this historical novel is even better. It is based on an actual murder of an eccentric woman in 1876 San Francisco. The book is at times brutal, but the story is fascinating and I cared deeply for the characters. Donoghue uses songs of the era to give the book an authentic feel and I found the information at the end of the book about these songs very interesting. This is an outstanding read. <br />
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4. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">In the Kingdom of the Ice</span></u></strong> by Hampton Sides. Easily my best non-fiction read of the year. An amazing true tale of adventure and survival in the Arctic in the late 1870s. It was believed at that time that the North Pole was surrounded by an unfrozen sea. George DeLong led a US Navy expedition to sail there. His ship became stuck in the ice for more than a year and then sank. His men had to set out in small boats and then on foot to reach safety in Siberia. The story of how the crew handled this and other obstacles is thrilling and moving.<br />
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5. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Grasshopper Jungle</span></u></strong> by Andrew Smith. This is an absolutely bizarre book that was the most fun I had reading a book this year. Two teenage boys in Iowa set loose a biological agent that creates 6 foot tall praying mantises that only want to eat (preferably humans) and reproduce. Our hero, Austin, loves his girlfriend, but is worried that he may be in love with his best friend Robby too. Andy and Robby have to team up to find secrets that will bring down the mantises. The book is hard to describe but well worth reading. Sony Pictures has hired Edgar Wright to direct what could be a hell of a fun film.<br />
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6. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Station Eleven</span></u></strong> by Emily St. John Mandel. An amazing literary look at the end of the world that is set both immediately before and 15 years after a disease has wiped out 90% of humanity. Most of the story is told though the eyes of the members of a traveling troupe that performs Shakespeare & classical music for survivors in small villages in the Midwest. The Symphony has a motto, taken from an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager,” “Survival is insufficient,”. Both lyrical and gut-wrenching, this novel was on the long list for the National Book Award.<br />
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7. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Tigerman</span></u></strong> by Nick Harkaway. A fascinating look at how a costumed superhero might work in the real world. A semi-retired British sergeant is assigned as consul to an island nation that may be destroyed in a natural disaster at any moment. He becomes Tigerman in order to try and keep order on the island. Harkaway is an amazing writer, and while "The Gone-Away World" is still my favorite of his books, this one is a fantastic read.<br />
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8. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">Closed Doors</span></u></strong> by Lisa O'Donnell. An excellent new novel by Lisa O'Donnell, author of "The Death of Bees", which was my favorite book in 2013. Michael is an 11 year old boy living in a remote Scottish village. After an attack on a family member, he must keep a secret that no child should have to keep. Michael is a great character and has a wonderful voice. I didn't always believe in some of the actions that the adults took, but Michael always rang true. <br />
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9. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">I Am Pilgrim</span></u></strong> by Terry Hayes. An absolutely engrossing, fast moving thriller. It features a retired agent that is drawn into a case when a terrorist is found to have a terrible weapon. There are several different storylines going on at once, but all were fascinating. At 600 pages, it is a bit long, but for me, it never lagged. This is an author to watch out for.<br />
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10. <strong><u><span style="color: #cc3300;">The Painter</span></u></strong> by Terry Hayes. Another beautifully written novel from the author of "The Dog Stars", my favorite book of 2012. "The Painter" isn't quite that good, but I still was sucked in from the very beginning. Jim Stegner is a successful artist living in Colorado with a past - years ago he shot and almost killed a man who threatened his daughter. Now he has a violent run in with another rancher and his personal life starts to come apart. The ending of the book wasn't quite what I expected, but I am not sure where the author could have gone with it. <br />
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Other books that I loved this year were "Shovel Ready" by Adam Sternbergh (a thriller set in a partially abandoned NYC after it is hit by a dirty bomb), "The Dark Road To Mercy" by Wiley Cash (he turns out amazing Southern stories), "The Serpent of Venice" by Christopher Moore (a wonderful mash-up of Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and several other bits & pieces), "The Silkworm" by Robert Galbraith (second in a series of mysteries by J.K. Rowling), and "Eleanor & Park" and "Fangirl" both by Rainbow Rowell (a top notch young adult author). <br />
And finally, the book that I most disliked this year - "Missing You" by Harlan Coben. I have read and enjoyed several stand alone Coben titles (but have never tried the Myron Bolitar series), but this title just struck me as stupid. The book has an interesting premise, but the characters are so stupid and there are so many outlandish plot twists that by the end I just didn't care. I talked to others that enjoyed it, so it may not have been a bad book, but I felt like throwing it across the room by the time I finished it. Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-19202435456598328512014-05-15T19:10:00.000-07:002014-05-15T19:10:19.738-07:00Some Favorites So Far Here are a few of the books that I have really enjoyed the first 4 months of the year. Several of them were on my most anticipated books of the year, always a good thing, but there were a few surprises too.<br />
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1. <strong>The Invention Of Wings</strong> by Sue Monk Kidd. This is an excellent historical novel told through the eyes of two Charleston, South Carolina women in the early 1800s - one white and one black. Loosely based on the life of Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist and proponent of women's rights. At the age of 11, she was presented with Hetty, a slave of about the same age and this book follows their life together and separately over the next several decades. One of the things that I really liked about it was that Sarah is not a likable character at the beginning of the book, but over the years becomes more sympathetic, even if not ever becoming totally likable. A moving, beautifully written book. <br />
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2. <strong>The Serpent of Venice </strong>by Christopher Moore. An excellent sequel to "The Fool", one of Moore's very best books. Here the author brings the Fool from "King Lear" into a mash-up of "The Merchant of Venice", "Othello", and "The Cask of Amontillado" to an absolutely hilarious end. It shouldn't work, but it does. It is bawdy, laugh out loud funny, and a great adventure story.<br />
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3. <strong>Frog Music </strong>by Emma Donoghue. Emma Donoghue's "Room" was on of my favorite books of 2010. Surprisingly, this historical novel is even better! It is based on an actual murder of an eccentric woman in 1876 San Francisco, The book is at times brutal, but the story is fascinating and I cared deeply for the characters. Donoghue uses songs of the era to give the book an authentic feel and I found the information at the end of the book about these songs very interesting. This is an outstanding book, my favorite so far in 2014.<br />
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4. <strong>Grasshopper Jungle </strong>by Andrew Smith. This is an absolutely bizarre young adult book that I loved reading. Two teenage boys in Iowa set loose a biological agent that creates 6 foot tall praying mantises that only want to eat (preferably humans) and reproduce. Austin knows he is in love with his girlfriend, but is worried that he may be in love with his best friend Robby too. The interaction between Austin and Robby is great and rings true. The book is hard to describe but well worth reading.<br />
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5. <strong>Closed Doors </strong>by Lisa O'Donnell. An excellent new novel by Lisa O'Donnell, author of "The Death of Bees", which was my favorite book in 2013. Michael is an 11 year old boy living in a remote Scottish village. After an attack on a family member, he must keep a secret that no child should have to. Michael is a great character and has a wonderful voice. I didn't always believe in what some of the actions that the adults took, but Michael always rang true.<br />
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6. <strong>Tigerman </strong>by Nick Harkaway. Fascinating look at how a costumed superhero might work in the real world. A semi-retired British sergeant is assigned as consul to an island nation that may be destroyed in a natural disaster at any moment. He becomes Tigerman in order to try and keep order on the island. Harkaway is an amazing writer, and while "The Gone-Away World" is still my favorite of his books, this one is a fantastic read!<br />
Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-8313567367028306322014-01-25T09:36:00.002-08:002014-01-25T09:38:29.831-08:00<span style="color: #cc3300; font-size: x-large;"><strong><u>10 Most Anticipated Books of 2014</u></strong></span><br />
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Here are a few of the books that I am most looking forward to in 2014. These all come out in the first 6-7 months of the year, so there are probably some exciting titles coming out later in the year that I just haven't seen any info on yet. In chronological order (but dates can change):</div>
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1. <strong>This Dark Road To Mercy</strong> by Wiley Cash (January). Cash's <em>A Land More Kind Than Home</em> was on of my 10 favorite books of 2012. This is his newest book, about 2 young sisters in North Carolina. They are in a foster home after their mother dies, when their wayward father come looking for them. </div>
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2. <strong>Roosevelt's Beast</strong> by Louis Bayard (March). A fictionalized account of one of Teddy Roosevelt's expeditions into the Amazon jungle in 1914. Teddy's son Kermit is sent along to keep any eye on his boisterous and sometimes reckless father. Bayard wrote <em>Mr. Timothy</em> and <em>The Pale Blue Eye</em>, both of which I enjoyed very much. </div>
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3. <strong>Sleep Donation</strong> by Karen Russell (March). This is just a novella, but with a fascinating premise. <em>Sleep Donation</em> explores a world suffering an insomnia epidemic where the healthy donate sleep to those that are suffering. Russell wrote the Pulitzer Prize nominated <em>Swamplandia, </em>a riveting read<em>. </em> </div>
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4. <strong>Frog Music</strong> by Emma Donoghue (April). From the author of the amazing <em>Room</em>, comes this historical thriller set in 1876 San Francisco. Based on a real life murder in the gold rush boomtown, <em>Frog Music </em>is described as a "lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boom town like no other."</div>
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5. <strong>The Serpent of Venice</strong> by Christopher Moore (April). One of the books I am most excited about! Moore's novel <em>Fool</em>, was a look at <em>King Lear</em> from the viewpoint of the court jester. It borrowed characters and lines from other Shakespeare plays and is hilariously bawdy. In this sequel, the Fool is dropped into a mash up of <em>Othello</em>, <em>The Merchant of Venice,</em> and <em>The Cask of Amontillado</em>. </div>
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6. <strong>Closed Doors</strong> by Lisa O'Donnell (May). <em>The Death of Bees </em>by O'Donnell was my favorite book last year. In this new thriller by her, a boy on a Scottish island where everyone knows everything about everyone else, will discover that a secret is a dangerous thing. It has already been released in Britain to mixed reviews, but I am looking forward to it. </div>
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7. <strong>The Painter</strong> by Peter Heller (May). The second novel by Peter Heller, author of the fantastic "The Dog Stars". The plot of this one, an artist trying to outrun his troubled past, doesn't thrill me, but Heller's first novel was my favorite book of 2012 so I will give the benefit of the doubt. </div>
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8. <strong>Amanda</strong> by Ernest Cline (July). More science fiction from the author of "Ready, Player One", sign me up. The book description reads "<span id="freeTextContainer15894290212293918429">Zack Lightman is daydreaming through another dull math class when the high-tech dropship lands in his school's courtyard-and when the men in the dark suits and sunglasses leap out of the ship and start calling his name, he's sure he's still dreaming."</span></div>
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9. <strong>Tigerman </strong>by Nick Harkaway (July). Both of Harkaway's novels defy being lumped into any genre, they remind me more of Douglas Adams' books than anything else. "Tigerman" concerns a burnt out British Army sergeant sent to serve out his time on a shady former British colony. <em> </em></div>
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10. <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong>Lock In</strong> by John Scalzi (August). John Scalzi won the Hugo last year for "Redshirts", a funny sci-fi thriller, but not one of my favorite books. He is an author that likes to experiment with different styles of writing and types of publishing. His new book is set in the near future when a virus spreads across the Earth, afflicting 5% of the population adversely. </span></span></div>
Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-77367339439034335642014-01-12T20:27:00.002-08:002014-01-12T20:27:56.609-08:00Top 10 Books of 2013 I had a good year of reading, but the holidays were rough with the closing of another bookstore. I read 71 books - averaging 1.36 books a week, one book more than last year. I read three excellent books this year, it was difficult to choose just number one.<br />
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1. <strong><u><a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-death-of-bees.html">The Death of Bees</a></u></strong> by Lisa O'Donnell. I read this book in January, but it has stayed at the forefront of my mind all year long. It is an absolutely fantastic book about two girls living in Scotland. When their no account parents die, they bury them in the backyard to avoid being taken away and possibly split up by the authorities. They end up forming a quasi-family with a ostracized old man who lives in the neighborhood. Neither of the girls is very likable, but you can't help but root for them. Very dark at times, but I really cared about these people. Sadly, while this book was well reviewed when it came out, I did not see it on any "Best Of" lists at the end of the year.<br />
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2. <strong><u>Life After Life</u></strong> by Kate Atkinson. This is a book that I like more now then when I finished it. Long after putting it down, I kept thinking about it and it kept growing on me. It tells the story of a British woman who's life keeps rebooting when she dies. She remembers little bits of her previous lives, but vaguely realizes that she is moving towards an unknown goal. Because of the repetitive nature of the rebooting, the book is a little hard to get into, but it is a beautifully told tale and well worth the trip it talks you on. This was one of the best reviewed books of the year, finishing at the top of several best of lists. <br />
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3. <strong><u>The Son</u></strong> by Philipp Meyer. An exceptional story of several generations of a Texas family. Eli, the first white child born in the new Republic of Texas, is captured by the Comanche at the age of 13. The book follows his adventures with them and then his later life as a Texas Ranger and a cattleman. We also follow the story of his son, Peter, and Jeannie, Eli's great-granddaughter, a woman trying to prove herself in the oil business. The scenes with the Comanche and then the Texas Rangers are the most exciting, but the story never lets up, keeping you involved throughout. Peter & Jeannie's stories are not as exciting as Eli's, but they tell a fascinating story of how Texans dealt with hardships, both natural and man made. Reminiscent of James Michener in scope, but Meyer is a better storyteller.<br />
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4. <strong><u>The Rosie Project</u></strong> by Graeme Simsion. Wonderfully comic love story about a scientist with high functioning Asperger's that sets out to find a wife using compatibility questionnaires. Rosie Jarman comes into his life to assist with the project, she is “the world’s most incompatible woman . . . late, vegetarian, disorganized, irrational”. The story manages to be touching and laugh out loud funny at the same time. The main character reminded me of Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory", but I kept picturing Benedict Cumberbatch in the role. Highly recommended. <br />
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5. <strong><u>The Martian</u></strong> by Andy Weir. Excellent story of an astronaut scientist marooned on Mars. Mark Watney is left behind by the rest of his crew in an emergency when they believe him dead. He has to figure out ways to stay alive as long as he can, first minute by minute and eventually day by day. The story is mostly told in his log entries. First a great survival story, what make it really special is the resourcefulness and the engineering Watney uses to make it through each day. I loved the characters and the story. This was an advance copy that I received from Crown Publishing and will be released February 11, 2014. <br />
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6. <strong><u>The Ocean At the End of the Lane</u></strong> by Neil Gaiman. I am oh so late to the Neil Gaiman bandwagon. I have never tried him before this year, and I am kicking myself for it. I still have a ways to go, but have read three of his works this year. This was by far the best of them. It is a beautiful, moving tale of a boy who makes a very special friend in rural England. This is a short fantasy tale, but it really packs an emotional punch. More than anything it is about the things we experienced as children and what happens to those memories as we grow older. I have fond memories of several books that I read this year, but scenes from this one pop into my head at random times and make me very happy or melancholy. <br />
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7. <strong><u>Code Name Verity</u></strong> by Elizabeth Wein. This young adult novel started a little slow, but just kept getting better and better. It is the story of two girls in WWII England, one a transport pilot and one who works in intelligence. One of the girls is captured and interrogated by the Germans. Much like with "The Book Thief", I was surprised that this title was marketed for young adults. This adventure kept me on the edge of my seat and had me laughing out loud and in tears at times. It is an amazing story of friendship, highly recommend it and I think it would make an excellent film.<br />
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8. <strong><u>The Thirteenth Tale</u></strong> by Diane Setterfield. A wonderful, magical book and one that I should have read years ago. Two very good, literary friends have recommended it over the years, but I always passed until now. This is a book for book lovers, it tells the story of a beloved, but mysterious author finally telling her life story to a bookseller. The story has a fine Gothic feeling to it, it is a wonderful book to get lost in. <br />
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9. <strong><u>The Thicket</u></strong> by Joe Lansdale. Very entertaining thriller set in East Texas in the early 1900s. In a vicious attack, 16 year old Jack sees his grandfather killed and his younger sister abducted. He enlists the help of a gravedigger and a bounty hunting dwarf to try to track down the men who did it. The story moves quickly with equal parts laugh out loud humor and hard core violence, in other words, typical Joe Lansdale. One of the most fun reads of the year.<br />
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10. <strong><u>NOS4A2</u></strong> - Joe Hill. This was a very good year for the King family. Had I picked the 20 best books, Stephen King ("Dr. Sleep") and his sons, Joe Hill ("NOS4A2") & Owen King ("Double Feature") would have all had books on the list. But this an epic horror novel about a woman trying to hunt down a mysterious man who takes children. Charlie Manx is a villain that could take on Pennywise the Clown or any of Stephen King's great bad guys. This is a book that will change the way you look at cheap Christmas decorations forever.<br />
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Other book that I loved this year were "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck (read it for the first time this year), "A Higher Call" by Adam Makos (my favorite non-fiction of the year), "The Cuckoo's Calling" by J.K. Rowling (proof for me that she can easily move beyond Harry Potter), and "The Supremes at Earl's All You Can Eat Diner" by Edward Kelsey Moore (good Southern fiction in the vein of Fannie Flagg or Joshilyn Jackson). <br />
And finally, the book that I just despised this year - "The Dinner" by Herman Koch. This book was well reviewed and a moderate bestseller, but I just felt dirty reading it. It is a Dutch book about two couples having dinner in a fancy restaurant. They are there to discuss something dark that has happened in their life. I saw a review comparing it to "Gone Girl', but it was nothing like that. Very slow moving and very little excitement. Almost gave up a couple of time, but made it through the whole thing.<br />
I am looking forward to reading more wonderful books in 2014, but not sure what kind of year it will be. For the first time in 24 years, I may not be selling books...Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-55607749458875661652013-06-09T21:51:00.001-07:002013-06-09T21:51:40.347-07:00Short Reviews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1. <strong>Gun Machine</strong> by Warren Ellis (3/5). Good thriller about a NYC cop hunting down a serial killer after finding an apartment full of guns used in unsolved murders. Detective John Tallow's partner is killed when they answer a domestic disturbance call in NYC. One of the things that this book does best is show the loss and sense of emptiness that a cop feels after losing a partner of almost 20 years. The best scenes in the book are those where Tallow, who is socially inept, tries to deal with other people after losing the person that acted as his buffer in human interactions. The geeks that work at the crime lab are also fun and interesting. Where the book suffers is in the villain, a killer who has been working underground in the city for many years. He is simply not that interesting and his backstory just tries too hard. Overall a good read and I would be interested in reading another book featuring John Tallow.<br />
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2. <strong>The Dinner</strong> by Herman Koch (1/5). I can't recommend this one at all. It is a Dutch book about two couples having dinner in a fancy restaurant. They are there to discuss something dark that has happened in their life involving their children. I saw a review comparing it to "Gone Girl', but it was nothing like that. Very slow moving and very little excitement with absolutely loathsome characters. Almost gave up a couple of time, but made it through the whole thing.<br />
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3. <strong>A Higher Call </strong>by Adam Makos (5/5). Excellent aviation history story about an American B-17 bomber crew and the German fighter pilot that saved their lives. The most surprising thing to me was that 80% of the book was about the German fighter pilot. I found this very interesting, and while I have read a lot of WWII aviation books, I learned a lot from reading this. I found the book very exciting and quite moving at times. Along with "Thunderbolt" by Robert Johnson and "Flying Through Midnight" by John Halliday. one of the best flying books I have ever read.<br />
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4. <strong>Suspect</strong> by Robert Crais (4/5). This is a thriller about a Marine bomb sniffing dog that is wounded in Afghanistan and suffers from PTSD upon his return to the states. He is paired with an equally damaged LA cop and trained to become part of the K9 unit. Both of them have lost partners and are struggling to find their way back. Story is sometimes told through the cop's eyes and sometimes through the dog's eyes. <br />
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5. <strong>Above All Things </strong>by Tanis Rideout (4/5). Very good fictional account of the life of real life mountain climber George Mallory and his wife Ruth. George Mallory may have been the first man to summit Mt. Everest (30 years before Hillary), but disappeared near the top and his body was not found for 75 years. I found the parts of the book that dealt with George much more interesting then the parts that featured Ruth. The climbing scenes were very well done and the story is well told, but never quite grabbed me like I hoped that it would.<br />
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6. <strong>Wise Men</strong> by Stuart Nadler (4/5). "Wise Men" is a very good read following a father and son through different stages of their lives. Broken into 3 parts, the first and final sections are much better then the middle. Somewhat reminiscent of John Irving, it starts as a coming of age story but ends up looking at the young man's whole life. And while I know it is being nitpicky, there was a historical error in the first paragraph that really bothered me throughout the book. But otherwise the book featured good writing and quite interesting characters. <br />
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7. <strong>The Third Gate</strong> by Lincoln Child (2/5). Silly thriller about the excavation of a pharaoh's secret tomb in Africa. The expedition suffers numerous setbacks and deaths. Is it the curse of the pharaoh or just sabotage? Just good enough to keep my reading, but even with total suspension of disbelief, it did not pay off.<br />
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8. <strong>The Afrika Reich</strong> by Guy Saville (4/5). This excellent alternate history thriller is set in <span id="freeTextContainer10851079337224556116">1952, more than 10 years since the fiasco at Dunkirk forced Britain to sign a peace treaty with Germany. The Nazis now control most of Africa and have plans for the rest of the continent. </span>The book is essentially one long chase across several countries, but the author keeps it moving and fun. It felt like a cross between "Raiders Of the Lost Ark" and a modern thriller. The ending leaves one big plot point unresolved and that ticked me off a little bit, but overall I really enjoyed reading this very much.<br />
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Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-74141396163931615502013-01-31T16:27:00.000-08:002013-01-31T16:27:39.425-08:00The Death of Bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Death of Bees</b><br />
by Lisa O'Donnell<br />
2012 Harper<br />
Rating 5/5 <br />
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"<span id="freeText17211879939286857104"><i>Today is Christmas Eve.
Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in
the backyard. Neither of them were beloved</i>."</span><br />
<span id="freeText17211879939286857104"> This is the way "The Death of Bees" starts, and Lisa O'Donnell manages to carry on that intensity to the very last page. </span><span id="freeText17211879939286857104"><span id="freeText17211879939286857104">Marnie and her 11 year old sister Nelly are on their own after hiding their parent's bodies after their mysterious deaths. Set in a dark, dirty, and almost always wet part of Glasgow, this story is told </span></span><span id="freeText17211879939286857104">in the alternating voices of Marnie, Nelly, and Lennie, the lonely old gay man who lives next door. The sisters hide the bodies to avoid being taken away and separated by the welfare system. Their parents were drug addicts that did not provide for them and often left them alone for days at a time. Both girls are very bright - Marnie gets straight As and Nelly is a prodigy on the violin, but both are damaged. Marnie drinks vodka, sells drug, and has sex with an older man. Nelly wakes up screaming and has no friends at school. But they work hard to protect each other.</span><br />
<span id="freeText17211879939286857104"> Lennie notices that the parents aren't around anymore and thinks that the sisters have been abandoned. He tries to offer them help and they form a very strange family unit. This book is very dark and sometimes hard to read, but I cared so much for these characters. "The Death of Bees" is definitely my first Best of 2013 book and I can't wait to see what Lisa O'Donnell does next.</span>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-34407213876949331552012-12-31T21:07:00.001-08:002012-12-31T21:07:55.621-08:00Top Ten Books of 2012 Made it through another retail Christmas (my 22nd!). So it must be time for another year end roundup. 2012 was another wonderful year of
reading for me, I read 70 books - averaging 1.35 books a week, just a touch behind last year's average. You can click on the title of some of the books to see
my original review.<br />
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1. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dog-stars.html">The Dog Stars</a> by Peter Heller. I knew this was something special almost as soon as I started it. What propelled it to my number one spot is the fact that even now, 4 months after I finished it, parts of the book are still with me. I find myself wanting to be fishing, walking through the woods with a great companion, or flying in a small plane. <i>The Dog Stars</i> tells the story of a man struggling to survive in a world where 99% of the population was wiped out a decade earlier. The writing in this book is beautiful and took me away to another place - the biggest thing I ask for in a book.<br />
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2. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/08/some-quick-reviews.html">The Homecoming of Samuel Lake</a> by Jenny Wingfield. A wonderful piece of Southern literature by an excellent new writer. Highly recommended to me by one coworker and one former coworker, I am so glad that I listened to them. The girl in this book, Swan Lake, is a worthy successor to Scout from <i>To Kill A Mockingbird</i>.<br />
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3. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/03/orphan-masters-son.html">The Orphan Master's Son</a> by Adam Johnson. The first really good book this year and my favorite for a good chunk of the year. A fascinating look at the life of a young man in North Korea. This is a culture we know so little about and Johnson really brings it to life in this sometimes horrifying and sometimes hilarious tale.<br />
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4. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/05/behind-beautiful-forevers.html">Behind the Beautiful Forevers</a> by Katherine Boo. Easily the best nonfiction I read this year, this is devastating look at life in a Mumbai slum won the National Book Award this year. The author spent 3 years researching this book, conducting numerous interviews with the subjects. They really come alive and are people you deeply care for.<br />
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5. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-quick-reviews.html">Let's Pretend This Never Happened</a> by Jenny Lawson. Quite possibly the funniest book I have ever read, this is the memoir of The Bloggess, a woman who grew up in a small Texas town. The only book on this list I have read twice - once to myself and the second time aloud to my wife over a period of time. Please read this book! <br />
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6. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. A beautifully lyrical story of a retired British man that sets off to walk across the country to visit an old acquaintance dying of cancer. Has some of the feel of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society".<br />
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7. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-quick-reviews.html">Wonder</a> by R.J. Palacio. This wonderful children's book about a physically deformed boy entering the 5th grade made me laugh and cry.<br />
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8. <a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-quick-reviews.html">Gone Girl</a> by Gillian Flynn. I love mysteries and thrillers, probably my favorite genre. I read a lot of them and all too many of the new authors I try are formulaic. That is why it was exciting to come across this book which felt fresh and original, albeit very dark.<br />
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9. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. Excellent story of a young girl coming of age during a time when the earth's rotation is slowing down. Days are becoming much longer, throwing off, people, animals, and crops. The book keeps a steady hand moving between her concerns with life as a 12 year old girl and dealing with the possible end of the world.<br />
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10. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash. Very good Southern fiction about a group of people in a small community in the Carolinas. After a boy dies during a church service, the investigation into it reveals many secrets, some long buried. Great characters kept me glued to this story.<br />
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A few honorable mentions: "Where's You Go Bernadette?" by Maria Semple, "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin, "The Gods of Gotham" by Lynsday Faye, "<a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/05/heft.html">Heft</a>" by Liz Moore, "<a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/06/telegraph-avenue.html">Telegraph Avenue</a>" by Michael Chabon, "<a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-quick-reviews.html">Among Others</a>" by Jo Walton. And a nod to the most disappointing book of the year for me - "<a href="http://leecoke.blogspot.com/2012/05/heft.html">The Red House</a>" by Mark Haddon. It may not have been the worst book I read this year, but it was close and I had it on my list of my most anticipated books of 2012.<br />
And to wrap it up, a little pat on the back for myself. I know I am not much a of a writer, but I do enjoy sharing my thoughts on books. The publishing site <a href="http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/">Edelweiss </a>chose my review for Telegraph Avenue as one of their featured reviews on the book. Almost like being published! :) Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-69982490103927069382012-11-20T08:32:00.001-08:002012-11-20T08:32:14.532-08:00More Quick Reviews1. <b>Let's Pretend This Never Happened</b> by Jenny Lawson (5/5). I hate to sound over the top here, but this is the single funniest book I have ever read. Jenny Lawson, better known as "The Bloggess" online, tells the story of her very strange life in this hilarious memoir. She grew up in a small West Texas town with a father who was an amateur taxidermist and who's idea of fun was dropping a live bobcat into a family member's lap. I read this myself and then immediately turned around and started reading it aloud to my wife when she was cooking or we were in the car going somewhere. This became dangerous at times, when she was laughing so hard she almost had to pull over. Highly recommended!<br />
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2. <b>Redshirts</b> by John Scalzi (3/5). Funny & interesting science fiction novel, but probably my least favorite of John Scalzi's novels so far. This one looks at the redshirt ensigns on a galactic space cruiser on an exploration cruise. They realize they are dying at a fast pace and start trying to figure out why. I laughed out loud several times, but didn't think that the whole thing held together all that well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IdgJZE49eZDS9KfaBkfQkNl5frpvpHmmhCBj3-HccOQprn3M0fHIimrZdzx4h7Qn2BnVHWElFgQWmxARxVtCNlIyN6MpIpw-4CuQsxwL1Blgsyu-6gs-U1Trw8fep-txBha5PAhqxMI/s1600/wonder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IdgJZE49eZDS9KfaBkfQkNl5frpvpHmmhCBj3-HccOQprn3M0fHIimrZdzx4h7Qn2BnVHWElFgQWmxARxVtCNlIyN6MpIpw-4CuQsxwL1Blgsyu-6gs-U1Trw8fep-txBha5PAhqxMI/s200/wonder.jpg" width="133" /></a>3. <b>Wonder</b> by R.J. Palacio (5/5). Wonderful children's/young adult book about a physically deformed boy entering the 5th grade. His parents decide to enroll him in school instead of homeschooling him. The book changes narrators several time, giving a well rounded view if his life. Heartwarming and a good lesson for kids without hitting you over the head with it. This book has one of the best cover designs I have seen recently.<br />
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4. <b>Among Others</b> by Jo Walton (4/5). Excellent fantasy novel about a 15 year old girl at a boarding school in England in 1979. A confrontation with her mother, who may or may not be a witch, has left her crippled and her twin sister dead. Her escape from this world are the science fiction novels that she reads, many of which I read during the same period. I really enjoyed reading this novel, but will have to go back and reread the ending at some point - I found it a bit confusing. Winner of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel.<br />
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5. <b>Gone Girl</b> by Gillian Flynn (5/5). Wow! An excellent thriller with many twists and turns. One of the best thrillers I have read in a long tie. It is well crafted and filled with unforgettable characters that you never quite know how you feel about. A man comes home from work one day to find blood on the floor and his wife missing. We hear the wife's voice through her diaries, and the husband narrates his experiences
as he tries to figure out what happened to her.<br />
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6. <b>Ballgame!</b> by Josh Lewin (3/5). Good memoir by Josh Lewin, the TV play by play guy for the Texas Rangers for many years. An interesting look at his early career and good behind the scenes stuff on how the Texas Rangers finally became a MLB power. He and Tom Grieve made an excellent broadcasting team for the Rangers, it was a sad day when they did not re-sign him 2 years ago.Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-50392566859201925712012-09-02T22:27:00.000-07:002012-09-02T22:27:08.648-07:00The Dog Stars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1eYx5gaN3pTx6qIaKqEfLzam1WXe-5jHwO9eowUUqVgAsFSQIVELUVpM3OIrEYrF6e0k-riNIG8eKRdw-CEGo5FKrAjvQADE4pJF2Bi__Uqkx80MyUXCdIOxI8ESMlNlt7HFC1qmNbM/s1600/dogstars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1eYx5gaN3pTx6qIaKqEfLzam1WXe-5jHwO9eowUUqVgAsFSQIVELUVpM3OIrEYrF6e0k-riNIG8eKRdw-CEGo5FKrAjvQADE4pJF2Bi__Uqkx80MyUXCdIOxI8ESMlNlt7HFC1qmNbM/s200/dogstars.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<b>The Dog Stars</b><br />
by Peter Heller<br />
2012 Knopf<br />
Rating 5/5<br />
<br />
A poetic post-apocalyptic story? This is it! This debut novel by Peter Heller is set in the Rocky Mountains after a super-flu epidemic has killed off almost everyone, This is an amazing mixture of poetic reflection, beautiful writing about nature & some amazing intense action. The hero, Hig, is an amateur pilot, who maintains the perimeter by flying patrol in his aging Cessna with his faithful dog, Jasper. His partner in survival is Bangley, a former neighbor who is a survivalist and weapons expert.<br />
After a hunting trip that goes bad, Hig, takes off an a mission to find a mysterious voice he heard on the radio years before. The book really takes off here and Hig's life changes profoundly. At times, "The Dog Stars" is every bit as depressing as McCarthy's "The Road", but there is a sense of hopefulness that makes this a joy to read. This is a book that makes me want to go fishing and to learn how to fly a plane. It is also a book that I wanted to go on long after I finished reading it.<br />
Part of my favorite review of the book - "In the midst of all the devastation, Heller shows us the stunning beauty of the natural world. The pages of “The Dog Stars” are damp with grief for what is lost and
can never be recovered. But there are moments of unexpected happiness,
of real human interaction, infused with love and hope, like the
twinkling of a star we might wish upon, which makes this
end-of-the-world novel more like a rapturous beginning.”
– <em>San Francisco Chronicle.</em>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-8638568231384090142012-08-26T16:31:00.000-07:002012-08-26T16:31:43.021-07:00Some Quick Reviews I have let myself fall behind on the book reviews, so here are some short ones to catch up a bit.<br />
<br />
1. <b>The Homecoming of Samuel Lake</b> by Jenny Wingfield (Rating 5/5). This is an amazing book about an out of work preacher's family in
1956 Arkansas. Financial problems force them to move in with his in-laws. Great characters and story make this feel like a worthy
successor to "The Help". The little girl named Swan Lake (yes, really) has much of the feel of Scout from "To
Kill A Mockingbird". One of the best of the year. My friend Lesley wrote a great review that led me to read this. You can check out her review <a href="http://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/2012/07/homecoming-of-samuel-lake.html"><u>here</u></a>.<br />
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2. <b>In One Person</b> by John Irving (Rating 3/5). The newest novel by one of my favorite authors was a disappointment. I was intrigued by the plot, but could not get interested in the characters. This is the story of a bisexual man's life, it is especially heartbreaking during the AIDS breakout of the 1980s. Irving's writing is excellent as usual, but several themes from previous books are repeated here.<br />
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3. <b>The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown </b>by Paul Malmont (Rating 3/5). A fun thriller set during World War II featuring a team of real life science fiction writers (including Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague deCamp, and L. Ron Hubbard) on a military mission that involves the secret history of Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison, an imminent Nazi threat, and more. The author did a lot of research and it was a good read, but then the ending didn't quite hold up for me.<br />
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4. <b>The Lifeboat </b>by Charlotte Rogan (Rating (2/5). Well reviewed fiction about a young woman among a group of people in a lifeboat after their ship is sunk in the Atlantic in 1914. Intriguing at first, with it's story of survival and conflict in the lifeboat, but it soon bogs down with a courtroom drama. <br />
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5. <b>Alpha </b>by Greg Rucka (Rating (3.5/5). Excellent thriller - think "Die Hard" at Disneyland. The new head of security at a large California theme park must stop a terrorist attack the same day that his ex-wife and daughter are visiting the park. Well plotted, edge of your seat action - would make a great movie. <br />
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<span class="q"></span>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-57955144492734511112012-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:002012-06-19T15:16:42.436-07:00Telegraph Avenue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVmDHp8SQwGmljIOrs_lSLqzYEArsVFnBCHCQHdrGOcXY6xzinDAoCeKiMeVqC4cc00pFCR8HjhqyUWGStKqg2OG2uzI-JXnp2yYLDhj4FSMCN1EnHcaLFC0rDHetHGANX9PJCoPHWww/s1600/telegraph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVmDHp8SQwGmljIOrs_lSLqzYEArsVFnBCHCQHdrGOcXY6xzinDAoCeKiMeVqC4cc00pFCR8HjhqyUWGStKqg2OG2uzI-JXnp2yYLDhj4FSMCN1EnHcaLFC0rDHetHGANX9PJCoPHWww/s200/telegraph.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<b>Telegraph Avenue</b><br />
by Michael Chabon<br />
2012 Harper<br />
Rating 4.5/5<br />
Received an E-galley from the publisher.<br />
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Finally, one of my 10 most anticipated books of 2012, that lived up to my hype. While this Michael Chabon novel isn't on the level of the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier and Clay", it is nonetheless a wonderful read. <br />
Telegraph Avenue is the name of a street in a neighborhood of Berkeley, CA nicknamed Brokeland. It is home to a fascinating group of characters that populate this book. The book is set in and around Brokeland Records, a vintage record store owned by Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe. They find out that a new superstore with a large music section is planning on opening in the neighborhood. While it will bring many badly needed jobs to the area, it will also almost certainly put Brokeland Records out of business. There are many other story lines going on throughout the book featuring various other friends and family, including Nat's gay, Tarantino obsessed teenage son. <br />
I loved the characters (including a charismatic parrot) and the dialogue rang true to me, peppered with references to old jazz and R&B, comic books, and cult films. <span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer301388601"><span id="freeTextContainer5869018176879591669">"Telegraph Avenue" is one of those books that makes you miss the characters once it is over. </span></span>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-50031199507086635232012-05-22T22:15:00.000-07:002012-05-22T22:15:36.298-07:00Heft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Heft</b><br />
by Liz Moore<br />
2012 W.W. Norton<br />
Rating: 4/5<br />
Received an E-galley from the publisher.<br />
<br />
<div class="quote">
"Heft" is a moving, well written
story of two people - a morbidly obese man who has not left his home in
10 years and a teenage boy dealing with an alcoholic mother. The two are not aware of each other's existence, but are connected by a mutual person in their lives. Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds never leaves his home. A former student gets in touch with him and he starts making changes in his life, hiring a maid to help him get his home ready for a possible visitor. Unexpectedly, this contact with this teenager who comes to clean comes to mean more to him then he expected.</div>
<div class="quote">
In another part of New York, Kel Keller is the poor kid in a rich school with a promising baseball career. The biggest stumbling block in his life is his alcoholic mother whom he has to care for. As she gets worse, his personal & athletic lives deteriorate. </div>
<div class="quote">
The two characters are sympathetic, but not entirely likable. But as the book goes on, you grow to love and root for them both. Their story shows that there are different definitions for "family". As I hit the
last fourth of the book, I could not put it down. Highly recommended. I
just wish the book had been about 5 pages longer, it ends somewhat
abruptly.<span class="q"> <i>The San Francisco Chronicle</i> said: </span>“Few novelists of recent memory have put our bleak isolation into words as clearly as Liz Moore does in her new novel.”<em></em></div>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-36975337185243124052012-05-09T21:02:00.000-07:002012-05-09T21:02:39.178-07:00Behind the Beautiful Forevers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxzEEq19DOmistfQEaiaxwVayg9hZT7MQorl9BMlThvlv-_1hajmJd5FfnSmnaViy1aG08G-3NVT4WeSM10SN3gzgQ90Ci6LobKCeJ7dcwx0GxkMuy823tcITnyL-zw5sEFIgKregbU4/s1600/forever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxzEEq19DOmistfQEaiaxwVayg9hZT7MQorl9BMlThvlv-_1hajmJd5FfnSmnaViy1aG08G-3NVT4WeSM10SN3gzgQ90Ci6LobKCeJ7dcwx0GxkMuy823tcITnyL-zw5sEFIgKregbU4/s200/forever.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>Behind the Beautiful Forevers</b><br />
By Katherine Boo<br />
2012 Random House<br />
Rating: 5/5<br />
<br />
This true story of life in a slum in Mumbai, India is one of the most beautifully written and devastating non-fiction books I have ever read. It follows several families that live in a slum in Annawadi, a makeshift settlement close to luxury hotels
near the Mumbai airport. The main person that we follow is Abdul, an enterprising Muslim
teen who works everyday gathering the recyclable garbage
that richer people throw away. As the book progresses, he is accused of a horrible crime and we see the effects on his family as well as others in the settlement.<br />
The author is married to an Indian native and lives both there and in the United States. She spent 3 years researching this book, gathering documents and interviewing the people over and over again. Her writing is wonderful, I was hanging on every word. The book showed that razor thin edge between hope and disaster. The outlook on life that some of these people have in spite of their conditions are breathtaking. It is a book that is both inspirational and disturbing at once. The amount of corruption in local and national government in India is hard to take.<br />
One of the reviews called it Dickensian, which did not occur to me as I was reading it, but is very apt <i>The Washington Post</i> review said: "It is astonishing on several levels: as a worm’s-eye view of the
“undercity” of one of the world’s largest metropolises; as an intensely
reported, deeply felt account of the lives, hopes and fears of people
traditionally excluded from literate narratives; as a story that truly
hasn’t been told before, at least not about India and not by a
foreigner. But most of all, it is astonishing that it exists at all…. a
searing account, in effective and racy prose, that reads like a
thrilling novel but packs a punch Sinclair Lewis might have envied.” I highly recommend this book for a look into a culture we know all too little about.<br />
<br />Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2323563071337655264.post-73561830180752515422012-04-19T09:44:00.000-07:002012-05-08T13:47:29.050-07:00Angelmaker<br />
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<b>Angelmaker</b><br />
by Nick Harkaway<br />
2012 by Knopf<br />
Rating: 4/5<br />
<br />
I loved Harkaway's "The Gone Away World", it was one of the most fun books that I have ever read. I had a lot of fun with this one too, but it wasn't quite as good. I still loved exploring his world and fascinating characters. <br />
Joe Spork, the son of one of London's most successful criminals, wants nothing to do with his dead father's lifestyle. He just want to run his repair shop for clockwork machines. Unfortunately, his past catches up with him and he is thrust into an adventure that may involve him saving the world. Joe is an everyman character, not the most exciting person in the book, but the easiest to identify with. He is surrounded by a cast of amazing & strange people, including Edie Bannister, an 80 something former British super-spy and her aging, blind, and somewhat noxious pug.<br />
This is a hard book to categorize, it is a mystery/thriller, science fiction, historical, love stories. "Angelmaker" and "Gone Away World" both are closer to a more grounded "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" then anything else I can think of. "Gone Away World" was a near perfect book in my opinion, this one seems a bit padded, but still was a great read. Here is one of my favorite quotes about it, from the author of one of my favorites from 2010: “A puzzle box of a novel as fascinating as the clockwork bees it contains, filled with intrigue, espionage and creative use of trains. As if that were not enough to win my literary affection, Harkaway went and gave me a raging crush on a fictional lawyer.” - Erin Morgenstern, author of <i>The Night Circus</i>Leecokehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01378301037099292107noreply@blogger.com0