Shelf Notes

The Chisellers by Brendan O'Carroll

2010-11-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

Torment by Lauren Kate

2010-11-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

2010-11-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

2010-11-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's a thriller set in a cloistered world, one hiding a secret society, all of which guard realms of reality and society of which the average person is unaware. Trussoni writes well, which is a delight since the world she creates seems a bit erudite and her description of the rest of us seems a bit conceited. A decent read though, especially if the idea of a thriller set in a convent with angels and demons alike in abundance attracts you. Neither laugh-out-loud nor amazingly tense, this text is the best sort of mediocre.

Golgatha by Rod Belcher (Pre publication)

2010-10-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Likeness by Tana French

2010-09-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

2010-09-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

2010-08-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

I completely ignored this book for years, letting it languish on my shelf, looking at it and wincing, figuring it was one of those books: self-help; self-discovery; travelogue; my-life-is-great-now-yours-can-be-too!; you know, the books that I loathe.

It is, in many ways, all those things, but more incidentally than specifically. Gilbert's voice on this travel is compelling, funny, sincere and most of all real. Honestly, I loved every page of this book.

In the Woods by Tana French

2010-08-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

Chasing the Devil's Tail: A Mystery of Storyville, New Orleans by David Fulmer

2010-08-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Artemis Fowl: Atlantic Complex by Eoin Colfer

2010-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire

2010-08-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll

2010-08-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Only a few chapters in, this had me laughing out loud, delightedly engaged with the characters and looking forward to more reading time ever so soon. The malapropisms are worth the read in their own right.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

2010-08-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

Wonderful, thrilling account of privateering in the New World. I soaked it up. Good as a beach book, an introduction to the mid-seventeenth century Caribbean, and an downright awesome adventure.

Andromeda Strain

2010-08-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

Absolutely amazing. It's hard to believe that out of all the Crichton that I've read I somehow managed to miss this, his most famous early work. Published the same year I was born, it holds its own four decades later as a must read science thriller.

Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman

2010-08-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Lost World by Michael Crichton

2010-07-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Where the Dead Lay by David Levein

2010-07-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Step on a Crack by James Patterson

2010-07-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Code to Zero by Ken Follett

2010-07-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

2010-07-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson

2010-07-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

The final installment in the trilogy, I am even more in love with Lisbeth Salander than ever before. Truly, Larsson is a master.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2010-06-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

This book was so amazing I never wanted it to end. The characters are so real, so true to themselves, that I felt I knew them, could recognize them across a crowded room, could call them up for dinner.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson

2009-09-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

I absolutely loved this book. I haven't read such a blisteringly brilliant work in years. I am in love with Lisbeth Salander, and this second work beats the first hands-down, a feat of gigantic proportions.

Killer Instinct: Joseph Finder

2009-06-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

I picked this up at the local library from the recently-returned stack. Honestly, I didn't expect much from a corporate version of John Grisham, especially a book that proclaimed so, and proudly. Nonetheless this is well-written, and when I turned it in, i was disappointed to find nothing of Finder's other works on the shelf. If you liked the movie Notes on a Scandal, add this to your summer reading list.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians:Book Two: the Sea of Monsters

2009-06-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

The first book in the series made me fall in love with it & with its characters. Now, with the second, I find something nearly equal to Percy's debut. I feel, however, that the Lightning Thief will not be surpasssed for a long, long time.

The Graveyard Book: Neil Gaiman

2009-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Gaiman delivers a coming of age story that is so perfectly woven, we don't realize it. Again, his dark and beautiful sense of storytelling is beyond reproach. Highly recommended for readers of all ages, and especially for anyone looking for a reminder of why life is worth living, and worth living Right Now.

Fearless Fourteen: Janet Evanovich

2009-05-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Not as funny as thirteen, but still a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

man and boy: tony parsons

2009-05-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Many others have written of how much they cried when they read this book, but I was moved differently: I cheered, repeatedly and often. This is the tale of manhood, heroism in its most modern form, genuine to a fault and brilliant throughout as we accompany Harry's navigation of what it means to be a man, a father, a husband, a son, a partner. Don't miss this one.

Lean Mean Thirteen: Janet Evanovich

2009-05-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Funny as ever, this latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series had me giggling, chortling, cackling and snorting.

The Story of Edward Sawtell: David Roblewski

2009-05-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adored this book. A truly American novel, this is one of those rare works that, long as it is, I simply didn't want to end. Well-written, deeply moving, and genuine.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians,Book one:the Lightning thief

2009-03-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

ok,first,a note:from now on,I will be giving books a 1-5 star rating (this is a star * ).OK,anyway,I really like this book.It's all about a kid with a great destiny. It involves a LOT of greek mythology,so if you don't like that stuff then...ITT'L STILL BE AWESOME!And now,my rating:*****!

Gargoyle: Andrew Davidson

2009-03-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing, beautiful and soulful story. I highly recommend it. Please do it the courtesy of giving it 50 pages before you put it down. The narrator of The Gargoyle is a very contemporary cynic, physically beautiful and sexually adept, who dwells in the moral vacuum that is modern life. Confronted by a compelling woman who insists they were lovers in medieval Germany, a series of tales unfolds to rival Scheherazade, bested only by the overall arc of the story itself. Highly recommended.

Brsingr: Christopher Paolini

2008-12-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

The third in The Inheritance Cycle, this really delivers. Paolini continues to grow as a writer and has not difficulty in taking his readers along for the ride. Aside from a nice tale filled with dragons and armies, elves and dwarves, this delivers some serious introspective philosophy on everything from politics to ethics. Nicely woven.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

2008-10-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fast-paced, thrilling and with meaningful subplots woven throughout, this gets a HolySmokesMustRead rating. Lisbeth Salander has become nothing less than a personal hero of mine. Once I got into reading it, there literally was no putting it down and I found myself sneaking mere minutes here and there to catch up with the plot, the characters, to find out, in the best tradition of storytelling, what happened next. Good grief, but I'm insanely jealous that I didn't write this book, and thankful to Larsson that he did.

Look Me in the Eye: John Robinson

2008-03-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend I read Look Me in the Eye. Written by John Robinson, it is the witty and often painfully familiar account of an Asperger’s Syndrome adult who wanted desperately to fit, and finally did, and the road he took along the way. I highly recommend the book, not really so much as a textbook account, but for a beautifully written memoir. I by turns winced and laughed, but was always engaged. It’s a quick read, and one understands in the first chapter why this book was an instant bestseller.

Mosaic: Gayle Lynds

2008-01-24T14:43:00.001-08:00

Eh. This is ok. It'll get you through the airport or the doctor's office, and at times it even promises to be interesting. It never really delivers, though, because Lynds can't decide if she's writing a conspiracy expose, a political thriller or a romance novel. Eventually it all breaks down into somewhat predictable fare, just as it ought to be getting really twist-and-turn-some. not recommended.

The Deathly Hallows: J.K. Rowling

2008-01-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not entirely certain this final of the series could be read on its own. There is clearly a ton of stuff Rowling wanted to put in this, and just couldn't. Overall, I liked it. I liked the message of making your own future, claiming your path, thikning of others as well as of yourself. And most of all, I liked the epilogue.

The Looking Glass Wars: Frank Beddor

2008-01-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed this reinvention of the wonderland classic. Breathes new life into the tale, brings to the fore a compelling first piece of the coming of age and all the attendant themes of responsibility, honor and self, and does it so well that I simply can't wait to read the next one. The world is lush, inventive despite relying upon and tying in quite nicely to the original work, and the characters are believable, with foibles and inner-doubts enough to make them real and relevant.

One For the Money: Janet Evanovich

2007-10-29T07:20:00.001-07:00

This is the first of the Stephanie Plum series, and I'm hooked. I swear that if laughter is the best medicine, this is a closet full of cure.

Entombed: Linda Fairstein

2007-08-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

This was a fun read. My introduction to Alexandra Cooper. Witty and literate, a nice addition to the sleuth series. A fine beach book, as I'm certain any of hers would be.

Tales of the Otori: James Hern

2007-08-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is a perfectly magical book. Sparsely told, the action unfolds quickly, with a style that is engaging and witty. I look forward to reading the next in the series. I confess taht I had rolld my eyes a bit, figuring it would be fairly formulaic, but Hern creates characters that are wonderful, passionate, and of course at times doomed. A lovely example of the genre, and a fine work. On loan from (and returned to) Ethan.

Postcards: Annie Proulx

2007-07-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is really quite a fine work. I am wholly impressed by the world Proulx reveals. Existential without the weepy woe-is-me flavour that pervades the genre. A classic at the outset, this novel spans five decades of failed pursuit of the American Dream. A considerable achievement for any author, this is a brilliant work as a debut. Nicely done in every regard.

Howl's Moving Castle:Diana Wynne Jones

2007-07-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Howl's Moving Castle is the best book i have read(aside from Harry Potter). I really like it. There was certainly a lot of magic in this book. I think that was the main reason I liked it so much. contents:

magic
mystery
a witty feeling
a total funny bone exercise!

A Case of Need: Michael Crichton

2007-07-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

This was published in the late 60's under a pen name, and is a treatise and investigation into abortion and the times as well as being one hell of a good read. My favorite line comes from one of the appendices (and yes, it has footnotes and appendices, but don't let that put you off -- they are witty as well as informative).

I'll be looking to see what else he wrote at this time.

Must Love Dragons: Stephanie Rowe

2007-06-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

This saucy little romp is the perfect beach book for dracophiles. Less corse and more fun than the Anita Blake stuff, it features a Satan that you practically root for, a dragon you would die for and a hero that every woman can relate to. I read this after David, and enjoyed being able to quote and quasi-quote from it ("thus again proving that *I* am Satan). Just overall fun.

Chain of Evidence: Ridley Pearson

2007-06-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Another fun ride by Pearson, this one has nice notes of mentorship and our own fallibility to go along with a good old who-done-it let's-catch-em.

The Pied Piper: Ridley Pearson

2007-06-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just finished this and have to confess that I had never heard of Pearson before. I'm pleased to report that the writing is as engaging as the crime and the sleuthing. Look for more by this author. It's a great summer book.