Finished July 23
The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer, read by David Pittu
This is the second in the series that started with The Tourist. This continues more or less where that book left off. Milo Weaver is still experiencing some fallout with his wife from his recent adventures, and feeling less than optimistic signs up again as a Tourist. The jobs he is given seem very easy and he think they are being careful to give him jobs that they can watch the outcome of easily. Then he is given a job that he can't stomach, and he agonizes over what to do. Again he enlists the help of another to find a solution that he can live with, but even that goes wrong for him.
There is trouble within the Tourism department and suspicions grow when information seems to be leaked to others. Milo finds himself becoming involved again despite his best intentions.
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and the plot is a nice twisty one. A great read.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Monday, 19 July 2010
Mystery Thriller
Finished July 19
Choker by Frederick Ramsay
This is from the series featuring Ike Schwartz, but is the only one I've read in that series. Ike is the sheriff of Picketsville, Virginia, but is also ex-CIA. When on a vacation by the water on the Delmarva peninsula, Ike is called by an old friend, Charlie Garland, still in the CIA.
Charlie's niece's fiance, Nick, disappeared a couple of months ago when flying a small plane and the family is looking for answers. Ike uses his old skills to backtrack and figure out where Nick and his plane ended up, but finds more questions arising. The search has led him into a situation of international terrorism.
Back home, acting sheriff Frank Sutherlin is looking into missing church silver and the questionable behaviour of a group of teens. Local pastor Blake Fisher suspects some of the local kids of being drawn into satanic worshiping without full knowledge of the consequences.
From the domestic to the international, there is a lot going on here and the action gets very intense at times. Another book that will keep you reading right until the end.
Choker by Frederick Ramsay
This is from the series featuring Ike Schwartz, but is the only one I've read in that series. Ike is the sheriff of Picketsville, Virginia, but is also ex-CIA. When on a vacation by the water on the Delmarva peninsula, Ike is called by an old friend, Charlie Garland, still in the CIA.
Charlie's niece's fiance, Nick, disappeared a couple of months ago when flying a small plane and the family is looking for answers. Ike uses his old skills to backtrack and figure out where Nick and his plane ended up, but finds more questions arising. The search has led him into a situation of international terrorism.
Back home, acting sheriff Frank Sutherlin is looking into missing church silver and the questionable behaviour of a group of teens. Local pastor Blake Fisher suspects some of the local kids of being drawn into satanic worshiping without full knowledge of the consequences.
From the domestic to the international, there is a lot going on here and the action gets very intense at times. Another book that will keep you reading right until the end.
Edge of the Seat Mystery
Finished July 18
Final Approach by Rachel Brady
This novel features Emily Locke, a woman still recovering from a tragedy in her life four years earlier. When someone from that time shows up asking for her help in a case, she is reluctant to help, until she hears that it involves a missing child.
For Emily, that is how this all began. Four years ago, when a friend's child was missing, Emily found him and called the police. But her own family tragedy, losing her husband and young daughter, also came out of this time. She feels the man who is now asking for her help betrayed her back then, and can't bring herself to trust him entirely.
As she immerses herself deeper into the case, she finds more similarities with that past case and her own loss, and she becomes sure that the answer to this case will also bring her answers of her own.
The plot is fast moving and emotional, and the book is one I just couldn't put down.
Final Approach by Rachel Brady
This novel features Emily Locke, a woman still recovering from a tragedy in her life four years earlier. When someone from that time shows up asking for her help in a case, she is reluctant to help, until she hears that it involves a missing child.
For Emily, that is how this all began. Four years ago, when a friend's child was missing, Emily found him and called the police. But her own family tragedy, losing her husband and young daughter, also came out of this time. She feels the man who is now asking for her help betrayed her back then, and can't bring herself to trust him entirely.
As she immerses herself deeper into the case, she finds more similarities with that past case and her own loss, and she becomes sure that the answer to this case will also bring her answers of her own.
The plot is fast moving and emotional, and the book is one I just couldn't put down.
Teen Series
Finished July 14
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
This is the third book in the series that started with the book Life as we Knew It and continued with The Dead & The Gone.
This book brings the character featured in the two earlier books together, a year after a meteor collided with the moon and caused all the catastrophic changes. We start with Miranda Evans, who began her diary in the first book. She and her two brother cut wood and scavenge for food and household needs in the neighbourhood around their home in Pennsylvania. Miranda's mom, Laura stays home and tries to keep it all together. The family takes advantage of the few times electricity comes on to run appliances.
When Miranda's father and stepmother arrive with their small baby and three strangers, there is both welcome and wariness. Food is limited and the additional mouths pose a potential problem. But Miranda and her siblings are pleased to know their father and his new family are still alive.
As the group find a way to move forward together, the weather strikes again, with a violent storm including a tornado.
Miranda's diary is once again the method of storytelling here, and we see her growth and her resolve as she realizes that she must become an adult in order to help her family survive. This is a moving book and a satisfying continuation of the series.
This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
This is the third book in the series that started with the book Life as we Knew It and continued with The Dead & The Gone.
This book brings the character featured in the two earlier books together, a year after a meteor collided with the moon and caused all the catastrophic changes. We start with Miranda Evans, who began her diary in the first book. She and her two brother cut wood and scavenge for food and household needs in the neighbourhood around their home in Pennsylvania. Miranda's mom, Laura stays home and tries to keep it all together. The family takes advantage of the few times electricity comes on to run appliances.
When Miranda's father and stepmother arrive with their small baby and three strangers, there is both welcome and wariness. Food is limited and the additional mouths pose a potential problem. But Miranda and her siblings are pleased to know their father and his new family are still alive.
As the group find a way to move forward together, the weather strikes again, with a violent storm including a tornado.
Miranda's diary is once again the method of storytelling here, and we see her growth and her resolve as she realizes that she must become an adult in order to help her family survive. This is a moving book and a satisfying continuation of the series.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Reading Challenge
I completed the aimed level for the Chunkster Reading Challenge (Do These Books Make My Butt Look Big) and now think I should have aimed for a higher level (since I have until January 2011 to complete it).
This level meant going for 4 books over 450 pages, which I have now done.
1. Burmese Lessons - 463 pages
2. Crow Road - 501 pages
3. The Passage - 766 pages
4. A Fierce Radiance - 527 pages
I also thoroughly enjoyed them all.
I'm thinking to change my aim to the level of Mor-Bookly Obese, which requires 6 books over 450 pages (or 3 over 750).
So I shall keep reading (as if I wouldn't have anyway!)
This level meant going for 4 books over 450 pages, which I have now done.
1. Burmese Lessons - 463 pages
2. Crow Road - 501 pages
3. The Passage - 766 pages
4. A Fierce Radiance - 527 pages
I also thoroughly enjoyed them all.
I'm thinking to change my aim to the level of Mor-Bookly Obese, which requires 6 books over 450 pages (or 3 over 750).
So I shall keep reading (as if I wouldn't have anyway!)
Great Read
Finished July 12
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
Set in New York City during World War II, this novel follows the character Claire Shipley, a photographer for Life magazine, divorced single mother as she does her work and raises her son.
Claire is assigned to a story on penicillin, following the treatment of a patient at the Rockefeller Institute. Having lost a child to an infection, Claire is touched personally by the story. She is attracted to the lead doctor on the team, James Stanton.
We see the fascinating science going on during this time period, and the manipulation and intrigue surrounding it. Not only penicillin was being worked on during this period, but also antibacterial drugs, developed by natural substances found in soil. The was means government involvement in penicillin as its success will impact the troops.
There is so much going on in this book that it makes it feel like an epic although it covers a relatively short time period. With the war, the impact of Life magazine and the range of stories it tells, life in New York City at this time, science influenced by government and corporate greed, and human relationships this book tells a strong, cohesive story that gripped me to the end.
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
Set in New York City during World War II, this novel follows the character Claire Shipley, a photographer for Life magazine, divorced single mother as she does her work and raises her son.
Claire is assigned to a story on penicillin, following the treatment of a patient at the Rockefeller Institute. Having lost a child to an infection, Claire is touched personally by the story. She is attracted to the lead doctor on the team, James Stanton.
We see the fascinating science going on during this time period, and the manipulation and intrigue surrounding it. Not only penicillin was being worked on during this period, but also antibacterial drugs, developed by natural substances found in soil. The was means government involvement in penicillin as its success will impact the troops.
There is so much going on in this book that it makes it feel like an epic although it covers a relatively short time period. With the war, the impact of Life magazine and the range of stories it tells, life in New York City at this time, science influenced by government and corporate greed, and human relationships this book tells a strong, cohesive story that gripped me to the end.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Doggy Read
Finished July 12
One Good Dog By Susan Wilson, read by Fred Berman and Rick Adamson
There are two voices in this novel: Adam March, a man who was abandoned to foster care at the age of 5 and pulled himself up to the top of his profession, until he made a terrible mistake; and Chance, a dog bred to fight and now at the end of options at the animal shelter.
As the book says, both need a second chance, and in this story they offer it to each other.
Adam has been haunted by his past the deeper he tries to push it. In a single moment circumstances, emotions, and that haunting past have caused him to lose self-control and, in doing so, lose everything else he values. He loses his job, his home, his family, and serves his community service hours working in the kitchen and dining room of a homeless shelter.
Chance doesn't like his life as a fighter, and the first chance he gets, he takes off for the streets. But he finds street life hard and the authorities hard to dodge and ends up in the shelter.
When circumstances bring the two together, both think it is only temporary, but they might need each other more than they think.
A good story and the audio is well done with different readers for the dog and the man.
One Good Dog By Susan Wilson, read by Fred Berman and Rick Adamson
There are two voices in this novel: Adam March, a man who was abandoned to foster care at the age of 5 and pulled himself up to the top of his profession, until he made a terrible mistake; and Chance, a dog bred to fight and now at the end of options at the animal shelter.
As the book says, both need a second chance, and in this story they offer it to each other.
Adam has been haunted by his past the deeper he tries to push it. In a single moment circumstances, emotions, and that haunting past have caused him to lose self-control and, in doing so, lose everything else he values. He loses his job, his home, his family, and serves his community service hours working in the kitchen and dining room of a homeless shelter.
Chance doesn't like his life as a fighter, and the first chance he gets, he takes off for the streets. But he finds street life hard and the authorities hard to dodge and ends up in the shelter.
When circumstances bring the two together, both think it is only temporary, but they might need each other more than they think.
A good story and the audio is well done with different readers for the dog and the man.
Friday, 9 July 2010
Domestic Fiction
Finished July 6
The Condition by Jennifer Haigh
The books takes a look at a family in the late 70s at a family vacation home on Cape Cod. It then jumps to 20 years later looking at the same family.
The parents have divorced. The older son is a successful doctor living a good life in Boston, but keeping his real life separate from his family. The younger son has been running away from expectations and his own wants most of his life and only now is forced to look at his life and what he really wants. The middle child, a daughter has been living the last two decades with her genetic condition which she has let limit her life. When she is finally offered a chance to really enjoy life, her family baggage might get in the way.
The parents have their own issues too.
This look at a single family and how the lack of real communication has affected every member is an interesting vignette. Wonderfully written with characters that feel real, this book is a great choice for a summer read.
The Condition by Jennifer Haigh
The books takes a look at a family in the late 70s at a family vacation home on Cape Cod. It then jumps to 20 years later looking at the same family.
The parents have divorced. The older son is a successful doctor living a good life in Boston, but keeping his real life separate from his family. The younger son has been running away from expectations and his own wants most of his life and only now is forced to look at his life and what he really wants. The middle child, a daughter has been living the last two decades with her genetic condition which she has let limit her life. When she is finally offered a chance to really enjoy life, her family baggage might get in the way.
The parents have their own issues too.
This look at a single family and how the lack of real communication has affected every member is an interesting vignette. Wonderfully written with characters that feel real, this book is a great choice for a summer read.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
American Fiction
Finished July 4
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
I've been reading this one beside the bed for a while. The story was interesting, but I didn't find myself engaged by it. I'm discovering that if I don't like any of the characters I have a harder time connecting with a book and I think that is what happened here. It wasn't until closer to the end that I found myself really enjoying the book.
The story is set in Wisconsin in the early part of the twentieth century. Ralph Truitt, successful businessman, has advertised for a "reliable wife". He is hoping to lure his son back and for him this is a first step. He is thinking of it as a new beginning.
Catherine Land has answered the ad, and also sees this as a new beginning, but she has her own goals and plan.
Each of these characters has their own unhappy past, which we gradually discover. But what happens is unexpected for both of them and eventually gives them a new beginning they hadn't thought to look for.
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
I've been reading this one beside the bed for a while. The story was interesting, but I didn't find myself engaged by it. I'm discovering that if I don't like any of the characters I have a harder time connecting with a book and I think that is what happened here. It wasn't until closer to the end that I found myself really enjoying the book.
The story is set in Wisconsin in the early part of the twentieth century. Ralph Truitt, successful businessman, has advertised for a "reliable wife". He is hoping to lure his son back and for him this is a first step. He is thinking of it as a new beginning.
Catherine Land has answered the ad, and also sees this as a new beginning, but she has her own goals and plan.
Each of these characters has their own unhappy past, which we gradually discover. But what happens is unexpected for both of them and eventually gives them a new beginning they hadn't thought to look for.
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