Book Review: December

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: I have had this book on the shelf for years. I finally decided to work through some of these older books I hadn’t read. I really love this book. It is set in South Carolina in the late 60s back when there was separate of race.

The Cities of Gold by Douglas Preston: This is a nonfiction by my favorite author talking about when he thought horseback riding the wilderness of Arizona and New Mexico. He thought he could follow the trail of the early Spaniards and Indians between Mexico and the Southwest. Needless to say things didn’t go to plan. It reads like a novel but is a true story. 

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman: The third in the series. I an determined to finished this series. It has been an adventure. Lyra has a deep friendship with a boy name William. They each work toward their destiny. Will they be able to achieve goals? Will they save the worlds? All of them? You must read to find out!

Book Review: October

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell  I had never read any of her books before now. A friend thought they would interest me. While I am enjoying it I am a little perturbed on how dramatic the thoughts of the main character are. Perhaps I am being over sensitive. Otherwise it is a great cookie-cutter type murder mystery.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman I had enjoyed this movie when it came out and only recently learned that it was a book. Or rather a series of books. I can picture some of the piece so perfectly captured in the movie. I can’t wait to see how much deeper the books are.

 

Book Review; September

The Origin by Dan Brown  About a month ago I was looking into where I wanted to travel next. I was deciding on Spain. The opening paragraph was the exact same place I was looking at. Adventure awaits Langdon in another great Brown novel.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer When was the last time you read an entire book in one sitting? Well it was two sittings for me with this book. I absolutely love this book. If you have ever lost someone this is a great way to find a little bit of healing (and romance). There are ideas in this story that would have been (and were) helpful a few years ago when the loss was more recent. Totally a great read for anyone at any age!

Dragonhome by John Peel I got this book while in grade school at a Scholastic Book Fair. It really opened me up to fantasy stories. I reread this book about once every year or two. It is a wonderful story of a brother and sister trying to survive as Talents in a world where Talents are treated as soldiers in a never ending war.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou This is a classic that most people read in school. I never did. I love this book. It is so descriptive and fun. There are some hard lessons it teaches but is worth reading.

Book Review: August

The Merchant of Death by D.J. Machale I feel like I might have read this story before. Or perhaps I started it and got interrupted at some point. Its about a young boy that gets transported off to the other end of the universe. Fun and entertaining story. Perfect as an easy read.

Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia This is a story I picked up in a library somewhere and the premise always stuck with me. I was able to find it again not too long ago and have really been enjoying the story. Its about a Dinosaur who is a Private Investigator down on his luck.  Thing is, us humans don’t know that dinosaurs are still around because they were human disguises.  Fun story with a new idea.

Six of Crow by Leigh B. Ardugo  I am really enjoying this book. It is about making your way in the slums. There is magic and suspense.  Now a team of young hoodlums need to kidnap a scientist that has designed a drug that affects the magic users. Can they do it? We will just have to see.

Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov One of the greatest SciFi writers of all time bring another story to the masses. Here the world has decided to build into the ground instead of up. Those there is a population of Spacers, people who colonize space, most people live in steel and concrete bunkers never seeing the sun. There is a murder and now the Spacers and the Grounders have to work together. This isn’t any ordinary Spacer, it is a Robot. Will they solve the murder or will their difference be too great?

Book Review: July

Vampire Earth by E.E. Knight I had this on Graphic Audio to listen to during my commute. It is kind of like Prairie Home Companion style reading. There was even a cast. The story itself is very interesting. Some vampirism type creatures have taken over Earth Post-Apocalypse. Well developed story and characters.

Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child  As always these are my favorites authors. They put so much research into their stories and their characters are so relatable. This an audio story too. It isn’t as developed as Vampire Earth but the narrator does a fantastic job. This story is #3 in the Pendergast series and introduces some long lasting characters for the series.

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny Book 2 This is a continuation of the book from last month. I believe these two books included the original 6 stories. I enjoy Zelazny way of hooking you into the story and making you feel for or against certain characters. There is a lot of mystery that makes you want to continue reading to the end.

 

 

Book Review: June

 

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny I am really enjoying this story. It is an older fantasy classic but still is very entertaining. I have a two volume set that goes through the first 4 books. The main character, Corwin, is very engaging. All he wants to do is become King of Amber. However, his brothers, mainly Eric, stand in his way.

Wolf Full Moon by Lincoln Child This is one of my favorite authors. Child writes with Douglas Preston a series about an eccentric FBI agent. I love that series. However, their amazing solo writing is fantastic also. This story takes place in the Adirondack mountains. If you are familiar with the area you will know all the spots. If you aren’t familiar with the area you could go there and follow the story. It talks about how lycanthrope (yes, werewolves) could be a real human disease.

Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson This is a very unique Sci-Fi story set in the future beyond laws and state borders. There is a sickness that is infecting people in the Metaverse (online world) and only Hero can figure out the cause. It raises some interesting questions what really happened at the Tower of Babel. Could that have started as a virus?

Home Improvement

Finally!! Got my shelves up and my books on them!!!

So happy with the way it turned out there was a lot of hard work that went into making this lovely library. The paint color was a fluke. I just went to the store and grabbed a color. I really didn’t have much in mind for what I really wanted. However, this color came out well. The brackets were put up very carefully making sure everything was level and perfectly aligned. That took some work let me tell you. In places you can still see my pencil lines. The boards were stained with Dark Walnut color. I really wanted to go with an old fashion look. The dark wood looks good with the dark brackets. Staining went easy but when it came to varnishing my mom advised that I would need three coats of varnish. Then between each coat I was to use steel wool and rub them down. That makes the boards very smooth and any imperfections don’t stand out as much. I did listen to her and took the time to do three coats with the rub down in between. I have to say they came out very well. So after about 6 boxes of book I am to say that the Watson House Library is open for visitors! YAY!

 

Book Review: May

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte  Another great classic that everyone should take the time to read. It is about a small community and family feuds. The writing is lovely. I love the old English way of speaking. It is a sad story but well worth a read every few years!

Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer This is a story is about a very young child who, after his father disappears, becomes the head of a crime family. He decides to leave his mark by capturing the faery wealth. It is a well written, entertaining story. A must read for any one who likes adventures.

Others:

Fodor’s Costa Rica Guide

 

Book Review: April

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine    This story starts with what would have happened if the Alexandria Library had never been destroyed. This isn’t a happy story. It is dark and bloody but very true to the way things are today. It is the beginning of a series and I would love to see how things develop.

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell This is a Arthur classic story. Told by an old monk about his younger days. It goes into some great detail about the people around Arthur. I wish I could pronounce them better. I was never very good in Welsh type languages.

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin  I have to say that Le Guin has such an amazing insight to alien psychology. It boggles my mind that she can make up these fantastic stories about species that aren’t even real and you believe her. Just wow. Another great book by Le Guin about a pioneer between worlds.

Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey This is a Pern book for those who follow along with McCaffery stories. This is the landing party on the planet Pern. It isn’t easy to leave your home world behind and start fresh in a new, alien planet.

Book Review: March

Poor showing for March but its been busy.

Blind Decent by Nevada Barr I picked this book up when I was at Carlsbad Caverns in December. This author writes about caves all over the world and this book is about Carlsbad area caves. Since I have been down them it is really interesting. Full of suspense and action it is a great story about places where the sun never shines.

The Sword Bearer by John White This is a cute little book about a young boy dream for adventure. Very much reminds me of The Magician’s Nephew. Epic fight for good and evil. Easy read and very enjoyable.