Gunnerkrigg Court Vol 1 Orientation - by Todd Siddell

In her first school year, Antinomy Carver attends a mysterious boarding school that looks more like a vast modern factory, while across the adjacent, forbidding Annan Waters is Gillitie Wood, home of fairies, gods, ghosts and sentient shadows.

As the chapters progress Antimony learns more about the school as well as her parents. Most of Antimony's childhood has been spent in hospital sitting with her dying mother. Now that her mother is dead her father is off to parts unknown leaving her at the boarding school both her parents attended. Many of the teachers were classmates of her parents.

But nothing really ruffles Antimony, not even where her little stuffed doggie, soon houses a grouchy but rather protective demon, while the robot she builds out of spare parts lying around the school crosses the Water and comes back with a living wooden arm. Grownups are of little help to the young protagonists, but Antinomy faces difficulties with courage and self-possessed good manners. She and her friend Kat respond appropriately to each fresh bit of weirdness, sometimes taking part in sci-fi space adventures, sometimes coping with the loss of a friend who's changing into a bird.

While this has an almost Harry Potter like feel it very much lives up to it's own as we discover along with Antimony what the school and it's participants are all about. Looking forward to Vol 2.

A.D. - New Orleans After the Deludge by Josh Neufeld


A.D. follows six people from the hours before Katrina struck to its horrific aftermath. Here is Denise, a sixth-generation New Orleanian who will experience the chaos of the Superdome; the Doctor, whose unscathed French Quarter home becomes a refuge for those not so lucky; Abbas and his friend Mansell, who face the storm from the roof of Abbas’s family-run market; Kwame, a pastor’s son whose young life will remain wildly unsettled well into the future; and Leo, a comic-book fan, and his girlfriend, Michelle, who will lose everything but each other. We watch as they make the wrenching decision between staying and evacuating. And we see them coping not only with the outcome of their own decisions but also with those made by politicians, police, and others like themselves--decisions that drastically affect their lives, but over which they have no control.


I think I saw it listed as one of the top 10 GN for Teens for 2009 so I thought I would give it a try. Wow! I was impressed by how much punch and emotion came out with very little text and mostly illustrations to make a point. It brings it all back, the horror at watching this natural disaster become a terrible, terrible disaster. Just really well done.

Playing with fire by Katie MacAlister

Part 1 of the Silver Dragons series

May was created by a demon lord from her naiad "twin" Cyrene's shadow in exchange for her sister's "common sense". She is also a doppelganger which gives May the ability to shadow-walk or to become almost invisible in the shadows which is quite useful her "career". But May is bound to the former silent film-star demon lord who created her, and forced to obey his commands to steal for him.

May meets Gabriel Drake when she stumbles onto Drake's estate while attempting to return a stolen item that had put a price on her head. Quite by accident Gabriel discovers that May is a wyvern's mate and seeks to claim her. The ever sensible May tries to refuse Gabriel, knowing the danger the demon poses - May has spent her life avoiding relationships knowing that should she take a lover the demon lord who wants May's body would likely order May to kill her lover. But Gabriel assures May that dragons are not so easy to get rid of and of course Gabriel is totally irresistible, so May lets Gabriel claim her in a fiery joining that literally burns up the sheets.

But all is not smooth sailing for May and Gabriel, May will have to outsmart the demon lord or risk an eternity in Abbandon to avoid betraying Gabriel when her demon-lord commands a theft of a powerful artifact that will put all the dragons under the demon lord's control.

I read this from a recommendation of a friend and while it was ok I just kept getting annoyed by May and her stupid sister who kept getting her into these messes. I will admit I have not read anything by MacAlister before and did enjoy her almost Bridgette Jones way of writing. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it versus listening to it on CD. I found the reader very whiney and that annoyed me as well. So I'll give it another chance as the book ended on a cliff hanger!

Shoot to Thrill by P.J. Tracy (Mother/daughter team of Patricia J. and Traci Lambrecht)

Latest Monkeewrench novel

The FBI finds five videos on the internet that are of genuine murders. Agent John Smith, nearing retirement from the FBI's cyber crimes unit, comes to Minneapolis to hire Monkeewrench and other computer crackers to find who is posting the videos so they can catch the murderer or murderers. Magozzi and Rolseth get involved when a sixth murder happens in their jurisdiction.

The Monkeewrench team must create a program that can separate staged death scenes from the real thing. The first death they scrutinize appears to be the drowning murder of a Minneapolis drag queen. A stabbing, two shootings, and a strangulation are among subsequent killings that occur in other cities across the country. But then they discover that the murders are being preposted online so the chase is on to find the victims before they are killed. It gets pretty intense as one of the victims survives but is in a coma.

But as always it is the connections between the characters that the authors really shine. Plus it was nice that the storyline focused more on the detectives instead of the monkeewrench team and I really enjoyed the additional FBI characters of Smith and some of the other Minneapolis police. But I didn't see the ending coming at all and it made me smile.

Bloodsucking Fiends : a love story by Christopher Moore


Tommy Flood, a teenaged Jack Kerouac wannabe, leaves his home in Indiana to search for his artistic muse and some adventure. He lands in San Franscico and changes his name to C. Thomas Flood to give the appearance he is a writer. His introduction to San Francisco is having his car blow up near Chinatown. His first apartment is sharing a single room with 5 men named Wong, and every morning he wakes up to find flowers on his bed. He finds out later that all 5 Wongs are here illegially and are looking to get married. Since this is San Francisco they figure a guy will work just fine. Tommy decides that this living arrangement is not going to work plus he has to find a job since his money is almost gone. And he still hasn't written a word.


What he finds is Jody, a beautiful redhead who has recently been transformed into a vampire and is trying to find a way to cope with her new "life." Together they go on a giddy romp of San Francisco, dealing with the occasional corpse, some suspicious cops, and a nasty old vampire. They also discover some surprising truths about morality, love, and the mechanics of vampirism along the way.

This book has been on my to read list for such a long time that I'm glad that I finally made the effort to read it. I'm looking forward to reading other books by Moore and seeing as there are sequels out there. This is not for the serious vampire book readers but those of us who enjoy a romp on the wild side.

Malice in Maggody by Joan Hess

First book in the series of Maggody. Meet Chief of Police, Arly Hanks. She's back home in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, recovering from a nasty divorce. She wanted some quiet time to decompress and gather her wits about her, and that's just what she got. Life in Maggody is slow, really slow. There's no crime to speak of, and about the only action she ever sees is a car wreck out on the highway, once every month or so. Her biggest chief of police decisions usually involve where to set up the speed trap, in the school zone, or at the signal light.

So it comes as a big surprise when two real crime cases fall her way on the same day. First a former Maggody resident, now housed at the state correctional institution escapes and looks to be heading home. Then an EPA contract specialist sent to sign the paperwork for an unwanted sewage treatment plant that the residents of Maggody are sure is going to pollute their swimming and fishing holes, goes missing. Add to that the murder of a local, and it looks like Arly is going to have to buckle down and get busy, fast. With the whole town tight lipped and stonewalling her investigation, it's going to take all her cunning and training to sort out all this mayhem and madness, and get to the truth.

I decided to re-read this series as it has been quite awhile since I've read a Maggody book and I'm behind. I know that I read it years ago but it all seemed new to me. I had forgotten some of the earlier characters and to be honest it was a lot more sexual than I remembered but still a real hoot.

Waking up in the Land of Glitter: a Crafty Chica Novel by Kathy Cano-Murillo

Meet Estrella "Star" Esteban who is spoiled by her family and friends. She is an independent spirit who is used to getting her own way. So after waking up the day after getting drunk, black-out can't remember a thing drunk, to discover that she had spray painted the mural on the wall of her family's restaurant. Her days of getting a free pass are up, as the mural she spray painted with happy faces was created by her best friend, Theo, who she also has a crush on says they are through and her family gives her 6 months to get her life in order she decides buckle down. But Star has always wanted to be an artist and when she orders 350 lbs. of glitter by accident (vs. 3.5 lbs.) through the restaurant, she has to take on her obligations. She decides to be a bronze sponsor of the Craft Olympics and agrees to make hundreds of centerpieces for the tables so that she can promote the restaurant.

She elicits the help of her best friend Ofelia, whose passion is crafting which unfortunately she sucks at. She is being held back by her mother- in-law Nana who thinks that she has no talent. They meet Chloe Chavez who is a television reporter about crafts. Chloe would do anything to get ahead in the business, from stealing her assistant's ideas to having an affair with the producer. She also was named host of the Craft Olympics and felt that joining the group would increase her standings in the crafting community. They have to resolve their issues and work together to get the job done.

We see lots of examples of the up and coming art scene in Central Phoenix and feel like are part of the lives of these 3 women. It was a lot more entertaining than I expected and I wasn't even sure if I would enjoy it at first. But I'm glad that I stayed with it.

Misery Loves Maggody by Joan Hess

Ruby Bee, Estelle, and their big hair have embarked on a cut-rate package tour to Graceland to pay homage to the King. Before the end of the tour, one of the other pilgrims is found dead outside her hotel room, Ruby Bee is in the hospital, and Mayor Jim Bob Buchanon has been arrested for murder.

Arly drives through the night to bring order out of chaos and make sure all the citizens of Maggody return home safely--with or without their dignity intact.

Entertaining as always plus there were even some Elvis sightings by Arly. I didn't have the person who was the actual murderer pegged, it came as a complete surprise. The only thing that didn't get clarified was the mystery back in Maggody but maybe I missed it. It's been awhile since I've read a Maggody story but since this was on CD it seemed like a good one to re-start with. Now I want to go back and re-read the earlier books.

Pinochio: the Vampire slayer by Dustin Higgins and Van Jensen

After his maker/father Geppetto is killed by vampires, Pinocchio tries to protect the disbelieving inhabitants of his village, aided only by woodcarver Master Cherry, a greatly aged Blue Fairy and the ghost of the nagging cricket he squashed some time ago.

Listed as one of the top Graphic Novels for Teens for 2009 so I thought I would give it a try. I was impressed how much they used from the original storyline and incorporated it into a transition. Pinochio is out for revenge after his father is killed by the undead. When Pinochio lies his nose grows and he discovers by accident he is able to kill the vampires with his nose. So it's quite entertaining as he responds to questions by lying so his nose will grow. He then breaks it off and stabs them with it. I love when the cryptic bunnies give him clues he can't put together about where and when the vampires will strike.

For such a short graphic novel there is a lot packed in and an twist I didn't see coming at the end. Very satisifying and I wonder if there will be more adventures of Pinochio the vampire slayer.

Scalped Vol 3 - Dead Mothers by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera

3rd in the Scalped series we follow ex-con and war vet Dashiell Bad Horse as he goes undercover at his tribal reservation for the FBI. Being a cop is his cover as he seeks to bust Red Crow, the tribe's chief and the local crime boss—and former boyfriend of Dashiell's mom.

The ending of the previous 2 collections have shown us that Dashiell's mother, Gina, is dead, murdered by the side of the road and scalped, and then her body being discovered by a group of pre-teens. This collection continues with the police being called out to investigate. We we see Red Crow watching from the sidelines, obviously distraught. Meanwhile Bad Horse is at a Meth House busting everyone in sight when they discover the dead body of a woman who had been strangled. While searching the rest of the house they find a locked room with the children of the dead woman. After Dashiell is told about the death of his mother he seems more interested or almost obsessed with searching for the killer of dead woman and caring for her revenge-obsessed preteen son. But we see signs of how much his mother's death has affected him.

The illustrations change somewhat at the end as the artist must have changed but we see how hard the reservation life is and how no one is left unscathed. While this is a graphic, graphic comic the storyline is fascinating and I wonder how it will end up.

I see more ILL in my future.

Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith

Latest in the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series
Several new cases come about, there’s Mma Mateleke, who suspects her husband of being unfaithful (turns out, he harbors the same suspicions about her). Mr. Kereleng falls prey to the wiles of Violet Sephotho, who manipulated him into putting his house in her name. (Readers will remember Violet as the conniving classmate of Mma Makutsi at the Botswana Secretarial College, where Mma Makutsi earned an impressive 97 percent.) Mma Makutsi copes with bad news about her fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti, who undergoes a serious leg operation following an accident at his furniture store. Then she has to deal with his selfish Aunt who will not even let her see him.

A more pleasant assignment involves the search for a kindhearted safari guide, who was bequeathed a nice sum of money by an American tourist. This brings the two ladies to the stunning Okavango Delta, positively fraught with feral creatures. With snakes in abundance, proper footwear is a must, much to the delight of Mma Makutsi, who has a well-known weakness for new shoes.

All the storylines comes to a satisfying end, leaving me feel warm and happy like drinking a cup of bush tea. I always so look forward to the latest in this series, this new installment did not disappoint.