Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Parallel volume to Ender's Game.

The human race is at War with the "Buggers," an insect-like alien race. The first battles went badly, and now as Earth prepares to defend itself against the imminent threat of total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable alien enemy, all focus is on the development and training of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth — they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high-orbital facility called the Battle School.

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean — the one who became Ender's right hand, his strategist, and his friend. One who was with him, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers.

Bean's past was a battle just to survive. He first appeared on the streets of Rotterdam, a tiny child with a mind leagues beyond anyone else's. He knew he could not survive through strength; he used his tactical genius to gain acceptance into a children's gang, and then to help make that gang a template for success for all the others. He civilized them, and lived to grow older. This successful struggle to live brought him to the attention of the Battle School's recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender. . . .

I read Ender's Game probably 20 years ago now and I never forgot it. So I was interested to see how this would compare. I listened to it on CD while I've been driving too and from work. Wow, it was so engaging and well read. They actually used 4 different voices which is a new way for me to listen to a book on CD or tape. While at first a bit distracting it really added to the elements that make the story pop. You see the war from so many different points of view including Bean's which at some points did feel somewhat tedious to me but I got over it. Now I want to re-read Ender's Game but wish I could listen to it as well.

Above Suspicion by Lynda La Plante
London copper Anna Travis, is the bright and eager young daughter of recently deceased Detective Chief Superintendent Travis. Anna is brought on board by Detective Chief Inspector Langton, whose murder team has been completely outfoxed by a serial killer with a trail of six murdered prostitutes dating back 12 years. Anna joins the team just as they identify the corpse of a younger victim with no history of prostitution, a casualty that Langton takes as a sign of the killer's escalating blood lust. Further investigation reveals handsome up-and-coming film actor Alan Daniels as a potential suspect, and Anna and Langton widen their inquiry to include Daniels's past movie locations in the U.S., following a trail of victims to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Suspense builds and circumstantial evidence continues to pile up, but absolute proof eludes Anna and Langton as the sociopathic suspect attempts to turn his seductive powers on Anna.

I wouldn't say this was the best suspence thriller I've read especially since we know who the killer is in the first 1/3 of the book. Most of the book is dealing with Anna's insecurities and anxieties regarding her job and being put out there for the murder to confide to. I did wonder how they would get him to confess or find him responsible. It was done but kind of by luck versus good detective work. This author has written the Prime Suspect series which in my opinion are better done but this book was not a bad result. Just kind of trying.

Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter
The final Inspector Morse mystery..... 8(
For a year, the murder of Yvonne Harrison at her home in the Cotswold village of Lower Swinstead has baffled the Thames Valley CID. But one man has yet to tackle the case - and it is just the sort of puzzle at which Chief Inspector Morse excels. So why is he adamant that he will not lead the reinvestigation, despite two anonymous phone calls that hint at new evidence? And why, if he refuses to take on the case officially, does he seem to be carrying out his own private inquiries? When Sergeant Lewis learns that Morse was once friendly with Yvonne Harrison, he begins to suspect that the man who has earned his admiration, and exasperation, over so many years knows more about her death than he is letting on. When Morse finally does take over, the investigation leads down highways and byways that are disturbing to all concerned.

I put off reading this book for years as I knew Morse would die at the end. Morse has always been one of my favorite series both in book form and on TV. John Thaw was so wonderful as Morse plus in everything he did. I cried as I started, during and at the end. But it was lovely and while it was sad he died finishing what he wanted to finish. I'll have to find the new TV series featuring Lewis as the actor Kevin Whately has continued with the character.

Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar

The rabbi and his cat live in 1930's Algeria, which was still under French dominion and had a different religious and ethnic demographic than it does today. While many of the themes are independent of confession, religion is the underpinning of this story.

It is interesting when the cat beginst to speak outloud vs in his head. He is so intellectually complicated in a fashion that never turns him from a feline into a person in cat form. The cat is alternately stubborn, loyal, jealous, petty, and generous. He is intelligent without always being wise and sometimes he is wise enough to rue his intelligence. What else can you expect from a cat that starts to speak after eating the rabbi's annoying parakeet, but his first words are lies about eating the parakeet?

Cat loves his mistress but the rabbi does not want cat talking to his daughter and putting ideas in her head. We see they interact in their native Algeria and then travel to Paris to meet the rabbi's inlaws after his daughter marries a french rabbi.

It is a very interesting look at a specific time period and place. We see how Algeria is changing both with religion and attitutes. I really enjoyed this book.

Snow Blind by P. J. Tracy
With the holidays over and the long cold winter looming, January can be a bleak month in Minneapolis. So what better way to bring a little cheer to the good people of the city than sponsoring an old-fashioned snowman-building contest? In a matter of hours, a local park is filled with the innocent laughter of children and their frosty creations. But things take an awful turn when the dead bodies of police officers are discovered inside two of the snowmen – sending the entire department and Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth on high alert.

The next day, Iris Rikker, the newly minted sheriff of rural Dundas County, comes across another body in another snowman. Fearing that Rikker’s inexperience will hamper the investigation, Magozzi and Rolseth head north, in a blizzard, to hunt for clues. As Grace MacBride and her crack computer jocks at Monkeewrench comb the Web for connections, a terrifying link emerges among the dead cops, Magozzi and Rolseth, and Monkeewrench – a link that must be broken before it’s too late.

Ok the Monkeewrench is a red hering! We see more about Magozzi & Rolseth plus the new female sheriff in Dundas County. What this book really comes down to is in regards to domestic violence who is responsible? The person doing the beatings? the police who won't help? the family, friends and neighbors who looks the other way? What would you do if you could take action into your own hands and punish them all? Read Snow Blind and find out.

Written by mother-daughter writing duo P.J. and Traci Lambrecht. Each book takes place in Minnesota and revolve around the Monkeewrench team the police they work with. This was a very interesting look at domestic violence and the consequences. I did not see how this book would end as they did a great job making this look one way and then taking it a 180 turn.

Death at Death's Door by Jill Thompson
Fills in the backstory of "Season of Mists," by Neil Gaiman. Lucifer has abandoned Hell, giving Morpheus the key to its gates and unleashing a host of troubles for the beleaguered Dream King. Thompson's story, while including enough references to "Mists" to bring everyone up to speed, focuses primarily on Dream's big sister, Death, whose apartment is overrun by the dead with no place to go now that Hell has closed up shop. So, acting on their own idea for coping with the legions of former damned, younger sisters Despair and Delerium host a party at Death's house.

I know that this has gotten a lot of positive write-ups because of the success Thompson has had recreating a Manga style but it just didn't do anything for me. I find most Manga really annoying with all the clutter and yelling and shouting that seems to go on endlessly.

Concrete Blond by Michael Connelly
Series featuring Harry Bosch
They called him the Dollmaker, the serial killer who stalked Los Angeles call girls and left a grisly calling card on the faces of his female victims. With a single faultless shot, Detective Harry Bosch thought he had ended the city's nightmare. Now, 4 years later, the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the LAPD for killing the wrong man. This accusation rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature. Now, for the second time, Harry must hunt down a death-dealer who is very much alive, before he strikes again. It's a blood-tracked quest that will take Harry from the hard edges of the L.A. night to the last place he ever wanted to go — the darkness of his own heart.

I had read a later story featuring Bosch and wanted to know more about him. He has a very complicated background and we learn why he has such a hard time opening up to women. His own mother was killed in an un-solved crime when he was 12 years old. He spent the rest of his teenage years in foster care or a boy's home. He is not the cop out there but he does try to bring justice to the dead.

Connelly writes in a very interesting voice. Will need to catch up!

Earlier titles in the series:
Black Ice
Black Echo

Simply Unforgettable by Mary Balogh

While returning to the school after a Christmas spent with her great-aunts in the country, Frances Allard encounters Lucius Marshall, Viscount Sinclair, and becomes stranded with him for a couple of days when they are both overtaken by an unexpectedly harsh snowstorm. It is a traumatic encounter, but Frances declines the less than honorable offer Lord Sinclair makes her at the end of it and persuades herself that she will be quite content never to see him again.

Lucius has just promised his dying grandfather and the rest of his family that he will marry before the end of summer, and the perfect bride has already been picked out for him. For a brief interlude he is distracted by his encounter with Frances, but on the whole he considers himself fortunate when she rejects his offer. He will be--or so he tells himself--quite happy never to see her again.

Fortune, however, has other plans in store for Frances and Lucius, who are fated to meet again at a soiree in Bath. And after that neither can be sure that they will never meet again. Indeed, one of them sets out actively to make sure that they will--in London, where Lucius's potential bride awaits his offer of marriage as a certainty and Frances's past waits just as eagerly to catch up with her.

I had read many reviews of this author's work so decided to give it a try. It was interesting and kind of fluffy read. I'm not sure I buy into the getting stranded bit in which they end up having sex with no consequences except they fall in love later. It seemed a bit modern to me. I guess I always enjoyed the Barbara Cartland type of romance where you let your imagination take over. Lots of swooning, etc. It is supposed to be the first book in a quartet featuring four teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls in Bath. It felt dis-jointed to me as I didn't feel like this book needed any sequels or made me want to know more about these teachers. It almost felt like I had missed a few books before hand to be honest.

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

In usual fashion Stephanie finds herself in danger when she discovers that a woman is following her. This woman who threatens her and waves a gun around claims to be Carlos Manoso's (aka Ranger) wife! When she ends up dead and Ranger's daughter is discovered kidnapped from Miami by Ranger himself Stephanie knows something is up! A doppleganger has stolen parts of Ranger's identity, marrying the strange woman, kidnapping Ranger's daughter and then wants to go after Stephanie herself. Now she gets to pay Ranger back for all the times he helped her out in a jam. But she'll need the help of both Ranger and Morelli.

Meanwhile she and Lulu are trying to pick up as many FTA's people who skipped their count appearance before Vinnie goes bankrupt. They have to start hiring new bounty hunters and the interviews are so funny! They end up hiring a FTA Stephanie is able to hunt down, a sad sack named Melvin Pickle, who had been arrested for indecent exposure in the multi-plex. Plus Lula, Sally, and Grandma Mazur start up a rock band and find new costumes for each gig!

You can't help but laugh out loud at all the quirky characters but I have to admit that this one had more depth than previous ones. It even ends with Ranger feeding Stephanie cake. yum...

#12 Echo Park

Lincoln Lawyer
Featuring Bosch's half brother, Mickey Haller, who is a lawyer in LA. He's called a Lincoln Lawyer because his office is out of the trunk of his Lincoln Town-Car. I do not believe that Bosch is in this book though.

Closers by Michael Connelly
#11 in the Harry Bosch series and the first book I've read by Connelly. I actually listened to it on CD driving to and from work. It sucked me in and I really wanted to know what happened to am interested in reading some of the earlier works to see who it compares. The readerhas a very interesting voice and it wasn't distracting as he changed his voice to be various characters.

After three years out of the LAPD, Harry Bosch returns, to find the department a different place from the one he left. A new Police Chief has been brought over from New York to give the place a thorough clean up from top to bottom. Working with his former partner, Kiz Rider, Harry is assigned to the department's Open-Unsolved Unit, working on the thousands of cold cases that haunt the LAPD's files. These detectives are the Closers—they put a shovel in the dirt and turn over the past.

Harry and Kiz are given a politically sensitive case when a DNA match connects a white supremacist to the 1988 murder of Rebecca Verloren, a sixteen-year-old girl. Becky was of mixed race, and the case appears to have a racial angle. This was LA before the riots and Rodney King; the city was a powder keg waiting for a match. The detectives who worked the case all those years ago seem to have done a decent job, but something doesn't fit. Meanwhile Harry's nemesis, Deputy Chief Irving, is watching him waiting for him to split apart like a retread tire. But while Bosch kind of flaunders around he manages to get the answer in the end.

#10 Narrows
#9 Lost Light
#8 City of Bones
#7 Darkness More Than Night
#6 Angels Flight
#5 Trunk Music
#4 Last Coyote
#3 Concrete Blond
They called him the Dollmaker, the serial killer who stalked Los Angeles call girls and left a grisly calling card on the faces of his female victims. With a single faultless shot, Detective Harry Bosch thought he had ended the city's nightmare. Now, 4 years later, the dead man's widow is suing Harry and the LAPD for killing the wrong man. This accusation rings terrifyingly true when a new victim is discovered with the Dollmaker's macabre signature. Now, for the second time, Harry must hunt down a death-dealer who is very much alive, before he strikes again. It's a blood-tracked quest that will take Harry from the hard edges of the L.A. night to the last place he ever wanted to go — the darkness of his own heart.

I had read a later story featuring Bosch and wanted to know more about him. He has a very complicated background and we learn why he has such a hard time opening up to women. His own mother was killed in an un-solved crime when he was 12 years old. He spent the rest of his teenage years in foster care or a boy's home. He is not the cop out there but he does try to bring justice to the dead.

#2 Black Ice
#1 Black Echo

What's the Worst That Could Happen? by Donald E. Westlake

When billionaire hotshot Max Fairbanks, who has caught Dortmunder burgling his Long Island estate, tells the arresting police that the good-luck ring on Dortmunder's finger was stolen from him (when it was in fact a gift from Dortmunder's girlfriend, May), Max's fate, no matter how well protected he may be, is sealed.

Dortmunder makes repeated attempts to get his ring back, hitting on ingenious ways to get into the billionaire's lavish Times Square and Watergate apartments, making off each time with considerable more loot with each heist. But while Dortmunder is not unhappy with the loot he is really after only the ring. It's a pride thing.

When Fairbanks goes off to his huge casino/hotel/theme park in Las Vegas, in a deliberate attempt to entrap Dortmunder, does the dour vengeance-seeker shift into really high gear. Other friends from previous Dortmunder outings are collected into a formidable army, pitted against the best security Max's millions can buy, all leading to a showdown only Westlake could have conceived.

Fabulous! This is the most elaborate heist ever! Plus we get to see everyone travel, by bus, by air and by motor home! Kelp finds his own lady friend, Anne Marie, whom he picked up in New York while he was helping Dortmunder break into Fairbank's apartment. Anne Marie who was drowning her sorrows in the bar after her husband left her to go back to Kansas quickly jumps in to lend a hand. She has a knack for it too. Can't wait to read more of this fun, fun, fun series.

Transgressions Vol. 1 edited by Ed McBain

Includes novelas by Merely Hate by Ed McBain, Hostages by Anne Perry, Walking Around with Money by Donald E. Westlake, Forever by Jeffrey Deaver and Resurrection Man by Sharyn McCrumb.

MERELY HATE, was part of the 87th Precinct. It is post 9/11 in Isola, and the detectives are called to investigate the murder of a Muslim cab driver. As usual it isn't a cut and dry serial killer. I was surprised by who the murder ended up being.

WALKING AROUND MONEY focuses on the bumbling crook John Dortmunder. Typical Dortmunder, makes me laugh out loud!

HOSTAGES, in which the head of the Protestant cause in Ireland refuses to step down for a more moderate leader, even when he and his family are taken hostage by men who will stop at nothing, even murder, to have their politics accepted. It was a good story especially the ending.

FOREVER, introduces Tal Simms, a mathematician/statistician working for Westbrook County Sheriff's Department. Simms is considered a "computer geek" by the rest of the detective squad, especially homicide detective Greg "Bear" LaTour. Simms and his eventual partner LaTour are confronted with several suspicious suicides. Older rich couples are killing themselves under dubious circumstances. In most respects, the underdog character Simms is every bit as likable as Lincoln Rhymes.

RESURRECTION MAN tells the tale of a slave who is purchased to be a grave robber for a medical college in the South just a few years before the Civil War. At first it was my least favorite story but by the time I got used to her mixing the past and present together I was ready for more. I haven't read much lately by Sharyn McCrumb so need to start up again. She has such a great storytelling voice.

FOREVER was the longest and I really enjoyed it the best. I actually wanted to hear this CD because of Westlake (I'm a big Dortmunder fan). It was good too.

How to Seduce a Ghost by Hope McIntyre
aka Caroline Upcher

New series featuring Lee Bartholomew - a neurotic 38 year old with a curious reluctance to settle down with her boyfriend of eight years. Lee is a ghostwriter whose assignments have an unnerving tendency to involve her in murder investigations. She lives alone - by choice - in her parent's giant London house in Notting Hill yet every night she lies awake quaking with fear at the thought of the violent crime erupting just the other side of her front door.

Someone is setting fire to houses in the area - along with their occupants and Lee's neighbor, Children's TV prsenter Astrid McKenzie, is the first victim. Wen she lands the plum job of ghosting the autobiography of American soap star Selma Walker, Lee finds herself unwittingly not only at the center of the arson/murder investigations, but also in the arms of a new and highly dangerous lover.

This was a rather more complicated book than it first appeared. Many different complex characters that I would like to know about.

The ending was really fast with more fires and kidnapping and who the hell is really the bad guy here?!? But I would be interested in reading another in the series.

Hunter's Moon by C. J. Adams & Cathy Clamp
Hit man Tony Giodone has seen some wacky whack jobs but this takes the cake. Sue Quentin, winner of a huge lottery jackpot, wants him to off her. She is so desperate to get away from her obnoxiously calculating and avaricious family, she feels that death is the only escape. Tony, meanwhile, has made a miscalculation. Ever since he was bitten by one of his targets, he has experienced three days of amnesia at the full moon, during which he turns into a wolf, so he usually locks himself away in a soundproof suite in the Plaza. Fortunately, he wakes up this time to find that Sue is still alive and well. A powerful bout of lovemaking leaves Tony certain that he has found his mate, and he will do anything for Sue, even kill her if that's what she wants.

This is a very complicated story as though it is from Tony's point of view a lot revolves around Sue. Some annoying things is how much he relies on smells and suddenly he and Sue are one person and can experience each one's thoughts and experiences while they are separated. Luckily for her as towards the end Sue is kidnapped and Tony is able to get there to save the day.

It was alright.

Sequel:
Moon's Web

I'd Kill for That
By Gayle Lynds, Rita Mae Brown, Marcia Talley, Lisa Gardner, Linda Fairstein, Kay Hooper, Kathy Reichs, Julie Smith, Heather Graham, Jennifer Crusie, Tina Wainscott, Anne Perry, and Katherine Neville.

Thirteen of today's hottest female novelists spice up the whodunit in an unputdownable, rollicking serial novel of murder and mayhem, larceny and love....

On the banks of the scenic Truxton River, nestled in rolling woodlands just minutes away from our nation's capital, lies Gryphon Gate. Drawn to its breathtaking view of the Chesapeake Bay, Henry Drysdale selected this waterfront location to create a premiere gated community where the affluent and privileged residents live, work and play. Tempers flare when Vanessa, Henry's ex-, decides to build Forest Glen, a 300-unit condominium development on an adjoining tract of land. The Gryphon Gate town meeting disintegrates into a free-for-all as environmentalists, developers, residents and the media clash. Then the violence turns ugly—a body is found in a sandtrap off the 6th tee. Called in to head the investigation, Police Captain Diane Robards races against the clock to sort her allies from her enemies, as together she and an odd-ball cast of characters attempt to uncover the secrets behind the serene facade of Gryphon Gate and unmask a dangerous and ruthless killer.

It was interesting to read this book as each chapter was written by a different author. Each person had their own twist or ideas of the mystery and the characters so things could radically change from one chapter to the next.

Jack Reacher series by Lee Child

Killing Floor
First in the series introducing Jack Reacher, a casualty of the Army's peace dividend who's drifted into town idly looking for traces of a long dead black jazzman. Not only do the local cops arrest him for murder, but the chief of police turns eyewitness to place him on the scene, even though Reacher was getting on a bus in Tampa at the time. Two surprises follow: The murdered man wasn't the only victim, and he was Reacher's brother whom he hadn't seen in seven years. So Reacher, who so far hasn't had anything personal against the crooks who set him up for a weekend in the state pen at Warburton, clicks into overdrive.

Banking on the help of the only two people in Margrave he can trust—a Harvard-educated chief of detectives who hasn't been on the job long enough to be on the take, and a smart, scrappy officer who's taken him to her bed— he sets out methodically in his brother's footsteps, trying to figure out why his cellmate in Warburton, a panicky banker whose cell-phone number turned up in Joe's shoe, confessed to a murder he obviously didn't commit; trying to figure out why all the out-of-towners on Joe's list of recent contacts were as dead as he was; and trying to stop the local carnage or at least direct it in more positive ways.

This was a very intense, complicated and gritty thriller. Lots of carnage mostly at the hands of Reacher as it is "kill or be killed" and he never hesitates. I will probably read more of this series but spread it out a bit as the violence is graphically described.

Bleeding hearts
China Bayles Herbal Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert
Coach Tim Duffy's Pecan Springs high school football team has won the state championships two years in a row -- and in Texas, that makes him a demigod. But when China's stepson's principal asks her to conduct a sensitive investigation concerning accusations of sexual misconduct lodged against Duffy, she becomes embroiled in a dark drama that, if exposed, could destroy families and ruin lives. Statutory rape and cold-blooded murder are just the beginning of this mystery…

China struggles to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of a beloved high school football coach and the alleged suicide of a woman who was once one of his students. A handmade quilt, sewn by a woman who went through cancer treatments, is missing from the quilt show that Ruby is in charge of. In typical New Age style Ruby decides to ask the Ouija Board to help guide her to the guilty party. Plus to complicate matters China's mother asks her to get some papers that were found after her husband's secretary's death. What China finds will rock her to the bone.

Interesting enough China's husband is out of town for most of the book. We get to see more of China interacting with other women and friends.

Enchanted Inc. by Shanna Swendson
Katie Chandler, a 20something, small-town Texas girl, who finds that being average in New York City is anything but. She is still adjusting to life in the big city while working a for a nightmare boss when she gets a fantastic offer to work for a mysterious company, MSI, Inc.

Through her new job and the magical folk she meets, Katie comes to find out she isn't quite as average as she thought; and the fairy tale life she has longed for begins to come true in surprising ways. What Katie doesn't realize is how rare and important being ordinary can be. In fact, it is her ordinary characteristics that make her the perfect secret weapon for MSI, Inc. Now she has magicians and fairies meddling in her attempted romances, a secret life she needs to keep hidden from her non-magical friends, not to mention that dangerous pull she feels for Owen, an attractive but shy wizard who might be the most powerful magic man since Merlin.

Kind of a play on Sex and the City (aka Hex and the City). Very sweet story with a few bumps in the road but all is overcome in this "happily ever after" style mode.

Once Upon Stilettos is the sequel or at least some the same characters.

Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
by Nancy Atherton

Lori Shepherd, feeling a touch world-weary, decides to become a volunteer at the Radcliffe Infirmary, where she can spread a little good cheer in the community. There she meets Elizabeth Beacham, a kind, retired legal secretary with no family except a brother who has mysteriously disappeared. Lori is saddened when Miss Beacham passes away suddenly after only a few visits. But when she receives an envelope containing a set of keys and a letter Miss Beacham wrote to her just a few days before her death, it becomes clear that there was much more to the gentle invalid than met the eye. Notices start arriving around the village of the large bequests made before her death. And Lori finds that Miss Beacham’s flat is filled with priceless antiques—an inheritance too precious to remain unclaimed. Armed with a few clues and Aunt Dimity’s help, Lori begins to unearth Miss Beacham’s secrets and, ultimately, the surprising truth about her next-of-kin.

#10 is this interesting series. I get a little tired of the main character so I haven't read any of this series for quite a while. But I thought I would give it a try with this one. This was one of the better stories as it gives Lori some humility which she really needed.

Saddlemaker's Wife by Earlene Fowler
Ruby McGavin, grieving over the recent death of her husband, Cole, is shocked to discover that Cole lied to her about his family. They're not all dead, as he told her, but very much alive, and in his will, he has left her his share of the family ranch in California. Ruby heads to tiny Cardinal, Calif., with Cole's ashes, intent on selling her share of the ranch, but she quickly realizes that Cole had hidden many things from her. Cole's younger brother, Lucas, who has fled his life as a lawyer in San Francisco, has returned to Cardinal, where he scrapes out a life as a saddlemaker. Slowly Ruby and Lucas edge closer to the truth of a secret that haunts both their lives.

This was a very interesting story. You really feel like you are in this small town and getting to know the characters. I've tried to read her other quilting stories and while I enjoyed it but not as much as this story. It will be interesting to see if she writes more with these characters.

Whales on Stilts! by M. T. Anderson
Lily Gefelty's father works for a mad scientist who wears a sack over his head. When she overhears him say that he wants to take over the world, her oblivious father assures her, "Honey, sometimes adults use irony. They don't really mean what they say." Nonetheless, the 12-year-old calls on her two best friends, Katie Mulligan, the star of the "Horror Hollow" novels (think "Goosebumps"), and Jasper Dash, also known as the Boy Technonaut (think "Tom Swift"), to investigate. The trio soon learns that Larry does indeed plan to conquer the world using mind-controlled whales on stilts with laser-beam eyes. No adult will believe them, so it's up to the kids to save the Earth.

This was a very fun entertaining read. Book 2 is already in the works. I love how it shows sometimes the kids do know best.

Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely. While on a cruise he is thrown overboard and became lost. While he lived with Abilene he just existed. He never listened to Abilene's stories or understood what it ment to be alone and never loved Abilene though she loved him.

His adventues take him from part of the world to another as he is chosen and lost by several different people who need him at the time. He learns to listen and love and be loved. He discovers that everyone matters and has a story to tell. It is another beautiful story by DiCamillo and the color plates illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline really adds to the story. This would make a great read-a-loud or to read at bedtime. It is lovely.

Don't Look Down by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
A story of romance and action story, written by two experts in the genres. Jenny Crusie writes Lucy Armstrong, a film director with family problems--why is her sister so depressed, her niece so unhappy, and her ex-husband so intent on getting her back--and career problems--why is the star so determined to do his own stunts, the ingenue so determined to seduce the stunt double, and that Green Beret stunt double so damn attractive? Bob Mayer writers J. T. Wilder, a Green Beret who has his own troubles including the goofball actor he's doubling for, the stunt coordinator who's gunning for him (literally), and the director who looks like Wonder Woman and keeps distracting him from his mission. And that's before the CIA, the Russian mob, and the one-eyed alligator show up.

I've read other books by Jennifer Cruise and she always makes a fun read. Interesting to see her work combined with Boy Mayer who I have not read before. I got kind of tired of the young niece being the comic relief plus the ending was a little predictable to me. A good book to take on vacation or read on the beach.

My Name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton by Geronimo Stilton
Kids in my library love this series - it is never on the shelf so I thought I would try one and it is not the first in the series. We are introduced to his young assistant editor, Pinky Pick, who is only thirteen years old! Geronimo is a nervous, mild-mannered mouse who would like nothing better than to live a quiet life, but he keeps getting involved in far-away adventures with Thea, Trap and Benjamin. The books are written as though they are autobiographical adventure stories. The author is identified only as Geronimo Stilton, and references are occasionally made to past and future books in the series.

The series originated in Italy and has become the most popular children's book series in that country. The books are bright with color pictures and the text changes font styles and colors to match what is happening in the storyline to highlight a certain word. It was distracting to me but I can see why kids like it.

John Rain books by Barry Eisler

Rain Fall
John Rain was born of an American mother and a Japanese father, Rain is a businessman based in Tokyo, living a life of meticulously planned anonymity. Trained by the U.S. Special Forces and a veteran of Vietnam, he is a cool, self-contained loner—and he has built a steady business over the past twenty-five years specializing in death by "natural causes." He is also a man struggling with his own divided nature: Japanese/American; soldier/assassin; samurai/ronin. He is given an assignment to kill a man on a train but to make it look like a heart attack. When he notices an american man going through the dead man's pockets Rain's carefully ordered world begins to unravel. Unknown agents from within and without the international intelligence communities have been circling him for years and, having connected him to the subway job, now have the scent they have been seeking. At the same time, Rain is drawn outside his private world by an alluring jazz pianist, the dead man's daughter, who is the key to the very secrets that her father died trying to reveal.

Fascinating read. You really get a feel like you are in Tokyo and walking beside him. Looking forward to reading more.

Hard Rain
Rain Storm
Killing Rain
Last Assassin

Babymouse graphic novels by sister and brother team Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm

Babymouse: Queen of the World!
Queen of the World! introduces Babymouse and her nemesis, a popular cat named Felicia Furrypaws. Babymouse desperately wants an invitation to Felicia's slumber party (which she feels could confer "queen" status), although her best friend Wilson the Weasel expects her to watch monster movies with him that night. Fantasy sequences testify to Babymouse's reading habit and active imagination: in one reverie, she's Babymouserella, transformed into a princess by "fairy godweasel" Wilson, but undone by Felicia on the way to the ball ("In 'Cinderella,' the mouse pulls the carriage. Duh!").

These 3 tone comic style books in pink, black and white offer a tweeny look at life. Much like Captain Underpants but for 9-10 year old girls. Well done!

Babymouse: Our Hero
Babymouse: Beach Babe

Bollywood Confidential by Sonia Singh

With her golden coloring, long black hair, and Oscar-deserving acting skills, Raveena Rai knows she's meant to be a star--if only she can get that big break. Now, after eight years of toiling as a slave girl, a belly dancer, a Mexican cocktail waitress, and some other truly unspeakable roles, the Lord Ganesh finally throws his lovely and loyal devotee a bone.....all the way to Bombay--aka Bollywood, the heart of Indian cinema--where a young director wants her for the lead in his upcoming flick.

Instead of the Hollywood star treatment, Raveena must cope with hellish humidity, screeching bats, a stressed-out swami uncle, a sleeze movie director and a sexy demigod co-star (named Siddharth, no less!) who doesn't give her the time of day. Surely, fame and a romantic leading man will be written into Raveena's life's script--if Bombay doesn't drive her crazy first.

Reminds me of the more recent Meg Cabot novels. Short and fluffy but very fun. A refreshing voice plus the author lists her top 10 favorite Bollywood movies of all time. I've actually seen one!

Jack Spratt Investigates (Nursery Crime Division) by Jasper Fforde
author of the Tuesday Next mysteries brings us a new type of investigator

Big Over Easy
Introduces Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary of the Nursery Crime Division, the small and highly underfunded department that is part of the Reading Police. It is Jack and Mary to deal with any crimes involving nursery rhyme characters - who have inexplicably taken up residence in Berkshire.

Ever wanted to know why Humpty Dumpty fell off his wall? Was it an accident? Suicide? Why was he buying shares in the failing Spongg footcare empire, and who had most to gain from his death? His ex-wife? His Lover? Solomon Grundy of Winsum & Loosum pharmecuticals or even Lord Spongg himself? What is the link with St Cerebellum's woefully inadequate and outdated mental hospital? And is it merely coincidence that Humpty died not five days before the Jellyman's celebrated visit to Reading to dedicate the Sacred Gonga's visitor's centre? And whose was the 28 foot long human hair found in Humpty's apartment?

Per usual this quirky series brings us into the nasty world of nursery crimes. I've loved the Tuesday Next mysteries and while these are even more quirky they are just as much fun to read.

Book 2: Fourth Bear

Ladies of Covington Series by Joan Medlicott

Ladies of Covington Send Their Love
Cautious Grace Singleton, uncertain of her place in an intimidating world. Outspoken Hannah Parrish, harboring a private fear that may change her life. Fragile Amelia Declose, shattered by devastating grief. Circumstance has brought these disparate women of "a certain age" to a Pennsylvania boardinghouse where three square meals and a sagging bed is the most any of them can look forward to.

But friendship takes them on a startling journey to a rundown North Carolina farmhouse where the unexpected suddenly seems not only welcome, but delightfully promising. And with nothing more than a bit of adventure in mind, each woman will be surprised to find that the years they've reclaimed from the shadow of twilight will offer something far more rare: confidence, competence, and even another chance at love...

A very nice book of friendship and finding new purpose in life. Told from the perspective of all three ladies who are also widows we experience their loss and happiness and finding their inner strength. Each has experienced loss of their own and have to learn to trust one another to help them through it. I will say that I was getting tired of Amelia who had more brushes with death and would lose control more than all the others. It was hard to read it from her perspective as I felt the least sympathic for her. But this won't stop me from wanting to read another book in the series.

Gardens of Covington
From the Heart of Covington
Spirit of Covington
At Home in Covington
Christmas in Covington
Seasons of Covington

Nightside series by Simon R. Green

2) Agents of Light and Darkness

John Taylor is back in Darkside - this time he is commissioned by a priest named Jude to finding the unholy grail, not for the cup that Jesus drank from, but the other cup, the Judas Cup, which provides both ultimate power and ultimate corruption. If it was just John Taylor and an ugly silver cup this would be a piece of cake for John - find it and return it to the Vatican, who will hide it from all the powers, human and otherwise. But no such luck - everyone is after it. Demons, gangsters, and angels - thousands of them, good and bad, all prepared to end the universe to gain the cup. Knowing he is out of his depth, Taylor brings Shotgun Suzie on board, and together they challenge Armageddon.

It is funny as angels from both heaven and hell are after the cup and both are determined to torture, kill and destroy anyone who gets in the way. These angels appear as ordinary gray suited bankers or accountants until they burst into flames turning those who look into a pilar of salt. Except if you are holding the Speaking Gun, in the beginning God created things by calling their name, which can destroy things by Speaking their name. It will also kill angels. Go figure? Of course Taylor gets his hand on it from the nazis.

Green's books are not long but he manages to crame a huge amount of horrible images in it. I skim through those parts as I usually like the beginning and the ending makes me want to read more about Taylor. I know this is a pretty big series so will try another one out.

1) Something from the Nightside
John Taylor is a detective in London, but what he really is an expert on finding lost things. It's part of the gift he was born with as a child of the Nightside. He left almost 5 years ago, to escape the murder and mayhem. But since business has been slow lately, he accepts a case from Joanna Barrett, to find her runaway teenage daughter. With his gift he is able to determine she is in Nightside. A square mile of Hell in the middle of the city, where it's always three AM. Where you can walk beside myths and drink with monsters. Where nothing is what it seems and everything is possible. Taylor swore he'd never return. But who else can rescue her daughter and there's something about this woman depending on him. So he's going back home.

This is a kind of blah look at a supernatural underground life in London. But while the main character gives great descriptions of how terrible everything is I never really felt like I got a feel for it. Most everyone is kind of one dimensionial and no real substance. Everyone seems to want to kill Taylor but no real reason why except they don't like him. I will try another one to see if there is more to this series that what this first book gives me.

3) Nightingale's Lament
4) Hex and the City
5) Paths Not Taken
6) Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
7) And Follow Darkness Like a Dream

Gilda Joyce Mysteries by Jennifer Allison

Gilda Joyce Psychic Investigator
Gilda Joyce is a quirky almost 14 year old from Michigan. Since her father has passed away she has been interested in developing her psychic abilities. On the last day of school she announces she is going to spend the summer in San Francisco but she doesn't know anyone there. hmmm was it her psychic talking for her?

She then discovers she has relatives who do live in SF, her mother’s distant cousin Lester Splinter and his fragile daughter Juliet. She writes a letter inviting herself to visit some and when receiving a letter of invitiation (written by Mr. Splinter's bubbly assistant) she's off and running. She determines that Mr. Splinter and his daughter live in a haunted house — there's even a tower that is off limits. The house seems to conceal a terrible secret. But is it really haunted?

While everyone seems to see ghosts but Gilda she cheerfully marches on to solve these mysteries. Together she and Juliet discover the sad secret of why they tower is shut off from the house. Is Juliet doomed to become her aunt, who killed herself by throwing herself from the tower?

This engaging story is fun and you almost believe that Gilda is psychic. Can't wait for the next installment!

Fangs for the Memories by Kathy Love

After a disastrous first day in the Big Apple, Jane gets inebriated at a bar with the help of a charming stranger. Rhys, knowing the ex-con's intentions are bad, follows them when they leave, saving Jane from rape. But during the attack, Jane loses her most precious possession--a chain with her parents' rings on it. She goes back to find it and finds her hero being viciously assaulted by his brother, Christian. Salvation comes in the form of Rhy's other brother, Sebastian, who offers to pay Jane to look after Rhys, who has lost his memory and now believes he is still a nineteenth-century viscount, not the 208-year-old vampire he really is. He also thinks Jane is his bride.

What will happen when Rhys finally remembers just who and what he is? Will he keep Jane or will Christian have the final say?

This a very erotic vampire story in which the vampires aren't that bad but only drink blood and can't go out in the sun. No real violence but a focus more on sex instead. Interesting concept is that becoming a vampire does not change who you really are. If you are a good person you'll be a good vampire. If you're a bad person than you'll be a bad person. Makes sense.

It will be interesting to read about the bad brother in the sequel.

Sequel featuring Christian - Fangs But No Fangs

Odelia Grey Mysteries by Sue Ann Jaffarian

Too Big to Miss
Odelia Grey, is a paralegal in Southern California. Odelia is in her late forties, single, 5'1" and 215 pounds. She's lived a lifetime of prejudice about her size but, as a mature woman, she's not going to take it anymore. She and her circle of friends have a support group and are slowly but surely accepting themselves for who they are and taking a stand against the discrimination against them. Odelia is shocked and upset when the leader of their group, Sophie London, supposedly commits suicide. And she is even more surprised when she discovers that Sophie had a porn website and shot herself in front of her viewers. There's a romance between Odelia and a paraplegic, Greg Stevens, who witnessed Sophie's suicide online.

This series more than just a mystery as more of how the character develops and becomes more confident in herself.

Curse of the Holy Pail

Love At Large

SilverFin: a James Bond Adventure by Charles Higson
Meet Bond–James Bond–at 14, before he became the suave, lady-killing international spy. An orphan, he attends Eton and lives with his Aunt Charmian during school breaks. While the premise for this prequel sounds intriguing, it fails to deliver. Action, adventure, and mystery are not a part of the plot until the end. While visiting his dying Uncle Max in Scotland, James discovers that his enemy at Eton, George Hellebore, is visiting his father, Lord Randolph, who owns the castle in the same town. On the train to Scotland, James met Red Kelly and learned that Red's cousin Alphie is missing. Rumor has it he disappeared near Loch Silverfin, which is part of the Hellebore estate. It doesn't take long for James and Red to determine that Alphie's disappearance is connected to the castle.

Red Kelly, Meatpacker, Wilder Lawless, and her horse, Martini, are interesting and quirky characters while we need to see James' character developed more.

2nd in the series
Blood Fever (Young Bond)

Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay
The Casson family is an endearingly eccentric bunch. Big sister Cadmium, an appallingly bad driver even after hundreds of lessons with an attractive instructor, is studying for her college entrance exams. Saffron, 13, isolates herself from the family after learning that she is actually an adopted cousin whose mother died when Saffy was very young. Indigo works hard to defeat his fears through most unusual means. Rose, the youngest, is an expert at manipulating their pompous father and delightfully ditsy mum, both artists. When their granddad dies, he leaves Saffy a stone angel, which she decides must still be in Italy, her birthplace. With the help of her wheelchair-mobile friend, Sarah Warbeck, who is wickedly adept at managing her parents, Saffy stows away on their family trip to Italy. Although the angel is not there, she learns to appreciate her own family and home. Meanwhile, her siblings set off on a comical car trip to Wales, where the statue is found. Rose provides much of the humor on this trip, with her funny messages to the irritated drivers stuck behind hapless Caddy's car.

This was such a delightful book. It was fun and entertaining and suprising deep for such a short chapter book.

Companions:
Indigo’s Star
Permanent Rose

Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach

When Hero starts sixth grade at a new school, she's less concerned about the literary origins of her Shakespearean name than about the teasing she's sure to suffer because of it. So she happens to have the same name as a girl in a book by a dusty old author she also shares a name with a girls dog. Hero is simply not interested in the connections. But that's just the thing; suddenly connections are cropping up all over, and odd characters and uncertain pasts are exactly what do fascinate Hero.

There's a mysterious diamond hidden in her new house, a curious woman next door who seems to know an awful lot about it, and then, well, then there's Shakespeare. Not to mention Danny Cordova, only the most popular boy in school. Is it all in keeping with her namesake's origin or just "much ado about nothing"? Hero, being Hero, is determined to figure it out. We see her develop a friendship with the woman next door who knows more about the house Hero lives in but is she telling the whole truth?

This is a fun and fast paced read. The characters are interesting and full of life. It was named as one of the Best Book for 2005.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
High on the side of rocky Mount Eskel, far from the valleys where gardens are green and lush, where lowlanders make laws, Miri’s family has lived forever, pounding a living from the stone of the mountain itself. For as long as she can remember, Miri has dreamed of working alongside the other villagers in the quarries of her beloved mountainside. But Miri has never been allowed to work there, perhaps, she thinks, because she is so small. Then word comes from the valley that the king's priests have divined Mount Eskel to be the home of the prince’s bride-to-be—the next princess. The prince himself will travel to the village to choose her, but first all eligible girls must attend a makeshift mountain academy to prepare themselves for royal lowlander life.

At the school, Miri soon finds herself confronted by bitter competition among the girls and her own conflicting desires to be chosen by the prince. Yet when danger comes to the academy and threatens all their lives, it is Miri, named for a tiny mountain flower, who must find a way to save her classmates—and the one chance to leave the mountain each of them is determined to secure as her own.

Oh, what a lovely book. It is so beautifully written that I didn't want it to end. So much happens and you can't help cheering for Miri as she struggles to let herself shine but still stay true to herself.

Bloodangel by Justine Musk
Jess, a rising young artist who is haunted by her parents' death and her uncle's abuse, paints strange, wild portraits of a teenage boy lost in the desert. It is the face of Ramsey, a skate-punk, bookworm foster kid who appeared in a police station at the age of seven, covered in blood. When a burned-out rock'n'roll star enters into an unholy alliance with a mysterious hitchhiker, and the forces of pre-biblical good and evil start to stir, Jess must unravel the truth about the boy's identity -- and her own. Her quest will take her to a place deep in the Mojave where magic is real, demons exist, and an underground rock'n'roll band has the power to bring on Apocalypse.

Everything is based on perception and everyone is reincarnated from someone else. Their lives constantly criss-cross through time until the time comes to awaken the inner demon to fight for the future of earth.

Wow! This beautifully written book is kind of a cross between horror and fantasy. It will be interesting to read more by this author.

Penderwicks: a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy by Jeanne Birdsall
Along with their loving but preoccupied botanist father and a clumsy dog, the motherless Penderwick sisters responsible Rosalind, twelve; feisty Skye, eleven; creative Jane, ten; and shy Batty, four. Along with their loving but preoccupied botanist father and a clumsy dog named Hound, they spend their summer holiday in the Massachusetts Berkshires in a rose-covered cottage on the grounds of a mansion called Arundel Hall. A fast friendship develops between the girls and Jeffrey, the only child of Arundel's icy owner, Mrs. Tifton. This story offers much to the reader. Humor and friendship, this charming, old-fashioned story feels familiar in the way the best books seem like old friends.

This is so much like some of my favorite childhood books such as Tacy & Tib. Like a breathe of fresh air! Plus this won the National Book Awards for Young People's Literature Excellent!

Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo
Hilarity and hijinks abound in this tale about a voracious swine with an overweening yen for hot buttered toast. Mercy is the beloved pet pig of the doting Mr. and Mrs. Watson. When Mercy sneaks into her owner's bed one night, her added heft causes the bed to fall partway through the ceiling. Although the besotted Watsons assume Mercy is trotting off to seek help, the only search and rescue Mercy seems to care about involves butter and hot bread. In her quest for some midnight munchies, Mercy awakens the crotchety neighbor. Wild chases and mayhem ensue before help arrives in the guise of firefighters.

This book is so different that her previous books. Fun and light and more to come.

Shape-Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn
Aubrey was a student, gifted in the fine art of wizardry. But the more knowledge he acquired, the more he wanted to learn. So he travelled to a faraway land in search of the greatest master of all, the powerful shape-changer Glyrenden. From him, Aubrey expected to discover the secret of long-lost spells and the mysteries of arcane magic. But there was one discovery he never expected, one mystery he risked everything to solve. Her name was Lilith.

This is not a long book and I read it in one evening. Shinn has a way with words so you feel that you are almost there like a fly on the wall.

Rattled by Debra Galant
Set in the fictional subdivision of Galapagos Estates, Rattled is about what happens when soccer moms, animal rights activists, dishonest real estate developers and endangered species fight for ascendancy in the rapidly developing New Jersey suburbs.

Heather Peters is staring 35 in the face—though "depending on the light, she could still pass for a high school cheerleader. Her husband, Kevin, can barely stand her half the time, and her son, Conner, is a complete misfit—but at least they've just landed their dream home in Galapagos Estates, a new development in New Jersey. Galant follows their comic trials and those of two longtime area residents: Agnes, an animal lover and PETA sympathizer, and egg farmer Harlan White, who freelances as a handyman and makes a "fortune off those suckers." Which is how Harlan finds himself smashing the head of an endangered rattlesnake on Heather's back porch... and how Heather gets arrested after Agnes fingers her as the murderer of an endangered species... and how Galapagos Estates becomes the center of a media firestorm. Heather's rise to fame as a "rattlesnake killer" makes a handy metaphor about urban sprawl and the battle of new residents versus old ones, and pokes fun at the oversize egos of slimy developers and yuppies alike.

This book is one crazy ride. Kind of like the Stepford wives mixed with Desperate Housewives. I wouldn't say I laughed out loud but it was a fun read. What was interesting is that not one of the characters was really likeable. They all were annoying and crazy. I'd read more as they come out.

Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
First in a trilology, this novel blends alternative SF and hard-boiled mystery. ZeeZee, who has spent his youth largely in boarding schools and in trouble, is also Ashraf al-Mansur, though that identity is unknown to him. Whisked away from a Seattle prison by his Aunt Nafisa, who he never knew existed, ZeeZee (aka Raf) is transported to El Iskandryia, an exotic, exquisitely detailed North African city. Lady Nafisa explains to her nephew that her brother married American Sally Welham and though divorced five days later, he is a legitimate offspring of an Emir. Aunt Nafisa introduces Ashraf to her niece nine year old Hani and his future wife Zara daughter of wealth; both hate him because the fuss made over him interferes with their respective lives.

However, before his aunt can complete arrangements for his entrance into the elite of Ottoman society, she is killed. As a newcomer and the sole heir to her fortune, the police suspect Ashraf murdered his aunt. Based on his American experience with Chinese employers, Ashraf knows he must prove his innocence or be railroaded into prison or worse. His only help comes from two females who loath him. Built on an alternate historical foundation to include Germany winning World War I and the Ottoman Empire thriving in the early twenty-first century. Ashraf also known as ZeeZee struggles with what he has learned about his patriarchal ancestry (his mother could not provide two consistent responses as her version of the truth kept wavering) and with his aunt's death. Hani and Zara add depth to Ashraf's character.

Great cast of characters and an interesting story. It took me awhile to get into this novel as the main character seems to change his personality as well as his name at various intervuls making it difficult ot follow sometimes. Kind of like riding a roller coaster and not really able to focus on anything until the ride is over and you say "Wow!". This book is kind of like that, especially the final few chapters. There are two more books in the series so I need to read it and see how I feel then.

Romilla Chacaon Mysteries by Marcos McPeek Villatoro

Home Killings
Introduces us to Romilia Chacaon, a rookie in the Nashville police force. She receives her first murder case when called to the scene of an apparent suicide. Romilia quickly discerns that the young Latino reporter was murdered possibly because of an upcoming article connecting a media-touted Latino philanthropist, lately arrived from Atlanta, with drugs and kids. She is able to tie this murder with two other serials murders that already have someone in jail for killing them. Thus making the other officer look incompetent. Are the ceremonially slaughtered bodies the product of ancient ritual, a serial killer or a campaign to shock rival drug lords into compliance?

Combatingng the machismo of the police force and the challenges of being an outsider within the Latino community. She is also introduced to the drug and illegal trade of the seedy underworld of Nashville. But she has to find balance with her work and personal life, where mother and child are both so dependent on her.

Very interesting read, much more dark and intense than I normally enjoy. I met the author at the Friends of the Cerritos Library mystery author luncheon in January. He is a very intense and intriguing person, plus a great public speaker. I find when I meet authors I want to read their books to see if the impression I got matches how they write. His definitely does.

Fremont Jones mysteries by Dianne Day

Strange files of Fremont Jones
The year is 1905. Fleeing the confines of her staid Boston upbringing and a potential marriage to a loathsome suitor, the modern-thinking Caroline Fremont Jones opens a typewriting business in San Francisco using the name Fremont. Her business brings her in contact with the normally mild young attorney Justin Cameron, who reacts with hostility when Fremont takes dictation from "ancient gentleman" Li Wong. A week later, Li Wong is dead, and Fremont's office is ransacked. Another client, Edgar Allan Partridge, brings three manuscript stories to Freemont for typing but never returns to pick them up. His brooding tales are full of evil and very like those of his namesake. Fremont's investigations into the mysteries of her dead and missing clients lead her to suspect her rooming-house neighbor, whom she believes is a spy. There is even a little bit of sex as she makes the wrong decision of who to have sex with.

Fun and entertaining read of a woman who is trying to make a life for herself without a man. I read this probably 5 years ago and enjoyed reading it again to read more of the series.

Fire and Fog
The new book opens with Fremont dreaming that a train is approaching but in reality the great 1906 earthquake is hitting San Francisco. After rescuing her typewriter from the rubble, Jones goes to work helping out the Red Cross, typing letters in the home of a woman she saved during the tremor. When she finds Alice dead in the sitting room she hunts down the police only to find the body is gone. Labeled a troublemaker by the police Fremont must determine who would murder Alice but finds that she has a very sinister past. She goes hunting for illegal artifacts and helping her friend Meiling escape from an arranged marrage and find a new life. She even gets kidnapped by a ninja and escapes without anyone's help!

In typical no-nosence fashion Fremont manages to solve several mysteries while getting her life back on track. Plus she manages to catch the eye of 3 men including Michael Archer who may or may not be a spy.

Bohemian murders
Fremont has left San Francisco and taken a temporary job as a lighthouse keeper. She finds a body floating in the surf near her beach. The police seem uninterested in the woman's identity, and her body disappears from the local mortuary after the coroner rules that she was murdered. Later, Fremont is attacked by a masked rider as she travels through the fog-shrouded forest in her rig. Caught up in these baffling events, she decides to find out who the woman was and who killed her. Meanwhile Fremont's mysterious lover is living nearby in a colony of bohemian artists.

An obvious solution and once again Fremont's life is put in danger.

Emporer Norton's Ghosts

Death Train to Boston

Beacon Street Mourning

Books by Jeanne M. Dams
This entertaining series is a must read for any angliophile. Even though she is an older sleuth I still enjoy her experiences in trying to adapt to English society. The mysteries aren't always the best but it is the characters she meets along the way that makes it so enjoyable.
Dorothy Martin Series

Body in the Transept
American sleuth Dorothy Martin has moved to the fictional university/ cathedral town of Sherebury, where she and her academic husband had planned to retire before his unexpected demise. After the Christmas Eve service in the Cathedral, Dorothy stumbles over the body of Canon Billings. Once she recovers her equilibrium, she finds herself feeling involved in the case and curious about the unpleasant but learned Canon, who had made more enemies than friends. He had recently argued vehemently with his young, hot-headed assistant in the library, had tried to get the choirmaster fired and was gathering evidence against the verger who was stealing from the collection plate. Dorothy charmingly insinuates herself into village life in the best Miss Marple tradition, talking to neighbors and befriending others (including widower Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt) and determinedly pursuing the killer even as she puts herself in danger. With her penchant for colorful hats, Dorothy tries to fit in the life of an Englishman while still maintaining her own style.

Trouble in the Town Hall
Dorothy is determined to be all things at once: gardener, home-restorer and sleuth. Present at town hall when the body of a young vagrant is discovered in a broom closet of the venerable building, Dorothy assumes (somewhat illogically) that the murder is related to the fierce battle raging over the structure: Should it be restored to its former magnificence or turned into a shopping mall? She relies on the village's greatest asset?gossip?for her clues. Since her romantic interest, the aristocratic and clever chief constable, Alan Nesbitt, is busy with an impending royal visit, she puts on her best hat, some wildly impractical shoes, and marches up High Street for a few audacious chats with the town's leading citizens, among them an enormously wealthy builder and his browbeaten wife, a cagey shopkeeper and a fiery preservationist. Another murder confounds her and stuns the town.

Holy Terror in the Hebrides

Malice in Miniature

Victim in Victoria Station

Killing Cassidy

To Perish in Penzance

Sins Out of School

Winter of Discontent

Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine

Bk 1: Ill Wind
Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now Joanne is trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So she's resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life ...
Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful Warden of them all. Unfortunately, he's also on the run from the World Council. It seems he's stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn -- making him the most wanted man on earth. And without Lewis, Joanne's chances of surviving are as good as a snowball in -- well, a place she may soon be headed. So she and her classic Mustang are racing hard to find him because there's some bad weather closing in fast.

This book keeps you reading as it is her escaping one storm after another. The ending was quite surprising and unexpected. But I'm satisfied with it. It will be interesting to see how the series continues.

Bk 2: Heat Stoke

Bk 3: Chill Factor

Bk 4: Windfall

Dead Boy Detectives by Jill Thompson
Created by Neil Gaiman in his popular SANDMAN series

Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, the dead British teenagers who are always on the run from Death, travel stateside to solve a missing persons case. Our intrepid heroes have been contacted by young Annika Abernathy, a student at a posh International Academy in Chicago. It seems that Annika's best friend has vanished. For Rowland and Paine to investigate the case properly, they decide to enroll as students at the school. And since it's an all-girls academy, the duo is forced to go undercover — in drag.

It is an odd mix of Victorian style and manga. The illustrations change based on location and who is in the square. Not terribly original but interesting. I am curious to look at her previous work "Death, at Death's Door" and future items. I have not seen Gaiman's original comics that this volume was based on to know how it compares.

Death at Death's Door ~ Fills in the backstory of "Season of Mists," by Neil Gaiman. Lucifer has abandoned Hell, giving Morpheus the key to its gates and unleashing a host of troubles for the beleaguered Dream King. Thompson's story, while including enough references to "Mists" to bring everyone up to speed, focuses primarily on Dream's big sister, Death, whose apartment is overrun by the dead with no place to go now that Hell has closed up shop. So, acting on their own idea for coping with the legions of former damned, younger sisters Despair and Delerium host a party at Death's house.

I know that this has gotten a lot of positive write-ups because of the success Thompson has had recreating a Manga style but it just didn't do anything for me. I find most Manga really annoying with all the clutter and yelling and shouting that seems to go on endlessly.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs, Psychologist and Investigator, began her working life as a servant in a Belgravia mansion, only to be discovered reading in the library by her employer, Lady Rowan Compton. Fearing dismissal, Maisie is shocked when she discovers that her thirst for education is to be supported by Lady Rowan and a family friend, Dr. Maurice Blanche. But The Great War intervenes in Maisie’s plans, and soon after commencement of her studies at Girton College, Cambridge, Maisie enlists for nursing service overseas.

Years later, in 1929, having apprenticed to the renowned Maurice Blanche, a man revered for his work with Scotland Yard, Maisie sets up her own business. Her first assignment, a seemingly tedious inquiry involving a case of suspected infidelity, takes her not only on the trail of a killer, but back to the war she had tried so hard to forget. It is interesting to see the merging of the working and upper classes and how England was forced to change because of the war. Scars run deep and are not always on the surface.

Most of the story is told through flashbacks. This is proving to be an excellent series and I cannot wait to read more. It has a very Sherlock Holmes style about it but does not feel like a copy.

Birds of a Feather
Maisie gets hired by a wealthy industrialist to find his only daughter, Charlotte Waite, who has gone missing. With the help of her cockney assistant, Billy Beale, Maisie sets out to learn all she can of Charlotte's habits, character and friends. No sooner has Maisie discovered the identities of three of these friends than they start turning up dead—poisoned, then bayoneted for good measure. At each crime scene is left a white feather. Increasingly preoccupied with these tragedies, Maisie almost loses sight of her original mission, until it becomes apparent that the murders and Charlotte's disappearance are related.

The ending was not difficult to deduce but it is enjoyable to see how she developes. Plus I got to meet the author a few weeks ago at a Mystery Author's luncheon at the Cerritos Library. I bought a copy of this book for my mother. You see a lot of the culture being developed after WWI is over.

Pardonable Lies

Uncommon Heroes Series by Dee Henderson

True Devotion
The story opens with Kelly on a rescue mission trying to save a drowning teen, Ryan, when caught in a riptide both are swept out to sea. Barely staying conscious she reflects on her relationship with God & the death of her husband, Navy Seal Nick. Nick's best friend and fellow Navy Seal, Joe, manages to find her and rescue her and the teen and while he is trying to bring them both to the boat Kelly murmurs that she loves him before losing consciousness. Once she wakens Ryan's grateful and wealthy widowed father is at her bedside and becomes a possible love interest as well.

Everything gets more complicated by the secrets surrounding Nick's death. Will Joe be able to open to her and will they be able to get past the past and be able to stay true to their faith? Plus what does Ryan's father have to do with all this?

An interesting intrigue type romance with God thrown in. Not overwhelming but predicable. You do get an interesting look at military life, especially around the Navy Seals.

Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins mystery series by Walter Mosley

Little Scarlet
It is 1965, and the devastating Watts riots are ravaging Los Angeles. A white man attempts to escape from a mob by running into a nearby apartment building. A few days later he is accused of killing a woman known as Little Scarlet who is found dead in the building. But when Easy Rawlins starts to investigate, he suspects the killer to be someone else-someone whose rage is racially motivated and as deep as his passion. We get to see his relationships with both blacks and whites and those he loves around him.

I listened to this on CD and it was an amazing read. Wow! You really get a feel for how it was right after the Watts riots. Plus a pretty good mystery too.

Darkfusion series by Neal Shusterman

Dread Locks
Taking elements of fairy tales and Greek mythology tells the story of fourteen-year-old Parker Bear, rich and utterly bored with life—until a new girl arrives in town. Tara’s eyes are always hidden behind designer sunglasses, and her hair, blond with glimmering spirals, seems almost alive. Parker watches, fascinated, as one by one Tara chooses high school students to befriend; he even helps her by making the necessary introductions. Over time, her "friends" develop strange quirks, such as drinking gallons of milk, eating dirt, and becoming lethargic. By the time Parker realizes what Tara is doing, he is too embroiled to stop her. In fact, she has endowed him with certain cravings of his own. ..to absorb some of her terrible powers. But now his brother and sister are changing ... will he be able to save them or even himself?

Internest read. I liked the Medusa/Goldilocks elements that come out. I'll be interested to see the future titles.

Gruesome Green Witch by Patricia Coffin

Written in 1969 it features two 11-year-old girls, Puffin and Mole, who meet an assortment of mythical and fictional characters, including the Wizard of Oz, Fafnir (a fearsome dragon of Niebelungenlied), Merlin, King Neptune, a Swedish elf, and the malevolent gruesome green witch. They do their homework in Merlin's concentration cave, where answers are caught as they bounce off walls. (You need to have a license in order to study) . They attend an undersea party presided over by Neptune, with Cinderella, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy among the revellers, then Puffin incurs the wrath of the villainous, gruesome green witch (who turns her enemies into statues) by seeing her back, and Puffin's brother is captured when the girls bring him into the land so he can profit from the concentration cave. But eventually the witch is conquered by a magic brew which Puffin slips into her tea, and melts down into a pile of green rags.

It is even written in green ink with green illustrations.

Fun and entertaining and a great walk down memory lane as they meet storybook characters during their explorations of the Magic Forest.

Biggie Mysteries by Nancy Bell features Biggie Weatherford who is the wealthiest woman in the East Texas town of Job's Crossing. The mysteries are seen through the eyes of her grandson J.R.

Biggie and the Poisoned Politician
Murder, kidnapping, fraud and other skullduggery come to a small East Texas town and usher a young boy toward maturity in this entertaining debut mystery. The narrator, J.R., is living with his eccentric grandmother, Biggie Weatherford, grand dame of Job's Crossing, when routine life is disturbed by strange events. The car belonging to Biggie's boarder, Mr. Crabtree, explodes in the driveway; the town makes plans for a sanitation landfill next to Biggie's family farm; and the mayor dies under mysterious circumstances after a meeting to plan the town's Pioneer Days. Biggie decides to investigate and is aided by J.R.; her maid, Willie Mae, who knows voodoo; and Willie Mae's wise, ne'er-do-well husband, Rosebud Robichaux. A motorcyclist wheels into town and another man dies before Biggie can put a finger on the scheming murderer amidst the carnival atmosphere of the town festival.

Biggie and the Mangled Mortician
The little town of Job's Crossing is abuzz as plans for the upcoming operetta; a monster is roaming the cemetery; and a new mortician has come to town. When the extremely ugly Monk Carter arrives to take up the funerary business, Miss Itha, local hair stylist, takes one look at him and faints dead away. At Miss Biggie's garden party, with mouthwatering food prepared by Willie Mae and Rosebud, who live in a house on Biggie's property, Monk volunteers to join the cast of HMS Pinafore. When he fails to show up for the first rehearsal, Biggie and J.R. go looking and find him dead on the floor of his living room. Ready to seal off the crime scene with yellow silk ribbon printed with "Go Fighting Turkeys" in gold glitter is Butch, the town florist appointed deputy police chief after the previous chief was sent to prison. But soon other players draw Biggie's attention: Miss Itha, who has disappeared with her son, DeWayne; and the new preacher, who has been romancing a local girl. But is anyone really whom they seem to be?

Lots of surprizes in this one. Fun to read while sitting out in the sun sipping iced tea.

Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine)
Arthur Johnson's loneliness has perverted his desire for love and respect into a carefully controlled tendency for violence. One floor below him, a scholar finishing his thesis on psychopathic personalities is about to stumble upon one of Johnson's many secrets. He is also called Johnson and this will give unexpected complications.

We see the story from both their points of view so it is interesting to see how they interpret the same situations. Rendell writes so well and leaves you wanting more. I'm enjoying going back through her older works.

Passage to India by E.M. Forster

Written while England was still firmly in control of India, Forster's novel follows the fortunes of three English newcomers to India--Miss Adela Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Cyril Fielding--and the Indian, Dr. Aziz, with whom they cross destinies. The idea of true friendship between the races was a radical one in Forster's time, and he makes it abundantly clear that it was not one that either side welcomed. If Aziz's friend, Hamidullah, believed it impossible, the British representatives of the Raj were equally discouraging.

Despite their countrymen's disapproval, Miss Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Mr. Fielding are all eager to meet Indians, and in Dr. Aziz they find a perfect companion: educated, westernized, and open-minded. Slowly, the friendships ripen, especially between Aziz and Fielding. Having created the possibility of esteem based on trust and mutual affection, Forster then subjects it to the crucible of racial hatred: during a visit to the famed Marabar caves, Miss Quested accuses Dr. Aziz of sexually assaulting her, then later recants during the frenzied trial that follows. Under such circumstances, affection proves to be a very fragile commodity indeed. What really happened in the Marabar caves? This is the mystery at the heart of E.M. Forster's 1924 novel, A Passage to India, the puzzle that sets in motion events highlighting an even larger question: Can an Englishman and an Indian be friends?

This book is so beautifully written and yet difficult to read at the same time. But it brings forth so many emotions and thoughts about oppression of Indians as well as men and women.

Rex Series by Eric Garcia

Anonymous Rex
Meet Vincent Rubio, the latest thing in hard-boiled private detectives. He's a dinosaur--it seems they're still among us, disguising themselves as humans. As a private eye, Rubio finds plenty of problems to solve, among them an arson case, the death of his partner, and the need to keep his true identity concealed. Rubio is a dinosaur. Literally a raptor, he is one of 16 dinosaur species that survived "The Great Showers" 65 million years ago. A whole hidden society exists in his world; dinosaurs scaled down in size and hidden inside complex, latex, human "guises," governed by Councils, recognizing each other by the distinctive odors only dinos can smell.

The mystery involves cross-race and cross-species breedings, a lounge singer who is not what she appears to be, and plenty of clue gathering. It was a very entertaining read. Kind of a strange mystery but it's fun to read something different and this is defintely that!

Casual Rex
Hot & Sweaty Rex

Nerd books by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Fun books featuring nerdly men who fall in love with beautiful women and prove themselves worthy. Interesting characters.

Nerd in Shining Armor
For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own -- a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific. Lucky for her, brilliant computer programmer Jack Farley was on board and quick-witted enough to crash-land the plane. Now Jack is her sole companion on a remote desert island with nothing but guava trees and sharks for company. Who'd expect the shy genius -- and the least alpha male she knows -- to turn out to be the uninhibited stud of her wildest dreams?

Saving Genevieve's life has made Jack a hero in the eyes of the woman he has secretly lusted after for months. Now they're alone together in a tropical eden where they're free to give in to their every sensual whim. But when some nasty unfinished business puts them at risk again, Gen will learn there's nothing quite as dangerous as a fully aroused ex-nerd who'll move heaven and earth to protect the woman he loves...

Nerd Who Loved Me
Lainie Terrell is no ordinary single mother. With feathers in all the right places, she's one of the hottest showgirls in Vegas. Aside from a hot-tempered ex-boyfriend on her sequined tail, Lainie's biggest problem is finding a decent babysitter for her son. Lainie's dilemma is solved when she ropes Harry Ambrewster, the casino's shy-but very smart and cute-accountant, into the task.

Inheriting his chemist father's high I.Q. and sexy good looks, Harry has always been intrigued by Lainie. He isn't thrilled at the prospect of babysitting, but he'll do anything to get near the gal who fuels his craziest fantasies. Then Lainie's dangerous ex comes knocking. Their option? Run faster than a pair of net stockings.

In disguise and on the lam, Lainie's masquerading as the perfect wife. Harry's doubling as the he-man protector. But with a set-up this hot, who's fooling who? When the lights go down, and the masks come off, a nerd like Harry could be just the right ignition to set a woman like Lainie on fire....

Mai the Psychic Girl Volume 1 by Kazuya Kudo

Like many storybook heroines, Mai Kuju is just your average happy-go-lucky 14 year old. Her wishes are simple: she'd like to grow up faster; she'd like a boyfriend; she'd like her dad to be home more. Of course, Mai's not exactly average. For one thing, she can move stuff with her mind. And there are these mysterious men following her... After watching her father perish (or so she thinks!) saving her from the clutches of the Wisdom Alliance, Mai is alone and on the run. She finds an unlikely ally in Intetsu, a daredevil college student on a motorcycle, and his motley crew of dorm buddies. They too will risk their lives to protect this unusual girl from those who would control her powers. Not all the danger comes from outside, however; Mai soon discovers that her powers can kill and destroy as well as heal. Will she be able to control her emotions and protect her friends?

Entertaining and a fast read. There are two additional volumes.

Matter of Profit by Hilari Bell

Strangers in a bizarre land—that's what Ahvren's people, the Vivtare, are. They are the conquerors, the rulers now, of the T'Chin confederacy. But Ahvren is no longer sure what that means. After spending two years fighting a brutal war on another planet, here—where not a single shot was fired—victory doesn't seem quite so...victorious. Rumors abound of a plot to assassinate the Vivitare emperor. Sick of the horrors of conquering beings on other planets, Ahvrem wants to find another path. will end his service as a soldier and save his sister from an unhappy marriage if he can discover who is behind a rumored plot to assassinate the Emperor.

So Ahvren makes a deal with his father, if he can discover the plot to assassinate the emperor it will save his sister from an unhappy marriage. He can also choose his own path for the next year, otherwise he will be sent to conquer other worlds. When he discovers that even the rumors are not what they seem he is too late to change fate of others so can only do that for himself.

An interesting, powerful YA novel featuring a variety of aliens. Very well done and thought provocing. Can't wait to read more of her works.

Scott Pilgram by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Interesting look at life in a 20 something guy from Canada who is just waltzing through life. It is all about to change.

Vol. 1 Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
Scott Pilgrim's life is fantastic. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, between jobs, and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's awesome until a seriously mind-blowing delivery girl named Ramona Flowers enters his life. She is invading his dreams and making him obsessed. Now in order to date her he has to fit her seven evil ex-boyfriends! We meet boyfriend #1 in this volume. I'm assuming he fights a new exboyfriend each volume.

Vol. 2 Scott Pilgrim vs. the world
As this volume opens we get a peek into Scott's past: we see his early romantic troubles and the talentless band that sprang from them. In the present, Scott's new romance with mysterious messenger girl Ramona Flowers sends his former girlfriend, teenage Knives Chau, into a fury that culminates in an all-out kung fu battle between the two. In the surrealist twists that fill O'Malley's work, characters who are introduced in dreams end up playing major parts in the "real" life of the story, and you never know when the meandering lives of these Canadian 20-somethings are going to shift into high-action fight sequences. There is a brief moment where he fights Ramona's 2nd evil boyfriend - former skateboarder now famous actor. In which he skates so fast he compusts! We finally get to see the face of his former girlfriend - who is now in a very well-known band. As they are performing at the end Ramona tells who her 3rd evil boyfriend is.

Volume 3 - Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
This time, Scot is pitted against #3 of the evil ex-boyfriends, Todd Ingram, the current boyfriend of his ex, rock star Envy Adams; they battle at a discount department store and a rock club. Unfortunately, Todd's got psychic powers, because he's a vegan ("graduated top of his class from vegan academy and everything"), and he's also a much better bass player. On top of that, Scott's band, Sex BobOmb, can't quite get it together; 17-year-old ninja Knives Chau is still obsessed with him; and the mysterious Ramona Flowers is becoming envious of Envy. We learn more about Scott's past and his infatuation with Envy (aka Natalie). He has such loyal friends who will stand behind him even when it appears he cannot win. This was much more funny to me because of all the minor storylines going on. I had trouble with some of the artwork as characters blur and it becomes hard to tell who is who and when the flashbacks even end. But overall very happy with the storyline and I'm assuming 4 more volumes to go!

Bianca Balducci Mystery by Libby Sternberg

Uncovering Sadie's Secrets
Bianca is a normal high school girl who attends parochial school in Baltimore, MD. She worries about her hair, clothes and most of all how to attact her new crush, Doug. But smack in the middle of a normal teens life comes a mystery. Who is Sadie and why is she so scared? Who are these people claiming to be her parents? Is Sadie on the run? Bianca inlists the help of her big sister, Connie, who also is a private eye and her best friend Kerrie. Together they will put the pieces together about Sadie. But will it be too late?

An ok series. The cover makes it appear like there is some kind of supernatural aspect to this book. There isn't. An older version of Nancy Drew. Bianca is popular and fun. It will be interesting to see a new installment.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams

Welcome to Echo Falls. Home of a thousand secrets, where Ingrid Levin-Hill, super sleuth, never knows what will happen next. Ingrid is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or at least her shoes are. Getting them back means getting involved in a murder investigation rivaling those solved by her idol, Sherlock Holmes, and Ingrid has enough on her plate with club soccer, school, and the plum role of Alice in the Echo Falls production of Alice in Wonderland. But much as in Alice's adventures down the rabbit hole, things in Ingrid's small town keep getting curiouser and curiouser. Her favorite director has a serious accident onstage (but is it an accident?), and the police chief is on Ingrid's tail, grilling her about everything from bike-helmet law to the color of her cleats. Echo Falls has turned into a nightmare, and Ingrid is determined to wake up.

Appears this might be a series as there are several unanswered questions by the end of this fast paced story. Like is her brother Ty on steroids? Where will her relationship with Joey go? Will her parents stay together? Will Grandpy be forced to sell his property? and more. So I can several more Echo Falls mysteries on the horizon.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Centuries ago, when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic.

Then the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey appears and causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. News spreads of the return of magic to England and, persuaded that he must help the government in the war against Napoleon, Mr Norrell goes to London. There he meets a brilliant young magician and takes him as a pupil. Jonathan Strange is charming, rich and arrogant. Together, they dazzle the country with their feats.

A fascinating story but I could not read it. About half way through the story I just gave up. It has pages and pages of footnotes and the storyline has many threads. I gave it another chance when I listened to it on tape. What a difference. It was delightful for me this way. I could sit back and enjoy being read to and not try to figure out how the footnotes worked. So I would recommened listening to the book rather than trying to read it.