Second Sight by Amanda Quick (aka Janye Ann Krentz)

Photographer Venetia Milton is a spinster by Victorian standards. Economically strapped, she's also the sole support of her aunt and younger siblings. Things start to look up when she is chosen to photograph a collection of artifacts belonging to the Arcane Society, a 200-year-old clandestine organization founded by an alchemist. The collection is housed in an isolated gothic mansion, and Venetia finds herself there in the company of handsome and mysterious Gabriel Jones. Deciding that it's now or never for love, Venetia seduces him, only to lose the man of her dreams in a fire set by a nefarious enemy.

Venetia resourcefully moves on, opening a portrait shop and assuming the persona of Gabriel's grieving widow. The talented Mrs. Jones becomes the toast of London, but with Gabriel soon showing up on her doorstep very much alive, Venetia adapts herself again. Now to the former widow reunited with her assumed dead husband. Miffed, she consigns him to the attic, but their chemistry quickly reignites; while tracking down one murderous, blackmailing thief after another, they steal opportunities for fervent encounters in the garden, in the carriage, in the society's mansion and at home.

I enjoy her books especially her more science fiction books she writes under Jayne Castle. But I enjoy reading any of her books she comes out with. She is a fun and easy read.

Code Name series by Christina Skye

Code Name: Princess
2nd book in the Code Name: series. This one features navy SEAL Hawk MacKenzie and hotel investigator Jess Mulcahey (sister to FBI agent Summer Mulcahey, the heroine from Nanny). The pair come together under tumultuous circumstances when Jess, pretending to be minor royalty, bribes a hotel manager into upgrading her to a nicer room, which turns out to be Hawk's digs. Although the hotel has changed locks, it doesn't deter Hawk, who gains entry with a "highly illicit piece of technology" and catches her in the shower.

Hawk is hot on the trail of a stolen government lab animal, and Jess is afraid the hotel staff will seek revenge on her for a bad review. Neither has the time or patience for the other's drama, but they are thrown together time and again in the genre's usual fashion-chasing the bad guys through the fog and rain of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, easing sexual tension in a stalled hotel elevator and tracking down the lab animal, an adorable koala bear.

I like romance books that feature characters from other books. It was interesting how the murder part of this book is skimmed over leaving one almost to feel it didn't really happen. The main focus is on the two characters as their characters clash and sizzle at the same time. I'll look for her other books.

Bubbles Betrothed by Sarah Strohmeyer
Bubbles Yablonsky has hung up her curling iron for good, the ex-hairdresser and takes her new career seriously. The Lehigh News-Times reporter is willing to risk a contempt-of-court charge rather than surrender the notes from her interview with accused murderer Julia "Crazy Popeye" Simon. Popeye's poisoning in her jail cell makes the police think maybe she didn't kill high school principal Rudolph Schmidt, even though podiatrist Cerise May found the bag lady in her waiting room with her hands down the administrator's throat. And they think Bubbles's notebook may help them find out who did kill Schmidt, and whether the killing is connected to May's ex-boyfriend, Polish mafioso Karol Smolak.

Of course, keeping her mother Lulu out of trouble and helping daughter Jane fill out her application to Princeton take up most of Bubbles's spare time, so it isn't until the judge fines her $1,000 per minute until her notes resurface that she decides she'd better find out who killed Schmidt. But Bubbles doesn't reckon with the biggest distraction of all: AP photographer Steve Stiletto, who plunks a diamond on her finger and asks her to pretend to be his fiancée so he doesn't get sent to London.

Typical crazy murder and mayhem follow Bubbles where ever she goes. The whole fake engagement was kind of annoying and really didn't add much to the story. Bubbles is always fun but I miss her salon days.

Rei Shimura Mysteries by Sujata Massey

Salaryman's Wife
Rei Shimura is a 27-year-old English teacher living in one of Tokyo's seediest neighborhoods. She doesn't make much money, but she wouldn't go back home to California even if she had a free ticket. Her holiday, to an ancient castle town, is marred by the murder of the beautiful wife of a high-powered businessman. Who killed Setsuko Nakamura, and why is Hugh Glendinning, the handsome Scottish lawyer who works with Setsuko's husband leaning so hard on Rei for help? Rei suspects the police aren't looking in the right places, so she does. What she discovers is blackmail and deceit going back 50 years.

This is the first in the series featuring Rei Shimura, Japanese American living in Tokyo. I read this book probably 7 years ago as my friend Karen recommended it to me. I completely forgot who did in until it was revealed at the end. Plus we see how Rei gets her start on collecting antiques as this is major part of her life in future books.

2. Zen Attitude
3. Flower Master
4. Floating Girl
5. Bride's Kimono
6. Samurai's Daughter
7. Pearl Diver
8. Typhoon Lover
9. Girl in aBox

Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Paul Fisher is legally blind. He wears glasses so thick he looks like a bug-eyed alien, and kids tell a story about how he blinded himself by staring at an eclipse of the sun. But Paul doesn’t remember doing that. And he doesn’t mind the glasses, because with them he can see. Can see that his parents’ constant praise of his brother Erik, the football star, is to cover up something that is terribly wrong. But no one listens to Paul. Until his family moves to Tangerine, FL.

Tangerine is like another planet, where weird is normal. Lightning strikes at the same time every day. Underground fires burn for years. A sinkhole swallows a local school. And Paul the geek finds himself adopted into the toughest group around–the soccer team of his middle school. Suddenly the blind can see, geeks can be cool, and–maybe–a twelve-year-old kid can finally face up to his terrifying older brother.

This was an incredibly intense read. I listened to it on CD in the car. It is a mix of Paul's observations of his life with him memories of his past.

Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich

Alexandra Barnaby, aka Barney, hails from Baltimore working in an insurance office. She donned mechanic's overalls in her father's garage during summer breaks from college. Her younger brother, Wild Bill, shares her passion for cars, and now he's disappeared from Miami, along with NASCAR star Sam Hooker's boat, the Happy Hooker. Evanovich doesn't mind showing her romance roots, as Barney and Sam start off snarling at each other; as any reader can tell, they have to team up (a) to save Bill and (b) to enjoy delicious sex.

You can't help but compare this with Stephanie Plum novels that Evanovich writes. So it would get a little annoying to see a lot of the same trends but not as well done going on in this novel. I tried really hard to pretend I hadn't read any of the Plum books but it was impossible to do so. I finished the book but it didn't leave me wanting more like the Plum books do. I laughed and enjoyed it but now I'm done and can move on with my life.

Stained by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Jocelyn (aka Joss) has two boys in her life.
* Gabe has shared fourteen years of growing up next door. He's a "golden boy, an all-star". Yet now, in the spring of 1975, he's missing, disappeared on the brink of senior year at Weaver High. The whole town is set to go searching for him.
* Benny has only been in New Hampshire since January, yet for Joss, he's the answer to a long held prayer to be someone in somebody's eyes. She loves them both.

The book is told from Joss's point of view both her past and her present. We see how she has evolved to the person she is in the present. Joss feels that her soul is stained because she never got her first communion. She loves Gabe who will never love her back. She is passionately involved with Benny who feels guilty for everything they do and makes her feel that she is the temptation leading him astray. The catholic church has a lot to play in the novel as we see Joss's journey for the truth but often the truth will not set you free. This is a painful but beautiful book to read as it ends with hope.

The ending quote from the book pretty much sums it up.
"I look down at myself, stained by color. No. Not stained. Celebrated. And it occurs to me that perhaps souls are like prisms. Prisms that allow us to see clearing into the soul of another and, at the same time, recognize our own glorious light."

Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?
These are the kind of questions Levitt asks. He studies the riddles of everyday life-from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing — and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality.

Steven D. Levitt is the Alvin H. Baum Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, where he is also director of The Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author and journalist who lives in New York City. Dubner comes to know Levitt through an interview and together they wrote this book. I listened to it on CD and Levitt was the narrator.

This book has many thought-provoking questions such as did Roe vs. Wade impace violent crime in the late 1980's? This was a hard thing to think about but it did make me think how events in our lives really unfold. I found the chapter on the Ku Klux Klan most interesting not because the authors thought they were like real estate agents but how one man brought them down by selling their secrets to the Superman radio show. The ending was most shocking as well. I will say this while much of what Levitt has to say is kind of out there it made me look at things differently. I think I'll need to read it again - this time in print form.

Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy

Joanne Walker, born Siobban Walkingstick, is returning to Seattle from her Mother's funeral in Ireland. On the plane home, as pilots are making a final pass into the city, she sees a woman being attacked at a church. After her plane lands she finds the first cab and tries to discover if what she saw was real or her imagiation. She is a mechanic-cop for Seattle PD. She discovers that she is becoming a shaman.

In her search for the truth she runs head on into Cernunnos, an ancient Celtic god and leader of the Wild Hunt. She has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt. No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams. Will she decide to ride with the hunt or work to destroy them?

This was a pretty good read. It took me several weeks to read it so it really didn't grab me but I wanted to finish it.

Love, Lies & Liquor by M.C. Beaton
17th Agatha Raisin mystery
Agatha still carries a torch for her ex-husband, James Lacey, who is once again living next door. He invites her to a terrible bbq with his snobby friends. For once Agatha stands up for herself with James and leaves him with his rude friends. He then invites her on holiday to make up for the bbq. Unfortunately, the surprise destination is a rundown British seaside town, Snoth-on-Sea, in which James has fond memories of visiting as a child.

After an altercation a fellow guest at their hotel is murdered, strangled with Agatha's scarf. So Agatha is determined to clear her name. But fefore Agatha can make much headway in her investigation, two more guests are killed.

Typical Agatha style but for once stands up for herself when it comes to James and the other men in her life. While Agatha will never be perfect, she is starting to value her self worth.

Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green
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.

More in the series.
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

Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper
Police officer Dora Henry talks to the trees, and they listen. They also provide her with fruit out of season and guard her bicycle. Why they do these things, she's not sure, but she doesn't have time to worry about it: three geneticists have been murdered and clues are in short supply.

She's also going through a painful divorce from her abusive husband, Jared, after two years of sterile, sexless marriage--and Jared has vowed that he won't let her go and has begun stalking her. The trees, meanwhile, are springing up everywhere, ripping up streets, kidnapping unwanted babies and acting like sentient beings. Dora's story represents only half of what's going on in this tale, however. In a parallel narrative set 3000 years in the future, Opalears, a young slave in a quasi-Arabic society, accompanies her master on a quest to seek interpretation of an ancient prophecy. As they travel, they are joined by others on their own quests. Eventually, Opalears and her companions also run into sentient trees.

When the future peoples come into Dora's world, everything becomes clear. Dora must work with the future peoples to save the future and maybe even herself.

It's been a long time since I read any of Tepper's work. It deals with many controversial topics such as controlled populations, animal testing and intelligence, and deforestation. She is an excellent storyteller and while not one of her best works it is still thought provoking.

Tepper wrote as B. J. Oliphant & A. J. Orde in the 1990's writing two different mystery series.

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
Kate Klein, an "accidental mother of three" in suburban Connecticut, misses New York City and just doesn't seem to fit in with all of the expensively dressed mommies. A former journalist, Kate is bored staying at home until the day she is invited to lunch at a neighbor's house and finds the woman's body lying in a pool of blood. With the help of her outrageous best friend and a detective, a former flame from New York, she swiftly begins her own investigation into the murder, uncovering plenty of suburban secrets along the way.

This felt very sex and the city goes to the suburbs to me. It was fun and reader did a great job using various voices for the different characters. I just found the main character, Kate, really annoying. She whined about being a mother, she whined about being married, she whined about not having a good mother figure, she whined about her husband not being home, then whined when he was. I think you get the picture. She has great friends and family, personally more then she deserves with how she goes on and on about life. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the book, I just got tired of her "voice".

Harry Sue by Sue Stauffacher

At eleven years old, Harry Sue Clotkin already has a couple of strikes against her. She's the only child of convicted felons and her best friend is a quadriplegic who won't come out of his tree house. Her plan so far is to tough up and head for the joint. But before she can start the life of crime that will land her in the joint with her mom, Harry Sue needs to save a swarm of little kids from evil Granny Clotkin, whose in-home daycare should be labeled hazardous to your health. In addition, Violet Chump could use a good Samaritan, and Jolly Roger Chlorine and his crew need to learn that girls like Harry Sue do not take it on the chin.

Like Dorothy in her favorite story, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Sue's got a long journey home. And she could use some help. Add Baba and J-Cat to Homer Price, and you have a crew only slightly less strange than the lion, the tin man and the scarecrow.

The cover is what attracted me to this book with a little girl looking through red jail bars. At first I thought it might be just another one of those sarcastic books for kids. But I quickly realized that this character while wanting to be bad just can't be. You end up cheering for her to succeed by the end. The author's notes at the end were very interesting as well.

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.