Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting by T. R. Pearson (Non-fiction)

This book follows the quirky and often amazing adventures of a man named William Willis.  Willis was an eccentric character who decided at the age of 60 to attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean on a homemade raft.  Willis believed he would learn all he needs to know about rafting in the New York Public Library Reading Room.  The book chronicles Willis' nautical journeys, and despite his occassional ineptitude and lack of planning, Willis manages to achieve amazing things.  If you like true adventure this book is an excellent choice and Pearson's characterization of Willis is great.  I found him to be a fascinating person and this is a fairly quick and entertaining read.

Misquoting Jesus : the story behind who changed the bible and why by Bart D. Ehrman.

 An excellent book about textual criticism of the New Testament.  I'm sure that a lot of Christians are not aware that there are no existing original documents from Jesus' time--the absolutely earliest are from about 15 decades after Christ and consist of copies of copies of copies of the originals.  Scholars, examining the earliest different existing Greek texts, have discovered there are from 200-500,000 differences between each one.  Some differences are rather trival, like word order, but some are significant, like the additions of whole chapters and stories.  One of the most famous story in the New Testament is the story of Jesus saving a woman from being stoned.  This story is not found in the early texts of the Bible.  It was added later.  This book will challenge and intrigue Christians and delight religious skeptics alike.  Fascinating!

Innocent in Death  by J.D. Robb.  Category: light, entertaining fiction, not a literary heavy

Here's another great read in the Eve Dallas mysteries by J. D. Robb.  Set in future New York City, Lt. Eve Dallas must solve the murder of a history teacher in an exclusive, private school.  The twists and turns as the mystery unfolds are thoroughly engaging and not at all predictable.  The developing relationships between the characters, especially  Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are fascinating.  The sparks fly when a mystery woman from Roarke's past enter the picture.  If you enjoy detective stories or strong female characters, this is a good pick.

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by  Peter Godwin.  In this deeply moving account of the death of a father played out against the backdrop of the collapse of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, seasoned journalist Godwin has produced a memoir that effortlessly manages to be almost unbearably personal while simultaneously laying bare the cruel regime of longstanding president Robert Mugabe

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, by Tony Judt- An excellent overview of 20th century European history.  A long read but worthwhile.

Mister Monday, by Garth Nix. Pretty good juvenile fantasy, but not as amazing as his Old Kingdom (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) trilogy.

Whale Season: A Really Good Book by N.M. Kelby

If you want something funny, light, a little bizarre, but also with characters you can believe in this may be the book for you. Kelby brings together some eccentric characters and some odd happenings at Whale Harbor, Florida. ("There are no whales in Whale Harbor, Florida. Never have been.") 

Her book is entertaining, yet it has wisdom, pathos and reality. She writes a little like Carl Hiaasen. A good summer read (even though it is Chritmas in the book).

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Fans of Anne Perry will love this book because of  the closely observed Victorian period domestic details and the social customs that drive the plot, and fans of Elizabeth Peters because of the wicked tongue-in-cheek wit with which those customs are commented upon. Silent In The Grave exposes the dark consequences of the repressive culture of the upper and middle class Victorians and features an engaging, intelligent, independent and unconventional heroine.

From the very first page I could not put this book down. It begins, “To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.” The book, which is full of  similar delicious understatements, goes on the describe how Lady Julia copes with her socialite husband’s demise, supposedly from a long-standing infirmity. Julia is outraged and disbeleving when Nicholas Brisbane visits her to inform her that her husband had been receiving death threats and was probably murdered. Eventually Julia finds evidence in her husband’s papers that confirms it was murder. She determines to bring her husband’s killer to justice and enlists Brisbane’s help. Brisbane himself has many secrets and is forced to leave Julia to follow the trail of clues herself, along the way exposing many more unpleasant truths.

I thought this book was just thrilling! I loved all the period details, including the attention paid to Lady Julia’s wardrobe. I loved the eccentric characters. I loved the revelations of the dark world of vice so similar to portrayals in the stories of Sherlock Holmes. The ending very definitely makes way for a sequel, and I just can’t wait for it to come out! 

Another similar title is The Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander.  I have just blogged about it in my reader's advisory blog http://www.hcplonline.info/weblog/readers/blogabook.html

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

This bestselling debut novel tells about the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man. Hassan is the son of Amir's father's servant and is a Hazara, a shunned ethnic minority. I’m only about a quarter of the way into the book but already I find myself interested in the characters and frequently wishing I could curl up in a quiet spot and read a few more pages.

If you enjoyed this book you will love his second book as well, A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's a book you won't soon forget. It will make you glad that you are a female in the United States. It is heart rending. What a terrific writer Khaled Hosseini is.

Evanovich, Janet

Janet has wrote a series of book beginning with "One for the Money" and goes all the way up to 13 "Lean  Mean Thirteen." If you like humorous fiction about a New Jersey bounty hunter, these are the books for you.

Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

Great book about growing up in Montana.  The story had a suprise I didn't see coming.  

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille

While I like DeMille (his "Charm School" was excellent), I find him a bit slow-going at times.  Had I not been listening to this on CD, I would probably have skimmed some of the pages.  But the premise of the story was interesting, a new twist on mutually assured destruction, and the characters were interesting so I found it an acceptable read.  There were times that I wanted to shout "don't go there".   Had I been able to control the story from the front seat of my car, I wonder what would have happened? 

 Dark Celebration by Christine Feehan

I entered this previously and saw tht it had been erased. Anyway if you like chocolate desserts you might want to check out this title. I like paranormal romance/fiction books and this is one of the books in Feehan's Carpathian Series. It took me a while to get use to the good carpathian characters versus the evil ones who have gone vampire. Some of the scenes can be very graphic and violent. At the very end of the book there are very good rich chocolate recipes.

The Woods by Harlan Coben

I have just started this and can hardly put it down.  Paul Copeland, a prosecuting attorney in NJ, was touched by tragedy when his sister was murdered, along with three other teens, at the summer camp where Paul was a counselor twenty years ago.  Now Paul has been sought by the police to explain his connection with a recent murder victim, whose name was Manolo Santiago but Paul knew him as Gil Perez, one of the teens who disappeared with his sister whose body was never found.  Is his sister still alive?  Where has she been for 20 years?

My husband and I are listening to the audio version of this book as we drive to and from our place of work. It is a novel about circus life set in the days of the prohibition. The protagonist is Jacob Jankowski who we hear telling his story both as a young man out of veterinary school and as a ninety-something year-old man in a nursing home. The story is well-written, depicting real life in a traveling circus, with a love story (of course!) woven in.

 Also Water for Elephants

I read this about two years ago, and I agree with the above comments. It was a great book; made me think about life during the depression and how fortunate we are today, and it had quite a surprise ending.

 The Off Season by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

You don't have to like football to really enjoy this YA book.

Sickened by Julie Gregory tells an horrific story of child abuse and how one can be a victim of a parent who puts who child through hell because she craves the attention of medical professionals.

 Water for Elephants I thought the depiction of the ninety-something year old man was excellent.  His feelings about the nursing home seemed very true to me.

Right now, I'm in the middle of Boomsday by Christopher Buckley.  I initially got interested in his stuff because I saw the movie version of his book, Thank You For Smoking, and absolutely fell in love.  Normally, I'm not a terribly political creature, but he's so hilarious and has such a knack for sarcastic humor that I can't help but be drawn in.  Not to mention the retirement of the baby boomer generation and the subsequent raising of social security taxes on their children and grandchildren's generations is something I'm going to have to deal with, so maybe I'll learn a thing or two (including how to laugh it off when I see larger and larger chunks of my paychecks disappearing)!  [-immodestlysliding, 8.02.07]

I am reading Debbie Macomber's newest novel Back on Blossom Street. I have read her other books and just love the characters in them. Each of her Blossom Street books continues on with the characters and their stories. After reading the first few books they feel like old friends!

Love to Talk about BOOKS!

Just discovered a new author, Stella Rimington, former director of England's MI5.  Fairly tame but interesting spy novels.  Her modern characters ring true and she's not too heavy-handed with the lingo or gruesome details.  The plot twists keep you interested, but don't make you car sick.  I look forward to more from this talented new writer.  

I am reading the twilight serie by stephanie meyer.  Its a YA book about vampires which i normally dont enjoy but I just love these books.  Its my secret obsession...well I guess not so secret anymore

i just finished reading The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty   good reed.  i am also reading a lot of self-help books.

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The Mistress of the Art of Darkness by Ariana Franklin

What can I say but an absolute guilty pleasure!  A friend described it as CSI meets Canterbury Tales.  There is murder, some CSI stuff, romance, history, feminism, humor, and some ott characterization.  It's not life-changing, but it's fun! --JS-L

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