28 February 2011

What I am reading: February 2011

  1. Dead and Berried by Karen MacInerney (2007): I thought the name sounded familiar— turns out the author started a paranormal werewolf series after this book came out, one of which I've read and enjoyed. She's a fluid author. This mystery (with the faintest touch of fantasy) takes place in Maine, where the protagonist is pursuing her dream of running an Inn on a small island off the coast. However, her past (faithless fiancee) follows, and stumbling over a body or two doesn't make the law appreciate her. I enjoyed it and will look for the 4th when it comes out soon. I'll probably borrow books 1 and 3 from my mom, if I can:-). (DTM)
  2. Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner:(M) Cute and fluffy story by the author of the suburban mom demon-slayer series. The "gods" are a parallel race who can interbreed with humans, leading to "demi gods", who can become , sort of, registered super heroes if they pass a test and so desire. I enjoyed it.
  3. Morale by Murray Leinster: (Short Story) Interesting short about an "unstoppable" war machine. (M)
  4. The Hate Disease:(Vile appetite, paras) Calhoun and Murgatroyd in Med Ship(M)
  5. Pariah Planet:(Blue Skins) Calhoun and Murgatroyd in Med Ship: I'm pretty certain these two were included in the collection Med Ship that I read decades ago. I like Murray Leinster's work quite a lot. Very Golden Age.(M)
  6. Moonsinger (Moon of Three Rings and Exiles of the Stars) by Andre Norton:What I really miss in this e-book are the wonderful illustrations that the originals had— I lost my hard covers when there was flooding in my basement. I'm still quite sad about it. What can I say? I adore Norton and she was one of the first authors that I read madly as a child. Her books are timeless.(MB)
  7. Last Dragon Standing by G.A.Aiken:(M) Very funny entry in the series.
  8. Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryn Kennedy:(M) Not as enjoyable as other books I have read by her.
  9. A Taste of Magic by Tracy Madison:(M) It was really funny. Witchcraft and magic come to a woman after she is betrayed by her husband and manifests in her baking. Enjoyed it.
  10. Half Past Dead by Zoe Archer and Bianca D'Arc:(M) Zombie romance. Hmm. Interesting.
  11. Reaper by Rachel Vincent:Free Kindle short in a new series by Vincent (she has written a female Shifter series as well). Interesting, but not enough to entice me to buy the next book.(M)
  12. Benefactor by George H Smith(1958 Fantastic Universe short):(M) Clever short story about the inventor of the robot, how it is received and the result. Very Cold War paranoid.
  13. Chosen for Death by Kate Flora (1994): It's finally happened. After all the times that I have tried to read these mysteries (loaned by my mother), I have actually started to like them, finished the first and am now working on the third (don't have the second borrowed). There are some phrases and infelicities of phrasing in this first book that I find annoying, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt this time around and I see her writing improves in the next that I am reading, and the story is good and I am enjoying the characters this time around. Thea Kozak is a private school consultant, and a young widow with animus to the police. Her home relationships are fraught, as her father accedes to her mother and her mother is controlling, demanding, and ungrateful. Her siblings, one adopted and one full, also have issues. In this first novel, Thea's adopted sister is murdered while seeking her biological parents and Thea's mother demands that she take care of all the difficulties arising therefrom.
  14. Death at the Wheel(1996): I've missed the second novel, where Thea's relationship with Andre Lemieux, the detective who investigated her sister's death, was further developed. In this, her mother meets a "lost soul" who reminds her of her dead daughter, Carrie, and forces Thea to help her with no care to Thea's safety. Carrie is accused of murdering her husband by tampering with a race car being used at a course, but the plot is far more intricate. As is usual for this series (although unusual in mysteries), Andre and Thea's lives continue while they are not with each other and as Thea is endangered through her investigations, Andre also is endangered while performing his job.
  15. An Educated Death(1997): Thea Kozak is evaluating the procedures at a school where a young girl has died, and the problems are deeper and wider than what first appeared to be an accidental death. the student was pregnant and teachers are involved. Someone attempts Thea's life and another member of the faulty is murdered. Thea and Andre's relationship seems to fray under the stress.
I have actually been so busy I forgot to publish this:-).

The (M) stands for Mobipocket (the generic form of the file that Kindle Reads) as well as AZW and PRC, the other forms readable by Kindle. Let's leave DT as Dead Tree books. (And perhaps I should add M for books borrowed from my mother:).)I think it's clear what percentage of my reading is becoming e-format. The vast majority are also free, either as public domain or as promotional offers through Amazon and the other online sources I frequent. B stands for Baen, the best of the on-line stores by so many orders of magnitude there is no comparison.

1 comment:

Simcha said...

Wow? Did you read all these books last month? I actually not familiar with too many of any of them but A Taste of Magic sounds like a fun book that I'll have to check out.