31 May 2012

What I am reading: May 2012

Another interesting month. But one thing that I want to do around all the craziness and planning and activity is to start reading through some of my physical books, to get them off the shelves (or, actually, out of the piles on flat surfaces like window sills and radiators!) and get them packed away. So I am trying to read the physical rather than be seduced into the new and e-. Interim goal is at least 10 physical books read this month and packed into a box— I'm running behind by the middle of the month.

  1. Dark Ship Thieves (January 2010) by Sarah A. Hoyt: Another book pulled from my e-book backlog and I enjoyed every second of it. I'm glad that I waited this long to read it, because it means that I am only 6 months away from the sequel. This has been my quarter to find great fantasy/sf writers who are writing from a strong woman's point of view (Martha Wells was the other) and I am very happy to have a backlog of their writing to work through. Reviews keep mentioning Heinlein and I am afraid that I need to do so as well: this is a Heinlein if he were a woman and writing today. I can't wait for the further adventures of Athena Hera Sinistra. This is available from Baen Books, my very favorite, well-priced, DRM-free purveyor of e-books and I heartily recommend that you buy this and perhaps the Web-scription that it came in, which will also get you a Karres book and one of the Anvils I reviewed last month (and a few others)
  2. A Wee Christmas Homicide (October 2010) by Kaitlyn Dunnett: A free Kindle mystery, picked up ages ago. I liked this one, with its protagonist being Liss MacCrimmon, who runs an all things Scottish emporium in a small town in Maine. Partnered with her aunt (who returns to town in this mystery to discuss selling her share of the store), she suggests a 12 Days of Christmas shopping theme to bring tourists and buyers into the town, which has been negatively impacted by lack of snow and the recession. As a draw, she and other retailers offer the "must have toy" of the season, the otherwise sold-out Tiny Teddies. But when another shopkeeper is murdered, Liss becomes involved in the investigation. Her relationships with two men, one a policeman, are a backdrop, but not really explored. An ok mystery. I might try another.
  3. deadly decisions (2000) by Kathy Reichs: I see the chronology I listed in my previous notes was a bit off: this is the third novel in the Temperance Brennan series and in it we are introduced to more of Dr. Brennan's relationships with both her Montreal associates and her family. This book closely deals with the "biker wars" that Kathy Reichs discussed at her lecture in Berlin last fall.
  4. I didn't ask to be born (but I'm glad I was) (November 2011) by Bill Cosby: This ARC has been on my shelf for a while, I'm not certain why. A quick and amusing read, but without the illustrations that were added in the final, a slim 194 page, large font book. The final page count will be (was) 208 pages, so there should be some interesting photos in the added pages. I always found Bill Cosby funny and I enjoyed reading this short collection of anecdotes.
  5. Monday Mourning(2004) by Kathy Reichs: The problem with reading my way through a series, is that when I reach the end of the books that I have in physical, I have a (very) strong desire to just order the next several on my Kindle. I will be strong! This is the seventh in the Tempe Brennan series. A plumber uncovers a body in the basement of a pizza parlor and the question is: is this a historical find, or a find requiring police involvement. A scarey twist at the end and the themes of (sexual) slavery, child  rape, imprisonment, serial murder and Stockholm syndrome are unfortunately all too recurrent in the world I am living in.
Didn't get all the books I wanted in, but it's been a busy month: I hope to get some started and not finished May posts up this week. 

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