I totally missed an anniversary!

I realized that as of 2/19 I had been keeping this book journal for 5 years! So, out of curiosity I counted all the books to see how many I had read in that time. The grand total: 530 books in 5 years! Yes, some of the books I re-read 3, 4, 5, or more times but I still counted them each time. That's 106 books a year, approximately 1 book every 3 days. And people say physical books are dead. Ha! There are so many wonderful stories out there with only the occasional dud and you can't get them all on your Kindle. so support your local library or bookstore and get out there and read!

2-27-10 Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison - Fiction

4 - Rachel Morgan steps in the shit every time she goes outside. This time she's just swimming in it. she's been shunned, she's the student of a demon, and now she's the target of yet another death threat. This one had been issued by the coven of moral and ethical standards. It's not exactly a death threat, she does have a choice: be chemically neutered so she can;t have children or do magic OR death. Harrison keeps the continuing story moving and lets her characters grow and change and that's what makes these books so good and so addicting. You really don't know what will happen next.

2-24-10 The Bordeaux Betrayal by Ellen Crosby - Fiction

5 - I really liked this one because the subject, other than the standard murder, is collectible wine. Specifically a bottle of Bordeaux that Thomas Jefferson ordered from France for George Washington. I love books that not only tell a great story but also give the reader factual information and Crosby does so well explaining the wine world to laymen. Plus, she develops her characters layer by layer so the reader doesn't get bored from book to book. I think that now I'm caught up in this series so I'll be watching for her next Wine Country Mystery.

2-22-10 Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine - Non-Fiction

3 - Overall, an interesting look at how bad our consumer culture has gotten. But I can't say I empathize with Levine or feel sorry for the difficulties she faced early on having to give up buying everything but necessities. A year without movies but keeping cable? Big F'n Deal. We haven;t watched or paid for cable, even basic, for over a year and we're richer for it even if people think we're pixilated. We use Netflix and the library and get to see almost everything we want. we get our news from the internet so we can see all sides of a story. Plus we throw some NPR in there for good measure. Clothes shopping? Yeah, when what we already have has too many holes to make it decent or functional. Where does our money go? To the things we deem important: Music (he has his vinyl almost all used, not new, and I have my violin), books (OK, that one is mostly me but I rarely purchase new anymore if I don't have a gift card and even then only select authors. Support your local library!), and food (he's studying at Le Cordon Bleu). So we don't deprive ourselves but we don't shop to excess either. I do applaud her for the project but feel she made it more difficult for herself and her boyfriend by not cutting off so many of the "free" things that urge the public to randomly spend.

2-20-10 Pulse by Jeremy Robinson - Fiction

5 - Robinson's thrillers get better and better! This one is like Jurassic Park with an elite commando team steeped in Greek mythology. Fantastic! Robinson builds the story on the mythology of Hercules and a genetics company's founder's quest for immortality. Throw in the elite Delta team and you have a great military technothriller. One of the best things about Robinson's books is that they are meticulously researched but he presents the information in such an entertaining way that you almost absorb the factual knowledge by osmosis. No dry and boring recitations here! A winning thriller. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you add this author to your go to list with Cussler, Follett, and Morrell.

2-16-10 Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris - Fiction

5 - Yeah, these books are really addicting. Sookie is put out on loan by Eric to a nest in Dallas because of her special abilities. So a whole new bunch of vampires are introduced. And so is the Fellowship of the Sun which, I am sure, will figure into future books. You know you have to have religious fanatics to balance out all the "fictional" monsters roaming around. I am hooked.

2-15-10 The Chardonnay Charade by Ellen Crosby - Fiction

4 - Now that I'm reading this series in order, I'm picking up a lot more about the characters. And I like it. These are well written mysteries even if you do have to wonder about the luck of Lucie since she keeps having dead bodies show up on her winery grounds. And the wine information that Crosby includes is really educational but not in a documentary sort of way. Definitely a well researched topic. In this book Lucie has not only the murder, but the difficulty of trying to keep her grapes from freezing when a late cold snap threatens the year's harvest. I already have the next book in the series lined up to read and I hope someone out there tries these books and enjoys them as much as I do.

2-13-10 Confidence Game by Michelle M. Welch - Fiction

2 - Mediocre. That's the best way to sum this one up. Too much politics without any depth or real background, shallow emotion, whiny emotionlessness. The characters are flat with no emotional hook for the reader. The politics of the world are laid flat like a map with no interest from any history and no explanation of true governmental structure. About halfway through the book I just wanted it to be over so I could start something else. There's barely a plot and I'm not sure even after finishing it if I guessed the right plot. I'd not bother with this one unless you have nothing else to read.

2-9-10 The Mangler of Malibu Canyon by Jennifer Colt - Fiction

4 - As if you can't tell by the title, this is a goofy mystery. Which made it a fun, light read for me. The main characters are twin sisters Kerry and Terry McAfee who are private investigators and ride a hot pink Harley. This is actually the second book featuring the McAfee sisters but I don't feel I've missed too much by reading out of order (again!). The story is simple: a body has been found sans head in their great aunt's Malibu beach house and, in a fit of maternal instinct, their aunt confesses to the murder when her son, Robert, walks into the house, when it's full of police, carrying the missing head. Of course, in a bid to save his mother, Robert also confesses to the murder. It's up to the twins to find the real killer before their insane relatives are imprisoned for a murder they didn't commit.

2-6-10 The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff - Fiction

4 - This is a slow creeper. It draws you in with an interesting premise and suddenly it's two in the morning, you look up from the book and decide it's a perfectly logical idea to turn on every light in the house and check all the doors and windows. The storyline is based on the efforts of the Rhine lab, the parapsychology lab based at Duke University in the fifties and sixties. Sokoloff has created a story that ratchets up the suspense and anxiety in time with the main character resulting in a slow building terror and a satisfying read.

2-1-10 The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny by Simon R. Green – Fiction

5 – What truly makes this entry in the Nightside series entertaining is the time John Taylor spends with Ms. Fate, the cross-dressing super heroine.  Green’s descriptions are so simple yet so complete I challenge you not to snicker.  He has found a great balance between appalling and amusing.  So you’ll laugh but not really feel guilty about finding the humor.  The real draw of this series is that the rule of the Nightside is there are no rules.  Anything, and I mean anything, can happen.  Angels and Demons battling it out?  Check.  Gods walking through the streets?  Check.  Liquors with the names Valhalla Venom and Angel Piss that aren’t false advertising?  Check.  And as your guide, John Taylor, Lilith’s son.  Yes, that Lilith.  You gotta love the Nightside.

1-29-10 Unleashed by John Levitt – Fiction

5 – Another in Levitt’s Dog Days series, Unleashed continues the intriguing look into the world of magic that coexists with our “normal” world.  Something else has come out of the vortex that Mason helped create and it’s angry and hungry.  Mason faces trouble, as always, with humor, charm, and Lou at his side.  The initial draw for me with this series was the parallel that Levitt draws between jazz music and Mason’s magical style but the more I read, the more I’m interested not only in Mason, but also the other characters.  Eli’s ever burning thirst for knowledge, Victor’s passionate stoicism (I know, oxymoron), Campbell’s soothing nature, and Lou’s infinite charm come through the pages and help create very believable people.  Happily, Levitt is working on a fourth book in the series.