Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Rating: 5.0

What it's about: (from Barnes&Noble.com)

Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another...

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon—when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

My thoughts:

Outlander is full of history, romance and adventure! I've read this book more than once and each time I read it I become so emotionally involved. I think about the story even while I'm going about my daily business. Outlander has so much to offer. I love the time travel aspect. Seeing how Claire adjusts to the life that is 200 years before her own is amazing! The historical detail was very interesting as well. And of course there is the romance. Claire and Jaimie's is the greatest love story of all time!

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Rating: 5.0

What it's about: (taken from Barnes&Noble.com)

Considered one of the greatest war stories ever written -- and one of the classics of antiwar literature -- Remarque's 1929 masterpiece tells the story of young Paul Baumer, who enlists in the German Army in World War I and takes place with his comrades in the trenches.

My thoughts:

This book shows the brutal reality of war in the brilliantly written words of Remarque. Some of the sentences I read more than once because they were so profound and beautiful. There are a lot of not so beautiful scenes in here though. Trench warfare was a b***ch. All Quiet on the Western Front is a wonderful, yet emotionally draining, book that is deservedly a classic.

Dark Descent by Andrew Pyper

Rating: 5.0

Synopsis from Barnes&Noble.com:

At the dawn of the new millennium, twenty-something dot-com millionaires Wallace and Bates travel to Brazil to market their breakthrough product, Hypothesys -- a "morality machine" designed to help people make the best decisions of their lives. But when they impulsively join an eco-tour deep into the Amazon rain forest, they may have sealed their own dire fates....In the dead of night, their boat is attacked, and Wallace and Bates are kidnapped along with their enigmatic female interpreter. Imprisoned and savagely tortured, they struggle to hold on to their humanity. But after Wallace engineers a violent escape, the survivors' own hidden dark natures begin to emerge -- posing a threat more lethal than either the jungle that surrounds them, or the merciless gunmen who pursue them.

My thoughts:
This book starts out slow. Once you get past the first hundred pages though it becomes a great thriller! I had a hard time putting it down once the group were kidnapped. Fatigue, fever, dehydration, internal parasites....the jungle has quite a lot of suffering to offer this group on top of being creatively tortured by their captors. There is also the mystery of who kidnapped them and why. Dark Descent is a very well written, character focused thriller that turned out to be an awesome read!

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Rating: 5.0

Synopsis: taken from Barnes&Noble.com

Set in 1935 England, this "New York Times" bestseller is enthralling in its depiction of childhood, love and war, England and class, making it a profound—and profoundly moving—exploration of shame and forgiveness, of atonement and the difficulty of absolution.


My thoughts:

This is such a beautiful book filled with characters I really cared about. As soon as I started reading I was totally drawn in to the writing and the story. I could not put this book down! Atonement is quite the tragedy, and while I wouldn't want every book I read to be tragic, what happens to the characters in this story felt completely right. I have a feeling this story is going to stay with me for a long time.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Rating: 3.0

Synopsis - taken from Barnes&Noble.com

A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history -- the Salem witch trials.

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key secreted within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to find out who this woman was, and to unearth a rare colonial artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge of herbs and other, stranger things.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the trials in the 1690s, and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.

My thoughts:

It took me a long time to get through this book. I was in a reading slump though so that may be partly to blame. I just couldn't really get into the story or most of the characters. I did find the love interest, Sam, to be a charming character and enjoyed the scenes with him. Also I really enjoyed the descriptions of the cottage and the surrounding garden and forest. It sounded romantic and quaint. Overall, a decent story but I don't think it'll stick with me for long.

Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong

Rating: 5.0

Another fun installment in the Women of the Otherworld series. This one features Hope (half-demon), Karl (werewolf), Lucas (sorcerer) and Paige (witch). They have quite an adventure when Hope accepts a mission from the Cortez Cabal that might not be what it appears to be. This story is fast-paced and will keep you guessing all the way to the end. The characters are, of course, well written and unique. I stayed up really late finishing this one and it was worth it.

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

Rating: 5.0

The Pale Blue Eye is a very well written mystery with the emphasis on well written. The best thing about the book is the writing. Louis Bayard definitely has a way with words and that made reading this novel a lot of fun.

The story takes place at West Point Academy in the year 1830. One of the cadets has been found dead with his heart removed from his chest. The academy brings in Augustus Landor, a once renowned detective, to investigate. The academy grants him a cadet to serve as assistant and that cadet is Edgar Allen Poe.

The plot was interesting and kept me guessing. I really liked the characters. The greatest thing about The Pale Blue Eye though is how eloquently it was written. The New York Times says it best: "Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the 19th century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand. He employs words like "caoutchouc," "meerschaums" and "anapestic" as fluently as he uses Gothic tropes. Landor is attacked in the dark woods and in a dark closet. Messengers drive phaetons. There's black magic, phrenology, a profusion of ghosts, even a boat trip through torch-lit mist. But none of it seems musty. Bayard does what all those ads for historical tourist destinations promise: as Landor says at death's door, "the past comes on with all the force of the present.""

Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis

Rating: 2.0

I was very unimpressed with Lincoln's Dreams. It was slow, boring and I really didn't care about the characters.

It's hard to describe this book because I'm still not sure what it was really about. A young woman, Annie, starts having the dreams of Robert E. Lee (even though the title of the book is Lincoln's Dreams). They are dreams of war and carnage. Nightmares really. Jeff, a research assistant for a civil war novelist, tries to help Annie but they really just travel around to old battlefields and sit in coffee shops and generally don't do anything at all. Pretty boring. The only reason I'm giving it two stars instead of one is because of the historical references. I enjoyed all the quips about the Civil War and the people who fought it....that's really what kept me reading. There are much more interesting novels out there that deal with the Civil War though. I don't recommend this one.

Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure by Peter Stark

Rating: 5.0

Last Breath is a fascinating read into the physiological realities of a person on the brink of death. I liked the detail and depth Stark put into this book.

Each chapter of Last Breath is dedicated to a different adventure and a different malady. For instance, in chapter 5 a young man hits the ocean on his sailboat and forgets to take fresh food. Peter Stark details what happens to your body when scurvy sets in as well as a short history of the disease. In Chapter 8 a young couple head to a secluded beach in Australia where the reader learns about the sting of a box jellyfish. Peter Stark did an awesome job making these stories highly readable and interesting. They are part adventure story and part science lesson. And he covers a lot! Everything from hypothermia to heatstroke is covered. He writes about the bends as well as mountain sickness. Some of these stories have happy endings for the characters involved but many don't. I appreciated the realism.

Taken from the blurb: 'Readers will shiver with a man lost in the snowy woods, suffering from hypothermia and tearing off his clothes as he’s burning up from the cold; they will hallucinate with a young woman stranded at the top of Annapurna as she experiences a cerebral edema; and while a kayaker tumbles helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, readers, too, will gasp for their last breath.'

Night Shift by Stephen King

Rating: 5.0

Night Shift is an awesome collection of twenty short stories. I enjoyed all of them and loved many of them. Some of my favorites were Sometimes They Come Back (I grew up watching the movie), Quitters, Inc., Children of the Corn. If you are in the mood for some chilling tales about vampires, killer rats, the boogeyman and much more, then I highly recommend Night Shift. I've said it before and I'll continue saying it: Stephen King is a master at story telling and his most effective outlet is the short story. This is classic King. Read it. Seriously.

Transformed by Triathlon by Jane Booth

Rating: 5.0

I found Transformed by Triathlon to be a completely worthwhile and entertaining read for me. I plan on doing my first sprint triathlon next year and this book was pretty useful as a tool. There were plenty of tips for first timers and beginners that I made mental notes of.

Transformed by Triathlon was written by a woman in her 40's who decided on a whim to take up the endurance sport of triathlon. She transitioned from someone who loathed running and was terrified of getting on a bike (at least she was a decent swimmer!) to someone who completed both sprint and olympic distance triathlons and could call herself an athelete. This was quite an inspirational story that had me rooting for her throughout. It also had me telling myself 'if she can break into endurance sports at the age of 43 then my 31 year old body can do it too!'

I already had my mind set on completing a triathlon before I read this. This book has given me extra motivation to get out and do a run even though I may not be in the mood to run. It has given me the extra kick in the butt to get in the car and drive the 10 miles to the lake and swim laps even if I would rather stay in bed and sleep in. I highly recommend, for those interested in triathlons, this honest and frequently humorous story of one woman's ups and downs on the road to becoming an endurance athlete.

Lakewood Memorial by Robert R. Best

Rating: 4.5

Lakewood Memorial: Violent. Fun. Gruesome. Perhaps a bit superficial. Gory. Entertaining. Fast paced. These statements all describe Lakewood Memorial.

This book is basically about the takeover of a small town by zombies. It's blood-soaked good fun! There's a small group of main characters and we see the takeover from each of their perspectives. I liked that. And I liked the characters. There wasn't much depth to the cast or the story but there was enough excitement and the pace was so frenzied that it didn't really matter. From the first page the reader is thrown right into the action and it never lets up! If you want some hard core zombie killing action then I suggest you pick up Lakewood Memorial. If not....what's wrong with you?

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

Rating: 4.0

I found The Memory of Running to be a nice, light, summer read. I enjoyed the main character very much.

The book is all about the journey of one man, Smithy Ide. Smithy loses both his parents and his long absent schizophrenic sister within the span of one week. Unable to cope, this overweight and alcoholic man takes off on his childhood Raleigh bicycle with just the clothing on his back. What starts out as an aimless wandering turns into an epic quest as Smithy makes his way from his New England home all the way to the Pacific Ocean. On a bicycle. He meets interesting folks along the way and has plenty of time to reminisce about his childhood and what it was like to grow up with a sister who hears voices.

I really enjoyed Smithy Ide as a main character. He reminded me a little of Forest Gump. He seemed a bit slow and sort of innocent. Smithy is a guy the reader can care about. The Memory of Running is sad and funny with interesting characters. I really enjoyed it.

Cyclops by Clive Cussler

Rating: 5.0

This is one of my favorite Dirk Pitt adventures yet! Cyclops is fast-paced, fun and full of action.

The plot in these Dirk Pitt adventures are usually very intricate and hard to explain. There's a lot going on in Cyclops. The story involves a shipwreck, a secret moon base, the lost La Dorada treasure, a Cuban torture chamber, and of course, the Soviets. I won't go into how all of this ties together, but suffice it to say, it's quite a ride!

I love the adventure most of all in Cussler's books. Well that and Dirk Pitt of course. And Dirk Pitt and adventure go hand in hand. Cussler has a way of bringing that adventure to life. While reading, I always feel I'm right there in the story diving on a sunken shipwreck or sneaking through enemy lines. That's why I just finished my 8th Dirk Pitt adventure and ready to begin my 9th. Bring on the danger and excitement!

Velocity by Dean Koontz

Rating: 4.0

Velocity is a cat-and-mouse type of suspense story. There's really nothing exceptional about it but it definitely kept my interest nonetheless.

Billy Wiles finds the first of several mysterious notes on his windshield after leaving his bar tending job one day. It says 'If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher. If you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly woman active in charity work. You have four hours to decide. The choice is yours.' And so begins a fairly intense story in which Billy has to make some pretty extreme choices. The choices become more difficult as the story progresses. Billy can't go to the police because the killer has planted evidence incriminating him. He has no choice but to play this macabre game in the hopes of turning the tables.

I always enjoy escaping in a Koontz book for a couple of hours. Velocity was no exception. It has a fast paced plot with plenty of room for speculation. I think it could have benefited from a bit more character development, but overall it was a quick, fun read.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Rating: 5.0

The Terror is a pretty engrossing story. It's quite lengthy but it really held my attention.

Two ships set sail, Erebus and Terror, in 1846 in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. The ships end up getting frozen in the ice far from any civilization. After a couple of years scurvy sets in, their food supply becomes poisoned, and a huge beast that seems otherworldly is stalking them. They end up hiking it across the ice in search of open water as the beast continues shadowing them. Many die either from the cold, scurvy, poisoned food, the beast or each other.

The Terror is a very dismal story. The mens situation leaves little to celebrate. The landscape is pretty bleak as well. Simmons did an excellent job at really making the reader feel the -60 degree weather and hear the ice popping and snapping all around. The scene is set wonderfully in The Terror. The environment is a perfect one for the creepy beast that claws at their ship to get in and dismembers sailors at every turn. I loved the historical fiction aspect of this novel mixed with the horror. It really kept the book gripping and the reader on their toes just waiting to see what would happen next. So, if you aren't intimidated by the over 900 pages and you feel in the mood for an atmospheric thriller, I would totally recommend The Terror. But beware of cannibals.

The Washington Post says: "Dan Simmons's new novel, The Terror, dives headlong into the frozen waters of the Franklin mystery, mixing historical adventure with gothic horror -- a sort of Patrick O'Brian meets Edgar Allan Poe against the backdrop of a J.M.W. Turner icescape. Meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined, The Terror won't satisfy historians or even Franklin buffs, but as a literary hybrid, the novel presents a dramatic and mythic argument for how and why Franklin and his men met their demise."

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams

Rating: 4.0

Wastelands is a book containing 22 short stories of life after an apocalypse. The editor did a really good job at picking stories detailing a variety of different world ending scenarios and the struggles of those left to rebuild society and start over.

Some of these stories are just so-so....nothing special or memorable. Others, though, were really great. There are some that take place in the near future and some that take place so far away in time that people aren't even recognizable as people anymore. Some of these stories are very sad and don't show much hope for humanity, while others end on a very optimistic and happy note...a fresh start. "All of them explore one question: What would life be like after the end of the world as we know it?" If you are into the Post-Apocalyptic sub-genre, then this is definitely a book you should check out.

I like what Publisher's Weekly had to say about these stories: "Keynoted by Stephen King's "The End of the Whole Mess," the volume's common denominator is hubris: that tragic human proclivity for placing oneself at the center of the universe, and each story uniquely traces the results. Some highlight human hope, even optimism, like Orson Scott Card's "Salvage" and Tobias Buckell's "Waiting for the Zephyr." Others, like James Van Pelt's "The Last of the O-Forms" and Nancy Kress's "Inertia," treat identity by exploring mutation. Several, like Elizabeth Bear's "And the Deep Blue Sea" and Jack McDevitt's "Never Despair," gauge the height of human striving, while others, like George R.R. Martin's "Dark, Dark Were the Tunnels," Carol Emshwiller's "Killers" and M. Rickert's "Bread and Bombs," plumb the depths of human prejudice, jealousy and fear. Beware of Paolo Bacigalupi's far-future "The People of Sand and Slag," though; that one will break your heart."

A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle

Rating: 3.5

T.C. Boyle certainly has a talent for writing. I love his style but sadly, I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as some of his other works.

This book alternates between the near future of 2025 and the not too distant past of 30 years ago....and a little bit of the time between. The main character is Ty Tierwater. In the year 2025 he's an older fellow who works for a rich musician. His job is to take care of the musicians menagerie of ugly animals....the animals that nobody else seems to care about. And mammals in the year 2025 are a pretty rare thing. See, there is really no biodiversity left because of global warming, and the earth seems to be on a fast downward spiral. Boyle does not paint a pretty future in this tale. I think it was well researched though and unfortunately seems all too plausible. So this story alternates between this bleak future and Tierwater's past, when he was an eco-terrorist. He broke the law, spent quite a few years in prison, lost his daughter (in more ways than one) and he did it all for the earth and the animals. Was it all in vain? Does he have any regrets? I won't give it away.

I thought this was an interesting tale. It's definitely not a cheerful story....though it does end in a slightly optimistic way. For some reason though (it wasn't the writing) I just didn't really get into this book all that much. Not as much as I thought I would anyway. I'm a big fan of T.C. Boyle so I was expecting to really lose myself in the story. Not so. A Friend of the Earth is sort of intriguing and a decent diversion but I guess I was just expecting better.

I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan

Rating: 4.0

I, Lucifer is positively brimming with wit and irreverent, really irreverent, humor. That's what saved this book when it threatened to get bogged down in one too many digressions. It was amusing even when I was slightly puzzled about what the heck was going on.

This story is told from the perspective of Lucifer, a.k.a. the"Fallen Angel, Prince of Darkness, Bringer of Light, Ruler of Hell, Lord of the Flies....." you get the point. So, 'Luce' gets the opportunity to reenter Heaven with full forgiveness if he can live out a moral life as a human on Earth. I think moral is the key word here. As you can imagine, this is a little difficult for Lucifer. And besides, he's not so sure he even wants to do the whole Heaven thing again anyways. Regardless, he enters the body of one Declan Gunn for this little experiment of walking among us mere mortals and things take off from there. His deviations and ramblings from the plot are more entertaining that the actual plot. Actually, I'm not even sure there is much of a plot. But anyway, amidst the varied digressions are the real story of Adam and Eve, what it was like at the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ (or as Lucifer prefers, Jimmeny Christmas or Junior), and many more trifling anecdotes like what a dog's foot smells like and why the London Underground depresses God. If you are intrigued, want to know the outcome, and are not easily offended, then I suggest reading this narrative.

I, Lucifer is an interesting, if sometimes confusing, read. It's clever, comical and very British. I can't say I loved it, but I did get a kick out it. The end.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

Rating: 5.0

A Walk in the Woods is my third, and favorite thus far, Bill Bryson book. It is laugh out loud funny as Bryson and his unfit and overweight friend Katz attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. Sprinkled in between all the hilarious hiking narrative are generous amounts of anecdotes relating to the trail and it's history. As the publisher says, "Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this fragile and beautiful trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, a lament, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is destined to become a modern classic of travel literature." I am placing this wonderful travelogue in my 'favorite books' category. It's that good.

The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Rating: 5.0

I'll confess. I bought this book because of it's amusing title. But I'd read and enjoyed a couple of Mackler's other books so I pretty much knew what to expect. I was not disappointed.

The heroine of this story, 15 year old Virginia Shreves, is overweight and has major self confidence issues. She doesn't fit in with the rest of her family, who are slim and popular over-achievers. Everything changes for Virginia when she learns that her older brother, who she worships, is suspended from Columbia University for doing something pretty horrible. Virginia's earth shatters but she learns a great deal about her family and herself.

This book really comes from the heart. Virginia is a character a girl could really sympathize with. Publisher's Weekly says, ""The heroine’s transformation into someone who finds her own style and speaks her own mind is believable — and worthy of applause." When I read this it was just what I was in the mood for. A nice quick read with a happy ending.

Floating Dragon by Peter Straub

Rating: 4.5

Floating Dragon is a very hard book to describe so I'll just insert the blurb here:

Two monstrous evils.

This quiet suburban town of Hampstead is threatened by two horrors.

One is natural. The hideous, unstoppable creation of man's power gone mad.

The other is not natural at all. And it makes the first look like a child's play.

I enjoyed the book overall. It was a little hard to get into though. The beginning felt very unfocused and there were so many characters and places that it was hard to keep things straight. Once the story got rolling though it was very interesting. There are scenes in this book that are very memorable and creepy. I really liked how the effects of the man-made virus were so various and unpredictable. It did different things to different people and that made the story entertaining. I especially liked the man who painted his whole house (including the windows and roof) hot pink. The effects on many of the other people weren't so benign. If you are up for a long tale of the mysterious, bizarre and chilling, that takes some concentration then I would recommend Floating Dragon.

The Twilight Zone by Rod Serling

Rating: 5.0

I've always been a fan of The Twilight Zone with it's twisted and often dark tales. This book contains nineteen fantastic stories written by the brilliant Rod Serling. The course many of these stories takes leads to man being the true monster. I suspect some of this may be due to it being the early '60's. I think these are the scariest stories of all though. My favorite tales in this book revolve around what man does to himself and others. Take for instance The Monsters are Due on Maple Street. It's a story about how quickly neighbors and friends turn on each other when they think disaster has struck. Prejudice shows where it didn't before. Or another of my favorites, The Shelter. In this tale the neighborhood doctor pleads with his friends and neighbors to build a bomb shelter in case the worst should happen. They blow him off and spend their free time playing cards and having barbecues. When the worst threatens to happen, the friends and neighbors turn into animals trying to get into the doctors shelter. These are the kinds of stories that give me chills. There is balance though with tales of magic and wonder, like The Night of the Meek. In this story, a burnt out old store Santa finds a burlap bag that turns out to be much more than that. His wish comes true and he is able to bring happiness to the poor people down at the mission and the children who have nothing. I could go on and on about these stories, they all were fun to read, but I'll stop here. In this collection, "Rod Serling continues to leave us spellbound with his imaginative and unsettling tales."

Off Season by Jack Ketchum

Rating: 5.0

Off Season is a gruesome look at what happens when a small group of tourists meet with a band of cannibals in the Maine woods. And when cannibals are involved, you know it's going to be pretty grisly.

A group of six young people are relaxing in a rented cabin in the woods of Maine. Along come a sinister family of cannibals who live in these woods. They reside in a cabin and live like animals. The cannibals snatch one the tourist women and roast her like a pig and that's when the gory action starts. The rest of tourists try to barricade themselves inside the cabin...but that only works for a time. While this action is going down, a small town sheriff is in slow pursuit of the cannibals. The big finale, with the sheriff, the cannibals and the remaining tourists, is in the cannibal cave and is very....memorable.

I love this story. Being hunted down by a pack of cannibals is just plain creepy. The children cannibals with their little mouths working and their little teeth chomping especially got under my skin. But in a good way. I enjoy a good scare and this book definitely fits that bill. "Horror critic Winter calls the book one of 'remarkable elegance,' and indeed it's drum tight. Equally impressively, Ketchum uses the devastation of a group of tourists by a band of cannibals not to pander, as so many horror writers after him have done, but to explore with intelligence (and ferocity) the nature of evil and of the human spirit that can resist it."

No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong

Rating: 5.0

Another fun book from Kelley Armstrong. Part of her Women of the Otherworld series, No Humans Involved stars the intriguing necromancer Jaime Vegas. Some of the characters from previous books are back as well.

Jaimie has some big challenges in this story. She discovers the trapped ghosts of six murdered children in the garden behind the house where she is working on a t.v. show. As she digs for some answers to who killed them, with the help of werewolf alpha Jeremy, she uncovers a horrendous case of child sacrifice by a small cult of witch wannabes. Things turn threatening for Jaime when this cult discovers they have been found out.

I really enjoy this series. Armstrong adds just the right amount of action, humor and romance. It makes for great entertainment! Her characters of the Otherworld are captivating. "Armstrong deftly juggles such creatures as werewolves, witches, demons and ghosts with real-life issues." This series is a ton of fun....but don't take my word for it. : )

Watchers by Dean Koontz

Rating: 5.0

I first read this years ago, when I was a teenager. It was one of my first Koontz books. I loved it then and I still love it today. The dialogue seemed cornier than I remember it being but that's okay. I still loved it.

I really enjoyed this story. Two different animals are caged in the same government laboratory. They have been genetically altered. One is an extraordinary dog who I totally fall in love with.
The other is a monster who was made to be a weapon. They escape and are on the loose when the story begins. The human stars of the story are Travis and Nora. They end up finding the dog and learning it's capabilities. They also learn that this other thing....this monster....is after the dog and is capable of tracking it down and killing it and anything near to it. There are other things going on in the story that I won't go into, but it really keeps you on the edge of your seat as the monster gets closer and closer.

This is the Koontz book that pulls on my heartstrings the most. The dog is amazing, and I of course root for the dog's safety and to be able to stay with his new family. The monster, or the Outsider as it's called in the book, has blood lust in it's genes and makes the reader want to hate it. But it's really sad when we learn more about it. He hates himself for what he is. He's extremely lonely. He didn't ask to be this monster. Everybody loves the adorable dog who is almost human but is disgusted to even look at the hideous thing that the Outsider is. I feel sorry for it and that just makes the book all the more affecting to me. Great story! The Cincinnati Post calls it "A suspenseful page-turner...Koontz gives us characters we can care about...and enough tension to satisfy any thrill-seeker."

The Only War We Had by Michael Lee Lanning

Rating: 4.0

My dad loaned me this book of his and I'm glad he did. It's worth a read if you are interested in what an infantryman's day to day life was like in Vietnam. Michael Lee Lanning wrote this book based on his journal he kept while in Vietnam. This book covers his first six months over there on a day by day basis. It's slow at times and full of action at other times but it's the honesty I appreciated the most. The synopsis says it best: "Michael Lee Lanning's journal of his first tour of duty in Vietnam provides an unvarnished daily account of life in the field-the blood, fear, camaraderie, and tedium of combat and maneuver. Fleshed out with narrative and detail years later, the pages of this memorable book, first published in 1987, show an eager young recruit growing before the reader's eyes into a proud but bloodied combat veteran."

The Gerson Therapy by Charlotte Gerson and Morton Walker, D.P.M.

Rating: 4.0

The Gerson Therapy is a nutritional program that jump starts your body's healing processes. I watched a couple of intriguing documentaries on the subject and so went out to buy this book to learn more. Everything about this therapy makes sense, but for the average person who is not sick it may be a bit extreme to follow the Gerson Therapy as a lifestyle. It's a bit daunting to say the least. It requires massive amounts of juicing (once every hour) and coffee enemas. There is a lot of evidence that this can help the body cure itself of cancer and disease by flooding it with nutrients but it would be a hard regimen to follow. I guess if you had cancer though, it would be worth the effort to follow this therapy. The book starts with a short history of Dr. Max Gerson, who started healing people with this therapy in the '30's and '40's. It then outlines how the therapy works and how to adapt it to your particular condition. This book could be of interest to either people who are sick and want to heal themselves naturally or healthy people who are interested in the topic of health.

The Six Messiahs by Mark Frost

Rating: 4.0

The Six Messiahs, sequel to the fabulous The List of 7, is a good mystery with plenty of action.

Arthur Conan Doyle is back and on an American book tour with his brother Innes. There, he meets up with Jack Sparks, but it's not really the same Jack Sparks from the previous book. The Jack in this book is a broken man. After his near fatal fall from the last book, Jack turns sour and bitter and has lost everything I loved about him. This was disappointing for me but I guess it's part of the story and adds some suspense around whether or not Doyle can bring the old Sparks back. Along with Doyle, Innes and Sparks, there are several others characters they meet up with. Some of them seem to be having the same dreams about a black tower in the desert and a river of blood. So five characters are having this crazy dream but the real surprise comes when we learn who the sixth one is. Let's just say it's a blast from the past....meaning someone from The List of 7. And this mysterious number six has mad plans. It's one of those good versus evil scenarios that I've seen one too many times. But the characters are good and the way it all plays out is interesting.

So, overall I enjoyed this book. The story wasn't nearly as good as The List of 7 and the characters were not quite as fun. There wasn't as much humor. It's a decent follow up though and worth a read.

Gerald's Gamy by Stephen King

Rating: 4.5

Gerald's Game is a pretty terrifying book. Not necessarily in the way many of his books are though. It's a different kind of terror, more of a claustrophobia I guess.

It starts with a middle aged married couple, Jessie and Gerald, at their cabin in the woods. They are getting a little kinky, with Jessie handcuffed to the bed, when Gerald has his heart attack and drops dead on the floor. That's when the terror starts.

This book really made me cringe. Just reading the blurb, before I even started reading the book, I think I cringed. It's a horrifying scenario to imagine! The book flashes between Jessie trying to escape the cuffs and Jessie as a little girl, during the solar eclipse, when something happens to her that she has never gotten over. And if being handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere isn't scary enough for you, King wrote in a little nighttime visitor that would give anybody goosebumps.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Rating: 5.0

The Scarlet Letter is a wonderfully written romantic thriller. I found it full of suspense and mystery.

This book really starts with a bang. Hester Prynne, along with her baby, Pearl, are put upon the scaffold as acknowledgment and punishment for her adulterous affair. She is forced to wear a large letter A on her chest so everybody can see her sin. She refuses to announce the man with whom she sinned. That's where the mystery and suspense starts. What do the Reverend Mr. Dimmsdale and the newcomer Doctor Roger Chillingworth have to do with everything? Lots.

This book really held my interest. I'd read it before, a long time ago, and had forgotten how good it really is. I had a hard time putting it down. The writing is beautiful and really conveys the Puritanism of the story. The synopsis from Barnes & Noble says it perfectly. "The landscape of this classic novel is uniquely American, but the themes it explores are universal—the nature of sin, guilt, and penitence, the clash between our private and public selves, and the spiritual and psychological cost of living outside society. Constructed with the elegance of a Greek tragedy, The Scarlet Letter brilliantly illuminates the truth that lies deep within the human heart."

Deep Six by Clive Cussler

Rating: 4.0

'A ghost ship drifts across the northern Pacific....
A Soviet luxury liner burns like a funeral pyre....
And the U.S. President's yacht is heading for disaster....'

Yet another fun Dirk Pitt adventure. This one is full of suspense and danger with plots to brainwash the President of the United States and take over the government. The only complaint I have is that there were so many characters that it felt a little confusing at times trying to keep all the names straight and who was who. This is quite an adventure though with a great ending featuring some awesome confederate soldiers from a Civil War reenactment. The end really made me smile. If you like action and adventure I highly recommend some Clive Cussler.

Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa

Rating: 5.0

"Her tale is part love story, part history lesson and part Buddhism 101." -Mademoiselle

Beyond the Sky and the Earth is a beautifully written 'journey into Bhutan'. Armchair travel is a favorite genre of mine and Jamie Zeppa does a wonderful job at making the reader feel like part of her journey.

Jamie, a Canadian, takes a two year teaching post in far away Bhutan leaving her home and fiance behind. Culture shock hits her hard in this country where people only have what they need. She questions herself and wonders why in the world she took this post and how she can possibly make it here for two years. Then the balance starts to slowly shift and eventually she wonders how she can ever return to Canada and the world where people have more than they need and are the worse for it. She ends up extending her teaching post because she can't bear to leave this country. Along her journey she learns a lot about herself and a country she begins to call home. This is such a beautifully descriptive travelogue/memoir. I loved every sentence.

".....her squeamishness about the place turned to love, addiction and lust, for a landscape, a lifestyle, a people and a man...." - Mademoiselle

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Rating: 4.0

Great Expectations was a satisfying read. It had depth and a lot of humor that I wasn't expecting.

The story follows Pip through much of his life starting in childhood. I enjoyed the first part of the book the most....it was very funny. Pip helps an escaped convict which will have repercussions throughout the rest of his life. He is given a fortune from an anonymous benefactor and moves to London with 'great expectations' of becoming a gentleman and furthering himself in life. All does not go according to his expectations though and many lessons are learned.

The first part of Great Expectations was excellent. It was surprisingly funny and very thrilling and fast paced. Comparatively, the last half dragged a bit. That's not to say it was boring though. The characters kept it interesting. Great Expectations contains some wonderful characters...one's you don't want to miss! This is definitely a book to be read by anyone who enjoys literature and I'm certainly glad I did.

I'm with Stupid by Elaine Szewczyk

Rating: 3.0

I'm with Stupid is a mediocre tale of love, lust and friendship. There was not much depth to the story and very little plot.

Three friends go on a safari to South Africa where one of them, Kas, has a one night stand with a hot safari guide who seems to be so perfect it's scary. They exchange emails and that's that....or so Kas thinks. Soon after the three get back to New York, Kas gets an email from hot safari guide, William, and it looks like it was written by a five year old. Turns out William has the body but was shortchanged in the brains department. He's just informed Kas that he's moving to New York to write a book (EEK!) and he will be staying with her. Lots of craziness ensues with William being in New York with no brains.

The thing this book has going for it are it's wonderful wit and humor. It's really funny. I really wish it had some depth to it though. I'm with Stupid got off to a nice start but about halfway through my interest really started to dwindle. This is the first novel by this author, and I hope for her sake she is just getting warmed up.