Old Twentieth by Joe Haldeman

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
The twentieth century lies hundreds of years in humanity's past. But the near-immortal citizens of the future yearn for the good old days - when people's bodies were unable to spontaneously heal, and disease and age were actual causes of death. Immersing themselves in virtual reality time machines, they are addicted to exploring the life-to-death arc that defined a lifetime so long ago. Jacob Brewer is a virtual reality engineer, overseeing the time machine's operation aboard the starship Aspera. On a thousand-year voyage to Beta Hydrii, the eight hundred-member crew escapes the tedium of the trip within the artificial environment of twentieth-century Earth. But they get more reality than they expected when people entering the machine start to die. For the time machine has become sentient, evolving far beyond what its creators imagined. It has become obsessed with humanity - and wants Jacob Brewer to enter its confines and discuss this fragile state of being called life. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Imagine being immortal. Of never having to worry about dying. Would you miss our life cycle? Hundreds of years from now, near immortal people are able to experience death in a virtual reality time machine. It's all fun and games....until people start dying for real. I loved the premise and originality of this book. It turned pretty creepy towards the end when we learn that the A:I for the time machine developed so much power and control over the starship. I only have a couple of complaints with Old Twentieth: I wish Haldeman would have done a better job explaining certain elements of the book because he lost me on some things. Maybe it's just my own lack of experience with science fiction though. I also thought the ending was pretty ambiguous. I would recommend this book to sci-fi fans or people interested in time travel.

Losing the Moon by Pattie Callahan Henry

Rating: 4.5

What it's about:
Amy Reynolds is stunned when her first, great love suddenly reappears. A happily married mother of two, she wants nothing to do with him. But then-needing to know why he was ripped from her life without explanation-Amy becomes obsessed with the idea that maybe they really were meant to be together... -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
My sister recommended and loaned me her copy of Losing the Moon by Patti Callahan Henry. I wasn't really expecting much just from reading the back cover. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually was. When Amy, happily married mother of two, is suddenly re-introduced to her first true love, her life and the lives of many others are forever changed. Amy and Nick were college loves until Nick leaves for a semester in land preservation down in Costa Rica. They vow that when he comes back they will start the rest of their lives together....only Nick doesn't come back after the semester end. Amy eventually moves on, marries and has children. When she meets back up with Nick a couple of decades later they both have questions about what really happened that set their lives on different paths. The book is well written and beautiful. It's about holding yourself accountable for your own actions. I like the realistic ending as well. I think it'd make a good movie. Losing the Moon was an unexpectedly good read and I'm glad my sister encouraged me to read it.

Amazonia by James Rollins

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:

The Rand scientific expedition entered the lush wilderness of the Amazon and never returned. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world's most inhospitable rainforest—a former Special Forces soldier, scarred, mutilated, terrified, and mere hours from death, who went in with one arm missing . . . and came out with both intact.

Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the government sends Nathan Rand into this impenetrable secret world of undreamed-of perils, to follow the trail of his vanished father . . . toward mysteries that must be solved at any cost. But the nightmare that is awaiting Nate and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Rangers dwarfs any danger they anticipated . . . an ancient, unspoken terror—a power beyond human imagining—that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of . . .-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

Amazonia was so much fun to read! It was truly a thrill ride. A man from a missing expedition walks out of the Amazon with both of his arms intact.... then dies. He went into the Amazon four years earlier with only one arm. A second expedition is sent into the Amazon to try to uncover what happened to the first expedition and find out why this man's arm seemingly regenerated. This new expedition is trailed by another party though, one that is working for a pharmaceutical company and wants the secret for regeneration for themselves. Then there are all the dangers of the jungle and a most menacing tribe of Indians that doesn't want the secret let out. On top of all of this the expedition is running out of time because the man with the regrown arm brought something out of the jungle with him...a plague is hitting the United States and the cure is buried somewhere in the Amazon. This is one of those books that is hard to put down because there is just so much action. I can't wait to check out some of Rollins other books.

Silk by Allesandro Baricco

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
This startling, sensual, hypnotically compelling novel tells a story of adventure, sexual enthrallment, and a love so powerful that it unhinges a man's life. In 1861 French silkworm merchant Hervé Joncour is compelled to travel to Japan, where, in the court of an enigmatic nobleman, he meets a woman. They do not touch; they do not even speak. And he cannot read the note she sends him until he has returned to his country. But in the moment he does, Joncour is possessed. The same spell will envelop anyone who reads Silk, a work that has the compression of a fable, the evocative detail of the greatest historical fiction, and the devastating erotic force of a dream. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Silk is an emotional and affecting story of love and it's hold on Frenchmen Herve Joncour. "This startling, sensual, hypnotically compelling novel tells a story of adventure, sexual enthrallment, and a love so powerful that it unhinges a man's life." Herve spends years traveling back and forth from his home in France to Japan. He risks his life smuggling silkworms out of Japan in the 1860's, a time when foreigners were not welcome on Japanese soil. He travels back and forth between the two women he loves. His devoted wife Helene in France and a woman in Japan who is beyond his reach; he has never even heard the sound of her voice. Silk is a beautiful story written very gracefully. Allessandro Baricco writes a moving tale and paints a very vivid picture by using surprisingly few words. "The same spell will envelop anyone who reads Silk, a work that has the compression of a fable, the evocative detail of the greatest historical fiction, and the devastating erotic force of a dream."

For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:

The Man Who Would Be Satan

Parry was a gifted musician and an apprentice in the arts of White Magic. But his life of sweet promise went disastrously awry following the sudden, violent death of his beloved Jolie.

Led down the twisted path of wickedness and depravity by Lilah the harlot demoness, Parry thrived -- first as a sorceror, then as a monk, and finally as a feared inquisitor.

But it wasn't until his mortal flame was extinguished that Parry found his true calling -- as the Incarnation of Evil. And, at the gates of Hell, he prepared to wage war on the master himself -- Lucifer, the dark lord -- with dominion over the infernal realms the ultimate prize! -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

For Love of Evil is the sixth installment of Incarnation of Immortality series. It's definitely not one of the better ones. It deals with the Incarnation of Evil starting from when he was a mortal man named Parry. When Parry becomes the new master of Hell, he finds his true calling as Satan. The novel is a little repetitious as it goes over some of the same events that happened in the earlier novels. We do get a different perspective at least, that of Satan. And the Satan in For Love of Evil is a pretty likable guy. This book has romance (lots of it), adventure, action and loads of craziness. Overall though I'd have to say it was pretty boring. Hopefully the next book in the series will be a little more interesting.

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Anne of Green Gables is all grown up--almost. At sixteen, Anne has transformed from student to teacher, and she's the new big sister to seven-year-old twins, quiet Dora and mischievous Davy. A grumpy new neighbor has moved next door, and Anne's best friend, Diana, is falling in love.Despite all these changes, she's still the same fun, impulsive Anne--a romantic dreamer with a redheaded temper. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
I am really enjoying re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series as an adult. Anne of Avonlea is the second in the series. In it we see Anne as a girl of 16 who is almost as precocious as she was in the previous book. She's grown up a little though and has become the school teacher of Avonlea. She learns some of life's lessons throughout the book and by the end has become quite a young woman. This series is so charming and beautifully written. Anne's imagination is truly contagious. When I finish one of the books I can't wait to start the next.

Survival of the Sickest by Dr. Sharon Moalem

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:

Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on—or off?

Survival of the Sickest is fi lled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth—and especially what that means for us. Read it. You're already living it.

My thoughts:

Survival of the Sickest is an interesting and thought provoking book about disease. The author takes a handful of diseases, for example diabetes and favism, and looks at them from an evolutionary perspective. She shows how some of the diseases we have today might have actually been a good thing for our ancestors. "Evolution likes genetic traits that help us survive and reproduce-it doesn't like traits that weaken us or threaten our health (especially when they threaten it before we can reproduce)." If diabetes helped our ancestors survive the last ice age, those genes would have been passed on in reproduction. Dr. Moalem definitely makes sense in Survival of the Sickest. It gets a bit scientific in parts though and a little hard to digest. After reading this book I won't look at hereditary disease in quite the same way.