July's Books

1. Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich.
The Stephanie Plum series is one of my favorites but by number 16, I'm waiting for Steph to just frickin' grow up and make a choice between Ranger and Morelli. However, I did laugh out loud - which I like while listening to an audiobook. And my very favorite character, the one who makes each book, is Lula.

2. Atlantis Revelation - This is the third in Thomas Greanais' series. I love thrillers (hence my love affair with Preston/Child's books - together and separately) and I loved the first two - but I wanted more Atlantis...well...uh...revelations. It was still an exciting read. I'm hoping for more.

3. Apartment 16 - I bought Adam Nevill's book at Heathrow Airport and read it on a long, boring flight home across the Atlantic. It was scary and at times fascinating but Nevill doesn't yet present the characterizations that make Stephen King's books frighteningly real. I love being scared - especially 30, 000 ft up.

4. Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen. Tess Gerritsen got me into Cosmos - well, almost. I saw her at an RWA conference and she was carrying this lovely pink drink and I asked her what it was. She looked at me like I was nuts - like: "everyone drinks Cosmos." I had yet to see Sex in the City - no HBO. Anyway, this book was my first to read on my Blackberry. I loved the book - hot murder in winter and I loved the mobility of reading on my Blackberry. I decided on my Birthday present to myself: A Kindle.

5. Blue Medusa - Clive Cussler et al. Back to the thrillers and on audio. I enjoy most of Custler's work, but at times I think: I can draw the map of where this is going. And I'm right 99% of the time. This was no exception. It was fun listening to it but no repeats.

6. Thirteen to Life - Shannon Delany. Shannon's Morgan's daughter, a beautiful woman and a great writer. And no, I didn't have to say that. I enjoy reading what is pigeon-holed as "young adult" - sometimes the stories and the emotions are more real than in the "adult" literary world. In the age of vampires, Shannon wrote (and is writing) a series about werewolves - much warmer than vamps any day. I loved the heroine and the premise for the hero's...er...issue. Something new and something well-written.

7.The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters. Okay, I have to admit it. Nothing suits me like a good old fashion gothic - and this is more than that - this is a good old fashion literary gothic. There's that dirty word: literary. That doesn't mean anything other than this wasn't shelved in the horror section -but it damn sight could have been. It scared me. And Waters scared me without anything showing up - nothing like a ghost, a vampire, nothing...damn good book. How many times can I say damn in this blog? Damn fine book.

8. Horns - Joe Hill. Did I mention that I like to be scared? I also like to fall into a book and have a hard time climbing my way out of it. That's what happened with this book. Joe Hill is his father's son - creatively and skill-wise. I cannot wait to read all of his books as he matures. I read this book two months ago and I'm still thinking about it.