Another Revival...of this blog

I figured it would so much easier to do a 100 books in a year challenge, if I make it a calender year. So this will be my first entry for 2012:

I love it when one book leads me to another book and another book and another book. Right now I'm reading Frozen in Time by Owen Beattie and John Geiger. I was drawn to this book while reading The Third Man Factor. I may never have read either one if it hadn't been for Dan Simmons' Terror,  fictionalized account about the tragic Franklin Expedition of the mid nineteenth century--an expedition searching for the elusive Northwest Passage over the Arctic to the Orient.

I have to admit that Terror was a difficult book to listen to...it' not fun hearing how the men on two ships meet their end. I hadn't heard of the Franklin Expedition....ashamed, I am that I missed that in history. However, I think history studies (at least on this side of the pond) are remiss in the stories of later-day explorers, like Franklin and the others who followed, looking for a sign of him and his two crews.

The Third Man Factor is about the phenomena of believing that, when faced with severe stress and possible death, one believes that someone, some unknown stranger, is with them, leading them to safety. There are anecdotes about that in this book, many taking place in the coldest regions on earth. Is the third man an angel, a guide or a figment of an overactive, afraid brain? Good question. But many have survived great hardships and credit someone who "wasn't there."

The archaeological hunt for a reason for the death of Franklin's entire crew is covered in Frozen in Time. Three crew members were successfully buried on Beechey Island in the Arctic and a team exhumes (with all the proper documentation of an exhumation) the bodies to do autopsies. The fact that the bodies are in pristine condition (the book has color pictures of the bodies) because of being buried in the land's permafrost helped to make the final determination. The reason for the deaths? A very different one than most historians have believed for more than 150 years.

So why these books? Books about death in a frozen wasteland.
Man's ongoing searches on this planet fascinate me, especially the ones on the forbidden areas of snow and ice.

I'm now writing a short story about the two survivors of a fictitious Arctic expedition. I love when I'm inspired by what I read.

Another Year and More Books

I’m reviving this blog but not the 100 books in a year challenge I made for myself. I didn’t make. I did read/listen to 75 books so I came close – but no cigar.

This year I’ll just mention the books I’m reading and a bit about them – no big reviews – just my thoughts – for whatever they’re worth. I’ve decided that I’m a book/reading/listening to addict. I do not want to be cured. I will probably take my last breath with a book lying open on my chest.

So let’s get started again:

The book club book for last month was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit. I enjoyed the book even when the scenes were difficult to read – torture of American prisoners in Japanese POW camps—that’s because of Hillenbrand’s almost reporter-like writing. I’ve usually read about the European Theater—Unbroken was about the war in the Pacific.

Making a 180 degree turn, I read Some Like It Hotter, a romantic time travel to the Civil War, by Deb Stover. I loved this book. I loved the Civil War. I love time travel. I love Deb Stover. The only problem is this book was written awhile ago and time travels are no longer “hot” or as hot as I think they should be. Fair disclosure: one of my WIPs is a time travel.

And then there was Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gann. Claire Dewitt is not your usual PT. She’s hard-boiled and smokes, but not the usual type of tobacco. “The City of the Dead” is not really the cemetery – its New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I’m happy to say I didn’t figure out this mystery until right before the end.

Audio books

The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry was full of history, twists and turns, and intrigue, what I’ve come to expect from Steve Berry.

James Rollins is another history/thriller writer that I read/listen to often. Sandstorm takes the listener to the Middle East. One of my favorite Rollins characters, Painter Crow, is front and center in this thriller.

I saved the best for last: Preston/Child’s Cold Vengeance. Two of my favorite writers come back again with one of my favorite characters of all time, Agent Pendergast, and take him from the mires of Scotland to New York. And the ending…yes, the ending. I love this series so much that I’ve got My Guy and a friend started on these books. I may even reread/listen to them all over again…just like Braun’s The Cat Who…books.

Soon I’ll be blogging about A Discovery of Witches and Tigerlily’s Orchids.

The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

There are books that I "fall into". Books that weave a plot and characters so well, that I can't wait to get back to them. Books that I hate to put down at night to go to sleep or in the morning to go to work. Books that make my lunch hour run over a bit because I have to get to the end of a scene, a chapter.

The World War II Gothic The Distant Hours was like that and so was, a totally different book, The King of Plagues. I've been a Maberry fan for years and had devoured the first book of the Joe Ledger series, Patient Zero. For some reason the second book, Dragon Factory, is still on my TBR pile. I will definitely be searching that one out and probably starting it this weekend.

I'm a fan of the thriller... historical, archaeological, Biblical, political, world-domination through secret societies...you name and I'll read it or listen to it. Steve Berry, James Rollins, Dan Brown, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child...they can't write these books fast enough for me. I'm like a kid with a bag of potato chips - can't just read one and be done. And now Maberry's been added to that list.

The King of Plagues is exciting and moves quickly, especially with Maberry taking the reader back and forth through time to give one the hint of what's to come. This is done well with the headers for chapters, dated and location noted. He also maintains and increases the tension and suspense by using first person (Joe Ledger) and then third person point of view. As a writer, I loved it.

If you need a little (a lot) of excitement in your life, join Joe Ledger and Echo Company in Patient Zero and end (for now) with The King of Plagues. Don't forget The Dragon Factory.

The Cat Who....stole my heart

Lilian Jackson Braun, the author of 29 cozy mysteries set in Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, died this week at the age of 97. She leaves behind her legacy of wonderful The Cat Who...books which began the animal-based cozies that are in abundance today.

I recommend these books for anyone wanting a break from violence (and overt sex). There is romance and couples spending the night together. But the bedroom door is closed to the reader. And, of course, there are KoKo and YumYum, the lovely Siamese cats that became the center of James MacIntosh Qwilleran's world.

Thank you, LJB, for some wonderful hours and many smiles. RIP, dear lady.

The Camelot Caper - Elizabeth Peters

A lover of all things Arthurian, I picked this book for the title.
I found that I had not read any of Elizabeth Peters historical mysteries/romances and that surprised me. She's very prolific and I really should have found her before this.

The Camelot Caper was originally published in 1969 with several reprintings until the 2001 Avon paperback I bought at The Book Rack in Allentown (one of my haunts). Knowing that it was a book from 1969 does help the reader with understanding some of the clothes (short yellow suit on the heroine) and the fact that there were no cell phones.

I did find the plot a bit simplistic and wondered if the "villains" would actually do what Peters' bad guys were doing. But maybe that goes back to the 1969 era and the fact that I've been reading Jonathan Maberry and listening to James Rollins, authors with more intricate plot variations.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes of very familiar places to me, from Glastonbury to Cadbury Plateau to St; Ives, places I've been and love.

Peters does write beautiful descriptions:

Glastonbury, under a full spring moon, was sheer romance, 

a shining ghost of what had never been, a truth that was eternal 

because it had lived, never in time, but in the hearts of men.

If that doesn't describe the Arthurian legend, nothing does.

The Camelot Caper is a lovely escape into England. Just don't yell, "Use your cell phone," to the heroine.

60 Books and Counting

I missed a book when going over the last two months: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King (at his best!) I cannot wait until his latest, 11/22/63: A Novel is released.

Well, Constant Reader, I won't make my 100 books in one year...not with only three weeks to go and RWA National during the last week. But I'll keep reading. And writing...

Counting Books

Since I've been silent for almost two months - work and life intrudes at times - and it's almost one year since I set a goal of 100 books in 1 year, I've decided to update this blog and see just exactly where I am.

Latest books on CD:
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Cross Fire by James Patterson
The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein
The Last Oracle by James Rollins
Crossed Bones by Kathy Reichs
On Writing by Stephen King - for the fourth time

Latest books read:
Room by Emma Donohgue
The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Atlantis by Bob Mayer
The Real Men in Black by Nick Redfern
The Haunted Mesa by Louis Lamour

Yes, the books on CD do out number the read books. I've been doing a lot of driving for work lately.
It took me forever to get through The Weird Sisters by Brown. I think it was because I really didn't like the sisters all that much. There were quotes from The Bard scattered throughout because The Father was a Shakespearean scholar; however, Pratchett's The Wyrd Sisters was more of an homage to Will. Practchett used some Shakespearean themes and paraphrased quotes that fit in beautifully with this Disc World book. it was enchanting and made me want to read more. The other sisters...er...not so much.

Other than that one issue, I loved all of the above.
I'm now reading and enjoying a good old chase-mystery in The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters, first published in 1969 which is good for a reader to note so she doesn't say, "Why don't they just use the cell phone?"