2004 Books
52. The Courage to Dream (Margaret Daley, Love Inspired)
Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 252
Cutesy, better than some, but a bit unrealistic. Rachel Peters' flighty
parents have left her younger sister and brother to be raised by an aunt.
The aunt dies, and Rachel comes home to get to know her siblings and bring
them back to New York with her. Rachel is a chef with dreams of starting
her own business. She reconnects with Michael, her old love, since he is
still in their hometown and his son and her brother are best friends. Of
course, he is a practically perfect single father, and she is totally clueless.
Of course they work out their differences, and she stays to run the restauraunt
on the boat he is restoring.
12/31/04
51. Year's Best Fantasy #3 (ed. David G. Hartwell)
Rating: * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 495
Why do I always do this? I get in the mood for fantasy short stories,
but I am invariably disappointed. I don't "get" so many of them. And even
if I "get" them, I usually don't enjoy them. If you consider yourself a
literary snob, go for it. Otherwise, give this book a pass. Not one story
worth commenting on.
12/29/04
50. The Fairy Godmother (Mercedes Lackey)
Rating: * * * * * Read it!!! Alert
for fantasy lovers.
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 487
This is without question the best book I have read this year. In the
land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, there is a magic called "The Tradition"
that tries to force people to follow a certain "fairy tale" path. The problem
is, not all fairy tales end happily ever after. It is the job of the Fairy
Godmother to push "The Tradition" and keep this from happening. Elena is
a failed Cinderella (the only available Prince is just a child!) who is
offered a job as her Fairy Godmother's Apprentice. Then she meets a particularly
hopeless Prince who needs to be taught a lesson... "You are as ill-mannered,
as stubborn, and as stupid as an ass... So BE one!" Maybe I'm prejudiced,
because I grew up loving fairy tales (my introduction to fantasy), and
it's full of references to the stories I grew up with, but even if you
had never heard or read a single fairy tale, the book would still be a
great read. I mean, we are talking about Mercedes Lackey!
12/15/04
49. Home for Christmas (Colleen Coble, Carol Cox, Terry Fowler,
Gail Gaymer Martin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 348
These are interwoven novellas of four siblings who were separated as
small children as they are trying to find each other.
Heart Full of Love (Colleen Coble) * * * - Eden has spent her
adult life as a foster mother. She has recently adopted two-year-old Katie.
Now Josh, Katie's uncle, appears on the scene and wants his daughter's
child, since she is his only relative. He hopes that if he helps Eden find
her family, she will be more willing to give up Katie.
Ride the Clouds (Carol Cox) * * * - Crista has been bounced
from foster home to foster home, and refuses to trust anybody. She has
made a career as an efficiency expert. Brad has inherited a business he
has no knack for, and desperately needs her help. He decides to help her
find her family to try to help her find out why she was abandoned.
Don't Look Back (Terry Fowler) * * * - Angelina is a single
mother and owns a pharmacy. She has finally found the perfect nanny in
college student Melody. Then Melody's father Will moves to town, and feels
she is overworking the girl. He opens a stained glass shop next door to
the pharmacy. One day he has a customer named Crista who looks just like
Angelina, even though neither woman can see the resemblance. When Crista
calls in an order, he decides to do some research.
To Keep Me Warm (Gayle Gaymer Martin) * * * - Tim is a raising
a handicapped son on a factory worker's pay. He falls in love with Julie,
a nurse at the clinic where he takes his son, but feels she is too good
for him because she has a career and doesn't "need" him. Eden tracks them
all down, and the book ends with a touching sibling reunion right before
Christmas--where the fascination they all have with balloons is explained
by one last shared memory of their mother.
I like inspirational romance, but most end up disappointing me. I bought
this book a couple years ago because it looked good, and I've been saving
it ever since. It was worth the wait.
12/12/04
48. Mirror of Destiny (Andre Norton)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 394
Twilla, a healer's apprentice, is ordered to join a bunch of young
women who are being sent to a different land to marry the settlers. It
seems only married men can survive the perils of the forest. Twilla and
the leader's blind son Ylon escape to the forest where they are befriended
by the forest dwellers. They become embroiled in an internal war, then
join forces to keep the landsmen from cutting down the forest and strip
mining the land. Tree hugger propaganda, but still a very good book.
12/8/04
47. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(J.K. Rowling)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Children's Fantasy
Pages: 341
The second book keeps up the momentum of the
first. Fast, entertaining read.
46. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
(J.K. Rowling)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Children's Fantasy
Pages: 309
A fun book, a fast read, and I can see why kids
love it. The characterization is wonderful.
11/23/04
45. Impossible Things (Connie Willis)
Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 461
A book of short stories, either awesome or way
beyond my non-literary comprehension. Except for the few mentioned below,
assume my reaction was, "Huh?" and head scratching.
"Even the Queen" * * * *
Feminism has gone too far...or has it? A story
about things that will never change.
"Ado" * *
Censorship gone too far. Cute.
"Spice Pogrom" * * * * *
A hysterically funny romp through language barriers.
Every character gets exactly what he or she deserves.
"Winter's Tale" * * * *
A touching alternative history about Shakespeare's
wife.
"Jack" * * *
An intriguing look at London during the Blitz.
11/22/04
44. Ribbon of Years (Robin Lee Hatcher)
Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 302
Worth reading only because it's a fast read and
won't waste too much of your time and it's mildly interesting. Juliana
is looking for a house to buy and when she is looking at a potential home,
she finds a box of memorabilia. Friends of the owner meet and go through
the box and reminisce. The story is about how this "ordinary" woman
had such an impact on so many lives throughout her lifetime. Very preachy.
11/13/04
43. Steal Away (Linda Hall, Teri Blake-Addison
Series #1)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Mystery
Pages: 501
A well-known preacher hires Teri to find out
what happened to his wife when she vanished five years ago. When she begins
to search, she hears numerous stories, each one more wild than the last.
But what really happened is even more surprising. A fun read.
11/11/04
42. Genuine Lies (Nora Roberts)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Mainstream/Romance
Pages: 521
Eve Benedict, famous movie star, hires Julia
Summers, writer of celebrity bios, to write her authorized biography.
Only she knows too much and many people don't want it to be written. There
is a romance between Julia and Eve's stepson Paul Winthrop, but it's almost
incidental to the plot. It's Eve's story and the relationship between Eve
and Julia and which of Eve's many enemies is threatening them that keeps
you turning the pages. Worth reading.
11/9/04
41. Master and Fool (J.V. Jones, The Book
of Words, Vol. 3)
Rating: * * * 1/2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 645
It finishes the series with "The End," and it
is unquestionably the end. That's a bonus in itself. I hate thinking I've
read an entire series only to find out there is yet another book
coming out. Jack the baker's boy, Tawl the disillusioned knight, Melliandra
of the destiny so strong it drags others into it, all follow through to
their destiny. I'll admit, the origin of the prophecy was a little disappointing
to me, but that isn't much. It's a simple and straightforward plot, and
it works. I'll admit, I had hoped for quite the magic duel between Jack,
Kylock, and Baralis, but the way the author handled it was more appropriate
to the stories. Definitely a series worth reading!
10/25/04
40. A Man Betrayed (J.V. Jones, The Book of
Words, Vol. 2)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 598
This is not a first novel. You can tell.
Jones does an excellent job of building on what she started. Jack the baker's
boy, Melliandra the runaway lord's daughter, Tawl the disillusioned knight,
even Nabber the thief-turned-Tawl's-second have fates entertwining. The
vicious King Kylock is conquering his neighbors while Lord Maybor and Lord
Baralis are negotiating his wedding to the equally-evil Catherine of Bren.
Meanwhile, Melli is captured and sold as a slave...to none other than the
Duke of Bren. Mayhem, murder, and a hint of romance. The very notion of
laying out a plot this complex gives me a headache, but it makes for good
reading!
10/14/04
39. The Baker's Boy (J.V. Jones, The Book
of Words Vol. 1)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 552
This is a first novel. You can kind of tell,
yet in other ways you can't. I haven't read the second book yet, so I'm
still unsure how much is her style and how much is inexperience. It is
ambitious, that's for certain. You have intertwining stories of Jack, a
baker's boy, and Melliandra, daughter of the richest, most influential
lord in the country who is to be betrothed to the heir to the throne with
a feud between High Chancellor Lord Baralis and Melliandra's father,Lord
Maybor, the adventuring of the knight Tawl and the pickpocket Nabber, and
the scheming of Archbishop Tavalisk. And that's just the beginning. After
the first few chapters, I managed to sort out who was who and became engrossed
in the story. It's obvious who Jack really is and what part he plays, at
least to a certain extent, but the scheming keeps a person turning pages
and the characters are very well--sometimes almost too-well--drawn.
9/22/04
38. M.Y.T.H. Inc. in Action (Robert Asprin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 245
Not as good as the others, because the main character
is Skeeve's bodyguard Guido. The queen plans an invasion. The army is very
popular because every time she expands she lowers taxes. Guido and his
cousin Nunzio are assigned to join the army and try to make them less popular
with the civilians and thereby prevent a war. The problem is, no matter
what they try, it turns out to be a good thing instead of disrupting
things!
9/8/04
37. Mything Persons (Robert Asprin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 172
Some small-time swindlers use Skeeve's back door
to escape the Bazaar. The management at the Bazaar says that Skeeve and
Aahz have to either produce the swindlers or pay the fine. Aahz heads off
into this Limbo of vampires and ends up getting framed for murder. Skeeve
and friends come to his rescue.
9/2/04
36. Hit or Myth (Robert Asprin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 170
Aahz is spirited away by his family. Massha wants
to sign on as Skeeve's apprentice. King Roderick vanishes, and Skeeve has
to take his place. Klah is threatened by the Mob and its Fairy Godfather.
Skeeve fast talks them into relocating to the Bazaar. The Bazaar merchants
hire Skeeve to protect them from the Mob. The Mob hires Skeeve to help
them turn a profit. The Bazaar merchant puts him on retainer to make sure
the Mob stays away. If this makes sense, stay far, far away from these
books, because you're too close to the edge already!
9/2/04
35. Myth Directions (Robert Asprin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 202
Skeeve and Tanda go world-hopping in search of
the perfect birthday gift for Aahz. The result? The strangest three-way
game you've ever heard of, with the ugliest Trophy ever as the prize.
9/2/04
34. Another Fine Myth (Robert Asprin)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 200
When I read this series the first time, I thought
it was hysterical. I still think it's pretty good, although my taste in
humor has become slightly more sophisticated over the years. When Skeeve's
master is killed after playing a prank and removing the powers from a magician
he summoned from a different dimension, Aahz, the other magician, takes
on Skeeve as an apprentice, and together they go after the assassin. Along
the way, they pick up an odd assortment of companions, including a baby
dragon named Gleep who imprints on Skeeve. Warning: Puns abound!
9/2/04
33. Sweet Harmony (Felicia Mason, Love Inspired)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 247
The author is a personal friend, and I've watched
her writing improve over her numerous books. I would have liked this one
even if I didn't have a connection with the author. Kara is a too-serious
psychologist who gave up her dream of being a musician because of family
pressure to do the "right" thing and be a responsible oldest child. She
meets Marcus, a R & B singer who appears to be a stereotypical "star,"
which she despises. (In reality, Marcus uses the benefits of his stardom
to quietly support a philanthropic foundation he started and he surrounds
himself with people to create the "family" he never had growing up an orphan.)
Sparks fly, and it doesn't help matters any that Kara's younger sister
Patrice is a major fan of his, and is everything Kara wanted to be and
couldn't. Of course it all gets resolved in the end, and they all live
happily ever after, but it left me with an unsettled feeling. I guess I
took the story too personally and had trouble believing that Kara really
was happy with her life and content to stay in the background and write
songs and let her sister be the one to go on to be the star.
8/26/04
32. True Courage (Dee Henderson, Uncommon
Heroes Book #4)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 333
Luke Falcon is an FBI agent. Caroline Lane is
a fifth grade teacher. They meet when Luke's cousin Mark marries Caroline's
sister Sharon. They have been dating for a year when Mark, Sharon, and
Sharon's son Benjamin all vanish enroute to a vacation cabin. Luke and
Caroline work to find them, and then just when they think they have it
all wrapped up, Caroline ends up trading places with Sharon as hostage,
and there is a new search underway to find Caroline. Well-developed characters
and interesting reading, though not quite on a par with the SEAL books.
8/23/04
31. Bound with Love (Joan Croston, Cathy Marie
Hake, Kelly Eileen Hake, Joyce Livingston)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 350
This is a four-novella omnibus, based on a Gutenberg
Bible.
Right from the Start (Cathy Marie Hake)
* * * - Germany, 1715. Lorice's father has died and she discovers she has
been betrothed from infancy to the son of their family's enemy, Gareth.
She travels with her entourage and a neighbor to her fiance's to see if
there is a severance document. There is not, and they marry and fall in
love. The problem is, somebody is trying to kill or at least scare one
of them. While I am against arranged bethrothals and subservient wives,
Lorice is full of spunk and the story is hysterical.
A Treasure Worth Keeping (Kelly Eileen
Hake) * * * - Regency England, 1832. Paige Turner (seriously!) and her
father go about restoring libraries. They arrive at Stephen's home just
as his mother is throwing a huge surprise bash to try yet again to get
him engaged to one of the eligible ladies. Amid the festivities--where
Paige is very much a misfit--Paige and her father and Stephen work in his
library. Paige discovers a hidden room with the treasure of the Gutenberg
Bible. Of course Paige and Stephen fall in love despite his mother's matchmaking
attempts to hook him up with someone of his station. The author's bio says
she recently graduated high school. I might as well put down my
pen already!
Of Immeasurable Worth (Joan Croston) *
* 1/2 - London, 1940. Ann helps her grandfather run an antique bookstore
and restoration business in London. Peter is a frequent visitor, a college
professor doing research, actually a cover for being part of a ring sneaking
valuable books out of London before Hitler can get them. Ann's grandfather
fears for both Ann and the family treasure, the Gutenberg Bible, so he
works with Peter to get her and the book on the same ship he is sailing
on. As the war approaches London, Ann and Peter are falling in love. Pre-
and early-war torn London is fascinating, but once they get on the ship
the story falls flat. A mysterious man tries to steal the disguised volume,
Peter rescues it, and they apparently live happily ever after.
The Long Road Home (Joyce Livingston)
* * - Present-day USA. Nick, a former troublemaker led to Christ by his
parole officer Jacob and now a college senior falls in love with Angela,
a hardened waitress. He is called to Ecuador, she can't understand and
breaks it off, and they get back together. Jacob dies and leaves everything
to Nick, including the Gutenberg Bible, which he is supposed to sell to
make things right with a little church he trashed as a teenager. Angela
is so moved she repents on the spot and they move to Ecuador and live happily
ever after. Lame. Too bad it couldn't carry out the promise of the first
two stories!
8/17/04
30. Autumn Promises (Kate Welsh, Love Inspired)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
Another Laurel Glen book, fresh out this month.
Not as good as the others--maybe they're growing old? Meg Taggart lost
her one and only love in a war, leaving her pregnant. Evan Alton adopted
him, then went back on all the promises he made about telling him about
her and letting him find her. Now he is back in the picture. They have
mutual twin grandchildren, and Jack's wife Beth lands in the hospital soon
after the birth with a severe infection. Meg joins Evan at his ranch to
help care for the babies. They fall in love but Meg thinks Evan loves the
ranch more than her because he refuses to leave it and Evan thinks Meg
doesn't want to be tied down because she loves to travel. Of course they
reach a compromise and live happily ever after. It should be rated 2 1/2,
but the third star is just because I've always liked Meg.
8/12/04
29. Abiding Love (Kate Welsh, Love Inspired)
Rating: * * * 1/2
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
A new Laurel Glen book! I think I missed the
one before it, but it didn't harm the story. Alexandra Leighton is fleeing
an abusive marriage. Adam Boyer has retired from the SEALs to raise his
teenage son Mark after his ex-wife and her husband are killed in an accident.
They become acquainted when Xandra begins working with his troubled son.
Despite the bad blood between the Leightons and the Boyers and assorted
complications including the interference of Mark (who thinks his dad should
marry his Aunt Skyler--Xandra is his friend) the return of Xandra's
abusive ex-husband, they fall in love. Not as humorous as the other Laurel
Glen books, but very much worth reading.
8/11/04
28. Heaven's Kiss (Lois Richer, Love
Inspired)
Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
I bought this book back in January, and I'm not
sure why. I guess I was in a reading mood and I like to read about tough
women trying to make a go of ranching on their own. This book does have
that. Dani has been betrayed by a man she thought she loved who just used
her and stole her writing. Then her father dies and leaves her the ranch
and a mountain of debt, which she is determined to clear. Lucas is a new
doctor, filling in, and not sure he wants to settle down. They meet at
tryouts for a play Dani has written and is producing for a fundraiser
for the church. There is the quaint matchmaker town matriarch Miss Blessing,
with her almost psychic (God-given) ability to know what to do. While they
are falling in love, Lucas is trying to decide if he can commit to the
town, and Dani is trying desperately to hang onto the farm. There is a
slight mystery over some of the debt that is never satisfactorily resolved--just
a red herring--that could have saved the book if it had been worked with.
It was mildly cute, not a major waste of time.
8/9/04
27. True Honor (Dee Henderson, Uncommon Heroes
Book #3)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 350
Awesome book! Darcy is a former CIA agent, retired
to a farm in North Dakota. She comes back to duty as a favor to a friend
(and to her partner), and ends up victim of an assassination attempt at
the same time other agents are killed two days before the September 11th
attack occurs. She is reactivated to go after a man who knew 9/11 would
happen, and who was profiting by terrorist attacks around the globe. Sam
is a SEAL. They meet by accident at his best friend's wedding where Darcy
is undercover and the assassination attempt occurs. Sam is first drawn
into the fray, then the SEALs are sent to deal with the terrorists the
CIA is hunting down. What I like best about Henderson's books is that she
allows her female characters to be every bit as smart as the males. Early
on in the book, Darcy assures Sam that if she is in disguise, even he would
not know her, but he doesn't really believe her. My favorite scene in the
story is where she is meeting with her Russian counterpart/friend Sergey,
and she ditches the other operatives. Sam totally freaks out when she vanishes,
and is still searching after her meeting is done and she is sitting mere
feet away from him. Then--in typical male fashion--he gets mad at her for
taking off on her own, not understanding that, unlike the SEALs where the
team is everything, sometimes a spy has to go it alone. I also liked that,
other than telling Sergey it had better be worth the official reprimand
she's going to get, she admits she's not used to having somebody worrying
about her, but she never apologizes for following her own judgment, and
she never suffers any repercussions for it. You know she would do it again
without a qualm. And my second favorite part was toward the end of the
book where she thinks Sergey has been killed. They find his empty boat,
with a note for her in the code they were trying to break--reminding her
that he's hard to kill. It was such a good book, I wish I had the next
one!
8/4/04
26. True Valor (Dee Henderson, Uncommon Heroes
Book #2)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 338
This one did what the previous book didn't quite
manage. It really got into the work of Navy fighter pilot Grace and pararescue
jumper Bruce. They are trying to establish a relationship between the demands
of their two careers, and this thread weaves through their adventures.
And then Grace is shot down, and Bruce has to rescue her, and she may never
fly again... This book is more like what I have come to expect from Henderson.
7/22/04
25. True Devotion (Dee Henderson, Uncommon
Heroes Book #1)
Rating: * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 329
This should have been five stars, being a Dee
Henderson, but it was missing...something. It was too short for the story
it told, too interesting to cram into this few pages. The story itself
was very realistic, though, and she has done her homework about the SEALs.
Kerry's husband Nick was a SEAL, killed three years ago saving his commander
and now Kelly's best friend, Joe. Now Kelly and Joe have started dating,
but an interesting new man, Charles, and his charming teenage son, Ryan,
have entered the picture. And the man responsible for Nick's death is back,
and Kelly is in danger. Henderson treats the story differently than most
adventure writers would, but it is very much Henderson!
7/13/04
24. Diplomatic Immunity (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 367
I don't know if this will be the last of the
Vorkosigan saga, but, if it is, the ending is a good one. Miles and Ekaterin
are just finishing up their honeymoon and in a hurry to get home to the
twins they left "cooking" in replicators when Emperor Gregor calls on Lord
Auditor Miles to find out why the "quaddies" (genetically engineered humans
with their own world) have impounded a Komarran merchant ship--and not
just any merchant ship, but one belonging personally to Emperor Gregor's
Komarran bride Laisa's family. We have the ongoing tension between the
Barrayarans and Komarrans, prejudice between "downsiders" and "quaddies,"
a lot of bureaucracy, biological weapons, and nobody seems to know why
the Cetagandans are all upset at Barrayar and about ready to start a war.
Miles discovers that one passenger has captured a Cetagandan Star Creche
child-ship bound for one of Cetaganda's outlying planets...and made it
look like Barrayar's fault. Miles has to recover from infection by a biological
weapon, smooth things over for the Barrayans and the Cetagandans, satisfiy
the quaddies' bureaucracy, and get home in time for the birth of his babies.
7/8/04
23. A Civil Campaign (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 534
Miles wants Ekaterin, and has a clever plan to
woo her. Ekaterin is being badgered by more suitors than she can handle,
but she just wants to be not married for awhile. Mark wants whatever Kareen
wants. Kareen doesn't know what she wants. And Ivan just wants to get to
keep the girl for a change... Only Lady Donna, the lady he has in mind,
wants a change of her own--a sex change. And everybody wants Emperor Gregor's
wedding to go off without a hitch. Regency romance meets science fiction...
Defies description, but it's absolutely hysterical.
7/3/04
22. Komarr (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 366
Back to Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, now an
Imperial Auditor. He tags along with Auditor Vorthys to investigate a space
accident on Komarr, and, of course, ends up with more than he bargained
for. They end up staying at Vorthys' niece's home, because her husband
works in the terraforming project that was damaged, and Miles finds himself
falling in love with the beautiful Ekaterin as they work to unravel an
extremely well thought out plot against Barrayar.
6/24/04
21. The Scarlet Thread (Francine Rivers)
Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 462
The book begins with Sierra Madrid's husband
Alex calling her to inform her that he had accepted a job in California
and a real estate agent was coming by to look at the house that day. She
is stunned. She had no clue he was even thinking of changing jobs. She
runs to her mother. Her mother is not at all sympathetic and tells her
it's time for her to allow Alex to follow his dreams. And so Sierra
and Alex and their kids Carolyn and Clanton move to California to
an apartment that she hates, and Alex loses himself in his work, never
coming home. Eventually he decides they need to buy a house, and Sierra's
decorating skills aren't good enough, they need to hire a professional
decorator. And so he runs roughshod over her wishes once again. She finally
makes a few friends at the local country club, and he tells her she has
to get a job to pay the bills. Then Sierra learns that her mother has cancer.
She tries to call Alex, but he is in a meeting. She asks his secretary
to give him a message, which she does, but he never returns her call. When
he comes home late that night and demands to know why she's packing, she
says, "You'd know if you'd have returned my call." He replies unapologetically,
"I figured if it was really important, you'd call back." And so she goes
home for a month till her mother dies. Alex comes home for the funeral,
but leaves the next day, not at all interested in comforting her. Finally
she figures out he is having an affair, and they split up. She tears out
of work all upset and almost gets in a wreck but she's stopped for speeding
by a Christian policeman who invites her to church. She starts to attend
his church, becomes a Christian, and begins to realize it's all her
fault. Even when she and Alex begin to work things out again, he never
really apologizes, but she feels guilty. When she learns the highly-educated
Elizabeth who he had the affair with has a hard background, she even feels
guilty for that! If she hadn't been so inconsiderate, Alex would
have never had an affair with Elizabeth, and she wouldn't have gotten hurt.
At that point, I about threw the book across the room. It's mixed in with
the diary of a pioneer, but not enough to really get into that story. In
the end, Sierra realizes if things hadn't gone the way they had, she would
have never become a Christian, so even the affair was God's Will. Sounds
to me more like free will and man's choice, not God's Will! Don't waste
your time. I've wasted too much effort in writing about this book already.
6/12/04
20. Memory (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 462
Miles finds himself stuck on Barrayar after complications
from his cryo-revival get him booted out of ImpSec. He loses it all--Admiral
Naismith, and, he feels, himself as well. His not-as-stupid-as-he-likes-to-seem
cousin Ivan forces him to come back to life. His friend Duv Galeni (Mirror
Dance) finally finds a love interest, and loses her--to Emperor Gregor
himself, after Miles introduces them. During the chaos of dealing with
one love-besotted friend, one love-lost friend, and the planning of a royal
betrothal, Simon Illyan, Chief of Imperial Security, collapses when his
experimental memory chip crashes. Miles grew up with "Uncle Simon," and
is upset that nobody is allowed to see him. He goes over the head of General
Haroche, the temporary head of ImpSec, to beg Emperor Gregor for an Imperial
Auditor to accompany him to see Illyan. Instead, Gregor appoints Miles
as a temporary Imperial Auditor, assigning him to investigate the treatment
and investigation of Illyan's situation, making him basically one of the
most powerful people on Barrayar. (Yes, he thrives on it!) The first thing
Miles does is have the surgeons yank the eidetic memory chip, and part
of the story is Illyan having to relearn after 35 years how to remember
like a normal person. Miles brings him home with him, and soon learns that
Illyan and Ivan's mother Alys Vorpatril have more than just a friendship
going on. (Ivan is horrified, of course.) Miles discovers that the chip
has been sabotaged, and continues his investigation. He is framed, but
quickly cleared. Then Duv Galeni is accused, and acting Chief of ImpSec
Haroche offers Miles his heart's desire if he will just close the investigation.
He can have Admiral Naismith and the Dendarii Mercenaries back. All he
has to do is sacrifice his friend, a minor official in ImpSec, who he knows
has to be innocent despite the evidence, and he can have back everything
he lost. He chooses to follow the investigation through to the bitter end
to clear his friend and discover the real saboteur, but not without some
major soul searching. Of course it ends happily ever after. Simon Illyan
is well and finally enjoying retirement, and even learns to fish. Gregor
and Laisa are officially engaged. Duv Galeni finds a new love. And Miles
is rewarded with the perfect position for himself, Lord Miles Vorkosigan,
and turns over the Dendarii Mercenaries to Elli Quinn.
6/3/04
19. Mirror Dance (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 560
Miles' clone Mark poses as Miles one more time,
in an attempt to free the clones on Jackson's Whole. He almost succeeds,
gets himself and "his" people kidnapped, and Miles comes to the rescue.
In the ensuing disaster, Miles gets killed (well, more or less) and his
cryochamber gets misplaced. Mark goes back to Barrayar, meets his family,
and launches a search for Miles. During the process, he finds himself.
This is really Mark's story, as he goes from a clone created and raised
with only one goal in life, to "become" Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to becoming
his own person, with personality and strengths very different from Miles.
I didn't like it at first--I wanted to read about Miles!--but it
soon grew on me.
5/26/04
18. Brothers in Arms (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 338
While visiting Earth to do repairs on his ships,
Lord Miles Vorkosigan is kidnapped and replaced by his clone in a complicated
plot within a plot within a plot. The clone's complication is that his
people did not realize that that Lord Miles Vorkosigan is also Admiral
Naismith. Miles' complication is that, technically, according to his forward-thinking
Betan side of the family, this clone is legally his brother Lord Mark Pierre
Vorkosigan, and his mother would have his hide if anything happened to
his brother! Besides, it's been a lonely life for Miles, and he kind of
likes the idea of having a brother. Except how can he rescue his brother
when he's busy trying to kill him?
5/13/04
17. Borders of Infinity (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 311
Some of the best novellas I've ever read, wrapped
in a framework. Miles Vorkosigan is flat on his back in the hospital after
another bone replacement surgery. Illyan, the head of Imperial Security,
takes advantage of his confinement to demand answers to some of his more
outrageous expenditures, because his father's enemies are accusing him
of misappropriating imperial funds. Each explanation is a novella.
"The Mountains of Mourning"
I read this first in Young Miles. Miles--himself
a "mutant"--is sent to investigate the murder of an infant under his father's
protection. Miles needs to determine the murderer and make an example of
him or her. It has the best ending I have ever read. When Miles finishes
his investigation, he stops by the infant's grave before leaving:
Miles had sworn his officer's oath to
the Emperor less than two weeks ago, puffed with pride at his achievement.
In his secret mind he had imagined himself keeping that oath through blazing
battle, enemy torture, what-have-you, even while sharing cynical cracks
afterward with Ivan about archaic dress swords and the sort of people who
insisted on wearing them.
But in the dark of subtler temptations, those
which hurt without heroism for consolation, he forsaw, the Emperor would
no longer be the symbol of Barrayar in his heart.
Peace be to you, small lady, he thought
to Raina. You've won a twisted poor modern knight, to wear your favor
on his sleeve. But it's a twisted poor world we were both born into, that
rejects us without mercy and ejects us without consultation. At least I
won't just tilt at windmills for you. I'll send in sappers to mine the
twirling suckers, and blast them into the sky. ...
He knew who he served now. And why he could not
quit. And why he must not fail.
"Labyrinth"
How do you lose half a shipment of very expensive
armaments? Miles, as Admiral Naismith with his Dendarii Mercenaries, is
sent undercover to rescue a genetics scientist from a corrupt planet where
he has been doing genetic mutations on demand. Of course it can't be that
simple. They meet a "quaddie," a "natural" mutant (as opposed to genetically
modified) and his Captain Bel Thorne falls head-over-heels for this beautiful
musician Nicol, and creates an incident when her "employer" threatens to
offer a genetic sample of her to his competition. They flee back to the
ship, and Nicol escapes and joins them. Then the scientist appears as scheduled,
only he informs them he has "misplaced" some very important genetic samples,
and he refuses to leave without them. He explains that they are stored
in the one remaining "monster" of a failed experiment to create a breed
of warriors. He wants Miles to rescue the samples and be merciful and kill
the monster. Miles agrees, is captured, and thrown to the "monster," who
turns out to be a genetically-modified 16-year-old girl. Of course Miles
has to rescue Taura...
"The Borders of Infinity"
Miles infiltrates a POW camp and uses their meal
rations to drill them in preparation for rescue. Of course, first he has
to get everybody to work together instead of trying to kill each other...
5/6/04
16. Cetaganda (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 302
More Lieutenant Miles Verkosigan than Admiral
Miles Naismith this time, Miles and his less-than-intelligent cousin Ivan
Vorpatril have been sent to Barrayar's former enemy Cetaganda on a diplomatic
mission to honor the late empress. They are attacked when they go to leave
the shuttle, and Miles spends the rest of the visit trying to figure out
what's going on. During the attack he ends up with an ancient artifact
of Cegatanda which gets him involved in a plot against Cetaganda. Meanwhile,
somebody is playing pranks on Ivan and him, pranks that turn into assassination
attempts. And all the Barrayaran embassy wants is for Miles to stay out
of trouble for a change...
5/5/04
15. Young Miles (Lois McMaster Bujold, formerly
published as The Warrior's Apprentice, "The Mountains of Mourning"
from Borders of Infinity, and The Vor Game)
Rating: * * * * *
Genre: SF
Pages: 838
This book doesn't have the depth of the previous
omnibus of the first two volumes of the Vorkosigan Saga, but it doesn't
need it. It stll rates as a lister because I loved it, even if it doesn't
have the universal appeal. Now, this book is what I expected of
Bujold. It's funny and "over the top," with a larger than life protagonist,
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, handicapped son of Cordelia Naismith and Lord
Aral Vorkosigan. All Miles wants is to be a good officer and work his way
up the ranks and earn his dad's respect. What really happens is he flunks
out of officer academy, goes to visit his grandmother on Beta and accidentally
starts a mercenary fleet, gets put in the academy as a "punishment" where
they discover he has "a little problem with subordination," gets stuck
on an Arctic-style outpost where he leads a revolt against a sadistic commander,
gets dumped on Imperial Security because no other commander wants him,
runs into runaway Emperor Gregor Vorbarra, rescues him from an assassination
plot, reacquires the Dendarii mercenary fleet, and thwarts an interstellar
invasion. All before he turns 21. Yes, it is a page-turner. All
800+ pages are not action-packed, but action-crammed.
5/2/04
14. Cordelia's Honor (Lois McMaster Bujold,
formerly published as Shards of Honor and Barrayar)
Rating: * * * * * Read
it!!! Alert
Genre: SF
Pages: 596
I read one of Bujold's books previously (Ethan
of Athos), so I thought I knew what to expect. I expected a hysterically
funny, touching, fast-reading adventure, light SF novel. I did not expect
a love story. I thought it was about adventure, and it was, but it
was even more about love. Love between Cordelia Naismith, an Expeditionary
Force captain from a progressive, modern planet, and Aral Vorkosigan, a
warrior lord from a backwards planet recovering from a devastating war,
who should have been enemies except for mutual honor from the start. The
love of a high-ranking officer for his people. The love of a brain-damaged
soldier for the one woman who considers him a hero, and for the beautiful
daughter that he has chosen to raise. The love between a disabled war hero
and a "serving woman" aka bodyguard who, despite her skill, has never been
allowed to be a solder because of her gender. The love between an old,
retired, ultra-conservative soldier and his progressive-minded son. The
love between said soldier and his even more-progressive daughter-in-law.
The love of a mother for her unborn child, and her determination to allow
him to survive at any cost. And, lastly, the reluctant love of an old man
for the handicapped grandson he swore to disown if his son allowed him
to be born. And, yes, there is indeed plenty of adventure and laugh-out-loud
parts! And the rest of the series is about the adventures of the disabled
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan making his own place on a warrior planet where
"imperfect" people are normally disposed of at birth. It can only get better!
4/20/04
13. Margaret's Peace (Linda Hall)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 308
Margaret inherits the family old beach house
in Maine. After their daughter Aislinn died, her husband Robin disappeared,
so Margaret comes to the beach house to get her life together. Once there,
she becomes wrapped up in the mysterious death of her sister Norma Ann,
her strange cousin Donna, and Bradley, the mentally-handicapped boy next
door. She makes friends with Roland, a writer who tells the story of the
captain's wife the house was built for, and Chris, a cop-turned-P.I. who
helps her figure out solve the family mystery and falls in love with her
in the process. Margaret has to choose between this new love or rebuilding
a life with her husband. The ending is satisfactory, but sad in a way.
And you know that it will be, because both men love her, and both men are
very likeable.
12. Montana Sky (Nora Roberts)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Mainstream/Romance
Pages: 366
OK, now I see what Nora Roberts is all about.
At one point I was so grossed-out over one incident I was about to toss
the book, but I continued reading, and two pages later I was laughing hysterically.
I'm not sure what genre this is. It's a romance. It's a mystery. It has
a touch of horror. Jack Mercy has this humongous ranch in Montana. When
he dies, he leaves it equally to his three daughters by three different
wives with the stipulation that they live there for one year, or else it
all goes to charity. There was no purpose to that. He was just that mean.
Willa, the youngest, grew up there only because her mother died before
he could throw her away. She loved her father desperately and spent her
life trying to please him. That he still left her only a third shows how
he didn't regard her with any more interest than her sisters despite it.
Lily, the middle daughter, has left an abusive marriage but is being stalked
by her ex who won't accept that she is no longer "his." She takes to the
farm, looks on it as a haven, and promptly falls in love with Willa's half
brother Adam. Tess, the oldest, is a Hollywood screenwriter with no interest
in being stuck out in the boonies, but wants the money. Their father has
also assigned the "cowboy lawyer" Will and the next-door (well, next ranch
over) neighbor Ben to oversee the ranch for the first year. He didn't credit
a mere woman, even Willa, with the brains to run the outfit. Plus, he has
always been determined to marry Willa to Ben to join their spreads, and
is still trying to control her from beyond the grave. Some of the humor
comes from Tess's battle to learn ranch life (very much against her will).
The rest of the humor comes from Willa and Ben's ongoing love/hate relationship
and Tess's attempts to turn Willa into a lady. It's well-written, but I
didn't like the horror, and the ending doesn't work for me.
11. Gibbon's Decline and Fall (Sheri S. Tepper)
Rating: * * * *
Genre: Science Fiction/Alternate History
Pages: 465
Sheri S. Tepper is not for everybody, although
I think The Gate to Women's Country should be required reading.
Whether you agree with her views or not, I can guarantee she will make
you think. I love her books when I'm in the mood for something "deep."
This takes place in America in 2000, sort of an alternate history. The
ultra-radical right wing is coming into power, determined to put women
back in their "place." They are headed by the Alliance, a political party
based on the superiority of men. Women everywhere are being oppressed.
Caroline is a semi-retired lawyer, and her daughter asks her to defend
a girl who discarded her baby in a dumpster. Babies are discarded every
day, but the Alliance has decided to make Lolly Ashaler an example to further
their cause. As Caroline begins to prepare her defense, she enlists the
help of her five college friends, and the six of them end up searching
for what is behind the Alliance. The answer is mind-bending and way out
there, but she makes it work, and the ending is the only possible one for
the story.
3/31/04
10. Chat Room (Linda Hall, Teri Blake-Addison
Series #2)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Mystery
Pages: 311
Glynis' friend Kim disappears and she hires Teri
to find her. Meanwhile, Glynis is becoming deeply involved in a "Christian"
chat room that of course is really a cult. (I'm not giving anything away--it's
blatantly obvious from the start.) Negative... The stereotypical 30-something
old maid who lives her life entirely online and withdraws from the "real"
world. Positive... They got the technology right. The last "evil chat room"
book I read was supposedly current, but had an Apple IIe on the cover and
the story wasn't much better.
3/20/04
9. Katheryn's Secret (Linda Hall)
Rating: * * * *
Genre: Inspirational
Pages: 305
It doesn't preach. It trashes the hell-and-damnation
way I also was raised. It teaches the difference. It's a mystery,
sort of. A gothic, sort of. Mostly it's a family story with lots of misunderstandings
and heartaches that need to be healed. Sharon Colbrook is a well-known
mystery writer. She inherits a house on the beach in Maine from an eccentric
Aunt Katie that only she adored. She inherited jointly with her brother
Dean, who has disappeared and not been heard from in 25 years. She and
her husband Jeff travel to Maine and get wrapped up in all the mystery.
Meanwhile, their daughter Natasha returns from Ireland to recover from
a broken heart, and shows up on their doorstep. Her father, Mack, is slowly
learning the error of the rigid way he was raised and raised his chidren.
Natasha strikes up a close friendship with the delightful Cos, Aunt Katie's
boyfriend of her latter years. And then there is Doreen, the skittish maid,
and her overprotective brother Russ. Between them all, they piece together
a story of horrendous treatment because of religious zealotry and solve
an old murder. A lister? I'm not sure. But, oh, so close to being one!!!
8. An Echo of Hope (Dianna Crawford, Reardon
Valley #3)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 318
Hope Reardon had one love in her life, Michael
Flanagan, but his father was an arsonist, a "barn burner." Michael is accused
of setting a fire at her father's, and, even though he was with Hope at
the time, even her father prefers to believe his family's reputation over
her witness, and they are run out of town. After many years, Hope eventually
gives up and marries Ezra Underwood, a young widower, in a loveless match
that produces her two-year-old son, Timmy. The story begins seven months
after Ezra has been killed in the War of 1812. Hope and Timmy are living
with her in-laws and their good-for-nothing son Joel. The Reardon Valley
men return from the war, with Michael Flanagan, who was with Ezra when
he died and has a package from him with letters to each of them. In Hope's,
he apologizes for not treating her right, expresses his gladness that he
will soon be with his first wife, Becky, his one true love, and says, "My
gift to you is the messenger." Hope and Michael have never stopped loving
each other, and plan to find a way to be together, while Joel--who has
always coveted anything that belonged to Ezra--schemes to drive Michael
out of the valley again and force Hope to marry him. The story is about
Michael "proving" himself in the valley and both Hope and Michael learning
to forgive their parents. Forgiveness is the theme of the story, but there
is such a strong thread of love running through it. Not just romantic love,
but love for family and neighbors. I think that's what I enjoyed most about
the story.
3/11/04
7. Lady of the River (Dianna Crawford, Reardon
Valley #2)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 318
Max Bremmer has returned from his adventuring
all shot up after being ambushed, crippled and upset at losing his chance
at joining the Lewis and Clark expedition. Belinda Gregg and her parents
live away from the settlement, having been chased off from their previous
homes by church zealots who accused her mother of being a witch because
of her bouts of insanity. They have a gorgeous home beyond what potters
could afford because Felicity's father pays Chris handsomely to keep her
away from their plantation so nobody will know about her problems, but
they live in isolation. Max Bremmer sees Belinda returning home after getting
medicine to hopefully help her mother after one of her bouts, and is captivated
by her beauty. He tells his father about her, and he knows who they are,
and guesses that if she was alone, they need help. Rolf and Max head out
to her place, and Rolf prays and helps calm her mother, and the family
realizes that the Bremmers have seen them at their worst and are not judging
them. Seeking an excuse to visit his "lady of the river" again, Max returns
in a few days with more herbs he hopes will help her mother. He invites
her to dinner, and her parents practically push her into accepting, which
begins their slow joining of the community. Everything is on its way to
a happy conclusion when Max's mother learns about Felicity's "madness"
and throws a fit over Max marrying her and possibly having "tainted" children.
There is upheaval, and misunderstandings, and learning afresh that sometimes
one just has to trust God's will. The characters are real, and far from
perfect, forever falling and picking themselves back up and learning from
their mistakes. That's what sets Ms. Crawford's books apart from much of
the other inspirational romance I read.
3/9/04
6. A Home in the Valley (Dianna Crawford,
Reardon Valley #1)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 321
Sabina Erhardt has been gambled away by her stepfather--at
a huge revival meeting. Her mother tells her to run away rather than marry
the brutal gambler who has won her. She befriends the Clay children, Philip,
Howie, Delia, and cute/feisty little Sammy, who stow her away in their
wagon. When their father, widower Baxter Clay, discovers her, they convince
him to let her go West with them to their home in Reardon Valley to help
care for them. Of course she falls in love with him and he falls in love
with her, but he is determined to marry the classy and educated Amanda
to provide a "proper" upbringing for his kids. Amanda wants nothing to
do with the farm and betrays Sabina to her would-be husband, Clay buys
him off, her mother and (reformed) stepfather track her down, and they
all live happily ever after. It's actually a very good book, despite the
predictability. I also liked her first trilogy, The Reardon Brothers.
3/4/04
5. Twin Blessings (Carolyne Aarsen, Love Inspired)
Rating: * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 249
Straitlaced and strict Logan Napier is guardian
for his 10-year-old twin nieces Brittany and Bethany. He hires free spirited
stained glass artist Sandra Bachman to tutor them. She learns the value
of being responsible and how she really did owe her dad for paying for
the teaching education she never wanted in the first place. He doesn't
learn a whole lot from her. The twins decide to play matchmaker. Yep, another
adorably-precocious-children-playing-matchmaker story. The Parent Trap
was good, but it's been done to death since.
4. A Painted House (John Grisham)
Rating: * * 1/2
Genre: Mainstream
Pages: 465
Back a couple years ago when this book first
came out, it was hotly discussed at the book club I occasionally attended.
People either loved it or hated it because it was so different from his
other books. Grisham is an excellent writer, and this was a page-turner
like all of his books. If that's all you're looking for, you won't be disappointed,
but don't expect it to be like his other books, because it isn't.
The plot in a nutshell: Man vs. the elements and man is losing. Of course
man is losing--we're talking about farming! The story is told through the
viewpoint of seven-year-old Luke Chandler, as his parents and grandparents,
a bunch of Mexicans, and a bunch of hill people race to harvest the cotton
crop. Throw in a couple murders for spice, resolved in a manner appropriate
for the area, and a minor mystery that's figured out almost as quickly
as it's discovered. It's interesting enough--I would have given it a solid
three stars except for one major thing. It's told as sort of a "coming
of age" story, and the things Luke thought and felt and did would have
been much more appropriate for a twelve-year-old than a seven-year-old.
I know seven-year-olds, and no seven-year-old would act the way he did!
I found that extremely jarring, and it kept pulling me out of the story.
I knock off half a star for that alone. He could have made the kid twelve
and made no other changes, and it would have worked. The other thing I
didn't like was that it was
too realistic. A friend of mine likes
to say that real life is depressing enough, and she certainly doesn't want
to read about it, because she reads to escape reality. While I have
never lived on a cotton farm, I grew up on a grain farm, and it's just
as bad. Granted, we lived a bit above the "romantic" poverty level of the
characters in the story, but the life is the same. If the crops are good,
the market is flooded and prices drop. If the crops are lousy, prices are
sky high, not that it does the farmer any good. A tornado, a hailstorm,
or even rain at the wrong time can wipe out an entire year's labor and
income. You borrow money to buy seed, and pray everything comes together
so you can pay it back at harvest time. If you're really lucky, you have
something
over to live on till next spring when you borrow against the next potential
crop. I've
lived that life. I really didn't need to read
about it!
2/18/04
3. Porch Swings & Picket Fences: Love in a Small Town (Lisa
Tawn Bergren, Barbara Jean Hicks, Jane Orcutt, Suzy Pizzuti)
Rating: **
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 335
Four-novella omnibus.
Tarnished Silver (Lisa Tawn Bergen) * * - Stained glass artist
Jemma Stuart comes to small-town Iowa from New York to restore some windows
in an old church and falls in love with the pastor. It's actually a decent
story, despite being fluff. I thought it was fascinating to get a peek
into a fascinating career with which I am totally unfamiliar. The down
side... Why, when writers write about small town life, do they have to
make it this "idyllic" place to live, with all the stereotypical elements
of small town life? The author starts the book by having Jemma notice a
sign for a cornhusk craft show, and she thinks now she knows she's in a
small town. But this craft show never surfaces in the story--she apparently
just mentioned it because, well, Iowa...small town...corn... You know.
But my first thought was, "This is taking place in spring! Where
are they going to find cornhusks?" So all it did was jar me out of the
story and make me wonder if the author really did her homework.
Twice in a Blue Moon (Barbara Jean Hicks) * - Widow Cait Reilly
and widower Jack Van Hooten were childhood best friends, but went their
separate ways. Both had very happy marriages but lost their spouses. Jack
comes home to visit younger sister Bonny who is Cait's current best friend.
Cait and Jack meet up and fall in love. Bonny gets jealous, setting the
stage for a book with her own story, and despite a few minor mishaps Cait
and Jack get married and live happily ever after. Not much of a plot, tries
too hard to be funny. (Although I couldn't help laughing once or twice.)
Texas Two-Step (Jane Orcutt) * * * - Molly Fuller comes home
to hear her Great-Aunt Electra's will and end her marriage to Clay only
to find out her great-aunt has left the house to both her and Clay but
if they don't live together there for six months, it is to be razed. Actually,
the story is rather sweet, despite the small-town stereotyping.
The Boy Next Door (Suzy Pizzuti) * - Lucy Burns and Trevor Bacon
grew up together in a duplex. Trevor returns home and they discover they
have always loved each other, but, reather than admit it, they try to match
each other up with assorted weird characters. I think it's supposed to
be funny, but I was underwhelmed.
2/10/04
2. Shadow Star (George Lucas and Chris Claremont)
Rating: * * * * * Read it!!! Alert
for fantasy lovers.
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 531 (I will subtract 200 for my page count, because I started
it last year)
Sequel to Shadow Moon and Shadow Dawn. The trilogy is
the sequel to the movie Willow, and does not disappoint. This trilogy
is definitely on my Best Books List! You need to read all three books.
Get to know Thorn Drumheller (aka Willow) and Elora Danan all grown up.
The trilogy starts when Elora Danan turns one year old, then fast-forwards
and continues on from when she is a spoiled rotten, bratty, 12-year-old,
who is, after all, supposed to be the savior of their world! Follow her
life as she grows up and becomes un-bratty (with a little help from the
faithful Thorn) and becomes an incredible young woman. The ending of the
book (and the trilogy) is unexpected and, yet, totally expected. In other
words, absolutely perfect. Very satisfying.
2/1/04
1. Speak to Me of Love (Robin Lee Hatcher)
Rating: * * *
Genre: Inspirational Romance
Pages: 250
One of her better books. Standalone historical romance. Faith is a
Shakespearean actor with a traveling troupe. Her daughter has a heart condition
and she is told she will not live unless they stop traveling. Faith talks
the enigmatic Drake into hiring her as housekeeper at his ranch. Subplot
is a cute romance between clueless female bronc buster Gertie and "Doc"
Rick, a recovering alcoholic.
1/15/04
|