Book List

Book List


January 2009

How to Make an American Quilt par Whitney Otto- A collect ion of pieces about the loves of the Grasse County Quilting Circle- paints a socio-historic picture using analogies of quilting instructions to weave it all together. I like the movie better.

The Robber Bride par Margret Atwood- Discusses the lives of three women as they embody 60s, 70s, and 80s and the woman- Zenia who destroys their love lives and manipulates all around. Accept yourself when you stare down your enemy and realize you possess great strength. Recommend.

Dune by Frank Herbert- Just what I needed.



February 2009

Harry Potter 1 en francais- good way to study French get to follow a boy wizard as he discovers who he is and where he coms from.

Kouramangui Site Journal- my survival guide

Fool Moon- Jim Butcher I love Harry Dresden

The Summons by John Grisham- The father dies and the eldest brother finds him and three million dollars. Youngest brother sets him up. I realize I have read this before Protagonist is kinda an asshole a bit convoluted.

Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier, First book read at site. Old man starts the retelling of his life which has become something of a tall tale. Great opening and his youth enthralls you but then it turns into a bland recounting with a few antedotes. Leaving you with the mundane behind the glamour of the outset.



March 2009

The Watchmen by Alan Moore- I loved it. I think the first half is my favorite. It has such rich and humanly flawed characters- Rorshach who holds his virtue like a shield and stands vigilante till the end. Vidt who is so self deluded in his self righteousness as the savior of the world till John leaves him with doubt because he had limited view. Amazing foreshadowing and concurrent plot lines.







April 2009

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett- an epic novel following the lifetime it took to build Kingsbridge Cathedral. The characters were well realized and the love story was beautiful, however some parts became flat as he made certain characters too one dimensional.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. A very haunting tale of how he lost everything as a child and the lengths he’d go to to survive. It focuses more on his horrors than the process of redemption but very compelling.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monnk Kidd. I loved this book it follows a young girl who lives inside her head because she doesn’t have much else to go and one day breaks fee while breaking her nany out of jail and chases her mothers ghost to the calendar sisters.

I Hope the Serve beer in Hell by Tucker Max. Vile.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I understand it better today than I did at 18.

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich- light reading while waiting for a bush taxi.



May 2009

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Yet again it turns out I’ve read this one before. Two sisters- Elinor all good sense and Mariann in touch with her sensibility. It’s a bit contrived as we follow theirrelationships flounder and rebound, Austen’s wit and sarcasm (ironic style) is as always spot on.

The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan. As her mom’s mind comes unraveled by dementia so does Ruthe’s life. She is confused by pieces of the past her mother reveals until she finds the true history her mother’s life she left behind and finds redemption.

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan. Based on a psycic account by a dead woman following her 11 friends abducted in Burma. It would be interesting to look up the real facts of the case.

Star Wars New Republic Anthology. I love Star Wars!



July 2009

Star Wars: Ambush at Corellia Han Solo returns to his homeworld to find it is plunged into turmoil divided on species lines. Lando hunts for a wife and all become trapped in the Corellian sector. Entertaining read!

Star Wars: Assault at Selonia. Our heros are all scattered each trying to get a handle on the situation. All come together at Selonia except for the children on Drawl in preparation for the big showdown. Come to realize speciest movements are just a front.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire en Francais

Star Wars: Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly- Luke finally gets the girl- the spirit of Callista a jedi who disabled the precursor to the Death Star as he battles to do the same and save her too. While Leia, Han, Chewie, and R2 find the perpetrators as they search for the records of the lost children of the Jedi.

The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. The prose was almost lyrical. It follows a family the narrator knows well, Oscar the overweight nerd and the dynamic between him and his sister hit close to home. I miss my brother.

Princeps fury by Jim Butcher. Tavi fights to bring the Canim to safety after finding their home overrun by Vord. Vord attack Alera- holding off for now but at what costs. What will happen when the new first Lord returns.



August 2009

The Reader Not one of my favorites. It was a man remembering the plot points and getting lost in the woid of emotions. You read his emotions but you can’t feel them. The book is like listening to a nostalgic drunks tale at a cocktail party. The plot was good but the execution left me wanting more.

One Flew over the Cucoos Nest by Ken Kesy. I really liked it. Don’t see how it could have ended any other way.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson Basically a catalog of drugs, kind of written from a self important standpoint. Look at me I’m tripping’ off this. Superior to other drug users. All antidotes nothing cohesive about it. Only sense of paranoid is fun- he doesn’t know about the bats yet.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck- read in four days. Replay the fall of Cain and Abel trying to make sense of how we came to be as we are where does all the good and evil come from and how do we over come the bad to be good. One of my favorites.



September 2009

Sept 15 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Arhtur Dent not only loses his home but his entire planet only to find out Earth is just a testing ground to learn the question to learn the meaning of everything.

September 17 Primitive People by Francine Prose. Explores the childish self absorbed one sidedness of upperclass as seen thru the eyes of a Haitian immigrant.

Sept 20 Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Five years after Endor the Alliance has turned into a struggling government but an old vanguard of the Empire has found a way to take them down.

Sept 23 The Last Command by Timothy Zahn. Mara jade finally is freed from her past and Thrawn and Ch’orbath are defeated.

Sept 24 Caught in the storm by seydou Badian. Kany likes a boy. The story of a family divided as they try to follow tradition and break away I think the translation was bad.

Spet 25 Bridges to Islam by Dr. Phil Parshall. Basically a look at conversion practices from the Sufi Islam to Evangelical Christianity.

Sept 26 The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. Its about life and how we get by. Might as well enjoy it, some day we all die. After his wife’s death Qouyle’s Aunt talks him into going to the families ancesteral home from there he finally gets to live his life instead of watching it pass by.



October 2009

Ishmael by Dan Quinn. An ape who knows how to save the world. We are living in captivity because we erroneously think we rule the world instead of understanding we are apart of the world and must live as such instead of trying to live like we rule. October 3

The Crystal Star

Stephanie Plum 4, 6,9

Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich



November 2009

Marley and Me by John Grogan

Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

Showdown at Center Point by Roger Macbride allen

Pradise Snare by AC Crispin

Hutt Gambit by AC Crispin

Harry Potter 1

Harry Potter 3

Jane Eyer by Charlotte Bronte

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Brave new World by Aldoux Huxley

Jeadi Search by Kevin J. Anderson

Dark Apprentice

Champions of the Force

Shanghai Baby

In her shoes



January 2010

Finger licking 15 by Janet Evanovic

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher



February 2010

Poisonwood Bible



March 2010

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Peter Pan by JM Berry

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Count of Monte Cristo

Eclipse by Stephanie Meyers

Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Star Wars: Hero’s Trial by James Luceno

SW Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly



April 2010

SW XWING Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole

SW XWING Wedge’s Gamble “

SW XWING The Krytos Trap “

Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Life, the Universe, and Everything “

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

SW XWING The Bacta War by Michael A. Stackpole

SW XWING Wraith Squadron by Aaron Alliston

SW XWING Iron Fist “



May 2010

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice

Scandel in Bohemia by Sir Arthur Connon Doyal

A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Odessy by Homer



June 2010

The best of Roald Dahl

Solo Command by Aaron Allston

SW XWING Isard’s Revenge by Michael A. Stackpole

Hero at large by Janet Evanovich

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire- Didn’t like as much as Wicked. About identify with who you are if you don’t know where you come from

Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran- insightful look at how America operated during occupation in Iraq during reconstruction period.

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole- weird tense

Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess



August 2010

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher – Morgan is framed and Harry gets one step closer to finding the black council.

SW Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton- Did the guy ever watch SW? I don’t like how he portrayed the characters

What is the What by Dave Eggers

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Jinxed by Beth Ciotta

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

The Appointment by Herta Muller- Nobel Prize winner madness in Bulgeria

The Life of Pi hard to get into the writer’s style but really got into the story- beautiful how the human mind creates forgiveness or was it real.



September 2010

Sizzling 16 by Janet Evanovitch

The Man in the high castle by Phillip K. Dick – I don’t get it.

Fragment by Warren Fahy it’s a b-side Jurassic Park

The Rider by Tim Krabbe by Chronicles a ½ day road race in France.

Looking for Lovedu by Ann Joens- the travels of a woman from one end to the other Cape to Cairo sort of thing to find a rain Queen

The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant- about a luckless town and its inhabitants and how it dwindles till none are left.



October 2010

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino Good Story – could have used more soul

Snow by Orhan Pamuk- had to get into it Good Ending

Therese Raquin by Emile Zola I get the whole roman noir sadley you can empathize with Therese more than Cathy

Americans at War by Stephan E. Ambrose- insightful makes me realize how much I’ve forgotten since college

The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden could not put it down

A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrost

Whisper of Roses

Eternity

Wolf’s Complete Book of Terror edited by Leonard Wolf


November 2010

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick