Thursday, July 24, 2008

What to Read 6

Fiction




Defensive Handgunning by Glenn Rehberg.
Remote Control by Andy McNab.
Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

More Large Print - We've Got A Lot

Large Print

Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. This has a weirdly convoluted summary on the cover that I am not going to try and translate.

Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver. A killer is data-mining to find victims to rape and kill and then pins the crimes on innocent fall guys. Everything goes swimmingly for the scumbad until Lincoln Rhyme's cousin becomes one of the fall guys.

Twisted Creek by Jodi Thomas. Allie inherits a small town Texas cafe and brings her grandmother along as cook. Allie's bad luck starts to turn when some unlikely people become her friends.

Blood Trail by C.J. Box. Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett investigates the murder of an elk hunter who was hung and gutted like the game he was after.

River of Heaven by Lee Martin. Sam Brady has led a solitary life ever since his boyhood friend died on the railroad tracks in 1955. When Sam's brother returns after years of self-exile Sam starts to reveal details of that day in '55.

Mercy Street by Mariah Stewart. Four high school seniors go into the woods in Pennsylvania. Two are killed and the other two are missing. A private detective and local cop work together on a case that"meanders down a twisted path that leads to an old unsolved murder - and justice for a killer with a heart of stone."

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. "Stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately."

Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz. Commoner Haruko marries the Crown Prince of Japan in 1959. Haruko is scorned by the Court and only respected because she will bear the Prince an heir. Thirty years and one nervous breakdown later Haruko persuades another commoner girl to accept her son's marriage proposal.

Here's the NonFiction I Was Too Lazy to Carry Out With the Fiction

NonFiction

Ghost: confessions of a counterterrorism agent by Fred Burton. Burton was a member of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) counterterror team. The DSS protects embassies and diplomats around the world and Burton was on the edge edge of the fight against terrorists.
Several years ago, when I was considering cop jobs, working for the DSS seemed like a real neat job to me. You could travel all over, live overseas, and get free ammo. Then I saw that the pay was horrendous. I don't think I was qualified anyway; if I remember correctly they were looking for people with prior experience.

Fleeced: [big long wordy subtitle] by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann. "In this ahrd-hitting call to arms Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American taxpayers are routinely fleeced - by our own government."

Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black. "In more than two dozen essays that investigate everything between how Christians and Jews celebrate their holidays, to the politics of faith, to people's individual search for transcendence, Black explores his unique odyssey through religion and belief...the inconsistencies and peculiarities of religion [that infuriate] Black."

Fish Without A Doubt: the cook's essential companion by Rick Moonen and Roy Finamore.

Rome 1960: the Olympics that changed the world by David Maraniss. I heard Maraniss speak at the WI Library Association meeting in Green Bay last fall and he spoke about doing the research for this in Rome. Should be a neat book.

Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder by Vincent Bugliosi. Zoinks! What a title! "Bugliosi presents a tight, meticulously researched legal case that puts George W. Bush on trial in an American courtroom for the murder of nearly 4,000 American soldiers fighting the war in Iraq."

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. Humorous true-life stories by Sedaris.

Fiction with Russian Thugs and Dr. Watson,

Fiction

Volk's Shadow by Brent Alexei "Volk" Volkovoy is beholden to two very different but equally dangerous men. One is a Russian Army general intent on personal wealth and political gain. The other is a Moscow crime lord. Both men are ruthless so it's a good thing "Volk" is so violent. VOlk is after a Faberge egg and evidence of atrocities from his old combat zone of Chechnya.

The Crimes of Dr. Watson by John H. Watson, M.D., edited by Duane Swierczynski. Dr. Watson is imprisoned for murder after Holmes' faked death in Switzerland. Holmes writes to the only man he can think to help free him, Philadelphia resident Colonel Harry Resmo. Watson's letter and included clues are found among Resmo's papers and Swizzlestickerinski presents the evidence for you to solve the crime.

AudioBooks on CD

AudioBooks

Not In the Flesh by Ruth Rendell. A truffle-hunting dog in in England digs up a body instead of a fungus. C.I. Wexford has to find out who was buried there and is surprised when a second body turns up.
The dog's owner should hire the dog out as a cadaver sniffing dog.

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child. Jack Reacher just wants a cup of coffee (like usual) in the middle-of-nowhere town named Despair. The locals are hostile (like usual) and Reacher gets in trouble (like usual). Reacher teams up wth a female cop (like usual) from the neighboring town named Hope. Reacher "goes up against a whole town...cracking open its terrifying agenda" (like usual).
You will read this and enjoy it (like usual) because (like usual) Child does a great job with his characters and story.

Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. The professorial exercise of "You are dying , what do you tell your students." becomes real for Pausch after he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. So, Rausch writes lecture, gets on television, writes a book, and doesn't die.
Just kidding. He still has cancer (in the later stages unfortunately) and the lecture Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams is supposed to be very inspiring and worth the attention it has received.

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. A talkative woman gets married and hitchhikes through the countryside in her wedding dress. (Plot deduced from title and cover image.)

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross. Julia is freshly widowed and taking care of her husband Wesley's estate when Wesley's mistress shows up at the front door, announces dissatisfaction with Wesley's will, and deposits Wesley and the mistress's bastard child for Julia to care for. A comedy.

Plague Ship by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul. Who are we kidding? I have little doubt that Du Brul did all the heavy lifting here.
A spy ship comes across a cruise ship filled with dead people. The cruise ship sinks with one survivor and the spy ship captain is left to solve the mystery.

Sail by James Patterson and Howard Rougham. See my above comments about authorship.
A family in turmoil after hte father's death four years ago takes a sailing trip when disaster strikes and draws them together.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Large Print by Hannah the Page

Large Print

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke. Dave Robicheaux, his wife, and his friend Cletus go on vacation in Montana. I was unable to remember the wife's name and opened up the book to find it. I saw the word "she" and kept reading for a name. I found this instead, "She held his head between her breasts, then picked up his phallus, and placed it inside her."

Killer View by Ridley Pearson. Sun Valley Sheriff Walk Fleming and his team are searching for a missing skier when one of the team is shot dead. Another team member has disappeared.

Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais. Elivs Cole discovery of an exculpatory videotape got Lionel Byrd acquitted of murder. When Lionel is discovered dead by suicide with a photo album of dead women in his lap Cole wonders if his work led to the death of more women.

One of Those Malibu Nights by Elizabeth Adler. Some romantic suspense mystery set in Malibu.

Monday, July 21, 2008

New Stuff, 21 July 2008

DVD and CD


NonFic Donations

NonFiction

Monochrome Days: a firsthand account of one teenager's experience with depression by Cait Irwin.

Mind Race: a firsthand account of one teenager's experience with bipolar disorder by Patrick Jameson, PhD.

Eight Stories Up: an adolescent chooses hope over suicide by Dequincy A Lezine, PhD.

What You Must Think of Me: a firsthand account of one teenager's experience with social anxiety disorder by Emily Ford.

Chasing the High: a firsthand account of one young person's experience with substance abuse by Kule Keegan.

The Thought That Counts: a firsthand account of one teenager's experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder by Jared Douglas Kant.

Me, Myself, and Them: a firsthand account of one young person's experience with schizophrenia by Kurt Snyder.

The Whistle Didn't Blow Long Enough: a history of the Chicago and Lake Superior Railroad: shortest common carrier railroad in Wiscsonin by Robert Duerwachter.

Railroads of Southern and Southwest Wisconsin: development to decline by Daniel J. Lanz.