Book 26: Marked in Flesh

I enjoyed another brief vacation in Thasia this weekend rereading Marked in Flesh, the 4th book in the Others series by Anne Bishop.  It was great to see the larger threads of the story outside of Lakeside close, and I'm definitely ready to focus on the Lakeside Courtyard in the final book.


Here's a link to my original review.

Book 23: Vision in Silver

Only two days until the release of Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop.  I'm excited to see how she finishes the story of the Lakeside residents, particularly Simon and Meg.  This week, I finished a reread of the third book Vision in Silver, and I expect to read the fourth book in the next couple of days.  If you've never visited Lakeside Courtyard, I highly recommend it.


In Other news, Goodreads has a new book listed in Bishop's Others series for publication next year called Lake Silence.  Based on the information currently available, it looks like it is set in a different part of Thasia with an entirely new set of characters.  I'll miss Simon and Meg, but I love Thasia and am so glad the author is writing more books in that world.


Here's a link to my previous review of the book.  Happy reading!

Book 19: Getting Things Done

This is my second time reading this edition of Getting Things Done by David Allen.  Although the book is geared toward the working environment, I find that it applies equally as well in the home.  Since I have several projects currently going on, I mainly focused on the sections related to projects although I reread the rest to glean new tips to help improve my current system.


I experimented around with several mediums last year try to figure out what worked best.  I tried using paper lists but honestly felt a little guilty about the amount of paper I was using.  I switched to post-it notes until I lost a note or two.  Next I attempted using a whiteboard instead, and it worked quite well until someone erased it.  I still use whiteboards for dinner menus, grocery lists, or handing to a kid who I need to complete more than one task, but finally I decided I should go digital.  So for 2017 I'm using my Kindle fire to maintain my calendar and lists with a free list program called Simple Lists.  I'm still tweaking what categories work best for me, but so far it's working quite well although it will take a few weeks to capture everything.


For an overview of the main part of the program see my previous review.


Again I highly recommend this book.

Book 18: The Murder on the Links

A cryptic cry for help from France bring Hercules Poirot and his friend Hastings to Merlinville only to discover their client Monsieur Renauld has been murdered via a knife to the back.  Since the Belgian detective is known to the police, they enlist his services in the investigation.  Almost immediately Poirot is struck by the fact that this particular crime reminds him of another, and as usual he takes interest in evidence that the other police disregard.  A second young French detective named Giraud, who believes his more modern forensic approach to detecting to be superior to Poirot's now outdated style, adds an intriguing twist to the investigation.  Soon, however, even Poirot is momentarily surprised at the appearance of a second dead body, but undaunted he presses on to finally discover the truth.


An excellent follow up to her first mystery novel, Agatha Christie continues to intrigue with The Murder on the Links.  Definitely 5 stars.

Book 17: The Color of Magic

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett is the first published book in the Discworld series and introduces the character of the wizard Rincewind.  All of Rincewind's troubles and adventures begin when he offers to work at a translator for Twoflower after seeing his magical chest of sapient pear and his purse full of the rarest of gold coins.  Thus begins the strangest journey where Twoflower is trying to see everything, Rincewind is simply trying not to die, and the two are pieces played by the Lady (the one goddess who name no one invokes) in a game between the gods. 


After an extremely slow start, I found myself laughing over and over as I made my way through the tale.  The scenes between Rincewind and Death were particularly amusing.    I never thought I would actually like Death as a character.  All in all it is a good start to the series, and I will definitely continue reading the remainder.

Book 16: The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman's Hugo award winning The Graveyard Book recounts the major events in the life of a boy who comes to be called Nobody Owens after wandering into a graveyard on the same night a man named Jack is murdering his family.  Jack follows the boy's scent to the graveyard, but the ghosts hide his prey, and Simon, who protects the graveyard, sends the man away.  The ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Owens decide to adopt the boy, and Simon volunteers to be his guardian and provide for his food and other needs.  The graveyard also accepts Nobody Owens, which allows him to see the ghosts and fade into the dark to hide.  He learns normal things like reading, writing, and the constellations as well as several odder bits of knowledge including the danger of ghouls, how to get help from various supernatural creatures, and dreamwalking.  All this time the man Jack continues to hunt for the missing boy to finish the job that he started.  Will Simon's help and Nobody's lessons be enough to save him in the end?


Although the tale was a bit outside of my normal range of fantasy, nonetheless I found it entertaining and well-crafted.  I enjoyed my time spent with Nobody Owens and will add Neil Gaiman to my list of authors to read.  Four stars.

Book 9: Adventures of a Vegan Vamp

I was browsing through the Amazon Prime reading again looking for something funny when I came across Adventures of a Vegan Vamp by Cate Lawley.  The title alone made me chuckle, so I decided to give it a try.  Mallory goes out with her coworkers on a Tuesday night for drinks and decides to walk home.  Three days later, she wakes up in her own bed exhausted and feeling ill.  It's Friday.  She has no memory of getting home, has lost 25 pounds, and can no longer hold down solid food.  She goes to the doctor to figure out what is wrong.  The diagnosis: she's a vampire... that throws up at the sight of blood.  When the local society tasked with handling unusual matters realizes that she's actually going to survive, Alex, one of their wizard enforcers, introduces her to a vampire named Wembley to answer her questions.  Then when one of her neighbors is killed presumably because she could identify Mallory's attacker, the society hires her to help Alex find the killer.




This cozy mystery was amusing, light-hearted, and entertaining.  The unique take on vampires isn't really fully explained but is still interesting.  The mystery is well crafted and engaging, and the humor kept me chuckling through the book.

Book 8: The Seventh Bride

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher is the tale of a fifteen year old miller's daughter, who suddenly finds herself betrothed to a lord.  When she meets Lord Crevan for the first time, something about him just strikes her as wrong.  She wants more than anything to refuse his proposal; but she cannot safely do so without risking repercussions on her family.  Lord Crevan is a sorcerer and orders her to follow a magic white road at night a few days later in order to visit his house.  Once there, she discovers not only does he have five living wives and one deceases one already, but she is trapped for no one can leave the house without Lord Crevan's permission because the road is guarded by monsters that he has conjured.  With help from some of the wives and a hedgehog that she met on the way, she must finish each task that she is given by her betrothed because failure means marriage while trying to find a way to free them all.


I checked this book out through the Amazon Prime library and found it quite entertaining.  The plot and characters are not overly complex so that it reads something like a retelling of a fairy tale.  Still it was quite an enjoyable tale, and something that I would consider reading again at a future time.

Book 7: A Red Herring Without Mustard

The third book in Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series is A Red Herring Without Mustard.  Eleven year old Flavia goes in a gypsy's tent to have her fortune told, but the old woman's words startle her causing her to jump, knock over a candle, and burn the tent.  The old woman is clearly to ill to travel, so Flavia offers to let her stay at a quiet portion of Buckshaw until her health improves.  That night, Flavia wakes in the middle of the night, discovers an intruder in the house, and decides to go check on the gypsy.  Flavia finds her unconscious in her wagon with blood everywhere.  Since she doesn't seem to be dead, she rides the gypsy's horse to get the doctor then waits at the wagon for the police inspector to arrive.  The next day, she finds the previous intruder murdered and hanging from the trident of the stature of Poseidon.  Despite the inspector's obvious lack of desire for her help, Flavia begins her own investigation which result in a series of adventures ultimately ending with the solution to the mystery.


I took a break from the series originally because the second book was not as entertaining to me as the first, but the third story is back to the level of the first and I thoroughly enjoyed it enough that I am interested in continuing with the rest of the books in the series.  I would recommend it for anyone who likes a nice mystery.

Book 6: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is composite of anecdotal stories mostly coming from the current edition of the guide carried by Ford Prefect that are interspersed through a larger story of the events surrounding the main characters of Ford, Arthur, and Zaphod.  Ford Prefect a galactic hitchhiker who is working on updating the guide but became stuck on Earth for fifteen years.  While on Earth he befriends Arthur Dent and plucks him from the Earth just before it is destroyed to make way for a galactic freeway.  Meanwhile Zaphod Beetlebrox and his girlfriend Trillian steal a new starship powered by an improbability drive to find the wealth rumored to be on a planet that most people in the galaxy regard as a myth.  Along the way, they improbably pick up Ford and Arthur just after the two are dumped into open space.


The main tale surrounding the four most prominent characters is full of one improbable event after another possibly due to the fact that their ship is powered by an improbability drive, but still for me, I didn't find it very credible; however, the hilarity of the interspersed tales and the chronically depressed robot Marvin more than makes up for the oddities of the main events.  Overall I laughed often and enjoyed the book immensely.  I would recommend it for anyone looking for a humorous read and will most likely continue with the rest of the books when I find myself in need of a good laugh.

Book 5: Stormbreaker

In an effort to find more books that my 12 year old son will enjoy, I downloaded Stormbreaker by Antony Horowitz, which is the first book in his Alex Rider series.  Fourteen year old Alex lives with his uncle in England.  One night the police show up at his door and inform his housekeeper/nanny that his uncle died in a car crash because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.  It was the last statement that bothered Alex.  His uncle always wore his seat belt.  He snuck into the auto yard closest to the accident site and found his uncle's car riddled with bullets.  The next day, he is summoned to the bank where his uncle worked and discovers that his uncle actually worked for MI6.  They blackmail him into working for them to try to finish the assignment that got his uncle killed.  He tackles that project as any teenage boy might be expected full speed ahead and maneuvers through one danger after another with a combination of athleticism and luck.


I actually had only intended to read the first couple of chapters when I sat down this afternoon, but I was quickly sucked into the story.  It is fast paced and packed full of action.  Alex is very likeable and resourceful with more luck than should be possible, but I quickly found myself routing for him to not only stay alive but succeed.  Altogether an excellent story that I'm confident my picky reader will enjoy.  I enjoyed it enough that I will certainly continue with the second book of the series when I have time.

Book 17: Cry Wolf

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs is the first full length novel in the Alpha and Omega series which expands the world created in the Mercy Thompson series.  The actual start of the series is a short story called "Alpha and Omega" which is found in the Shifting Shadows collection of short stories.  Anna packs up and heads to Montana with the wounded Charles to start a new life as his mate.  Their time to get acquainted and mate is cut short by an attack on a park ranger by an unknown werewolf.  Charles and Anna hike out into the snow covered wilderness to find the rogue and discover a powerful black witch that has come hunting one of their pack members and has the ability to control the wolves through their pack bond.  Together they must find a way to save themselves and protect their pack.

This is one of my favorite series that I am currently rereading.  A definite read for Mercy Thompson fans and anyone else who loves a good werewolf romance.

Book 16: Marked in Flesh

With war on the horizon, Simon and the Others at Lakeside begin making preparations and continue trying to figure out the answer of how much human to keep.  Megan receives several sets of tarot type cards and begins exploring using the cards in lieu of cutting. The Humans First and Last movement launches a new series of attacks against the buffalo herds that the wolf packs in central Thasia hunt for food.  Supplied with weapons from Cel Romano, the attack and kill wolfguard packs in several locations leaving their carcasses in piles.  The leaders of Cel Romano launch an attack to expand their territory, and everyone with any sense at all waits fearfully for the response by the Others of the wild country who are Namid's teeth and claws.

Another excellent book in the Others series.

Book 15: Vision in Silver

Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop is the third book in her successful Others series.  The blood prophets have been freed but find that they are ill-adapted to surviving in the human world.  The Intuit villages that took in some of the girls are horrified as they commit suicide.  Simon orders Meg and her human pack to write a blood prophets 101 book to help the remaining girls survive in the real world.  After a new vision from Meg, the Others begin looking for a new group of cassandra sangue, those who were formerly part of the breeding program and are being abandoned along the side of the road.  Meanwhile, the Humans First and Last movement continues to gain momentum and tensions escalate.  Lizzie arrives unexpectedly in Lakeside after her mother is murdered at the train station.  After several attacks around Thasia, the Others that live in the wild country declare a breach of trust by the humans and task Simon with determining how much human is necessary.

Great addition to a great series.  Another must read book.

Book 14: Fire Touched

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs is the latest book in her Mercy Thompson series.  What started out as a normal day for Mercy at home quickly went downhill.  First came the call from the local police asking for help with a rampaging monster on a bridge.  Once the wolves take down the troll with help from Zee and Tad, the two fae introduce Mercy to the ten-year-old fire-touched boy who helped them escape from the reservation and now wants wolves protection from the fae.  Mercy offers the boy 24 hours of protection because he helped Zee and Tad and helped Joel regain control of his tibicena.  It may have been the right thing to do, but every decision has repercussions.  Bran declares Adam's pack to be rogue to preserve the treaty the rest of the wolves had with the fae, and both the Grey Lords and an unknown party of fae are demanding the return of the fire-touched.

Another great book in the series.  A must read for Mercy Thompson fans.

Book 13: Dark Horse

Rose MacKenzie was desperate to free herself from the three months of horror and torture aboard a Tecran vessel, so she strikes the only deal that she can with the ship's AI thinking system named Sazo even knowing that he is not telling her everything about his plan.  True to his word Sazo strands the ship deep in Grih territory and helps Rose board a transport to a nearby moon. 

Meanwhile, Captain Dav Jallan jumps out of hyperspace and is shocked to find a Tecran Class 5 vessel in his territory.  When he class 5 doesn't blast he ship to bits, he takes a crew over to find that only the captain and a few officers remain alive.  After securing the vessel, he proceeds to the nearby moon to find Rose and the six animals who escaped from the Tecran.  Rose doesn't appear dangerous enough to strand the class 5 and mass murder the crew, but it's clear she is hiding something. 

Rose is shocked when she realizes what Sazo has done, but she has given her word not to reveal Sazo because the Grih law demands that AI thinking systems must be destroyed when found.  Caught in the middle, she tries to warn Dav while not breaking her promise to Sazo at the same time she tries to convince Sazo to change his plan and not kill anyone else.  If she fails, then all hope for a peaceful life among the Grih and any chance of even exploring her feeling for Dav will be lost.

I was extremely impressed with Diener's well thought out and intriguing world building.  Between the world building and the plot line, I was quickly pulled into the story and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting.  Excellent series that I am looking forward to continuing.

Book 12: City of Dark Magic

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte is a mishmash of time-traveling, spies, and quests set in the modern day city of Prague.  Sarah Weston receives an invitation to spend the summer in a castle in Prague cataloging and setting up a display of the music and other Beethoven related items in the collection.  Sarah is immediately immersed in several seemingly unrelated strange occurrences:  the prince acting strangely like he is on some type of drug, cryptic notes from the previous professor working on the Beethoven collection, and repeated references to Prague being a threshold.  Flyte slowly weaves the threads together and a more coherent story begins to form involving cold war spies and a search for missing items.

I have to say it took a long time for the book to get going, but eventually it did catch my attention.  I enjoyed enough that I will give the sequel a try at some point, but it is not a book I will be reading again. 

Book 11: Murder of Crows

Murder of Crows by Bishop is the second book in the Others series.  Picking up where the first book left off, the human antagonism of the Others increases with attacks on the Crowguard.  Food left by garbage cans is laced with the drug feel-good so that the crows eating it will become passive.  Then dogs or humans on gone over wolf, which increases aggression, kill the crows.  Meg's warning saves the crows of Lakeside, but the same scenario plays out in the town of Talulah Falls with deadly results.  As tension between humans and Others increases, Simon invites leaders from other courtyards to discuss the origin of the drugs and to find a way to eliminate the threat.

Like the previous book, the plot moves slowly and steadily.  The first book focused on Meg adapting to life outside the compound and the day to day life in the Courtyard.  Book two continues the first theme and the humorous relationship with Simon and others in the Courtyard, but it also expands beyond Lakeside to discuss the human lands across the sea as well as additional town in Thasia giving a broader picture of the various relationships between humans and Others. 

Favorite quotes:

"Of  course he looked funny.  Meg had hauled him halfway into her lap and was using him as a furry shield, peering between his ears when she wasn't squeezing him breathless during the movie's scary bits."(136)

"'The cow-shaped cookies have a beef flavoring, the turkey-shaped cookies have a poultry flavoring, and...'

Jane held up one of the cookies. 'Human-flavored?'

Meg stifled a sigh.  That would be the first thing on her feedback list:  don't make people-shaped cookies.  The Wolves were way too interested and all of them leaped to a logical, if disturbing, expectation about the taste."(246)

I will definitely be rereading this series in the future and recommend it highly.

Book 10: Getting Things Done

Getting Things Done:  The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by Allen is a system designed to clear the mind of all the clutter of jostling projects, responsibilities, things to do, etc. and funnel it into a manageable system of actionable items to be completed.  The system has 5 steps:  collecting, processing, organizing, reviewing, and doing. 

1. Collecting involves pulling out all of the things that need to be done or for larger items jotting down what needs to be done and adding that paper to the in pile.  Then starting on blank paper and brainstorming all of the things that need to be done that may not have a physical item associated with them.  
2. Processing involves taking that pile and determining what the next action for each item needs to be.  Items with no action are trashed or filed as either possibilities or reference.  Items that have actions are done if they require less than two minutes, delegated, or deferred either to a specific calendar day or a series of next action lists. 
3. Organizing details how to set up the lists required and file any related material.  The lists are set up based on where the work needs to be done:  call items, office items, house items, etc. 
4. Reviewing involving setting aside a time weekly to go over the current lists and go through the previous steps with any new items that come in. 
5. Doing involves identifying when you have open time and accomplishing the items on the list based on the time available, energy level, etc.

For projects he recommends brainstorming all the outstanding projects and sorting them into a current project list and a someday/maybe list. Simple projects with only a few steps would then only require determining what the next action is and then placing that action on the appropriate calendar space or action list. For larger projects he recommends visualizing what the desired outcome is and then brainstorming what steps are needed to get to that point in a mind mapping type of format. The mind map can then be used to determine what steps can be taken at the current time to move the project forward. Longer term goals can be handled in a similar manner.


This newest version does not have any changes to the core ideas.  The organizing step is more flexible.  Although he still suggests the same categories, he also emphasizes that different groups work for different people and some may require additional subcategories.  He also removed any specific references to technology or software.  The book has also added discussion related to our more digital world and cognitive science research explaining why the system works.  I would recommend Getting Things Done for anyone looking for an intuitive system for staying on top of things either at work or at home.

Book 9: City of Bones

In City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, young Clary goes to a club with her best friend Simon where she sees a group of teenagers murder a demon, but no one else notices.  Then her mother disappears, and another demon tries to kill her.  She is taken to the Institute by Jace and introduced to the world of shadowhunters (part human, part angel).  She discovers that her missing mother was a former shadowhunter, her father is an evil not actually dead villain, and everyone wants the missing mortal cup which can create new shadowhunters.


I wanted to like the book.  I like the concept of shadowhunters, who are suppose to protect mortals from demons and other supernatural beings that break the rules, but found the actual plot to be predictable.  Clary was a typical rebellious teenager, who did whatever she thought was best with little thought to the consequences.  The other shadowhunters were not very likable, and I didn't find the supposedly witty remarks funny.  Needless to say I won't be passing this one on to my teenagers.