read 10 books in 2008

Another great Follett novel set in WWII. The strength and wit of the main character (Flick) was almost of comic-strip proportions, though.

Perfect!

Fabulous. Must read.

Absolutely wonderful!

This book was given to me by my MIL. We usually like the same stories. It didn’t do too much for me. However, I did like this quote: ”...And when you do settle down with a man, it is absolutely vital that he makes you laugh. Chips [her lover] and I laughed all the time, even when we were poor and unsuccessful and didn’t know how we were going to pay the grocer’s bill.” So true.

Margaret Maron does not disappoint me. This book chronicles the next stage for Deborah Knott, one of my favorite characters in the “female as mystery-solver” genre.

I got to read most of this book while I waiting as a potential juror yesterday.

The next installment of Sharon McCone. Hmm, I think I’m outgrowing this female detective series—perhaps even the genre itself.

I breezed through it, waiting for more suspense, but it didn’t happen.

This standalone novel (not one of the McCone series) was just okay for me. It was a fast read and diverting enough, but nothing too suspenseful.

It did give me some quotes, related to assuaging recent guilt for leaving my hometown many years ago:

Page 161: ”...[they] would have married and moved to one of the far-off cities they’d talked about so often. When they came back to visit Cape Perdido, they would get together with the others and bask happily in the light of their collective accomplishments.”

Page 235: ”...had been an outstanding student, reputedly destined for far better things than Soledad County could offer…”

Page 305: “Recent events had taught him that one’s past was best accepted and then left behind.”

A mystery involving Anna Pidgeon, the tough female ranger in the National Parks system. This is one of the latter installments by Nevada Barr whose prose and vocabulary delight me, despite the topic being generally gruesome. This one was quite a bit more horrifying than I prefer, but I like the setting in the Rockies and the ongoing saga of the ranger so much that I could overlook it (this time).

A mystery involving Sharon McCone, private detective in San Francisco. I’ve always enjoyed Muller’s series with McCone and this was the case as well.