Finished The Vampire Files, Volume Three

The second (and last) book in The Vampire Files, Volume Three, by P. N. Elrod, is The Dark Sleep which is one of those stories that I found myself mourning the fact that I'd finished it.  It started rather slowly, but the characters were very interesting, so I didn't mind.  But it definitely built by the end and I was unable to put it down.

I have now started Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark.  It was mixed in with some Mary Higgins Clark books at a rummage sale and I bought it by accident.  But, I figured, it got in the door, I might as well read it.  Well, it reads very much like Mary Higgins Clark's books:  short chapters, each chapter from the point of view of the next character in the story, sections dated.  I haven't figured out yet if it is a mystery, a thriller, or both...it is reading like a mystery, but it could develop into a thriller pretty easily.  I'm enjoying it so much, I bought four more of her books today at Half Price Books.

Finished A Lick of Frost and One Other

A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton ended with Taranis (King of the Seelie) totally insane and Andais (Queen of the Unseelie) nearly so.  This is not really a spoiler--we've known this for several books--but they have both become amazingly difficult for our Meredith to live with.  In addition, there is good news, but this could be a spoiler...  :-)

Then I read a children's chapter book--Precious and the Puggies, by Alexander McCall Smith.  This is about Precious' first detective case solved at the age of 8.  It is written in Scots dialect, which is fun, but leaves me wondering about the connection between the dialect and a little girl who lives in Botswana...  I suppose it is up there with reading Winnie the Pooh in Latin.

Now I am reading The Vampire Files, Volume Three, by P. N. Elrod.  I have finished the first book in the volume--A Chill in the Blood-- which, as usual I thoroughly enjoyed.  It broaches the subject of the corruption of the law enforcement authorities of the '30s and explains the rock and the hard place ordinary honest citizens (and vampire detectives) find themselves between.  The second book in the volume is The Dark Sleep and I am only one chapter in.

Finished A Feast For Crows

Just before I finished this book, I got a notification from Amazon that the paperback of A Dance of Dragons (next book in the series) won't be released until fall of 2014!  Ahhhhhgh.  George R. R. Martin and Stephen Donaldson (Thomas Covenant) are driving me nuts!   I'm wondering if A Dance of Dragons paperback will be timed to coincide with the release in hardback of the sixth in the series...

The book was aptly named.  It truly was the remaining littler nobles fighting over the bones that are left in the land.  As the book ends, there are really only a couple real villains left, though one could make a case for "Lady Stoneheart."  But, Martin seems to be very good at giving us villains to hate as well as heroic, though flawed humans to love.

I have now started  A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry) by Laurell K. Hamilton.  One chapter in, King Tyranos is plotting against them...

Finished The Night of the Solstice

It was pleasant reading and, though mild, was entertaining.  It kind of seemed like a children's journey similar to what Chris Golden did for adults in The Veil series:  a trip into the land of the world's myths and fantasies.  I always enjoy the excursion and look forward to the next book in the series.

                 

As snow covers the ground in Lake Dallas, I embark on the my next adventure with George R. R. Martin, A Feast For Crows.  This will take me awhile (1050 pages), but I know it will be worth the time...and, it's snowing.  I have nothing better to do...

Finished Voices From the Holocaust

I think I might have changed the format and read each story as a whole--it was divided into before Germany took over their home country, during the holocaust, and then after the holocaust, their impressions of life in America.  Of course, I can see pros and cons for both.  There were many insights to be drawn from these stories, one of which is that most of them became very active in their community after the war in an extremely charitable way.  They were, for the most part, not materialistic (though their families may have been before.)  Even those who had a very hard time adjusting to American life (those who did not speak a word of English when they came AND came at an older established age) went out of their way to reiterate how much they were enjoying their lives now and were happy.  I would hope it does not really take such an horrible trauma in our lives to make us come to this...

I have now started The Night of the Solstice by L. J. Smith.  It starts definitely for children with a vixen who can speak and who needs the help of four children to save the world.  A fun departure from what I have been reading.

Finished The Shelters of Stone

I have no idea why I love these slow-moving, informative books.  In this one, Ayla and Jondalar reach Jondalar's home.  She becomes acquainted with his people, marries him, and has her daughter.  And I loved every minute of it...it reads like the chronicle of a very long camping trip in which the characters adore roaming their world, learning new things....  Homecoming did not end the journey, it just continued it...

So, I have now started Voices From the Holocaust by Sylvia Rothchild.  I am still reading the first part in which people remember their lives prior to Hitler.  Mostly, they were very young, many still children when he came to power wherever they were.  As pointed out in the Preface, what stands out is how optimistic their parents were--they did not believe anything bad would happen to them and therefore they stayed.  That is pretty much true of all of us, I think...none of us like to think that major change is necessary.

Finished Robin Cook's INVASION

Well, it was obviously inspired by Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and was at least as scary.  The ending was much more satisfying, though.  And, true to Robin Cook, it was medically plausible.  Which, of course, made it more scary.  Loved it...LOL
Have now started Jeanne Auel's The Shelters of Stone.  This is based in what is now southern France, at some of the famous sites where wonderful cave paintings were found.  She imagines what the people who made those paintings were like, based on a huge amount of research.  After that very tense book I just finished, this is literally "a walk in the park."