Books I've Read
Books Listed by Author
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Three Men In A Boat
Takes place in 1876. Very funny, is referred in a Heinlein book. Classic humour. 250 p.
Read:
10/2001
Three Men On The Bummel.
Three guys take a bicycle trip through the the Black Forest in Germany. Very amusing. Read as a Project Gutenberg e-book. Not amusing, because, basically, one is staring at a light bulb for hours on end.
Read:
8/2007
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record Of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance
Mable and her sister Viola take rooms on a dairy farm in a distant village when Viola becomes the new teacher in the small school. Mable meets a rabble-rousing woman who wears bloomers and rides a bicycle. I enjoyed Mable's adventures very much.
Read:
12/2012
Double Blind
Co-author Roy Johansen. A woman shot and hit by a car trying to deliver something to Kendra. Kendra and Lynch (and a bunch of others) try to figure out what is going on. Almost OK. Didn't care for it.
Read:
11/2019
Beyond belief
Joe Bailey is a bunco squad police detective and former professional magician. He is trying to figure out how an eight-year-old boy came to murder a man by using psychic powers. Pretty ok, learned some stuff.
Read:
7/2005
Vorpal Blade
A student at work told me that he really like John Ringo's books, so I thought I had better try another after the disaster of Sister Time. This title caught my eye, and I checked it out even thought it is book two of the series, book one, Looking Glass, not being available. I was prepared to dislike it, and in fact was annoyed by several things. The artificial cursing (grapping, maulk) bothered me, but I see a need for soldiers (Marines!) cursing, so I can't think of another way around it, this book being intended for teens. Older teens! Anyway, lots of physics (the author says, hey, it's science fiction!), lots of shooting, almost everyone dies. The last hundred pages were real page-turners!
Words I Had To Look Up:
when the Santa Annas blew down (pg. 31) -- Should be Anas, I think.
"Semper-grapping-Fi, behanchod,"Berg muttered (pg. 67) -- You don't really want to know what it means. This book is aimed at teens?
in like flint (pg. 167) -- It is generally agreed the actual phrase is in like Flynn. In Like Flint is a movie. Derek Flint. James Coburn. Jeesh!
talking like Donald Duck... That's a side effect of hydrogen. (pg. 204) -- It's also flammable, dude!
Quote:
"On the Bounce, Marines!" ...
"What the hell is 'On the Bounce'?" Hatt asked.
"Oh. My. God," Berg answered, grinning inside his suit.
"Top read that book, too?: Jaen said. "Cool." -- (pg. 365) Love it!
Read:
2/2009
This Book Is Overdue!
Subtitled: How Librarians And Cybrarians Can Save Us All. Made me ALMOST sign up for Second Life...
Read:
1/2013
The Great Greene Heist
A good conjob story has always been enjoyable, and a bit of humor heops. I didn't laugh out loud until page 133, but I enjoyed reading this very much.
Quote:
Allegedly. Read:
10/2014
Bone By Bone By Bone
David's father, a racist doctor in 1960s (cit. needed) Tennessee, inspires love and hate in his son. Some story incidents inspired by author's father, she says she does not apologize for the sometimes strong language, as it was how her father expressed himself. I paraphrase. The "N" word is used often, too.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Miss Grace was in a real swivet (pg. 75) -- A state of extreme agitation.
Read:
6/2009
Entice
Bad Pixies are abducting teens in Bedford, Maine. Zara, now a good Pixie, formerly a human, battles to protect the humans while trying to find the way to Vahalla to bring back her love Nick.
I think the reason I didn't really care for this book is the same reason I didn't really care for the Kim Harrison book I read the other week. They were not written for the likes of me! They are for girls! And again, this is the third book in the series, so if you start here you are missing a lot of back story.
I read the Advance Uncorrected Proof edition.
Read:
2/2011
Castle in the air
Abdullah yearns for a bride, the princess Flower-In-The-Night, as it turns out. Sophie and Lettie and Howl eventurally turn up, after 176 pages, more or less.
Read:
3/2007
Dogsbody
The Dog Star Sirius is sent to Earth, in dog form, as punishment. He become the pet of an Irish girl who is living with her awful English aunt while her father is in prison. One of the best books I have ever read, of its kind! I am still choked up an hour after finishing it.
Words I Had To Look Up:
viridian (pg. 1) -- A chrome green pigment that is a hydrated oxide of chromium.
Zoi (pg. 2) -- Probably an invented term, refers to an object of power. Possibly inspired by borzoi dogs?
effulgence (pg. 2) -- A state of being bright and radiant, splendor, brilliance..
eughky (pg. 12) -- "I still have dry and (a very technical term) eughky ends" from http://www.archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=70034
sloven (pg. 18) -- A coarse obnoxious person.
quaint and knowing (pg. 52) -- Marked by beauty or elegance. I figured the author was using a different meaning!
sluttish (pg. 54) -- A saucy girl. Yet another different meaning..
couchant (pg. 129) -- Lying on the stomach with head raised with legs pointed forward.
empyrean (pg. 255) -- Of or relating to the sky or heavens.
Melpomene (pg. 260) -- The Muse of tragedy.
Quote:
He remembered that his Companion had tried to use the Zoi on him. (pg. 169) Wait, what??
Read:
3/2009
House Of Many Ways
The sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, it says. I thought that other book was the sequel. Charmain goes to house-sit for her magician uncle while he gets cured by the elves of a mysterious ailment. Sophie and Howl show up eventually.
Read:
7/2010
Howls moving castle
Sophie is turned old by a wicked witch, moves in with wizard. Just when you think you know where the story is going, everything changes.
Read:
2/2007
The Acorn People
The author writes of his time as a summer camp counselor for handicapped children. Short, but moving.
Read:
9/2013
Starship Titanic
In the introduction Douglas Adams tells how he came up with the Starship Titanic idea, but didn't have time to write the novel as he was involved with the video game.
So anyway, this big space ship lands on a rectory on Earth and picks up three people (and leaves one being behind), and there's a bomb on the spaceship, and alien/human sex, and the "f" word. And everyone is pretty happy at the end.
Quote:
"I mean a transportation system with an average speed of just above stationary is not really a transportation system at all!"..."It's more like a storage system!" -- pg. 225
Read:
9/2011
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
An elderly man (A young fella, around my age) uncharacteristically goes on a walk the length of England to visit a dying co-worker that he has not seen in many years. A whole lot of weeps at the end.
Quote:
"I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone, but I still keep looking. [...] It's like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it's there and you keep falling in. After a while, it's still there, but you learn to walk around it." -- page 210
Read:
12/2014
Death Of A Nightingale
With Agnete Friis. Nina Borg #3. Wow, this was a sad story, but I found some good quotes!
Quote:
"I'm sorry, I s peak only Russian, not Ukrainian," said Soren.
"My friend,"..."When you have sat in a chair for almost twenty-four hours without being able to say anything but 'Hello,' 'Thank you,' and 'Where is the toilet?' there suddenly is not as much difference between Ukrainian and Russian as there usually is."Quote:
"What the hell makes you think," she said in her most glacial voice, "that I am anybody's victim?"Quote:
"Are you having a nervous breakdown?" she asked out loud in English.
Why she was speaking English to herself she didn't know.Quote:
What was the matter with this case and these people? Couldn't Søren turn his back for one second without someone else disappearing?Read:
7/2023
Invisible Murder
With Agnete Friis. Nina Borg #2. Terribly dark story, with a couple of, perhaps ironically, funny lines. Radiation poisoning, sex trade, including under-age, violence, death.
Quote:
Just when exactly had he stopped calling the shots in his own life?
Maybe he never had. Maybe free will had been an illusion the whole time, the biggest scam of all.Read:
7/2023
The Boy In The Suitcase
With Agnete Friis. Nina Borg #1. Translated from the Danish. Good mystery story, surprise climax, to me!!
Spoiler!:
Quote:
Read:
7/2023
20 books displayed
[Abadzis - Aiken] [Aiken - An] [Anaya - Archer] [Archer - Austen] [Authors, - Baen Publishing Enterprises] [Baen Publishing Enterprises - Barnard] [Barnard - Barnard] [Barnes - Barr] [Barr - Baum] [Beagle - Bear] [Beaton - Beaton] [Beaton - Bedard] [Belushi - Block] [Block - Block] [Block - Bonham] [Bonham - Bowen] [Box - Brown] [Brown - Buffett] [Bujold - Bujold] [Bujold - Cannell] [Carbone - Card] [Card - Caunitz] [Caunitz - Chbosky] [Cheaney - Clancy] [Clancy - Coben] [Coben - Colfer] [Colfer - Collins] [Collins - Connelly] [Connelly - Conrad] [Conroy - Cooper] [Cooper - Cornwell] [Cornwell - Crais] [Crais - Crichton] [Crichton - Curtis] [Curtis - Dahl] [Dahl - Deaver] [Del Rey - Dixon] [Dixon - Dorsey] [Dorsey - Dozois] [Dozois - DuPrau] [DuPrau - Ellms] [Elmer - Evanovich] [Evanovich - Fairstein] [Falkner - Fielding] [Finnin - Fleischman] [Fleischman - Forrest] [Forster - Francis] [Francis - Francis] [Francis - Francis] [Francis - Funke] [Funke - Garcia] [Garcia - Gidwitz] [Giff - Gores] [Gores - Granger] [Granger - Greenleaf] [Greenleaf - Grimes] [Grimes - Grisham] [Grisham - Haddix] [Haldeman - Hall] [Hall - Hannigan] [Hard - Heat-Moon] [Hebden - Heinlein] [Heinlein - Hemingway] [Henry - Herriot] [Herriot - Hiaasen] [Hiaasen - Hillerman] [Hillerman - Hobbs] [Hobbs - Horowitz] [Horowitz - Hyman] [Ibbotson - Jennings] [Jerome - Kaaberbøl] [Kaaberbøl - Kaminsky] [Kaminsky - Kidd] [Kidder - Kingsbury] [Kingsolver - Konigsburg] [Konrath - Kuang] [Kurland - Larsson] [Larsson - Leblanc] [Leckie - Lehrer] [Leon - Levine] [Levine - Lobsenz] [Lockhart - Lowry] [Lowry - MacAvoy] [MacDonald - Maguire] [Maguire - Martin] [Martin - Mass] [Mass - McBain] [McBain - McCrumb] [McCrumb - McNally] [McSwigan - Mikaelsen] [Miles - Moon] [Moon - Morrison] [Mortimer - Mysterious Press] [Nance - Nimmo] [Niven - Novik] [Novik - O'Brian] [O'Brian - Oppel] [Oppenheim - Paretsky] [Paretsky - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Patrick] [Patron - Paulsen] [Paulsen - Pelletier] [Pelletier - Philbrick] [Philbrick - Powell] [Poyer - Poyer] [Poyer - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pronzini] [Pronzini - Pullman] [Pullman - Reeve] [Reeve - Richardson] [Richter - Robinson] [Robinson - Rowling] [Rowling - Russo] [Russo - Sawyer] [Scalzi - Scarborough] [Scattergood - Scott] [Scott - Seiple] [Selznick - Shulman] [Shusterman - Sloan] [Sloan - Sontag] [Soto - Stark] [Stark - Stephenson] [Stephenson - Stroke] [Stroke - Stroud] [Stroud - Tappyly] [Taylor - Townsend] [Tracy - Updale] [Urban - Van Name] [van Vogt - Walsh] [Walsh - Weber] [Weber - Wells] [Wells - Westlake] [Westlake - Westlake] [Weyn - Willis] [Willis - Wolfe] [Wolff - Yu] [Zahn - Zusak]