Books I've Read
Books Listed by Author
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Polaris
Alex Benedict, #2. The crew and passengers mysteriously disappears from a space yacht that had journeyed to see the star Delta Karpis collide with a dwarf. Many years (a hundred?) later Alex and Chase get involved in finding out what happened. And why does someone not want them to?
The scene where the house AI was disabled while burglars searched the house, stealing some not-all-that valuable stuff, which was later dumped in a river; well, it seems very familiar. Like I read it recently in another book by this author? I'll have to look around and see.
Quote:
The author never settled for a single adjective where two or three could be levered in.Quote:
Scramblers could, of course, be manufactured to resemble comm links or compacts or virtually any other kind of metal object. But my philosophy is that if someone has a weapon pointed at him, he should know about it.Read:
4/2025
Village In The Sky
Alex Benedict, #9. Not-an-archeologist in space! An interesting read, but I'm not getting too excited here. Possibly the AIs are my favorite characters!
Quote:
She ordered toast and grapes from the generator.Quote:
"It's my library card," she said. "It should be more than sufficient to prove that you found us."Read:
4/2025
Skylar
He wrote the Fletch series. This story takes place in the South. A studly young handsome is accused of murder. Rated R
Read:
7/1998
Every Heart A Doorway
Kids who disappeared and reappeared are sent by their desperate parents to a peculiar school run by Miss Eleanor West. Really nicely written. First of a series.
Read:
2/2018
Rosemary And Rue
Urban Fairy Noir in San Francisco? Nice setting, too much action. Don't really want to read the rest of the series, though.
Read:
6/2021
The Ablative Case
Kinapping goes wrong. Wrong people keep getting kidnapped, and bodies keep ending up in people's cars... Book ends suddenly.
Read:
9/2003
Widow's Mate
A confusing mystery of a body in a cement mixer, multiple girlfriends, and money. Who is that bearded guy in Kentucky? Who lets their kid have a trap door?
Read:
7/2010
Avalanche
I can't believe I don't have any other books by this author on The Big List! I've read several, and many of his stories in Outdoor Life. I enjoy his comedic outdoor adventures. This is a light mystery, taking place in Idaho, as far as I can tell, the second of the Sheriff Bo Tully series. Some editing boo-boos (A character is called by the wrong name; Bo visits a crime scene that he has already visited, yet asks directions to it.). Interesting characters, but not a lot of depth. I guess I said "light mystery", didn't I!
Smoke Quote:
"Those things are already killing me," Tully said. "I might as well smoke them myself."Read:
8/2007
The Blight Way
Sheriff Bo Tully investigates the murder of a man found on a fence. He meets Susan the medical examiner.
Smoke Quote:
He wondered how much they paid ambulance personnel these days, that they could afford to smoke. (pg. 73)
Library Quote:
"They all had ID of some kind, Bo. You count a library card as ID, don't you?"
"It's one of the best, Ernie."
Read:
8/2011
Remote Control
British agent Nick Stone tries to find out who BLOODILY murdered his friend in Washington, D.C.
Read:
3/2001
The Book Of Ralph
Hank recounts his inadvertent adventures with Ralph, who is quite the character. The shenanigans run from burglary to involvement in a murder.
The author seems to have confused CB "channels" with "stations", unless this is a Chicago thing. It certainly is not in the Big Dummy's Guide To CB Radio!
Quote:
"You see anything good?"
"What do you mean?"
"Cassette deck, turntables, ham radio?"
"Ham radio? What's a ham radio?? (pg. 98)
Quote:
"See!" she said. "It's always about you!"
I started for my bike, but I yelled behind me. "I'm me! Why shouldn't it be about me?" (pg. 158)
Read:
8/2009
Snow Treasure
A Norse boy named Peter leads the children of their village in transporting the town's gold from the bank to a fishing boat so the Nazis don't steal it. Written in 1942, interestingly. Recommended by Tiffany.
Read:
11/2009
Clear For Action!
Rousing story of young Jeff Robbins who signs on a cargo schooner just before the start of the War of 1812 and pressed-ganged into service on a British warship. Good stuff!
Words I Had To Look Up:
Right as a trivet (pg. 312) -- Initially "as steady as a trivet", implying stability. In the book, "right as rain" might have fit the sentence better, though.
Read:
10/2008
How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life
Abby inherits a chamberpot from her mother and takes it to The Antiques Roadshow. Pretty good, chicklit?
Words I Had To Look Up:
Madeleine -- A sweet scallop-shaped cake.Read:
7/2006
Christmas Cookie Murders
Lucy Stone lives in a small town in Maine and aggravates the local police by solving murders. Two recipes.
Read:
5/2001
The Apothecary
Janie's parents have to leave the U.S. for England in 1952 because of persecution by the government. Janie a little trouble adjusting, but then she meets an interesting boy. And THEN things get weird.
I enjoyed this story very much, and especially the observations on post-ware life in London.
I should have realized there was gonna be a sequel!
Read:
10/2013
Strength And Honor
Last book (#4) in the U.S.S. Merrimack series. Ties things up nicely.
Read:
2/2013
The Myriad
Tour of the Merrimack #1. The battleship is chasing down Hive, finds a unknown populated planet, some battle fought, the timeline is changed, black hole, blah blah.
Read:
2/2013
The Sagitarius Command
Book three of the U.S.S. Merrimack series. Gosh, I didn't care for the first book and here I am on the third one! Oddly, SPQR came up in conversation (on television they were showing The Robe), Cam translated it (High school Latin pays off again!), and now I find it on page 90, among pages. Whoops, I misspelled the title!
Read:
2/2013
Wolf Star
Tour of the Merrimack #2. Didn't care much for the last book, and here I am reading book two! Wept a bit at page 322. Now I gotta go walk to the library and get the next one.
Read:
2/2013
20 books displayed
[Abadzis - Addison] [Addison - Alexander] [Alexander - Anderson] [Anderson - Asimov] [Asimov - Bacigalupi] [Backman - Baldree] [Baldree - Barnard] [Barnard - Barnes] [Barnes - Barr] [Barr - Beanton] [Beanton - Beaton] [Beaton - Beaton] [Beaton - Belzer] [Bender - Block] [Block - Block] [Block - Bodett] [Bohjalian - Bova] [Bova - Brink] [Briody - Bryson] [Buchanan - Bujold] [Bujold - Bythell] [Cain - Card] [Card - Carey] [Carlson editor - Chambers] [Chambers - Choldenko] [Choldenko - Clarke] [Clarke - Cody] [Cody - Colfer] [Colfer - Collins] [Collins - Connelly] [Connelly - Constantine] [Constantine - Corbett] [Corcoran - Cornwell] [Cornwell - Crais] [Crais - Crichton] [Crichton - Curry] [Curry - Cussler] [Cussler - Davis] [Davis - Dilloway] [Dionne - Dorsey] [Dorsey - Dowell] [Dowell - Duncan] [Duncan - Elkins] [Elkins - Evanovich] [Evanovich - Fairstein] [Fairstein - Ferris] [Ferris - Flanagan] [Flanagan - Flint] [Flint - Foster] [Fournier - Francis] [Francis - Francis] [Francis - Freedman] [Freedman - Gaiman] [Gaiman - Gash] [Gash - Goffard] [Going - Grady] [Grafton - Grant] [Grant - Greenleaf] [Greenleaf - Grimes] [Grimes - Gruwell] [Gutman - Haldeman] [Haldeman - Hall] [Hallett - Hannigan] [Hard - Heat-Moon] [Heat-Moon - Heinlein] [Heinlein - Heller] [Hemingway - Herrera] [Herriot - Hiaasen] [Hiaasen - Hiaasen] [Hiaasen - Hobb] [Hobb - Holt] [Hoose - Hudgens] [Hudson - Jackson] [Jackson - Johnson] [Johnson - Kaminsky] [Kaminsky - Keating] [Keene - Kienzle] [Kienzle - Kinney] [Kirby - Korman] [Korman - L'Amour] [L'Engle - latham] [Laughlin - Leckie] [Leckie - Leonard] [Leonard - Lewis] [Lewis - Little] [Little - Lowry] [Lowry - Lutz] [Lynch - Magary] [Magary - Marcinko] [Marcinko - Masiel] [Mass - McBain] [McBain - McCormack] [McCrumb - McDevitt] [McDevitt - Meluch] [Meyer - Moffett] [Monninger - Moon] [Moon - Moss] [Moulton - Neville] [Neville - North] [Northcutt - Nunn] [O'Brian - O'Brian] [O'Brian - Oppel] [Oppenheim - Paretsky] [Paretsky - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Parker] [Parker - Paulsen] [Paulsen - Pease] [Peck - Peyton] [Pfeffer - Pooley] [Pooley - Poyer] [Poyer - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pratchett] [Pratchett - Pronzini] [Pronzini - Quinn] [Quinn - Raskin] [Raskin - Resnick] [Reynolds - Riordan] [Roach - Roosevelt] [Rose - Russell] [Russell - Sachar] [Sachar - Scalzi] [Scalzi - Schmitz] [Schonborg - Scottoline] [Scottoline - Shames] [Shames - Shute] [Sijie - Smith] [Smith - Spector] [Spencer - Stark] [Stark - Stephenson] [Stephenson - Stroke] [Stroke - Strunk] [Sturgeon - Taylor] [Taylor - Townsend] [Tracy - Updale] [Urban - Van Name] [van Vogt - Walsh] [Walsh - Weber] [Weber - Wells] [Wells - Westerman] [Westerman - Westlake] [Westlake - Willis] [Willis - Wodehouse] [Wodehouse - Yates] [Yates - Zusak]