drneutron's 2013 Challenge - Second Lap

Summary for the year to date:

1. Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott - 3 stars
2. The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest - 4 stars
3. Portlandtown by Rob DeBorde - 4 stars
4. The Path to Power by Robert A. Caro - 5 stars
5. A Sickness in the Family by Denise Mina - 3.5 stars
6. The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma - 4 stars

So far I'm a little disappointed with the quantity of reading in January, but the quality's been good.

7. Foundation : the history of England from its earliest beginnings to the Tudors by Peter Ackroyd

I've enjoyed Ackroyd's work in the past - most recently London Under - and generally like his work. He's a high level writer in his nonfiction. By that I mean he takes a concept and builds it into an interesting work, but never seems to get to the next level of the detail that would make his work so much more. Foundation is exactly that: a history of the kings of England from the earliest days (including speculation all the way back to the Neolithic era) to the coming of the Tudors. In 450 pages. So yeah, there's a lot left out. On the other hand, this would be a great starter book for someone who doesn't know much about this history.

Ackroyd structures the book as an alternating set of longer chapters on an individual king and shorter chapters on some life theme such as houses and dwellings or food through the period covered by the book. It's a nice format that lends itself well to the material. Two things bugged me about the book, though. First, he sprinkles these short sentences in the text that effectively render judgement on the person being discussed or the general history. They came off a snide and were completely unnecessary. Second, he doesn't footnote. The bibliography broken up by chapter is useful and led to a few additions to my reading list. But he's clearly making a judgement about historically undecided events or people and presenting them as fact when there may very well be some disagreement among historians about the subject. Example: just today there was an announcement that DNA results confirmed that a skeleton found pretty much where tradition said it would be is the remains of Richard III. The question of what happened to Richard after Bosworth has been an open one, yet Ackroyd wrote as if it were decided and that Richard's bones were dispersed in the countryside - clearly in error. I'd like to know where he's made these judgement calls in the choosing how to present his history.

In spite of the flaws given here, I recommend the book, especially to those who don't know this history but would like to jump in.

2> What I know from Ackroyd is that his books are well written, but as you say, they're starter books. Nice if you want some information on a subject, but if you want to go deeper you'll need to look elsewhere.

#2 I've never quite been able to get on with Ackroyd. He writes on some interesting topics but the books themselves hasn't grabbed me.

Despite the flaws, that does sound like an interesting book.

Definitely interesting - his writing is very good. Just go into it with your eyes open and enjoy!

Well, add me to the Ackroyd fan club. The first book of his I read was Hawksmoor and it was a trial by fire--I had trouble following the line of the story without reading outside materials. But others, notably The Lambs of London and The Fall of Troy, and most especially The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde I really enjoyed. His prose is often very dense, but he has piqued my interest in the actual discovery of Troy's ruins and in the life of the Lambs (whose Tales of Shakespeare were handed to me as an introduction when I was in middle school) and the life of Oscar Wilde. So, in a sense, I'm agreeing with Samantha_kathy about these being starter books. But they are great starters!

Singing... "Don't know much about history"... :)

And truly, I don't. Maybe one day I'll pick up this one as a starter.

I've got a couple of unread Ackroyd books around here, but the only book of his I have read is Dickens which is one truly massive biography. Wonder how many things I have taken as being carved in stone were just Ackroyd being Ackroyd...

Hello Jim! I love you review of Foundation and have already added it to my TBR list - thanks!

I saw others have posted in-progress series, and I thought this might be a good way to actually finish some of the ones that have been hanging out there due to lack of attention. Here's what I need to complete:

Cold Copper by Devon Monk
American Vampire Vol. 4 (graphic novel) by Scott Snyder
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Killing Rocks by D. D. Barant
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
The Shadow Dragons by James A. Owen
Haunted by James Herbert (accidentally started third in series, need to catch up)
Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
Werewolf Smackdown by Mario Acevedo
Scavenger by David Morell
The Third Lynx by Timothy Zahn
The Ghost of the Revelator by L E Modesitt, Jr
The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman (Got this from my Secret Santa!)
The Map of Moments by Christopher Golden
Tudors: A History of England, Vol II by Peter Ackroyd
The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith
Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason
Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute by Jonathan L. Howard
The Obsidian Key by Eldon Thompson
The Book of Transformations by Mark Charan Newton
Behemoth by Scott Westerfield
Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky
Revelation by C. J. Sansom (another Secret Santa book!)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin
Blackout by Mira Grant
Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle
Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Bone Mountain by Eliot Pattison
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
A Question of Identity by Susan Hill
A Curtain Falls by Stephanie Pintoff
Watcher of the Dead by J V Jones
The Innocent by Taylor Stevens
Means of Ascent by Robert A. Caro

Hi, Jim! Just stopping by to say hello and check out your new thread. Great list of series!

Yikes, Jim! That's a lot of series. The Ackroyd book sounds interesting. I was speaking with a woman tonight whose family tree includes the Plantagenets, which of course includes Edward I, better known in Braveheart as Edward Longshanks. A less likely person to be related to him I could not have found! History sure is fun, though!

Hello Jim! Sounds like 2013 has been a year of good reading so far.

#8 Tina your comments are so delightful on everyones threads. When I'm skimming and I see your name, I stop to read. Thank you for being you.

So far so good! Although, I'm a little disappointed with how busy January was and so how few books I got to. Fortuantely (?) I've got a few business trips in March that'll give me some airplane time to catch up. :)

I read my first Ackroyd last year (Thames: Sacred River) and enjoyed it, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. Some bits were brand-new and some were "old" information, but it was a good read when all was said and done. I see that he has more than a few books out there, and will add Foundation by my TBR list. Thanks for the great review!

8. Tales of Terror and Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle

A free download from iBooks kept on my phone. It was perfect for filling time between meetings or when I'm waiting for something. The stories are quite good - in some cases, better than the bulk of the Holmes stories. Recommended!

14.... You just made my day!!! Thank you so much!!! :)

Good to know I'm not alone in the very long list of series to catch up on! I keep a spreadsheet AND lists on FictFact!

Yeah, checking out fictfact is on my list, but I'm reluctant to find yet another thing to keep track of. :)

Fictfact is the best thing. Otherwise I'd never be able to keep track!

9. Ash by James Herbert

Ash is the third in a series featuring parapsychologist/investigator David Ash from James Herbert. I came across this one at the library and grabbed it not realizing I jumped into the middle of a series. Didn't hurt too much, though - I managed to get into it with minimal confusion.

Unfortunately, it simply wasn't that good. Not bad, per se, just meh. It's too long and isn't creepy, which for a haunted house story is a horrible sin. And really, it's only nominally a ghost story. It's far more a conspiracy/action story with ghostly elements. Again, not horrible, just not what I expected.

The reviews here at LT mention that the first two are good and that this one is a disappointment for the reiewers, so I suppose I'll look at the first two sometime. But that's low priority.

Jim, I cannot tell you how grateful I am to read a review of a book that doesn't force me to add yet another series to my already overburdened list of series I am reading. Thanks for that!

Glad to help!

Hey Jim. I'm having some problems with the touchstones on my 2013 Category Challenge thread. Roberta suggested I ask you for help.

Thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/149338 and the problem is explained in message #24. Pretty please?

Took a look - I haven't seen that before! Jeremy (jbd1) may be able to help debug.

Jim I knew you would know who could help if you couldn't solve the problem for Paws. You are invaluable! Thank you for all you do.

10. Bad Glass by Richard E. Gropp

Something bad has happened in Spokane, Washington. The city was evacuated and the military's keeping people out. But a wanna-be photojournalist thinks this is the perfect opportunity to sneak in and make a name for himself. But what he finds is way beyond what he expected.

Gropp's taken a few lessons from Danielwski's House of Leaves and The Blair Witch Project. Bad Glass is trippy and is very visual - including word descriptions of pictures taken by the lead character (sooo much better than having actual illustrations). It's got Cormac McCarthy's character-centered story without the need for tidiness. Highly recommended, but could be a stretch for some looking for a more conventional story.

11. The Facade: Special Edition by Michael S. Heiser

This could have been a brilliant book - a secret organization masterminding a conspiracy to get the world "used to" the idea that extraterrestrials exist and are here. Unfortunately, it's not brilliant, it's a bit of a mess. The pacing is all wrong; there's way to much exposition and setup to the story. The characters are cardboard and easily slotted into the usual stereotypes for this kind of story. The religious aspects were heavy-handed.

Ultimately, I just didn't buy the premise, though. It would be easy to manipulate the public into accepting UFOs. Just flood the market with books and movies about aliens, and build stories like the Roswell crash into our culture. Uh, kinda like Hollywood's been doing for the last few decades....

Anyway, the book's flaws are many and I just can't recommend it.

You've piqued my interest with 'Bad Glass', Jim. Onto the library wishlist it goes!

#28 - Hi Jim! I agree. Bad Glass sounds creepy and intriguing. I've plopped it on my list.

>30 rosalita: and 31 I was thinking the same thing....

Mr. drneuton... thank you for an interesting looking book! on the TBR list....

My pleasure!

I love your long list of unfinished books - I too am working through some of my unfinished list to help me reach the 75 - as a matter of interest, do you know what it is that makes you 'park' a book?

I tend not to read books in a series back-to-back. My choices are pretty random and I rarely plan out reading. So I find that I've finished a book in a series and then just failed to pick up the next. I'm hoping my list will give me motivation to clean up some of these that I really like, but just haven't gotten to yet.

Hey Jim -

The only Ackroyd I've read is Hawksmoor, which I enjoyed with some reservations. I've been thinking of trying some of his non-fiction, but I don't think I'll start with Foundation!

Thanks for the reviews.

I've read London Under as well, and thought it was pretty good. That might be a good intro to his fiction work (plus it's really short, so you're not so invested if it doesn't work for you). London: A Biography is pretty well regarded, but I haven't read it yet. And I think he did one on the Thames River as well that people like.

I think London Under might be a good choice for me - there was some interesting information about London's sewer and water delivery systems in The Ghost Map and I'd like to learn more about them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hi Jim... About your list, are these the 'next up' in your ongoing series? Did you get this from your stats or how did you gather all this great info?

*curious and considering stealing* :)

Add me to the list about ongoing series info....very curious

So if you go to your home page and look for Stats/Memes, one of the stats is for your series. Look at "All Books" and you can pick off the next in your incomplete series pretty easily!

12. Chew vol 6: Space Cakes by John Layman

Next in the Chew graphic novel series. Gross-out comedy, parody of men-in-black conspiracy, general wackiness! Not for everyone, though.

13. The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller

I decided I needed a dose of straight-up fantasy, and I've had the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker books on the list since they came out. Pretty good non-Tolkien fantasy with a good set of characters. A few minor plot holes dropped my rating a bit, but didn't get in the way of enjoyment.

Chew.... I might have to check that out.... trying to find new Graphic Novels to get my hands on..... since I wasn't impressed with my husbands Batman and Superman comics/GN.... but I've really liked the Grimm Fairy Tales series so far....

I just looked up Vol. 1 of Chew on Barnes and Noble.com and it looks like something I would enjoy

41... Thanks for the tip, Jim!!

I haven't updated my thread with books in a bit, mainly because I've been reading three books back-to-back on Butch Cassidy and I want to do a compare-and-contrast write-up. So without further ado....

14. Butch Cassidy: A Biography by Richard Patterson
15. Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave by W. C. Jameson
16. The Last Outlaws: The Lives and Legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid by Thom Hatch

Terri (tloeffler) recently offered to send me her copy of Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave from the ER program. I've had a bit of interest in Old West outlaws and have done some reading in the past, so I gladly snapped it up (since I didn't win it in the ER contest... :). Coincidently, I found The Last Outlaws at my public library that same day. In the spirit of the Old West, this naturally led to a shootout. And for good measure, I decided to throw in Richard Patterson's excellent Butch Cassidy: A Biography from 1998. Over the last couple of weeks, I've read all three and wanted to share my thoughts.

In 1870s and 1880s Utah, a young man named Robert LeRoy Parker grew up and worked as a cowboy in various ranches - both at his family home and in the surrounding area. He got pretty good at handling animals and dived right into cowboy life. Now, this was not the most upstanding of environments - many of the wandering cowboys were iffy with following the law and cattle/horse rustling was a part of their day-to-day existence. Parker became involved with rustlers, then rustling, to the point that he had to leave home or risk arrest. After wandering about for a bit, dabbling in horse racing and working in mining operations, Parker was convicted of a petty theft and sent to the penitentiary for 18 months. As with many others, his time in prison exposed him even more to the outlaw culture of the day, so that on release, he changed his name to George Cassidy, collected the nickname "Butch" and led a shifting group of folks known as the Wild Bunch in a series of train and bank robberies across the Old West.

This, of course, got the attention of the railroads and banks to the point that they hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to capture him and his gang. After the heat got too much to bear, Butch and his partner, the Sundance Kid, decided to move to Argentina in 1901 to try to go straight and live a ranching lifestyle that by then was starting to disappear in the US. But their history - much of it not even true - caught up with them, they had trouble going straight, and after a series of robberies in Argentina and Bolivia, Butch and Sundance were cornered by Bolivian troops in a small town and shot (or maybe they committed suicide to avoid capture).

Except maybe it wasn't Butch and Sundance who committed those crimes, and maybe they didn't die in Bolivia. There were reports of sightings well into the 1930s and at least one person - a William T. Phillips of Spokane, Washington - who claimed to be Butch Cassidy but died before his claim could be really investigated. And the process of investigation isn't helped by the murkiness of the times - after all, these were people trying to *hide* their activities. Plus, much of the information is in the form of interviews and writings, often years after the fact, rather than documentation. So there's lots of interpretation going on.

Which leads us to the books. Butch Cassidy: a Biography is just that. It's a well documented and footnoted work that presents his life and an understanding of who Butch was. And mostly it succeeds. One can quibble with whether Patterson is right about whether Butch took part in Robbery X, but he does a pretty good job handling the evidence and presenting alternate views of events. And unfortunately, his footnoting and explanation of sources wasn't very deep, although, in fairness, that's not uncommon in a popular work not intended as scholarly.

Butch Cassidy: Beyond the Grave is a book with essentially a single point: Butch Cassidy was not killed in Bolivia and showed up later as William T. Phillips. Jameson depends heavily on Patterson's biography for the early material, then points to much of the work of Anne Meadows, who actually attempted to find Butch and Sundance's graves for exhumation, to discuss later events. He makes some interesting arguments to support his conclusions, but I was a bit put off at the attitude that came through. He clearly thinks previous researchers are amateurs and dismisses out of hand arguments and evidence brought forward that don't support his conclusions. His book came off a bit like some of the "documentaries" aired on cable networks these days, even if some of his arguments are good ones.

The Last Outlaws is a bit different. Hatch's viewpoint is more top-level. While he's writing about Butch and Sundance, he's also presenting context for their lives. So he veers off a bit to talk about the history of train robberies, for instance. And I liked that aspect quite a bit. Plus, the focus isn't solely on Butch, so we get more information about those around him. As with Jameson's book, this one's a popular work and so the footnoting and sourcing is a bit sparse.

Not surprisingly, all three have different conclusions about the end of Butch's life and the possibility that he survived, with Patterson agnostic, Jameson definitively for and Hatch against. What would I recommend? Well, if you're only going to read one, I'd have to say that Patterson's biography is the right one. If you've got some options, Hatch and Jameson present different, but useful points of view.

What a great overview and "shoot-out"! I think I may actually pick up The Last Outlaws since I may end up enjoying the context as much as anything, and then go on to the Patterson if I want more :) Thank you!

Very interesting discussion of Butch Cassidy and the three books, Jim. I'm going to see if my library has the Patterson biography.

Jim - great information on all three books. Both the Patterson and Hatch books sound good - I'll give one of them a try! Thanks.

Jim, I love that "compare and contrast" summary of the three books about Butch Cassidy! I will be looking for the Patterson biography, in particular.

You've done a great job of comparing and contrasting those Butch Cassidy books, Jim. You've given me the urge to check them out.

Excellent summaries of the three books on Butch Cassidy et al. I watched the recent version of True Grit yesterday...must be a weekend of Westerns!

Thanks folks! And interestingly, I'm in Butch Cassidy country and didn't make the connection until now. I'm at Big Sky, Montana, for a conference.

Yesterday, we (there are several of us from work here) got a real introduction to weather in the Rockies. We were supposed to fly into Bozeman yesterday afternoon, but by the time we got here, a snow storm had blown up. We got diverted to Billings, where we had to wait out the storm. Four hours later, we landed in Bozeman...then I had a drive (after dark!) up into the mountains above Bozeman to get to Big Sky. Made it safely, though, so all is good and I'm getting ready for giving a paper tomorrow morning and then skiing tomorrow afternoon.

Plus, I got a lot of reading done, so I've got some updating to do!

Great comments about Butch and Sundance Kid and the books about them.

Safe travels, Jim!

I currently read Chew vol3 have to read it in doses

Excellent shoot-out reviews, Jim! Hope you're enjoying the beautiful scenery in Montana!

I went skiing yesterday for the first time in nearly a decade. I've decided that a fifty year old can handle skiing pretty well - falling not so much. I'm a bit sore today! :)

It's beautiful here, that's for sure. The trails are great, and really fast compared to East Coast slopes. I definitely enjoyed it!

17. American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

Mona Bright has recently lost her estranged father. On sorting through his few possessions, she finds that she's inherited a house from her mother who committed suicide years before when Mona was a child. Trouble is, the house is located in a small town in New Mexico that's not on any maps...

Bennett's American Elsewhere is a pretty good horror story. It's not particularly groundbreaking, but a few elements were surprisingly handled. The plot mostly works well, the characters are interestingly realized, although the pacing dragged a bit on spots and could have been tightened up a bit to ratchet up the tension. I loved to Lovecraftian elements Bennett pulled in!

All in all, a recommendation from me. Most fans of the genre will enjoy American Elsewhere. Non-fans may still enjoy the mystery flavor as well.

18. The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City by Jennifer Toth

A fascinating and disturbing look at people living in the tunnels below New York City - fascinating because these people are such interesting individuals, disturbing because these are the most marginalized people in the city. Most are substance abusers, many are mentally ill, and surprisingly, many claim to be happy (or at least happier) living in freedom as they see it rather than subject themselves to the city's social services network. And yet this is a dirty, unhealthy, violent world where abuse runs rampant at the same time communities that care for each other have formed. And around these people are social workers that want to help get people out of this situation and police that have to enforce the laws and protect everyone - each with their own complex set of issues. It's a complicated situation with no easy answers.

Five stars from me - highly recommended.

#59 - Hi Jim! This sounds fascinating. I've put it on the wishlist.

I remember reading 'The Mole People' as an assigned text in a university Rhetoric class. It was quite the eye-opener.

Yeah, it was. I had a chance to work with some homeless guys at my church this winter and I'm still thinking about 'em and what more we could do to help. But even there, I met several that didn't necessarily want more help. So we try to meet each one where they are. Still, it was in some ways a humbling experience to work with them.

Ah, you were close to my country during your meeting. I'm an hour south of Missoula. Glad you had fun and hope the meeting went well!

You hit me with The Mole People!

Nice review of The Mole People, Jim; I've added it to my wish list.

The meeting did go well, and I managed not to damage myself too much skiing. Plus, the area is gorgeous! I'm thinking mrsdrneutron and I need to visit someday together.

Hope everybody likes The Mole People! It's definitely something to think about.

19. Revelation by C. J. Sansom

Fourth in the Matthew Shardlake series - mysteries set in Tudor England, mostly at the end of Henry VIII's reign. This was easily the best so far of a very good series!

Thanks to Chattbox, my 75er Secret Santa for sending it to me!

Oh, you got me with multiple book-bullets, Jim! American Elsewhere and Mole People both added to my ever-expanding list. The Shardlake series is already on my radar -- I think the first one is on my TBR shelf . . .

Pow! Pow! Pow!

:)

I lived in Missoula for a year - Montana is beautiful! I hope you enjoyed the conference.

I think I've actually dodged your book recommendations this time. I rarely read horror and I don't think I'm up for Mole People right now. Maybe in the future, though....

20. The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman

Sequel to The Half-Made World, Gilman continues the story of a former school teacher and a one-time Agent of the Gun as they attempt to end a decades long war between the Gun and the Line. In this case, it's told from the point of view of a huckster/inventor who intersects with the bigger story across several years, ultimately becoming key to the whole thing.

Very well done, quite a unique voice.

21. Batman and Philosophy by Mark D. White

A set of essays edited by White using Batman (ok, mostly the more recent history) to illuminate various topics in philosophy like ethics/morality, identity, even friendship and relationships with the real world. Don't expect too much - it's a popularization. But if you haven't read much Kant, Heidegger or Nietzsche, this would be a decent enough way to get introduced.

Hi Jim,
I'm flying into Bozeman for a conference next week. I don't plan to ski, but I do hope to get to play in the snow a bit. We're going to be near where you were.

I might actually check out Batman and Philosophy. It would fit into my nonfiction challenge.

If you get a chance to drive up to Big Sky, it's worth the trip. Drive it in daylight if you can for best effect. :)

>71 drneutron:: I received The Rise of Ransom City for Christmas but I feel like I need to re-read The Half-Made World first...and I left that at the cabin for the winter. :-(

Ouch!

Hmmm. Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the book here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Half-Made_World

Btw, I recently read The Six-Gun Tarot which strikes me as something you may possibly like, not sure.

Saw that on your thread and was definitely interested!

The Mole People sounds fascinating! Excellent review!

Thanks! It was a random find on Overdrive - the ebook lending service for my local public library.

Also, picked up the new Outback today! It's dark gray with black interior and a reasonable number of gadgets. I'll post a pic at some point.

Now to get some mud on the tires... :)

Ohh...a new car. Fun!

Oooh, excellent! Can't wait to see the photos!

Hope you're enjoying the new Outback, Jim!

Way, way up there: I'm glad to see your opinion of the Jameson book on Butch Cassidy was the same as mine. I found him intolerably arrogant, and it put me off too. I'll have to look into the Patterson book for something a little more even-handed.

Jim, I'm actually staying in (or just outside of) Big Sky. It was sunny and gorgeous when we came in yesterday and today we got about 4" of new snow. It's an incredibly beautiful place!

The last two weeks has been pretty miserable at work - we're getting into a really busy design phase and meetings are consuming my time. So I haven't been around LT much. And I've only gotten to a couple more books...

22. Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best

Not so much a book on statistics as a book on how to interpret them, Damned Lies and Statistics goes through what stats mean, how they're used and how to think critically about them. Should be required reading for everyone.

23. Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

6th in the really good Inspector Erlandur series - in this case, he becomes befuddled by a suicide. Once again, Erlandur's inner obsession with missing persons drives the story.

Jim, is the statistics book accessible to the, er, numerically challenged among us? Because I'm interested in the concept of how to think critically about statistics but it wouldn't take much to get over my head on the subject.

Actually, it would be perfect. There's no math in it at all. It's about how to think about the numbers rather Han how to calculate the numbers!

Oh, wonderful! Onto the wishlist, then.

Jim I just checked my library database and they have Damned Lies and Statistics. I will definitely add it to my TBR list. Looks like he wrote a sequel, More Damned Lies and Statistics.

24. Malcolm X: a Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable

A thoroughly enjoyable read - but given the reaction from some who knew Malcom X, I'm reserving judgment on the "definitiveness" of this biography until I read some of the responses.

I've had the Marable on my list to read this year in response to a discussion on some other thread...Darryl's? can't remember. I remember the questions about accuracy arising there, too.

Hello Jim, just stopping by to wish you a fab Easter weekend with your family *smile*

I read Malcolm X: a Life of Reinvention last year, and gave it 5 stars. Unfortunately I didn't review it at that time. Rachel (The_Hibernator) read and reviewed it earlier this week, and mentioned the controversy and criticism that followed its publication in her Club Read thread here.

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I'd also like to add my recommendation for The Six-Gun Tarot. I also recently read both The Half-Made World and The Rise of Ransom City, and they're really great.

Hey doc - My biggest comment about your thread is how alike you and I are with enjoying time on airplanes reading - hours and hours worth as long as one can keep one's seatmates from talking!

Good review of the Butch Cassidy books.....

Thanks! Yeah, I took a ride earlier this week and got two more done..reviews to follow!

25. Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

So. What could possibly be better than a zombie novel? A zombie novel with superheroes! And an apocalypse. And a survivor community built from the old Paramount studios. And a rival community led by a very-bad bad guy.

So yeah. I liked Ex-Heroes. It's not perfect and it's not fine literature. But it was a heckuva way to spend an airplane ride. Highly recommended, and I'm off on a hunt for the sequel.

26. Ghost Burglar by Jack Burch and James E. King

Bernard Welch was an almost unbelievably successful burglar. He stole millions of dollars from thousands of people in the Washington, DC, area between the mid-70s and the early 80s, mostly concentrating in silver, gold and small antiques. His methods for converting his stolen goods into cash were brilliant, and through this he was able to support a lavish - and garish - lifestyle. He also occasionally raped and murdered on those occasions when he was surprised by a homeowner. And he was pretty good at escaping from prison.

Ghost Burglar is written by Jack Burch, a journalist, and James King, one of the detectives who eventually caught Welch. Both are first-time authors, and the book, while good, has some first-time author flaws. The chapters written by Burch are a pretty good retelling of the story from a more objective point of view. King's chapters are told from a more personal point of view and are, frankly, not as well written. I think if Burch had taken more of a hand in these chapters, the book would have been quite a bit more recommendable.

The statistics book sounds interesting, Jim. I may add that to my list.

Ok, if you "highly recommend" Ex-Heroes I think I have to have a look at that one. However, may I assume that the story ends in a complete cliffhanger?

Nope. Ex-Heroes stands alone well, but does leave room for the sequel.

Time for 1st Quarter Stats!

Total books so far: 26

Authors
Male: 23 (85%)
Female 4 (15%)

Living: 23 (85%)
Dead: 4 (15%)

Medium
Hardback: 12 (46%)
Paperback: 10 (38%)
eBook: 4 (16%)

Source
Public Library: 18 (69%)
My Library: 8 (31%)

ARC/ER: 4 (16%)

Rereads: 1 (4%)

In a Series: 13 (50%)

Fiction: 16 (62%)
Nonfiction: 10 (38%)

Year of Publication
2013: 5 (19%)
2012: 9 (35%)
2011: 2 (8%)
2010: 2 (8%)

2008: 2 (8%)
2007: 1 (4%)

2001: 1 (4%)

1998: 1 (4%)

1995: 1 (4%)

1990: 1 (4%)

1921: 1 (4%)

So true to form, I'm reading mostly new books written by living males that I find in the public library. One of my goals this year is to even out the author gender statistic a bit more. So I need to pay more attention to author when I pick books!

>104 TadAD:: It might be interesting to do my statistics at the end of this year. While I was doing stuff for Belletrista, my male/female ratio was extremely even, which wasn't the case before. Now, with the hiatus of that publication, I wonder if the habits stuck or whether things will drift back to more male writers. I admit, I don't have the foggiest idea intuitively how it breaks down.

Of course, more published writers are male, so the question remains whether a goal might be mirroring real population or published population.

That's a good point. I wonder what the ratio is among the published population. It's got to be better than 85/15! Another factor is that the fiction I read tends to be dominated by male authors. Although this seems to be changing a bit, male and female authors - of fiction, anyway - still seem to be boxed into genres perceived to be male-oriented or female oriented.

The other stat I think I'll start tracking is US vs non-US books, or maybe native-English vs non-native-English books.

Hey! Way, way, way up at the beginning somewhere you had finished Space Cakes.... I checedk out Chew myself.... up through Vol. 3 at the library.... it was great... I totally loved it.... came here to the library today to get Vol. 4-6 and.... they don't have it :( I have requested that they purchase it and hopefully they will.... but thought I would let you know that I really enjoyed vol 1-3 so far and I'm looking forward to the next few.... thanks for the recommendations!

I'm glad you liked Ex-Heroes! Peter Clines will be speaking at the Bellingham Booktopia. I'm sort of a zombie virgin, but thought it sounded fun so I ordered his book and signed up for one of his sessions. I haven't started it yet, but it's high on the list.

lovelyluck - Glad you liked it! That and Joe Hill's Locke & Key are what got me back into graphic novels.

streamsong - if you like it, try Boneshaker for some good zombie/steampunk or Feed for a political thriller with zombies.

27. Doc by Mary Doria Russell

I must be stupid. I've been told over and over by you people that I would *love* this book. I figured I probably would, but just hadn't picked it up. Then I found it on Overdrive as an ebook loan from my public library and gave in. And of course, you were right. :)

Highly recommended. Absolutely perfect portrayal of Doc Holliday and the Earps in Dodge City before heading off to Tombstone and the OK Corral.

Oh, yay! Another lover of 'Doc' joins the fold. I'm so pleased you loved it, Jim. I thought it was wonderful.

I loved Doc so I'm glad its found another friend. Have you read Sisters Brothers? It's similar, but funny.

I'm the same way about Doc - I keep hearing great things about it, but haven't picked it up yet. I will eventually!

banjo - yup, read The Sisters Brothers last year and enjoyed it thoroughly!

So glad you enjoyed Doc, Jim. I "read" it on audio, and it was probably the best audio book I've tried yet.

The Books on the Nightstand podcast just had a discussion recently on the male to female ratio among published authors. It was an interesting discussion, but I fall in the camp of 'read what you like'.

I'll have to look it up!

In other news, the National Book Festival folks released the list of authors they've signed up for this year's festival. Big names include Margaret Atwood, Marie Arana, Taylor Branch, Don DeLillo, Khaled Hosseini, Barbara Kingsolver, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Paterson and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. Also of interest to me, Justin Cronin, author of The Passage and The Twelve.

And even better, they're adding a pavilion for graphic novels and science fiction on Sunday!

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

28. Heartstone by C. J. Sansom

Fifth (and last?) in the Matthew Shardlake series of mysteries set in Tudor England. Once again Matthew has been dragged into politics in the court of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife, to investigate a case of potential fraud and abuse of an orphan ward of the court. In the process, Matthew gets pulled into the attempted French invasion of 1544!

This one was probably my favorite of the series - it's longer and more involved than the rest, and the character development really shines. I've recommended the series before. This one's not changed my opinion! :)

Just catching up Jim.... The National Book Festival has some biggies!! I should probably know this, but where is the festival?

Washington DC, on the Mall near the Capitol. Wanna join us?

29. Means of Ascent by Robert A. Caro

First, Lyndon Johnson was a sh*t. In every way. He used people horribly, he was amoral at best. He used his considerable political skills only to build his personal power. This is really the focus of Caro's second volume on the life of LBJ, Means of Ascent.

This one focuses on a short 7 years following his loss of the Senate race in 1941 - his nonexistent service in WWII, his building of a radio network across Texas through the use of connections with the FCC, and his election to the Senate through blatantly fraudulent means in 1948. But what's really brought out in the second volume is Johnson's character, as ugly as it may be.

Recommended, but I found it more tedious than the first volume. The short time span leads to a bit of repetition in the prose.

Hi Jim- I take it you've been to the Book Festival before? If so, how was it? Is it accessible or overwhelming?

Yeah, I've been the last few years. It's on the Mall in DC, so is accessible via Metro and car. They put up big tents with chairs for people to sit in and each has a stage for the authors with sound, etc. Other than the possibility of rain, the weather's usually pretty decent in late September. The DC area LTers often have a brunch or supper get-together during that time. We'll keep you posted!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Doc. I am among those who might never have read it but for the recommendations on LT and I'm so glad that I read it!

30. Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead

First in Lawhead's trilogy retelling the story of Robin Hood. Right off the bat, you'll notice that Lawhead has moved the story earlier - closer to the Norman invasion - and to Wales. Interestingly, the reasons he gives in an afterword make sense, and I could buy it.

Lawhead's a good writer; it's a good book. I liked the Celtic setting. I'm looking forward to the rest!

Sounds like a really good book Jim, think i'm going to have to add this to my wishlist.

Hood does sound good.... on the future reading list it goes!

31. Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser

First in a Scandicrime series from the 90s recently translated into English. Here a man wakes up to find his wife murdered in the bathtub, but can't remember anything about the evening before. did he do it? Trust me, the story doesn't go where you think it will.

Nesser is sparse, and the book is mostly dialog-driven, so if you like efficient writing with interesting characters, check it out.

32. Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead

Continuation of Hood. The second book introduces Will Scarlet into Lawhead's envisioning of The Robin Hood story. He's told this mostly in flashback, and Will is Saxon rather than Welsh, so the feel of the book is interestingly different from the first. It's fun to see more traditional episodes of the Robin Hood legends told through different eyes.

33. Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovitch

A reread to prep for the second and third in the series. Loved it the first time, loved it the second! The combination of police procedural and nerdy apprentice wizard fantasy is just right.

*waving* at Jim

I need to re-read Midnight Riot too. I have the second book in the series, but it has been a while since I read the first.

I have never read any of the Lawhead books, but you have me interested in them now. I will have to see if the local library has copies of them. Thanks!

Another LTer had recently read Mind's Eye, Paul perhaps? It looks good and I can get it on audio. I might give it a try.

Really? Hmm. I'll have to see if I can track down who read it.

Stasia - good to see you back!

ETA - yup, Paul!

34. The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

After an accident, Jack suddenly starts seeing ghosts. When his dad sends him to New York to visit a doctor there, he slips into the New York underworld - underworld as in Ancient Greek mythology, complete with a new friend named Euri. Jack lost his mom years ago, and now he has a chance to find her, but on the way he learns so much more!

The Night Tourist is a clever reworking of the story of Orpheus - and a well-written book for children and adults! I loved the idea of a ghostly world hidden behind the living. Recommended.

35. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

The second in the Peter Grant series, a nice combination of urban fantasy and police procedural set in London. The first book in the series was good. This one's better. The concept is more fleshed out, and the characters are even more real. Plus, the plot pivots around jazz - and it appears Aaronovitch is a real fan. Doubt me? Check out the chapter names! :)

Jim, interesting that you found Moon over Soho better than the first book. I liked it a lot less! Maybe it's because I don't know the first thing about jazz?

Hmmm. Could be. That was a big part of what I liked!

I'm eager to try out Moon over Soho. I hope I like it as much as you did! :)

I liked the jazz bits too, Jim.

I've started a new theme thread for May, the May Mars, Myth and Make-believe thread here.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/153614
Hope you'll come by, and also add it to the wiki. Thanks!

I've enjoyed all three of the Ben Aaronovich books - I'm so glad other people like them too!

On the other hand, the Robin Hood legend has never done much for me. You make the books sound interesting but I'm not in any hurry.

Thanks for the reviews!

I am interested in the Ben Aaronovich books. Are they similar to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series?

Somewhat similar, but more a mix of police procedural and urban fantasy. I think Peter Grant, the main character, is a bit less of a loner than Dresden.

36. Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher

George is a near-orphan - his dad died, his mom is gone a lot - and a loner. When he gets in trouble on a field trip and breaks a statue on the building. This one simple act kicks off a battle between taints, gargoyles and the like without soul, and spits, statues of humans imbued with a spirit by their maker. And George is caught in the middle, and may not survive.

Fletcher's quite a good writer, and this one of the better YA books I've read lately. George grows nicely through the book, and the supporting characters are wonderful. The world-building is fairly unique. I'm looking forward to the next!

OK, you got me! Onto the wishlist it goes.

37. The True History of the Elephant Man by Michael Howell and Peter Ford

John Merrick - the Elephant Man - has wandered into popular culture, with plays and movies, even novels going so far as to involve him in the Jack the Ripper crimes. But what people think they know about Merrick is mostly wrong. For instance, his name wasn't John, it was Joseph, but for unknown reasons the doctor who took him into the London hospital where he spent the last few years of his life decided to use John in his memoirs. For another, Merrick's mother didn't abandon him. She was a "cripple" who likely had the same condition he did and died when he was 10. But before that he was reasonably well cared for, and it wasn't until he was older that he left when his family couldn't support him any more. And the showmen that toured Merrick around are often criticized for exploiting him when in fact, he was reasonably well cared for during this time when his only other alternative was to enter a workhouse - a probable death sentence for him given the conditions.

But really, it wasn't until surgeon Frederick Treves brought him into the hospital and arranged - in spite of the rules - for his long term care from private donations that Merrick began to have a life. He was given a place to live and medical care, but also became a public cause for the upper class all the way to the Royals. And this gave him exposure to art and culture, education and comforts, allowing him to spend about four years before his death in security.

Some hundred years later, Michael Howell and Peter Ford wrote The True History of the Elephant Man, bringing to light much new material on Merrick's life. It's a short book, but filled with info on the man and his day. They manage to treat everyone in the story fairly, I think - there are no villains and heroes here. Just a quiet little man who suffered a great deal and people who mostly wanted to help him as best they could. Were there some who took advantage of him? Of course. Even some of the helpers, like Treves, got advantage from knowing him. But Howell and Ford repeatedly show the humanity of Merrick and those around him.

Thanks for the feedback on the Aaronovich books. I will give the first one a try.

I'm intrigued by The True History of the Elephant Man but, alas, my library system doesn't have it. Maybe when I break down and get a Kindle.... Thanks for the review!

Mind's Eye sounds so good! On to the wish list it goes. I've added a couple of other as well.

Great review of The True History of the Elephant Man.

Thanks!

Jim, I love your review of The True History of the Elephant Man. Sounds very interesting! And it's probably going to make its way onto my list . . .

Jim enjoyed your review of the Elephant Man biog and well remember the movie that was made on the subject.
Just to note since your comment on my thread about waning posts the group has responded with a 30% spike in activity in a week.

btw I have read The Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser but not so recently. It may be Luci, Suz or Judy (DeltaQ) that you were thinking of ?

Have a great weekend.

Hmmm. Must have been someone else then...

Yep, picked up on the spike. Right as work got busy. :)

Hi doc - I remember seeing a movie about The Elephant Man with John Hurt and was stunned by it. The book sounds very interesting.

38. The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

Ronson is known for his uncanny ability to "find and befriend wing nuts of every stripe", as one recent reviewer put it. Certainly, his The Men Who Stare at Goats has quite a contingent of these sorts. In The Psychopath Test, Ronson tries to apply this ability to psychiatry and the subject of psychopaths. Now, this starts relatively funny - although some of the people he meets have committed some pretty horrific crimes - with, for instance, Scientologists who are attempting to discredit psychology and psychiatry, researchers who fed LSD to groups of psychopaths in prison as an attempt at therapy, and the man who invented the most widely used checklist for evaluating whether someone is psychopathic or not. This stuff - the front half of the book - works pretty well.

The second half (i) gets into some pretty heavy questions about what all this means and how it can be misused, and (ii) loses steam as Ronson appears to become half-hearted about his material as if he was bothered by it all but didn't know what to do with it. Frankly, it *is* pretty disturbing to think that one can be held indefinitely in a prison/mental facility on the basis of a checklist evaluation and the say-so of a small group of people who do the evaluations. And yet, those who have committed crimes and are evaluated as psychopaths do re-commit at much higher rates than non-psychopaths and commit much more violent crimes as well. He's also pretty disturbing when talking about the history of the DSM and its use as a marketing tool by the drug companies.

I'd call this a guardedly recommended book. Ronson's probably not for everyone - his writing style can be choppy and occasionally irritating. But his view of the "madness industry" is pretty unique and offers the potential for more serious and in depth thought.

I read Ronson's Them a couple of years ago, which certainly fits the "find and befriend wing nuts" assessment -- he hung out with a KKK "grand dragon" for instance. The rhetoric was along the lines of, "Aren't these people crazy? ... And aren't they a lot like you and me?" Entertaining but superficial.

The "entertaining" was strong enough that I have The Psychopath Test on my TBR list, but the "superficial" is strong enough that I haven't yet bothered to pick it up. Oddly, your review reinforces both sides of that balance.

I think you hit the nail on the head with Ronson! I'm still debating whether to read Them for that very reason.

I would love to come to DC for the book fest, especially if there is going to be a LT meet up too!! Let me check my calendar & clear it with my *spouse*! So cool to say that!! Teeeeheeee. :)

#154: Glad it feels good to use that word!

Added several books to that BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendations, Jim!

Tina - Keep an eye out for a meetup thread later in the year!

Stasia - No sweat. Just payback for your thread over the years! :)

>154 TinaV95: YAY Tina! I hope you can make it!

Hi Jim, what a great review of The True History of the Elephant Man. I am quite familiar with his story but have not read this book yet.

Stoneheart is gone onto my wishlist as well. :)

39. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks

I have the occasional hallucination. Every now and then I have an optical migraine where a part of my visual field gets bright and I see geometric patterns. This usually lasts for a few minutes, then goes away. I had never thought of this as a hallucination, but according to Sacks, it is. One of the most common experienced.

Hallucinations talks about this, but also hallucinations from many other sources, like Parkinson's disease or brain injury. Or use of many different types of drugs, which apparently Sacks is pretty familiar... :) It's his usual collection of case stories linked by discussion of neurological information. For me, the people are the interesting part.

Compared to his previous work, this one fell a bit flat. Sacks has been doing this for a while, and I think he's lost a bit of freshness. It's worth reading if you're interested in this sort of thing, but not his best work.

Nice review of Hallucinations, Jim. I have yet to read a review that makes me want to read it.

Hi Jim- Good review of The True History of the Elephant Man. That one sounds interesting and I had not heard of it before, so thanks. Hope you are having a good weekend.

Darryl - yup, I think that's a fair judgement. The book"s not bad, just vanilla, and doesn't have enough neurology to support the case studies.

Mark - thanks! I hadn't either, but found it on Overdrive through my library. I think it was originally published in the late 80's.

The author list is posted for the 2013 National Book festival:

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/authors/

The festival this year will be Sept 21-22.

Wow! Really good list this year.

Lots of great authors lined up for the National Book Festival, however, I had to chuckle when I saw this name listed: Giada De Laurentiis!

:) They have a cooking tent every year with kitchen all set up for demos, and I'm guessing she's going to be doing a session! mrsdrneutron will probably want to try to get in for it.

Cookbooks are some of my favorites! I, however, am running out of room for them, and I know that I'll be moving more into the house soon. I need more bookshelves (and places to put bookshelves).

Hi DrNeutron,

I loved your overview of all that Butch and Sundance material - I find those kinds of stories so interesting. Apparently they found in Patagonia recently their Cabin. We were going to visit it while we were down that way but it was very out of the way and wasn't actually an official attraction so it was unclear if it was on private property or not our even if it could be visited.

Also, am now adding Tales of Terror and Mystery by ACD to my download list!

Cheers,
Charles

That grouping was fun! I'm thinking of another compare and contrast - this one a bit different. First there's The Black Dahlia, a noir novel about one of Hollywood's great unsolved murders. Then Black Dahlia Avenger and Most Evil: Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders of Dr. George Hill Hodel by Steve Hodel in which he comes to the conclusion that not only was his father responsible for the Black Dahlia murder, but was also the Zodiac killer!

Thanks for stopping by!

My goodness, that proposed new grouping could be absolutely fascinating to read together and come up with some kind of synthesis. Good luck!

I had a similar experience when I read Sister Carrie and The Devil in the White City back-to-back (purely by coincidence). The former is about a young woman in the 1890s who drops everything and leaves her parents' farm and moves to Chicago to make a life for herself and basically never has contact with her family again. The latter involves a real serial killer in 1890s Chicago who preyed on women EXACTLY like Carrie. It was eerie but it gave me the most amazing sense of understanding of both books that I don't think I would have gotten if I had read them far apart.

> 172 Norabelle, coincidence and juxtaposition can be an amazing thing! Reading those two together like that would almost have been like viewing two sides of the same coin. So interesting!
Charles

40. Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis

Tregillis's Milkweed trilogy is alt history centered around World War II and the subsequent Cold War, an SF superhero/mutant story, wizards-saving-England fantasy, and spy fiction as twisty as they come. It's a dark story - nobody's a hero here - and in the third volume winds up in a way I didn't expect when starting this journey. Can't say too much about it without ruining the surprises, but it you like dark, literate, well plotted speculative stuff, this trilogy is well worth checking out.

41. Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch

Yep, I've been on the bandwagon. These are as good as you've been hearing about. Just read 'em already!

Necessary Evil - just added to my wishlist.

Well, I forgot to mention that Necessary Evil is the third. Start with Bitter Seeds!

Oh yes, I will. Thanks

I just got the first of the Peter Grant series, Midnight Riot. So excited to start this series soon.

Cool! I like 'em, and hope you do too.

42. The Twilight Prisoner by Katherine Marsh

Sequel to The Night Tourist, Marsh again plays with Greek mythology and the underworld against the background of New York. As with the first, a fun diversion, especially for those familiar with the underlying stories.

43. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James

Cordelia Gray is a young woman with an unconventional background taken in by a former Metro policeman in London as a partner in a private investigation firm. Originally written in the 1970s, part of the book is about the "unsuitable" nature of the job and Cordelia's "unsuitableness" due to age and experience for this kind of job. The other part is a decent mystery told in a very good voice.

James' high point is characterization, and this books's got it in spades. Everyone is real-feeling and everyone is interesting. James is also really good with prose, and I loved the writing. Recommended.

>178 luvamystery65: I have Midnight Riot waiting for me at home too. I'm looking forward to giving it a go!

We're going to plan to visit friends in Richmond that weekend then come up to the book festival / LT meetup on Saturday!!! Yay!!! Can't wait to meet as many folks as possible!

Excellent! We'll have to get a bit more organized this year. :)

I just checked and there's no thread yet, so will you post a link here if/when you set it up? Or does someone else handle that? Just curious :)

>184 TinaV95: We're having a Spring Washington DC meetup on 8/9/10 June, so someone will probably create a thread for the Fall meetup after the spring meetup is over! Don't worry, Tina, we'll make sure you keep up-to-date.

Yay! Thank you Nora!

When I saw you were reading about old west characters I wondered if you'd read Doc and then found it as I scrolled down. Glad you did and glad you loved it :) I want to read her book on WWII Italy.

Hope you and yours are well. Bless you.

Yup, seriously liked Doc! We're doing well - my mother-in-law and nephew are in the middle of an extended visit, so the LT time has been scarce lately... :)

so glad I got caught up on your thread, I had forgotten about Bitter seeds

44. Ironhand by Charlie Fletcher

Continues the story of George and Edie as they try to restore order to the world of London statues as begun in Stoneheart. This volume is much better than a decent first one, and I'm really impressed with where Fletcher has taken the story. Recommended!

Had my second brush with fame on an airplane* today. Those who follow my reading know I'm a fan of steampunk and the Boneshaker series by Cherie Priest in particular. So I'm on an airplane coming back from a meeting at Kennedy Space Center today and was reading Blackout. The woman sitting next to me asked what I was reading. I showed her, said it was a zombie story. She said that her niece writes zombie stories, so naturally I asked who she is. Turns out she's Cherie Priest's aunt and told me a bunch of neat stories about her and her husband. Really cool!

*my first brush was an opportunity to sit next to a very drunk Kristy Swanson - she played Buffy in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie - all the way from Los Angeles to Baltimore.

That IS really cool! How fun to have someone interesting to talk to during a flight, and even better that the subject was Cherie Priest. I have yet to read Blackout... I keep saying "one of these days"... one of these days I'll mean it.

I picked up Bitter Seeds and a companion short story when they were on ebook sale. Reviews seem to be all over the place but it sounded intriguing.

Drunk Kristy Swanson! Awesome.

Um, there aren't any zombies in the Blackout your touchstone references, Jim, which is the Connie Willis one. You might want to correct the touchstone.

Roni - done!

45. Blackout by Mira Grant

Wrap up of the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant. As with the others, this isn't a zombie book - it's a political thriller/conspiracy/dystopia book with zombies attached. The writing's good, the action never stops, and the characters are great! Recommended, but start with Feed.

Hi Jim, glad you like my stats, i need to get out more,lol.

Happy birthday Jim! Thanks as always for administering this group without which so many of us would be at loose ends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jim, wishing you Felicitations and Many Happy Returns! I second Paul's comment for your tireless efforts of keeping everything group-wise working under the bonnet. I hope you have a great day (and week!) in store. :)

Kind regards,
Charles

Thanks, everyone!

Happy birthday Jim, and many joyous returns!

Happy Birthday, Jim! What Paul said - thanks for what you do for this terrific group.

Just dropping in to wish you a very Happy Birthday, Jim!

Wish you avery Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you have a good one.

Happy birthday and thanks!

Happy birthday Jim, have a good one and keep up the good work with the group.

Happy birthday Jim! And a thank you for all the hard work you do for the group.

I hope you are having a fabulous birthday, Jim! Thanks for being the glue that holds us together.

Hope you are having a great day, Jim!

Thanks all!

Oh, thank goodness I got here just in time to wish you a happy birthday, Jim, before your birthday was all used up. Thanks for all your hard work and cheerful enthusiasm on our behalf. Hope you had a wonderful day!

aww man... i missed your birthday!.... :( that's okay.... I can still send you Birthday Wishes... hope you had a wonderful B-Day!

Oh, I did! It included a day-long meeting on trajectory design and navigation for my spacecraft, then a quiet dinner by myself reading. Followed that up with some guitar playing with a band I'm in at my church, then some time with mrsdrneutron when I got home. All in all, a nice day.

sounds like you had a happy birthday

That sounds like a pretty cool day. : )

Sorry to be late with the wishes, Jim, but it seems your birthday was fairly fine, and I hope it will be the beginning of a wonderful year for you.

46. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

First in the very popular, and very good, Nicholas Flamel series. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and have the next one queued up on the iPad.

47. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz

One of my favorite series, Deeply Odd continues what for me is a thoroughly enjoyable set of books. Koontz appears to be taking the series to a resolution, which works for me, but it looks like it's moving in an apocalyptic direction that I'm not sure how he's going to work out. Anyway, I'm very likely to keep going with him.

48. The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart

This one's a collection of vignettes on the plants used to make and/or flavor and/or embellish our favorite alcoholic drinks. I'm more a wine and beer kind of guy, but it was very interesting. Plus there are one or two drink recipes that look fun to try!

Jim, I read 'The Alchemyst' last year and liked it fine, though I haven't felt compelled to pick up the next. I'm not sure why, really. Maybe someday when I run out of other books to read (ha!).

Ooh, I've read all of the Michael Scott "Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series. I found them to be a lot of fun. I'm glad you liked the first one enough to keep going.

Karen O.

#218 I have read the first two books in the Odd Thomas series, and I am likely to continue with the series too.