The Second Objective, Year of Disappearances...

25. The Second Objective by Mark Frost

"The idea of Nazi spies behind the lines during World War II remains a potent plot device, especially if, as in Ken Follett's classic Eye of the Needle (1978), the Germans are at least partially sympathetic figures. Frost, who wrote several successful thrillers before turning to golf history (The Greatest Game Ever Played, 2002), draws on the Follett model but introduces several wrinkles of his own. The plot is based on recently declassified documents relating to Operation Greif, a Nazi scheme to send English-speaking Germans, dressed as American GIs, behind the lines in the days prior to the Battle of the Bulge. The plan was to disrupt the Allied response to the German counterattack, but there was a "second objective": send a smaller group of commandos to France to assassinate Eisenhower." (Booklist)

I alternated between listening to the audiobook on CD (which was great to get a sense of the different accents, from German to New York) and reading the book. The plot was intriguing and the characters interesting.

26. The Year of Disappearances by Susan Hubbard

"Fourteen-year-old Ariella Ari Montero, who's half human and half vampire, wants to know why bees are vanishing as well as humans in Hubbard's smooth supernatural thriller, the sequel to The Society of S (2007). Ari has moved to Homosassa Springs, Fla., hoping for happiness with her reunited parents, but after a hurricane hits and a fire almost kills Ari and her scientist dad, he leaves. Ari is further upset when a new friend, Mysty, disappears. The precocious Ari enrolls in college, dates and gets a crush on a visiting (vampire?!) politician, but is horrified when Autumn, another new friend, is murdered. After Ari's father returns and becomes ill, she and her mom wind up fighting for her dad's survival. The ending promises greater challenges ahead. Though Ari sometimes sounds more like 40 than 14, Hubbard's intriguing tale poses a tantalizing question: will humans or vampires ultimately inherit Earth?"

A decent read, although problematic. I have many questions that were left unanswered.

April Reading

21. In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan
"In 1941, Sam Dance, like many other young American men, joins the army, where he is trained in the tools of military intelligence. Even as his older brother, Keenan, falls during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Sam receives from one of his professors the plans for a device that could transform human nature and permanently end the desire for war. Though he spends most of his spare time trying to build the device, he eventually discovers that its effects are already being felt throughout the world. The author of the celebrated Nanotech Quartet (Queen City Jazz, The Bones of Time, Crescent City Rhapsody, and Light Music) takes a turn at alternate history in a story as timely as today's news and as timeless as the world's hope for an alternative to war. Incorporating parts of her father's actual wartime diaries, Goonan has created a novel belonging in most libraries." - Library Journal Review

This alternative history was an interesting read, although it did drag at times. If you enjoy World War II literature (and I am on a WWII kick for sure), with a little bit of sci-fi thrown in, then pick this one up. I may look at Goonan's Nanotech Quartet in the future.

22. Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz (Book 2 of The Gatekeepers)
"Matt thought his troubles were over when he closed Raven's Gate, but in fact they are just beginning in this second installment of the "New York Times" bestselling series by the creator of the Alex Rider saga."
Fast-paced and action-packed, although not as intense as the first one. Great for the YA crowd.

23. Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
"A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions with relatives and neighbors."

Read this book out loud to my girls makes for a special bedtime ritual. Of course the first night I kept on reading after bedtime and finished it (shh! don't tell), but re-reading it is part of the fun.

24. A Little House Reader: A Collection of Writings by Laura Ingalls Wilder

"A collection of articles, essays, poems, and other writings which shows that the author known for her Little House books was a prolific and talented writer all her life."

This little collection was delightful to me. I have been a lifelong fan of Wilder and am now even more impressed by her fortitude, determination, and quiet strength. This collection shows that Wilder's entire family consisted of writers of varying degrees and genres, from poetry to newspaper articles.

A Great Mix

56. Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
This hard-boiled detective story blended with a science fiction dystopia was quite a change for me, but it proved to be outlandishly entertaining. In this terrible future world the government’s goal is docility, so a cocaine-like drug is distributed by the government and only the police (the “office”) and licensed private detectives are allowed to ask any questions. The story is further complicated by the presence of talking, bipedal “evolved” animals and genetic experiments gone wrong called “babyheads”. Each person carries a magnetic card with his or her karma points. If they do anything wrong the men from the office can erase some of their points. Anyone with too few points gets frozen for a few years. In this terrible place PI Conrad Metcalf investigates a murder and uncovers a terrible conspiracy.

57. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee
This is just the kind of nonfiction I really reading, a book that gives detailed answers to questions I didn’t know I wanted answered. The author begins her study of Chinese restaurants by tracking down some of the restaurants that served the fortune cookies with winning the Power Ball numbers. Along the way she discusses how Chinese restaurant food became more American than apple pie, how restaurant workers end up in small towns across America after an often perilous trip here from China, and who was General Tso.

58. A Handful of Picture books by Peter Sis
I think these picture books together should count as at least one book toward my goal. Stroll over to the children’s section and pick up some books by Peter Sis. They are always surprising. Born in Czechoslovakia Sis came to the US in 1982 and became a citizen in 1989. His early life figures prominently in many of his books. I especially like his use of illustration and text to create timelines in his books. If I taught Western Civilization to college freshmen I think I would put several of these picture books on their reading list.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
This autobiography gives a wonderful view of life in Czechoslovakia from the end of World War II until the fall of the Soviet Union.

The Three Golden Keys
In this story a balloonist is blown off course to a city he recognizes as his childhood home. A cat leads him through the deserted streets as he searches for three keys. The story tells three legends about Prague. When the man finds all three keys he unlocks three rusty padlocks, and behind the door the city comes alive once more.

The Tree Of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin, Naturalist, Geologist & Thinker
This picture gives a better overview of Darwin’s life and thought than several lengthy biographies I’ve struggled through.

Follow the Dream: the story of Christopher Columbus
This brief picture biography of Columbus gives the reader a good sense of the explorer’s time and place.

Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei
This is my favorite of the three biographies. Sis makes good use of Galileo’s comments on reason’s triumph over authority. Heavy stuff for the picture book set, but they’ll remember why Galileo is important.

Play, Mozart, Play!
This biography of Mozart is shorter and targets a younger audience, but it packs a lot of information about Mozart into a few words and some wonderful illustrations.

Tibet: Through the Red Box
In the lacquered red box on his father’s desk a young Peter finds the diary his father, a filmmaker, kept when he was lost in the mid-1950s. Text and illustrations combine to evoke a Tibet that no longer exists and perhaps never really existed.

The Train of States: Presenting 50 Fabulous Train Cars, One for Each of the Truly Great 50 States, from Maine to California and All States in between, Followed by a Most Marvelous Caboose. All Aboard!
Well, that’s the title on the cover and it tells it all. I think this may be my favorite Peter Sis book. His inspiration was an antique circus train, and he has filled each car with basic information about each state, in the order they joined the Union. The caboose, of course, is the District of Columbia.

Komodo!
This is the story of a Sis family journey to Indonesia and young Peter’s encounter with a dragon.

A Small Tall Tale from the Far, Far North
This relates the tales of Czech folk hero Jan Welzl, a late nineteenth century Arctic explorer.

59. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews
This is my first encounter with the Meg Langslow mysteries, but now I intend to read them all. They’re really funny mysteries featuring a woman blacksmith detective, her quirky friends and relatives and the small Virginia town where she lives. In this novel Meg’s brother has a thriving computer game business, but something isn’t right at the office, and Meg is asked to work there for awhile and do a little detective work. Meg ends up working the switchboard, feeding the office pet buzzard, and solving the murder of the office practical joker.

60. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
This fairly short memoir concentrates on Steve Martin’s life on the road as a standup comic. It concludes with his decision to abruptly end his standup career. His detached relationship with his parents is a theme throughout the book, but I’m never quite sure why he felt the need to keep such a distance from his family. Lenny Bruce defined comedy as pain plus time, but I don’t sense pain in Martin’s memoir so much as isolation. This is a trait he shared with his hero Johnny Carson. (A person I never found funny at all.) Steve Martin is a good writer, but I would rather watch one of his routines on Saturday Night Live than read about his life.

61. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Set in an economically depressed town in upstate New York, this novel follows the fortunes of two boyhood friends, Lou C. Lynch (cruelly nicknamed Lucy) and Bobby Marconi. Bobby becomes a famous painter living in Venice, hence the title. Lucy marries Sarah, the girl they both loved in high school. The novel begins as Lucy and Sarah prepare for a long planned journey to Italy. The history of their childhood and families unfold as the story moves between them.

62. Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock.
This is the fascinating story of “Dr.” John Brinkley, the great medical quack of the 1920s and 1930s and Dr. Morris Fishbein, editor of JAMA for decades, who relentlessly pursued Brinkley and his ilk. Brinkley’s pursuit of ill gotten wealth led more legal protections from medical scams and dangerous treatments.

63. A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George
This is only sort of an Inspector Lynley mystery, because he only plays a tiny part in the story. Mostly it involves his friends Simon and Deborah St. James as they attempt to assist Deborah’s American friend China Rivers who has been accused of murdering a wealthy philanthropist on the Isle of Guernsey. As I read along I learned a lot about Guernsey. During World War II Guernsey was occupied by the Nazis. This fact plays an important part in the story. The past is always present in an Elizabeth George, and Deborah St. James’s past with Tommy Lynley is another part of the story.

A Very Sad Book & Several More

First, the sad one: The Known World is a novel about slavery in Virginia, but with a twist: the slaveowner is African-American (as is the book's author). Edward P. Jones has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World. It is a very powerful story. I was particularly struck by a description of a photograph, in which a dog is staring at "a whole world off to the right that the photograph had not captured." It seemed a metaphor for this novel. No writer could tell everything there is to tell about the consequences of seeing people as property, but The Known World tells so much, so well, that it hurts. I would not have chosen to read it, but I'm very glad that it was our book group's choice.

I read four books by Gary Paulsen: Woodsong; My Life in Dog Years; Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers; and Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. Paulsen writes wonderful fiction, and these nonfiction books are great, too. He writes about surviving in the wilderness in arctic conditions, the many dogs in his life, and training for, and competing in, the 1,180- mile Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska. He is not afraid to admit when his dogs knew more than he, which was often the case. An excerpt: "I do not know how fast the wind was blowing. I have never -- including two typhoons in the Philippines -- been in anything remotely like the force that took me now; I had, literally, no control over my life... I tried to stand but the wind kept knocking me down, tumbling me end over end down the mountain... It could have blown me anywhere it wanted, blown me to hell, blown me off the world and I wouldn't have known it." I suspect I will read every nonfiction title of Paulsen's that I can find.

April being National Poetry Month, I had to read some poetry. I picked up a slim volume by Richard Brautigan, June 30th, June 30th. He wrote it while he was visiting Japan in 1976. When published in 1978, reviewers did not rave. Choice, Library Journal, and Booklist suggested that Brautigan's fans were its likely audience. Well, count me in that group. With Jim Harrison, too, who wrote, "It is about the stately courage and loneliness of this voyage into a strange land which is both Japan and the true self of the poet, where there are no barriers to admitting and singing all." Brautigan was a playful singer. Rereading this after many years was a treat.

Genes, Girls and Gamow: After the Double Helix, by James D. Watson, continues where his earlier The Double Helix left off. After he and Francis Crick detailed the structure of the DNA molecule, scientists around the world tried to figure out how genetic information on the DNA molecule was used by cells to manufacture proteins. Linus Pauling, Richard Feynman, George Gamow, and a host of other top chemists, physicists, and biologists worked on the problem. This is an anecdotal telling of how scientists discovered RNA's role, along with the story of young Watson's pursuit of the perfect woman. It was also especially fun for me to get Watson's impressions of fellow researchers like Crick, Feynman and Pauling. He shows us how brilliant scientists are as human as the rest of us. This fascinating tale led me to...

Matt Ridley's Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code. Watson and Crick worked together off and on after their groundbreaking DNA collaboration. But there was friction. The opening sentence of Watson's The Double Helix is "I have never seen Francis Crick in a modest mood." I turned to this biography of Crick for a more neutral account of the story. He always worked with one other partner and did much of his thinking in conversation. Modesty probably would have inhibited that thinking. Crick was also using marijuana and LSD in the sixties. Not the typical picture we have of the laboratory scientist, eh? This is a short, well done biography.


There is sadness in Jimmy Santiago Baca's A Place to Stand. He writes about growing up a poor Chicano, the product of a broken home, getting into trouble, and being imprisoned. But the story turns out well. He taught himself to read and write in prison. He wrote poetry, corresponded with poets on the outside, and started getting published. He has won the American Book Award, among other honors. His prose here, in A Place to Stand, is as powerful as his poetry, which is saying something. His description of the brutality in our nation's prisons is grim reading. It is amazing he survived.

Always Postpone Meetings with Time-Wasting Morons, by Scott Adams, is a collection of Dilbert cartoons. Very silly stuff, and hard not to like.

I like cartoons! This, Loose Tails, was apparently the first of Berke Breathed's Bloom County books. Along with The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes, I miss Bloom County.

A few more...

19. A Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin
" Set in 12th-century England, Franklin's mesmerizing second historical delivers on the promise of her first, Mistress of the Art of Death (2007). When Rosamund Clifford, Henry II's mistress, is poisoned, Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar must draw on her formidable forensic skills to try to uncover the killer. The prime suspect is Henry's estranged wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who once plotted to overthrow the king. Adelia reunites with Rowley Picot, now a bishop as well as the father of Adelia's child, and the two set out on a dangerous journey, during which they brave a blizzard and Eleanor's band of ruthless mercenaries. Franklin, the pen name of Diana Norman, brings medieval England to life, from the maze surrounding Rosamund's tower to the royal court's Christmas celebration, with ice skating on the frozen Thames."

I loved Sharon Kay Penman's books featuring Eleanor of Aquitaine, but found this less compelling. I found the most interesting character to be Henry himself, but perhaps our fascination with royalty always makes this the case.

20. Airman by Eoin Colfer

"Conor Broekhart was born to fly. Or more accurately, he was born flying. Little wonder he became what he became. In an age of discovery and invention, many dreamed of flying, but for Conor flight was more than just a dream, it was his destiny.

In one dark night on the island of Great Saltee, a cruel and cunning betrayal destroyed his life and stole his future. Now Conor must win the race for flight, to save his family and right a terrible wrong..."

My 9 year-old listened to this raptly, and I also read it. Conor is a very different hero than Artemis in some respects - more traditional, I guess - but I warmed to him easily and enjoyed his tale.

Since January

1. The Falconer’s Knot: A Story of Friars, Flirtation and Foul Play by Mary Hoffman
Chiara’s brother believes her to be an unmarriageable expense, so he packs her off to a nunnery. Silvano is framed for the murder of a wealthy man and is sent to a friary for safety. The friary and the nunnery being near neighbors affords the teens a chance to meet and to fall in love! The plot thickens, though, when a series of murders is committed within the sanctuary of the friary. Can Silvano and Chiara discover who is behind the crimes before either of them is killed?

2. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos
A young woman discovers she is cursed to love her mother so much that she’ll do anything to keep her mother with her forever. It’s supposed to be black comedy, but it’s not wise enough to be anything other than repelling. I’d recommend that you grab “Pyscho”, instead.

3. Whitechapel Gods by S.M. Peters
In this alternative history set in Victorian London, a resistance movement fights to keep all humans from being turned into machines by the gods “Mama Engine” and “Grandfather Clock”. Believably flawed characters make this an interesting take on steampunk fantasy.

4. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
A civil war breaks out on a tropical island and eccentric Mr. Watts, the only white man left, takes over educating the local children. When Mr. Watts begins reading “Great Expectations”, 13-year-old Matilda and the other children are entranced. But no one can escape into a book forever and the war arrives in their little town with devastating consequences for all.

5. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Enjoyable collection of short stories and poems. I especially enjoyed “Chivalry”, in which a woman finds the Holy Grail in a jumble sale. Galahad turns up and trades her something that will look just as good on her mantelpiece.

So Many Books, So Little Time

45. World without End by Ken Follett
This huge novel is a satisfying sequel to Pillars of the Earth. It is set in the same town of Kingsbridge and features the descendants of the characters in the first novel. The story begins on Halloween, 1327. Four children witness an attack on a knight who succeeds in killing two of his attackers. The novel follows the lives of these four children as they grow along very different paths and always connected because of what they witnessed that day. Fourteenth century daily life, politics, economy and architecture of the time are vividly portrayed in this book.

46. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
This terrifying true crime story of the murder of a young mother and her baby by her Mormon Fundamentalist brothers-in-law is quite a departure for outdoor adventure writer Krakauer. He has incorporated the history of the LDS Church and the fundamentalist groups that have broken away from the main church in his chilling tale. Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned sect leader whose compound was raided this week, is a central character in this tangled story of peculiar religious beliefs, violence, and sexual exploitation.

47. Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke; with illustrations by the author; translated from the German by Anthea Bell
This is a charming children’s fantasy about a young lady who wishes to be a knight. Her magician parents accidentally turn themselves into pigs just as an elderly neighbor’s evil nephew plans an attack on their castle.

48. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Manny DeLeon, manager of the a failing Red Lobster in a run-down shopping mall in New England, goes through the painful process of opening his restaurant for one last lunch and dinner shift before the parent corporation closes the restaurant forever. At the same time he’s trying to get over his failed love affair with one of the waitresses and trying to be happy with his current girlfriend, pregnant with his child. This is a well written, depressing little novel that perfectly evokes the economic depression of the area and the difficult and dullness of work in a chain restaurant.

49. Christ the Lord: the Road to Cana by Anne Rice
Anne Rice's second book in her hugely ambitious and courageous life of Christ begins during his last winter before his baptism in the Jordan and concludes with the miracle at Cana. I don’t think Rice is a very good writer, but the subject is compelling, so I suppose I’ll read each novel in this series.

50. Playing for Pizza byJohn Grisham
Rick Dockery is an NFL quarterback who has had a mediocre career and a lot of injuries. When his bad play totally ruins the chances for the Cleveland Browns to win the AFC championship Rick must think about a new job. He also has to get out of town fast, because the Cleveland fans are out fro blood. The best his agent can find is a low paying job playing for the Parma Panthers, a team with only three paid players. The rest of Rick’s new teammates are enthusiastic volunteers! The chance is painful, but Italy has many surprises and delights for Rick. This was a fun read, and the football parts were so uncomplicated that even I could understand.

51. Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 by Bernard Cornwell
The title tells all. This is another exciting novel in the series featuring Captain Richard Sharpe, British rifleman in the land battles Napoleonic wars. I enjoy this series almost as much as I enjoyed reading Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey stories of the Napoleonic wars at sea.

52. Death of a Gentle Lady by M.C. Beaton
Hamish Macbeth doesn’t like Mrs. Gentle, the newcomer in Lochdubh. The villagers think she’s charming, but Hamish has seen the nasty way Mrs. Gentle treats her daughter and her maid. When the maid, supposedly an immigrant from Turkey, asks for Hamish’s help with her visa problems Hamish decides to marry the beautiful girl. Poor Hamish gets left at the altar. He seems doomed to a lonely bachelor’s life. Not only must he deal with the scorn of the villagers, he soon has two murders to solve. I love these mysteries. It’s interesting the way the little Highland village has changed over the years as the influence of the European Union and the new democracies of Eastern Europe reach into the furthest reaches of Scotland.

53. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules by Jeff Kinney
These two children’s books tell the trials and tribulations of Greg Heffley, middle school student and middle child of three boys. The books are illustrated with cartoons and printed in a comic book font. They are hilarious and remind me of the cartoons my grandson used to draw.

54. The Art Thief: A Novel by Noah Charney
This is a confusing novel. Three great works of art are stolen in Rome, Paris and London almost simultaneously. The novel follows three different investigations. The book is full of art forgeries, masterpieces under fake modern paintings and quirky detectives. The best parts of the novel are the discussions of art history. I think the author should probably stick to art history.

55. Good Masters, Sweet Ladies: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
The 2008 Newbery Medal winner makes life in the thirteenth century vividly real in 21 poems, monologues and dialogues beautifully illustrated by Robert Byrd. This is a great companion book to Ken Follett’s massive novel.

Bel Canto, Duma Key, Feed...

16. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
"Lucky Mr. Hosokawa. The well-connected Japanese businessman, now in an unnamed South American country on yet another job, is having a very special birthday party. At the home of the country's vice president, opera singer Roxane Cos will be performing for him and his guests. But what's this? Armed men invading the premises? These ragtag revolutionaries are looking for the president and disappointed that he is not there, but that doesn't stop them from holding the party goers hostage."

This was a really enjoyable book. In a few hundred pages, I found myself very fond of these characters. I am still thinking about some of them. Patchett's writing is a pleasure to read.

17. Duma Key by Stephen King

"A terrible construction site accident takes Edgar Freemantle's right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. A marriage that produced two lovely daughters suddenly ends, and Edgar begins to wish he hadn't survived the injuries that could have killed him. He wants out. His psychologist, Dr. Kamen, suggests a "geographic cure," a new life distant from the Twin Cities and the building business Edgar grew from scratch." "Edgar leaves Minnesota for a rented house on Duma Key, a stunningly beautiful, eerily undeveloped splinter of the Florida coast.... He meets a kindred spirit in Wireman, a man reluctant to reveal his own wounds, and then Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick old woman whose roots are tangled deep in Duma Key. Now Edgar paints, sometimes feverishly, his exploding talent both a wonder and a weapon. Many of his paintings have a power that cannot be controlled."

I am an unabashed King fan. I can always count on him to deliver a great story with lots of quirks. This one was long - over 600 pages - and did dawdle somewhat in the middle. But it accelerated at the end, and I found myself at 3 in the morning with the closed book, wondering how in the world I was going to get to sleep after that.

18. Feed by M.T. Anderson

"In a future where most people have computer implants in their heads to control their environment, a boy meets an unusual girl who is in serious trouble."

Listening to this is imperative, so you can get the full experience of the soul-deadening feed. I love dystopia stories, and this YA book was a great listen.