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Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

Monthly Archive July, 2010

Tracking the Tempest

Tracking the Tempest (2010) Nicole Peeler First off, there is a lot of boinking in this book. I’d forgotten about that in the time that had passed between this book and the first. Once I remembered that and was able to move myself into that frame of mind, I thoroughly enjoyed Tracking the Tempest. In […]

The Deep Blue Good-by

The Deep Blue Good-by (1964) John D. MacDonald Synopsis: Travis McGee works when he is running low on money. He finds things for people, that they might not otherwise be able to get back, then keeps half the value of what he recovers. He’s between jobs and enjoying his relaxed life on his boat when […]

Kitty Goes to War

Kitty Goes to War (2010) Carrie Vaughn The title actually made me somewhat reluctant to read this book, despite the fact I have really enjoyed the other books in this series. Because despite being a werewolf, Kitty is still a radio host. Luckily, Kitty does not, in fact, actually go to war herself. She does, […]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2008) Stieg Larsson translated by Reg Keeland Yes, yes, yes. I know I’m late to the game. But I had a large backlog of books to read through first. I started reading this soon after I broke my ankle. Since it was very difficult for me to carry things […]

Hellboy Vol 10: The Crooked Man and Others

Hellboy Vol 10: The Crooked Man and Others (2010) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben Frustratingly, Helloboy Vol 10 does not continue the story arc of Vol 9, but instead is another collection of stories, all set in Hellboy’s past. Mind you, I tend to prefer the “short story” Hellboy collections, but the story line was really […]

Hellboy Vol 9: The Wild Hunt

Hellboy Vol 9: The Wild Hunt (2010) Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo All those Hellboy stories–the ones in the story collections where there wasn’t necessarily a theme for the entire volume? Suddenly, everything is starting to come together. Hellboy has spent quite awhile hiding from his supposed destiny. He doesn’t want to rule the world. He […]

Ten Thousand Islands

Ten Thousand Islands (2000) Randy Wayne White Synopsis: One of Doc’s neighbors shows up asking him to look out for a friend–a woman she’d known for years, who had lost her only child years before, and who now has people breaking into her house and searching–but not actually stealing anything. He agrees–and somehow Tomlinson ends […]

Tender at the Bone

Tender at the Bone (1998) Ruth Reichl I’ve heard Ruth Reichl interviewed several times, and I’d heard her relate stories that were excerpts of the book, so I eventually picked up the book, but then it languished on the shelf for an embarrassingly long time. Here’s the bit I heard that first drew my attention […]

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books (2003) Azar Nafisi Azar Nafisi lived and taught English literature in Tehran during the upheaval of the Islamic Revolution. Her memoir is not only of her memories of that time, but of how attitudes towards women changed, and how not just she–but also her students–used English literature […]

Ex Machina: Ring Out the Old

Ex Machina: Ring Out the Old (2010) Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, Jim Clark, John Paul Leon, JD Mettler Uhhh… What the hell was that? There were so many different things I didn’t like about this volume. First and foremost was the meta “artists in the story” bit. Sorry BKV, but that was just a […]

House of Mystery Vol 4: The Beauty of Decay

House of Mystery: The Beauty of Decay (2010) Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi, Werther Dell’Edera, Jose Marzain Jr Fig and friends are now stuck in The City in the Space Between, and no one can come up with a way out. Stories are still told–stories told and histories remembered where we learn a little more about […]

The Mangrove Coast

The Mangrove Coast (1998) Randy Wayne White Synopsis: The prologue makes it clear that things went badly for Doc when he went to Panama, then the first chapter opens with Doc discovering a dead body. Slowly… slowly!… we come to learn that Doc was doing a favor for a friend, and got himself involved in […]

The Forgotten Man

The Forgotten Man (2005) Robert Crais Synopsis: Lucy is gone, and Elvis is struggling to keep himself together. The events of the last book made him the center of attention, and the notoriety is something he seems ill equipped to deal with, especially while also attempting to deal with his loss. When Elvis is called […]

The Last Detective

The Last Detective (2003) Robert Crais Synopsis: Lucy has gone away for business, and Ben has been staying with Elvis. But within moments of Lucy touching down at the airport, Ben is snatched from Elvis’ porch, and a caller blames the kidnapping upon the time Elvis spent in Vietnam. While Elvis searches for Ben and […]

L.A. Requiem

L.A. Requiem (1999) Robert Crais Synopsis: Although this is an Elvis Cole novel, the heart of the story is really about Joe Pike. As Lucy and Ben are settling into L.A., Joe asks Elvis to help him solve the murder of a women with whom he was once involved. In searching for the killer, we […]