Books Read in July 2011

Andrade, Carlos
- Ha’ena: Through the Eyes of the Ancestors
Non-fiction, about the Ha'ena area of northern Kaua'i.

Braun, Lilian Jackson
- The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
- The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
- The Cat Who Turned On and Off
Fiction, first three cozy mysteries in the Cat Who series starring a newspaper reporter and his cats.

Charters, Lowell
- Thunderheart
Fiction, half-native FBI agent is assigned to solve the murder of a Native American man on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.  Great movie starring Val Kilmer and Graham Greene.

Clark, Mary Higgins
- The Second Time Around
Fiction, financial correspondent is assigned to report on a murder case of a prominent cancer researcher.

Crichton, Michael
- Disclosure
- A Case of Need
Fiction, mystery revolving around a Seattle company merger and a sexual harrassment case, movie starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore; medical mystery.

Davidson, Diane Mott
- Catering to Nobody
- Dying for Chocolate
- The Cereal Murders
- The Last Suppers
Fiction, first four books in the Goldy Culinary cozy mystery series with recipes.

Evanovich, Janet
- Sizzling Sixteen
Fiction, sixteenth book in the very funny Stephanie Plum bounty hunter cozy mystery series.

Fielding, Helen
- Bridget Jones’s Diary
Fiction, diary of a year in a woman's life, movie starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant.

Galenorn, Yasmine
- Night Veil
Fiction, second book in the Indigo Court paranormal urban fantasy series (great series, as are all of her books!)

Loebel-Fried, Caren
- Hawaiian Legends of Dreams
Non-fiction, book of Hawaiian legends that involve dreams, along with narrative explaining the Hawaiian deep connection with dreams.

Maillet, G. M.
- Death of a Cozy Writer
Fiction, first book in the St. Just English cozy mystery about a lord of the manor and his offspring.

Noyes, Martha
- Then There Were None
Non-fiction, chronicles the effect of non-natives on the Hawaiian people, very informative, short book, documentary movie by the same name.

Patterson, James
- The Midnight Club
- Along Came a Spider
- Jack and Jill
- See How They Run
Fiction, first four books in the Alex Cross mystery series, dark and very intricate.

Roberts, Nora
- Blood Brothers
Fiction, first book in the Sign of Seven paranormal trilogy involving three young boys who become men, the women in their lives, and the terrible force they have to fight.

Winton, Tim
- Blueback
Fiction, charming tale about an Australian woman and her son living off the ocean.

Tired...

Well, I went a little nuts in the past 34 hours, in that I've been awake the whole time and finished one book, then started and finished two more books, and started a fourth book!  It's 4:26 in the morning, and I'm so tired.  It's not that I can't sleep, I just feel like I'll be missing something if I do sleep.  Strange, I know.  And it's not like I don't love to sleep, because I do.  I have the most fascinating dream adventures, and lately they've been staying with me longer as if they carry more weight for some reason.  I haven't figured out the messages yet, but I feel they have something to do with family and bloodlines.  I've been working harder on my genealogy, trying to regain what I've lost before it's too late.  I feel like I'm running out of time.  Changes are coming.

Books Read in June 2011

Berry, Steve
- The Amber Room
Fiction, divorced couple go on a journey to solve the mystery of the famous Amber Room that disappeared during WWII from Catherine's Palace in Russia.

Blackwell, Juliet
- Hexes and Hemlines
Fiction, third paranormal cozy mystery in A Witchcraft Mystery series.

Carroll, Rick
- Hawaii’s Best Spooky Tales: The Original 
Fiction, famous spooky stories from the Hawaiian Islands.

Heckman, Victoria
- K.O.’d in Honolulu 
Fiction, first in the K.O.'s police cozy mystery.  Eh...

Mayes, Frances
- Under the Tuscan Sun 
Non-fiction, author's adventures in purchasing and renovating a villa in Tuscany, has recipes, fictional movie based on this book starring Diane Lane.

Silva, Daniel
- The Rembrandt Affair 
Fiction, tenth book in the Gabriel Allon mystery series surrounding the theft of a painting during WWII.

Dream: Head Shots & Ghosts

I actually had four dreams last night.  In the first one, I was having a discussion about witchcraft and ceremony with a group of people.  Then we had our own ritual.  In the second dream, I was in a white room with a group of people, and we were either at work or in a store, and someone starting firing a gun in the next room.  We all scrambled to hide as he came closer to the door, but he ended up killing several people.  I was almost to the next room, when I was shot twice in the back of the head.  It didn't hurt, but I could feel the heaviness and pressure in my head.  I knew I had to get to the next room before I died, and I struggled to my feet and had just made it to the doorway, when I woke up.  The third dream had something to do with my cats and my old apartment, with a lot of people coming and going.  In the fourth dream, I was with my brother and my parents in our old Victorian house that has been in a number of my dreams.  Outside, it's one size, but inside, it seems to expand to whatever setup I need, and it's full of hidden rooms and secret passageways.  My parents were trying to go to sleep in the bedroom, but my brother and I were playing the piano in the next room, then we went to the mall to shop for clothes and video games and ended back in the same room playing the piano.  When we finished, I looked up and saw a girl running up the stairs in the hallway.  My brother and I followed her, but she was afraid and kept running faster.  When we reached the third floor, it was a dusty old room without any furniture.  There were four other ghosts up there, and all of them were afraid of us except for one girl that I had spoken with before.  As we talked, the other ghosts came around and joined the conversation.  They were all upset about something and trying to get me to help them...but I got woken up.

Books Read in May 2011

Golden, Arthur
- Memoirs of a Geisha
Fiction, tale of a girl who is sold into the life of a geisha.

Patterson, James
- Honeymoon
- Lifeguard 
Fiction, Black Widow murder mystery, so-so; lifeguard/pool guy is set up as the murderer in a killing spree.

Stewart, Carol Lynn
- Door in the Sky 
Fiction, half-Basque witch, Gascon daughter of the local nobleman, fights her way to freedom under the cloud of charges brought during the Inquisition.

Tan, Amy
- The Bonesetter’s Daughter
- The Kitchen God’s Wife
Fiction, tale-within-a-tale of a Chinese-American woman learning about her ancestors in China; another tale-within-a-tale of a Chinese-American woman who learns of her mother's early life in China.

Dream: Forbidden Loves

The first night, I had a dream that I was very interested in a guy, only to find out that he was only interested in his sister.  She said that he was upset about being in love with a woman he couldn't have.  The second night, I dreamed that I was interested in a guy, but he was only interested in his dog.  This is just getting bizarre.  

So when I woke up yesterday, I finally realized this was all coming (I hope!) from the book I'm currently reading.  It's about a woman who is in love with a man who is in love with another man who is in love with both of them.  So, the one man slept with the bisexual, got upset, slept with the woman out of guilt over his feelings for the man, but he kept calling out the man's name while he was having sex with her, which upset her, so afterwards, she slept with the bisexual (how's that for a run-on sentence?).  Anyway, the book is not about who slept with who, it's about the daughter who was conceived that night who ends up being raised by the two men after her mother disappears.  Complicated?

Books Read in April 2011

Christie, Agatha
- Miss Marple:  The Complete Short Stories
Fiction, collection of the Grand Dame's English cozy mysteries.

Harwin, Patricia
- Arson and Old Lace
Fiction, first in the Far Wychwood cozy mystery series about an ex-pat American living in a small English village.

Havens, Erin
- Warriors: Forest of Secrets
- Warriors: Rising Storm
- Warriors: A Dangerous Path
- Warriors: The Darkest Hour
Fiction, last four books in the Warriors cat series starring Rusty/FirePaw/FireHeart, a cat who leaves the comfort of a home with the two-legs to find adventure and acceptance with the feral Thunderclan.

Kimberly, Alice
- The Ghost and Mrs. McClure 
Fiction, first in the Haunted Bookshop cozy mystery series about a woman who owns a Rhode Island bookshop, and the private investigator ghost who helps her solve mysteries.

Lee, Lisa
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Fiction, the entangled lives of two young girls in 19th century China.

Shayne, Maggie
- Eternity
- The Gingerbread Man 
Fiction, first in the Immortal Witches series about a couple who keep finding themselves living through one lifetime into another, and their journey to find each other and escape the evil one; police detective works with a young woman to solve the cases of a serial child killer.