Books Read October 2013

Aiebuaer, James W.

• Port Townsend’s Victorian Homes

Non-fiction.  Photos and descriptions of the famous Victorian homes of Port Townsend, WA.

Ball, Donna

• Love Letters from Ladybug Farm 

Fiction.  The ladies’ first foray into celebrating weddings on their farm is fraught with problems as they battle a goat, freak storms, bridezillas and their mothers.  Will they be able to pull it off, or will they need a little help?

Daheim, Mary

• The Alpine Advocate

Fiction.  Emma Lord, newspaper owner, publisher and editor in Alpine, Washington is struggling to keep her newspaper afloat.  Her son calls from Hawai’i asking her to look after a friend of his who will be visiting Alpine.  A visit that sets in motion a series of events that open old wounds and unveils old secrets reaching into even the most influential family of the small town.

Dereske, Jo

• Cut and Dry 

Fiction.  Second in the Ruby Crane cozy mystery series of a single mother raising a daughter suffering from post-trauma brain injury on the banks of Blue Lake in a small Michigan town.  With the help of a retired police detective, Ruby attempts to solve the murder of the owner of a local beauty salon while keeping herself and her daughter out of harm’s way.

Fanick, Helen Haught

• Moon Signs 

Fiction.  Two elderly sisters take a short vacation to a ski lodge in the West Virginia hills and trip over a murder as they try to solve the mystery of hidden paintings.

Harris, Charlaine

• Shakespeare’s Champion

Fiction.  Second in the series set in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas.  Lily Bard, karate expert and housecleaner fights emotional battles with her past and emotional complications with her present while tensions in the small town erupt into racial hatred, and Lily is caught right in the middle.

Harrison, Jamie

• The Edge of The Crazies

Fiction.  Murder mystery taking place in the small town of Blue Deer, Montana.  The town is full of lies and coverups, and one day erupts as a bullet is shot through the window of a screenwriter’s office...and finds its mark.

Hart, Carolyn

• Ghost at Work

Fiction.  Wonderful first book in this paranormal cozy series.  Full of humor and fun, likable characters and a great mystery.  The protagonist will surprise you, and I can’t wait to read more about her.

Hillerman, Tony

• The Blessing Way

Fiction.  First in the series about Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant faced with the murder of a young man.  With Navajo witchcraft seemingly at work, Joe struggles to find out what’s really happening.

Klasky, Mindy

• Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft 

Fiction.  First in a series about a librarian down on her luck in the relationship department, and who finds out that her salary at the library is being cut by 25%, but her boss reimburses her by allowing her to stay in a small cottage on the library grounds free of rent.  While moving in, she finds a key that opens a whole new world for her.

Newman, W.D.

• The Thirteenth Unicorn

Fiction.  Exciting tale of two children and their grandma who find themselves in another world fighting off snake people and ogres, while making friends among the elves, dwarves, and a very special bear.

Parra, Nancy J.

• Gluten for Punishment

Fiction.  Toni is busy plying the good people of Oiltop, Kansas with the gluten-free pastries from her new bakery.  Some of the residents of the small town located in the heart of wheat-producing fields aren’t so happy about the types of goodies she sells.  When one of them ends up dead in front of her shop, Toni finds herself the number one suspect.

Pentermann, Meira

• Firefly Beach

Fiction.  Beth LaMonte wants to start a new life.  After a divorce and the death of her mother, she feels exhausted and emotionally drained.  She leaves her corporate job, finds a fishing small town in Maine that might fit the bill and plans to start painting for a living, something she had a passion for when she was young.  One evening while relaxing outside her small cottage, she sees a firefly approaching her.  She’s surprised to see one so close to the shore, but she has no idea what waits in store for her and she begins to follow it through the forest.

Rosenberg, Joel

• Home Front 

Fiction.  Ernest “Sparky” Hemingway, ex-Vietnam vet and current freelance copywriter, gets a call from a young girl who says that her father has been murdered and that she is next.  Once Sparky learns who her father was, he knows he has to help her.  

Rouse, Irving

• The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus

Non-fiction.  Anthropological study of the history of the original and later inhabitants of the West Indies, their rise and fall, and the contributions they made to modern cultural and language.

Stabenow, Dana

• A Fatal Thaw 

Fiction.  Second in the Kate Shugak mystery series.  Kate, a tough Alaskan native, is used to living alone and likes it that way.  Her only companion is the half-husky, half-wolf Mutt.  She wakes up one early spring day to hear that a mass murderer is out and about in her area...and she goes hunting for him before he can get to her.

Toussaint, Maggie

• In for A Penny

Fiction.  First in a cozy series.  Cleopatra Jones is trying to get her life together after a divorce and enjoys spending time on the links at the local golf club.  One afternoon while golfing with her best friend, she hits the ball off the fairway and has to go retrieve.  She finds the ball...and a body, and she feels the need to find the murderer before someone in her family is harmed.

Wiltse, David

• Heartland

Fiction.  Recovering from post-traumatic syndrome, retired Secret Service agent, Billy Tree, returns to the small Nebraska farm town he grew up in and left twenty years ago.  Billy’s sister can’t stand knowing that he won’t leave his bedroom and only stares out at life passing down their road, she calls up an old family friend, and one-time mentor to Billy, to help her brother get back into life.  Billy resists, at first, but is slowly dragged into the middle of small-town crime and murder.

Nine more days until NaNo

I think I'm ready for NaNo this session and still plan to work on the short stories this time, though I reserve the right to change my mind at the last moment.  I haven't done nearly all the plotting that I'd hoped to this month, but it's just a matter of setting the time aside every day, and that will help me get back into the rhythm of NaNo.

This year, I'm participating in the postcard swap, the tea swap, and the package swap.  It's all of the little extras that go into the NaNo experience that make it so fantastic, and of course there are my wonderful writing buddies, and the close friendships that have come about through them.

My reading challenges are coming along fine, though I doubt I'll finish the continent or ethnic challenges this year.  I'll have to plan better for next year to fit them all in. 

My dreamwork is going very well, and I'm able to journal a couple of times each week.  It would be easier if people would quit waking me, which makes me lose the dream, but those around me seem untrainable ;)

This week, Ancestry.com released their new DNA results under their improved system, and I was very happy to see how detailed they are now, and that they separated out Polynesian from East Asian.  Under their old process, there was still a large 16% of my DNA that they couldn't identify, but now they're able to complete the chart. 

My old results were:

44% East Asian 
27% Southern European 
7% Eastern European
6% Pacific Islander 
16% uncertain

With the new and improved process, my results now read:

6% African
- 2% Southeastern Bantu
- 1% Ivory Coast/Ghana
- 1% Africa North
- 1% Mali
- 1% Senegal

4% American
- 4% Native American

22% Asian
- 21% East Asian
- 1% South Asian

38% European
- 34% Iberian Peninsula
- 1% Europe East
- 1% Europe West
- 1% Scandinavia
- 1% Italy/Greece

29% Polynesian 

1% West Asian
- 1% Caucasus

I've added them to my main DNA post.

30 Days Until NaNo

One month left to prepare.  I didn't write as much as I planned to in September, but I did get caught up on my reading, in fact I'm nine books ahead of schedule, although I still have a lot to finish this year to finish off some of my reading goals on Goodreads.

I have some new story ideas percolating in my brain and have even written a scene for a new story, but those are on the back burner as I will still be working on my short story project about my RP characters.  Had to remind myself that I'm no longer confined by the parameters from the MMORPG I originally created them for, but that I can adjust/change my characters' skills however I wish to fit their lives for my story.  It is fun to be able to skip around and work on whichever one I'm in the mood to work on, I just need to get them finished.

Books Read September 2013

Armstrong, Lori G.

• No Mercy 

Fiction.  This is no cozy mystery.  The story, like the protagonist, is tough and gritty.  Mercy Gunderson returns home after serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army for twenty years.  She is wounded, as is her heart.  Her father dead, she struggles to figure out if she’s ready to return home for good to hold onto the land generations of her family has lived on.  Prime land that others are willing to kill for.

Beck, K. K. 

• Death in a Deck Chair 

Fiction.  On a ship bound from England to America, Iris Cooper, who has been accompanying her aunt on a trip around the world, receives a shock as a young gentleman she danced with the night before, is found dead.  Murdered.  All is not what it seems, and a foreign king being pursued by enemies is hiding amongst the passengers.

Blackwell, Juliet

• Murder on the House

Fiction.  Mel Turner has the chance to renovate a 1911 Italianate mansion in San Francisco, but when she arrives to speak to the owner, she finds that she will be bidding against another contractor for the job.  It’s an unusual bidding process this time, as the two contractors must spend the night in the supposedly haunted mansion, and the contractor who stays the longest will win the bid.

Blair, Annette

• Tulle Death Do Us Part 

Fiction.  Sixth installment in the Vintage Magic paranormal cozy series about the owner of a vintage clothing shop with the gift of psychometry.  When she touches vintage cloth, she sometimes has visions connected to crimes.  With the help of a goth BFF, her father, her witchy aunt and a hunky cop, she does her best to solve them.

Charles, Ann

• Nearly Departed in Deadwood 

Fiction.  Violet Turner struggles to keep her job and has just a few more weeks to sell her first house.  A new tenant moves into the office next door who has her libido springing into action.  The problem is that her best friend has laid claim to him.  On the other hand, a handsome and wealthy jeweler wants her to sell his family home and begins showing her a lot of personal attention.  With two precocious twins to care for, Violet has her hands full of men who suddenly seem to be coming out of the woodwork.  And that family home she is hired to sell?  It’s haunted.

Childs, Laura

• Photo Finished 

Fiction.  Carmella and her friends are getting ready for the Monsters and Old Masters’ Ball, when Ava stumbles over the body of the owner of the antique shop next door to Carmella’s scrapbooking store.  As she tries to solve the murder and prevent an innocent boy from being arrested, Carmella’s relationship with her estranged husband heats up.

Christie, Agatha

• Evil Under The Sun 

Fiction.  Hercule Poirot takes a vacation at a hotel on an island.  He truly meant to simply relax and enjoy his stay but finds himself investigating the murder of a beautiful woman, with more suspects than he needs.

Connolly, Sheila

• One Bad Apple 

Fiction.  Meg Corey finds herself at loose ends when she is downsized from her job at the bank and the end of a romance.  Her mother is trying to sell their old family farm, but the house will need a lot of care to get it in shape to sell.  They decide that this is just what Meg needs right now, a challenge she can sink her teeth into as she tries to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.  But her past comes back to haunt her when her ex-boyfriend turns up on her doorstep, and murder follows.

Fluke, Joanne

• Red Velvet Cupcake Murder 

Fiction.  A renovated hotel is the scene for a party that Hannah’s bakery, The Cookie Jar, is catering.  After touring the lush new condos, Hannah returns to the lobby to join the other party-goers.  Their celebrating comes to a quick end when they hear a scream, and someone falls from the penthouse down to the ground.

Gustainis, Justin

• Black Magic Woman 

Fiction.  Shades of the past arise when descendants of two women connected by the burning of a witch in the Salem Witch Trials collide in a flurry of revenge.  Libby Chaistain and Quincey Morris unite to help a young couple under attack from evil magic users.    

Lavene, Jim & Joyce

• Hooked Up

Fiction.  Second installment in the Stock Car Racing cozy series.  Glad Wycznewski, ex-cop, and his much younger wife Ruby come to Dover to watch the races.  When Ruby picks up a battered hitchhiker to come to his aid, they’re thrown into the middle of a mistaken identity murder.

Luce, Carol Davis

• Night Passage

Fiction.  Mysteries from now and twelve years ago are entwined in this fast-paced suspense tale.  Trying to find out who did what will keep Roni on her toes as she tries to stay out of the line of fire and hopefully will help a young boy to a more fulfilling life.

Patterson, James

• Pop! Goes the Weasel 

Fiction.  Alex Cross is hoping to take some time off after his last case, but already murders are happening that will draw him in.  Across town, a homicidal maniac is already preying on people in the city.  Men and women, nobody is spared.

Whitehurst, Tess

• The Art of Bliss

Non-fiction.  A wonderful blending of Feng Shui, the I Ching and western philosophy about creating harmony and fulfillment in the Self and the home.

My Surnames Wordle

Surnames of my direct ancestors.  Hopefully this list will grow as I find more.

Wordle Generator

Random Reading Challenges

Clue Challenge

One of the most famous detective board games is Clue/Cluedo made by Parker Brothers. This challenge will be based around the characters, weapons and rooms from the original game. The challenge will run for a year, until Oct 1, 2011. Books may only be used once for this challenge, so you'll be reading 17 to 22 books to complete the challenge.

Clue Characters: 
Read a book where someone on the cover is wearing the same color clothes as the clue character. (ie a red dress, a green suit, etc. Outfit on cover does not have to be specifically a dress or suit, as long as the person on the cover is prodominately dressed in the color.) Read one book for each person.

Miss Scarlet (a red piece) 
Colonel Mustard (a yellow piece) 
Mrs. White (a white piece) 
Mr. Green (a green piece) 
Mrs. Peacock (a blue piece) 
Professor Plum (a purple piece) 

Weapons: 
Read a book where either one of the following weapons is pictured on the cover, specifically named in the title, or was used to murder someone in the book. Read one book for each weapon.

Dagger/Knife 
Candlestick 
Revolver (any revolver or pistol) 
Rope 
Lead Pipe 
Wrench/Spanner 

Rooms: 
Read a book with one the following rooms pictured on the cover, specifically named in the title, or featured prominately in the plot. The room doesn't have to be the main place the story takes place but if the characters just walk through the room once it isn't enough to count. If an entire scene takes place in the room, then it's enough to qualify. Choose 5 of the 10. (Some will be harder, so you don't have to find them all unless you want to.)

Kitchen
Ballroom
Conservatory
Dining Room
Billard Room
Library
Study
Hall
Lounge
Cellar/Stairs (where the envelope with the solution was kept)

BONUS #1: Read a book based on the actual game Clue. Example: Clue series by A.E. Parker

BONUS #2: Play the board game with family and/or friends. 

BONUS #3: Watch the movie CLUE starring Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, and Martin Mull.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clue_(film)

NOTE: The books read for this challenge do not have to all be mysteries. It's your choice. 


*****

Sherlock Holmes

Based on the life and events of the fictional character Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

You have 6 months to finish this challenge from when you start. Please put your start date on your post. This allows anyone to join us later. Note: Some books for this challenge will need to be mysteries, but you don't have to use all mysteries unless you want to.

1. Sherlock Holmes – Read a book with a detective or private eye as a main character.

2. Dr. John H. Watson – Read a book where the person solving the mystery has an assistant or helper.

3. 221 B Baker Street – Read a book with an address in the title, or mentioned somewhere in the book. Or there is a character named Baker, or Baker is in the title, or is part of the author’s name.

4. London – Read a book that takes place in England.

5. Books - There are 4 novels and 56 short stories that make up the Sherlock Holmes original works. Read any one of those, or you may read a book that is based on Sherlock Holmes in any way.

6. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Read a book by an author with a 3 word name, the author is knighted (Sir or Dame), Or “Arthur”, “Conan” or “Doyle” is found in the authors name (including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, if you wish to read another book by the author himself).

7. Smoking – Holmes smoked a Meerschaum pipe, and occasionally cigarettes and cigars. Read a book where there is a pipe, cigarettes, or cigar either on the cover, in the title, or used by a main character in a book.

8. Drugs – Holmes had a habit of using cocaine and occasionally morphine as a stimulant. Read a book where drugs are part of the story or someone uses a stimulant (including caffeine).

9. Deductive Reasoning – Holmes was famous for this. Read a book where a mystery is solved by following and interpreting clues.

10. Disguise – Holmes frequently disguised himself. Read a book where, for whatever reason, someone wears a disguise or costume.

11. Forensic Science – This was used frequently by Holmes. Read a book where some type of forensic science is mentioned. It could be anything from fingerprints to CSI type lab work.

12. Deerstalker hat & cape – This was what Holmes is usually pictured wearing. Read a book where someone wears either a hat or a cape, of any kind, at some point in the book. (Police officers, cowboy, etc.)

13. Dr. Moriarty – He was Holmes’ archvillian. Read a book where there is one major villain. 

*****


Cozy Themes

#1 British - English - Books that take place in the United Kingdom countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

#2 Historical/Period - Any book that takes place prior to 1940.

#3 Animals - Any book with an animal as a main character, subject of the book, book takes place in a pet shop, stable, etc.

#4 Culinary/Cooking - Food themed mysteries.

#5 Paranormal - Anything centered around the occult, witches, vampires, werewolves, Psychics, ghosts, etc.

#6 Vacation Mysteries/Exotic Locations - Any book that takes place outside the United States and/or outside the country in which you live.

#7 Holidays - Any holiday themed mystery.

#8 Hobbies - Any mystery that centers around a hobby, craft, sport, etc.

#9 Professions/Careers/Jobs/Occupations - Any mystery that centers on or highlights a particular job. Doesn't matter if the job is that of the person murdered, or that of the amateur slueth.

#10 Senior Slueths - Read a mystery where the sleuth is 50 or older.

***** 

Around the World in 80 Books

1. This will last multiple years.  Start date:

2. Read books that take place in 80 different countries starting with your home country.

3. During your journey, visit countries within the following 9 regions: North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Oceania/Australia, and Antarctica.

4. Books must actually take place within the country. If it takes place in multiple countries, you must pick one of the main countries.

5. There are close to 200 recognized countries in the world. However, for the sake of the challenge, you will not be held to using only independent nations. It is perfectly acceptable to using territories, constituent countries, islands, and independent states (not US). If you need some help, here is a handy website: http://worldatlas.com/nations.htm

6. Re-reads are perfectly acceptable, as are audio books.

7. All books must be at least 100 pages in length, or the equivalent.

8. Please state the region (see #2), the country, the book title, and the author during each new post.

9. There will be two different challenge tracts:

1) Trekker (more difficult)

• Assuming that you are using the modes of transportation available during Jules Verne’s’ time, you will travel in consecutive order to countries adjacent to each other or directly accessible over bodies of water. This would follow a logical trip itinerary of circumnavigation, with limited “zigzagging” between destinations.

• You may need to “travel” to a given country more than one time during your itinerary. You can go to any one country as many times as you like, but it will only count once.

2) Frequent Flyer (Easier)

• Even though you still have to start at your country of origin, you are free to travel at random around the globe with no specific route or itinerary.

• You must still visit countries in all 9 specified regions.

BONUS (optional): Countries A to Z. There are countries for every letter except X. Try to include at least one country for each letter of the alphabet during your reading journey! I will accept the names of provinces in Canada and China as well as Mexican states for use in the A to Z Challenge. These, however will not count as individual countries in the country challenge. 

*****

Books Read August 2013

Cates, Bailey

• Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti 

Fiction.  Katie Lightfoot is still adjusting to the knowledge of being a hereditary witch, while she goes about her daily job at the family bakery.  She has a new romance with a gorgeous fireman, but that hits some bumps when the hunky newspaper reporter pops in and out of her life.  While on a picnic with her fireman, Katie receives a shock when they find a dead man hiding in the bushes.  The magickal mystery is off and running, as Katie tries to solve the murder in order to save her own skin.

Davidson, Diane Mott

• The Whole Enchilada 

Fiction.  Goldy is up to her knees in food as she gets ready to cater her son’s  and her son’s good friend’s birthday party to be held at her best friend’s mansion.  When the other boy’s mother arrives, she is acting strangely, and Goldy becomes quite concerned when a strange man crashes the party.  The evening doesn’t go quite as planned, and by the end of the night a murder has been committed.

Dereske, Jo

• Miss Zukas and the Library Murders 

Fiction.  First in the Miss Zukas series about a thirty-something uptight and rather prissy librarian who finds herself involved in a murder or two.  With the help of her zany artist sidekick, she’s not sure if she’s staying out of trouble or landing in the middle of it.

Dugan, Ellen 

• Practical Protection Magick

Non-fiction.  Wonderfully informative and easy-to-follow guide to psychic attacks and how to defend yourself against them.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Night Vision 

Fiction.  Cicely must accept the crown of the Queen of Snow and Ice as part of her destiny, as her cousin, Rhiannon, wears the crown of the Queen of Rivers and Rushes.  Myst is still out to destroy them, Geoffrey and Leo are out to conquer them, and a new threat, the Blood Oracle, has been released and seeks one thing...to decimate Cicely.

Grafton, Sue

• Kinsey and Me 

Non-fiction and Fiction.  Part memoir and part short stories about Kinsey Milhone, Grafton shares a lot of herself in this book.

Graham, Heather

• Ghost Shadow 

Fiction.  A centuries-old curse comes alive and is played out among descendants of the founding families of Key West.  A murder committed ten years ago is replayed, and the key suspect in this murder is the same as in the one a decade ago.  Love lost and love found, ghosts and pirates all come together to solve this mystery and stop the curse.

Gregory, Philippa

• The Red Queen 

Fiction.  Fictionalized account of the matriarch of the Tudor family, Margaret Beaufort, whose faith in God and in herself (perhaps before God), changed the history of England and placed her son, Henry Tudor, on the throne.

Hamilton, Lyn

• The Xibalba Murders 

Fiction.  Lara McLintoch answers her old friend’s call to fly to Mexico and help him with a project, however when she arrives, she lands in the midst of a centuries-old myth and a modern-day murder.

James, Miranda 

• File M for Murder 

Fiction.  Charlie and Diesel find themselves involved in another murder, as a visiting playwright is found dead, and Charlie’s own daughter, Laura, is a prime suspect.  A decade-sold mystery rears its head, and Charlie and his family needs to find out who the killer is before there is another death.

Koontz, Dean

• Shadow Fires 

Fiction.  Fast-paced story about life, death and genetic alteration.  Where do we stop playing with nature?  A woman about to divorce her husband sees him suddenly killed by a garbage truck while trying to cross a busy street.  A cold terror begins to fill her.  That night she gets a call that she’s been dreading.  His body has been stolen from the morgue.

Smith, Melissa A.

• Jealousy’s Rage

Fiction.  A hunter from Atlantis has one year to find his mate, so he travels to the Midwest to find her.  Ellie has had her heart broken one too many times to jump into another relationship, but she finds her resolve wavering as she describes her ideal man...and he walks into the real estate office where she works.

Toronto, Suzy 

• The Sacred Sisterhood of Wonderful Wacky Women

Non-fiction.  Charming tales of real women who made an impact on the author’s life, who taught her what being a friend is about and how to fully live in the life she was given.  Accompanied by recipes.