Read Online: Fiction
The Way of the Traitor (2001)
It's fun to read historical fiction set in places you only know a little about, and the author does seem to have done her research. However, the mystery is I suppose competent enough, but more workmanlike than anything else, and the characters are acceptable but uninspired.The setting here is eng...
Three Sisters (2007)
Colorado rancher and tribal investigator Charlie Moon is taking a night off to play some poker with his best friend, Scott Parris, Granite Creek’s chief of police, when Scott’s dispatcher cuts in with an emergency call. It seems a man was on the phone with his wife when their call was inter...
The Steampunk Trilogy (1997)
I read this book because I had heard somewhere that it originated the term "steampunk". Next time I guess I should also find out whether a book is any good before I try to read it. As a general analysis: the level of writing was not great, though the ideas were often mildly interesting. I got ann...
The Saints of the Sword (2001)
This review is for the entire Tyrants and Kings series (The Jackal of Nar, The Grand Design and The Saints of the Sword). I stumbled upon these books when I was working at Borders about 15 years ago. Back then I wasn't as serious as I am now about the content of what I read, so I admit that I pi...
Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata (2007)
When her best friend, Wendy Choy, qualifies to compete in an international piano competition in Oxford, England, irrepressible Gilda Joyce finds a way to get an invitation herself—as a page-turner. Wendy settles into an exhausting practice schedule, made worse by strange nightmares, while Gilda f...
Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print (2002)
For years, readers have turned to Lawrence Block's novels for mesmerizing entertainment. And for years, writers have turns to Block's "Writing the Novel" for candid, conversational, practical advice on how to put a publishable novel on paper.
The Sins of the Fathers (2015)
This was a paperback mystery when it was first published in 1976. The edition that I am reading is from 1992, is the first hardcover edition, and has an Introduction by Stephen King. In 1991 King published Needful Things. According the Wikipedia, “It is the first novel King wrote after his rehab...
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (2005)
This particular story was a little hard to follow, but funny and informative as usual. And talking about "as usual", just about every Bernie Rhodenbarr book I've read so far can be summed up in a few sentences...Bernie: *burgles some unlucky bastard*Some unlucky bastard: *turns up dead*Ray: Darn ...
Restoring Grace (2006)
The story revolves around Grace Soudners and Ellie Summers, both of whom discover a new friendship pretty much by chance and out of dire need for a friend. While Grace is broke and needs a lodger, Ellie who is pregnant from an ex-boyfriend, moves in with her. When the curtains fall down, Grace an...
A Lesson In Dying (1992)
I had only read the Shetland Island series when I decided to give this one a try. This is one of Ann Cleeves' earlier series. There were six in the series. This is the first. Like most writers (or most any other profession), Ms. Cleeves improved as she wrote. The story was a good one with quite a...
The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (2006)
Bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr's in love—with an exotic Eastern European beauty who shares his obsession with Humphrey Bogart movies. He's in heaven, munching popcorn with his new amour every night at a Bogart Film Festival—until their Casablanca-esque idyll is cut short by his other secret passion...
Triumph and Tragedy (2008)
This is the last of Churchill's volumes on WWII. This one had a different tone than the other ones. Perhaps because the issues in this volume had not been resolved at the time of writing, or perhaps because Churchill himself was disappointed at how things ultimately turned out (apart from winning...
Second Thyme Around (2004)
i should change my "crummy chick lit" tag, because i don't actually find chick lit to be "crummy" across the board. i actually really enjoy it when i am in need of something fun & frothy between the heavier doses of non-fiction to which i subject myself. this particular dose of chick lit, however...
Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes, the Kings, and Garibaldi's Rebels in the Struggle to Rule Modern Italy (2006)
First, let me say that unless you are totally enthralled by history (like I am!), you may not want to read this. This is not an historical novel, it is not a folksy history; it is definitely an intense historical look at the papal reigns of Pius IX and Leo XIII as well as the unification of Italy...
Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity (2004)
From baby bottles and formula to helmets, Tenner covers nine body technologies and how they have shaped our interactions with each other and the environment. Technologies include: bottles and formula, the ubiquitous zori aka thong aka flip-flop, athletic shoes, ergonomic office furniture, reclini...