Books Read October

Remember that I've been twiddling my, er, thumbs since 17 October.

Author (*=perm.lib.), Title, Genre,Rating, Finish, Comments
"Adcock, Brenda", Pipeline, lesbian, medium, no, Interesting characters, good story, no sex."
"Armstrong, Lori ", Hallowed Ground, mystery, good, yes.
"Axtell, Roger", Do's & Taboos of Using English Around the World, travel, good, yes, useful stuff, though not an indepth study."
"Baldwin, Kim", Focus of Desire, lesbian, medium, no. Sweet young thing melts hard heart of famously promiscuous artist. Ho hum ho hum.
"Bishop, Claudia", Case of the Roasted Onion, mystery, medium, no. Casebook of Dr. McKenzie 1. Too much like a Sherlock Holmes homage.
"Briggs, Patricia", Blood Bound, fantasy, medium, yes, Mercy Thompson series. Entirely too many alpha/dominant males (of many species); it gets wearing.
-----,Moon Called, fantasy, medium, yes, Mercy Thompson series. Interesting premise -- main character is female mechanic who's also a shapeshifter (to coyote).
"Brockmann, Suzanne", Hero Under Cover, romance, medium, yes, Orig. pub. 1994; pretty standard romance but author writes well.
"Cannon, Julie", Heart 2 Heart, lesbian, good, yes. Police procedural. Nice balance of romance and gore.
"Clare, Cassandra", Mortal Instruments 1: City of Bones, paranormal, good, no. YA, well-done but slow, tries to put too much in."
-----, Mortal Instruments 2: City of Ashes, paranormal, boring, no.
"Del Franco, Mark", Unshapely Things, paranormal, boring, no.
"Elmore, D.C.", Malicious Intentions, lesbian, boring, no. Everybody's so tolerant (cops, yet) and there's no sex, just looove."
"Ferris, Monica", Sins & Needles, mystery, good, yes.
"Graves, Sarah", Book of Old Houses, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree home repair series
-----, Dead Cat Bounce, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Nail Biter, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Repair to Her Grave, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Tool & Die, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Trap Door, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Unhinged, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
-----, Wreck the Halls, mystery, good, yes. Jake Tiptree
"Gustainis, Justin", Black Magic Woman, paranormal, good, yes. First in a series, a first book, the woman is really the main character."
"Harrison, Kim", Outlaw Demon Wails, paranormal, good, no.
"Hooper, Kay", If There Be Dragons, mystery, medium, yes, expected a thriller and got a pure romance.
"Huff, Tanya", Smoke & Ashes, paranormal, boring, no. Nelson & Fitzroy 3
-----, Smoke & Mirrors, paranormal, boring, no. Nelson & Fitzroy 2. Characters didn't engage me.
"Jance, J.A.", Justice Denied, mystery, medium, no, J.P. Beaumont series. Just going through the motions.
"Joss, Morag", Fearful Symmetry, mystery, medium, no, Sara Selkirk series. Characters not engaging.
-----, Funeral Music, mystery, good, no, Sara Selkirk series. Well-written but a little draggy.
"Lane, Vicki", Dark Season, mystery, good, yes, set near Asheville & Marshall
"Lennox, Grace", Not Single Enough, lesbian, good, yes. Interesting characters & witty dialogue.
"Leon, Donna", Uniform Justice, mystery, good, yes, "Excellent, and an indictment of modern Italian politics & institutions."
"Liu, Marjorie", Wild Road, pararomance, good, yes, "Dirk & Steele. Deathless love! Ah! Not as good as Iron Hunt, not as complex."
"Lynch, Scott", Lies of Locke Lamora, paranormal, unknown, no. Didn't even try it after reading the first page.
"McKillip, Patricia", Alphabet of Thorn, fantasy, good, yes, Very interesting premise. Beautifully written.
"Morgan, J.Y.", Download, lesbian, medium, no. Intriguing idea but characters slightly idealized.
"Muller, Marcia", Ever-running Man, mystery, good, yes, Sharon McCone series. One of the best writers in the genre, though this isn't best book in the series.
"Oliphant, B.J.", Dead in the Scrub, mystery, good, yes,"for perm.lib. pseud. of Sheri Tepper. Shirley McClintock series, retired CIA analyst, rancher, mid-60s, interesting household."
-----, Death Served Up Cold, mystery, good, yes,"for perm.lib. pseud. of Sheri Tepper. Shirley McClintock series.
"Parker, Robert", Now & Then, mystery, medium, yes, Spenser & Hawk. Standard blend of romance & macho; easy read as is 80% dialogue and everybody talks in short declarative sentences.
"Rardin, Jennifer", Another One Bites the Dust, paranormal, good, yes. Jaz Parks 2
-----, Biting the Bullet, paranormal, good, yes. Jaz Parks 3. Starting to dip around in book, sign of losing interest.
-----, Bitten to Death, paranormal, good, no. Jaz Parks 4. Still interesting but character development is very very slow so it begins to be all of a sameness.
-----, Once Bitten, Twice Shy", paranormal, good, yes. Jaz Parks 1
"Swiniarski, S.A.", Blood & Rust, paranormal, medium, no. Fairly well-done but same old same old.
"Vaughn, Carrie", Kitty & the Silver Bullet, paranormal, good, no.
-----, Kitty Takes a Holiday, paranormal, good, no.
"Ward, J.R.", Lover Awakened, pararomance, medium, no," 0906 Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Same old same old, way too alpha male stuff. Call me ""female"" will you. Won't be reading this author again.
"Windsor, Anna", Bound by Flame, pararomance, boring, no, Dark Crescent Sisterhood 2
-----, Bound by Light, pararomance, boring, no, Dark Crescent Sisterhood 3
-----, Bound by Shadow, pararomance, medium, yes, Dark Crescent Sisterhood 1