Dirk Pitt again

Clive Cussler has been writing Dirk Pitt novels since God created dirt and over the last few years he's taken him out of the spotlight and created other characters to write sequels about. Well, he dusted off Pitt and his side kick Giordino and they once more are saving the world or in this case, the mid-east. Even though they are long in the tooth now and able to collect Social Security they are diving, swimming, climbing and fighting their way through all that the bad guy can throw at them. Add in Dirk's son and name sake and his daughter and you've got a real family affair. He always has to find a treasure on a lost ship whether sunken or hidden for centuries to top everything else off.

Cross Fire

James Patterson hit another out of the park with his latest, "Cross Fire." Kyle Craig is back with a new face and an ice pick. Alex Cross is unaware who the new face is in the FBI until it's almost too late for him, his new bride and his kids. This is what I read James Patterson for and he didn't need a co-writer to help him out.

Thanksgiving tomorrow and nothing's ready on my end. Thanks to hubby for buying the groceries while I was working and when I get home at 3 today it will be to jump right into the pie baking and stuffing making. Dinner is at my daughter's and other than the turkey, ham, oyster stuffing, and pumpkin pies that I'm bringing, it's all on her and whomever she got to help with other sides. Not a big crowd since my stepdaughter is having her in-laws over and that will take a few away from our table. We'll just have to make do!

Edge

I love Jeffrey Deaver's books and was anticipating his new novel, "Edge." When I started it I felt like I was a dog circling to find it's perfect sleep spot. Round and round till I could flop down and get comfortable. Once there, it was great but it took a while. This wasn't one of his sequel. In this we meet Corte who works for one of those not talked about agencies in Washington, DC. Kind of a Lone Ranger type who rides into town and rescues the family in distress even before they're aware that they needed rescuing. There's a hit on the radar that an assassin that he's had dealings with before is back and it's up to him to find out who he's after and who has paid him to kill. He tracks down the family and sends them to a safe house and from there he has to figure out who in the family is the target and eliminate the threat. One of my contributing factors to getting through the book was that I've gotten used to reading a book straight through and I'm currently back at my old job and there's no chance to read except at lunch and that's crimped my style. Too many distractions!! I'm just filling in for a while and should be back to my new job in a couple of weeks when the dust has settled at the old one and they train two more replacements for the two new girls that have left or are leaving. What a disaster!

Another Kindle

This was a freeby from Kindle and was quite enjoyable. "The People of the Mist" by Sir Henry Rider Haggard gives us Leonard Outram who's father has lost their wealth and their good name in England causing Leonard to leave for Africa to find wealth to someday repurchase his family estate. Seven years and just a small amount of gold to show for it; his brother dies and he's left alone. He finds himself in a search of a woman who's been kidnapped along with many natives by a slave trader and the promise of wealth if he is successful. He is and the search for the wealth is an even more dangerous adventure than fighting slave traders. He has a sidekick that is unforgetable. Set in the late 1800's. Hopefully there are more of this author's books available.

Sequel

Lauren Willig writes Victorian historical novels about spies during the Napoleon era. I've read all of them, I think. This was a little different but was a nice little break from the horror of the last couple of novels I've read. "The Mischief of the Mistletoe" was set in 1803 and had the well known character of Jane Austen show up ocassionally in the novel. This was once again a search for the Pink Carnation spy.

Another great read

I have a day off and I have the beginnings of a terrible cold. Crap! Hasn't kept me from reading "Still Missing" by Chevy Stevens. Another Kindle find and another excellent read. It was also about an abduction and hostage situation but this one was totally different. WOW! Never figured this one out before the ending. Throw in some kinking sibling rivalry and you've got a perfect book. I do think I need a break from this story line or I'll be screaming in the middle of the night with nightmares.

Must Read

"Room" by Emma Donoghue was a great read! When I first started it I thought I picked a child's book by mistake but it soon became apparent what it was all about. Kidnapped and held hostage for 7 years! Gave birth to a son 5 years ago and the story is from his perspective. Locked in a shed 11 feet by 11 feet for his entire life with his mother and the "night time visitor," Bad Nick. I was fortunate enough to get a list of MUST reads from the TODAY show recently and several of my last books were from that list. I wish these books were on my shelf instead of in the Kindle! Hate owning books that I don't really have.

Okay, I did it again

Another book I forgot to blog about was "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff. This was another good read except it was like 3 books in one. Kept leaping from the original story about a woman accused of shooting her husband. She was a "First" which is an off shoot of the Mormans who still believe in polygamy. Every few chapters the story went off on the original 19th wife, which was Ann Eliza Young, 19th wife of Brigham Young, who fought for freedom from polygamy and became a well known activist and author of the original "19th Wife." It was a little confusing at first trying to figure out what was happening, but was very interesting and thought provoking.

WOW!

I forgot to blog my last book! I'm reading so fast that I can't keep track. "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter" by Tom Franklin was an excellent book. A young girl disappears 20 some years ago and the only suspect is Larry, a local boy who was the last to have seen her. There's no body and no evidence so he's never tried but the community has their own way of punishing him. Now he's 41 and it's happening again. Will he be wrongly accused again? A must read!

Latest Grisham

Once again John Grisham has hit one out of the park with his latest "The Confession." Wrongly accused of a murder 9 years earlier, Donte Drumm awaits his execution in Texas. In Kansas, an ex-con shows up at a local church and confesses to the minister that he was the one who did the murder all those years ago. To get the confessee to Texas in time involves driving through the night and then hoping that they can make the deadline to prevent the execution. Can't say more of the novel would be ruined but it's a great ride.

I'm only half way through the day and my book is finished so I'll have to fire up one on my iPhone and start reading.

Adventure

I ordered Jeannette Walls'"Half Broke Horses" through Kindle. I borrowed it from my husband today and managed to read the entire novel. Wonderful read! No matter how much I loved my Grandmother, it would have been great to have one like the woman in this novel so that I would have had someone like her to write about. What a great character! Lily was born in the west in 1901 and from there she couldn't be stopped. She broke horses, ran the ranch by hiring the help and kept the family in line. She was sent to boarding school for her education but her father lost her tuition with a bad investment and she went home before she could complete eight grade. During WWII she qualified to teach since there was a teacher shortage so off she went on her horse at age 15 to make her own way. Determined to get her education she eventually ended up in Chicago where her life took a different turn. Back to the southwest and more ranching. She even managed to fit some flying lessons into her life. I don't know what I'll do if I have to give up my current job. I'm really enjoying my extra reading time.

Another Richard Castle

Okay, I'm all caught up now with the Richard Castle novels. This one was "Naked Heat" and was a follow up to the last one. A good read and very much like the tv series only in the book the guy gets the girl and they both solve the crime. I'm anxiously awaiting the John Grisham novel but haven't gotten it yet. Amazon is letting me down. Now I've got to read another book that I have while waiting the arrival of the one I want.

Confusing

My hubby and I regularly watch a tv show called "Castle" which is about a famous author who gets to hang with a detective and follow her around so he can get inspired to write a new series of books about her. Suddenly that new series of books has become published for real and are out and making the New York Times bestseller list. Okay, the cover says Richard Castle which is the character's name on the series and his bio is exactly what the show lists for him. Lives with daughter and mother in NYC. Shows the actor on the picture and everything. What the heck, I said. I'll read the books. I finished "Heat Wave" and it was difficult separating the characters on tv from the ones in the book but it was a pretty good mystery. Murder, mob, and art theft. Yep, that about sums it up. He has a second one and I might read it while I'm waiting for the new John Grisham to arrive.

My hubby got a kindle from his son for his birthday. Hubby isn't a big reader so I don't know how much use this kindle will get by the actual owner but I may be giving it a whirl. I downloaded a couple of books into it and then discovered that whatever I put into his kindle I can then download into my iPhone. Sweet! I'm loaded up with some new books to read at the boring job.

Hubby's birthday party was a great success! I especially liked that some old friends of mine showed up and we spent the evening catching up and laughing hysterically. I think we enjoyed his party more than he did. Now that we've touched base again we've promised to not be delinquent again in our friendship. Hopefully that will be the case.