August ~ 2010

Well, I survived my self-imposed book ban and now get to dive back in!

80. The Bone Garden...Tess Gerritsen

Hmmm, I liked it, but I didn't. It really didn't work as a suspense/thriller novel, but I enjoyed the storyline from the past. I wish she had just kept the present storyline out of the book and concentrated on Rose and Norris.

Quote:
38-year-old divorcée Julia Hamill discovers a skeleton buried in the garden of the Boston house she's just moved into; the ring found with the remains was in fashion in the 1830s, the fractured bones suggest murder. Flashback to 1830: medical student Norris Marshall, an outcast among his wealthier classmates, meets Rose Connolly in a Boston maternity ward, where Rose's sister recently died of childbirth fever. When several gutted bodies turn up in deserted alleyways, Rose and Norris are the only ones to catch a glimpse of the killer, dubbed the West End Reaper. Norris, Rose and Norris's fellow student, Oliver Wendell Holmes, race to uncover the truth behind the slayings, which will remind many of Jack the Ripper's crimes. In the present, Julia is able to trace their progress with the help of a relative of the house's former owner.


81. Presumed Guilty & Keeper of the Bride...Tess Gerritsen

Two short(ish) stories in one book. Both of them were pretty good.

Quote:
Miranda Wood thought she had seen the last of Richard Tremain, her rich and married ex-lover—until she discovered him stabbed to death in her bed. With her knife. With her world falling around her, Miranda is determined to clear her name and discover who killed Richard. But proving her innocence may become secondary to staying alive.…
After Nina Cormier was jilted at the altar, the empty church exploded. Then someone tried to run Nina off the road, and she realized someone wanted her dead—but who? That's what Detective Sam Navarro needs to find out…fast. With a nightmare unfolding around them, Sam and Nina decipher the stunning truth. Now they're at the mercy of a brilliant madman who plays for keeps.…


82. Gravity...Tess Gerritsen

This one was awesome! I really didn't know if I would like it or not because I'm not much interested in space, but this book was really, really good. I had to read it in one sitting!

Quote:
Dr. Emma Watson has been training for the adventure of a lifetime: to study living beings in space. But her mission aboard the International Space Station turns into a nightmare beyond imagining when a culture of single-celled organisms begins to regenerate out of control -- and infects the space station crew with agonizing and deadly results. Emma struggles to contain the outbreak while back on Earth her estranged husband, Jack McCallum, works frantically with NASA to bring her home. But there will be no rescue. The contagion now threatens Earth's population, and the astronauts are stranded in orbit, quarantined aboard the station -- where they are dying one by one...



83. Family Power: The True Story of How the "First Family of Tae Kwon Do" Made Olympic History...Jean, Steven, Mark, & Diana Lopez

Although the writing was a little choppy and sometimes the fight recaps were a little repetitive, overall it was an interesting book.

Quote:
The Lopez family set new records at the Beijing Olympics with three siblings on the same U.S. taekwondo team-and a fourth sibling as their coach. Mark took the silver medal, and Steven and Diana both brought home the bronze, with big brother Jean coaching them to victory. Here, for the first time, is the inspiring story of a family united behind a dream.

In 1972 Julio Lopez and his wife Ondina emigrated from Nicaragua, hoping for a better life for their family in America. In an atmosphere of love, support, mutual respect, and healthy competition, their children trained hard in taekwondo, daring to dream they might reach the pinnacle of their athletic field in the Olympics. Told in turn by Steven, Mark, Diana, and Jean, this is the incredible story of how one close-knit family's boundless determination and rock-solid support system took them from their home in Texas to Olympic glory in Beijing.


84. Amazon: The Ghost Tribe...Rob MacGregor

This was great, but it was another one that just abruptly ended. There were a few loose ends left, so I'm going to see if there is a sequel.

Quote:
A brutal gale batters the pilgrim ship Seaflower, driving the ill-fatedvessel off-course toward the coast of South America, leaving it to the mercy of bloodthirsty pirates and murderous tempests. The year is 1627. And so begins a drama that will ultimately span centuries, as destinystrands a handful of luckless European voyagers in the most inhospitable jungle on the Earth. In a world unfathomed, they must bury their dead and push on deep into the dark and savage land explorers will one day call Amazon. For them, there is no going back--only treacherous miles of lush, impenetrable beauty that camouflages sudden and terrible death. And there are others waiting and watching, ready to destroy to preserve what no one may truly possess. But here, in this strange and violent place of wondrous discovery, a small band of settlers is determined to endure at all costs, to build a new life in a merciless wilderness--and to forge a remarkable society that will be there to greet another group of the desperate lost more than three hundred years in the future.


85. Catching Fire...Suzanne Collins
86. Mockingjay...Suzanne Collins

Second and third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. Great books!


87. Lover Mine...J.R. Ward

Latest in the BDB series. Love these!