June ~ 2011

96. A Game of Thrones...George R.R. Martin

Quote:
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.

Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.


97. A Clash of Kings...George R.R. Martin

Quote:
A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.


98. A Storm of Swords...George R.R. Martin

Quote:
Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . .

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others--a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords.


99. A Feast for Crows...George R.R. Martin

Quote:
It seems too good to be true. After centuries of bitter strife and fatal treachery, the seven powers dividing the land have decimated one another into an uneasy truce. Or so it appears. . . . With the death of the monstrous King Joffrey, Cersei is ruling as regent in King’s Landing. Robb Stark’s demise has broken the back of the Northern rebels, and his siblings are scattered throughout the kingdom like seeds on barren soil. Few legitimate claims to the once desperately sought Iron Throne still exist—or they are held in hands too weak or too distant to wield them effectively. The war, which raged out of control for so long, has burned itself out.

But as in the aftermath of any climactic struggle, it is not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters start to gather, picking over the bones of the dead and fighting for the spoils of the soon-to-be dead. Now in the Seven Kingdoms, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed, while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—are seen emerging from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges ahead.

It is a time when the wise and the ambitious, the deceitful and the strong will acquire the skills, the power, and the magic to survive the stark and terrible times that lie before them. It is a time for nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages to come together and stake their fortunes . . . and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.

I've really enjoyed this series so far. There is so much going on, you never want to put the book down! My only complaint is that he takes so long to write the books! The fifth is supposed to come out next month, but I imagine it will be years before the final two are released. I understand why they take so long - they are around 800-1000 pages each and are extensively researched - I'm just impatient and don't want to wait!




100. Tales from the Hood...Michael Buckley
101. The Everafter War...Michael Buckley
102. The Inside Story...Michael Buckley
Trying to finish up the Sisters Grimm series. The final book should be out the end of this year or sometime early next year. They have taken a surprising twist that I never saw coming!



103. Death on the Family Tree...Patricia Sprinkle

Quote:
With grown-up kids and a husband always on the road, Katharine Murray's nest would be empty if it weren't for her Aunt Lucy—until the elderly woman dies. Now Katharine's saddled with her Aunt's worldly belongings—mostly knickknacks destined for the dumpster. But there's a priceless Celtic necklace among the dross—and a diary written in German, neither of which Katharine's ever seen before.
Determined to find out where these objects came from, Katharine unwittingly discovers a branch of her family tree she never knew existed—namely Aunt Lucy's brother Carter, murdered more than fifty years ago after a mysterious trip to Austria. And when Lucy's artifacts are stolen, and the main suspect turns up dead, Katharine realizes she must solve a burglary and two unsolved homicides separated by a half-century . . . before more than her family secrets end up dead and buried.


104. Sins of the Fathers...Patricia Sprinkle

Quote:
Always ready to help a friend, Katharine Murray has made her way to Bayard Island off the coast of Georgia with Dr. Flo Gadney, to attend to an unsavory errand. Burch Bayard, local patriarch and greedy landowner, has a nefarious plan to build McMansions up and down the island—and over graves that may belong to Dr. Flo's ancestors!
The friends set to work to make sure that Dr. Flo's family tree has its roots in the old cemetery, a task made very difficult by the lack of Southern hospitality from the island's inhabitants. One old woman even tries to shoot them! But when that woman later turns up dead, Katharine and Flo realize there's more than bodies buried on that land. And if they keep unearthing the island's secrets, they might be digging their own graves.


105. Daughter of Deceit...Patricia Sprinkle

Quote:
Katharine Murray's elegant Atlanta home has been viciously vandalized! She's prepared to devote all her time to getting it back in tip-top shape—until she meets Bara Weidenauer. Once a picture-perfect socialite, Bara has fallen on some hard times. Her husband, Foley, has hightailed it out of their marriage, and she's convinced he'll try to take her for every penny she's got. While scouring her house for anything of value to hide from her greedy ex, Bara finds a box of military medals that once belonged to her father, a beloved war hero. Eager to know the story behind these precious trinkets, she enlists Katharine's help.
But as Katharine digs deeper into Weidenauer family history, she discovers that everything Bara believed about her father may have been a lie. And when Foley is found shot to death, Bara's world turns to complete chaos. It's up to Katharine to expose this family's secrets from the past and the present . . . or the future will be very grim indeed.

This is a neat little series. I really enjoyed her writing style and the characters were fun. I think I'll try another of her series.



106. A Malignant House...Fay Sampson
I gave this series another try, but this one was even worse than the last. You'd think it was set back in the 1940s-1950s where women get walked all over by their husbands and sons. The storyline itself was good, but I was just irratated with almost all the characters which ruined the book for me. I won't be reading any more in this series.


107. Hit List...Laurell K. Hamilton
Yes! I was so excited to get back to more plot, less sex! I hope she keeps it up...plus I love Edward!

108. Dead Reckoning...Charlaine Harris
109. Pale Demon...Kim Harrison
Recent books in a few series I like. All three were great, especially Pale Demon. I can't wait for the next one!



110. Shaking the Family Tree...Buzzy Jackson

Quote:
In her new book, Jackson (A Bad Woman Feeling Good), inspired by her background studying American history and the recent birth of her son, tracks her family genealogy and takes the reader along for the ride. Before she can learn who her ancestors are, Jackson must learn the ins and out of genealogy, which she does by attending seminars, joining a local genealogical society, learning from the field's experts and, yes, going on a genealogy cruise. In conversational and witty prose, she conveys not only how much fun she is having but also what she is learning. But genealogy culture is just half of the story, the other half being Jackson's search for her family tree. While her quest starts innocently enough as she reaches out to her mother and father soon she finds herself embarking on a series of quirky adventures like looking for lost graveyards, hanging out with Mormons, going to her high school reunion, and finding out the Confederate South still exists.


111. Social Networking for Genealogists...Drew Smith

Quote:
Social Networking for Genealogists could also have been featured in our 'Computer Shelf' section, but is reviewed here for its fine guide to applying social network services to genealogical searching. It describes the social networks available on line, considers how they can be used by genealogists, and tells how to share information, photos and videos with family and friends. From blogs and wikis to Facebook, this shows how to use these social networking tools for family history research and is a key acquisition for any genealogist's collection!

I'm cleaning out my mom's house this summer, so not much time to read. I am trying to re-start my genealogy research, though, so I have a few like these to read.