The Fishing Widow, by Amy K. Marshall

Rating: 3.5/5
460 pages
2013
Publisher: Alaskan Gothic Press
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: There’s an old saying that goes: The difference between a fairy tale and a fisherman’s tale is this… a fairy tale begins, “Once Upon A Time,” and a fisherman’s tale begins, “This Ain’t No Bullshit.” 

Supernatural terror stalks the crew of the purse seiner the F/V “The Case In Point” during the March 2010 Sitka Herring Sac Roe Fishery in Southeast Alaska. As the herring war intensifies, each boat is an island, and being alone can cost you everything. As the web spins from the depths, the past is not so distant; the lines between history and myth begin to blur. The forgotten horror surrounding the 1835 loss of the Nantucket whaler “The Covenant” threatens to overwhelm the present. One among the seven men aboard “The Case In Point” is unwittingly marked by a woman beautiful and cursed, who not only desperately needs his help, but needs, desperately, to tear out his heart and consume his crew. (from LibraryThing)

The De-Textbook, by Cracked.com

Rating: 3/5
207 pages
2013
Publisher: Plume
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: It’s Cracked, but true. You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News was a New York Times bestseller and has already returned to print seven times. Now, the writers at the Internet’s #1 most-read humor site have created a dementedly hilarious textbook parody. By the time we were out of school, we’d learned that spinach is full of iron, there are three primary colors, and we have five senses. Unfortunately, these and most of the other “facts” we crammed into our heads are simply not true. The De-Textbook is here to erase it all—easily, painlessly, and hilariously. (From LibraryThing)

Joyland, by Stephen King

Rating: 4.5/5
7 discs
Narrator: Michael Kelly
2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio
Source: Library book

Description: College student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and dark truths about life-and what comes after-that would change his world forever. (From the back cover)

Betrayal, by Julian Stockwin

Rating: 3/5
344 pages
2013
Publisher: McBooks Press
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: Cape Colony is proving a tiresome assignment for Thomas Kydd’s daring commander-in-chief Commodore Popham: South America’s Spanish colonies are in a ferment of popular unrest. Rumors of a treasure hoard of Spanish silver spur him to assemble a makeshift invasion fleet and launch a bold attack on the capital of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate in Buenos Aires. Navigating the treacherous bars and mud flats of the river, the British invasion force wins a battle against improbable odds, taking the capital and the silver. But the uprising that promises the end of Spanish rule never arrives and the locals begin to see dark conspiracies behind the invader’s actions. Now Kydd’s men must face resistance and the betrayal of their closest allies. Can they save themselves and their prize? (From Goodreads)

The Android's Dream, by John Scalzi

Rating: 3/5
394 pages
2007
Publisher: Tor
Source: Barnes&Noble.com

Description: A human diplomat kills his alien counterpart. Earth is on the verge of war with a vastly superior alien race. A lone man races against time and a host of enemies to find the one object that can save our planet and our people from alien enslavement... a sheep. 

Yes, you read that right. Welcome to The Android's Dream.

For Harry Creek, it's a nightmare. All he wants is to do his uncomplicated mid-level diplomatic job with Earth's State Department. But his skills and past training get him tapped to save the planet - and to protect pet store owner Robin Baker, whose own past holds the key to the whereabouts of that lost sheep. Doing both will take him from lava-strewn battlefields to alien halls of power. 

All in a day's work. Maybe it's time for a raise. (From the back cover)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

Rating: 4.5/5
177 pages
1968
Publisher: Library of America
Source: Amazon.com Marketplace

Description: A final, apocalyptic, world war has killed millions, driving entire species into extinction and sending the majority of mankind off-planet. Those who remain, venerate all remaining examples of life, and owning an animal of your own is both a symbol of status and a necessity. For those who can't afford an authentic animal, companies build incredibly realistic simulacra: horses, birds, cats, sheep . . . even humans. (From Goodreads)

Alternately, the book that was the basis for the movie Blade Runner.

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, by Reza Aslan

Rating: 4/5
272 pages
2013
Publisher: Random House
Source: Library book

Description: From the bestselling author of No God but God comes a provocative & well-researched biography challenging long-held assumptions about Jesus. (From the dust jacket)