Martin Eden, by Jack London

Rating: 2/5
270ish pages
1909
Source: Project Gutenberg

Description: This is the semi-autobiographical story of a man who rises up from a working class background to improve his station and become a writer.

Goblin Hero, by Jim C. Hines

Rating: 4.5/5
279 pages
2007
Publisher: Daw
Source: My collection

Description: After barely surviving an adventure he never wanted, the scrawny little nearsighted goblin called Jig is now known as Jig Dragonslayer, and has the power of healing, thanks to the forgotten god he worships. But being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not when the goblin leader wants him dead, and everyone else actually expects him to keep doing heroic-and incredibly dangerous-things. (From Goodreads)

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black, by E.B. Hudspeth

Rating: 4/5
192 pages
2013
Publisher: Quirk Books
Source: Library book

Description: The Resurrectionist offers two extraordinary books in one. The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life. The second book is Black’s magnum opus: The Codex Extinct Animalia, a Gray’s Anatomy for mythological beasts—dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus—all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman. The Resurrectionist tells his story.

The Dark Tower, by Stephen King

Rating: 4.5/5
830 pages
2004
Publisher: Grant
Source: My collection

Description: The final volume in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Roland Deschain's quest for the tower comes to an end.

Review: Full disclosure, The Gunslinger was one of the first Stephen King books I fell in love with. I really can't completely separate myself from that.

The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham

Rating: 4/5
272 pages
1951
Publisher: Penguin Books
Source: Borrowed from family

Description: Tired of watching humanity struggle for survival against hordes of vampires or zombies? How about predatory plants for a change?

After a strange event leaves most of the world's population blind. Humanity's struggle to survive is complicated by the Triffids, a species of mobile carnivorous plants.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars, by Ian Doescher

Rating: 3/5
172 pages
2013
Publisher: Quirk Books
Source: Library book

Description: Star Wars IV: A New Hope rewritten in the style of Shakespeare.

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, by Mary Roach

Rating: 4.5/5
327 pages
2013
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Source: Library book

Description: Science writer Mary Roach explores the human digestive system and gets answers to questions you probably never would have though to ask in the first place.

Uzumaki 1-3, by Junji Ito

Rating: 4/5, 4/5, and 3/5
2001
Publisher: Viz Media
Source: Borrowed from family

Description: Shortly after Shuichi Saitos father becomes obsessed with spirals snail shells, whirlpools, and man-made patterns he dies mysteriously, his body positioned in the shape of a twisted coil. Soon, the entire town is afflicted with a snail-like disease. (from Goodreads)

Awoken, by Serra Elinsen

Rating: 4/5
310 pages
2013
Publisher: Self Published
Source: Amazon.com

Description: In his house at R’lyeh, great Cthulhu lies dreaming... of her.

What would you do if you discovered you were the only one in the world with the hidden power to keep it from utter annihilation?

What if you had no idea what that power might even be?

Andromeda Slate, the self-proclaimed most ordinary girl in America, can’t figure out why the gorgeous but mysterious new boy at high school seems to hate her so much. It couldn't have anything to do with the strange dream she had the night before he first showed up in class, could it? The dream where the very same boy rescued her from a giant, green, tentacled sea monster?

And it couldn’t have anything to do with that time she read aloud from that ancient tome of eldritch magic, the Necronomicon... could it?

Andi Slate never imagined she’d find herself in a situation where somehow she was the key to saving the world.

Her life is about to get a whole lot less ordinary. (From the back cover)

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)

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

Rating: 5/5
372 pages
2011
Publisher: Broadway Books
Source: B&N.com

Description: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines--puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win--and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. (From the back cover)

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
1954
5 discs
Source: Library
Narrator: Robertson Dean

Description: Robert Neville is the only survivor of a plague that has turned all of humanity into vampires.

Bloodlist, by P.N. Elrod

Rating: 4/5
154 pages
1990
Publisher: Ace
Source: My collection

Description: Jack Fleming wakes up with no memory of the last few days, people trying to kill him, and signs he'd been tortured. He quickly realizes he is now a vampire.

Now he has to adjust to his new condition while trying to solve his own murder.

Goblin Quest, by Jim C. Hines

Rating: 5/5

184 pages

2006

Publisher: Daw

Source: Amazon.com

Description: Jig is a scrawny little nearsighted goblin-a runt even among his puny species. Captured by a party of adventurers searching for a magical artifact, and forced to guide them, Jig encounters every peril ever faced on a fantasy quest. (From Goodreads)

Let the Right One In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Rating: 5/5
472 pages
2004
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Source: My collection

Description: Twelve-year-old Oskar is obsessed by the murder that's taken place in his neighborhood. Then he meets the new girl from next door. She's a bit weird, though. And she only comes out at night... (from the back cover)

Way of the Wolf, by E.E. Knight

Rating: 4/5
380 pages
Publisher: Roc
2003
Source: Used through Amazon.com

Description: Louisiana, 2065. A lot has changed in the 43rd year of the Kurian Order. Possessed of an unnatural hunger, the bloodthirsty Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of human souls. They rule the planet. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.

On this pitiless world, the indomitable spirit of mankind still breathes in Lieutenant David Valentine. Brought into the Wolves, an elite guerrilla force sworn to win back Earth, Valentine leads his first command in the Kurian Zone. Driven by the losses of his past and the hope of a future, Valentine is in it to win. No matter how long it takes. No matter what doom awaits him beyond his wildest nightmares  (from the back cover)

An Embarrassment of Riches, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Tor
383 pages
2011
Source: My collection

Description: Caught up in politics, Rakoczy Ferancsi, finds himself a virtual prisoner in thirteenth century Bohemia. Forced to make jewels for the local ruler and trying to hide his true nature, he gets caught in a web of court politics and blackmail which he can't escape from without risking the lives of those he's responsible for.

The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Rating: 4/5
Publisher:
401 pages
2009
Source: Barnes & Noble

Description: A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the call and boards the plane. What he finds makes his blood run cold.

In a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem, a former professor and survivor of the Holocaust named Abraham Setrakian knows something is happening. And he knows the time has come, that a war is brewing.

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city - a city that includes his wife and son - before it is too late. (from the dust jacket)

Fledgling, by Octavia E. Butler

Rating: 3/5
Publisher:BBC Audiobooks America
10 discs
Narrated by
2005
Source: Library book

Description: Fledgling, the late Octavia E. Butler's final novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted--and still wants--to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human. (from the back cover)

The Stress of Her Regard, by Tim Powers

Rating:4.5/5
Publisher: Tachyon
427 pages
1989
Source: My collection

Description: When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence, but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes. (from Goodreads.)

Pacific Rim (2012)

MPAA rating: PG-13
Runtime: 132 minutes
Rating: 4/5

Description: Giant robots (Jaegers) fight alien sea monsters (Kaiju) to save humanity.

Review: This is a fun, special effects laden, action movie. It has moments of drama, moments of humor, and moments of sadness. If this is what your looking for, you probably won't be disappointed. (If you do go, stay for some of the credits. There's an extra scene not too far in.)

Thats not to say it couldn't be better.

Those Who Hunt the Night, by Barbara Hambly

Rating: 5/5
Publisher: Del Rey
340 pages
1988
Source: Borrowed from family

Description: The vampires had been living in London since the time of Elizabeth I, but now they were being ruthlessly murdered by someone who ripped their coffins open for the light of day to burn them to ashes. 

No vampire could endure the daylight to destroy the murderer. They had to turn to a mortal human for aid.

Thus it was that Professor James Asher, one-time spy, returned home to find his young wife in a strange coma and Simon Ysidro, oldest of the London vampires, waiting for him. Ysidro, although polite, left no doubt of his power to locate his spell on the young woman, wherever she might flee. Asher must agree to find the destroyer of the vampires for them.

But if he found the killer, what must happen to them? What would inevitably be the fate of any mortal human who learned the identities and locations of the vampires? The answer was all too obvious. 

Whether he succeeded or failed, it seemed that Professor James Asher was doomed! (From the back cover.)

Borne in Blood, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Tor
367 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: The year is 1817.  In Switzerland, the Count Saint-Germain leads a comfortable life with his paramour Hero whose husband died fighting Napoleon. Saint-Germain's loving kindness cannot keep Hero from missing her children who are being raised by their hard-hearted grandfather. 

The Count has become intrigued by the work of an Austrian noble investigating the properties of blood, a subject always of key interest to a vampire.  But when the noble's beautiful ward fixates sexually on the Count, the vampire fears for himself and his gentle lover. (From GoodReads)

As Shadows Fade, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
342 pages
2009
Source: My collection

Description: Directly descended from the very first vampire hunter in the Gardella family, Victoria knows she must continue the lineage so humanity will have protectors against the undead. While Sebastian Vioget appears to be both the perfect warrior and lover to ensure the Gardella Legacy, Victoria cannot forget Max Pesaro - the former slayer still haunted by the vampire queen Lilith's obsession with him. 

But it is Lilith's obsession that may save all of humanity. Demons, enemies of both mortals and the undead, have found their way to earth. To defeat them, vampires and slayers must fight side by side. But Lilith wants Max in return for her cooperation; a small price for the world, but too high a price for Victoria. (From the back cover.)

Roman Dusk, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Rating: 2.5/5
Publisher: Tor
344 pages
2006
Source: My collection

Description: Rome is crumbling. The child-emperor, Heliogabalus, diverts the Roman populace with parties, circuses, and celebrations, while his mother and grandmother jockey for power behind the scenes. The government is riddled with scandal and no business is conducted without bribes which grow ever larger. Religions joust for prominence, with factions of Christians seeking to overthrow the ancient Roman pantheon. Courtesans, once honored for their skills and protected by special guards, have become targets of opprobrium. (From the dust jacket.)

When Twilight Burns, by Colleen Gleason

Rating:4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
344 pages
2008
Source: My collection

Description: Ruining Victoria's homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London—during the daylight. Not only is Victoria not able to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she's being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.

Meanwhile, her heart is still divided between the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget and her fellow slayer Max Pesaro. The battle is made even more difficult by the legacy of a vampire's touch—a vampire who left in Victoria's veins boiling blood that forces her to fight evil on two fronts: against the new breed of undead threatening London and against the darkness within herself. (From the back cover.)

The Bleeding Dusk, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
346 pages
2008
Source: My collection

Description: As Rome prepares for its Carnival, the new leader of the city's vampire hunters must prove herself as never before. For, in order to gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome's vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and blood thirsty as they are.

Reluctantly, Victoria must turn to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help, just as Maximilian Pesaro arrives to help his fellow slayers, whatever the sacrifice. Desire puts her at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max, but can she trust either man? Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows... (From the back cover)

Rises the Night, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
334 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy has been a vampire slayer for just over a year, balancing her life as a peer of Society with the dangerous role that takes her out on moonlit streets, stake in hand. She has learned brutal and heartbreaking lessons about the sacrifices that must be made in order to save humanity from the evil that secretly preys upon it, but she has not wavered in her vow to fight on.

Now in Italy, a powerful vampire is amassing the power to control the souls of the dead. As Victoria races across Europe to stop what could be the most deadly army the Gardellas have ever faced, her unlikely companion is Sebastian Vioget, a man as tempting as he is untrustworthy. But when Victoria discovers that she has been betrayed by one of her most trusted allies, the truth will challenge her powers as a Ventor and as a woman... (From the back cover)

The Rest Falls Away, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
347 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: Vampire have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken over  the world.

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her duty. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between obligation and love... (From the back cover)

The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Scribner
184 pages
1984
Source: Border's Books and Music

Description: Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:

Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more of less on a whim.

That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.

It was just a stage I was going through. (From the back cover)

The Vampire Tapestry, by Suzy McKee Charnas

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Pocket Books
294 pages
1980
Source: Borrowed from family

Description: The Vampire Tapestry examines the classic monster as a biological, rather than supernatural, predator who awakens from hibernation every few decades needing to relearn human culture. After years of secret effort, the self-styled Edward Weyland has become a respected anthropology professor and director of a sleep research lab. With reliable access to unsuspecting blood donors, he grows complacent and makes a near-fatal error. First critically wounded by a strong and canny woman, then imprisoned and humiliated by a power-mad Satanist, he is forced on a journey toward an empathy with his prey that threatens the foundations of his survival. (copied from Goodreads)

Howliday Inn & The Celery Stalks At Midnight, by James Howe

Rating: 2.5/5 & 3/5
Publisher: The Listening Library
About 4 discs (Howliday Inn) and 1.5 discs (The Celery Stalks At Midnight)
Narrator: Victor Garber
1982 & 1983
Source: Library book

Description: Howliday Inn
Harold and Chester could hardly believe it. The Monroe family was going on vacation without them. Bunnicula, the family rabbit, would be boarded with a neighbor. But they, the family's loyal dog and cat, were to be sent away with strangers; to a place called Chateau Bow-Wow. Chateau Bow-Wow, observed Chester, soon after they arrived, could more properly be called Howliday Inn. Though what was howling, neither of them knew. Chester had his suspicions however; only a werewolf could make that chilling sound. 

The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Bunnicula is missing Chester the cat makes a chilling discovery--Bunnicula the vampire bunny has vanished from his cage in the Monroe household. Everyone knows that vampire victims become vampires themselves--and the neighborhood gardens reveal the ultimate horror: bloodless zombie vegetables Determined to save Bunnicula's victims and the unsuspecting Monroes, Chester leads the valiant friends on a wild bunny chase. (From the back of the audiobook)

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics (My copy. Its in the public domain.)
444 pages
1897
Source: Barnes & Noble

Description: A young solicitor named Johnathan Harker goes to the Carpathians to finalize a real estate deal with Count Dracula. He soon realizes Dracula is a vampire and must help defeat him.

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe

Rating: 5/5
Publisher: Listening Library
About 1.5 CDs
Narrated by Victor Garber
1979
Source: Library book

Cover note: Not the cover of the audio collection I'm listening to. This one matches my old copy of Bunnicula.

Description: Beware the Hare. Is he or isn't he a vampire? Before it's too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household--a suspicious looking bunny with unusual habits . . . and fangs. (From the back of the audiobook.)

Review: This book is, still, a cute, fun read.

Allegedly written by Howard the dog, we get to watch Chester's frantic attempts to warn the Munroe family of the danger that lurks in the form of their new pet and, when that doesn't work, his various attempts to slay the vampire in their midst, from his rather bewildered perspective.

Needless to say, its pretty clear that the vampire is not actually dangerous, unless you're a vegetable, and everything ends happily.

I loved this book as a kid, and it doesn't seem to have any references that would make it seem dated to a modern audience.

Lover Be Mine, By Nicole Jordan

Rating: 3/5
Publisher: Ballantine Books
327 pages
2013
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: As the wickedly seductive Wilde cousins seek true love by taking a page from history's legendary love stories, Lord Jack Wilde plays a determined Romeo courting an enchanting Juliet.

The last thing Sophie Fortin expects at a masquerade ball is a dazzling kiss from a pirate. Her desire quickly falters when she learns that her masked gentleman is devilishly scandalous Lord Jack, a member of the captivating Wilde clan — and a man she’s forbidden to acknowledge. But when Jack begins a breathtaking seduction, Sophie can barely resist.

Jack never imagined that the daughter of his family’s mortal enemy would awaken such fierce passion within him—until one unforgettable kiss changes his mind forever. Soon, Jack is hell-bent on winning Sophie’s hand, going so far as to abduct her to save her from marrying a rival nobleman. Determined to woo Sophie and her unyielding parents, Jack is faced with the one decision he’d sworn never to make. The secret heir to a prince, Jack has spurned his royal heritage for years . . . but for Sophie he’ll risk all to turn a legacy of heartbreak into love ever after. (From the back cover)

Stonemouth, by Iain Banks

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Pegasus Crime
356 pages
2012
Source: Library book

Description: Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth, Scotland.

After five years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of local patriarch Joe Murston, even though the last time Stewart saw the Murstons he was running for his life. An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth, with its five mile beach, can be beautiful on a sunny day. On a bleak one it can seem to offer little more than sea fog, gangsters, cheap drugs, and a suspension bridge irresistible to suicides. And although there's supposed to be a temporary truce between Stewart and the town's biggest crime family, it's soon clear that only Stewart is taking this promise of peace seriously.

Before long a quick drop into the cold, grey Stoun River begins to look like the easy option, but as he steps back into the minefield of his past to confront his guilt and all that it has lost him, Stewart uncovers ever darker stories, and his homecoming takes a more lethal turn than even he had anticipated. (From the book jacket)

The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh

Rating: 3/5
Publisher: Dell
261 pages
1992
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: Lord Edmund Waite is everything that Lady Mary Gregg despises: lewd, lascivious, mocking—the most incorrigible and successful rogue around. A bluestocking like her would never tempt a man whose taste runs to pretty playthings—so Mary is startled to find herself the object of Lord Edmund’s desires. Even more surprising is her reaction to his shocking advances. She may be a lady, but this man knows so well how to make her feel like a woman. (From the back cover.)

Review: Well, it was better than the other book in the volume. Edmund and Mary both had personalities at least.

Probably due to the length of the book, the romance seemed rushed, however the story still seemed to drag in places. And I wasn't thrilled about stalkerish behavior on the part of our hero, plus I suspect the first hookup between the leads could be troubling for some readers due to some dubious seeming consent issues.

Not a terrible book, but there are better romances out there.

Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks

Rating: 5/5
Publisher: Orbit
486 pages
1990
Source: Amazon.com

Description: The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks, or military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past.  (From the back cover)

The Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Orbit
391 pages
1988
Source: Amazon.com

Description: The Culture - a human/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy. 

Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game...a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life - and very possibly his death.  (From the back cover)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Edited by Peter Boxall

Rating: 3/5
Publisher: Universe
960 pages
2010
Source: Library

Description: A list, with brief descriptions, of one thousand and one books, that the contributors to this volume feel everyone should read for a well rounded literary experience.

The Mermaid's Madness, by Jim C. Hines

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: DAW
339 pages
2009
Source: Birthday present

Description: There is an old story — you might have heard it — about a young mermaid, the daughter of a king, who saved the life of a human prince and fell in love.

So innocent was her love, so pure her devotion, that she would pay any price for the chance to be with her prince. She gave up her voice, her family, and the sea, and became human. But the prince had fallen in love with another woman.

The tales say the little mermaid sacrificed her own life so that her beloved prince could find happiness with his bride.

The tales lie. (From the back cover.)

A Counterfeit Betrothal, by Mary Balogh

Rating: 1/5
Publisher: Dell
259 pages
1992
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Description: Lady Sophia Bryant has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Her one desire is to reunite her parents, who have been estranged for fourteen years. Surely, if she happens to announce her betrothal—even a false one—they will be forced to see each other. Devilishly handsome Lord Francis Sutton seems perfect for such deceit, always agreeable to games of passion in which he has nothing to lose. The trap is set—if only Lady Sophia can keep her foolish heart from falling prey to her brilliant snares. (From the back cover)

Transition, by Iain M. Banks

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Orbit
404 pages
2009
Source: My collection

Description: There is a world that hangs suspended between triumph and catastrophe, between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, frozen in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse. Such a world requires a firm hand and a guiding light. But does it need the Concern: an all-powerful organization with a malevolent presiding genius, pervasive influence and numberless invisible operatives in possession of extraordinary powers?

Among those operatives are Temudjin Oh, of mysterious Mongolian origins, an un-killable assassin who journeys between the peaks of Nepal, a version of Victorian London and the dark palaces of Venice under snow; Adrian Cubbish, a restlessly greedy City trader; and a nameless, faceless state-sponsored torturer known only as the Philosopher, who moves between time zones with sinister ease. Then there are those who question the Concern: the bandit queen Mrs. Mulverhill, roaming the worlds recruiting rebels to her side; and Patient 8262, under sedation and feigning madness in a forgotten hospital ward, in hiding from a dirty past.

There is a world that needs help; but whether it needs the Concern is a different matter. (From the back cover.)

Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Flying Dolphin Press
341 Pages
2005
Source: Library

Description: A sheep detective story. What more needs saying?