Alasandra's Reading List ~ October

1. Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child ~ A group of scientist find an ancient animal encased in ice while studying Global Warming at the foot of Mount Fear.. Soon the media descends on Fear Base and plans are made to thaw the animal for further study, but then the mysterious animal disappears out of a locked box and people start dying. Evan Marshall will make a desperate trip to the Inuit Camp in order to get answers from the shaman and he, the scientist and soldiers will make an effort to stop the killing machine while a desperate group will flee across the ice in an 18 wheeler.  
2. The Male Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D. ~ A very interesting read that explains why boys and men behave the way they do. There is actually a hormone that promotes monogamy.  
3. The Enemy by Lee Child - Even though this is the eighth Reacher novel the events predate the previous novels. Reacher is still an MP in this book.  The book begins with two-star General Kramer dying of a heart attack in a seedy motel room during sex with someone he shouldn't have been having sex with. Now his briefcase is missing and the hunt is on for Kramer's sex partner. An agenda Kramer was carrying in his briefcase can cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people. And while Kramer died due to natural causes the murder rate starts mounting while Reacher is order not to investigate an order Reacher is honor bound to disobey (Personal note: Reacher's Mother & Brother are in this novel).
4. The Keep by F. Paul Wilson ~ Repairman Jack Fans will recognize the two main characters in the book. World War II is in progress and Captain Klaus Woermann has been sent to Kinu Pass, Romania with orders to fortify THE KEEP. A mysterious structure that has been empty for centuries but that someone pays the locals to maintain, while forbidding anyone to sleep inside THE KEEP.  Greedy soldiers under Woermann's command open a chamber they believe will lead them to hidden treasure but it leads them to a hideous death instead. With his men being killed by "something" Captain Woermann sends for help and SS Major Kaempffer arrives. He plans to kill 10 villagers a day until the gruesome murders stop but is convinced that whatever is killing the soldiers doesn't care about the villagers and the only way to stop it is to uncover the secrets of THE KEEP. The Jewish Professor Theodor Cuza who is crippled from scleroderma and his daughter Magda are brought to THE KEEP. They are shown some valuable and ancient books that deal with evil and the Professor claims the secret to THE KEEP must lay inside them and promises to get to work translating them. That night he meets Molasar (Rasalom backwards) and believes him to be a vampire. Molasar pretends to be afraid of crosses causing Cuza to question his Jewish beliefs. Magda is sent to the village inn to stay due to the unrest her presence causes amongst the soldiers and she meets Glenn (Glaeken) and falls in love with him. Wounded and near death Glenn tells Magda the truth about Molasar and warns her she must prevent her Father (whom Rasalom cured) from carrying the hilt Glaeken used to imprison Rasalom out of THE KEEP.
5. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory ~ Margaret Beaufort plots to put her son Henry Tudor on the throne, while piously pretending it is the "will of God".
6. The Two Swords by R. A. Salvatore - Fender is captured by the Kaer'lic and Tos'un Armgo when Dagna and a band of dwarves set out with Galen Firth for Nesme. Drizzt strikes a deal with Gerti in order to rescue Sunrise.Delly Curtie comes under the spell of Khazid'hea and leaves for the North after giving Wulfgar's daughter away. Pikel and Ivan follow Delly, but are unable to prevent her death. They see Drizzt and tell him his friends are alive. Drizzt takes Khazid'hea and and sets out to kill Obould.
7. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern by Lilian Jackson Braun ~ Jim Qwilleran gets stuck reporting on decorating. He features Mr Tait's jade collection shortly before it is stolen and Mrs Tait suffers a fatal heart attack, during the robbery. Koko as usual solves the case and gets Yum Yum (the former Mrs Tait's cat)  for a partner. If you didn't love Qwilleran before his compassion for Yum Yum is sure to win you over.
8. Die Trying by Lee Child ~ Jack Reacher sees a pretty woman struggling with her dry cleaning and a crutch and stops to help. Which leads to them both being kidnapped by White Supremacist and taken to their headquarters in Montana. My favorite part of the book was when Reacher refused to shoot the dogs that had been sent to kill him, as he felt it was morally wrong to shoot dogs that were not acting from free choice.
   

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Alasandra's Reading List ~ September

1. Echo Burning by Lee Child (A Jack Reacher Novel) - I love the Aloysius X. L. Pendergast novels Lincoln Child (Lee Child's brother) wrote with Douglass Preston so when I saw the Jack Reacher series mentioned on one of my friends blogs I moved Child to the top of my reading list. Reacher hitches a ride with Carmen Greer only to discover she is hoping he will kill her abusive husband for her, when Sloop (the husband) gets out of prison. He refuses but does teach her how to shoot the gun she bought and sticks around to help her run if she wants. Then Sloop winds up dead while Reacher is being escorted off the ranch by Texas Rangers and Carmen is the chief suspect. But Reacher knows there is no way that she made the shot so he has to figure out why she is confessing to a crime she didn't commit then prove her innocent.
2. America's Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis - Learn about Fort Caroline built by the French in the 1560s. Phillip II of Spain sent Admiral Pedro Menendez to remove the French from Fort Caroline (Florida) in 1565. Find out more about Hannah Emerson Dustin (Haverhill, Massachusetts - March 1697), Thomas Morton (School of Atheism), John Endecott, King Philip aka Metacom, Mary Rowlandson, Anne Hutchinson, Eunice Williams and Mary Dyer.
3. Fever Dream by Preston & Child - Aloysius Pendergast discovers that the tragic hunting accident that claimed his wife's life twelve years ago was in fact murder. With the help of Vinnie D'Agosta Pendergast sets out to discover who killed his wife and why, but when they get to close to the truth a mysterious shooter starts tying up lose ends. When a bullet puts Vinnie out of commission his girlfriend Laura Hayward steps in to help and discovers she enjoys Pendergast's method of doing things. The book ends with Pendergast and Hayward discovering WHY Helen Pendergast was killed, but the identity of the mysterious shooter is still supposedly unknown to them, which means Pendergast may be walking into a trap when he accepts the invitation of the killer (I will have to way until the next book to see, but I suspect that Pendergast is beginning to suspect the killer not much gets past him). Constance has returned to the States and has been locked up in a mental ward, she supposedly threw her baby overboard when traveling by ship back to America. 
4. The Postcard Killers by James Patterson & Liza Marklund - Jacob Kanon is determined to find who killed his daughter and her husband in Rome. With the help of a Swedish Reporter he'll see the killers brought to justice or die trying. 
5. Hangman by Faye Kellerman (A Decker/Lazarus Novel) - For those of you familiar with the series you'll recognize Chris Whitman (aka Chris Donatti professional killer) and his wife Terry McLaughlin who reenter Decker's life. Terry supposedly wants Decker to chaperon a discussion between her and Chris about a separation. But when Terry disappears shortly after the discussion Decker has to wonder if she just played him in order to get her son with Chris, Gabe into his  home while she disappears with a lover or if Chris killed her. If taking care of Gabe isn't complicated enough a nurse is also found swinging from the rafters at a construction site and before Decker can find her killer her friends start turning up dead.
6. Impact by Douglas Preston - It all begins when Abby Straw "borrows" her Father's lobster boat in order to find a meteorite that landed on a nearby island. Meanwhile Wyman Ford (Preston fans will recognize the name from previous books) has been sent to Cambodia to get information on a mine that radioactive gemstones are coming from. The information he discovers in Cambodia leads him to Mark Corso an ex technician with NPF who was fired because he knew to much about the gamma rays emitting from Deimos.  Now a mole inside NPF wants the three dead, can they survive long enough to save Earth from the Deimos Machine?
7. Killing Floor by Lee Child ~ Jack Reacher is passing through Margrave, Georgia when he is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Jack isn't too worried as he can prove he was miles away at the time, as soon as he is cleared he plans to leave town. Then he discovers the murdered man was his brother Joe who was investigating a crime in Margrave. With the help of Roscoe and Finley, Jack sets out to bring down his brothers killers.
8. Tough Customer by Sandra Brown - Brown first introduced Dodge Hanley in her book Smash Cut, in Tough Customer the crusty PI is out to save his daughter from a deranged madman and he is willing to die to do it. The question is does he love Caroline King enough to live.
9. The Cat Who Turned On and Off by Lilian Jackson Braun - KoKo and Yum Yum (two lovable Siamese) help Qwilleran solve two murders in Junktown, that the police have ruled accidental.
10. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun - Qwilleran moves into Maus Haus after being assigned to write a gourmet column. Not long after moving into Maus Haus his ex fiancee Joy Graham gives him a sob story about wanting to leave her husband and he writes her a check for $750 and then she disappears in the middle of the night. Qwilleran suspects Joy's husband has something to do with her disappearance but he has no proof that she isn't in Florida like her husband claims. Then the houseboy William disappears. It's not until Qwilleran stumbles on the secret to Dan's remarkable red glaze with KoKo's help that the mystery is solved and thanks to Yum Yum Dan's attempt to silence Qwilleran is foiled. 
11. The Lone Drow by R.A. Salvatore ~ Drizzt still believes all his friends died at Shallows, he continues hunting orcs and teams up with  a pair of surface elves Innovindil and Tarathiel. Meanwhile his friends have made it back to Mithral Hall where they must fight to survive the orc invasion.

Dining with Alasandra ~ Leo's

I meet a friend for lunch yesterday at Leo's Wood Fired Pizza. The court yard is charming, unfortunately it was too warm to sit in the courtyard at noon. I love dining outdoors. The interior was nice though it had pictures of famous movie stars like Lucille Ball, Elvis Presley and Rosalind Russell.

I had the Crawfish Pie. The crust was great and the pizza was big enough for at least two people. I brought some home for Youngest to eat for supper. While I found the pizza tasty they were a little stingy with the crawfish.

Dinning with Alasandra

We ate at Newk's before eldest headed back to college. I had the Pesto Chicken. A grilled chicken breast, with pesto sauce, roasted red and yellow bell peppers and goat cheese. Loved the goat cheese, and the bread was yummy but I found the sandwich to be a little heavy on the pesto.

Quote of the Day

Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere,
may be happy. ~ H. L. Mencken

Alasandra's Reading List ~ August

1. Bastion of Darkness by R. A. Salvatore - Del returns to save his daughter. Belexus finds a way to defeat the undead Hollis Mitchell and Rhiannon defeats Morgan Thalasi once and for all.
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown - Great book, full of lots of interesting tidbits about Washington D.C.. Robert Langdon's friend and mentor is kidnapped and he must decipher the Masonic Pyramid to get him back. 
3. Earth is Not alone by John Knapp II (See Book Review) Thumbs down in my opinion, I am sorry I wasted my time reading it. Frankly I think the book belongs in the dustbin.
4. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton - Enjoyable Read. Captain Charles Hunter makes a daring raid on Matanceros, survives hurricanes, cannibals and a kraken only to discover that Port Royal is under the control of a deadly enemy. With help from his crew he escapes and delivers justice to those who betrayed him.
5. Mortal Fear by Greg Iles - Great book! Harper Cole has a secret that could destroy his marriage, but when he uses the secret to lure a psychopath that has been stalking women online into the open, someone close to him will die. Can he clear his best friends name and stop the psychopath before he and his wife becomes the next victims.
6. The Touch by F. Paul Wilson - Alan Bulmer is an old fashion doctor who believes in healing people, he even makes house calls. His life is changed forever when a dying derelict touches him and passes on Dat-tay-vao (the ability to heal any illness at certain times of the day). Unfortunately the ability to heal comes with a price every time he heals someone a part of his brain is destroyed. Will his love for the Widow Nash and her autistic son led him to destroy himself in order to cure Jeffy?
7. The Thousand Orcs by R. A. Salvatore (Book I The Hunter's Blade Trilogy) - The Companions & Bruenor's dwarven army set out for Mithral Hall, where Bruenor will be crowned King, again. They stop by the rival city of Mirabar where they find they are unwelcome by the human inhabitants of the city. Continuing on their way they find Nikwillig and Tred, two dwarves from Citadel Felbarr whose trading party was wiped out by giants and orcs. Nikwillig and a small body of dwarves continue on to Mithral Hall to prepare for an orc attack. While King Bruenor and the rest head to warn the human city of Shallows of the orc activity. They are warmly welcomed by the inhabits of Shallows and their wizard but before they can prepare a thousand orcs and ten frost giants attack the city. Drizzt & Guenhwyvar leave their friends behind to stop the giants' attack on the city. Regis sneaks off to go get help and Wulfgar, Catti-brie, King Bruenor and the remaining soldiers attempt to defend the city. When all hope is lost and the city is falling Regis arrives with reinforcements. They manage to rescue the survivors but must leave immediately before Drizzt can rejoin them. Believing themselves to be surrounded by orcs, they are relived to discover Torgar Hammerstriker with a host of dwarves from Mirabar who were on their way to Mithral Hall in the hopes of finding a new home amongst their kin.
8. Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott - a very disturbing book. It weaves seventeenth century murders in with modern day ones.  The book revolves around a book being written by Elizabeth Vogelsang about Newton at the time of her death and the secrets the ghostwriter Lydia uncovers.  
9. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - I love her books and it has been a long time since I have read one.  The book opens with Elizabeth Woodville a young widow with two boys (The Grey Boys) standing by the roadside in hopes of catching the eye of King Edward IV. Their attraction is instantaneous and they secretly marry. After he secures the crown he brings her to London and has her crowned Queen. They have a number of children including two boys of their own Edward (Prince of Wales) & Richard as well as Princess Elizabeth (their eldest daughter).  King Edward puts down a number of rebellions including one by his brother George the Duke of Clarence and Warwick. Just when it looks as if the Royal Family & England will know peace King Edward takes a cold and dies. Richard takes Edward (Prince of Wales) into his custody and imprisons him in the Tower of London, and has himself crowned King. Queen Elizabeth takes her other children and goes into sanctuary. She first schemes with the Duke of Buckingham and Margaret Beaufort (Henry Tudor's Mother) to overthrow Richard but then fearing they will double cross her and take Edward's thrown for Henry she accepts Richard's rule as King. Her daughter falls in love with her Uncle Richard and they have plans to marry. Queen Elizabeth believes that Buckingham and Margaret Beaufort had her son Edward and the young boy with him in the tower killed. Queen Elizabeth's youngest son Richard has been sent into hiding. At the end of the book King Richard has promised to name his nephew Richard as his heir and Queen Elizabeth is considering bringing him out of hiding.
10. The Search by Nora Roberts ~ Excellent book I couldn't put it down. Fiona and Simon are a cute and funny couple.  When Simon's Mother gives him a puppy (Jaws) he needs dog trainer Fiona to save the day.  Fiona is being stalked by a serial killer so her life is just a tad complicated, but it's nothing Simon can't handle, even though she isn't his type.