October Update

Hmmm, interesting, when I logged in I got error messages saying my browser isn't supporting this. Well, we'll see what happens; I seem to be able to type this. Anyway, on with the show. It's one of the first days in awhile that we haven't had lots of rain, I'm going to write this entry and if it's still reasonable out, the doggies and I are going to go outside while I rake some leaves.. Sounds like fun, eh?



It's an old picture but you get the idea...

Update on my October books

My Favourite Oct Book

I've had a reasonably successful month of October so far. I've read 9 books so far, although I have to say that 3 of them were graphic novels, so not many pages. My favourite book so far has been A Deeper Darkness, the first Samantha Owens mystery, by J.T. Ellison. It was my introduction to Ellison; I needed a book with an author whose last name starts with 'E' and this looked interesting. Samantha Owens is a city pathologist out of Tennessee. She is dealing with issues from her past; as it slowly comes out, it involves the death of her husband and children. That does take the whole story to actually be explained. I'm not ruining anything I don't think as it is included in the synopsis of the book I bought. She has many issues, including an OCD habit of washing and rewashing her hands any time she gets stressed and she has lost interest in her job and many other issues. This did grate on my nerves somewhat at the beginning as it did seem to preoccupy the writer for the first 50 or so pages. Samantha receives a request from the mother of her ex-lover, her first love, who is murdered in Washington DC in what seems to be an apparent drive-by car grab. His mother thinks there is more to this murder and asks Samantha to come in and perform a second autopsy to see if she can find out something that the original investigation couldn't. Eddie Donovan is an ex Army Ranger and his mother thinks he may have been murdered for other reasons. So Samantha reluctantly goes to Washington and soon finds herself immersed in other murders, threats to her life, interest from the police detective working the case and so much else. It is a taut, well-paced, exciting thriller once it gets going. I didn't particularly like, or maybe more appropriately, wasn't satisfied with the ending, but that was only because I hoped for a somewhat different result. However, that is a minor detail. The book was pleasantly surprising and I enjoyed it very much and now will have to find the other books in this series and maybe even try Ellison's Taylor Jackson series. (4 stars)

Currently Reading

A Deeper Darkness was the last book of the group I had started last weekend so I'm now in the process of starting three new books.

A new series - DS Grace

Dead Simple by Peter James - Dead Simple is the first book in another new series for me. I've had 4 or 5 of the books on my book shelf for at least the past year or longer so I think it's time for me to dust off the first book and see what I think of it. This is the synopsis "It was meant to be a harmless stag night prank. A few hours later four of his best friends are dead and Michael Harrison has disappeared. With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Grace - a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife - is contacted by Michael's beautiful, distraught fiancée, Ashley Harper. Grace discovers that the one man who ought to know Michael Harrison's whereabouts is saying nothing. But then he has a lot to gain - more than anyone realizes. For one man's disaster is another man's fortune... Dead simple.."

A comforting series - Superintendent Wycliffe

Wycliffe and How to Kill a Cat by W.J. Burley - I've read about 3 of this series over the past couple of years; I dust one off every year and settle down to enjoy another Wycliffe mystery. I still have another ten or so on my bookshelf so have decided to read the next two in the series as part of my bed time challenge. This is the second book in the series and this is the synopsis - "The woman was young and slim, with auburn hair arranged on her pillow. When Superintendent Wycliffe saw her, he could almost believe she was asleep - that is, until he looked at her face. Although she had been killed by strangulation, someone had mutilated her face after she was dead. As Wycliffe investigates, he finds more questions than answers. Why did a girl with expensive clothing and make-up end up in such a seedy hotel down by the docks? Why was there a thousand pounds hidden near her, beneath a pile of clothing? And why was someone apparently trying to hide her identity?"

A thrilling book and TV series

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin - This is the fifth and so far most recent book int he Song of Fire and Ice fantasy series, that has been also made into the successful TV series, A Game of Thrones. I've been avoiding reading this fifth book as I don't know when the sixth book will come out. But now that the next iteration of the TV series will be starting in the new year, I felt I should get caught up with the happenings in Westeros and surrounding kingdoms. This book moves along in synch with the 4th book, following different characters until later on when they all catch up with each other.  This is the synopsis "In the aftermath of a colossal battle, Daenerys Targaryen rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way east - with new allies who may not be the ragtag band they seem. And in the frozen north, Jon Snow confronts creatures from beyond the Wall of ice and stone, and powerful foes from within the Night's Watch. In a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics lead a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skin-changers, nobles and slaves, to the greatest dance of all.".. now you know why this is such an exciting series..

Well, the rains have started, I think I'll focus on laundry instead of yard work.. lol...