An End - Month Reading Update

Jo is out shopping. The Blue Jays won another close game and it's nice and sunny and fresh out. I'll post my end month reading summary tomorrow or Monday but for the time being, this is my last reading update of April. Since my last reading update, I've read one more book. I might be able to finish one more but I'm pretty satisfied with my monthly totals. I'll provide my review of the completed book. I haven't started any more since this and I haven't got any new books either so I'll also continue with my ongoing feature of Women Authors whose work I've been enjoying.

Just Finished

1. The Nemesis from Terra by Leigh Brackett (1961). Earlier this year I read and enjoyed Brackett's The Tiger Among Us (also published as 13 West Street), an excellent noir mystery. This was one of her many Sci-Fi efforts

"The Nemesis from Terra is the 2nd book I've read by Leigh Brackett, the first being a noir mystery. This was an entertaining Sci-Fi adventure. It reminds me a bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter books, in that it was set on Mars. It also reminded me of 1960's Sci-Fi adventures and also the serials I used to watch before the Saturday matinee. For those too young to know what these were, each episode lasted about 15 minutes, was filled with action and ended with a cliff-hanger, meaning you had to return for next Saturday's episode....

This was a poor man's John Carter of Mars. Rick Urquhart is an adventurer who is captured on Mars by a roving gang who need prisoners to work in the Martian mines. Before he is captured, Rick hides out in a small apartment where an old woman reads his future and tells him that he is the Shadow of Mars, and will determine its future. She attempts to kill Rick but he kills her in self-defenses and brings down the enmity of her dwarfish son.

Rick escapes from the mines and causes an uprising against the Mining company, bringing together the Earthmen and Martian citizens. This starts an exciting adventure where Rick must travel across Mars to save himself and the planet. It's all far-fetched and entertaining. Short enough to keep your attention and filled with action. Fun and games. Worth trying if you want to see old style space adventure Sci-Fi (2.5 stars)"

Women Authors Whose Work I'm Enjoying - Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris is a fantasy / mystery writer who was born in Mississippi in 1951. She has written books in both the fantasy (horror) genres and also mysteries. I've enjoyed pretty well all of her series, except probably her Aurora Teagarden mystery series. But you can't like everything, can you. Two of her fantasy series have been turned into excellent TV series as well; True Blood based on her Sookie Stackhouse books and Midnight, Texas, well, based on her Midnight, Texas books. I've enjoyed around 10 books from most of her series and finished her Lily Bard and Harper Connelly series, both excellent. I have five of her books on my bookshelf, from the Sookie Stackhouse books and the Midnight, Texas series. I'll highlight those for you.

1. From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8).

"After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone human and otherwise is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It's clear that things are changing whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie, Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered."

2. Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10).

"After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry..."

3. Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11).

"With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover, Eric Northman, and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot-which is much more complicated than she knows..."

4. Day Shift (Midnight, Texas #2).

"There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, where the residents like to keep to themselves. When psychic Manfred Bernardo finds himself embroiled in a scandal and hounded by the press after one of his regular clients dies during a reading, he turns to enigmatic, beautiful, and dangerous Olivia Charity for help. Somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight..."

5. Night Shift (Midnight, Texas #3).

"At Midnight's local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves--only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town. Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There's a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place..."

There you go. A sampling of Harris's work. The complete listing can be found at this link. Enjoy.