Archive for January, 2010

What I Like to Read, Part 2

“Heartwarming”.В  Hmm…surely there’s a better catch-all term for these books.В  Country fiction? No.В  Family fiction?В  No.В  Small-town fiction?В  A bit closer but not quite.В  Christian fiction?В  Some authors and titles fit but others don’t.В  Southern fiction?В  Again, some titles fit while others don’t.В  Women’s fiction?В  Sort of, but there is a lot of so-called women’s [...]

January 20, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  One Comment

Robert B. Parker

It’s always hard to lose an author.В  It’s devastating to lose one like Robert B. Parker who passed away yesterday at the age of 77.В  He gave us so much—mysteries, westerns, young adult and middle grade mysteries, historical suspense—and, when we weren’t reading, we could watch his books adapted to the small screen.В  The Spenser: [...]

January 19, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  One Comment

The Story of a Loss

Sheila Lowe is a court-qualified handwriting expert who testifies in forensic cases. She has more than thirty years experience in the field of handwriting analysis and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. The author of Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, her analyses of celebrity [...]

January 19, 2010   Posted in: Guest Blogs  7 Comments

Review: A Trace of Smoke

A Trace of Smoke
Rebecca Cantrell
Forge, 2009
ISBN 0765320444
Hardcover
Trade Paperback to be released 1/19/10 by Forge
Few novels that I pick up hold my attention beyond the first several chapters.В  What a pleasure to read A TRACE OF SMOKE by Rebecca Cantrell during the holiday hiatus.В  Cantrell sets her historical suspense/mystery in Berlin on the eve of Germany’s [...]

January 18, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Guest Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny

The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny
Simon R. Green
Ace Books
ISBN 0441018165
Hardcover
According to sources as reliable as they get in the Nightside, Excalibur is coming back to town.В  John Taylor is hot on the artifact’s trail because in the Nightside something that sounds good here is often lethal.
Meanwhile, the Undead Detective Larry Oblivion has hired John [...]

January 17, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

If You Believe in Dragons…

Appreciate a Dragon Day
January 16th

There’s nothing quite as magical as a dragon, especially
Murphy from Creatures ‘n Crooks Bookshoppe
(and there’s Morgan up there in the left corner)

January 16, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Kage Baker—Call for Support

Many of you know Kage Baker as a marvelous writer of fantasy and science fiction, especially the wonderful Company series, and have had great enjoyment from her work.В  Now, she needs her fans.
As reported Wednesday by Pax on Tribe.net—
Hi Folks,
Many of you in the faire community know of Kage Baker, she is part of the [...]

January 15, 2010   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Review: The Red Door

The Red Door
Charles Todd
William Morrow & Company, January 2010
ISBN 0061726168
Hardcover
I absolutely loved The Red Door.В  Charles Todd—a mother and son team hereafter referred to as “he”— is one of my favorite writers and this series never disappoints.В  This series is interesting on many levels. The mysteries are always complex and satisfying. The historical setting supplies [...]

January 15, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

What I Like to Read, Part 1

I was looking at the stats for this blog one day and one of the searches leaped out at me.В В  When I saw “miss julia” “james herriot” mitford, my first thought was, “It’s somebody just like me!”
There’s no doubt my favorite reading is in mystery, science fiction, fantasy and horror.В  When we decided to open [...]

January 14, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller  No Comments

Review: The Bricklayer

The Bricklayer
Noah Boyd
William Morrow & Company, February 2010
ISBN 0061827010
Hardcover (ARC)
Someone’s killing the FBI’s worst problems.В  You’d think the agency would be grateful, unfortunately, the situation is making them look bad.В  The killer’s demanding a ransom to make the problem stop.В  When you’ve got a situation like this, you need to call in someone who get [...]

January 13, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments