Review: Green Eyes in the Amazon by P.J. Fischer

Green Eyes in the Amazon is a very timely book — almost too timely. Fundamentalist religious groups are conspiring to control society and stifle scientific advances by any means necessary, including violence. It is set in a hazy but not-too-distant future. No more cellphones and SUVs, now we all have vidcoms and autopiloted cars. Central America is a Dead Zone, university professors and students have to swear loyalty oaths and religion is on the rise. In this contentious climate, a brilliant young biologist may have ushered in the next step in human evolution — but what will the religious zealots do to stop him?

There are a lot of interesting topics in Green Eyes – human evolution, the expansion of science, the influence of religion, medical and scientific ethics. It promises so much, but really doesn’t deliver. This may be a case of a book biting off more than it can chew.

The story is an interesting one: brilliant young biologist Steven Sumpter has distilled all the “mysterious, complex processes of life” into a series of algorithms. (Exactly what religious conservatives have always been afraid science would do.) He has used these algorithms in conjunction with some amazing quantum computer programming, to create a child, a whole new species of human. Steven is on the run from the authorities who accuse him of violating the Mutant Laws and hiding from religious extremists who want to be sure this child is never born. As the world lurches towards an all-out war between religion and science, Steven’s creation may represent reason’s only chance.

Steven receives some help from the military and spends most of the book hiding out in the Dead Zone. He is accompanied by his father, Dennis; former colleague, Benny; and Eli, his lover, his colleague, and the woman about to give birth to his greatest creation. They have to deal with the difficulties of surviving in the wilderness, avoiding the sort of thugs and villians that would make their home in the Dead Zone, while caring for a pregnant woman. Eventually, Steven and Julia will be called upon to try and prevent the end of the Enlightenment, as religious forces gain strength and show a frightening willingness to use mayhem and violence to increase their authority.

Unfortunately, I found the book rather shallow. There is a lot of discussion about what to do with this child, Julia, what she really is, but the discussion can be summed up as “she’s a new species and we must treat her with respect.” The question, at least for me, isn’t always can we do something, but should we do it. The shoulds are never addressed here. Julia is useful, she may save our world from a new Dark Age, and that’s all that’s important. Eli was also a biologist, but she doesn’t seem to think or speak like a scientist. She is completely taken over by her maternal instincts. I would have been more interested in her if she had more than just this dimension.

There is a lot going on in the story that is not fleshed out. For example, I am not sure how far in the future we are really talking. Steven’s father, Dennis, has a very cool car that will do 100+ miles an hour on autopilot, complete with evasion mode. Steven is able to synthesize a variety of human growth hormones from a small computer set-up he hauled into the Amazon with them. But the university Steven attends seems no different from any college today. I can’t tell if the story is set 20 years or 50 years or 150 years in the future. Steven is tried and convicted of violating the Mutant Laws, but I never knew for sure just what that entailed. There is a great deal of talk about war involving the military, the scientists and the religious extremists, but no real detail on what this war will entail. The description involves a lot of casualties, but what caused them? Did we bomb the churches? Did the extremists start burning libraries and librarians? If the government is getting more religious and more conservative, why does the military seem to be on the side of the scientists?

All in all, the story left me wanting. I wanted to know more about Steven’s world, more about the world of Helen and Alphonse, our window into the religious forces at work, I wanted to know more about Steven’s singing rabbits, about Toid — the virtual world he used for developing his theories — and the original Julia, a computer program that gained sentience and had to be destroyed. I wanted to know what the government and the military were up to while Steven and Eli were hiding out in the Dead Zone. It felt incomplete and unfinished. I think it’s good when an author leaves you wanting more, but this wasn’t the way to go about it.

My copy of Green Eyes in the Amazon was provided by LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program.

Review: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

The Brutal Telling is a first-rate detective novel. The mystery is complex and well-plotted, while the beautiful Canadian scenery and charming characters breathe life into the story. It is a look into the very darkest corners of the human heart, a reminder that we never truly know what another person is capable of, or what secrets they may keep.

The book starts with a story, told in the dead of night by a crackling fire.

"Chaos is coming, old son, and there’s no stopping it. It’s taken a long time, but it’s finally here."

It will be a long time before we know the whole story, or what Chaos is coming to this little village.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is head of the Sûreté du Québec. His team is called to the remote village of Three Pines to investigate a brutal murder: a body is found on the floor of the small bistro run by Olivier and Gabri. No one admits to knowing the victim, but it is clear he was murdered elsewhere and purposely dumped in the couple’s place of business. Who is the old man and why would someone target Olivier? Some residents of this picturesque village will become entangled in a web of lies as they try to hide their knowledge and their connection to the victim.

This is the fifth novel in the series, so some of you may already be familiar with the Chief Inspector, his moustache, his graying hair, his kind eyes. He is not the sort of detective to chase criminals through dark alleys; instead, he is a thoughtful man, well-read, cultured, with a keen ability to see through the masks that people wear. He understands that to solve a murder like this you don’t move forward, you move back, back into the past to find the conflict that started it all. But how do you move at all when you cannot even identify the victim?

The novel is filled with wonderful characters. I was especially fond of Ruth and Rosa. Ruth is a curmudgeonly old poet, inclined to a few too many martinis and a lot of foul language. Rosa is a duck, and Ruth takes her everywhere. Old Mundin, and his wife — The Wife, no one knows her real name — and their tiny son, Charles. The Parras - Roar and Hanna and their teenaged son, Havoc. (What a terrific name for a young man.) Agent Morin, the young fellow who works up the courage to ask the famous inspector if he might join in the investigation…and is rewarded for his bravado. There is also Clara, perhaps my favorite character. Clara faces the sort of moral dilemna where we all want to believe we would be brave and stalwart. It would be so easy to turn a deaf ear — but would the guilt eat her alive? And is it worth all she would be risking?

The Gilberts - Marc and Dominique and mother-in-law Carole – gave up their big-city existence to escape the stress and came to Three Pines to open a hotel and spa. They bought the old Hadley house, the site of an earlier tragedy, and turned it into a luxurious vacation spot. But there are plenty of small-town rivalries to deal with; trying to hire away Olivier and Gabri’s staff is not going to make them any friends. They don’t quite grasp the dynamics of running competing businesses in a small town, and by the time someone points out their missteps, it might be too late.

Throughout the novel, I was charmed by Gamache’s thoughtful methods and his understanding of people and the things that move them. His second in command, Beauvoir, is a perfect foil. He’s more earthy, and even though he knows the value of the Inspector’s methods, he is sometimes frustrated and eager to act. Due to the nature of the investigation, the book is full of history and culture — art and poetry and music — and glowing descriptions of the beautiful Canadian wilderness.

As far as he could see there were mountains rising from the water, covered in dark forest. He could see an island and fishing boats. Overhead, eagles soared. the men walked onto the beach which was covered in pebbles and shells and stood silent for a few minutes, listening to the birds and the lapping water and smelling the air with that combination of seaweed and fish and forest.

The Brutal Telling is the fifth novel in the series and it is sure to send you looking for the first four (which I already have on request from my local library). You can read more about Louise Penny’s work at her website, LouisePenny.com. I received my review copy free through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.

Tuesday Thingers

You know, one of the things I love about Tuesday Thingers is that I am always learning something new about LibraryThing! This week, I learned how to edit my library style. As always, a big thank you to Wendi at Wendi's Book Corner for hosting.

Questions: Have you explored the different styles? Have you customized any of the styles? If so, what are your favorite customized items (isbn, Dewey Decimal, Reviews, Book-Swap, etc)?

I didn't know I could edit this! This is great - I normally have Style B (I like seeing the covers), but I have now edited the page to show my reviews. This is important to me, because my goal is to add a review for all of the books that I have read, even if it's just a short one. I'm going to have great fun playing around with this. Thanks, Wendi!

Tuesday Thingers

Wow, it's been a while since I've done one of these, but I am really excited about today's topic! This is something I've been meaning to do since I saw the Library Thing Blog post...

Questions: Do you have a LT widget on your blog? If so, what is your favorite thing about it? Have you had a chance to go see the all new widget building page, and if so, have you built a new widget? If so, what do you like about it?

I do currently have one of the older widgets, but I love the new one! By the time you read this post, it will probably have changed. I love the changing books! Really great stuff.

One thing I'd like to see change, and I will probably post this over at LT this morning - they give you an option to filter on certain tags, but it would be more convenient to filter out certain tags. For example, I have a number of books tagged "erotica", that I would probably prefer not to see in my sidebar! (Well, I don't really care, but I would hate to offend anyone's delicate sensibilities.) Other than that, I think they're fabulous!

Review: The Disappearance by Efrem Sigel

It's a parent's worst nightmare: one minute your child is there - the next minute, he's gone. In The Disappearance, Joshua and Nathalie Sandler's son, Daniel, disappears and their lives change completely.

The Sandlers are a very happy family. Joshua runs a furniture sales business; Nathalie is a professional cellist. Daniel is 14 years old, generally a pretty good kid. They have a place near the city and a second home in the country, in the picturesque town of Smithfield.

On a typical summer afternoon, Joshua and Nathalie make a run into town for supplies; Daniel stays at home. When they come back, the house is empty. Daniel is gone.

If I had to imagine what two parents go through in a situation like this, I think it would come out a lot like this book. Joshua and Nathalie handle their grief and uncertainty in different ways. Joshua requires constant activity - he is always on the move, at work, walking the woods, talking to neighbors, looking for clues. At one point, he takes up a post in the center of the road near his home, stopping passing motorists to ask if they were in the area on the day Dan disappeared, asking them if they saw anything strange. Nathalie withdraws into herself. She cannot bear to touch her cello. She stops taking care of herself, stops talking to people, stops living. They live in limbo for months, but what is the acceptable waiting period before you begin your life again? What is the recommended period of mourning? How do you decide when to stop looking, when to give up hope?

As Joshua questions Dan's friends, he begins to get to know Dan as an entirely new creature, someone he never really knew.

"To his shock, he realizes that all these observations apply to Dan. He must have had, did have a secret life - a communal secret life, involving a whole other cast of characters, a performance place, a range of behaviors that Joshua and Nathalie knew nothing about."

Joshua also fears that he may be somehow responsible for what has happened to Dan - he's involved in a big real estate deal that has raised the hackles of some of the long-time residents. There have been threats, some vandalism, even some violence - could Dan's disappearance be linked to it?

Nathalie and Joshua go through a whole range of emotions over the course of these pages. You feel Joshua's frustration with the investigation of his small-town police department. You understand why Nathalie feels like picking up the cello would be a betrayal. You are like these parents - wanting to turn the page, find some closure, but afraid of the news that awaits you. A very effective piece of work.

My copy was a bound galley that I received through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program; you can order your copy at Amazon.com.

Tuesday Thingers

Today's question, from Wendi's Book Corner: Were you aware of the Member Giveaways Program? Have you posted any books in the giveaway? If so, what are your thoughts on the program? Have you requested any books, and if so, did you win any?

Yes, I was aware of the Member Giveaway Program. I have requested a couple of books, but I have honestly tried to stay away from it. (While looking through it again for this post, I requested a few more.) I am an addict! The first step is to admit that I am powerless against my addiction to books. Nothing will stop me from acquiring more books - not a lack of bookshelves, not a lack of time to read them - and giving them away free like that just makes it worse!

Seriously, I think it's a fine program. I was a little curious why someone (not an author or publisher) would choose to give away a book there when there are so many swaps and mooches available, but it seems to have gotten great response so far. I am all in favor of anything that gets books into people's hands.

Tuesday Thingers

From Wendi's Book Corner, we get today's Tuesday Thinger Question: Were you aware of the Early Reviewer Program? Have you received any books from the program? If you have, how have you liked the book(s)? Any other thoughts on the LTER program?

I have been extremely fortunate to receive a total of about 10 books from Early Reviewers! I think it's a fabulous program. I have always been very careful to make sure they get reviewed quickly, even if I have to bump other things. I get really annoyed when you see how many books have gone out and only a few reviews have been posted. I consider it a commitment and I think folks who don't meet the commitment should get dropped from the program. (Harsh, I know.)

I also think the way they hand out books is very interesting. It's a great idea to try and match readers to books to make sure they get read and they get into the hands of people who are really going to want them.

Here are some of the books I've received from Early Reviewers and the rating I gave them on LibraryThing:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - 5 stars
• Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland - 1.5 stars
• A Dog Among Diplomats by J. F. Englert - 1 star
• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah - 3 stars
• Happy Hour is for Amateurs by Philadelphia Lawyer - 0 stars
• The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston - 4.5 stars
• The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax - 4 stars
• The Stories of Devil-Girl by Anya Achtenberg - 4 stars
• Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke - next on my reading list
• The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss - 3 stars

Quite a bunch, don't you think? How could I not love a program that has sent me such great books? (Even if they also sent me a few clunkers.)

UPDATE: Just got word that I am getting a copy of Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor from the February batch! I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Tuesday Thingers

Today's question, from Wendi's Book Corner: Do you have a specialized blog where you only review a certain genre or type of book? If so, what is your favorite thing about that type of book? If not, what is/are your favorite genre(s)? What makes that genre(s) a favorite?

I don't have a particular favorite genre to read, so I don't have anything terribly specialized for this blog. I love all kinds of books - I could never really relate to people who only read sci-fi or only read vampire novels or only read spy novels. Why wouldn't you want to branch out? But hey - different strokes and all that, whatever makes people happy is okay with me.

As for my favorites, I love mysteries. I've found that good mysteries come in all kinds of packages - horror novels can have a mystery at their center, detective novels, crime novels, gothic novels all have their share of mystery. I do love a good scare, so a well-written horror novel is a treasure. I grew up on Dracula and Frankenstein and Alfred Hitchcock story anthologies, and I was the kid who always told stories that scared the pants off of everyone else at slumber parties.

One other thing I love - post apocalypse stories. You know the ones, where most of humanity has been wiped out by a plague or natural disaster and a small band of survivors tries to make a new civilization. I have always found those really appealing. I'm not sure whether it's the chance to start over or the struggle or the fact that these days I can almost imagine it happening, but they're a big favorite of mine.

Tuesday Thingers

Wow, I haven't had a chance to do one of these in ages! (And if I don't type fast, I still won't get it in on Tuesday.) From Wendi's Book Corner, here's this week's Tuesday Thinger question:

Today's question: How do you get your books for reviewing? Do you track them somehow (excel, database, etc), or just put them in a tbr (To Be Read for anyone that doesn't know) pile?

I get my books from everywhere! I request them through Shelf Awareness, I get books from the library, as gifts or by swapping with friends, I've even gotten unsolicited review copies.

LibraryThing was my first supplier - I've gotten some great books through their Early Reviewer program. I started posting on some of the message boards at LibraryThing and that prompted me to start the blog. Boy, all these years I thought I had to buy books - turns out, you just have to ask for them! As long as you promise to talk about them, publishers and authors are willing to share.

I have made a couple of cold requests to authors. I received one terrific book that way, some poite responses, and only one or two requests were ignored altogether.

I have a couple of shelves of one bookcase devoted to review books. I try to balance them with books I've selected for myself, outside of reviewing, so I suppose I don't always review them by their release date, but I don't really worry about that. Nothing wrong with spreading the publicity out, I think. Or at least, that's what I hope.

Tuesday Thingers

Today's question, from Wendi's Book Corner: Prior to today, were you aware of Open Shelves Classification? Have you helped to classify any books yet? Is this something you are interested in? Did you know that if you classify any books, it will also show you who else has classified the book?

I was aware of the Open Shelves project when it started. It sounded really interesting and, to be honest, something else about LibraryThing that would annoy my librarian buddies. I have a few online pals who are librarians and who have expressed great dismay over people beng able to tag their own books and make their own classifications. It is one of my very favorite things about LibraryThing, so I always enjoy pointing out all the librarians on LT and the interesting things they are doing. What I didn't realize is that they are far enough along that you can classify books! I think that's terrific and I will definitely be spending a little time classifying some of my favorites.

Tuesday Thingers!

I haven't done one of these in while! Today's Tuesday Thingers question comes from Wendi's Book Corner:

Have you ever used the Swap This Book function which can be found on the main page of any book? If so, what do you think about it? If not, are there any other swap sites you utilize to exchange books once you are done? What do you do with your books if you no longer want them anymore?

I have not used the Swap This Book function. I have swapped some books with other LTers through some of the Groups, but not all that often. I like to keep my books; I have always liked the idea of having a library and being able to surround myself with books, but it's just not practical - at least until I finally buy my palatial estate where I have room for a big library. Usually, if I'm getting rid of a book, I hand it off to a friend. I know lots of people who are avid readers and not all of them have big book-shopping budgets. It's nice to be able to give someone a book I really think they'll enjoy. Anything that I didn't enjoy and wouldn't give to a friend, I generally donate to my local library or drop off at Goodwill.

Tuesday Thingers has a new home!

First off, I want to say a big THANK YOU to Wendi at Wendi's Book Corner for taking over the Tuesday Thingers. I am very glad that someone was able to step up and help out, and I promise that I will be emailing some questions to help with the whole process.

The original intent behind the Tuesday Thingers was to help us (the bloggers) to learn more about LibraryThing and to encourage you (the readers) to check it out. So let me take just a minute to say that I have never gotten more out of a book website than I have out of LibraryThing. It's not just the fun I had cataloging my books there, or the ongoing fun of adding to my collection and seeing how it grows - not just in size, which my groaning bookshelves will attest to, but in the types of books I own, a way to map the direction my reading has taken me. The opportunities I have had through the Early Reviewer Program, the friends I have made in the Groups - I started this blog after reading the other bloggers who posted at LibraryThing. It's not just a catalog site, it's a community and it has been an inspiration.

Today's question: Here is a list of the main areas of Library Thing:

1. Home (http://www.librarything.com/, before you log in)

2. Home (once you log in, contains Your Home, Your Profile, Connections, Recommendations, Reviews, Statistics, Clouds, Gallery, Memes)

3. Profile (Recent activity, tags, comments, members with your books)

4. Your Library

5. Your Tags

6. Add Books

7. Talk

8. Groups

9. Local

10. Search

11. Zeitgeist (Stats, Top Lists)

12. Tools (Widgets, Store)

13. Blog

What area are you most familiar with? What area is your favorite? What area are you curious about? Are there any that you have not really looked at?

I am most familiar with My Library! I spend a lot of time in there, tagging and tidying up. My favorite areas are the Groups - plenty of good bookchat going on in there) and the Zeitgeist - I love the odd lists and seeing the libraries I have the most and least in common with.

One of the areas I haven't really looked at is the Tools area. I don't know that I have been back there since I added an LT widget to this blog. Also, I'm not sure I know the difference between Talk and Groups. Hmmm. I guess I have some poking around to do.

Teaser Tuesdays

It's Tuesday! And it's almost Christmas! And I'm on vacation! What could be better? I get to spend the day on the couch (a new one - a little Christmas gift to myself) with a pot of tea and a good book. I couldn't be happier.

This week, I am reading The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax. This is an Early Reviewer book from LibraryThing, and so far it has been fascinating. It is the story of poor Feliu Delargo in turn of the century Spain, and how his father's gift of a cello bow changes his life. A little something (racy) from one of Feliu's music lessons:

"And with her sighs, squirms, and my own fingers guiding me, I switched hands and traveled as far as I dared, under layers of silk and cotton, into places I hadn't known existed. At one point, she began to moan instructions, but I didn't comprehend - I didn't want to comprehend - until finally, she switched to musical Italian and barked a command I knew better than to ignore: Adagio!"

Tuesday Thingers - at long last!

I have been really bad about posting on this the last month or so. Real life - who needs it? I've been all over the place (literally), but I'm trying hard to get caught up.

Today's question from The Boston Bibliophile: Holiday gift-giving. Do you give books for the holidays? Did you participate in LT's SantaThing, either this year or last, or in other blogging gift exchanges? Were you happy with what you received?

I love to give books for the holidays! I am big book recommender, so it's a lot of fun to give friends and family the books I think they would enjoy, and I am usually pretty spot-on with picks. My father loves history, especially local and military history, so choosing books for him is pretty easy. My mother loves detective novels and mysteries, but these days she prefers audiobooks (close enough). And I have always picked up books for my best friend's children - usually the most unusual titles I can find. Luckily, they are fascinating little rugrats with unusual taste (rather like their mother); I can't imagine every mother would appreciate me giving the little darlings The Wolves in the Walls!

Generally, I steer clear of gift exchanges. I did a couple this year, but not everyone approaches them with the same enthusiasm and it's easy to feel let-down. Still, I love giving gifts, so I am always tempted.

Tuesday Thingers

Today's question: Today's question: LT Things- t-shirts, bags,cue cats- are you into the "stuff"? Do you use a cuecat to enter your books, or do you enter them manually? What do you think of the stuff?

Sad to say, I do not have any LT stuff. A bag would be handy. And I still need to pick up a few Christmas presents....

I enter my books manually. One of the great joys for me in setting up my library on LT in the first place was the opportunity to handle each of my books individually to enter them in the system. It was like a big ol' reuninon, getting reacquainted with old friends.

I do like book-related stuff, though. I love my signed books, my Banned Books bracelet, my bag that says "So Many Books, So Little Time". I have a jewelry box that looks like a a copy of Great Expectations. I have little stuffed characters from Where the Wild Things Are and a stuffed dragon with a pillow and pajamas that comes from a children's book, although I can't remember the title offhand. I have a great collection of bookmarks and I am hoping to add to it and find some lace bookmarks when I visit Belgium this weekend.

In other news, I promise that I will be posting some reviews and getting caught up very soon. Business travel is rough - it sucks up all of your time and makes you a zombie. On top of that, I have a terrible cold that I can't seem to shake (perhaps it's the travel, the lack of sleep, the lousy weather?). That has made me not only a zombie, but a slow-moving zombie, dragging broken limbs behind me. Not any fun at all. It will be good to be back among the living.

New to my Library

I haven't done one of these posts in a while, but I promise not to drown you in the deluge of new books this fall has brought to my door. It mainly came to mind because, as so often happens, when it rains, it pours. I have had a number of audiobooks on hold at the library and since they were newer releases, nothing was immediately available. I happened upon a copy of The Book Thief - 11 cds long! - so I started that one on Monday. Tuesday morning, I got an email that one of my library holds was in. Of course. Tuesday afternoon I got another email; a second book had come in. By the time I made it to the library, 3 audiobooks were waiting for me! I can do a lot of listening while I knit this weekend!

Some of these books are from the library, as explained above, and some have been added to the permanent collection. But here's some of what I've amassed in the last 2 weeks:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin
• Hollywood Crows: A Novel by Joseph Wambaugh
• The Lace Reader: A Novel by Bruonia Barry
• Badlands: A Novel of Suspense by Richard Montanari
• Peaceful Endings: The NOPOSAM Project by Michael K. Tucker
• American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella
• To Catch the Lightning: A Novel of American Dreaming by Alan Cheuse
• Ambrosia: About a Culture - An Investigation of Electronica Music and Party Culture by James Cummins
• Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Tinnerman
• The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax

That's quite a haul, don't you think? That should also give you an idea about the reviews to be looking for over the next couple of months. I am especially looking forward to reading Badlands, because Richard Montanari is a local author and I met him at a book club a couple of years ago - I have enjoyed his books very much. Also Ambrosia is my first book for the Mini Book Expo, and I'm always excited about a new source of books. Likewise, The Spanish Bow is my most recent Early Reviewer title and the author has a fabulous name!

I can hardly wait to get started!

Tuesday Thingers: Legacy Libraries

Today's question, from The Boston Bibliophile: This week's question: Legacy libraries. With which legacy libraries do you share books? Tell us a little about a couple of them and what you share.

What an interesting question! I'm not sure this is a complete answer, since there doesn't seem to be a quick and easy way to compare my library to the Legacy Libraries. But from my quick glances through the profile pages, I share a lot of books with interesting dead people!

I share books with , in no particular order: e.e. cummings (2), John F. Kennedy (1- Lolita, of all things), Sylvia Plath (2), Marilyn Monroe (1), F. Scott Fitzgerald (3), Samuel Roth (2) and Walker Percy (3). It's very interesting that I share 4 books with Ernest Hemmingway, an author I don't particularly care for. We share The Gentleman's Companion (my favorite of my antique books), The Great Gatsby, Lolita, and The Three Musketeers.

The biggest surprise - I share 7 books with Carl Sandberg, who was apparently a Nero Wolfe fan! We have 5 Rex Stout titles in common (The Case of the Black Orchids, Champagne for One, The Golden Spiders, In the Best Families and Prisoner's Base), as well as Lolita and Orlando by Virginia Woolf.

Also interesting is that I share the same books/authors with several people - various titles by Virginia Woolf, obviously Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A great question and a great way to learn more about my own library!

Review: Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

I would almost - almost - rate any Given Doomsday as the sci-fi equivalent of a beach read. There's some action, some mystery, some sex. It's a quick read and hits all the standard sci-fi cliches, if you like that sort of thing. There are vampires, shape-shifters, seers and assorted other demons and paranormal creatures, people with unusual powers, people who can cast spells, etc., etc. But what really sets this book apart for me - and not in a good way - is the sex.

Now, I am by no means a prude. Folks who read here regularly should know that by now. Anyone who has had a peek at the Erotica section of my LibraryThing library whould be pretty clear on that as well. But there is a theme running through this book that really irritated my inner feminist, and that takes a lot of doing. In order to explain myself, I need to explain a bit about the book, so consider yourself warned: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Elizabeth Phoenix has always known she had special powers - she gets flashes of insight touching a person or an object. Of course, as these stories typically go, she tried to reject her powers and didn't learn their full extent until the person who could have really helped her - in this case, foster mother Ruthie - is gone. In the battle between good and evil that starts in this first book, Elizabeth must first learn to use her powers and then begin to gain other powers if she is to defeat the demons. And the way she does this? Sex.

Now, I am all in favor of hot sex with a buff tattooed shape-shifter. There's not enough of that sort of thing in my usual reading. But when Elizabeth is put in the position where she has to have sex with Sawyer in order to "open herself up" to her powers, and then that sex takes place with only the barest thread of consent on her part (she is drugged and believes she's dreaming), that really raises some red flags. As the story progresses, we find that Elizabeth is a sort of empath - an empath who takes on the strengths of anyone she has sex with. She has sex with an old lover who has taken her captive (again, consent issues) in order to gain a specific advantage over an enemy, a scenario that will apparently repeat itself in future books. She once refers to Sawyer as a "whore for the federation," but the book puts Elizabeth in the same position and I found it extremely distasteful. It's an easy plot device - more sex, more power, more angst for the poor heroine - but I don't like it.

One other thing that really annoyed me: I hate books that are obviously written to launch a series. Intellectually, I know that a lot of sci-fi and fantasy books are written in series, but I want to start out with one good story. If readers are drawn in by a great story and want the story to continue, that's great, but there is something arrogant about starting out basically publishing your first chapter and assuming the readers will tag along for the next installment. This reader certainly won't be.

Tuesday Thingers: The Series

Today's Tuesday Thingers question from The Boston Bibliophile: Today's question: Series. Do you collect any series? Do you read series books? Fantasy? Mystery? Science fiction? Religious? Other genre? Do you use the series feature in LT to help you find new books or figure out what you might be missing from a series?

Yes! I have all of the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. Most are in paperback, but I have been slowly but surely acquiring the old hardcovers. Archie Goodwin was one of my first literary crushes, although eventually I fell hard for Saul Panzer. I also have nearly all of the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker. (Remember the old tv show "Spenser: For Hire"? Based on the books. Spenser is much better in print, but now, when I read the books I hear Avery Brooks' voice whenever Hawk speaks.) I don't think the recent novels have been as good as the older works, so I haven't been buying them lately. And now, as I've posted before, I have gotten hooked on Robert Crais and his detective Elvis Cole. Elvis and his sidekick, Joe Pike, are great fun to read.

I've also been acquiring the Dresden novels by Jim Butcher. I understand that some of these are being re-released in hardcover, so I may hold off and buy them in hardcover. (My love of hardcovers is well-documented.) I have Tanya Huff's Blood Ties novels with Henry Fitzroy, one of the most interesting vampires I've come across. I've also got the Dexter novels by Jeff Lindsay (three so far, maybe more on the way) and I've got the first 2 books in the Captain Alatriste series by Arturo Perez-Reverte, but I'm not sure when the rest are being translated into English.

If trilogies count as series, then I also can count The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein and The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. I don't think I've ever used any of the LT features to track the series, but I do belong to the Nero Wolfe message baord.

When I started this post, I didn't think I had a lot of series - what a great question, when it makes me discover something new about my own library!

Tuesday Thingers: Early Reviewers

From The Boston Bibliophile: Today's question: Early Reviewers- do you participate? How many books (approximately) have you received through the program? Have you liked them generally? What's your favorite ER book? Do you participate in the discussion group on LT?

Yes! Early Reviewers is one of my favorite things about LT! The books I've received have been a mixed bag - some I loved, some I didn't. I participate in the discussion group, if only to keep track of what is being mailed out and which books are still MIA. I think the program is a fabulous way to bring people in to LibraryThing, as well as a great tool for publishers to get books into the hands of people who will read them, love them and most of all review them.

The books I've gotten so far:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (loved it - my review is here)
• Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland (I have not finished this one yet)
• A Dog Among Diplomats by J.F. Englert (not my cuppa - review is here)
• Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah (didn't love it, but it wasn't bad - review is here)
• Happy Hour is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession (hate is not strong enough - review is here)
• The Stories of Devil-Girl by Anya Achtenberg (very interesting - review is here)
• The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss (well-written, but I wasn't swept up in it - review is here)

I've been very lucky so far...and! I just found out I'll be receiving The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax from the September batch! Keep 'em coming, LibraryThing!