The 5th Horseman - James Patterson

I received this one as a birthday gift a few weeks ago. After the massive (almost 4,000 page) Otherland quartet, I needed some light reading. This one fit the bill. It was a nice combination of mysteries - several all wrapped up into one, which really gave it good pacing and kept it moving. With different parts of the story ending while others ramped up, it kept you from guessing the culprits because who knew it would wrap up so early in the book?

A fun addition to the Women's Murder Club, it'll stay on my shelves with the others.

Otherland: 3 & 4 - Tad Williams

So after being on the edge of my seat for weeks, I finally know how it ends! More characters are introduced in these volumes and battles are won and lost. It was a great read and it has enough different characters and details that I can definitely see myself reading it again.

Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather

A book club meeting on Thursday forced me to put down the "Otherland" series so that I won't feel guilty at the meeting. I still feel bad about "The Lemon Tree". Having heard from the book club organizer that Cather was her husband's favorite and from my mother that she could barely make it through Cather's work, I was unsure what to expect. I found the writing poetic at times, but also a bit impersonal. It almost had the feel of a non-fiction book - somewhat detached. While I feel I learned something about the life of a Bishop in New Mexico during the late 1800s, I didn't feel attachment to Father Latour. It was romanticized life in the west and while it wasn't distasteful, it wasn't fully satisfying either.

Since, I bought this as a compilation of several books by Cather in one volume, I'll read a few others before making a decision on whether it stays.

Otherland: River of Blue Fire

In the second book of the series, the main characters are living their entire lives in the virtual reality world - "Otherland". In this way, Williams brings his fantasy writing to sci-fi. Entire worlds created were making me laugh out loud. One "world" is called "Kitchen" and it is based on those old cartoons where all the characters are household goods - Chief Strike Anywhere is off to save his son "Little Strike" who has been stolen to light a cannon - yes, they are both matches! These worlds made the chase hilarious and scary depending on the world, but a fast paced book. While this volume had a more tidy ending than the first, I can't wait to get to the next one.

Otherland: City of Golden Shadow - Tad Williams

I had read this book before, but never finished the series. I spent the beginning of the book thinking - oh yeah! I remember that and the latter half thinking, how did I forget this? I have enjoyed Williams writing in the past, but this series is one with many heros and many villains. I am not usually a fan of science fiction, preferring fantasy, but I am able to get around the futuristic nature of it and feel connected to the characters. In this world, virtual reality has taken over much of the entertainment - and many lives. But something is happening to the children. They are falling into a coma - with no known cause and none recover. In the first book we are introduced to the main characters - Renie and !Xabbu being the main two. As the book was coming to a close, I wondered how Williams would wrap up the ending to lead to Volume 2. Turns out he doesn't! The end of the book is like the end of a chapter - no neat closing to tide you over until the next book. Luckily, I already have it.

This book is staying on the shelf until I complete the series and make a decision.

Ice Man - Wynn Morgan

I wanted some light reading for the trip to Vegas - nothing taxing, something for sitting next to the pool or in the whirlpool tub. Looking at the bookshelf of things to read, I saw Ice Man - thin, cheesy 70s art - perfect! And it fit the bill even after I had finished it. A story about a NY cop who is tracking the killer of the Mafia hit men - taking out the best in the business without any errors. It was fast paced and I was even surprised by who the killer was. If you see this on the used book store racks or at a garage sale, it is well worth the $1.

I would probably have added it to the bookshelf, except I think it is still in the hotel.

On another note, the amazon.com description of this book is incorrectly linked to a non-fiction book with the same title by Anthony Bruno.

California Uncovered: Stories For The 21st Century - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Editor)

Yet another book club selection, this time it's the Sacramento Bee Book. A collection of short stories, excepts from novels, and a few poems sounded like a nice selection. I thought it would be something I could easily pick up and put down. Each story is about someone living in California - almost all told from the point of view of immigrants and from different time periods. I thought the idea was good, but I found that I missed the feel of short stories. Only one of the excerpts from a novel left me feeling satisfied. I found myself dreading the next story.

I did find a couple of quotes -
"At some point in your story grief presents itself.
Now, for the first time, your room is empty, not merely unoccupied."
- D.J. Waldie, from Holy Land

"There bodies don't work, their minds have wandered off to meet old friends and new horizons, and their own families treat them like they are idiots."
- Laila Halaby, The American Dream

"Money, though, is an illusion with green faces. I think this is so money has a personality - like the way our dieties end up with traits like the rest of us. People create money then they let money create them."
- Luis J. Rodriguez , "My Ride, My Revolution" from The Republic of East L.A.

If nothing else, I think I found a couple new authors. I am curious to read the rest of the story.