Looking for Your Next Book

Who doesn't like dinosaurs, right? Even my 2 year old grandson knows what a dinosaur is. They're on toys, they're on his pajamas, they're on TV shows! The first half of author Riley Black's book is a narrative, with an anthropomorphic T-Rex, looking for a safe place to lay her eggs, find food, and then to protect her young and teach them how to hunt and scavenge for food. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this.  I am not a fan of non-fiction that is written like fiction - giving people words and intentions that we really don't know they had. Doing this for animals take this, which I already don't like, and magnifies it. We don't really know the thought pattern of modern animals (birds and alligators - two dinosaur-related species - are still a bit of a mystery), how can we hope to know what a creature who live a millennia ago thought? I nearly gave up on the book, but decided to power though and see where it was going to go. Then I got to the second section i...

Kota feels fortunate to have a job driving supplies across zombie-infested South Carolina. Everyone contributes to the common good and everyone shares equally.  Not like the chaos on the other side of the wall. That's why 'the Split' - those who care about everyone, like on Kota's side, and those who only look out for themselves, like on the other side. Sharing equally is helpful because has her little sister to look out for. But once in awhile those searching for food and supplies run into zombies and on occasion they'll run into people from the other side of the Split - even though everyone is supposed to stay in their own zone. This is how Kota comes to be captured and taken to the 'wrong' side.  These people aren't the self-absorbed villains she was led to believe they were.  Even in captivity she's allowed a lot of freedom. She stays - more as a guest than a prisoner - with the handsome Jasper. She can't help developing feelings for him, and...

A series of murders are occurring in Victorian London and it's brought theatre workers Minnie and Albert together again. These current murders bear a striking connection to a historic tragedy in which nearly 200 children were killed in a theatre - though it does take a little time for Minnie and Albert to make this connection. And of course,  working in the theatre themselves, they have some unique insights into how things work, both on and backstage, as well as 'front of house.' I enjoyed the historical aspects here. As a retired theatre professional, I do enjoy reading fiction with people who work in the field. Of course the author needs to get the details right or I get caught up in what's wrong instead of following along with the story. There is some time spent with a performing monkey (and its kidnapping and ransom demand), which is a little strange, but performing animals, particularly monkeys, was fairly common in the Victorian days. I appreciated this bit. With ...

While I grew up a generation or two too late to enjoy the golden age of Hollywood movie musicals in their first run, I did grow up during the That's Entertainment! movie musicals revival period, when television stations were filling their time slots with these classic movies. Whether it was West Side Story , Seven Brides for Seven Brothers , or something a bit older, like 42nd Street or Gold Diggers of 1945 , I wanted to watch it. I had my favorite actors and my favorite dancers, and I got to recognize a lot of the names of the performers and creators working on these movies. Which is how I recognized the name of Jack Cole, about whom this book is written. Cole's name shows up on a number of movies I really enjoy, but I've never ranked as highly as high probably deserves, now that I've read more about him. His precision and fastidiousness to performance was legendary and it makes a great deal of sense that he would have had his small handful of dancers that he preferre...

  It's been four years since I read the first book in this series (and twelve years since the book was published - which is an indicator as to how long ago the ARCs in my Kindle were sent to me). I really liked the first book ( The Holders ) but this one didn't excite me quite as much. Becca Ingle is feeling drained from her recent encounters and she's still reeling from the knowledge that she was betrayed by a man her own father trusted - the power-mad Darragh. There's rumor that one man might be able to help. All she has is a name, Ciaran Shea, and that he might associate with a group of pure blood Holders known as Bhunaidh. Becca and her friends, Alex, Jocelyn, and Cormac head out to look for the Bhunaidh with hopes of finding Ciaran and convincing him to use his power to help. But Becca and friends aren't the only one looking for Ciaran and they uncover hints that perhaps the Bhunaidh would prefer to help Darragh, rather than stop him. What worked best in the fi...

*** WARNING - THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE BOOK *** The wealthiest man on the planet is trying to buy his way into office as the next President of the United States. He has been funding space exploration with his own fleet of spaceships and was planning on being aboard an upcoming launch that was going to send humans the furthest they've ever been, to Saturn's moon, Titan, and back. But the billionaire, John Ward, is assured that the only way he can win the presidency is if he stays on Earth. Besides, it will look good to give an 'average Joe' the opportunity of a lifetime, and so he chooses Ryan Crane - the cop who saved Ward from an assassination attempt. Crane and a trio of seasoned astronauts and a pair of civilians will head out on a two year journey to Titan and back. Crane isn't 100% sold on the idea of leaving his wife and family for two years, but the millions of dollars Ward is willing to pay Crane, as well as getting the best and newest medical care for Ward...