The Perfect Hope / Nora Roberts / 308 pages

    This book is the last in a trilogy of three brothers and their women and the Boonsboro Inn.
Of course, it was standard Nora Roberts.  The brothers all work with their hands, meet three women (blond, brunette, and red haired) and the rest is how they get together.  The hot parts start in the middle of the book.  For a little extra storyline, she added a Civil War era ghost to the Inn since it is located near Antietem. 
     Little did I know that there is an actual Inn Boonsboro in Boonsboro, Maryland as well as a Turn the Page Bookstore and gift shop and Vesta Restaurant.  Guess what.  Nora Roberts and her husband own them.  I guess it's good advertising to write a trilogy around your inn so that way you can book some guests from the readers. 
     It was a satisfying book for Nora Roberts fans  and it was nice to have a trilogy.

Black Water Rising / Attica Locke / 427 pages

This one is for all you legal thriller lovers out there!  Debut author Attica Locke already seems to be the master of her craft as she leads readers along the intricate paths that Houston attorney Jay Power must tread before uncovering the nasty, rotten truth about what the oil companies are doing.  Power is impeded in his search by the emotional chains he suffered as a young militant in the 70's as well as past experiences with his family.  Locke throws in a couple of other plot elements that she neatly ties together in the end.  The character of Jay Power is finely drawn, and readers will be happy to see  him show up in future novels. 

Ashes of the Earth / Eliot Pattison / 358 pages

Carthage, a small settlement that has survived the Apocalypse, may not be the spark of civilization its four founders envisioned.  It may, in fact, be its dying ember.  One of the founders, Jonah, has kept a journal detailing the life of the colony.  It shows the colony as a living organism, and demonstrates how, despite all their trials and self-destruction of advanced societies, individual humans have found a way not only to survive but to celebrated life.  In code, it shows that a northern town, St. Gabriel, is eating way at Carthage from the inside with smuggled drugs, while it erodes its resolve with treasure from outside.  The governor is corrupt.  Jonah is murdered.  Hadrain, an ex-teacher, idealist,  and sentimental, habitual drunk, is determined to find Jonah's murderer.  This is an engaging adventure/mystery story packaged in an enticing format.

Naughty in Nice / Rhys Bowen / 328 pages

In 1933 London, Lady Georgiana Rannoch is volunteering in a soup kitchen serving unfortunates laid low by the Depression.  Her Majesty the Queen approves of "volunteer service for the good of the community at this sad time."  When the lady's brother and his expectant wife leaves for the French Riviera, Georgianna is left to close the house. She has an appointment to meet with the queen.  She is 34th in line for the throne.  The queen enlists her services as a spy.  During the New Year Honors at Buckingham Palace a priceless snuff box was taken.  The queen wants Georgianna to find the culprit and recover the box.  She is also to keep an eye on the heir apparent, David, the queen's son, and American Wallis Simpson.  Delightful!  A most welcome break from zombies and the apocalypse.

Aftertime / Sophie Littlefield / 375 pages

"In Aftertime we have to think of the greater food, not the needs of individuals, or even that we have so little of our humanity left that we need to take every opportunity we can to remind ourselves that we aren't savages."  "Silva's population had been over 4000 before the famine and riots and the suicides and the fever deaths, before the Beaters began carrying survivors away."  "When the government dropped Kaysev (K&, full=spectrum nutritional mass - protein, calcium, vitamins, and fiber) from planes all over the nation, it's last act before it ceased to exist, a second strain has somehow gotten mixed in, and some saw the hand of God, in the appearance of the rogue leaves as his punishment for all the profligacy and faithlessness of the last decade."  The rogue strain caused the plague that turned humans into Beaters.  Humans have banded together in small enclaves.  "Satisfaction is an an elusive and outdated concept.  Serenity, contentment, they seemed as unlikely for citizens as the ability to fly or read minds."  Cass had made many mistakes before.  She was an alcoholic and used sex to fill a hole left by the abandonment of her father.  Her baby, Ruthie, was taken from her and given to her mother and her partner to raise.  When the cataclysm struck, Cass's first priority was to reclaim her daughter.  She succeeds but is later captured by Beaters who stripped the skin from her back.  Her runner's body is strong enough to walk the 35 miles back to the site of her abduction, where she hopes, with Smoker's help, to once again claim her daughter.  Is she a danger to everyone she meets?  Has she been infected?  Why are the Rebuilders taking up arms against others instead of Beaters?

So This Is How It Ends / Tui Sutherland / 353 pages

Kali keeps a notebook of strange events - violence has stalked her life.  On December 12, 2012, she wakes after napping on a New York subway car to discover that everyone has disappeared.  The subway floods.  Exits have been gated and locked and new walls have been built to cover other exists.  Kali's anger serves her well and she escapes into an abandoned New York City.  At the same time, Venus,  a super star teen idol,  was rehearsing for a performance when a mysterious tattooed man almost drops a huge piece of set on her.  Gus is on hand to help his brother, Andrew, with the lights, and prevents the accident.  An earthquake strikes, leveling surrounding buildings and vastly altering Los Angeles.  People have vanished and a monument to Venus's death is discovered.  Tigre in Chile awakes in a jungle to find weird talking creatures and no people.  Amon in Egypt has stolen a gold pendant from a tomb excavation.  Five teenagers are called together 75 years after life as we know it ended.  This is a most unusual approach to the apocalyptic novel and is somewhat reminiscent of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Fast-paced, thought-provoking, great characters, and a surprise ending make this first book in The Avatars series a must read.

End of State / Neesa Hart / 303 pages

The Rapture has occurred and millions of people vanish.  All the children are gone.  Everyone has lost someone.  Is this some form of terrorist attack?  People demand answers.   White House Chief of Staff, Brad Benton, is afraid he knows the answer.  He fears the End Times have begun and all people of Faith have been taken to Heaven.  Brad has lost his wife and children.  He regrets that his faith is not what it should have been and dreads what is to come.  Likewise Minister Marcus. who has used religion to raise millions for relief aid, is embarrassed when he is not counted as one of the Faithful.  He unites with Brad as true brothers in Christ as they prepare for the troubles to come.

Apocalyptic Literature

2013 Idea

Hey loyal bloggers!  I was thinking for the 2013 competition we should get T-shirts.  The front could have some kind of logo for the Library District's team and for the back we can keep track of the number of pages we've read by ironing on some kind of patch that we print out on iron on transfer paper.  We could have a symbol like a book or star and you would get one for every 1,000 pages you've read.    Just from looking at the stats from 2011 and 2012 we would be awarding anywhere from 1 - 114 symbols.  Most people will earn about 10 patches. 

So what do you all think? 

1. Yes! this is awesome!  or
2. No! I have enough ill-fitting "free" tshirts in my closet. 

Please just vote/comment on this post.   Thanks!! -Your Awesome Book Challenge Master. 

The Innocent/David Baldacci/422 pages

Will Robie is a hitman, an assassin for the U.S. government. Robie never questions his orders and he always nails his targets, until one night when a mission doesn't seem quite right, he refuses to kill and  becomes a target himself. While trying to escape he runs into a young teenager running away from the people who murdered her parents. Robie has always been a loner, probably the hazard of being an assassin, but he teams up with Julie and becomes attached to this young girl and vows to protect the  runaway. Baldacci has been called "the premiere writer of conspiracy in high places" and "The Innocent" does not disappoint. There are many twists and turns, and sometimes it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys in this story. Will Robie is a good guy that we hope to see more of from Baldacci in the future.

Girl, Stolen/April Henry/211 pages

Cheyenne Wilder has been kidnapped. When a young thug tries to steal a car to impress his dad, things go from bad to worse when he finds a girl wrapped up in a blanket in the backseat. Griffin never meant to hurt anyone, he just wants to impress his dad with a big fancy SUV that he steals from a mall parking lot. From the very beginning of the story, we realize that Griffin is a good kid that has been raised by a terrible father. The major twist in the story is that the main character, Cheyenne, is blind.  She fights back the whole story and  we have to admire her strength and intelligence. The author does a pretty good job at making the story realistic and suspenseful. This is a quick read for middle and high school students. The  main character does fear that she might be raped by her captors but nothing happens and it is a very small storyline in the book. For younger readers, might not be appropriate or parents could use as a chance to talk  about being in scary situations with strangers.

Crank / Ellen Hopkins / 537 pages

Written in verse, Crank loosely tells the tale of Ellen Hopkin's own daughter who became addicted to meth.  It is shocking to watch how quickly and easily an intelligent, beloved, and successful 16 year old girl slides down the path to destruction.  Hopkins tells it like it is and while the story is brutal and candid, many high school students have told the author how her book saved them from taking that first step.  After hearing Hopkins speak about her books and her family, this may be a book that every parent of a teen needs to read and think about.  Ellen, as the parent, does not let herself off the hook.   In spite of the hefty 537 pages, you can read this in a couple of hours especially if you want to save your children. 

Shadow of Night / Deborah Harkness / 577 pages

In this book which is a sequel to A Discovery of Witches, the witch Diana Bishop along with her vampire husband Matthew de Clermont,. travel back in time to late 16th century London to find the elusive Ashmore 782 manuscript that may hold the key to why the creatures (daemons, witches & vampires) are dying out.  The author, a professor of history at USC, makes Elizabethan England come alive.  Her prose is a joy to read and lovers of historical fiction will revel in the details of life, meeting historical figures, and discussion of scientific discoveries.  Romance, magic, and history all nicely wrapped up.  Readers will undoubtedly be sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the final book in the All Souls trilogy.

White Horse / Alex Adams / 306 pages

White Horse is the name of the plague that killed 90% of the world's population.  Thirty-one year old Zoe Marshall alternates between then - pre-apocalyptic times, and now - post-apocalyptic times.  Taxes are no longer certain - only death.  "The survivors do what they must.  Because if they don't, they'll topple into the remnants of their life where they'll languish and turn to dust."  It all started with a U. S. attempt to control weather.  When they are successful in stopping a cyclone, China demands the technology.  When they are denied, they retaliate with an electronic Pearl Harbor.  The Internet ceases to exist.  Global war ensues.  Zoe discovers that her employer, George P. Pope, owner of a pharmaceutical company, unleashed the plague knowingly.  Zoe, the lab cleaning lady, but  much, much more, strives to remain human - kind, merciful, and compassionate, amidst Armageddon.  She also traverses the world in search of Nick.  This is one of the best Apocalyptic Literature books I've read.  Thought-provoking, inspiring, horrifying....

A Winter Dream / Richard Paul Evans / 266 pages

This is the Joseph and his coat of many colors story from the Bible set in modern times.  The protagonist Joseph Jacobsen is forces out of the family advertising business and out of town to save his younger brother Benjamin.  All elements of the Joseph story are here, thinly veiled, and infinitely rewarding.

The Smoky Corridor / Chris Grabenstein / 326 pages

Zack Jennings is starting n new school - Horace P. Pettimore Middle School.  The school was founded by Horace P. Pettimore, a Civil War soldier who left his mansion and grounds for its construction.  Unfortunately, Pettimore is not yet dead...He and his crew of 66 soldiers are undeads waiting to reanimate and claim the Confederate gold he stole and hid.  He is waiting for his descendant to make his reappearance.  Is Zack the one?  Zack deals with bullies, losers, ghosts, liars, and teachers who are not what they appear to be.  This one is sure to please middle school readers who like scary stories.

Dust to Dust / Heather Graham / 455 pages

At the beginning, I thought I really liked this one.  The ends days as foretold in scriptures have begun and scriptures are quoted freely.  Unfortunately, three of the people who come forward to help Scott vanquish Baal are vampires!  This is actually a romance masquerading as apocalyptic literature.

Unforsaken / Sophie Littlefield / 277 pages

Hailey is a healer.  Her ancestors came from Ireland and became known as the Banished.  The women were healers and the men were seers.  They had settled in a small Missouri town and over the years their gifts were diluted as they married outside the clan.  Hailey and her Aunt Prairie and her friend Kaz remained pure.  Unfortunately, a ruthless man developed a scheme to turn newly dead soldiers into zombies using a healer's touch at the moment of death.  Chub, Hailey's adoptive brother, is kidnapped by the ruthless man's second in command to force Hailey to join his scheme - to repopulate his family of purebreds.  If the zombies are released from the lab, it could mean the apocalypse, the end of the world.  Can Hailey and Kaz stop them?

The Next Best Thing/ Jennifer Weiner/ 389 pages

This is the story of Ruth, who grew up with her grandmother after a terrible accident left her an orphan.  She is now a young woman aspiring to be a TV writer.   She and her grandmother move to LA to make it big.   "The Next Best Thing" is also the title of her TV show.  It's kind of a fun look into how Hollywood works for the writers and their struggles.  Funny, enjoyable, and a little bit of romance. 

May B / Caroline Starr Rose / 125 pages

This children's book is written in verse similar to that Inside out and back again  about the Vietnamese immigrant girl in the U.S.  This book is a story of the late 1800's set in Kansas a la Laura Ingalls Wilder.  While it is short, much happens.  The  girl, May B, is sent to live with a couple in a soddie to keep company with the wife who is quite homesick.  The worst happens and May is left alone, snowed in from a blizzard.  It is a story of survival and an internal tale of how she comes to believe in her own worth despite her flaw of dyslexia.  Missing from the book is the depression, anxiety, madness that took many victims on the prairie who weren't even snowed in.  I guess it is because it's a children's book.  (Although if she had been thinking Mark Twain award, the girl could have gotten really sick, developed a racking cough, had hallucinations, gangrene from frostbite, attacked by the wolves, and gone completely starkers.)  However, in the ambiance of Laura herself, May is able to keep it together and do what is necessary to return to her family.  (I hope her father has a life-long guilt-trip.)

Killer Librarian/Mary Lou Kirwin/308 pgs.

With a title like Killer Librarian, how could I not read this book?! Karen Nash, a Minnesota librarian, and an avid mystery reader, is set to go on a trip to London, England, with her plumber boyfriend, Dave. At the last minute, Dave ditches Karen for another woman, Kirstin. Karen decides to take the trip anyway, and runs into Kirstin on the flight; Kirstin is unaware of Karen's identity. Thus starts a comedy of errors--Karen, in a drunken moment, expresses (to a stranger) that she wishes Dave were dead. Later, Karen thinks the stranger took her seriously, and feels she must warn Dave of his impending doom. In the meantime, Karen strikes up a friendship with Caldwell Perkins, the owner of the bed-and-breakfast she is staying at. One of the guests dies under suspicious circumstances, which has Karen putting on her "sleuthing" hat. This is probably what is considered a "cozy" mystery--light and entertaining. It's the first in a new series, so it will be interesting to see where the author goes with it!