Having found some time to read in the past week, I now need to log my progress here in the Blog. I have been a little bit better about posting in the 50 Book Challenge LiveJournal site, but even there I've resorted to posting a couple of books at a time. Found time, by the way, was primarily due to a couple of long airplane trips.
Tony Hillerman has another hit on his hands with The Sinister Pig. My old friends Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn, and Bernie Manualito are back in this tale of greed, power, drugs, and murder. Most scary is the possibility which Hillerman poses that pipelines intended to carry gas and oil could be used by terrorists to bring bombs and disease into the USA. One thing that I particularly liked about this book is that the characters are being allowed to develop relationships instead of all being such loners. It was a nice change.
"R" is for Ricochet is the 18th book in the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton. I think this one is my favorite — for several reasons. Like The Sinister Pig above, the author has given her character a more positive personal life. Kinsey Millhone seems to be forming a healthy relationship with a man. After two failed marriages and a disastrous affair, this is particularly good news. Maybe it was her own improving situation or not, but the whole book was much more positive. I like the way these stories are turning.
Reefsong by Carol Severance was a serendipitous find. My niece picked it up at a library sale and I saw it sitting on her bedside table when I visited in late October. I brought it and a couple of others home to read. This was a terrific book and I'm sorely disappointed that there are only a couple more titles from this author. I searched on Amazon.com and the Internet at large, and have not been able to find out much about Ms. Severance and whether she is still writing. I sure hope so.
The Stone Prince by Gena Showalter was a riot. Take one sexy young warrior under a magic spell that turned him into a stone statue. Add a shy and insecure young woman who kisses the statue, releasing him from the spell. So far, so good, right? Wrong. Now consider that not only is magic involved, but that the ensorceled young man is actually an alien from another planet. Stir in all the typical bodice ripping steamy sexual situations and you've got a hysterically funny romance novel. If you like those, then this is definitely one to pick up.
In mid-October, I read An Accidental Woman by Barbara Delinsky and when I posted a review, I noted that I had every intention of reading the preceding book in the series. So, I put Lake News on reserve at the public library and eagerly started reading it when it became available. Even though the sequel had given me a hint as to the relationships which would develop, the story was as delightful as I had desired. I'm enjoying Barbara Delinsky's books. While they do fall into the "romance" category, they aren't the overly rehashed and formulaic romance novels which Harlequin and the like seem to churn out.