Age of Miracles  by Karen Thompson Walker

Time is important to us.  How many times have you heard someone say I wish I had a few more hours in my day?  All living things on earth on depend on circadian rhythms meaning that biological functions are dependent on a 24 hour cycle.

What happens if this 24 hour cycle is disrupted and the days start getting longer because the rotation of the earth slows down so that there are more daylight hours as well as more nighttime hours?  What happens to the earth’s gravity?  Can life as we know it survive and if so for how long.  This book explores this scenario as seen through the eyes of a young girl in middle school.  She is forced to navigate through the trials and tribulations of everyday life of a teen such as first love, losing your BFF, and troubles in your parent’s marriage.  To top it off she must contend with the ever changing external landscape which is putting enormous stress on everyone around her.

The book makes you think about what you would do if you were thrown into this position and to speculate whether or not the human race or for that matter any type of living being on the planet could adapt and survive.  It certainly is scary to think about.

Hot House Orchid    by  Stuart Woods

While I have been reading lately, I have not been able to get my thoughts together to put pen to paper or should I say keystroke to keyboard.  This is due in part to it being crazy at work and crazy in my house trying to get my college student moved into an apartment.  I have made dozens of check lists tried to think about every little thing and then a voice went off in my head that said Target is only a couple of miles away.  Let it go.  So to get my creative juices flowing again I am started with some VERY Light reading.  Actually I popped another CD into my car player and listened to this one.  Having a book on CD when you are driving a lot sure helps the miles go faster or maybe it’s just that I have a heavy foot on the accelerator.  Either way the time spent in the car is more enjoyable.

If you want something with an intricate plot than this is not the book you want to choose.  But if you want something mindless while you are sitting on your deck or on that sandy beach getting in some of the last rays of summer, crack open this book or download it to your e-reader.

The setting is on or around Vero Beach in Florida.  Females are being stopped by what appears to a police in an unmarked car.  Frankly unmarked police cars scar me for just that reason and I wonder if I was alone in my car and was being pursued by an unmarked car would I stop.  My answer would probably be no.  I would whip out my cell phone, call 911 and drive to the nearest Open business or populated area or I would ask the 911 operator how I should proceed.  But that is just me.  Just curious to those of you reading this, What would you do?

Anyway, he shines a light in their eyes so they can’t see anything injects them with Rohypnol (the date rape drug) and bodies start gathering along the byways.  It just so happens that one of his first victims is Holly who happens to be an ex MP in the military and a CIA agent.  She manages not to get killed but the others are not as fortunate.  She is joined in the story by Lauren who just so happens to have served with Holly in the military.

Along with these two characters you have a list of suspects.  There is the new chief of police who by the way has not such a great history with Holly and Lauren since he was their CO when they were in the military, the former chief of police who has been promoted and heads another branch of law enforcement, the awkward detective the handsome Emergency doctor and I probably forgot a bunch.  So if mindless reading is what you want then mindless is what you will get with this book.

The Historian      by Elizabeth Kostova

I have a confession to make.  I have not just read this book, but I want to share it with you anyway because: 1) I found it fascinating and 2) I am reading this author's second book and will be sharing my thoughts about that book this week. I found this book while browsing in a bookstore, one of my favorite past times.  Sadly bookstores are rapidly becoming extinct.  I still mourn the demise of the Borders bookstore.  And while I love when a book shows up at my door step a few days after ordering it online it is just not the same as wandering through the shelves of a bookstore and finding a good book.  That is how I found The Historian.  It was lying on a table with a very unassuming cover (not the one you see in this blog) and name and yet I picked it up and bought it.  I still question why I picked the book up but I am so glad I did.

This book centers around a woman who while looking around her father’s library finds an ancient book and letters.  The letters lead this woman who has led a relatively sheltered life in academia on a quest of discovery, who is  Vlad the impaler and is there any connection to Dracula.  Interestingly the first letter opens with almost an apology for finding it because the author, her father knows that a historian that reads the letters will be compelled to follow the path he was on, one that led him into Ivy league libraries, monasteries and all over Eastern Europe.  One that he says drove those before him nearly to insanity and left him nearly ruined.

So the question is Did Dracula truly exists and did he “live” from century to century.  The main character is determined to pick up where her father left off and so the reader is guided through history to a haunting tale that is both fascinating and at times somewhat scary.  I found that if I were alone in the house by myself at night I often could not read the book.  But that is just me, I scare easily. 

I love the way this author writes.  She is not your everyday let’s throw some words on a page writer.  Rather than breezing through the book, I found myself savoring the words.  The words conveyed me into the world I was reading about and while as I mentioned before, the book scared me, I could not stop reading it.  Just not at night!  Read it! It is worth it!

Stone 588  by Gerald Browne

You would do anything for a sick child.  Wouldn’t you, which is what Springer did.  At first glance Stone 588 is a flawed gem with little value to jewelers.  But the stone is important in other ways.  It has strange powers and he is planning to use these powers to save his ill son.  But others somehow discover its magic as well and so the race begins by many people who want to possess the stone. And let’s just say the other people do not have as pure a use for the stone as Springer has.  What ensues is murder and mayhem and I loved every minute of this book.  It is a perfect summer read but it is hard to find.  Amazon has used copies for a great price so click on the book above to get the link.

King of Tort   by John Grisham

I buy books all over.  Since I bought a kindle I have been doing a lot of shopping on amazon.com.  I mean the thrill of getting a new book in 30 seconds is too hard to resist.  BUT I must admit that I like going into thrift shops for books as well.  Recently, I was in Montgomery General’s thrift shop, (whoops I mean Medstar Montgomery Medical Center) and I picked up a half a dozen books.  You just can’t beat the price and I needed my book fix. Also this particular thrift shop is run by the hospital’s women board and they do some great things for the hospital.  I feel it is my community duty to buy there.  One thing about shopping for books in a thrift shop is the books are usually not the new best sellers so you take what you can get.  I like John Grisham.  My favorites of his still are The Firm, The Rainmaker and The Runaway Jury but when I found The King of Torts I decided to read it. 

Briefly the story is about a young lawyer who when we first meet him is working for The Office of the Public Defender.  He has worked here for more years than he thought he would and as lawyers go he gets paid next to nothing.  One day he gets a phone call from a man to meet him to talk about a case.  They meet and this man offers Clay a case against a drug company. Finding the money too hard to resist he takes the case and is an overnight multimillionaire. The money definitely changes him and his decisions are influenced by this new world he fell into, sort of like falling down into the rabbit hole where there is a whole new reality.  Find out what happens to Clay.