FINISHED -

1. "AFTER THE DAWN" by Francis Ray (Family Affair: Hidden Legacy #3) (A+++++) Samantha Collins is stunned when her grandfather dies and bequeaths the management of Collins industry to her, causing more than a bit of ill will among the other family members, especially her Uncle Evan. But nothing stuns her more than when she finds out that her grandfather has decreed that Dillon Montgomery help her run the company. Her grandfather had fired Dillon and ordered him off the company property years ago. Twelve years ago Samantha made her feelings known to Dillon. The whole thing ended badly and they haven't spoken since. Working together now, even all these years later, is sure to be a disaster. Still, she needs his help if she is going to keep Collins Industry afloat. But will the prodigal son return to the empire - and the woman - who desperately needs him? Will he be able to admit how much he desperately needs her?
2. "BABY DON'T GO" by Stephanie Bond (Southern Roads #3) (A++++++) The hardheaded Armstrong brothers are determined to rebuild their tornado-ravaged hometown in the Georgia mountains. They've got the means, they've got the manpower...what they need are women! So they place an ad in a Northern newspaper and wait for the ladies to arrive. Eldest brother Marcus Armstrong considers the estrogen-influx an irritating distraction. He's running a town, not a dating service! Reporter Alicia Randall thinks the Armstrong brothers are running a scam and she intends to prove it - even if it means seducing oh-so-sexy Marcus in the process. Sizzling sex and a hot story? Win-win! At least it is, until she falls for the guy. Will love trump betrayal when the truth comes out?
3. "AT THE QUEEN'S SUMMONS" by Susan Wiggs (Tudor Rose Trilogy #3) (A+++++) Feisty orphan Pippa de Lacey lives by wit and skill as a London street performer. But when her sharp tongue gets her into serious trouble, she throws herself upon the mercy of Irish chieftain Aidan O'Donoghue. Pippa provides a welcome diversion for Aidan as he awaits an audience with the queen, who holds his people's fate in her hands. Amused at first, he becomes obsessed with the audacious waif who claims his patronage. Rash and impetuous, their unlikely alliance reverberates with desire and the tantalizing promise of a life each has always wanted - but never dreamed of attaining.
4. "ACCIDENTAL SEAL" by Sharon Hamilton (SEAL Brotherhood #1) (Kindle) (A++++) Christy Nelson embarks on her new career in real estate by holding her first open house. Entering the wrong house, by accident, she finds the nude sleeping body of a young man. Navy SEAL Kyle Lansdowne, on a mission to find his AWOL team buddy, is staying at his buddy’s home while investigating the disappearance. When someone breaks in, he takes protective measures. He doesn’t expect to find that a beautiful young woman is responsible for his teammate’s abduction. What starts out as a meeting by accident becomes a hot affair neither one is ready for. Kyle is conflicted about getting Christy involved in his mission, but his hand is forced when he learns the same San Diego gang responsible for his teammate’s abduction has kidnapped her. Battling a cadre of dirty law enforcement hell-bent on getting military equipment, especially state-of-the-art firepower, Kyle is forced to admit that he would die to protect her.
5. "GREY" by E.L. James (Fifty Shades of Grey #4) (A+++++) Christian Grey exercises control in all things: his world is neat, disciplined and utterly empty - until the day when Anastasia Steele falls into his office, in a tangle of shapely limbs and tumbling brown hair. He tries to forget her, but instead is swept up in a storm of emotion he cannot comprehend and cannot resist. Unlike any woman he has known before, shy, unworldly Ana seems to see right through him - past the business prodigy and the penthouse lifestyle to Christian's cold, wounded heart. Will being with Ana dispel the horrors of his childhood that haunt Christian every night? Or will his dark sexual desires, his compulsion to control, and the self-loathing that fills his soul drive this girl away and destroy the fragile hope she offers him?
6. "INSATIABLE" by Lauren Dane (Phantom Corps #1) (Federation Chronicles #3) (A++++) Desire is the most dangerous sensation of all. With tensions between the Federation and Imperial 'Verses rising, one woman may hold the key to victory. The dangerous mission to smuggle her out of Imperial territory falls to Daniel Haws and his team, the ultrasecret Phantom Corps. This elite squad of the Federation Military Corps is the only one trusted and skilled enough to remove her from under the watchful eye of her father, the Supreme Commander of the Imperial 'Verses. Carina is used to wearing a mask. Her father and his men think her little more than a pretty prize to be won by a man more ruthless than the rest. When her father announces his intention to marry her to one of his henchmen - a man known for his cruelty - Carina knows she has to act as soon a possible to get away. But getting secret information to the Federation has served her well for years and she appeals to them for help. She expected rescue from a man who'd been her enemy. But she wasn't prepared by how intense her attraction to Daniel Haws would be. Born as adversaries into different ranks and now on the run for their lives, they need each other to survive - by holding on to the only thing they have in common: a growing desire that is dangerous, irresistible and insatiable.​
7. "CHRISTMAS IN MUSTANG CREEK" by Linda Lael Miller (Brides of Bliss County #4) (A++++) Charlotte Morgan grew up in Mustang Creek, Wyoming and couldn't wait to escape to the big city. But life in New York isn't as fabulous as she'd like to admit - she's lonely, doing a job she doesn't love and dating too many frogs she meets online. There was one potential prime, though - Jaxon Locke, a veterinarian with definite possibilities - but his move to Idaho to fill in at his dad's vet practice ended things just as they were getting interesting. What Charlotte doesn't know is that he misses her, more than he expected. Meanwhile, Charlotte's great-aunt Geneva - the woman who raised her - needs to enter an assisted-living facility. So, just before Christmas, Charlotte moves back home. When Jax catches wind of her move back West, he's determined to get to Wyoming and do whatever it takes to win her back. Christmas in Mustang Creekis a magical place, not least because of a mysterious visitor named Mrs. Klozz. She knows that love is the greatest gift of all and she's ready to help out Santa by giving these two a push in the right direction!
8. "FALLEN ANGELS" by Lori Foster (A++++) "BEGUILED" Private Investigator Dane Carter assumed his murdered twin's identity to find his killer. Angel Morris was his main suspect - a woman his twin had betrayed. Now Dane could destroy her trust again. By falling in love with her. "WANTON" Passion had clouded private investigator Celia Carter's judgment once. Never again. Now she took on dangerous undercover assignments to deal with her guilt. But private investigator Alec Sharpe was determined to reawaken Celia's sexuality...beff killer. "UNCOVERED" Firefighter Harris Black stumbled across nude photos of a woman and handwritten notes...about him. Who was this mystery woman? Harris hired private investigator to trace her...never suspecting he'd already found her.
9. "FORGOTTEN SINS" by Rebecca Zanetti (Sin Brothers #1) (A+++++) His secrets can destroy her...From the moment Josie laid eyes on sexy, mysterious Shane Dean, she was in love. Their desire ignited a passionate affair, and within weeks, Shane had slipped a ring on her finger. It seemed her every fantasy was coming true...until her new husband disappeared without a trace. Now, two years and one broken heart later, Josie is shocked when the hospital calls: Shane has been found..at a crime scene with no memory of how he got there. Her love can save him...Shane can't remember the blue-eyed angel at his bedside - or even who he is - but he knows something isn't right. His hearing is razor sharp, his physical strength incredible and the urge to protect Josie overwhelming. For powerful enemies are hunting him and Josie is the key to discovering why. As Shane struggles to unravel his past, dangerous new truths come to light. Can he protect the only woman eh's ever loved? And can Josie trust a man she thought she knew - one who carries such a deadly secret?
10. "REVENGE AT BELLA TERRA" by Christina Dodd (Bella Terra: Scarlet Deception #2) (A+++++) Two powerful families, a priceless bottle of wine and a precious pink diamond lost for three generations collide - Ruthless Eli Di Luca hides the torment of his past beneath a facade of iron control. No one suspects the angish he suffers or the reasons why he has sworn never to marry. Only blackmail could change his mind. Chloe Robinson's first book zoomed to the top of the best seller lists. Now, struggling to write her second mystery, she retreats to an isolated cottage in a private vinyard. But with his magnetic appeal and his fascinating tales of Bella Terra's violent past, Eli Di Luca proves an irresistible distraction and Chloe finds herself falling for a man she hardly knows. Soon she discovers that Eli has been keeping secrets from her and the truth will bring more than heartbreak - it will put them both in mortal danger. But when murder and peril threaten, the only way Chloe can survive is to trust the man who has betrayed her. And that's a price her stubborn hear may not be willing to pay.
11. "AFTER YOU" by JoJo Moyes (Me After You #2) (A++++++) (listened to on an Audible application on my cell phone) How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living? Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started. Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings.
12. "A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT" by Maya Banks (A+++++) He's wanted her for six months. And the opportunity has finally arrived to make Celia Taylor his - at least temporarily. Billionaire businessman Evan Reese knows she's desperate to get him to sign with Maddox Communications. But first he needs her to pose as his fiancee at a family wedding on Catalina Island. There he'll wide, dine and seduce the stunning ad executive. Yet what happens when the fake engagement becomes more than just an act?
13. "MAN AND BOY" by Tony Parsons (Harry Silver #1) (New Author For Me) (A++++) He had to face the toughest job of his life. And he never once thought he'd be on his own. Harry had it all: a beautiful wife, an adorabable four-year-old son and a high-paying media job. But on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, with one irresponsible act, he threw it all away. Suddenly he finds himself an unemployed single father trying to figure out how to wash his son's hair the way Mommy did and whether green spaghetti is proper breakfast food. 
14. "TOUGH ENOUGH" by M. Leighton (Tall, Dark and Dangerous #2) (A+++++) He's a fighter who never loses, but is he tough enough to win her heart? There was a time when I had a bright future, when the name Kathryn Rydale held brilliant promise, but all that was taken away from me in a single night. Since then, I've hidden away in my second-chance job as a makeup artist. But I prefer it that way, actually. I'm comfortable in the shadows, whre no one can see my scars. Keifer Rogan literally took my breath away the moment I met him. MMA champion-turned-actor, notorious playboy, charming to a fault - and he's everything I vowed to avoid. But he just wouldn't stop until I opened up and let him in. Maybe I should have tried harder. Maybe I shouldn't have fallen in love with him. Because I, of all people, know that everyone has secrets. Scars. And that they're usually ugly and painful and destructive to the people we love most. I just never guessed that they could be deadly, too.
15. "BURN" by Maya Banks (Breathless #3) (A+++++) Ash, Jace and Gabe: three of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the country. They're accustomed to getting anything they want. Anything at all. For Ash, it's the woman who changes everything he's ever known about dominance and desire. When it comes to sex, Ash McIntyre has always explored his wilder side - extreme and uncompromising. He demands control. And he prefers women who want it like that. Even the one's he's shared with his best friend, Jace. But Jace is involved with a woman he has no intention of sharing. And now even Gabe has settled into a relationship with someone who gives him everything he needs, leaving Ash feeling restless and unfulfilled. Then Ash meets Jose, who seems immune to his charms and his wealth. Intrigued, he begins a relentless pursuit, determined she won't be the one who got away. He never imagined the one woman to tell him no would be the only woman who'd ever drive him to the edge of desire.

CURRENTLY READING -

1. "White Heat" by Brenda Novak (Dept. 6: Hired Gun #1) (I received a PDF copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review)  
2. "Christmas on Bellevue Lane" by Anna DeSefano (Chandlerville, Georgia: Echoes of the Heart #3) (Kindle application on my cell phone)  
3. "Cover Your Eyes" by Mary Burton (Morgans of Nashville #1) (New Author For Me)  
4. "Raw Desire" by Kate Pearce​

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO -

Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare Co by Jeremy Mercer. not quite at the half way point. enjoying it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Reading Twelve Years by Solomon Northrup, the story of a free man who was kidnapped and sold as a slave.  His recall is so detailed and accurate it's amazing.  Also beginning Countdown City by Ben H. Winters, the second of a series that I found interesting and The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz which I've had on my shelf for some time and have been meaning to read so it's time.

The Axeman---a crime story based on true-life killer in New Orleans, in the early 1900s. Extremely well-written (especially for this genre) and lots of great location historical detail.

Fortunate Son: by John Fogarty, his memoir of the music biz, including with Credence Clearwater Revival. He had a lot of legal and contract/management problems, and a lot of bitterness still shows.

Purity   Jonathan Franzen

Home Sweet Anywhere      Lynne Martin

Against the Tide    Elizabeth Camden

The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman

Before You Know Kindness Chris Bohjalian

Predators, Prey & Other Kinfolks   Dorothy Allred Solomon

The Loop by Joe Coomer

This turned out to be a great little book. 201 pp. It starts slow but build up as it gets near the end. a quirky and unusual love story. character searches for the meaning of life. a parrot is the instrument of that search.

Just finished Serena by Ron Rash yesterday and started Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett is on my bookshelf next. 

Unprocessed....(with one of those really long sub-titles, something like "A city dweller tries to eat all-natural food"--A memoir about a young woman's effort to avoid all processed foods for a year. Astonishing amounts of info about food, the business of food, and food prep, written in fun, easy-to-digest manner.

Finished: A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George --- I had never heard or read about the German occupation of the island of Guersney in the English Channel during WWII until I read The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society so I was amazed when I saw that this book by Elizabeth George dealt with the same issue, just during the current time.  A wealthy man who lived on Guersney is murdered and during the course of the investigation many people are suspected, including 2 Americans who have come to the island to deliver a set of blueprints to him. This is a story of relationships as much as anything else: relationships between siblings, spouses, and local residents.  Not the usual Scotland Yard Superintendent Thomas Lynley story, but instead focuses on Lynley's friends, Simon St. James and his wife Deborah.  A lot of twists and turns before the conculsion.

Indigo Dying by Susan Wittig Albert --- This series is always a fun, quick read with lots of interesting facts about herbs and other plants.  China Bayles and her friend, Ruby Wilcox, are holding a workshop on the dying of fleece and then attending an outdoor show selling the things from their shops.  Things take a different turn when the town bully is killed by a shot gun blast and everyone in the town could be a suspect as he was hated by everyone for threatening to close the town down by selling off the mineral rights to a strip mining company.

Hard Truth by Mariah Stewart  -- I'd read the first one of this series some time back and decided to finish the series, reading Final Truth next!  Several years prior Lorna Temple's best friend, Mellie, went missing, never to be found.  Then bodies begin turning up buried on property that once was owned by Lorna's mother before her passing. Lorna hires a PI to help find the truth, which leads to the FBI becoming involved.... A quick read because I couldn't put it down and now anxious to read the next installment.

Final Truth by Mariah Stewart --- I thought this was the third one of the series, but found out it's the 4th of 4 so now I have to read the 3rd one, Dark Truth.  This one picks up where the 2nd one ends with Regan Landry and FBI Agent Mitch Peyton together; while Regan talks to a released murderer about writing his story, Peyton is investigating the murder of a woman. 

Dark Truth by Mariah Stewart --- Well, this is the 3rd one in this series that I somehow skipped over.  Again this one has a lot about Regan Landry, but also deals with Nina Madden, Regan's book editor.  Nina's father was convicted of being a serial rapist/murderer several years earlier, but died before he could begin serving his sentence.  New evidence comes to light and Nina's determined to find out the truth about her father.  Another really good book by Stewart.

Play With Fire by Dana Stabenow --- Love this series!!  Kate Shugak is harvesting mushrooms with friends when she discovers a body.  Did the person die from a forest fire the previous year or was it something else that caused his death? Kate can't rest until she finds the truth, but people aren't wanting to tell her what they know.

Blood Will Tell by Dana Stabenow --- Kate Shugak's grandmother wants Kate to attend the Alaska Federation of Natives convention, but Kate is afraid her grandmother is trying to get her to become involved in the politics between the different tribes and she wants no part of it.  That's until two people on the board die and Kate is drawn into finding the reason; natural, suicide or murder. Always a great read with lots of Alaskan history.

Breakup by Dana Stabenow --- Another great book by Stabenow!! Kind of Murphy's Law, what could go wrong does for Kate Shugak:  a bear charges Kate when she's checking out the spring run-off, the engine of a 747 falls out of the sky onto her homestead causing a lot of damage, a body is found by the people investigating the damage, her friend asks Kate to "baby-sit' her overbearing parents for a few hours and while she's doing that she finds the body of a woman half-eaten by a bear--all in a 24-hour period....

Devious by Lisa Jackson --- New Orleans police detectives Rueben Montoya and Rick Bentz are investigating the murder of a nun and the nun's sister [a former cop from Texas] is doing some investigating on her own. Lots of twists and turns with a surprise ending, I didn't see this one coming.

The 9th Judgement by James Patterson --- The Women's Murder Club, Lindsey Boxer, is called to investigate the murder of a woman and her child and also the murder of a movie star's wife.  Patterson's books are always quick reads because of his writing style, I finished this one in a day.

Currently reading:  ???

Up next: Undecided

JUst finished: Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham

Reading:  Silent In The Grave by Deanna Raybourn

I am trying to make more of an efort to clear off my shelves of books I've had for years. Of course I start out every year like this; we'll see.

Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein: this is a series about a Manhattan DA and the detectives she works woth. I have only read one other in the series. They have a lot of New York history which makes it more enjoyable.

Unatural Cause by PD James: always a good read even if you are not into mysteries.

 "A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow"   by Tim Brookes

objects of my affection by Jill Smolinski, horribly, dramatically, read by Xe Sands.  Quit.

Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard, read by Steve Buscemi.

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal. Just so darn predictable. Could almost have mimed the plot lines and dialogue as I went along.

The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandrige Selleck.  LOVED this little book.  Very well written, to the point, poignant.

the ten top things the dead want to tell YOU   by Mike Dooley

The Baker's Tale by Thomas Hauser read by James Langton

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott narrated by Susan Duerden

Reading:

Visit Sunny Chernobyl and Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places by Andrew Blackwell

This Is Not A Game by Walter John Williams

Finished:

Black Friday by Alex Kava

Uzbekistan: Transition to Authoritarianism by Neil Melvin

The Savage Nation by Michael Savage

This is a Bust by Ed Lin

Twelve Days by Alex Berenson

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Strange Pilgrms, Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Q is for Quarry by Sue Graftron

I am reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. 

How did I never hear about this children's book?

I am finding it delightful and keep imagining kids I know reading it.

It was given to me to put in my Little Free Library but I get first dibs.

I am reading it slowly because I want the delight to last!

I am listening to my favorite of all the Spenser books, Small Vices by Robert Parker, in the car.  Unfortunately, Burt Reynolds is the reader and he isn't very good.  His voice is too low and I have to turn it up too loud to hear all the words.  His enunciation also sucks.  He does kinda creepy voices for the women and cops in the book.  At least it is unabridged.

I am reading a Tom Robbins, Asleep in Frog Pajamas.  I found it in Large Print and am enjoying his writing as much as I always used to in the day.  I figured out that it has been 20+ years since I read a book of his.  Such great imagery.  

Updated my list.  Gee, not too many folks here this month.

I just received two books in the mail. One I got from a member here at pbs. The other one I bought from amazon.

One is Encyclopedia of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is a large and thick book. I think it will be a fun browser. The other book is The Fate of the Corp of Discovery. The author did research on the members of the corp and tells what happened to them after the expedition to the end of their lives. Some of the members disappeared and left no record but many were recorded. Looking forward to reading this.

I'm not reading any fiction at the moment.

FINISHED

11/22/63    : Stephen King           I really liked this book.  I am sure there were facts from the Kennedy assassination, but the time travel spin on the story was interesting also.

Pegasus: A Novel       : Danielle Steel             I thought I would like this alot more than I did.  There was so much repetition that it almost got boring, but I finished it. 

Turtle Diary    : Russell Hoban                This was a strange book.

Shipwreck Island (Shipwreck Island, Bk 1)        : S. A. Bodeen         A very interesting book.  It is listed under the Children's genre, but I think it should be under the YA genre.  I have the rest of the series on my wishlist.

Charles, I just noticed you read The Loop by Joe Koomer.  I read something by him a few years ago, something about chairs, and really enjoyed it.  I put some of his stuff on my WL but don't recall this one.  I am going to look into it.

I have a pbk on my shelf. I enjoyed the book a lot. the last name starts with a C.

I just acquired Beachcombing for a Ship Wrecked God by Coomer, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.