Archive for March, 2010

STARBOUND by Joe Haldeman

Armed with nothing but diplomacy and time on the long flight to plan strategies, STARBOUND’s Ad Astra crew of transplanted Martians, humans from the Mars colony and trained spies from Earth heads to its possible doom at the Wolf 25 system. Their mission is to negotiate peace with an alien force that has delivered Earth a warning. A sequel to MARSBOUND, STARBOUND follows the thread of the woman dubbed “Mars Girl,” aka Carmen Dula, on what may be a fools errand or the saving of humanity.

March 19, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Speculative (Beyond Reality), y Award Winning Author

THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS by Paolo Giordano

THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS is written by Paolo Giordano, an Italian physicist who is also the youngest winner of the Premio Strega, a prestigious literary award. Currently he is working on a doctorate in particle physics and resides in Italy. It is not every day that a physicist writes a beautiful and stirring novel such as this one.

March 18, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Contemporary, Debut Novel, italy, y Award Winning Author

SNOW ANGELS by James Thompson

This debut mystery by James Thompson is a riveting read with all the best elements of a character driven mystery. Mr. Thompson was born and raised in the United States and has lived in Finland for the past decade. The book jacket indicates that he has worked as a “bartender, bouncer, construction worker, photographer, rare coin dealer, and soldier…before becoming a full-time writer.”

March 17, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Posted in: 2010 Favorites, Character Driven, Class - Race - Gender, Debut Novel, Iceland, Mystery/Suspense, Noir

BONE FIRE by Mark Spragg

BONE FIRE, he revisits the fictional town of Ishawooa. Even as much as the town retains many of its tough Wyoming characteristics, change is sweeping in slowly. For example, there’s new café in town, which serves plenty of salads, meatless soups, herbal teas. It is here that one of the novel’s primary protagonists, Griff, gets together with her mother, Jean, once in a while for lunch or a cup of tea.

March 17, 2010 · Judi Clark · 2 Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: 2010 Favorites, Wild West

SO MUCH FOR THAT by Lionel Shriver

SO MUCH FOR THAT by Lionel Shriver is a timely novel about the dire straits of our country’s healthcare system. It is also a diatribe about our country’s policies of taxation, what the average Joe gets in return for his taxes, and the government’s rip-off of average tax payers. The novel does not spare the evils of the banking industry, corporate America, or the wealthy as they are vilified for creating an environment that harms poor workers and the middle class.

March 16, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Contemporary, National Book Award Finalist, y Award Winning Author

SECRETS OF EDEN by Chris Bohjalian

There are no SECRETS OF EDEN, at least not by the time you finish the last sentence of this page-turner of a novel. In all likelihood, you will probably rush to discover them all, they are presented so deftly constructed and poised.

March 15, 2010 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: Mystery/Suspense, Reading Guide