The Tall Stranger by Lois L'Amour

In the old west, Rock Bannon and Morton Harper go head to head to win the integrity of the land and Sharon's heart.



Rating: Four Stars ****

Genre: Western

Summary: Rock Bannon was once a stranger to the pack of settlers looking for a home in the west, until he saves them from a ravaging Indian attack. Ever since Rock has joined them on the wagon trail and has had his eye on a green-eyed Sharon Crockett. Rock has always been dark and quiet about his past, so the settlers on the wagon train can't help but be suspicious of him when the handsome, smooth talker Morton Harper comes striding in and leading them down an unknown trail to greener pastures, which Rock scornfully objects to. After a series of attacks and exchange of gunfire, the pack is finally seeing the true intentions of Mort, which is to own the greatest cattle empire of the West by killing and stealing, then taking Sharon as his wife. A one-on-one face off will tell if good will prevail evil.

Evaluation: Louis L'Amour has without a doubt a knack for storytelling. Even though the resolution may be completely predictable, the characters shine through and one can't help but vouch for the underdog and find out in the end if the good will actually prevail. The settlers are often portrayed as simple minded and of course there is the ultimate conflict of who will win the woman's heart, but the action packed elements of Indian attacks, gunfire, and traveling on a wagon in the setting sun is an entertaining piece of fictionalized Americana.

Read-a-likes: Gunman's Goal by Max Brand
Rangers of the Lone Star and other titles by Zane Grey
Borderlands and other titles by Terry C. Johnston

Plum Lovin' (A Between-the-Numbers Novel) (Stephanie Plum Novels) by Janet Evanovich

Substitute matchmaker, Stephanie Plum, has to resolve the cases of five love trodden individuals by Valentine's Day. To her surprise, will she become one of them?



Rating: Three 1/2 Stars ***^

Genre: Mystery w/ Romance Themes

Summary: Stephanie Plum is an average Jersey girl. She funny, low-maintenance, and guys love to be with her, but she just doesn't need them. In Plum Lovin', her take on romance is put in perspective as she is assigned a case by her casual fling and handsome friend, Diesel, to be the substitute matchmaker in place of Annie Hart, the relationship resolver. She has five cases to wrap up, whether its Charlene Klinger who needs a comfortable love in her life to balance her chaotic household, Jeanine Chan who can't get laid because of her 35-yr old virgin status, or Plum's sister's boyfriend , Albert, who literally cannot make it to the alter. With the help of Diesel, Plum finds herself able to solve every case and even solve the love in her life.

Evaluation: The story is quirky, contemporary, and laugh out loud funny. Stephanie Plum is an independent and charming character, and her jokes and situations stay tasteful, but are edgy enough to keep their shock value. This book is particularly too short to go into any depth of characters where the story feels rushed, however Janet Evanovich's style and wit shines through where you can't help but pick up the next one in her series.

Read-A-Likes: Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
Stormy Weather and other titles by Carl Hiaasen
Welcome to Temptation and other books by Jennifer Crusie

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris and Ian Falconer

A collection of good humored animal fables with the insight and quirks of people.



Rating: Three Stars ***

Genre: Humor

Summary: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is a humorous collection of fables about animals and their human tendencies. The stories often involve the relationships between animal species, which incorporates a lining of zany prejudices and misinterpretations. The Squirrel and the Chipmunk is one of the more memorable stories where the Squirrel dates the Chipmunk even though everyone thinks that their relationship won't work out. They can agree about topics like acorns and the irritability of dogs, but when the topic of jazz arises, the Chipmunk wants the relationship to work out so badly that she agrees to like jazz, even though it may be "slang for something terrible - like anal intercourse?" "Oh, I like that too..."

Evaluation: David Sedaris does isn't as clever in these fables, as he is in his other essays, but it is a unique take from his normal writing. The stories are successful at being quirky and strange, and the drawings by Ian Falconer, the same illustrator of Olivia , makes it an attractive read.

Read-a-likes: Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
Holidays on Ice and other books by David Sedaris
All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen

City of Glass (The New York Trilogy, Vol 1) by Paul Auster

Daniel Quinn, a mystery writer, is a novice detective of a case that sends him into a line of mistaken identities to the point where he may have lost his own.

Featured Booktalk: It all started with a wrong number. Someone thought Daniel Quinn was someone he was not. Quinn lives his life writing mystery novels under the name William Wilson, so when he is called to be a detective through a newly acquired identity of Paul Auster, Quinn lives minute-to-minute for this special case trying to protect Peter Stillman from a mental father who will murder him.

This may as well help Quinn as a writer and keep him occupied until his next novel, except that the only Paul Auster in New York isn’t a detective and the Stillmans have disappeared completely along with their case. Who knows, but himself, if Daniel Quinn will cease to exist?

A post –existentialist detective story with a puzzle of mistaken identities, the City of Glass will keep you in suspense until the next book in The New York Trilogy.



Rating: Five Stars*****

Genre: Mystery

Awards: Nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Mystery

Summary: The first volume of The New York Trilogy introduces Daniel Quinn, a mystery novel writer who is known to his readers as William Wilson, and virtually unknown to anyone, but himself. With a late son and wife, as well as a break between novels, a mis-dialed number in the middle of the night sends Quinn into a case where he is assumed to be the Paul Auster that will protect a Peter Stillman from a mental case of a father that is about to be released from jail, and will try to kill him. Quinn is on the case as a 'real' detective, except after months of work he finds that there isn't a detective named Paul Auster that exists in New York City, the Stillmans' have vanished, and the father has committed suicide.

Evaluation: A fantastic read that is written intelligently and mysteriously. The puzzle of identities is not one that typical detective novel fans will pick up right away, but it is a nice, varied direction from the genre. This is also a good choice for those who do not typically read detective novels, but are looking for light suspense. The history of each character is intriguing where the Peter Stillman is running away from a father that is a professor and once obsessed with the Tower if Babel and how natural languages come into existence. The insanity of Peter having been locked in a room for nine years is mind boggling. The post-existential identities and questionable existence of Quinn will leave one craving the next book in the series.

Read-a-likes: Ghosts (Book 2) and Locked Room (Book 3) by Paul Auster
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

City of Glass was adapted in 1994 into a critically-acclaimed experimental graphic novel by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli. It was published as City of Glass: A Graphic Mystery in 2004.

The Last Good Man by Kathleen Eagle

Savannah Stephens, a lingerie catalog model, returns to her hometown with a daughter and some painful history only to have rekindled a romance with Clay, the epitome of the perfect man.



Rating: One 1/2 Stars *^

Genre: Romance

Awards: Winner of the Rendezvous Online Rosebud Award
One of Library Journal 's Five Best Romances of 2000
A Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Finalist

Summary: After living the glamorous life in the big city as a lingerie catalog model, Savannah Stephens returns to her home town of Sunbonnet, Wyoming where the horses roam free and she can find solitude with her six-year old daughter Claudia and from a painful history of breast cancer that she is still striving to emotionally recover from. It's a small town and everyone has heard of her return, but no one knows why she came back from such a glamorous life. Her one high school love, Clay has found her again, and won't give up his love for her until their relationship is rekindled.

Evaluation: The first chapter introduced Savannah in an interesting light. She was the town beauty and it did set up the inquisitiveness to find out why she returned to the small town from the big city. I read through the first 100 pages (I made it to page 105!) and had to put the book down. The only climatic parts were Savannah's sex scenes with Clay, but her character was obnoxious, Clay was overly predictable, and Claudia sounded more like a know-it-all 20 year old, rather than the intelligent six year old that she was supposed to be. The pace and language felt dumbed down and I did not want to find out if Clay won Savannah's heart - which I am sure he did!

Read-a-likes: Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
Rocky Mountain Widow by Jillian Hart
You Belong to Me (Montana Mavericks: Return to Big Sky Country) by Jennifer Greene

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) by Joanne Fluke

After the murder of her deliveryman, Hannah seeks to find the killer before her cookies get the bad rap.



Rating: Three 1/2 Stars***^

Genre: Culinary Mystery

Summary: Hannah Swensen is a baker and owner of "The Cookie Jar" in the small town of Lake Eden. When her delivery driver, Ron, fails to make his morning rounds, Hannah Swensen finds his murdered in seat of his pick up with her scattered cookies laying around. In search to defend the reputation of her cookies and help her deputy friend, Bill, earn a promotion, Hannah takes initiative to following a trail of clues to find Ron's killer.

Evaluation: The best treat about this book are the cookie recipes. Hannah is also an admirable character because of her independent attitude, playful feline with human tendencies, and eccentric matchmaker of a mother. The flaws in the story is that Hannah seems too separated from mourning for Ron's death and the time sequence of events are out of place, but it is still a deliciously entertaining read.

Read-a-likes: Goldy Culinary Mysteries series by Diane Mott Davidson
Chocoholic Mystery series by JoAnna Carl
Sprinkle with Murder
(Cupcake Bakery Mystery
series) by Jenn McKinlay

Singularity Sky by Charles Stross

The New Republic is seeking help from Earth when their isolated colony is under attack from the information plague.



Rating: Three Stars***

Genre: Science Fiction

Awards: Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004

Summary: The New Republic is a colony that has isolated itself from the Eschaton, a super human artificial intelligence that has infiltrated the minds of humans into releasing any kind of information in exchange for any desired goods. Martin Springfield and Rachel Mansour have traveled to the New Republic from Earth, which has gone under Singularity, where the Eschaton rules. Martin is hired by the New Republic to upgrade their warships, while Rachel is there to serve as counter intelligence. Both have been assigned conflicting tasks by their authorities in the warfare between colonies.

Evaluation: The writing is dense and is slow paced, even though it encompasses many battle scenes. The love interest and conflicting roles between Martin and Rachel adds a bit of complexity and relief to the heavy laden plot, but the overtake of information by the Eschaton is the selling point of the story.

Read-a-likes:The Last Colony by John Scalzi
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card