Jeffrey Archer is one of my favorite authors. I've read everything he's written. This latest is the first in a series of books about a single family. He's best known for writing about British families, tracing them through years at a time. One of his best books is "Kane and Abel" - I've read that one thrice. This latest is along those same lines. Highly recommended.
OK - I have to preface this one with the comment that I don't really like, or understand, the recent craze for vampire books. I'm comfortable enough as a man to freely admit that I read the whole "Twilight" series (right alongside my Craftsman and John Deere catalogs and Sports Illustrated magazines) - but I don't really get the frenzy for teenage vampire fiction that stemmed from it. I chose this book because it was on the Amazon 2010 list - I didn't really know much about it. Basically, the US Government develops a new "weapon" consisting of humans infected with a certain virus that makes them "inhuman". In essence - they become vampires. The first part of the book introduces the main characters (i.e., the folks who become the vampires), and the young girl who ends up being able to conquer them. The remainder of the book jumps ahead about 100 years after the vampires escape, and tells the story of one small group of survivors, and their quest to continue surviving. Once I got past the fact that I was reading a vampire book, it actually was pretty good. Recommended, even for those who don't get the vampire-book fever.
Lee Child writes a series of mystery/detective books starring a guy named Jack Reacher. Reacher is a retired army investigator, who now lives "off the grid". In each book, he turns up to save the day. They're your basic detective novel - I like reading them when I'm looking for just a straightforward detective novel (i.e., something that I can read in bed, and don't feel bad falling asleep before I finish the chapter). In the spirit of full disclosure - I'm reading another of his right now (hoping to get it done before Christmas - see below for the reason why). I probably won't post about that other book. Most of his can all be described like this one was.
This one is a short little Christmas story I read just to get into the season of Christmas. There's a set of 12 Eastern European "Christmas Glass" ornaments that get passed down in an Italian family. During WWII, the Christmas Glass makes it's way to America, where it gets split up with the feisty Italian lady who's the matriarch in this family. Fast-forward to present day. The family is split up, and each piece of Christmas Glass is now with a different family member or friend. The matriarch, who's now in her '80's, issues an ultimatum to her children, which leads to the Christmas Glass being reunited. Each chapter is the story of each of the friends and family members. A fun little book that I really enjoyed. If you want a quick little Christmas read - this one will do it!
Lastly, I re-read The Lost Hero. I have a sneaking suspicion that Santa is bringing me "Son of Neptune" for Christmas, and wanted to make sure I was remembering what had last happened in the story. For those who don't know, these are the first two books in the "sequel series" to the Percy Jackson books that came out a few years ago. The author, Rick Riordan, does a wonderful job at mixing the old Greek/Roman stories of the gods/goddesses/heroes with modern-day heroes. Not only are they fun to read (my oldest daughter has really gotten into them as well), but I like how they're educational as well (helping "the kids" to learn about that history). Hopefully Santa has his delivery right, so I can continue the series.
I've got the new Amazon 2011 list all ready and sorted, so I'll probably start posting about some of those newer books on their list. I already sorted about 30 or so off their Top 100 list that I probably won't read - but I have plenty more to look forward to this coming year!
