I enjoyed this first book in the Erast Fandorin series. I liked how Fandorin noticed inconsistencies and how he interacted with his boss and with the suspects. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Turkish Gambit.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This was a very good book about finding one's way in the world and the need to be important to someone. I liked how Baby learned about herself and her father.

I enjoyed this anthology of Known Space stories. I especially liked the stories "Wait it out," (set on Pluto), "At the Bottom of a Hole," (Muller discovers the truth behind the failure of a human settlement on Mars) and "The Borderland of Sol" (Julius Forward has a very dangerous weapon). I also like the timeline at the beginning of the book which sets the stories in context and the bibliography at the end.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This was an interesting look at the lives of people in Afghanistan during and after the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the Taliban rule in the 1990s. One scene that has stayed with me is when the women in the burqas have to know what shoes each is wearing so they don't lose each other.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This book had a good mix of mystery and science fiction. I liked how Wil and Della Lu learn who abandoned Marta Korolev in the past and who was still a danger to them in the present.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This was a very good collection of fantasy stories with a twist. I especially liked the stories "Travels with the Snow Queen," "Flying Lessons," and "Shoe and Marriage."

Rating: 3*/5 = good

I enjoyed this book selling mystery featuring Alex Plumtree. I especially liked how he discovers who is after him and the writer Angela Mayfield and why. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Unprintable.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This was a very good book about finding one's identity despite others' wish to define it themselves. I liked how Raboteau showed the world from both Emma's and her father's point of view.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This book was a good thriller, but could have been better. I liked the character interaction, especially between Cassie and Melissa in the "tunnel" and between Travis and both Melissa and Jessica Riley. I didn't like that it took the author a long time to explain what Travis was involved in and why various people were after him.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

I've seen reviews that describe this book as a quiet horror and they were right. Throughout I had a sense that something was not quite right, but didn't know what it was. Tryon's description of the area and the characters brings the reader into a very insular world where not everything is as it seems.

Rating: 4*/5 = great

Having listened to Sigler's books Ancestor and Infected as podcasts, I knew to expect a gripping story in Contagious - and I was right. In fact, I could hear Sigler in my mind reading the words and encouraging me to turn one more page and then another page and another. But the book is more than one exciting scene after another. Sigler builds in-depth characters that you care about and root for them to fight the alien invasion. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Rating: 4*/5 = great

This was a beautifully told story about birds, love and people on the eve of revolution. I liked the opera theme throughout as characters entered the scene from stage right or left.

Rating: 4*/5 = good

I liked this collection of Australian science fiction stories. I especially liked David Lake's "Creator" (with an interesting look at how worlds are created) and George Turner's "Not in Front of the Children" (a world in which death is definitely not talked about in certain social circles).

Rating: 3*/5 = good

This was a great book to read at the end of one decade and the beginning of another. I liked how gradually Emilie learns how her isolation has left her ignorant of not only the city life in London but how others perceive her.

Rating: 4*/5 = great

This was a good mystery with lots of twists. I liked how Miss Marple and the Detective Inspector Craddock gradually put together the truth surrounding the murder announcement.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

Not only can Poirot solve a recent crime, but he can solve one sixteen years later! I liked how he knew how to behave with each person, making him or her feel comfortable enough to share what they saw and believed.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

Although it's been a while since I've read a Dresden Files book, I had no problems getting back in the magical world of Harry Dresden. I enjoyed all the twists and surprises, and I liked Harry learning about different types of shape shifting. I look forward to reading the next Dresden Files book, Grave Peril.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

As the first book in a trilogy, this book sets up the characters and the overall situation very well. Twelve Hawks does a good job of bringing the reader into this world, and I liked how everybody, including the antagonists (Brethren/Tabula), believed that they were doing the right thing. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Dark River.

Rating: 3*/5 = good

I enjoyed this collection of short stories and novellas by H.P. Lovecraft. My favorites included "Herbert West--Renanimator," "Imprisoned with the Pharoahs," and "At the Mountains of Madness." The first one I liked because of the way the narrator told the story - first a little bit, and then it repeats with more and more detail. I liked the second story because it was told from the point of view of Harry Houdini. And finally, I liked the third story because it was a good mix of discovery, adventure, and horror. Plus, it takes place in one of my favorite literary settings, Antarctica.

Rating: 3*/5 = good