54.) Corpus Chrome, Inc. by S. Craig Zahler (science fiction)A major corporation has figured out how to put the souls of the recently dead into robot bodies.  No one can figure out their criteria for selecting people; a nobel prize winner, an illiterate volunteer fireman, etc.  Then a wealthy woman offers them $20 million dollars to bring her son ( Read more... )

49.) Peach Cobbler Murder by Jo Anne Fluke (murder mystery)Hannah's business, The Cookie Jar, isn't doing too well. A new bakery has moved in right across the street.  Her partner Lisa is getting married and Hannah is bringing peach cobbler to the reception only to learn that her competitor Shawna Lee from Magnolia Blossum, the new bakery also ( Read more... )

46.) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (juvenile science fiction)
This is supposed to be a science fiction classic.  I guess I'm 42 years too late to get the full impact of it, kind of like A Separate Peace by John Knowles.  I actually picked up Wrinkle, it's sequel Wind in the Wall and A Separate Peace at the Salvation Army second hand store ( Read more... )

43.) Myth-Interpretations by Robert Aspirn (short story collection)The short stories include some set in his Myth series, some set in the Thieves' World series, some set in the Cold Cash War series and some stand alone.  Pleasant reading.  It includes one depressing editor's note about coming back from Robert's funeral and finding his last short ( Read more... )

40.) Fudge Cupcake Murder by Jo Anne Fluke (murder mystery)Number 5 in the series.  The Sheriff's office is up for grabs in the town election.  It's a hot race between Sheriff Grant and his deputy Bill, until Grant is found dead with one of Hannah's fudge cupcakes in his hand.  And it looks like the primary suspect is deputy Bill, Hannah's brother ( Read more... )

37.) Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces by Radley Balko (non-fiction ( Read more... )

36.) Dead Men Do Tell Tales by William R. Maples Phd (Autobiography)He's the real-life bones working out of Washington DC and he's worked all over the world identifying dead bodies and their causes of death.  While he does give some details, I didn't find the book overly graphic or morbid.  A few tidbits: He's handled the bones of The Elephant Man ( Read more... )

34.) Blueberry Muffin Murder by JoAnn Fluke (mystery)
35.) Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by JoAnn Fluke (mystery ( Read more... )

33.) Merchant of Vengeance by Simon Hawke (historical mystery)
Another Shakespeare and Smythe novel.  William wants to find a real Jew in Elizabethan England to talk to him, so he can write a better play than Christopher Marlowe's Jew of Malta.  Unfortunately, the Jew is murdered shortly after meeting William, and William and Tuck are brought to ( Read more... )

28.) Over the River and Through the Woods by Clifford Simak (Science Fiction Short Story Collection)

I enjoy Simak.  He has a talent for 'rural science fiction'.  A large number of his stories don't take place in laboratories or aboard starships, but out in the countryside where plain folks find things they don't know how to deal with.

29.) The ( Read more... )