Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You by Eli Pariser

Have you ever imaged that same search term by different person will bring back different search results? It is happening every day now. All the behavior data that we generate by using the internet has come back as a tool for business to re-target us. A wonderful book to examine all the major media, the business sector, and the internet companies, even ourselves have built a large filter bubble of our daily lives. Highly recommended.

304 Pages

Bad Night at Dry Creek by Cameron Judd

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Outlaw Noah Murphy thinks the sheriff knows the location of the stolen bank money.  The Murphy gang attacks the town, they want to burn it. Defense of the town is divided between the sheriff and a local gambler who hates him.  

Audio:  5 hrs. 46 min.

Print:  191 pages.

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

The Prophecy has been fulfilled and Rand al'Thor hold Callandor, The Sword that Cannot be Touched. With it the whole of the world knows that he is the Dragon Reborn, the reincarnation of the ancient hero Lew Therin Telamon come again to save and destroy the world. In the fourth volumn of the Wheel of Time, Rand now rules over the nation of Tear and must unite the fractured desert warrior clans of the Aiel behind him if he is to fulfil the next part of the Prophecy of the Dragon.

Meanwhile his two friends, Mat Cauthon and Perrin Aybara, must discover that they too have a place in the Prophecy. Mat, seeking answers, travels through a pair of ancient doorways to eerie other worlds to understand his destiny to die and live once more, to marry the Daughter of the Nive Moons, and to give up half the light of the world to save the world. Perrin must travel back to their home village to rescue it from terrible danger.

This book continues to greatly expand on the previous three. Most of the minor characters get a lot more plot development than they did before. The villians also start becoming much more active and the forces of Shadow begin to take on a much more sinister nature.

Pages: 1008

"Marked" by Elisabeth Naughton

This novel features characters from Greek mythology starting with a descendent of Heracles (Hercules) trying to save the half-human daughter of his king.  Theron, the current leader of the Argonauts, must leave his kingdom to track down Acacia, the half-sister of the heir to the throne of his homeland, Argolea.  But Acacia has no knowledge of this other world and its inhabitants; she only wants to live a quiet life running her late grandmother's bookstore.  Although Theron is loyal to his king, when he takes Acacia to his homeland, secrets are revealed and deals are made that put everyone's lives in danger.  Oh, and Theron and Acacia have the added complication of immediate mutual attraction.  This is book one in the Eternal Guardians series, and I'm looking forward to reading the others.  321 pages.

11th Hour by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Lindsey Boxer has two high profile cases, and her friends are there to help her solve them.  Drug dealers are murdered, and decapitated heads are found. Police are accused of murder, some are innocent and some are not. 

Audio:  8 hrs. 25 min.

Print:  416 pages.

15 Seconds by Andrew Gross

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

After a Florida plastic surgeon is framed for killing a policeman, he has to prove his innocence and save his daughter from a murdering madman.

Audio:  11 hrs.

Print:  324 pages.

Grandad, There's A Head On The Beach / Colin Cotterill

This is the second book by Cotterill I've read, with a different set of characters this time.  Set in a small coastal town in Thailand, a band of misfit friends, neighbors and relatives set out to right an injustice uncovered by the discovery of a severed head on the beach. Along the way, crime reporter Jimm Juree helps out a fugitive mother and daughter and reunites her brother with her family.  Very witty, snappy dialog and utterly charming!  322 p.

Star Bright: A Christmas Story by Andrew M. Greeley

Jack Flanigan finds Christmas a trial to be endured - especially where his dysfunctional family is involved. Then he meets a lovely Russian woman, Odessa, who reminds him that Christmas should be a spiritually uplifting time bringing warmth and love with the focus on Jesus. Can Odessa bring that message and her calming influence into the Flanigan family? A gentle romance and spiritually uplifting Christmas story. 128 pages.

The Casual Vacancy

By J.K. Rowling

512 pages

A COMPLETELY different experience from the Potter books!  ;)

It wasn't until about page 300 that this novel, focused on ripple effect of the death of a councilman in a small town, started really affecting me.  I was not enjoying spending time with any of the characters, and then, as the small but devastatingly powerful events started pulling the characters together - as they started interacting in new ways, meeting each other, and ripples from each newly formed relationship started affecting other relationships -I truly saw what Rowling was trying to do.  This is a story of the interconnectivity of human lives, the biases we form and don't analyze, our tendency to coddle and excuse the beautiful and ignore and abhor the ugly. It is about finding good in everyone, and our excuses for judgement.  Powerful stuff, beautifully non-magical and heart-breakingly real. 

The Search by Nora Roberts

I had only listened to the audiobook versions of the "In Death Series" by Nora Roberts but was given this stand alone paperback by a friend.  Fiona Bristow trains rescue dogs and their humans. She's also the lone survivor of a serial killer.  I loved reading about how Fiona uses play to train the dogs. That aspect of the story was more interesting to me than the search for the killer! 456 pages.

Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse read by Susan Duerden

Yet another book about a pilgrimage! Joanna is the young servant girl of Margery Kempe, a famous medieval holy woman.  When Dame Margery is divinely inspired to journey to Rome, she demands that Joanna accompany her. Joanna must cook, clean,wash and mend clothes not only for her mistress but for all the other nobles traveling with her.  Will Joanna ever make it back home? Will there be a home for her to return to? Was the real Margery Kempe the hypocrite portrayed in the book?  Unabridged Listening Library audiobook.  223 pages.  6 hrs. 44 mins.

Divergent

By Veronica Roth

496 pages

I sought out this series after a friend recommended it.  Reminiscent of Hunger Games, this YA title features a dystopian society divided into five factions after many wars:  Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Each year every sixteen year old in the city (built on the remnants of Chicago) must choose a faction to which they will devote their lives.   Each contributes a valuable service to their society, and the choice is made more weighty in that faction is valued above family, and the choice means a separation from parents and siblings if the teens choose to not stay in their home faction. 

Beatrice, the heroine, is presented with a unique and dangerous decision.  Her decision, and the initiation into her faction, reveal some surprising strengths in herself, and some treacherous plots brewing amongst the factions.

This fast-paced tale was an enjoyable read...I'm currently on the waiting list for the second in the series!

THE TIMEKEEPER’S MOON, Joni Sensel

I read the previous book in this young adult fantasy series last year, THE FARWALKER’S QUEST because my granddaughter read it and liked it.  The “farwalker” of the novel is Ariel, a young woman kidnapped and taken away from all that’s familiar to her.  It’s a coming of age story.

The most recent story of her adventures with her guardian, Scarl, her friend, Zeke and two new characters is not as compelling to me.  My granddaughter concurs.

Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, 2010.  340 p.