What's a Delmer Look Like?

	Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
	The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
	I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
	In The Hot Zone One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars by Kevin Sites Kevin Sites, a photojournalist, spent a year traveling the globe to report on the world's war zones. I'm not the best when it comes to commenting on serious subjects (you've read my blog). Everybody should read this.
	Stalemate by Iris Johansen Another book from vacation.
	The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry I bought this while on The Disney Magic. I'd not read any Steve Berry before ... I may have to read them all.
	The Overlook by Michael Connelly I either picked this up on The Disney Magic, or while at Disney before leaving for the cruise. I finished it in one day and recall reading it while in a lounge on the ship.
	The Heart of the Panters by Jeff Kirby I read a lot of books that, while I enjoy them, leave me feeling sort of cheap. For example, I'll read everything Michael Connelly puts out and I'll read through his stuff farily fast. But when I'm done I'll use the book to balance a table in my garage with a short leg. And while I'll have felt entertained while I was reading the book, I won't take anything lasting away from it. The Heart of the Panters was different; it took me back to a time when I was young. As I read through it I was reminded of many of the good things about growing up in small-town Ohio.
	A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson I believe this was the first book of 2008
	A Brief History of Almost Everything by Bill Bryson
	Hide by Lisa Gardner
	Alone by Lisa Gardner
	Gone by Lisa Gardner
	The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner
	The Next Accident by Lisa Gardner
	The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
	The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner
	The Second Saladin by Stephen Hunter I'm continuing to work my way through Stephen Hunter novels.
	The Day Before Midnight by Stephen Hunter (Started reading July 12, 2007.)
	Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto
	Practical Programming for Strength Training by Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore and Glenn Pendlay
	Black Light by Stephen Hunter
	Tapestry of Spies by Stephen Hunter
	Dirty White Boys by Stephen Hunter
	Pale Horse by Stephen Hunter
	Time to Hunt by Stephen Hunter
	The Winner by David Baldacci (Downloaded from eReader 4/14/07)
	Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter
	The Protégé by Stephen Frey
	Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
	Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
	Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
	Death Masks by Jim Butcher
	Summer Night by Jim Butcher
	Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
	Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
	Storm Front by Jim Butcher Harry Dresden is a Wizard living in modern-day Chicago. What more needs to be said?
	The End of Faith by Sam Harris
	Wish You Well by David Baldacci This one is set prior to WWII in the mountains of Virginia. and is not the typical thing I read.  This one wasn't non-stop excitement or suspense.  How can I say this? This is a book you could tell a woman you read to show that you have a sensitive side ... and it's really good.
	Split Second By David Baldacci
	Total Control by David Baldacci (First book I read in the new year ... January 1, 2007)
	Hour Game by David Baldacci
	Death Match by Lincoln Child
	Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey
	Torpedo Juice by Tim Dorsey
	Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
	Stingray Shuffle by Tim Dorsey
	Triggerfish Twist by Tim Dorsey
	Orange Crush by Tim Dorsey
	Hammerhead Ranch Motel by Tim Dorsey
	Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey
	A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston
	The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
	The Insider by Stephen Frey
	The Inner Sanctum by Stephen Frey An IRS agent gets murdered and sends and e-mail to a colleague from beyond the grave. But wait, there's more ... and it's all pretty good.
	Hollywood Hussein by Ken Baker What better way to track down Saddam Hussein than send the paparazzi after him?
	The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly Another page turner from one of my favorite authors.
	Planet of the Umps by Ken Kaiser Ken Kaiser started out as an umpire in the extreme minors -- mostly by accident. I'm not a sports fan, in the least, but found Kaiser's stories, memories and observations to be interesting and often funny.
	They Don't Play Hockey in Heaven by Ken Baker Ken Baker and I have something in common. We both have tumors on our pituitary gland that caused our prolactin to be higher than it should have been which, in turn, caused our testosterone to be a lot lower than it should have been. Baker's prolactin was high enough the he actually expressed a small amount of a milky substance once in a while. Baker played college hockey for Colgate University and had a shot at making the 1992 Olympic Hockey team; that shot that was dashed as a result of his tumor. Most of the tumor would eventually be removed -- a bit of it was missed, as I recall from his other book, Man Made: A Memoir of My Body (which goes into greater detail about his chestnut-sized tumor, how it affected him, and the treatment he received) not all of the tumor could be removed as it would have been dangerous to do so. Baker had given up playing hockey until ... One night he had a dream. That dream would lead him to put the skates back on and ... and, I wish I knew anything at all about hockey ... I'd make this sound a little better. What the hell: That dream would lead him to put the skates back on, some really big pads, a mask of some sort, a jersey, and then take off in pursuit of his dream to play pro puck. I'll bet he had a cup on too. Pro puck? Why not. We say "pro ball" when we talk about professional baseball. Maybe pro 'key would be better here. Maybe not.
	The Legacy by Stephen Frey From the e-reader site: Cole Egan, a hard-working financier on Wall Street, is informed that his estranged father has died and left him the key to a safe-deposit box. What he finds inside is a videotape of the JFK assassination—filmed from the other side of Dealey Plaza. Before he can get over the initial shock of his discovery, Cole finds his life in danger from a conspiracy dating back over thirty years... and a secret that was never meant to be told.
	Shadow Account by Stephen Frey From the e-reader site: An investment banker in the maverick firm Phenix Capital, Conner Ashby is doing all right for himself. At twenty-seven, he's practically the right-hand man of the company's founder -- a wealthy old pro looking to make a big comeback on The Street while grooming Conner for a place at the top. Between his career and his gorgeous girlfriend, it's a good life, with every indication of getting even better -- until a wayward e-mail crosses Conner's computer, and plunges his near-perfect world into a terrifying downward spiral. Terrifying downward sprial! What's not to love.
	Silent Partner by Stephen Frey A billionaire software guy, a gal, and a pizza place. Okay, there's no pizza place.
	Trustfund by Stephen Frey Another winner.
	The Chairman by Stephen Frey Not as hard to put down as The Daytrader ... still, very good.
	The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams I thought I'd take a break and make my way through someting fun.
	The Day Trader by Stephen Frey I had a hard time putting this book down. I'm sure I'll work my way through the rest of Frey's books.
	S is for Silence by Sue Grafton I'm all caught up with Grafton's alphabet series.
	Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen I'm about twenty pages into this book. So far there's been one murder and one tourist gone missing. Not a bad start. (Started reading June 18, 2006)
	Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen Strippers. Evil ex-husbands. Corrupt Politicians. Our favorite Cuban cop.
	Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen The last remaining pair of a certain species of Vole are kidnapped from a Disney-wannabe theme park.
	Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen A crooked fisherman and televangelist run into some old friends from previous Hiaasen books.
	Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen Another book by Carl Hiaasen. I'm more than halfway through this as I type. Like all the other books I've read by this author, Skin Tight has proved to be very entertaining.
	Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen A Florida State Lottery Winner meets up with some white supremecists ... who are also lottery winners.
	The Sniper's Wife: Audiobook by Archer Mayor I've never read, or listened to anything, by Archer Mayer. I've got just the first couple of chapters under my belt. So far, not much is happening.
	Deck the Halls by Carol Higgins Clark This is the first book I've read by Carol Higgins Clark. I'm not too far into it, but it seems to have promise.
	Hear No Evil: Audiobook by James Grippando I'm not even going to try to listen to these in order of publication. Jack Swytek is in private practice as a defense attorney. There's been a murder on a military base. He gets involved not so much for the money as personal reasons.
	The Pardon: Audiobook by James Grippando There are two Swyteks in this book -- one an attorney and the other the governor. They are both being terrorized by the same psycho.
	"R" is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton Kinsey is hired to escort Reba, just released from prison, home from the joint and is asked to keep an eye on her for a day or two. Things sort of snowball -- it would be a boring story if they didn't -- and Kinsey's involvment grows a bit more than she expected.
	"Q" is for Quarry by Sue Grafton Kinsey is helping two retired law enforcement guys work on a cold case. A body had been found, as they so often are, by a quary many years before. Kinsey meets another relative or two.
	"O" is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton We all knew I'd get around to reading "O" is for Outlaw, and I did a short while back. I'm currently working my way throught "R" is for Ricochet having made a stop at "Q" is for Quarry on the way. I'm a little fuzzon the what the "O" plot was.
	"N" is for Noose by Sue Grafton It was getting too hard to make heads or tails out of the HTML involved in getting all the Grafton books together, and I haven't had the time to put all this stuff together in its own page .. so I keep modifying the Books entry. So, "Noose" gets its own section.
	Blowout: Audiobook by Catherine Coulter I just started listening to this audiobook. Savitch and Sherlock take a break in the Poconos only to be called back to the office to work on a murder but not before Savitch has a supernatural experience.
	Blindside: Audiobook  by Catherine Coulter Like the other audiobooks, I listened to this one as I took my evening strolls. This one starts out with a little boy named Sam being kidnapped and his escape from the kidnappers (this isn't really a spoiler -- it's a small part of the story). At the moment it was clear he'd made his getaway I teared up. I hate seeing kids in trouble in movies and, it would seem, I don't care to read about them in danger. Maybe this was more of a strain as I have a little boy just a bit older than the one in the story; and his name is Sam.
	"E" is for Evidence   "F" is for Fugitive   "G" is for Gumshoe "H" is for Homicide   "I" is for Innocent   "J" is for Judgement "K" is for Killer   "L" is for Lawless   "M" is for Malice   by Sue Grafton I continue to tear through the Kinsey Millhone books and Kinsey continues to tear through the cases. As I write this her apartment has just been rebuilt and she's on her way to the Mohave Desert to work a case. (I started "G is for Gumshoe" on February 3, 2006; "I" is for Innocent on February 8.)

   

Brimstone, The Cabinet of Curiosities, Dance of Death, Ice Limit, Riptide, Still Life With Crows, and Thunder Head 

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Again, I read all of these in e-book format. If I were to do it over I'd start with the first books Preston and Child had written by themselves and together and read them in order of publication. As it stands I've read all of the available e-books except The Codex. The books are all very good. I'll admit that I suspected that I knew whodunit early on in two of the Agent Pendergast books, but they were still enjoyable. I plan on getting their non-e-book works and reading them as well. Sorry about being too lazy to write a blurb about each book. It's summer. I'm a slug. 

	The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the other three books in the trilogy (yes, there were four, maybe five total), gosh, a good long time ago. I also read Dirk Gently. In the years that have passed I've wondered what happened to Douglas Adams. I'd assumed he'd quit writing. It would seem I was wrong, he was writing quite a bit, it just wasn't showing up in anything I read. The Salmon of Doubt is a collection of some of these articles. The introduction suggests that the material in the book was culled from Adams' computers after he died. I seem to recall that the introduction said some of the material is unpublished and there may be bits and pieces of a novel waiting for me in the upcoming chapters. I could reread the introduction, I guess, to get a handle on what's coming up. But I won't; I'm having too good a time moving forward. You should really read this one.
	Sick Puppyby Carl Hiaasen This will be the third book in a row I've read by Carl Hiaasen. All three have been in e-Book format. The other books have been entertaining. The main male characters in both of the other books have been 52 and 47-years old. Both characters have ended up with women twenty years their junior. What's not to like? Update: Twilly Spree has trouble with litterbugs and, well, people in general. Having had a small fortune left to him he is free to Keep Florida Beautiful using some unconventional means. He does the things we all sometimes wish we could do. He avoids jail. He gets the girl. I give it two thumbs up ... though the other two books I've readby Carl Hiaasen edge this one out a bit.
	Basket Caseby Carl Hiaasen This is another e-book purchase. I enjoyed Skinny Dip so much that I bought another Carl Hiaasen book. Jack Tagger is a newspaper man. Well, he used to be anyway. He ticked off one of the bigshots and was demoted to writing obituaries. The problem with being the obit writer, or Jack's problem anyway, is that you have a keen awareness of when, and sometimes where, people died. It can become a little bit of a hangup as you try to rank your life's accomplishements in terms of your age versus say, the accomplishments of JFK or Elvis. An ex-famous singer has died. Jack wants to make his obit more a tribute in one of the main sections of the paper rather than a few lines burried in the obit section. As he interviews friends and family he develops suspicions about what might have actually happened to the singer. Sex? Drugs? Rock & Roll? Yes on all three counts. Well worth reading.
	Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen I stumbled across this book while bouncing around the web looking for nothing in particular. Someone else recommended it on their website and it sounded intriguing. Joey and Chaz set off on a romantic second-anniversary cruise. Midway through Chaz tosses his wife over the side of the ship certain she'll end up as shark food. Had that been the case, Skinny Dip would have been about 40 pages long and not nearly worth the $15.00 I paid for it (in eBook format). As luck would have it Joey was the co-captain of her college swim team. After some time in the water she comes to realize that swimming for one's life in the ocean is not exactly the same as competing for medals in a heated pool. Approaching exhaustion she brushes up against something in the water that saves her life: a talking dolphin. Not really.
	Heft On Wheels A Field Guide to Doing a 180 by Mike Magnuson Mike Manguson spent much of his adult life drinking, smoking and over eating. As he approached 39 years of age he decided he needed to make a change. He'd always enjoyed cycling -- even though he sometimes had trouble sticking with it for great periods of time -- and decided he'd work at becoming the best he could be on a bike. An expensive bike. He goes from being the guy some of the other's in his ride group refer to as someone 'who shouldn't be here' to a leader of the pack. Along the way he rides up and down a couple of mountains, gets hit by a truck, drops a bunch of weight, and gives up his vices (and the way of life that accompanies them) -- not in that order. He tells his story much better and I tell of the way he tells his story. That is, the book is always interesting and often humerous. (And this review bites the big one. Whattaya want for nothing? Rubber Biscuit?)
Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children by Greg Bear I'd had my eye on Darwin's Radio at the eReader website. It sounded interesting enough and at $6.50 the price was right. As I went to buy it I noticed I could get Darwin's Children at a special price (“just click ADD,” the website instructed) if I bought it at the same time. I assumed it would add something under $6.50 for the second book – and I'd get two books for ten or eleven dollars. So, I clicked. One book for $6.50. Two books for $4.99. Which makes the special price negative $1.51. Sweet. In Darwin's Radio we find that the next step in human-evolutionary development has started. In fact, it appears that there have been a couple of recent starts in the past several decades but they've all been 'controlled' by way of military action. Children are being born with the ability to talk among other things. Naturally, the general population is freaked Darwin's Children takes the story several steps further. The children – virus children as they are called by the panicked portion of the populace – have been sent to schools. The schools don't attempt to teach the children anything, they are just places to keep them all together and out of the way. The kids are tired of being in the school. Their parents are tired of them being there as well. Things start to happen. Political alliances change. Some people that you want to see get theirs get theirs. Old friends reappear. Old Yeller gets rabies and has to be put down. Mars finally gets the women it needs OK, most of that happens. Some of it doesn't.