Worth Dying For, by Lee Child (on CD)

There is a certain suspension of belief that must take place in these books. I realized partway through that there are parts of this that are very "porn-y" about violence (without sex). Yuck. Still...I love these books. How is Reacher going to get rid of 20 people arrayed against him? Luck plays a major part.

The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey

Great story! Set in Alaska in the 1920s. I really enjoyed the interplay of relationships in the book, the coming-to-acceptance of unlikely events. I'm still not sure what to make of the little girl, but the story was delightfully told.

High Country, by Nevada Barr (on CD)

I've read this before (in book form), but it was fun to listen to it again. Barbara Rosenblat is so good at reading and imbuing books with life. And I love Anna Pigeon for her forthrightness.

The Frozen Thames, by Helen Humphreys

Very short, quick read.

Wolf, No Wolf, by Peter Bowen

Somewhat difficult reading for a mystery, because the author writes the main character's dialogue in Métis Creole. The story is about the murders that occur when wolves are reintroduced to a ranching area in northern Montana. Fascinating view of how people living in underpopulated areas view the government and outsiders in general. [Hint: not very pleasantly, and with pretty good reason]

A good book for a quick primer on how people "out west" think.

Quality of Life Report, by Meghan Daum

Hmm. Sort of chick lit for the Ivy League set. I didn't like many people in this book, especially the narrator who is the personification of one of my own personal pet peeves: Life Does Not Exist Outside of New York City. That attitude has been the major reason for my unwillingness to EVER visit the city, which was finally (I thought) exorcised by the events of September 11, 2001.

And yet, here it raises its head again in a story about a 30ish "woman" who heads into the wilds of the midwest to report on life there for the viewers of a New York talk/information show that's about as deep and meaningful as the layer of scum on a spring-fed pond. As is the 'heroine.'

Reading this book was painful and depressing for me on many levels. I know this chick, and can't STAND her! Since a tiny bit of her exists in me, that led to feelings of desperation at the sight of my own failings. She is also the embodiment of all I loathe about women's magazines (Cosmo, et al.) and their cheap attempts at "serious" articles. The author's description of winter in the upper midwest is spot-on, which means that I'm having my usual mid-winter blecchhhhh NOW, in the midst of a perfectly lovely stretch of 70-degree-and-sunny weather. The only person I liked in the book turns out to be a meth addict, and I can totally see WHY because I'd probably do meth too if I had to be around this dingbat for more than 30 seconds. By the way, I hardly think it's as easy as it appears to quit cranking on meth. In any case, what I'm saying is that everything negative about the main character is me, and....there is nothing particularly positive about her except that on the last page she pulls her head out of her butt for the first time in the book. She is the least proactive person I think I've ever read about, which is precisely the way I was raised NEVER to be. She drove me frickin' CRAZY!

And then the end. Poof: magic wand time. Tie it all up in a neat little package of sudden awareness, motivation, and being saved by the evil NewYorkians. This is definitely a book I will remember, but certainly not fondly, since the things I liked about it made me profoundly depressed about my life, and the parts I didn't like (see the opening lines of this paragraph for example) were simply hideous.

All Mortal Flesh, by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Great new (to me) series about an Episcopal priest and the chief of police in her small northern New York State town. It seems they are in love, with the problem being that he's married. We pick up the story just after Russ's wife throws him out of his house and Clare (the priest) is on retreat trying to sort out what to do about this.

A friend of the chief's wife stops to check up on her and finds her body on the floor in the kitchen of her house. Of course the chief is a primary suspect, followed by Clare. This is an interesting story with a major twist and some really creepy characters who only show up at the end.

Now I want to know how these two met, so I think Spencer-Fleming is a new List Author. On the other hand, I'm not sure where she's headed next after this book; it's going to be tricky to have the series characters working together.

I also like that all the titles in the series seem to be from well-known hymns.