BW 35: H is for Heminway, sort of.....

Hello, my darlings!  I'm still on vacation in Washington and have been sharing one computer with my hubby and son.  I haven't been spending a whole lot of time online, in favor of reading and enjoying our wonderful view when we aren't out and about. 

Mount Rainer - sunset

My guys in backyard, hanging out

So I'm leaving you with a short pictorial of writers at work.    Back when they did it the old fashioned way - using a typewriter

Ernest Hemingway working on For Whom the Bell Tolls 1939

William Faulkner working on screenplay 1940

Ralph Ellison in Rome in 1957

Agatha Christie

George Bernard Shaw 1929

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BW34: G is for Gansky

I'm just about to take off on a trip to Seattle and trying to decide which books to take with me to read on the airplane. Yes, I have my nook but you have to power all electronics down on take off and landing which I discovered was a royal pain in the but the last time we flew. Also I'm up to the O's in my A to Z by Title and Author Challenge. So I let that be my guide. A year or so ago I picked up A Ship Possessed by Alton Gansky to read for the Christy Award Challenge. First time author read for me and he writes christian supernatural thrillers along the lines of Frank Peretti (so excited he finally has a new novel coming out in march 2012 and Ted Dekker.

Synopsis of A Ship Possessed: The USS Triggerfish--an American World War II submarine--has come home over fifty years after she was presumed lost in the Atlantic. Now her dark gray hulk lies embedded in the sand of a San Diego beach, her conning tower barely above the breaking surf. The submarine is in the wrong ocean, her crew is missing . . . And her half-century absence is a mystery that's about to deepen. For the Triggerfish has returned, but she has not returned alone. Something is inside her -- something unexpected and terrible. To J. D. Stanton, retired Navy captain and historian, falls the task of solving the mystery surrounding a ship possessed. What he is about to encounter will challenge his training, his wits, and his faith. Complicating his mission is a ruthless madman bent on obtaining a secret artifact stolen from the highest levels of the Nazi regime. And poised in the middle is a young woman, a lieutenant who must contend with invisible forces she never knew existed. A Ship Possessed is a story of faith, courage, and determination in the face of unexpected and unknown evil.

Chilling, goose bumps, heart racing, exciting can't put down books. Thoroughly enjoyed it and started looking for more of his books. Discovered Out of Time in the bargain books at Bereans the other day so just had to get it.

Synopsis of Out of Time: J.D. Stanton has set sail with two Navy men and a crew of five troubled teenagers. Two days out they encounter a strange storm that damages their craft and leaves them on an eerie sea with no way to take a bearing. Suddenly a dark object emerges through the mist--HMS Archer--a long lost WWI British military ship. Stanton and his shipmates board the ship but find no trace of the crew, only their belongings. Soon Stanton realizes they are on a ship that is "out of time"--and they are out of time, too, because one of the teenagers needs immediate medical treatment. Stanton and the others begin to catch ghostly glimpses of the original crew. Stanton learns that one of the "ghosts" had planned to murder the crew of the Archer. Now one of the teens is bonding with that murderer. Will he attempt to murder Stanton's crew, too?

So, I'll be reading Out of Time on the plane. I also have Finder's Fee in my TBR Pile and looking forward to reading more of his other novels. Alton Gansky has written over 40 books specializing in suspense and supernatural suspense. He's also written a few nonfiction novels dealing with biblical mysteries.

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.


If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW33: F is for Fantasy and Science Fiction

Josephine Wall's Lady of the Lake

Fantasy and science fiction genre books have always been my very first real book true love.  I couldn't get enough of it back in the 70's and 80's and I go back to it time and again.   NPR recently polled their readers and the result "Your Picks:  Top 100 Science Fiction Fantasy Books"   No, I didn't vote because I found about it after the fact, but found the list very interesting.

I highlighted the ones I've read and surprisingly it's almost half the list.  

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin (only 1st one so far)
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9.  Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan (only 1st book so far)
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick  (in my TBR pile)
22. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King (only 1st one so far)
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God’s Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi  (on my TBR pile)
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan (only 1st one so far, 2nd book in  TBR pile)
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

How many of the books on the list have you read? (if any)

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If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

BW32: E is for Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something simple this week to think about rather than enticing you with more books to weigh down your TBR piles or wishlist.

A Nation's Strength

What makes a nation's pillars high

And it's foundations strong?

What makes it mighty to defy

The foes that round it throng?

It is not gold. Its kingdoms grand

Go down in battle shock;

Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,

Not on abiding rock.

Is it the sword? Ask the red dust

Of empires passed away;

The blood has turned their stones to rust,

Their glory to decay.

And is it pride? Ah, that bright crown

Has seemed to nations sweet;

But God has struck its luster down

In ashes at his feet.

Not gold but only men can make

A people great and strong;

Men who for truth and honor's sake

Stand fast and suffer long.

Brave men who work while others sleep,

Who dare while others fly...

They build a nation's pillars deep

And lift them to the sky.

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.


If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.