#54 The Cold Dish By Craig Johnson **

From Amazon: Walt Longmire, the veteran sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyo., usually has little to do on his patrols. When Cody Pritchard is found shot to death near the Cheyenne reservation, everyone, including Deputy Victoria Moretti, a transplanted Philadelphian, believes he died in an accident. But two years earlier, Cody was one of four high schoolers convicted of raping a young Native American girl. All were given suspended sentences, and when another of the four turns up dead, it appears that someone is out for revenge. As fear mounts, Sheriff Longmire feels tension in the air between the white population and the Native American community, and he's not pleased to think that his lifelong friend, Henry Standing Bear, might be directly involved in the murders.

01/19/07 I hate to say this but this was just okay for me. I really wanted to like this Wyoming author being from there and all. Maybe that was part of the problem I didn't need so many words to tell me what Wyoming is like. The parts that caught my interest were just two few and far between. However, I was surprised; never guessed who the killer was.

#53 Leave No Trace by Hannah Nyala ****

From Amazon: Nyala's first foray into the fiction arena chronicles a similar quest for survival that's so believable, it's easy to forget this is fiction. Set in Australia's Tanami Desert, the book eloquently balances suspenseful and graphic scenes with moments of introspection and light humor. A trio of complex protagonistsTally Nowata (the female tracker who narrates the story), Paul O'Malley (her lover) and Josephine O'Malley (Paul's spoiled 10-year-old daughter from a previous marriage)engage the reader from the outset. The story opens with Paul taking a routine trip from his desert research camp to pick up Jo, who just arrived from the States. When Paul and his daughter fail to return after several days, Tally begins making her way across the desert, eventually encountering Paul, who's been murdered, and a near-death Jo. The rest of the novel chronicles Tally and Jo's courageous journey as they struggle to survive and elude Paul's killers, who are hot on their trail.

12/20/06 I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn to it because the main character is a SAR worker in the Grand Tetons. However, the book takes place in the Austrailian dessert. Tally took awhile to grow on me but once the story got moving it was nonstop adventure at it's best.

#52 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers***

From Amazon: At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated -- and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.

12/20/06 Glad I got this one read. I had it on my shelf for some time and saw it in the movie A Love Song for Bobby Long and had to pick it up.

The Best of 2006

All 5 star reads!!!

Godless by Pete Hautman
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Towelhead by Alicia Erian
Watermelon by Marion Keys
So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Compromising Positions by Susan Isaacs
Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
The book of Joe by Johnathon Tropper.

To make it an even 10 my favorite 4 star reads. I'll up them to 4 1/2 stars...

Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst
Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook

***Subject to change since the year isn't up yet.

2007 Fiction Lovers Challenge

Read 26 books that have been sitting on my shelf way too long!!!

I've composed a list which is subject to change. What constitutes too long?? Something that has been sitting on the shelf over 6 months???

2nd Chance by James Patterson
The Analyst by John Katzenbach
Back When We Were Grown Ups by Anne Tyler
Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Eyes of Prey by John Sandford
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
Second Summer of the Sisterhoodby Ann Brashares DONE!!
White Out by Ken Follett
Sahara by Clive Cussler
Tillerman Series by Cynthia Voigt
Shutter Islandby Dennis LeHane DONE!!
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
Two for the Money by Janet Evanovich
The Laughing Corpes by Laurell K. Hamilton
True To Form by Elizabeth Berg
Oliva Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Feilding
No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Messenger by Lois Lowry
Magical Thinking by Augsten Burroughs
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
Donorboy by Brendan Halpin
The Ha Ha by Dave King
Object of My Affection by Stephen McCauley

2006 Fiction Lovers Alphabet Challenge; How I ended up

The challenge was to read a "new to me author" for every letter in the alphabet. Well I'm still missing a few letters but read over 30 new authors which were over half of all the books I read this year.

A
B = Beard, Philip Dear Zoe
C = Cook, Claire Must Love Dogs
C = Colas, Emily Just Checking
D = Dallas, Sandra The Persian Pickle Club
E = Estes, Winston M. Another Part of the House
E = Erian, Alicia Towelhead
E = Evanovich, Janet One For The Money
E = Edwards, Kim The Memory Keepers Daughter
F = Flock, Elizabeth Me & Emma
F = Farmer, Nancy The House of the Scorpion
G
H = Hautman, Pete Godless
H = Hunt, Irene Across Five Aprils
I = Isaacs, Susan Compromising Positions
J = Jackson, Joshilyn Gods in Alabama
K = Keyes, Marian Watermelon
L = Leavitt, Caroline Girls in Trouble
L = Lindsay, Jeff Darkly Dreaming Dexter
L = L'Engle, Madeleine A Wrinkle in Time
M = Myers, Walter Dean, Monster
M = McCullers, Carson The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
N = Nolan, Han Send Me Down A Miracle
N = Nyala, Hannah Leave No Trace
O
P = Packer, Ann The Dive From Clausen's Pier
Q
R = Rosoff, Meg How I Live Now
S = Spark, Muriel The Finishing School
S = Sandford, John Rules of Prey
S = Saul, John Perfect Nightmare
T = Tucker, Lisa Shout Down The Moon
T = Tropper, Jonathan The Book Of Joe
U
V = Voigt, Cynthia Homecoming
W = Westerfeld, Scott Uglies
W = White, Kate If Looks Could Kill
W = Weeks, Sarah So B. It
W = Wilde, Oscar The Importance of Being Earnest
W = Wiesel, Elie Night
Z