"Devil's Waltz" by Jonathan Kellerman

Picked this book up at FOPLA, but was pretty sure had read it already. Reread it quickly to compare with Sara Peretsky. From reading the back cover, and from the contents, of course, realized that Kellerman falls into the category of psychological thriller and Peretsky does not. So that's the answer. I prefer psychological thrillers to straight up story telling.

"Body Work" by Sara Peretsky

Read this book because Ray gave it to me to read. He is a big fan of Peretsky, and found this book to be especially good. I found it to be long, often plodding, and unbelievable in its intricacy. And I didn't really get any feeling of warmth coming from it. Funny how Ray and I can't seem to agree on our favorite books. He doesn't like Jonathan Kellerman, and I do.

"The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Ray gave me this to read when I expressed an interest in steampunk. He tells me this is the seminal steampunk novel. Definitely multilayered, and there were sections of the book that I really loved and was amazed by. However, the last section was disappointing, and no concrete mystery was really solved. I also missed out an a lot by not knowing very much about the Victorian era. I'm not interested enough to study and then reread the novel. I did do some minimal studying afterwards, and learned that Ada Byron, Lord Byron's daughter is considered by some to have been the world's first programmer. That's interesting. For future readers, I recommend getting an overview of the Babbage era before reading the novel.

"Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Excellent book because it kept me riveted and brought tears to my eyes. It's not many books that can do that anymore. Unfortunately, towards the end, it strode too much into teen romance territory for my taste. Despite the 'too much romance' aspect, can't wait until I see the movie.

Read much of this book at Mama's house yesterday and today. Ray and I were in Montreal visiting Ciocia Marylka yesterday afternoon, then going to Diane's house for supper. It's nice being with family. Also, Ray and I spent Friday night with Liz and Mark, so we've had a very busy weekend indeed. Nice to be back in Ottawa.

"Dinner along the Amazon" by Timothy Findley

Finally finished this book of short stories. I'm tired of reading about all of his alcoholic characters. He was an alcoholic as well.

"What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell

Somewhat interesting collection of essays that I had been reading for awhile now, usually in bed before going to sleep. This is the 1st book I've read by him, and I frequently found myself wondering why he has become so well known, such a cultural guru. I guess he presents interesting concepts, and shows links that people may have been unaware of.  It probably doesn't help his cause that I was usually tired when I read this book. However, the fact that I stayed awake for all the essays must indicate something positive about their content.

"A Slice of Pi" by Liz Strachan

A fluffy book of mathematical tidbits by an overly nerdy former math teacher. I enjoyed parts of it, so it was worth the read. But I really could care less about tricks for things like figuring out the square of certain types of numbers.