"Epitaph for a Spy" by Eric Ambler

I enjoyed this book because I found the point of view of a bumbling civilian to be amusing."Poor" Vadassy was the pawn of officials he thought were incompetent fools, and so he kept altering their instructions regarding his behaviour in the hotel.

"Consider Phlebas" by Iain M. Banks

What a pretentious, overwritten, bunch of science fiction poppycock, which is quite unjustly proud of its political science descriptions. Christine likes Iain M. Banks. This makes number 2 for me, and I'm definitely not going near Banks' science fiction again.

"Trent's Last Case" by E. C. Bentley

This was a pleasant read for my course at Carleton. It had an amusing number of twists. On the other hand, the author was definitely a bit too wordy at times. And it's a good thing Wikipedia told me this book was a send-up, because otherwise I would have found the protagonist to be unbearably clever.

"A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I probably read this story in University, when I read the complete Sherlock Holmes, but I definitely don't remember it. In fact, when the story/novel suddenly shifted to Utah and the Mormons, I was puzzled. I thought my version was missing the ending and had suddenly moved on to a bizarre new tale. All of which is to say that this is my least favourite and most boring SHerlock Holmes story, except for the interesting fact that it describes the initial encounter between Holmes and Watson. Also, Doyle spent an awful lot of time describing the Utah landscape, which I presume he never visited.

"The Rainbow Comes and Goes" by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt

This was an amazingly honest book, comprised of a year of exchanged emails between mother and son. It shows that it's never too late to get closer to someone. Too bad I can't apply it in my own life... I have no desire to get closer to my mother. This is the second Anderson Cooper book I've read, and I've enjoyed both of them. His books are easy to read and wise.

"Perfect Figures" by Bunny Crumpacker

This book had some interesting tidbits about the history of numbers. It also had what I consider to be crap... E.g. So and so number is the first one to contain so and so letter in its English name. Another e.g... She would pull up numerous examples where the number she was discussing occurred e.g.12 apostles etc etc. I skipped a lot because coincidences like that don't interest me. But I did like her final chapter very much... on googol and infinity.

"She Walks These Hills" by Sharyn McCrumb

As usual with Sharyn McCrumb, I enjoyed this book. I like the way that she describes people, and makes the Appalachian area (hillbillies) come alive. It was a nice plot point, having the hiking history professor, the baby killing teen, the daughter of the escaped con, the escaped con with severe memory issues, and the aspiring female deputy (with the cheating deputy lover), all coming together at the burning Sorley trailer.