Watch Your Back by Donald E. Westlake

Oscar Season, by Mary McNamara

Smoking Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich

Frankenstein: Lost Souls, by Dean Koontz

Bright Shiny Morning, by James Frey–terrific book!*

Lyndon Johnson; Portrait of a President, by Robert Dallek

Certain Girls, by Jennifer Weiner

Seventh Heaven, by James Patterson

Some Like It Hot Buttered, by Jeffrey Cohen

Christine Falls, by Benjamin Black

Indelible, by Karin Slaughter

The Boat: Stories, by Nam Le–Didn’t Finish

Careless in Red, by Elizabeth George*

Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America, by Andrew F. Smith

Touchstone, by Laurie R. King

The Spies of Warsaw, by Alan Furst

Killer Mousse, by Melinda Wells

Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full, by Conrad Black

Tapped Out, by Natalie M. Roberts

The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich*

Fool, by Christopher Moore*

(Concurrently, "King Lear" by Shakespeare)

The Appeal, by John Grisham*

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins–"Survivor; Murder Island" zzzzzzzzzz

The Neon Rain, by James Lee Burke

Bang, the Complete History of the Universe,* by Brian May, Patrick Moore, & Chris Lintott

Final Curtain, by J.T. Jordan–Egads! and Yuck! Terrible book!

Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan–read to end because I didn’t like the characters and knew what happened, historically

A Cure for Night, by Justin Peacock

Dashiell Hammet: Complete Novels–Red Harvest

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

In the Woods, by Tana French*

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

Faithless by Karin Slaughter

Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, by Paul Kennedy

Different Paths, by Jodie Clemens

The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie*

Rules of Deception, by Christopher Reich

Lost Splendor :The Amazing Memoir of the Man Who Killed Rasputin, by Prince Felix Youssoupoff

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

Trail of the Spellmans, by Lisa Lutz

Death’s Half Acre, by Margaret Maron

The Jefferson Bible, the Life and Morals of Jesus, by Thomas Jefferson

Her Royal Spyness, by Rhys Bowen

Black & White and Dead All Over, by John Darnton–Oh, those terrible, absurd names!

Believing the Lie, by Elizabeth George*

Defending Jacob, by William Landay

11/22/63, by Stephen King*

The Best American Short Stories, 2008, edited by Salman Rushdie and Heidi Pitlor

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis

Succulents II, by Maurizio Sajeva and Mariangela Costanzo*

Herald of Death, by Kate Kingsbury

Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones*

Catch Me, by Lisa Gardner*

Son of a Witch, by Gregory MaGuire*

Explosive Eighteen, by Janet Evanovich

Silent Mercy, by Linda Fairstein

Gerald R. Ford, by Douglas Brinkley

V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton*

The Dain Curse, by Dashiell Hammet

Ronald Reagan, by Kenneth T. Walsh

Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham

The Actress, by Elizabeth Sims

Beyond Reach, by Karin Slaughter

Stalking Susan, by Julie Kramer

The New Western Garden Bible...er... Book*

Home, by MarilynneRobinson

Where Memories Lie, by Deborah Crombie

The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane*

Spider Season, by John Morgan Wilson

The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly

When Will there Be Good News?, by Kate Atkinson* Be aware–there’s a reason for the title! *L*

Split Second, by Catherine Coulter

The Breakfast Book, by Marion Cunningham

A Place of Hiding, by Elizabeth George

The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories, by Louise Erdrich–didn’t finish

The Private Patient, by P. D. James

Testimony, by Anita Shreve*

Rules of Prey, by John Sanford

A Most Wanted Man, by John le Carr

The Red Prince, The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke, by Timothy Snyder

Beat the Reaper, by Josh Bazell

Going to See the Elephant, by Rodes Fishburne

Betrayal, by John Lescroart

Christmas Cottage Cookbook

E is for Evidence, by Sue Grafton

American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld

* The Best Books

1, A Kilt: "It’s only a skirt if you are wearing something under it."

2. Conversation Snippet: Abortion is a dead issue." "Or a dead tissue."

3. It’s an epidemic of broken zippers!

1. Another time, another place, I would sooooo do this! *L*

2. Alexia

3. "The past is obdurate."

4. "Dying? That’s the last thing I want to do."

5. If litigants were only allowed to collect out-of-pocket expenses, the number of lawsuits would drop dramatically.

6. Same day headlines: "Radiation responsible for butterfly mutations", "Caterpillar Workers Ratify Deal They Dislike"

7. What is the likelihood of the last name, Vogelsang, appearing in two books being read concurrently? Probably pretty low, but it happened: Nora Vogelsang in V is for Vengeance and Sandy Vogelsang in the Gerald Ford bio I was reading. Additionally, I came across the name, Vogelsong, at the same time, but I don’t remember where I saw it.

8. Amusing: Early California Extra Large Black Olives lists on the back label–

Fewer Calories

Less Total Fat

No Saturated Fat

Fit on you fingers

9. Squunched

10. Religion, Greed, and Blood