Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The last book of the Hunger games trilogy. After her rescue by the rebels, Katniss willingly agrees to become "the Mockingjay", a symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol. As part of a deal, she demands that the leader of District 13, President Coin, grant immunity to all of the victors of the Hunger Games. She also demands the right to kill President Snow herself. In a daring rescue, Peeta and other victors are rescued from the Capitol. However, Peeta has been brainwashed into hating Katniss, and tries to kill her upon their reunion in District 13.

The rebels take control of the districts and finally begin an assault on the Capitol itself, which Katniss is a part of. However, an assault on a "safe" Capitol neighborhood goes wrong, and Katniss and her team flee further into the Capitol with the intent of finding and killing President Snow. Eventually Katniss finds herself pressing on alone towards Snow's mansion, which has supposedly been opened to shelter Capitol children (but is actually intended to provide human shields for Snow). Afterwards, bombs placed in supply packages kill many of these children and a rebel medical team, including Katniss' sister Prim.

President Snow is tried and found guilty, but he tells Katniss that the final assault that killed Prim was ordered by President Coin, not the Capitol. Katniss realizes that if this is true, the bombing may have been the result of a plan originally developed by her friend Gale. Katniss realizes that she will never be able to look at Gale the same way, regardless of whether or not he was directly involved in Prim's death. Katniss remembers a conversation with Snow in which they promised not to lie to each other. When she is supposed to execute Snow, she realizes that he was telling the truth and kills Coin instead. A riot ensues and Snow is found dead, having possibly choked on his own blood or been trampled in the crowd. Katniss is acquitted due to her apparent insanity and returns to her home in District 12. Peeta returns soon after as well, having largely recovered from his brainwashing.

In the epilogue, Katniss speaks as an adult, more than fifteen years later. She is married to Peeta and they have two children. The Hunger Games are over, but she dreads the day her children learn the details of their parents' involvement in both the Games and the war. When she feels upset, Katniss has taken to reminding herself of every good thing that she has ever seen someone do.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The second in the Hunger games trilogy. After winning the 74th Hunger Games in the previous novel, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home to District 12, the poorest sector in the fictional country of Panem. On the day that Katniss and Peeta are to start a "victory tour" of the country, she is visited by President Snow. President Snow explains that he is angry at her for threatening to commit suicide with Peeta at the end of the Hunger Games, which permitted them both to win. President Snow tells Katniss that when she defied the Capitol, she created talk of rebellion in the districts. He threatens to kill her family and friends if she cannot prove to everyone in Panem that her act was not one of defiance, but that she was instead driven by an intense love for Peeta.

The hunger games by Suzanne Collins

The first in a trilogy introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once existed. This is where a powerful government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The Hunger Games exist to demonstrate not even children are beyond the reach of the Capitol's power.
It is certainly addictive reading, and I finished this book in a couple of days.

The 6th man by David Baldacci

After alleged serial killer Edgar Roy is apprehended and locked away in a mental facility private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell are called in by Roy's lawyer--an old friend of Sean King--to look into the case. But their investigation is derailed before it begins: while en route to their first meeting with the lawyer, King and Maxwell discover his dead body. It is up to King and Maxwell to uncover the truth: is Roy a killer or not?

The book is based on a ridiculous premise of "the wall" so that although most of it is quite believable, the wall blows any credibility out of the water. Still, it was a good read.

The fifth witness by Michael Connelly

A Lincoln lawyer story where he is defending a young woman accused of murdering a bank employee who she was dealing with re the reposession of her house.
Another hit from Connely with twists at each point.
Oh and btw, The Lincoln lawyer gets a proper office :-0 Whatever next?

The alchemist bz Paolo Coelho

Mz first Coelho book and I do like his writting style. This is the story of a young Spanish shepherd boy searching for his fortune in Northern Africa. Simple style but very effective writting.

Desert spear by David V. Brett

Second book in the series that starts with Arlens potential rival in the role of Deliverer. This book follows more characters, in fact it is written from the POV of 8 different characters with lots of attention to character development.
As interesting as the first book but I think we maz have to wait a while for the concluding book in the trilogzy

Painted man by David V. Brett

Very good fantasy book. It's actually the second time I read this because I started reading the second book in the series, Desert Spear, and realised that I had forgotten most of the characters from the 1st book so I had to re-read it.
There are multiple POV characters in this book and their stories are nicely intertwined. Set in a post apocalyptic future where corelings float out of the ground at night and the only defence humans have against them are wards of magic. The book deals with the prophecy of the second coming of the deliverer who will rid the world of the Corelings. Young Arlen seems destined for this role.

City and the City by China Mieville

Excellent book. Can't quite decide what category it should be placed in, does it belong in crime or Fantasy? The story is impressive and I do not want to describe it in any way as I think it takes away from the enjoyment of this particular book. It takes a while to figure out what is going on and I think part of the charm of the book is the slow dawning of understanding.
certainly one of his best works. China is getting better and better.

Cross Fire by James Patterson

As I was reading this book I felt that the writting style was similar to the previous book I had read, Alex Cross's trial, but I did not think anything of it, and now that I am adding it to this list, I realise that it is the same author. Call me silly.
Anyway, this seems to be a book in a series following a black Washington detective and his stalker killer. Nice enough read, but it does require a very flexible imagination or at least one that will allow reality to be stretched a bit. 4/10

Alex Cross's trial by James Patterson

Deep South 1906. A young lawyer from Washington is sent to investigate reports of lynchings down south. It is an interesting book in showing the attitudes prevalent at the time and well into the rest of the 20th century in parts of the South towards blacks and how cheap their lives were.
A touching book which looks on at the helplesness of the situation.

Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy

Another Jack Ryan novel from Tom Clancy, and although I found it a page turner, I was frustrated at all the gung-ho American nationalism dripping from this book. It seems that an American can shoot a gun in the wrong direction and he will hit a bad guy but the bad guys can be firing hundreds of rounds and the All American hero might get a scratch or two but rarely more. Well, one of the "good" guys does die so there goes my theory.

No, I did like the early Jack Ryan books and I had not read one for a while but this, though riveting, gets a 3 out of 10.

Sons of the Conquerors by Hugh Pope

This is one of those books that you do not go through in a few hours. I have been reading it on and off for the past year and I have found it both entertaining and enlightening. Hugh Pope has a very easy writting style and he weaves a good story. He is/was the Istanbul bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal for 20 odd years so is fluent in Turkish. He has traveled all over Asia and had has visited many Turkik countries. He clearly likes the people and is quite positive of them. The book covers so many aspects of Turkishness that it would be silly of me to go into in this short post. It is a good read for anyone who wants to better understand Turkey, where it is and where it is hopefully heading.

My Horizontal life by Chelsea Handler

Another book that I should have left alone. Clearly there is a wit in there but this collection of one night stands had nothing to offer. I found them dull and honestly boring. Her early life at home is funny but she lost it with the one night stands.
For example. She has a black boyfriend so after its over she has to get another black guy. OK, she drinks non stop and he is a tea totaler, nothing funny there, takes him home and realises he has a huge dick that she will not accomodate so they "make out" a bit and then sleep in her bed only to be woken up by her dad who came home early and the boyfriend has to make his escape out of the window. You see how dull I made it? Well at least you did not have to pay me to read this crap. For such a provocative book, it is sooooo straight and innocent and naive and dull. How the fuck did it make it to the NY times best seller list?

Honestly, I had to stop reading half way through. I just hope that it got better in the second half.

I remember nothing by Nora Ephron

She is the writter of "Sleepless in Seattle", "Harry met Sally" and "Sylkwood" so I thought, why not, let's read it and I did... mistake. Had I paid the $22 asking price rather then borrowing this book then I would be asking for my money back. It was too fluffy and wishy washy with no real substance to it. Apparently she writes blog posts for the Huffington post and this book seems to be a collections of blog posts with a couple of longer autobiographical pieces.

I think part of the reason for this book, apart from an easy $22, was that something made her realise her own mortality so the beggining and the end of the book are about being old, people dropping off, lists and some pet hates. It is a shame she did not continue talking about her career as a journalist other then to say how great things were in those days but avoid discussing todays environment in more detail other then a couple of off the cuff comments that apparently contradict some stuff she has written.

Anyway, altogether a disspointing read so glad it was only 137 pages with lots of white space and it only wasted a few hours.

One shot by Lee child

I have overdosed on Lee Child this last week, but I like his writting. Hard to put down. This is another Jack reacher book and I feel that in the last four books that I read JR is definetely more macho and show off-ish then in the more recent books. Am I right or is it my imagination?

Anyway, in this book, JR drops everything in Miami to come to Indiana and make sure that a former army sniper accused of killing 5 people in the rush hour goes down. But of course this is JR. things are not what they seem and he of course sorts everythnig out.

and here is the official review:

Jack Reacher is working on his tan with a Norwegian blonde on the beach in Miami. The weather is hot and he is so cool you could skate on him. But he doesn't like to stick around. He likes to be on the move. He was in the machine his whole life. Then the machine coughed and spat him out. Now he takes it easy. He's not looking for trouble. But sometimes trouble looks for Reacher.

A lone gunman hides in a parking garage and shoots into a crowd in a public plaza in a small Indiana city. Five random people die in a senseless massacre. The shooter leaves a perfect trail behind him and the police quickly track him down. His name is James Barr. It's a watertight case. After his arrest, James Barr refuses to talk. Then, to his lawyer, he utters a single phrase: "Get Jack Reacher for me." But Reacher's already on his way. What could connect this obvious psychopath with our wandering ex-army cop?

By the time Reacher hits town, Barr's been beaten badly enough to forget everything about the day in question. So Reacher begins to piece together the wealth of evidence; he does the math and comes to a few conclusions of his own.

Echo burning by Lee Child

Hitching rides is an unreliable mode of transport. In temperatures of over a hundred degrees, you're lucky if a driver will open the door of his air-conditioned car long enough to let you slide in. That's Jack Reacher's conclusion. He's adrift in the fearsome heat of a Texas summer, and he needs to keep moving through the wide open vastness, like a shark in the water. The last thing he's worried about is exactly who picks him up.

He never expected it to be somebody like Carmen. She's alone, driving a Cadillac. She's beautiful, young and rich. She has a little girl who is being watched by unseen observers. And a husband who is in jail. Who will beat her senseless when he comes out. If he doesn't kill her first.

Reacher is no stranger to trouble. And at Carmen's remote ranch in Echo County there is plenty of it: lies and prejudice, hatred and murder. Reacher can never resist a lady in distress. Her family is hostile. The cops can't be trusted. The lawyers won't help. If Reacher can't set things straight, who can?

Running blind by Lee Child

In Jack Reacher, Lee Child has created an epic hero: tough, taciturn, yet vulnerable. His first three Reacher novels, Killing Floor, Die Trying and Tripwire, were published to great acclaim; Killing Floor was recently awarded the Anthony Award in America for the Best First Novel, and Die Trying was selected as a Thumping Good Read by W.H. Smith in the U.K. Lee was also cited as one of the current hot talents in crime writing by Mark Timlin at the crime writers' festival, Dead On Deansgate.

It's tough being a high-flying woman in the Army. Very tough. When Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cook are found dead in their own homes—in baths filled with Army-issue camouflage paint, their bodies completely unmarked—Jack Reacher is under suspicion. He knew them both—and he knows that they both left the Army under dubious circumstances, both victims of sexual harassment. A former U.S. military policeman, a loner and a drifter, he matches the psychological profile prepared by the FBI, and is arrested by ambitious Special Agent, Julia Lamarr.

But when the body of another woman, Sergeant Lorraine Stanley, is discovered, killed with similar precision, Reacher is released. Everyone fears there is a serial killer on the loose. But the FBI have strong persuasive powers, and before long Reacher finds himself heavily involved in the murder investigation. What have these women got in common and why is someone out to do them harm?

The hard way by Lee Child

Jack Reacher was alone, the way he liked it, soaking up the hot, electric New York City night, watching a man cross the street to a parked Mercedes and drive it away. The car contained one million dollars in ransom money. Edward Lane, the man who paid it, will pay even more to get his family back. Lane runs a highly illegal soldiers-for-hire operation. He will use any amount of money and any tool to find his beautiful wife and child. Then he'll turn Jack Reacher loose with a vengeance—because Reacher is the best man hunter in the world.

On the trail of a vicious kidnapper, Reacher is learning the chilling secrets of his employer's past...and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war. He's beginning to realize that Edward Lane is hiding something. Something dirty. Something big. But Reacher also knows this: he's already in way too deep to stop now.

The only way to find the truth, as they used to say back in the service, is to do it the hard way. So Reacher starts over at square one. He sweats the details and works the clues. What started in NYC explodes three thousand miles away in the sleepy English countryside with Reacher striding alone in the shadows, armed and dangerous, and invincible.

Surface detail by Iain Banks

Another culture novel and as with all the others when reading it I feel that this is the best in the series.

I read this book on a mobile phone, HTC Desire HD. When I started, I did not think that I would enjoy the experience of not having a paper book in my hands, but I have to say, it was not as bad as I thought it would be and what tipped the balance to ebooks for me is that I do not have to carry a book with me at all times, and when one is coming close to an end I do not have to carry 2 books :-) I now have 11 books queued up on my phone.

In this novel we get more glimpses of the virtual worlds that exist within the Culture universe. A simulated war game is taking place to abolish virtual hells that some of the civilisations use to keep their citizens in line as well as really punish people practically for ever. And of course in the real world, a number of civilisations are maneuvering for power and influence.

As always the most fun characters are the ship minds and their behaviour. Hero in this is the Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints.

The Independent noted that this was a poor book to introduce new readers to The Culture, but "far from the worst introduction to Banks's series."
Alastair Mabbott of The Herald describes the story as having "murder, revenge, pursuit and subterfuge taking place against a backdrop of escalating tension [that] stands up very well, and makes the prospect of further books in the Culture series somewhat less imposing."
UK book review site The Bookbag remarked that "...what sets this book apart is the quality of the writing and the depth of the author's imagination.

White Fang by Jack London

This was one of the first e-books that I read on an Android phone, the HTC Desire HD and I have to say it was nt a bad experience. It made it easy to read in a variety of situations where I had a bit of time. And I did not have to carry a book with me at all times :-)

The story begins before the four-quarters wolf-dog hybrid is born, with two men and their sled dog team. The men, Bill and Henry, are stalked by a large pack of starving wolves over the course of several days. Finally, four more teams find Henry, after all his dogs have been eaten and Bill has been killed, in a ring of coals from his fire in an attempt to keep the wolves away. The story then follows the pack, which has been robbed of its last prey. When the pack finally manages to bring down a moose, the famine is ended; they eventually split up, and the story now follows a she-wolf and her mate, One Eye. The she-wolf gives birth to a litter of five cubs by the Mackenzie River, and all but one die from hunger. One Eye is killed by a lynx while trying to rob its den for food for the she-wolf and her cub; his mate later discovers his remains near the lynx's den. The surviving cub and the she-wolf are left to fend for themselves. Shortly after the she-wolf manages to successfully kill all the lynx kittens, prompting the lynx to track her down and a vicious fight breaks out. The she-wolf eventually kills the lynx but suffers severe injury, the lynx carcass is devoured over a period of seven days.

The cub comes across five Native Americans one day, and the she-wolf comes to his rescue. One man, Grey Beaver, recognizes the she-wolf as Kiche, his brother's wolfdog, who left during a famine. Grey Beaver's brother is dead, so he takes Kiche and her cub, christening the cub White Fang. White Fang has a harsh life in the Indian camp; the current puppy pack, seeing him as a wolf, immediately attack him. He is saved by the Indians, but the pups never accept him, and the leader Lip-lip singles him out for persecution. White Fang grows to become a savage, morose, solitary, and deadly fighter, "the enemy of his kind."

"In order to face the constant danger of hurt and even of destruction, his predatory and protective faculties were unduly developed. He became quicker of movement than the other dogs, swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with ironlike muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel, more ferocious, and more intelligent. He had to become all these things, else he would not have held his own nor survived the hostile environment in which he found himself."

When White Fang is five years old, he is taken to Fort Yukon so that Grey Beaver can trade with the gold-hunters. There, he is sold—for a bottle of whiskey—to a dog-fighter, Beauty Smith. White Fang defeats all opponents, including several wolves and a lynx, until a bulldog is brought in to fight him. The bulldog manages to get a grip on the skin and fur of White Fang's neck, and slowly and surely begins to throttle him. White Fang nearly suffocates, but is rescued when a rich, young gold hunter, Weedon Scott, happens by and stops the fight.

Scott attempts to tame White Fang and after a long patient effort he succeeds. When Scott attempts to return to California alone, White Fang pursues him, and Scott decides to take the dog with him back home. In Santa Clara, White Fang must adjust to the laws of the estate. At the end of the book, a murderous criminal, Jim Hall, tries to kill Judge Scott, who had sentenced Hall to prison, not knowing that Hall was "railroaded". White Fang kills Hall and is nearly killed himself, but survives. As a result, the women of Scott's estate name him "The Blessed Wolf", and the story ends with White Fang relaxing in the sun with the puppies he had fathered with the sheep-dog Collie.

Corsair by Clive Cussler

I kind of regret reading this book. It was good in that it killed a few hours and I have to admit that I did want to see what happened, but it is one of those ridiculous heroic crap books that Americans like to laugh at when others write them but get gang-ho with teary eyed nationalism when it is about their boys fighting "terrorists".

Anyway, the book:

Corsair is the 6th novel in The Oregon Files by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. The book follows the corporation team's mission to recover the US Secretary of State, Fiona Katamora, before the upcoming peace summit. They discover that all is not as it seems and that the plane crash that brought her down may not have been an accident. The corporation must battle terrorists with a foothold in the Libyan government while uncovering the identity of their hidden leader. As the journey continues the team uncovers many hidden secrets in the Libyan desert including the entire ex-foreign department of the government and an archeologist, Alana Shepard, who is close to uncovering the key to peace in the middle east.

The reversal by Michael Connelly

A book featuring both the Lincoln lawyer and Harry Bosch.

Mickey Haller, who has become increasingly frustrated in his role as a defense lawyer, agrees to undertake the prosecution role on behalf of the city of Los Angeles, in the retrial of a convicted killer which has been granted as a result of new DNA evidence. His one condition before accepting the task is that he is permitted to choose his own team; he chooses his ex-wife Maggie McPherson as his co-prosecutor, and his half-brother Harry Bosch as his investigator from the LAPD. The prosecution case rests largely on the testimony of Sarah Gleason, the elder sister of the victim, Melissa Landy.

The body of 12-year-old Melissa was discovered in 1986, discarded in a dumpster, only a few hours after she was reported missing. Unknown to the killer, her sister had been hiding in the garden and had witnessed her abduction. On the day of the murder, she identified Jason Jessup, a lorry driver, as the man who snatched Melissa from the garden. DNA evidence has subsequently shown that semen stains on the dress Melissa was wearing came not from Jessup, but from the girls' stepfather Ken Landy. However, the evidence against Jessup includes strands of Melissa's hair, found in the seat of his lorry.

Jessup's defense counsel, "clever" Clive Royce, mounts a media campaign in his client's favour, and it becomes clear that their main motivation is in obtaining a compensation payout from the state. Haller's response is to allow bail and have Jessup tailed by the police in the hope that he will return to his old ways and provide additional support for the prosecution case. Jessup is soon seen visiting various mountain trails in the Mulholland area, and on one occasion parks his car outside Bosch's house at night. Bosch and Haller, both concerned for their own teenage daughters, develop a theory that Jessup has killed before, but are unable to investigate fully for fear of blowing the police's cover.

Legal procedures require that the jury is kept ignorant of Jessup's history. Testimony given in the original trial, where the witness is no longer available because of death or informity, has to be read out by Harry Bosch. The defense attempts to undermine the testimmony of Sarah Gleason, who has a history of drug use and prostitution in the years since her sister's murder, though she has now been entirely rehabilitated. Bosch traces Sarah's former lover, Eddie Roman, and finds that he is still living off prostitute's earnings. Locating the prostitute Sonia Reyes, Bosch persuades her to enter the courtroom at a crucial moment in Roman's testimony, which causes the witness to alter his testimony, effectively destroying the defense case.

While anticipating a plea bargain from the defense team, Bosch and Haller hear that Jessup has entered Royce's offices with a gun and has killed Royce, two of his team and a policeman who was on his tail. Jessup is now at large and the police surround him at a hideout under the pier which had been discovered by Bosch as a result of the police surveillance activities. Jessup's death ends the search for Melissa Landy's killer, but leaves the prosecution team with a host of unanswered moral questions.