The Age of Will

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King Author and Merlin have returned.  Not that they really went anywhere, but they are back, in New York and running for public office.

King Author is running for Mayor of New York.  Author is again armed with Excalibur and ready to make the world a better place.  After retrieving the sword from the Lady in the Lake (in central park), Author is convinced he can help man-kind. 

Morgan Le Fey is not happy with Aurthur and Merlin’s return.  Morgan and Modred (Author’s son by his half sister Morgan) conspire to end Author and Merlin once and for all.

[Peter David][author] has created a very entertaining world with magic and chivalry.  Well written and humorous.

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Maxie is a older woman who lives in Alaska, but travels during the winter in her RV to the lower 48. Stretch is a minature daschund who originally belonged to Maxie’s second husband.

Maxie and Stretch are visiting an old friend of Maxie’s in Colorado. Unfortunately, Maxie gets there too late, and her friend is very ill. The adventures of a woman in her late middle age or early old age is wonderful to read.

This mystery is gripping, exciting, and just plain fun!

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Wonderful story with a whole new world that is extremely interesting. In this world, people with violet eyes can contact the dead. So, in the case of a murder trial, the victim can actually testify. As you can imagine, this changes all of the dynamics around crime. But someone is killing the “violets.” And no one can discover who.
Quick read, exciting ending. I got to a certain point, and HAD to finish it!
[bookdetail]: http://books.clubreading.com/book/bookdetail/book_id/771

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Anita Blake returns, sort of.
This is not the Anita of Guilty Pleasures, the first in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. This is, however, the Anita of Narcissus in Chains.
Anita is once more wound around several men. There is a mystery, as vampires are killing people in St. Louis, again. But the mystery takes such a back seat that it isn’t resolved by the end of the book, although it comes to a stopping point. Anita was once a strong, independent woman, but all of that has changed. The book only covers a few days, and Anita does almost nothing independently. It’s rather disappointing that one of current fiction’s strongest women has suddenly become co-dependent on so many men.
When I first heard [Laurell Hamilton][author] speak, she said that the fans in Europe wanted more sex and less violence. She seems to be giving them that. I don’t mind sex, but I want more of a plot than Anita’s struggles with her sex life and various lovers. I was disappointed in Incubus Dreams, but will likely check out the next Anita Blake book, just because the first ones were so entertaining.
[bookdetail]: http://books.clubreading.com/book/bookdetail/book_id/790
[author]: http://books.clubreading.com/book/browsebook/pagenum/1/author/Laurell%20K.%20Hamilton

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Kinsey Millhone is a private detective. Sue Grafton has written a wonderful series about Kinsey, beginning with A is for Alibi and continuing, I believe, up to R. (Check the Book Series for some of the titles.)
In C is for Corpse, Kinsey is hired by a young man who was in a terrible car accident. In addition to the physical damage, he’s suffered mental damage and memory loss. He is, nevertheless, left with the firm conviction that he was run off of the road and that someone tried to kill him. How Kinsey solves the case is very interesting, and this may be one of the earlier books which reveals a great deal of Kinsey’s personality.
All of these books are quick, fast-paced, compelling reads. For fun mysteries, any of the alphabet series is a good bet.
[bookdetail]: http://books.clubreading.com/book/bookdetail/book_id/786

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[Cravings](bookdetail) is a collection of four stories by four of today’s best macabre chick-lit authors.
Laurell Hamilton continues the Anita Blake stories in “Blood upon My Lips”. The story starts at the wedding of Anita’s friend Tammy Reynolds and her coworker Larry Kirkland. Anita is growing more concerned about Nathaniel and is pushing him to be more independent. But things backfire a bit for Anita once Jason bluntly explains to her that Nathaniel has everything he wants … and so does she.
MaryJanice Davidson’s story “Dead Girls Don’t Dance” takes place in Chicago where newly undead vampire Andrea is having a hard time adjusting to her new situation. Andrea is being drawn to make an almost certainly fatal appearance before the newly crowned vampire queen. Resigned to her fate, she runs into an old flame/crush Daniel. But Mr. Popular from school doesn’t remember her at first. The story is entertaining and well written. MaryJanice Davidson has a couple of books with these characters, “Undead and Unwed” and “Undead and Unemployed”. The stories are very Daria meets Dracula or un-dead valley girl. In either case, very entertaining.
Eileen Wilks’s “Originally Human” is a terrific story. Told first person by Molly, a 300+ year old woman cursed to roam the earth as a succubus. Molly is currently living in Galveston, Texas in an RV park. Walking back from the beach an unconscious, wounded naked man appears in her path, and adventures ensue. Written in a unique world with it’s own set of magics and challenges.
Rebecca York’s, “Burning Moon” story is a charming romance/mystery. A blind Tarot card reader gets entangled in a mans search for revenge. The man, Grant is a warewolf whose mate was killed by a serial killer. A touching story, well written and loads of emotion.
This is an excellent collection of stories and I highly recommend it.
[bookdetail]: http://books.clubreading.com/book/bookdetail/book_id/762

At the beginning of the year, as I review my book lists, I again mourn over the lost time and opportunities with books.  I spend so much time working, at home and the job, I just don’t get to read as much as I’d like.  My list of books to be investigated is over 500, and likely to stay there.  I’m ashamed of the number of books I have bought but haven’t read.  I clean out the bookshelves and then suddenly, without apparent warning, they are full again! My friends who read keep recommending books and I keep finding more on my own that I want to read.  I’m 45 years old, and if I were to add no more books to those I have listed, I don’t think I could read them all before I died.  What a wonderful situation to be in!  I hate having so little time to read, but love having so much to read.  It’s a rough life, being a reader in this electronic world.  Standing in line with people texting, I read.  Waiting at the doctor’s office, or anywhere else, I read.  I go through cycles of not reading, but they don’t last.  My first love was reading, and I still love it. 
Welcome 2009!  My wish for the new year: don’t bring too many new books and let me read lots of the books on my lists and shelves.