There are 36 new Thrillers this month!  So many books (or ebooks), so little time.

Happy reading!  :-)   I see a new Jordan Dane….if you have not yet read her yet…..do it!  She is GREAT!

• FEAR: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror edited by R.L. Stine
• Santa Fe Edge by Stuart Woods
• The Detroit Electric Scheme by D.E. Johnson
• Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs
• Blood Ties by Kay Hooper
• Skating Around The Law by Joelle Charbonneau
• Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
• Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer
• The De Valera Deception by Michael McMenamin & Patrick McMenamin
• Pretty Little Things by Jilliane Hoffman
• No Place To Die by James L. Thane
• WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE: Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies of Evil by Janice Gable Bashman with Jonathan Maberry
• In the Echo of Violence by Jordan Dane
• American Devil by Oliver Stark
• Trail of Blood by Lisa Black
• The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund
• Eureka: Substitution Method by Cris Ramsay
• Death On A Budget by Michael W. Sherer
• The Darkest Edge of Dawn by Kelly Gay
• Bolt Action by Charlie Charters
• While Galileo Preys by Joshua Corin
• Lost Empire by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood
• Never Wave Goodbye by Doug Magee
• Bachelor Sheriff by Paula Graves
• Ghost Moon by Heather Graham
• The Dragon’s Mark by Alex Archer
• Galway Noir by Pat Mullen
• An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy
• Fly By Wire by Ward Larsen
• Scoop to Kill by Wendy Lyn Watson
• You are Next by Katia Lief
• Tough Customer by Sandra Brown
• Killer Heat by Brenda Novak
• The Mullah’s Storm by Thomas W. Young
• Judgment Day by Wanda L Dyson
• Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him by Laura Caldwell

Phil was always the quiet one.  When he was a kid, his Mom always told people he was smart as a whip, but, he never said a word.

After Phil grew up, graduated from a prestigious university and went to work…he was still the quiet one.

Taking Phil’s quietness for meekness, Boss relentlessly battered Phil.  He battered Phil at raise time, he battered Phil at meetings, he battered Phil behind his back, he battered Phil in the cafeteria.

Phil said nothing.

One day, Boss came to the office early.  Lots of work to do, very little time to do it.  If he only knew.

The bat hit Boss square on the head.  His skull cracked and brain matter flew out.

Boss had been severely battered.

Mom always told Boss that it was the quiet ones you had to watch out for.

He didn’t listen.

+++++

Copyright May 20, 2010 by Mike “TracyReaderDad” Pihlman.  This is fiction.

Never, even on the coldest day, has a Book ever frozen on me.

I’m in the middle of a great book (Brad Thor’s “The Last Patriot”) and my Nook FROZE.

Yikes!   Nothing I did (remember I am a Techy, so I know a few tricks, http://TelBitConsulting.com) worked.  Rats.  (I used my backup Nook app on my new HTC Aria)

Then I called Barnes & Noble Tech Support, 1-800-THE-BOOK, (how FUNNY is that…Barnes & Noble tech support…..?) and they told me what to do to UNFREEZE my Nook.

1. Pull off the back cover (there are tiny slots on each side to fingernail grab and pull)

2. Unscrew the battery screw and take out the battery.

3. Hold down the Power button for 1 minute (to drain the power completely).

4. Put the battery back in and secure it with the screw.

5. Put the cover back on.

6. Charge it for up to 4 hours (mine only took a few minutes to UNFREEZE).  But I will have to keep charging it since it is severely uncharged.

Barnes & Noble Tech Support….how funny, but, they are great!  :-)

My Nook

Scanning the Internet today I ran across an interesting article by “The Green Lantern” in The Washington Post.

In it, GL proposes that, overall, ebooks are better for the environment than a paper book.  Very cool.  :-)

Here is one example:

In its lifetime, a book generates about 7.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents.   An iPad generates about 130 kilograms, and a Kindle is estimated to generate 168 kilograms.

Doing the math (ie dividing 130 / 7.5 and 168 / 7.5) This means that if you read about 18 books on an iPad, or about 23 books on a Kindle….you reach the point where you are helping to save the environment.

Sweeeeet.

The article goes into more detail, so please click the above link for more interesting facts.

My Thoughts?

Multiply these savings millions of times over, and the world (at least the environment) will be a better place.

Now if we can only fix the economy……

Genre: Thriller

Rating:  3.5 Watertowers

Kyle McAvoy is looking forward to graduation from Yale Law School.

He is the editor of the prestigious “Yale Law Review” and has his pick of lucrative jobs as a law associate.  But his heart is set on helping the poor in Virginia for a few years.

His plans turn upside down when the “FBI” shows up with a video of Kyle and his friends during a drunken fraternity party while undergraduates at Duquesne University.  The video shows the possible rape of (the very loose) Elaine Keenan by two of Kyle’s friends.

Of course, the folks with the video were not the FBI, but, are an unknown entity interested in stealing information on a huge lawsuit about to take place.   This lawsuit pits two defense contractors that had originally teamed up to design the very advanced B-10 bomber, Trylon and Bartin.  After winning the Air Force award, Trylon and  Bartin both claimed ownership of the B-10′s design and a lawsuit was started. Greedy bastards.

One of Kyle’s associate opportunities is at the largest law firm in the world:  Scully & Pershing (they will be representing Trylon).  Bennie (who will be Kyle’s handler) wants Kyle to work there and feed Bennie information on the B-10 lawsuit.  If he does not, then the video will be made public and everyone involved will suffer the consequences.

Kyle reluctantly agrees.

At the firm, Kyle meets regularly with Bennie who knows exactly what is going on and what will happen to people at Scully & Pershing (and Kyle).  All the events that Bennie predicts happen and they ultimately help Kyle advance to being one of the very few who get to work on the Trylon team.

Exactly what Bennie wants.

Unknown to Bennie, Kyle knows he is being followed and monitored, so the information Bennie surreptitiously gets is information Kyle wants him to get.  Kyle also makes plans with Joey Bernardo (one of the kids in the video) to find out who Bennie is and to make plans to try to head him off at the pass.

Murder and intrigue follow.

“The Associate” is a very interesting look at the inner workings of a huge law firm.  As you go deeper into the bowels of the company, past the plush trappings of the reception area and the partner offices, the associates slave for over 100 hours a week sharing tiny offices between four associates.  The billing of clients is interestingly random (and excessive).  Not the most flattering picture of big time law.

Other than that, “The Associate” is a terrific cat and mouse adventure pitting the very smart Kyle against the very accomplished Bennie and his unknown backers.

You will enjoy it, even if it is not Grisham’s very best.   For that read: “Playing for Pizza”, “A Painted House”, “The Innocent Man”, “Skipping Christmas” and “The Testament”.  A whole bunch of great books!  Grisham rocks!

From the New York Times….

James Patterson made $70 million and Stephanie Meyer made $40 million.

FYI…I made $50 last year from my writing, so I am definately catching up.  ;-)

Click this link for the full article and more authors (it is short).

Joleen worked at the local cafe as a barista.

Boss was constantly harassing his employees, especially the women.

One day Boss came up with a contest.  He wanted a new flavor coffee that would set his Cafe apart from all the others.  As a prize for the winning flavor, Boss would take the winner to a special dinner and give an extra $1000 in their paycheck.

The day of the tasting came.  Boss tasted several new flavors and was impressed, but, none of them knocked him dead.

Joleen was next.

Boss tasted.

Boss died.

The flavors listed on Joleen’s coffee were Caster Bean and Oleander.

++++++

Copyright May 20, 2010, Mike “TracyReaderDad” Pihlman.  This is fiction.

I must be missing some good reading (but then again, best selling does not always = really good book)….the above picture is the #1 paperback bestseller as of August 12 (today, at least for a little while longer in CA).

Check out the NPR site for the entire paperback list.

Then check out the bestselling hardcover (some Thrillers and Mysteries in there!) list.

VERY cool!

I’ll try to keep up with these lists now that I found them….I wonder how often they are updated?  I guess we will find out….  :-)

I must say, I caught a lot more of the details the second time thru it (I also purposely slowed down).  Some of the parts that were confusing the first time, made sense now.  Sooooo, if you have the book, I recommend a second, or third, reading.  :-)

This review:  MAGICAL !   See my full review (the original) here.

Being such a slow reader, I often lament that there are sooooo many books to read, but, sooooo little life to read them.  The older I get, the more that applies.

Well, I was surfing today and found a Gizmodo article that tells me Google has figured out how many books there are.   Leave it to Google to count.  How nerdy.  ;-)

In this article, Google estimates that there are….are you ready?

129,864,880

(at least as of the writing of that article…I’ll bet a few more have been added since then)

OK, then, I need to get busy!

Back to “HP and the Deathly Hallows”…only about 129,864,000 to go!

Sooo many books, soooo little time.

The picture above:  I was sorting out all the books I have at AltamontCowork one day.  There are more, I ran out of room on the big table.   These are Thrillers and Mysteries.