Here is where you can see what your favorite clerk at C&W’s is currently reading and follow their book reviews!

Gail
Gail just finished reading: Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
and rated it

I have long been a fan of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels. Never have I failed to chuckle through them. I adore the characters especially Grandma Mazur who is always amusing. When recommended to customers, they always come back for more. In fact, I’ve only ever met one customer who didn’t enjoy them. Imagine my delight when I heard of Evanovich’s new book, Wicked Appetite, the first of a possible new series.
A friend, with whom I trade bestsellers, brought me Wicked Appetite on Monday and I finished the book Tuesday night. Double spacing and wide margins fool you into thinking you have a book with content. All in all, it’s a two hour read. It didn’t take me long to
pick up on the formula. Substitute Lizzie for Stephanie, Diesel for Ranger and Glo for Lulu and you’ve got the Plum series all over again. Throw in a one-eyed ninja cat and Carl the monkey from a previous Plum book and that about does it.
To Evanovich’s credit, she did try to cash in on the paranormal craze, but her efforts were downright stupid and extremely low-brow, an insult to true Wiccans everywhere. I found Glo’s attempts to cast spells and ride her broom childish, Lizzie entirely naive and Diesel dull. Like Stephanie and Ranger, Lizzie and Diesel try to get it on but never quite get there. He does make it into her bed but only for platonic, protective reasons. Yeah, right!
Character development was definitely not one of Evanovich’s goals here. Why develop when one can substitute? The plot was boring and the humor stinted. All in all. I hated this book and felt somewhat duped by both author and publisher.
Of course, all authors drop a bomb every now and then. Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol disappointed some readers and Patricia Cornwell’s police series never quite caught on. However, in both cases, they honestly tried to create something new. Evanovich may have only one good series in her, but as much as I enjoy the Plum books I don’t care to read them ad nauseam in disguise. Most reviews on Wicked Appetite are running 50-50

Gail recently read Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson and rated it

Click here to read book reviews by Gail!

• Gail has worked at C&W’s since 1991
• Her favorite genres are History, Mysteries, and Contemporary Fiction
• Her hobbies include gardening, and spoiling her Pomeranians and her grandchildren

Robyn
Currently Reading:Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

“Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.” So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, Jeannette Walls’s no-nonsense, resourceful, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town—riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband, Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette’s memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.

Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds—against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn’t fit the mold. Rosemary Smith Walls always told Jeannette that she was like her grandmother, and in this true-life novel, Jeannette Walls channels that kindred spirit. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa or Beryl Markham’s West with the Night. Destined to become a classic, it will transfix readers everywhere.

Robyn recently read Sara’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir.

• Robyn has worked at C&W’s since 1991
• Her favorite genres are Crime, Mystery, and Contemporary Fiction
• Her Hobbies include Jigsaw puzzles, dog rescue, and Little League

Richard
Currently Reading Pompeii by Robert Harris.

Synopsis: In this fine historical by British novelist Harris, an upstanding Roman engineer rushes to repair an aqueduct in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, which, in A.D. 79, is getting ready to blow its top. Young Marcus Attilius Primus becomes the aquarius of the great Aqua Augusta when its former chief engineer disappears after 20 years on the job. When water flow to the coastal town of Misenum is interrupted, Attilius convinces the admiral of the Roman fleet-the scholar Pliny the Elder-to give him a fast ship to Pompeii, where he finds the source of the problem in a burst sluiceway. Lively writing, convincing but economical period details and plenty of intrigue keep the pace quick, as Attilius meets Corelia, the defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator, who supplies him with documents implicating her father and Attilius’s predecessor in a water embezzlement scheme. Attilius has bigger worries, though: a climb up Vesuvius reveals that an eruption is imminent. Before he can warn anyone, he’s ambushed by the double-crossing foreman of his team, Corvax, and a furious chase ensues. As the volcano spews hot ash, Attilius fights his way back to Pompeii in an attempt to rescue Corelia. Attilius, while possessed of certain modern attitudes and a respect for empirical observation, is no anachronism. He even sends Corelia back to her cruel father at one point, advising her to accept her fate as a woman. Harris’s volcanology is well researched, and the plot, while decidedly secondary to the expertly rendered historic spectacle, keeps this impressive novel moving along toward its exciting finale.

• Richard has worked at C&W’s since 1993
• His favorite genres are Horror and Science
• His hobbies include painting, music, and reading

Steve
Currently Reading: Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin

Synopsis: Secrets of Mental Math will have you thinking like a math genius in no time. Get ready to amaze your friends—and yourself—with incredible calculations you never thought you could master, as renowned “mathemagician” Arthur Benjamin shares his techniques for lightning-quick calculations and amazing number tricks. This book will teach you to do math in your head faster than you ever thought possible, dramatically improve your memory for numbers, and—maybe for the first time—make mathematics fun.

Steve recently read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Click here to read book reviews by Steve!

• Steve has worked at C&W’s since 2001
• His favorite genres are graphic novels and art
• His hobbies are skeptic groups and cartooning

Tom
Currently Reading: In Death Ground by David Weber and Steve White

Synopsis: The novel is set in a distant future. Following the accidental discovery of intersteller travel via ‘warp points’, humanity has expanded throughout space, evolving into a Terran Federation consisting of Core Worlds like Earth and Alpha Centauri, Corporate Worlds like Galloway’s Star, and Fringe Worlds colonized by small groups of like-minded people seeking to preserve ethnic or cultural identities from getting lost in a cosmopolitan sameness.

• Tom has worked at C&W’s since 2002
• His favorite genres are Science Fiction, Fantasy, and World History
• His hobbies include playing the guitar and reading

David T.
Currently Reading: GURPS: Basic Set by Steve Jackson

Synopsis: GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium II — plus our new core setting, with infinite possibilities for timeline-hopping adventure! (You don’t have to play in the core setting — there isn’t some game-altering metaplot — but it’s there if you want it.) This 240-page, full-color hardcover contains everything a GM needs to create and run a GURPS Fourth Edition campaign.

David has recently read Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
and rated it

• David has worked at C&W’s since 2003
• His favorite genres are Military, World History, and RPGs
• His hobbies include reading and role play gaming

Phillip
Currently Reading: More Civil War Curriosities by Web Garrison

Synopsis: Strange but true stories of the Civil War. Garrison recounts instances of friendly fire casualties, the unperfected art of spying, banishments and deportations, grisly tales of missing limbs, disguises, and more. One of the previous reviewers best described this book as a niche in the vast sea of Civil War literature available. This book is unique in that rather than focusing on the entire war, or a specific aspect of the war, this book floods the reader with a myriad of little known facts from numerous facets of the war.

• Phillip has worked at C&W’s since 2005
• His favorite genres are science fiction, graphic novels, and urban legends
• His hobbies include computers, video games, and reading

Barbara
Currently Reading: Stealing Time by Leslie Glass

Synopsis: With her mastery of police procedure and unflinching take on race relations, Leslie Glass is one of today’s most original female suspense writers. April Woo’s investigation of a child’s disappearance in New York’s Chinatown takes a nasty turn when suspicion falls on the wealthy parents. The father is hostile, the mother is unconscious, the police are without a lead, and all the pressure is on April. The facts don’t add up and April’s only hope of cracking the case is to find the child’s real mother. Everyone involved is clearly hiding something, but is bound to silence by fear or guilt or both. With the reporters, her superior officers, and her own mother pressuring her, April is stuck in the middle of the kind of high-profile case most cops despise– the kind of case perfect for cool-headed Sergeant Woo.

• Barbara has worked at C&W’s since 2007
• Her favorite genres are Mysteries, Crime, Modern Classics
• Her hobbies include painting and reading

Megan
Currently Reading: The Darkest Lie by Gena Showalter

Synopsis: Forced to his knees in agony whenever he speaks the truth, Gideon can recognize any lie—until he captures Scarlet, a demon-possessed immortal who claims to be his long-lost wife. He doesn’t remember the beautiful female, much less wedding—or bedding—her. But he wants to…almost as much as he wants her.
But Scarlet is keeper of Nightmares, too dangerous to roam free. A future with her might mean ultimate ruin. Especially as Gideon’s enemies draw closer—and the truth threatens to destroy all he’s come to love….
Megan recently read: The Darkest Passion by Gena Showalter and
rated it

Click here to read book reviews by Megan!

• Megan has worked at C&W’s since 2006
• Her favorite genres are paranormal romances
• Her hobbies include reading, watching movies, and blogging

Adam

• Adam has worked at C&W’s since 2008
• His favorite genres are Sci Fi & Fantasy, History, and Mythology
• His hobbies include gaming and sports

David S.
Currently Reading: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

Synopsis: Juan Rico signed up with the Federal Service on a lark, but despite the hardships and rigorous training, he finds himself determined to make it as a cap trooper. In boot camp he will learn how to become a soldier, but when he graduates and war comes (as it always does for soldiers), he will learn why he is a soldier. Many consider this Hugo Award winner to be Robert Heinlein’s finest work, and with good reason. Forget the battle scenes and high-tech weapons (though this novel has them)–this is Heinlein at the top of his game talking people and politics.

• David has worked at C&W’s since 2009
• His favorite genres are Sci Fi, Political Thrillers, and History
• His hobbies include Gaming and AirSoft

Jeremy
Currently reading: Never Let Me Go

Synopsis: All children should believe they are special. But the students of Hailsham, an elite school in the English countryside, are so special that visitors shun them, and only by rumor and the occasional fleeting remark by a teacher do they discover their unconventional origins and strange destiny. Kazuo Ishiguro’s sixth novel, Never Let Me Go, is a masterpiece of indirection. Like the students of Hailsham, readers are “told but not told” what is going on and should be allowed to discover the secrets of Hailsham and the truth about these children on their own.
Offsetting the bizarreness of these revelations is the placid, measured voice of the narrator, Kathy H., a 31-year-old Hailsham alumna who, at the close of the 1990s, is consciously ending one phase of her life and beginning another. She is in a reflective mood, and recounts not only her childhood memories, but her quest in adulthood to find out more about Hailsham and the idealistic women who ran it. Although often poignant, Kathy’s matter-of-fact narration blunts the sharper emotional effects you might expect in a novel that deals with illness, self-sacrifice, and the severe restriction of personal freedoms. As in Ishiguro’s best-known work, The Remains of the Day, only after closing the book do you absorb the magnitude of what his characters endure.

• Jeremy has worked at C&W’s since 2009
• His favorite genres are contemporary fiction and media books.
• His hobbies include watching movies, taking long walks, and reading