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By Connie Willis

A compilation of short stories by Connie Willis. “The Last of the Winnebagos” is very good. A couple of the stories were a little too subtle in their message for me to understand very well. My favorite story was “Spice Progrom”

By Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli

Neil Gaiman teaming up with Alice Cooper to remake “Something Wicked this way Comes” They even reference SWtwC by showing the main character holding a copy of the book. Not Gaiman’s best work. I wouldn’t recommend it.

By Terry Pratchett

Who doesn’t love Terry Pratchett? Windle Poons, a 130 year old wizzard is trying to die. Death is trying to live and Ankh-Morpork is being infested by something that keeps popping up in the weirdest places/forms. Not my favorite of the Discworld books but Death is always a satisfying character to get to know better and the story is funny as all his stories are. Plus, Death gets to keep the horse.

By Connie Willis

Everyone I know who read this book (and, I’m including my own mother here) says “Oh, that’s a good book. Not a happy book though, but very good.” Um, I think that’s pretty apparent in the name but just so you understand I’m going to tell you: This was not a happy book. Plague, plague and OH! More plague. However, it was a very good book. It was a captivating and personal look at the bubonic plague. It compares the black death of 1348 to a contemporary epidemic and just how do we define terror. Interesting and worth a read.

By Connie Willis

Connie Willis has the unique ability to tie up all loose ends in the story – even those you didn’t know were loose ends. This is a shorter book, but well worth a read. A sweet tale about two geek doctors trying to find answers and funding and a way to get away from Management and the managerial assistant. Recommended.

By Terry Pratchett

Reread. Someone is poisoning the Patrician and Capitan Vimes has to figure out who it is. This is another one of Pratchett’s well written stories of the Night Watch. The Sam Vimes story archs happen to be some of my favorites. This is also our introduction to Corporal Cheery Littlebottom. Recommended Highly!

By Terry Pratchett

I have read this book before. There aren’t enough praises I can heap on Terry Pratchett as an author. He is witty, wise and outlandishly creative in his story telling. This is a very intimate look into the Captain of the Watch, Samuel Vimes and assorted watchmen. It is funny and sad and interesting and heartbreaking all while making you aware that Discworld is more than just one person’s creation. Terry Pratchett has given birth to this world and the characters within it are human (or various types of humanoid like creatures) each with distinct personalities and lives. After reading a few of his books you come to know the Discworld people well and love them or hate them they are real.

By Nero Blanc

Not really a mystery as most of their other books are.. This book focused more on the characters of Newcastle and their development as people. Much of the book is told through the eyes of the dogs that live with the characters which is a neat idea but I’m not sure I like the way they interpret dog minds. All the same it was a fun book to read but not really necessary unless you already know the characters.

By Nero Blanc

An interesting take on their formula of crossword related mysteries. This book is actually a series of five short stories. Each includes a crossword that holds the key to the mystery and, unlike the full length books I have read so far, the crossword puzzles must actually be solved before you understand what’s going on. Fortunately, the answers are in the back. Also note: only of these stories is an actual murder mystery – the rest are just fun little mysteries.

By James Morrow

I put this book down halfway through. I don’t normally do that – I try to finish each book I read. However, I found that the characters in this particular story were less than interesting. One particular character, introduced by one of the more flagrant abuses of Deus Ex Machina I have ever read, was so intensely dislikable that the moment she entered into the plot my interest in the book faltered. I eventually decided to give up reading the book because I didn’t want to spend any more time with her, or her boyfriend’s liberal elitistism. Though they may have been the antagonists in the story, the protagonists were hard to identify and even harder to care for. My dislike of the characters turned into apathy for the whole book and led me to give up wasting my time with it.