More of what Ive been reading- August 2005
Dive into a curated reading list from August 2005, featuring gripping fiction, queer literature, and sharp social commentary. Highlights include Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz, the Weather Warden series, and Coyote Cowgirl—a perfect mix of thrillers and thought-provoking page-turners.
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Coyote Cowgirl
by Kim Antieau
Jeanne Les Flambeaux-you know, the famous Flambeaux clan, the great chefs and restaurateurs of the Southwest-is the black sheep of her very accomplished family. She has a few problems. Like, for one, she can't cook. And she hears voices for another. And she screws up everything she touches for a third. No one, including herself, ever expected her to amount to anything, so she hasn't; she thinks of herself as an idiot savant--if you drop the savant part. When her parents take a much-needed vacation, leaving her in charge of the family's ancient, prized possessions--a crystal skull and a priceless ruby scepter--she wakes up the next morning to find that her lover, Johnny (what is she doing with that loser?), has stolen the scepter. This propels her on a wild and wacky journey across the Great American Southwest, trying to catch up to Johnny and the scepter. To complicate matters, single women start mysteriously disappearing throughout the southwestern. The police and the FBI have few clues--and Jeanne, as she stalks Johnny, is herself being stalked by someone or something. Fortunately--or unfortunately, Jeanne can't quite figure it out--she's aided in her impossible task by the crystal skull . . . now a talking crystal skull, which, of course, speaks only to her. The crystal skull, who calls himself Crane, leads Jeanne (who is rapidly becoming an actual heroine) through the casinos of Las Vegas, the mysteries of Kitt Peak, desert cults in Arizona, and finally to a wild climax that outdoes Tom Robbins . . . and maybe even gives Carlos Castaneda a run for his pesos. Light and sexy, filled with imaginative characters and situations, and some of the hottest secret recipes from the Flambeaux recipe drawer, Coyote Cowgirl will leave you laughing and begging for a sequel.
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Gil's All Fright Diner
by A. Lee Martinez
Earl and Duke help Loretta with her on-going zombie problem.
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That's Mr. Faggot to You
by Michael Thomas Ford
In this hilarious follow-up to 'Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me', Michael Ford takes the reader further inside his queer life from the social faux pas of sending a man flowers, to owning a CD possessed by the religious right, to the perils of using lavender-scented soap as a lubricant. A wild and wide-ranging collection of essays that are often poignant and always funny - a true look at living a queer life.
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Ill Wind
by Rachel Caine
Someone's finally doing something about the weather...in the first in this series by the New York Times bestselling author of Ink and Bone and the Morganville Vampires series. It's "A FUN READ" (Jim Butcher) from "A FIRST-CLASS STORYTELLER" (Charlaine Harris)... The Wardens Association has been around pretty much forever. Some Wardens control Fire, others control Earth or Water or Wind—and the most powerful can control more than one. Without wardens, Mother Nature would wipe humanity off the face of the earth... Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, Joanne is trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life… Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s also on the run from the Council. It seems he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn—making him the most wanted man on earth. And without Lewis, Joanne’s chances of surviving are as good as a snowball in—well, a place she may be headed. So, she and her classic Mustang are racing hard to find him—because there’s some bad weather closing in fast... “[Ill Wind’s] forecast calls for murder, mayhem, magic, meteorology—and a fun read. You’ll never watch the Weather Channel the same way again.”—Jim Butcher, bestselling author of The Dresden Files Rachel Caine is the author of several bestselling series, including the Revivalist and Outcast Season novels. Among her many popular novels are Daylighters, The Dead Girls' Dance, Terminated, and Black Dawn.
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Odd Thomas
by Dean Ray Koontz
Over the course of two days, Odd Thomas, his soulmate Stormy Llewellyn, and an assortment of allies make their way through a dark, terrifying world in which past and present, and life and death collide as they try to avert a cataclysm.
