Books Read In 2001

Books Read In 2001
Last update: December 30, 2001

Hunter by James Byron Huggins
This book gave me nightmares about someone pursuing me. Could NOT put down. An unbeatable beast, an awesome hero and not sappy at all. Very technical survivor stuff at times. Tracking animals and the ways to do so play a big part in this story. Great information.

Cain by James Byron Huggins
Very similar premise to Hunter but I still enjoyed it.

Digger by Joseph Flynn
If you like anything Vietnam Veteran related, or are evenly mildly interested in anything concerning VNam. Get this and read it. Highly entertaining.

The Piper's Sons by Bruce Chandler Fergusson
Interesting. Twisty.

The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans
Incredible. Haunting. Gutwrenching. More than one book, it is a million souls. What a beautiful book. Skye, Ed, Conner, Julia, Amy. I have also read The Horse Whisperer and The Loop by this author and The Loop is hands down of of my all time favorites. I bought that book and plan on rereading it soon.

Paradise Lost by J.A. Jance
A book with a familiar, to Jance's readers, of the Arizona Sheriff Joanna Brady. It was okay. I think if I had read the previous books with the Sheriff in it I would be more emotionally invested but as a stand alone, it's all right.

Dark Hunter by William Dietrich
An odd, cold, unhappy story. Sheesh. Makes me not want to read the other one I have out of his: Getting Back.

The Longest Winter by Julie Harris
A man's POV written by a woman. Always interesting combo to read. Decent book. Nothing major.

Ill Wind by Kevin J. Anderson
One of the most interesting books I've read on ecological disasters. Well written with excellent scientific stuff.

8.4 by Peter Hernon
Best book read so far this year. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Another ecological disaster type book.

Mount Dragon by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston
This was a great novel. The first I've read by this duo. I've tried reading The Relic but could never get into it. THIS was good though. Scientists and viruses. Very well written and I like the setting.

The Last Good Man by Kathleen Eagle
Breast cancer, kids, love, horses and being out west. Finished in 2 days reading time. (July 4-5, 2001)

Heart Of The Sea by Nora Roberts
The third in a trilogy that I own the first two paperbacks of. The Gallagher's. Ardmore. The pub and Carrick and Gwen. A fun set of stories. (July 5-6, 2001)

Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell
A disturbing book that resonates in my heart as what can happen if you don't leave your home town. Set in the coal mining areas of Pennsylvania, many of the characters felt so real because they actually exist for so many people. Not a happy book or ending.

Moving Lila by Julie Fleming
I picked this book up because my Grandparents lived in a house that had been moved. Also set in Arkansas and NC. A book that could have been wonderful but with lack of character development, you just don't care what happens. More detail would have made the book.

Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts
One of the most interesting books by Roberts that I've read in a long time. You know who the real villain is before the last page of the book but still, great setting descriptions and loved the characters.

Place Last Seen by Charlotte McGuinn Freeman
It took me a few chapters to get into this one but I loved it. It focuses on a Downs syndrome child who becomes lost in the woods while with her parents and older brother and the search that ensues.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
This is the first piece of work I've read by Kingsolver and if this book is indicative of past works, Wow. This was off of my "want to read" list. Life, nature, death and love. It is so so good. If you only read one book by her, read this one!! Not a happy, sappy ending but one exactly like real life.

Friendship Cake by Lynne Hinton
I'm not quite sure what I expected when I picked this book out first because of the name (i've eaten friendship cake before and loved it) and secondly because the author is a pastor in North Carolina. I finished it in about 2 days and loved it. Gentle. Loving. Filled with most excellent southern recipes. It has some wonderful characters and shows just how the community of the south is. Loved it.

NOT CATEGORIZED

A Painted House by John Grisham
I don't usually read Grisham because I could give a flip about lawyer drama. I've never really been into that stuff. The only reason I picked this book up was because it was not at all about a lawyer. It was interesting. The viewpoint from a 7 year old boy growing up in rural Arkansas on a cotton farm. More southern fiction. I enjoyed it and hope that Grisham decides to detour once in awhile from his norm once again.

Nature, Science, Animals

And The Waters Turned To Blood by Rodney Barker
(11-30-01) A toxic dinoflagellate present in the estuaries of North Carolina and other places. The documentation of this "cell from hell" is downright scary. Between biological bastard creatures and sharks, I'm never going in the water outside my bathtub again. Found by scientists working at NC State. Stuart's favorite place in the world. Harold Glasgow and Dr. JoAnn Burkholder. The deadly aquatic organism called Pfiesteria piscicida can create symptoms in humans that mimic Alzheimer's disease and other health problems.

Terrorism

Triumph of Disorder by Morgan Norval
I guess after reading this, it's really time for me to pull my head out of the political sand and start paying attention to what is happening in the world. Scary. Reads like a fiction novel in the atrocities that he describes but it's real. All too real and happening all over the world and now, right here in our front yard. Islam Fundamentalists. Terrorism. Genocide. Ethnic Cleansing.

Biographies & Autobiographies & Commentary

Courtney Love: The Real Story by Poppy Z. Brite
A disappointing writer. The story of Courtney Love is an interesting one but Ms. Brite did no justice to it at all.

Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross
An incredibly disturbing book about an incredibly disturbed man and his messed up life. Crazy. Depressing. It is impossible to believe that people can get that messed up.

Stolen Years: Twenty Years In A Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir, Michele Fitoussi
An amazing story of survival under the most dehumanizing conditions. The will to survive and flourish no matter what is an incredible trademark of good people.

The Truth Is... by Melissa Etheridge
I read this book in just a few hours. Quick read. Interesting. Gives her music a new dimension. Short on details though.

A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Cookbooks

Lean & Lovin' It
I was very unimpressed with the recipes in this book.

The Complete Book Of Irish Cooking

Can You Take The Heat? The WWF Is Cooking

The Best Of Country Cooking

Gardening

Sunset's National Garden Book

Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible
This one looks like a great resource for people that are new to the whole bird thing. We've gained an interest ever since a bluebird set up house in one of our bird houses and had babies. Now we want to attract more to the yard.

Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School : A Guide to Creating Your Own Beautiful, Easy-Care Gardenby Ann Lovejoy

MISC..

The Green Encyclopedia

The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Program

Yankee Magazine's Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More by Earl Proulx, The Editors of Yankee Magazine

Self Defense, Survival Or Familial Information

Protecting The Gift by Gavin de Becker
ONE OF THE BEST Books ever written. If you have a child you love in your life, get this and read it today.
de Becker also wrote The Gift Of Fear that is a must read.

Beauty Bites Beast by Ellen Snortland
A woman looks at defense for women now and from the past. A powerful book from a woman's perspective. She changed a lot of the ways I perceive and think about violence towards women.

Raising Cain Protecting The Emotional Life of Boys by Daniel J. Kindlon, Michael Thompson

25 Stupid Mistakes Parents Make

601 Ways To Be A Good Parent

Survival

Desert Survival by David Alloway

Survival Communications

The Sas Survival Handbook : How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea by John Wiseman

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature and Survival for Children by Judy Brown, Heather Bolyn, Trip Becker (Illustrator), Tom, Jr. Brown

Advanced Fugitive : Running, Hiding, Surviving and Thriving Forever by Kenn Abaygo

Strong on Defense : Survival Rules to Protect You and Your Family from Crimeby Sanford Strong

Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven

The SAS Guide To Tracking by Bob Carss, Stewart Birch, Roy Thomasson (Illustrator)

SAS Encyclopedia of Survival by Barry Davies

Guide to Emergency Survival Communications by Dave Ingram

Homeport by Nora Roberts
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
Left Behind (Christian Series)
Blood Lure by Nevada Barr
Solstice by David Hewson
Magic Terror by Peter Straub (Collection of short stories. Bunny Good Bread was the best one..and the one about Vietnam)
Danse Macabre by Stephen King
Hearts In Atlantis by Stephen King
Eye Of The Dragon by Stephen King
Biting The Moon by Martha Grimes
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt
Legends: Short Stories
Home To War by Gerald Nicosia
Surviving Galeras by Stanley Williams
The eruption of Galeras that took lives. First hand account by one of the volcanologists leading the study when volcano erupted. I just can't finish it. I'm not in the mood right now for volcanos. I'll try again at a later date maybe.

Dean Koontz
Seize The Night
Fear Nothing
From The Corner Of His Eye

Stephen King
On Writing
Dreamcatcher
Sisters of Eularia (Short Story in Legends)

Ann Lamott
Bird By Bird
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts On Faith
Operating Instructions ( a re-read)

Linked here for future reference:

modern library | 100 best novels the radcliffe list

modern library | 100 best novels

modern library | 100 best nonfiction

Thriller, Mystery, Horror
A Wolf Story by James Byron Huggins (Thriller)
Cavern by Jake Page (Thriller)
Subterranean by James Rollins (Thriller)
Ship Of The Damned by James F. David (Thriller)
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Thriller)
Ghost by Peter Straub (Thriller)
Koko by Peter Straub (Thriller)
The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (Thriller)
Touching The Void by Joe Simpson (Thriller)
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson (Thriller)
Fatalis by Jeff Rovin
In The Forest Of Harm by Sallie Bissel
In the Land of White Death : An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Ivanovich Albanov, Alison Anderson (Translator), David Roberts (Introduction), Jon Krakauer (Preface), Linda Dubosson
Footprints Of Thunder by James F. David
Mine by Robert R. McCammon

Apocalyptic Like THE STAND
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
Pilgrimage to Hell (Deathlands) by James Axler, Jack Adrian
Long Voyage Back : A Novel by Luke Rhinehart
Bangs and Whimpers : Stories About the End of the World by James Frenkel
The Dispossessed : An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
We All Fall Down by Brian Caldwell
Out of the Ashes by William W. Johnstone
This Is the Way the World Ends by James Morrow
Nature's End by Whitley Streiber and James Kunekta
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

Vietnam Stuff
Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson
Shadows Of A Vietnam Veteran: Silent Victims by Alicia Boyd

Ecological Stuff
Mother Of Storms by John Barnes
Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling
The Rift by Walter Williams
The Johnston Flood by David McCullough
In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor
Fire on the Mountain by John MacLean
The New Madrid Run by Michael Reisig
The Last Ship by William Brinkley
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Nature & Outdoors
Owls Aren't Wise & Bats Aren't Blind : A Naturalist Debunks Our Favorite Fallacies About Wildlife by Warner Shedd
The Flight of the Iguana : A Sidelong View of Science and Nature by David Quammen

Other Countries/Travel Stuff
Tracks : A Woman's Solo Trek Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback by Robyn Davidson
Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds by Tim F. Flannery
One for the Road : An Outback Adventure by Tony Horwitz
Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Journey into Australia by Roff Smith
Australia : True Stories of Life Down Under (Travelers' Tales) by Larry Habegger
Desert Sojourn : A Woman's Forty Days and Nights Alone by Debi Holmes-Binney
A Year by the Sea : Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson

UNCATEGORIZED
Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
A Short History of a Small Place : A Novel by T. R. Pearson
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gregory Rabassa (Translator)
How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation : With Forms Legal Survival Guides) by Mark Warda

Survival
The Complete Book Of Survival by Rainer Stahlberg
The Encyclopedia of Country Living : An Old Fashioned Recipe Book by Carla Emery

Fiction By Women
Sineater by Elizabeth Massie
The Mineral Palace by Heidi Julavits
Blue Deer Thaw : A Mystery by Jamie Harrison
Leaning Into the Wind: Women Write From the Heart of the West Ed. by Linda Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier & Nancy Curtis
Winter Range by Claire Davis
Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind : A Novel by Ann B. Ross
World Of Pies by Karen Stolz
Big Stone Gap : A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Adriana Trigiani
Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani
Chalktown by Melinda Haynes
The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love by Joan Medlicott
The Gardens of Covington by Joan A. Medlicott
The Train to Estelline : The First Novel in a Trilogy by Jane Roberts Wood
A Place Called Sweet Shrub : The Second Novel in a Trilogy by Jane Roberts Wood
Dance a Little Longer : The Third Novel in a Trilogy by Jane Roberts Wood
Bad Girl Creek by Jo-Ann Mapson
Summer Island by Kristin Hannah
Cane River by Lalita Tademy
Dance upon the Air by Nora Roberts

Literature & Fiction
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur S. Golden
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres, Robin Desser
Clay's Quilt : A Novel by Silas D. House
Fay by Larry Brown
Singing Boy by Dennis McFarland
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Non Fiction
Great Books for Boys : More Than 600 Books for Boys 2 to 14 by Kathleen Odean
Nickel and Dimed : On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Turning Stones : My Days and Nights With Children at Risk by Marc Parent
Believing it All : What My Children Taught Me About Trout Fishing, Jelly Toast and Life by Marc Parent
Orphans of the Living : Stories of America's Children in Foster Care by Jennifer Toth
The Things I Want Most : The Extraordinary Story of a Boy's Journey to a Family of His Own by Richard F. Miniter

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Phantoms by Dean Koontz (re-reading)
Shadowfires by Dean Koontz (re-reading)
Tears Of The Moon by Nora Roberts
Irish Hearts Trilogy by Nora Roberts
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Funny. Funny. Funny. Made me want to move to Australia immediately.
Harry Potter Book 4
The River King by Alice Hoffman
Riveting. Surprising. Loved the characters. The best kind of reason to love a book.
Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Running With The Demon by Terry Brooks
Sacrament by Clive Barker
The Flame and The Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss

The Lazarus Child by Mawson:
This book's title drew me in at first and I read the jacket and left it in my stack. I couldn't get it out of my mind though. My mind kept returning to the book and the title and I just knew I was going to love the book. So, I put down one that I was in the process of reading and started in on it.
I loved how it started out exactly where it was necessary and it kept a fast pace and good plot. The end, was horrible. I was so disappointed that I wasn't going to find out exactly HOW and WHO and WHY. I like neat endings and understand that you don't have to tell it all but come on, you have to give some details to me after I invested my heart and mind into your words.

Strange Highways by Koontz: A collection of short stories. Second time for this book. I read it about 8 years ago. Atilla The Hun is the story that has stayed with me since finishing. I was very moved. The Black Pumpkin was pretty good too.

On Writing by King: I absolutely LOVED this book. I wish all my favorite authors would publish something like it. Best advice I imagine is out there but even better: in plain english. In it he also spoke of what happened to him when he was hit by that minion. I don't think I really thought about the accident when it happened to him, it was just so ODD, so surreal. But reading his own words about it.... well, I know that if he happens to die before I do, I will be incredibly sad.