Appearance
Little League's Official How-To-Play Baseball Book: Based on the bestselling video by MasterVision. More than 125 illustrations! Plus the Official Little League playing rules
I purchased this book to pick-up a few more pointers. The book was good but all the graphics/forms are drawn. Would be better with actual photographs.
Aftershocks (Code Red)
Apparently, the talent behind Courage Bay is as unpredictable as its weather. After slogging through a couple of duds, I hit another winner. Nancy Warren knows how to combine all the ingredients for a good romance novel. The romance kicked off with a bang, moved along at a reasonable pace, and had a good resolution. It begins with Mayor Patrick O'Shea lusting after his beautiful assistant, Briana Bliss. But Briana isn't what she seems. Patrick is a fairly new mayor who beat out a city councilman because someone leaked a 20-year-old sex scandal about the councilman just before the election. Unbeknownst to Patrick O'Shea, the councilman blames him for the leak, and he wants revenge. He talks his niece, Briana, into applying for the job of the mayor's assistant so she can lure him into making inappropriate advances and then tarnish his reputation. Briana is very close to her uncle, and believes the press lied about him, so she readily agrees to his plan to take down his rival. Except that the mayor, despite his obvious attraction to Briana, behaves impeccably. He's also a pretty good mayor. At the beginning of the story, Patrick and Briana get stuck in an elevator when an aftershock strikes Courage Bay. While they're stuck in the dark, Briana seduces Patrick and, armed with a recorder, tapes the whole thing. She regrets it almost immediately. She's falling for the mayor and isn't so sure her uncle Cecil's plans are a good thing. After being rescued, Briana discovers her recorder missing, and it naturally winds up in Patrick's hands. Over the next few weeks, Patrick and Briana's feelings for each other deepen and she finds herself being integrated into his life when she winds up caring for his children in an emergency. She also falls for the children, and they for her. She feels increasingly pressed to tell Patrick who she really is, but waits until she can complete her investigation into her uncle's sex scandal. When she finally finds the truth, including how the story leaked, she goes to tell Patrick. Of course, Patrick had stumbled across the tape of them in the elevator that very day and became suspicious. He isn't interested in listening to Briana's explanations. The next day, she starts packing to leave Courage Bay. But, with some interference from Patrick's sister, they straighten everything out and start planning a wedding.This book dealt with a widower with two children who missed his wife. However, he did not cling annoyingly to her memory or spend an inordinate amount of time lamenting her loss. He moves on. At the beginning of the story, he realizes he must finally be ready emotionally because of his attraction to Briana. It's nice to see the issue raised and handled, but not beat to death. On the flip side, our heroine has a lot on her mind, but she doesn't dither and wring her hands. She takes action and tries to do the right thing, even when it's hard. The ending, too, was well woven and moved me to tears, which is rare. Though devoid of the action and suspense of some of the Code Red novels, this one didn't need them. It was fine just the way it was.
Aftershocks (Code Red)
I have to admit that I've been partial to the CODE RED CONTINUITY SERIES from Harlequin. "Ordinary people, extraordinary circumstances" is the tagline, and each and every book I've read so far lives up to that expectation. With AFTERSHOCKS by Nancy Warren, we gain another glimpse into life in Courage Bay, California, and just like every town around the world, there are good guys and bad guys, strong people and weak people, and boring and not-so-boring circumstances that throw them all together.AFTERSHOCKS is a little different from some of the other books I've read in the series, in that it's not an action-adventure romance so much as part romance, part political thriller, and part family drama. For Mayor Patrick O'Shea, getting more funding for Courage Bay's Emergency Services department is more important to him than anything-as a former firefighter, he's seen first hand how additional funds will help the citizens of his town in the face of the disasters that seem to hit them on a regular basis. The only thing Patrick desires more is Briana Bliss, but since the woman is his administrative assistant, he knows a relationship with her wouldn't be appropriate.There's another reason Patrick's wary to act on his desire for Briana, and it has nothing to do with the death of his beloved wife, Janie, three years ago. No, his hesitation comes from the fact that his predecessor, married former-Mayor Herman Carter, met his downfall when explicit video footage showed him in a compromising position with his own assistant. Due to the fallout that ensued, added with Patrick's position as an upstanding citizen of Courage Bay, he knows that anyone who knew of a relationship between him and Briana would use it against him.Unfortunately, one of the people who could have the chance to do just that is Briana herself. The niece of a councilman who believes Patrick O'Shea was behind Herman Carter's fall from grace, he gets Briana to agree to find out the dirt on the new, so-called free from sin Mayor, and to use it as revenge for his friend's political demise. From the beginning, Briana isn't sure her uncle's idea is a good one, but she does believe that the press lied about the former Mayor, and tarnished his reputation with their biased reporting.When an earthquake traps Patrick and Briana in an elevator, they know they're at the bottom of the list of people to be attended to by Emergency Services. With tape recorder in hand, Briana seduces her boss, tapes the entire episode, and then is left wondering what she should do about the proof she now holds as to her boss's true character.The only problem is that Briana knows she's falling for her boss, and Patrick has made it clear that what happened in that elevator was far from a casual fling for him. With Briana's uncle harping for the evidence to get revenge on Patrick, with Patrick himself feeling cheated by Briana, and with Briana wrestling with her true feelings for Patrick and what she's done, a truly intriguing plot follows.Ms. Warren has done an excellent job of throwing together two people who really care for each other, then mixing it up with a bunch of outside influences that sway their decisions. People in positions of political authority have to be very careful that their personal lives and decisions are done in a way that doesn't hurt their constituency, and Ms. Warren takes great care to make sure the pros and cons of both Patrick's and Briana's decisions reflect that careful balance.An engaging romance with elements of both mystery and suspense, AFTERSHOCKS is another winner in the CODE RED SERIES.
Exiles of the stars
Andre Norton published four books in her Moon Singer series: "Moon of Three Rings (1966); "Exiles of the Stars (1971); Flight in Yiktor (1986); and "Dare to Go A-Hunting (1989)."Exiles of the Stars" combines Norton's SF Free Trader and Forerunner themes, with some magic mixed in to add weird undertones. These aren't the stodgy (but wonderful) free traders of her 'Solar Queen' series. The crewmates of the starship 'Lydis' are edgy, shape-shifted mutants with extra-sensory powers. Krip Vorlund, one of the first-person narrators was once human, but got relocated into an alien Thassa body in "Moon of Three Rings." He couldn't go home again, so to speak, because his original body was spaced. The second narrator, the Moon Singer herself (who switched Krip then got switched herself) inhabits a sort of large-clawed, dog shape in 'Exiles,' but retains her intelligence and at least some of her esper powers.The Forerunner theme weaves into the mix when the 'Lydis' sets down on the planet, Thoth in the Amen-Re system, which happens to be particularly rich in Forerunner artifacts. 'Lydis's officers seal a bargain with Thothian priests to transport some of the alien treasure to the planet Ptah for safekeeping (Thoth is in the midst of a nasty civil war). So far so good. But shortly after lift-off from Thoth, the 'Lydis' has to make an emergency landing on the uninhabited planet, Sekhmet.Almost as soon as she touches down, the 'Lydis' comes under attack.Krip Vorlund and the former Moon Singer, Maelen set out on a rescue mission through the ancient, underground ways of Sekhmet, where they encounter jackers (space pirates), Patrolmen, ghosts from their own past, and yet more Forerunner super-technology.The Moon Singer books are not my favorite Nortons. They are a thematic hodge-podge, and it's hard to love a hero and heroine who inhabit non-cuddly alien bodies with super-human powers. However, if you are already a Norton fan and are particularly fond of her Forerunner novels (I think the very first one was the 'Solar Queen' adventure, "Sargasso of Space"), read "Exiles of the Stars"--but only after you've finished "Moon of Three Rings."
Exiles of the stars
Exiles of the Stars (1971) is the second novel in the Moonsinger series, following Moon of Three Rings. In the previous volume, Krip Vorlund, a minor esper and Free Trader crewmember, was entangled in a conspiracy by offworld powers and kidnapped from the fairgrounds by a young native lord. Maelen, a Moonsinger of the Thassa, facilitated his escape from prison and then exchanged his body with that of a mindless barsk just before the searchers caught up with them.Maelen was later mortally injured and exchanged bodies with the faithful Vors, one of her "little people". Thereafter, the Thassa assembly condemned Maelen for the misuse of her powers and took away her Moonsinger wand. She was also rejected from Thassa society for an unspecified period.In this novel, Krip and Maelen are aboard the Free Trader ship Lydis as crewmembers. Krip is now wearing the body of a Thassa and Maelen is still encased in the body of Vors. Krip retains his position as assistant cargomaster and Maelen is valued for her powerful esper talents.The ship has brought a cargo of pulmn to the priesthood on Thoth, only to find that the church and state are threatened by a religious insurrection. A new prophet has arisen in the mountain country east of Kartum after a virulent plague had spread from a new Forerunner cache. This prophet preachs that all Forerunner artifacts collected by the church are evil and should be destroyed.The priests are very frightened and are negotiating a new contract with the Lydis crew to take at least one load of precious Forerunner relics to safety on Ptah, another planet in the system. After the contract is confirmed, the Lydis crew dumps the worthless pulmn and takes on the first load of Forerunner treasures. The loading is opposed by rebel sympathizers, but government troops clear them off the landing pad.The shipment of these relics offplanet is also opposed by some within the temple hierarchy. A fanatic priest from a lesser temple comes to the landing pad with his entourage to curse the ship. He vows to stay there until the treasures are returned.Another priest brings the take-off authorization and remains aboard to escort the relics to Ptah. However, this priest uses a strange device within one of the artifacts to sabotage the ship engines, throwing it off-course. The Lydis crew manages to land safely, but not on Ptah. Instead, they are grounded on Sekhmet, an uninhabited planet in the same system.Maelen soon discovers that they are being watched. Krip warns the Lydis crew, but Maelen doesn't have any certain information on the watchers. The crew establishes communications with a passing Patrol ship, which lands and surveys the situation. The patrolmen decide to take the captain and engineer of the Lydis back to their base to obtain necessary repair parts for the ship engines.Three patrolmen are left behind to help discover some missing crewmembers. Krip and Maelen go with the patrolmen on the search. They find the missing flitter and signs of the missing crew. They also find indications that another flitter had taken away the crewmembers.Maelen and Krip discover that jacks have been looting a repository of functional relics and that a few living Forerunners have preempted the jack operation. These Forerunners have powerful esper powers that allow them to control other people or to force an exchange of bodies. The only female Forerunner has been trying to take control of Maelen, who successfully resists the takeover.Like many works by this author, this novel has fantastic elements in its plot. Body exchange is strange enough, but dead men in stasis who still have psionic powers is way out. However, this work illustrates Clarke's Third Law that any sufficiently advanced science appears to be magic to the uninitiated.Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of psionics and other advanced sciences.-Arthur W. Jordin
Exiles of the stars
This follow up to "Moon of Three Rings" is one of my favorite Andre Norton books. If you liked "Moon of Three Rings", you should certainly read this book which brings a sense of completion to the story of Krip and Maelen. The next book "Flight in Yiktor" is completely different and essentially abandons these characters. I didn't care for it, as I believe it is an indication that she no longer writes her books.