Decipher by Stel Pavlou

I’ve read a lot of bad reviews about this book, but it’s become one of my favorites.  This book definitely requires a technical mind and a love for science, so if 500 pages of science and cultural history sound boring to you, I doubt you’d enjoy this as much as I did.

In 2012, the best scientists across the globe have been assembled to solve a mystery.  The earth is going through a traumatic time with many earthquakes, floods and odd weather.  The lost city of Atlantis may have been found and could either be causing these problems, or could be a cure for them.

All over the world, usually under an ancient pyramid of some sort, an interesting material, Carbon 60, is found inscribed with an unknown language.  This material is man-made and is something we can’t create in any significant quantity, so its discovery is puzzling.  Not only is the material inscribed, but it is digitally encoded.

The set of great minds come together to try to figure out how this material and the writings on them tie into the puzzle.

Let’s face it, I’m no good at summarizing.  I thought this book was not only educational, but exciting.  I found many of the scientific and historical facts discussed in the book are real, as I researched points that interested me.  It really makes you think and evaluate everything you’ve always assumed to be true.

If you like Stargate, you’ll notice many similar themes.

This book is perfect for those who don’t have a lot of time to read every day as it’s broken into many “stopping points” between chapters, so it’s easy to read for 10 minutes and then put the book down at a break.  The last 50 pages or so are truly boring, but I felt the ride was definitely worth it!

The Cove by Catherine Coulter

I got this book a long time ago from PaperBackSwap and having no recollection what it was about, I put it in my bag as an option to read while I was in Texas.  As it turned out, I read frequently when I was in Texas.  I really miss reading a couple books a week and hope this will kick-start me on reading again.

The Cove is a small town Sally escapes to after the murder of her father.  She doesn’t remember what happened that night, but she very well may have killed him.  Or perhaps her mother killed him.  Either way, both she and her mother are safest if Sally runs away.  At least that’s what she thinks.  An FBI agent named James Quinlan easily tracks down Sally and begins to work his magic on her trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle leading up to her father’s murder.  In the meantime, strange things happen in The Cove which can’t easily be explained and James finds he has another mystery on his hands.

My description probably sounds boring, but this book was anything but.  The pace is quick, which I’ve discovered I prefer in books.  The mysteries are plentiful and kept me guessing.  Sometimes I had aspects of it figured out and other times I was shocked to discover the truth.  Overall, it was a pretty good suspense book with a little romance thrown in for good measure.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

I just love Harry Potter books.  There isn’t much to say without spoiling it for everyone else, so my babbling thoughts on this book are in the spoilers.

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Starting From Square Two by Carren Lissner

I wanted to read this book because I really enjoyed her first novel, Carrie Pilby.  Right from the get-go though, this novel really irritated me in all its chick-lit stereotypical glory.

Gert is recently widowed and hangs around her two single friends, Hallie and Erika. Both are jaded to the world of dating, Hallie never having had a successful relationship and Erika constantly obsessing over her ex-boyfriend Ben. Gert seems like she’ll be the one to keep this book together. She even has the potential to be a strong, single woman. But no, right from the start she’s in a bar meeting guys because no woman can be complete without a man.

The only reason I didn’t chuck this book out of my second story window to be shred into a million pieces by the air conditioner unit below is because of the guy Gert ended up meeting at the bar. His name is Todd, he works as some sort of railroadenginieer and he’s about the greatest guy who’s ever graced the pages of a chick-lit novel. He’s kind, thoughtful and considerate and does just about everything right.

Gert doesn’t treat him as well as she should and both her and her friends agree that Todd does some things which are insensitive and warrant an apology. These things are SO SMALL I don’t understand how the woman was successfully married before. Maybe that husband of hers really killed himself to be rid of her and her childish expectations of men.

If you want a light and fluffy read, please by my guest and dive into this book. You’ll fall in love with Todd and the (honest to God) most serious problem in this book is that Todd is working long hours and is too tired to give Gert 100% of his attention.

Wow.

Todd, I salute you! You’re a great guy and don’t deserve to be picked apart so much by Gert, Hallie and Erika. Better luck next time.

The Eight by Katherine Neville

The Eight is about a powerful chess service of questionable origin.  Through the years, it was passed on as a gift to Charlemagne who felt a strong sense of evil when he played it.  He decided this service was too powerful to be kept around and had it buried at a monastery in Montglane.  From then on it was known as the Montglane Service.

During the beginning sparks of the French Revolution, all the monasteries were being turned upside down and the abess in charge of protecting the Service needed to uproot it and get it out of there, lest it fall into the wrong hands.  She dispersed the pieces among eight nuns, sending them off in all different directions, sworn to protect the pieces with their lives.  Two of these nuns are Mireille, a strong woman and Valentine, her more free-spirited cousin.  They live together in Paris, living the high life, until the Frech Revolution really gets swinging and threatens the lives of all too many Parisians.  People are being murdered on the street and Valentine’s life is taken because of the information she knows about the Service.  Mireille knows she has to get herself and the pieces out of there.

After Valentine’s death, Mireille vows to discover the secret killing her cousin.  She set off to distant lands and encountered historical figures along her way, including Napoleon - all of which are also somehow connected with the Service.  She quickly finds she’s not just trying to unveil a secret, she’s a player in an ongoing real life chess game!

Meanwhile, in 1972, Catherine Velis is a computer expert who has an upcoming business trip to Algiers.  First she receives a cryptic message from a fortune teller who seems to know her birthdate.  Shortly afterwards, her friend Lily, an expert at chess, drags her along to a chess match between two world known masters.  At the match, one of these men is killed.  As they try to leave the match, they are shot at and discover Lily’s chauffuer has gone missing!  Catherine soon finds herself sucked into the same real life game of chess that Mireille started playing two hundred years ago.  She traces along the same path as Mireille trying to put all the clues together and discover the importance of the Service.

If you liked The DaVinci Code or admire historical fiction, I highly recommend this book!  It does seem a little far fetched as it ties many of life’s mysteries together, dating all the way back to Adam and Eve.  The ride is fun though and it’s always great to think, “What if it were true?”

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