Fall Into Reading 2011

Well, today is the first day of fall. That means cooler weather should be coming our way...eventually. I'm planning on lots of Starbucks this fall and lots of reading. Callapidder Days is hosting the Fall Into Reading challenge again and I have my list ready. I picked most of these books randomly, so there really isn't much rhyme or reason to my list.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

Jillian Dare by Melanie M Jeschke

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

A Distant Music B J Hoff

Bad Ground by  Dale Cramer

In the Arms of Immortals by Ginger Garrett

 The Inheritance of Beauty by Nicole Seitz

I've had some of these books a ridiculously long time, so I am looking forward to getting them read. Or at least deciding not to read them. We'll see how it goes. I'll give an update and some book reviews in December when the challenge is over. Wow! By then it will be almost Christmas! Oh well, happy fall and happy reading.

Book Review: The Skin Map

Kit Livingstone always thought his grandfather Cosimo had deserted his family. He went to the market one day and never returned. Imagine Kit's surprise when Cosimo shows up almost one hundred years after his disappearance and tells Kit and amazing story of traveling through time. Kit is a little skeptical, until he makes the journey for himself. This is how The Skin Map begins.

The Skin Map is a fun beginning to The Bright Empires series by Stephen Lawhead. Throughout the story, the characters travel through "leys" which are roads that lead to parallel universes. All of these universes have been mapped out by a previous traveler and tattooed on his body. When he died, the map was removed and eventually lost. Kit and his friends must find the map before it falls into the wrong hands.

The Skin Map is a fast paced, enjoyable story. The time travel element makes it easy for characters to show up in unexpected places, and, some times, to get lost. I had some trouble keeping track of everyone. I had to go back a couple of times to figure out who was where and what they were doing, but overall it was a fun read with enough suspense to make me want to read the next book. I would recommend The Skin Map to anyone who enjoys the Science Fiction or Alternate History genres.

I received this book free from BookSneeze for the purpose of review.