SURVIVE!: my fight for life in the High Sierras by Peter DeLeo

A very interesting and tough book to put down. It starts with the author piloting a small plane with two friends as passengers on a sightseeing trip in the California Sierras. A wind shear hits the plane and it crashes, the rest of the book describes DeLeo's incredible trek through the cold and snowy wilderness, with minimal clothing, no food or water, 16 broken bones, and an amazing driving desire to save himself so he can save his friends who were injured more severely than he and stayed with the plane. After 50 miles and 13 days he finally walks out of the wilderness and back into civilization. A compelling read!

Spinning Through the Universe: A Novel in Poems from Room 214 by Helen Frost

April is National Poetry Month, so I found myself in the poetry shelves and decided to try a volume. "Spinning Through the Universe" is a short novel of poems written from the perspectives of the students, teacher and custodian of Room 214, an average classroom in an unnamed school. The poems range in subject from new kittens and lost bikes to home troubles, homelessness, and larger issues of identity and friendship. Though the year is not easy for the students of room 214, the genuine caring that they have for one another is touching and uplifting.

In addition to creating diverse voices for each of the characters in Room 214, Frost also demonstrates her talent as a poet by using many different and sometimes difficult styles of poetry. Everything from haiku and sestina to a crown of sonnets show up in the work. An index explains each of the poetry forms used in the book and gives suggestions on how to write each form of poetry.

The Beast in the Garden by David Baron

You may have read my review on the book Ghost Walker by R. D. Lawrence. This is another book about cougars that was recommended by Regan for me to read to further my knowledge and understanding of cougars. It's been an interesting winter and spring interacting with the cougar research folks in the area, and learning the particulars of the two mama cougars who frequent my ranch. This book documents what happened in and around the city of Boulder, Colorado in the late 1980's. The city itself being very "green" with a majority of it's residents open minded and pro wildlife. The city acquires thousands of acres of land surrounding it as a greenbelt and refuses to allow hunting, which enables the deer population to skyrocket. Deer in people's yards are commonplace. Cougars make a comeback and their population also booms, and soon cougar sightings are common, also. Then domestic animals start disappearing from suburban homes, and then the cougars become habituated to humans and lose their fear of them. What happens next is inevitable. A great nonfiction read written by a science reporter for NPR, it certainly broadened my knowledge and understanding of cougars. Highly recommended read for those of us who live in cougar country.

Runner, by William C. Dietz

Imagine a far future where many planets whose one time technological advances have deteriorated, including the automated planet shuttles, have fallen into disrepair. Jak Rebo is a runner, a person who gets paid to travel and deliver goods, messages, and in this case, a 10 yr old boy who may be the next spiritual leader, makes an epic journey in his effort to deliver the boy to a different planet. A mix of SF, fantasy, and high and fun adventure awaits you in this hard to put down read of 424 pages. Deitz, is a seasoned SF writer from the Seattle area.

Dating is Murder by Harley Jane Kozak

Many of us have been looking in vain for someone to compete successfully with Janet Evanovich and her spicy Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money, etc.). On a different coast—California rather than New Jersey—and without the plausible excuse for running into bad guys—Plum works for a bail bondsman--Kozak’s graphic artist Wollie Shelley still manages to find the laughs, the unusual situations, and a supporting cast of likeable characters just like Plum. She has a cockeyed view, which is both funny and human—“the term “think tank” brought to mind people sitting around in swimsuits, dangling their feet in water as they pondered grave issues of international importance”. Maybe it won’t take you as long as it did for Wollie to smell out the bad guy but while you are dashing around LA she will keep you entertained.