Weekly Finds: 2/27/10

Gatekeepers - book three Dreamhouse Kings by Robert Liparulo.  The third in the series my grandmother tossed my way after she finished reading it.

From the back of the book;  The Kings have been in the creepy old place, their new home, for only a few days, but they've experienced enough terror to last a lifetime.  And the mystery is growing even more baffling.  Shadowy and shifting, the big house conceals doors into other worlds that blur the line between memories and dreams - and the slightest misstep can change history forever.

At least, that's if they believe the trembling old man who shows up claiming to know them.  "There's a reason you're in this house," he tells them.  "As gatekeepers, we must make sure only those events that are supposed to happen get through to the future."

The problem is that horros beyond description wait on the other side of those gates.  As if that weren't enough, the Kings are also menaced by sinister forces on this side - like the dark, ancient stranger Taksidian, who wants them out now.

Xander, David, and Toria must venture beyond the gates to save their missing mother - and discover how truly high the stakes have become.

Last Snow by Eric Van Lustbader.  Won from a contest hosted by At Home With Books.

From the inside cover:  New York Times bestselling sensation Eric Van Lustbader created the legendary Nicholas Linnear of The Ninja and brought Jason Bourne into the twenty-first century.  Now Lustbader brings us Jack McClure, a streetsmart ATF agent who saved the president's daughter from a criminal mastermind.  Jack is now a special advisor to President Edward Carson, and Carson's daughter refuses to let Jack out of her sight.

When an American senator, supposedly on a political trip to the Ukraiane, turns up dead on the island of Capri, the president asks McClure to find out how and why.  Jack sets out from Moscow across Eastern Europe, following a perilous trail of diplomats, criminals, and corrupt politicians.  He takes on a personal mission along with his official one: protecting his two unlikely, unexpected, and incompatible companions - Annika, a rogue Russian FSB agent, and Alli, the president's daughter.

Thrust into the midst of global jigsaw puzzle, Jack uses his dyslexic mind to put together the pieces that others can't even see.  As he struggles to keep both women safe and to unearth the answers he seeks, Jack learns just how far up the American and Russian political ladders corruption and treachery have reached.  And though Jack's abilities are as good as it gets, there is much more to gain - and lose - on this journey than the truth about the senator...

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.  I picked this up for a group read on librarything.com.  I've always wanted to try Virginia Woolf and this seemed like a good chance to do so.

From the back of the book:  In this vivid portrain of one day in a woman's life, Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is much more than a perfect hostess.  As she readies her house, she is flooded with far-away remembrances.  And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices she has made, hesitantly looking ahead to growing old.  Undeniably triumphant, this is the inspired novelistic outline of human consciousness.

The Golden Compass - book one in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.  This series has been on my wishlist since the movie came out and I finally had a chance to pick it up.

From the back of the book:  Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side.  But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle - a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears.  And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is desstined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle.

The Subtle Knife - book two in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

In this stunning sequel to The Golden Compass, the intrepid Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted otherworld - Cittagazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky.  But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm.

On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devestating power.  And with every step, they move closer to an even greater threat - and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

The Amber Spyglass - book three in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.

Lyra and Will, the two ordinary children whose extraordinary adventures began in The Golden Compass and continued in The Subtle Knife, are in unspeakable danger.  With help from the armored bear Iorek Byrnison and two tiny Gallivespian spies, they must journey to a gray-lit world where no living soul has ever gone.  All the while, Dr. Mary Malone builds a magnificent amber spyglass.  An assassin hunts her down.  And Lord Asriel, with troops of shining angels, fights his mighty rebellion, a battle of strange allies - and shocking sacrifice.

As war rages and Dust drains from the sky, the fate of the living - and the dead - finally comes to depend on two children and the simple truth of one simple story.  The Amber Spyglass reveals that story, bringing Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials to an astonishing conclusion.