4th of July, by James Patterson

There was enough time on this morning's flight to read two more of the series.

3rd Degree, by James Patterson

After reading the two prior books in the series, I feel compelled to read all of them.

A good airplane book. Especially since I couldn't open my laptop on this morning's flight as the person in front of me reclined to have his head in my lap.

Compulsion, by Jonathan Kellerman

This was an okay detective story. Not compelling, just okay.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

I really enjoyed this book. Apparently it is popular with high school and even middle school kids. Well, fine. They have good taste. I look forward to the sequel.

Fearless, by Robin Parrish

This is the sequel to Relentless. I thought the first volume was strange; this one gets even weirder. It occurs to me that this is a strange fantasy genre of some sort. I suppose I'll read the next (and apparently final) book in the trilogy, just because I've come this far. Not because it is really worth reading.

Red Rain, by Michael Crow

This is a terrific action / police novel. Engaging characters, great plot movement. I expect a sequel!

A Nail Through the Heart, by Timothy Hallinan

Although it had a bit of a slow start, this ended up being a very good novel. I would have enjoyed a touch less of the graphic gore though. But this isn't a horror story, it is a well crafted novel about a travel writer living in Thailand and the things he does for love.

Power Play, by Joseph Finder

This is a terrific action novel. Highly recommended. Can't say more because I don't want to risk messing up the suspense.

The No Asshole Rule, by Robert Sutton

Given the title includes a word I wouldn't use in my blog posts, I feel as though I should defend myself by stating Dr. Sutton's credentials: a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, author of several books on management and Harvard Business Review articles. He's the real deal.

The book itself: brief and clear. And everyone will resonate with it.

Scaling Software Agility, by Dean Leffingwell

This is a good survey book. It gives an overview of the history and key aspects of agile methods, and discusses scalability issues in agile. Examples from BMC and Ping Identity are useful.

I especially liked the brief section on challenges and misconceptions about agility from marketing and product management teams.

The Face of Death, by Cody McFadyen

After reading his previous novel, I decided to take another shot at McFadyen. I enjoyed this book as well. But I'm going on hiatus for this sort of bloody, gloomy serial killer thriller. Too negative and too painful to read to be on my regular book diet.

Shadow Man, by Cody McFadyen

This is a very good, albeit somewhat overly gory and violent, first crime / serial killer / FBI agent saves the day novel. The male author writes from the point of view of a female FBI agent. I'll read his next book.

Sleeping with Strangers, by Eric Jerome Dickey

I'd previously read Waking with Enemies, and while not terrific it was okay enough that when I saw this book at the library I thought, why not. But this book provided a very odd experience; it was so overlapped with the other that there were even repeated sections. Was it a large manuscript split into two novels, or really planned this way? Either way, I've had my fill of Mr. Dickey's writing.

A Lick of Frost, by Laurell K. Hamilton

Oh my, what have I done? This book is so not me. In fact, I'm not even sure what it is: fantasy? romantic fantasy (heaven help me!)? Oh boy.

So there's this faerie kingdom, see. Well, several, if you include the goblins, and ... Wait a minute. No way I'm going to try to explain this one.

Waking with Enemies, by Eric Jerome Dickey

This is a perfectly fine "hit man in London" novel. When the author isn't practicing for a parallel career writing erotica.

Infected: A Novel, by Scott Sigler

Do not read this book. Unless you like yucky sci-fi horror with an ending that implies another similarly yucky volume to follow. Not me.

Relentless, by Robin Parrish

This book struck me as odd the moment I looked at it on the library shelf, but I decided to try it anyway. It is difficult to classify: started out almost as sci-fi, then became action-adventure, ending perhaps in fantasy? I'm not sure. But it was enjoyable, albeit violent, and I look forward to reading the next volume.