Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

Publisher Comments: One enemy spy knows the secret if the Allies' greatest deception, a brilliant aristocrat and ruthless assassin--code name: "The Needle"--who holds the key to the ultimate Nazi victory.
Only one person stands in his way: a lonely Englishwoman on an isolated island, who is coming to love the killer who has mysteriously entered her life.
Ken Follett's unsurpassed and unforgettable masterwork of suspense, intrigue, and dangerous machinations of the human heart.

Quote:
He had the flashlight in his left hand, the stiletto loose in his sleeve and his right. right hand free. He switched on the flashlight and grabbed the sleeping man's throat in a strangling grip.

Why this book you might ask:I read this book some 25 years ago and found it recently on iTunes. I wanted to reread it and needed a book for the Flashback Challenge. Perfect.

My Thoughts: I found this to be just as good to me as it was years ago. This tale of a German spy who found out the D-Day plans and and the hunt go find him before he is able to get back to Germany to warn the High Command was very suspenseful. The way Follett wrote the spy's part was interesting in that I couldn't find it in me to totally hate him. What a great anti-hero. There were no big twists or turns, just a straight forward story. Besides the strong spy story there was a little sizzle and some romance to round it off nicely. At the end I was really emotional for Lucy Rose. She was a strong character who had to go through a lot. A great read.

Links:
Excerpt
Wikipedia

MP3 CD
Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD; MP3 Una edition (June 10, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593352786
ISBN-13: 978-1593352783

Challenges:
100+ Reading Challenge
Totally British Challenge
Flashback Challenge
5x4 Challenge
Decades Challenge
Audio Book challenge
Monthly Mixer Mele
NaJuReMoNoMo

Audio Hours 2010:
This book - 9hrs. 17mts.
Total - 40hrs 42mts

Web of the Witch World by Andre Norton

About the book: Simon Tregarth, whose own Earthly prowess had won him a throne and a witch-wife in an alien world, knew that both triumphs were precarious as long as the super-science of held a foothold on that planet. And his premonitions were right when those invaders from another dimension made their final diabolical strike for total conquest

>Quotes:Patience. Long ago Loyse had learned patience. Now she must use it again as a weapon against fear and the panic which was chill in her, a choking band about her throat, a crushing weight upon her. Patience - and her wits - that was all they had left her.

There was no change in the metal pillars, no sigh that the gate was in use, until those men suddenly appeared as if from the air itself. Possessed men, yet they showed caution as they fanned out, moved up the break.

Why this book you might ask: I read this for the Flashback Challenge. It is one of the first SF books I remember reading YEARS ago. I remember it being so fascinating to me.

My Thoughts: This book was a nostalgic read for me, it was one of the books I read earlier in my life (maybe around '68 or '69) that drew me to Science Fiction & fantasy. I think I might be a little more critical than I was way back then. For instance, the action was, well I don't know how to say it. One minute they were talking about something that must be done and the next paragraph it had already been done. One paragraph they were talking strategy and the next paragraph a new character was there to help. I still loved it though. I liked the clash between a an almost medieval culture, fighting with swords and axes (with witch help) and the foreign Kolder technology. It was a short book at 190 pages, but action packed all the way.

Links:
Witch World on Wikipedia
Preview

Paperback: 190 pages
Publisher: Ace Books; First. edition (January 1, 1964)
Language: English
ASIN: B000NXA7YI

Challenges:
100+ Reading challenge
Flashback Challenge
Decades Challenge
What's In A Name Challenge
Monthly Mixer Mele
NaJuReMoNoMo

Total pages in 2010:
This book - 190
Total - 1565

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

About the book: "Sweet Thursday" reads as a post-war continuation of "Cannery Row". Set on the Californian coast, amongst the junk heaps and flop houses of Monterey, the book brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears - from fauna who runs the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter.

Quotes: He rejected the theory of private ownership of removable property almost from birth.

"I'm going to call my paper 'Symptoms in Some Cephalpopds Approximating Apoplexy.' " "Great God Almighty!" said Mack.

Why this book you might ask: After reading Cannery row last year I found that Steinbeck had written a sequel to it. Sweet Thursday. I've wanted to read it ever since.

My thoughts: I truly enjoyed this book. I loved revisiting the folks from Cannery Row. It was light-hearted with plenty of humor and love. Love of friends, love of community, & romantic love - Cannery Row style. Steinbeck's turn of a phrase, such as the quote above talking about one of the character's bend to thievery, was fun to read and turn over in my mind. I will read this book again, I'm sure. If you haven't read Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday you should give these novellas a chance. I read it on my Kindle.

Links:
Preview here.
A critical study of Sweet Thursday.

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 244 KB
Print Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics (June 24, 2008)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B001BC2ZTA

Challenges:
100+ Reading challenge
eBook Reading Challenge
NaJuReMoNoMo
Monthly Mixer Mele
5x4 Reading challenge
Decades Challenge

Pages Read in 2010:
This book - 288 pgs
Total - 1010