The Return of Little Big Man - Thomas Berger. Little Big Man is one of my father's favorite books, and somehow I have never read it. When I grabbed this book, I did not make the connection, but this is the sequel. It is a fictional account of the life of the only white survivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Jack meets one famous person after another, from Buffalo Bill to young Winston Churchill, and everyone in between. Kind of like Forrest Gump meets the wild west. Strangely, with all these famous events happening around him, I got caught up in the on-going worry if he would EVER pay Wild Bill's widow back. I cannot decide if I liked it or not.

Fillets of Plaice. More Gerald Durrell, but this time it concentrates on his family and friends more than on his animals. It is in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh's aristocratic snobbish young English people, but with slightly more likable characters. It was well-written, but I prefer his animal stories.

The Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Margaret Weis. A continuation of the Dragonlance hero Huma's saga. Would fantasy authors please do something different instead of copying directly from Tolkein or Salvatore or even Jordan? Where is the originality that Harry Potter is so full of that made it a joy to read?

The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break - Steven Sherrill. A very good book.One of the best I have read this year. It was a real surprise, and I admit, I bought it for the title. This time, it lived up to my expectations. Mine was an advanced reader's copy, so I am not sure what, if any, final changes were made in the final publication. The 5000 year old Minotaur is cooking in a North Carolina ribs joint. Well thought-out, well-written, original ideas.