Vacation Reading

Aahhh! My idea of vacation is reading things that aren't even vaguely work related. So my 12-day vacation to Hawaii and the following holidays allowed me to indulge. I discovered two new authors, both writing Robert Ludlum type spy novels--only with current players (terrorists instead of cold war villains). The first was Greg Rucka, whose Tara Chace works for HMG as a Minder (that's the British secret services euphemism for all-around-clean-up-person for messy situations and occasional assassin). She was apparently born in the graphic novel world in a series called Queen and Country; although I haven't seen/read these, I thoroughly enjoyed the two regular books I read, A Gentleman's Game: A Queen and Country Novel and Private Wars. He also writes a series about a professional bodyguard named Atticus Kodiak and I am just about to finish listening to the first in this series (on tape while I commute) called Keeper--also an interesting enough character that I'll look for more to while away the highway miles.
The other author I got temporarily hooked on is Vince Flynn. It was another one of those serendipitous discoveries while browsing the books on tape at Corvallis public library and I liked it well enough that when I ran across one of his paperbacks on the book exchange shelf at the condo where we were staying, I grabbed it. His professional spook and assassin is Mitch Rapp who works for the CIA. Lots of D.C. political intrigue and plenty of fodder for those who think most of our government is corrupt at so many levels. I consumed (in print or on tape) Act of Treason, Consent to Kill, and Executive Power.
Then I scarfed up an oldy by Martha Grimes, and finally read one of those I felt I needed to read in order to be considered a legimate fan of children's and young adult literature, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I have been slowly trying to fill in what I perceive to be gaps in my childhood reading--those books that serve as the benchmarks for everything that has come later, such as Charlotte's Web. And finally I re-read The Golden Compass after going to see the movie and started a couple of other books...but I'll save those for a later post.