'The Final Detail' By Harlan Coben

Not sure why I picked up another 'Bolitarian' novel in such quick succession to the previous two I just finished. They are better when spread out and interspersed amidst heavier pieces of literature.

The book opens to a scene set in the Caribbean on a nearly uninhabited island. Myron Bolitar has been avoiding his grief by throwing himself into a tryst with a sexy CNN anchor who equally needed a distraction. He is called back to real life when Win appears on a yacht and calmly explains that his return is necessary. His new partner Esperanza Diaz is being investigated as a suspect in the murder of one of his oldest clients, a newly signed and recently recovered drug addict Yankee pitcher.

As usual the plot winds and twists involving more and more characters and revealing years old cover-ups involving our protagonists. When the dust settles, Myron learns of the gravity of situations he helped others out of years ago and helps others as much as possible including getting is best friend cleared.

Too much Bolitar. I am now reading David Copperfield, thank goodness.

'One False Move' Harlan Coben

In this, a very typical Coben 'Bolitar' novel, our star athelete is WNBA equivalent star Debra Slaughter. Her father is found murdered and she is a suspect. As the plot thickens we meet the powerful Polititian who seems to have been involved in some undiscernable way. Did he kill Debra's father? Did he kill Debra's mother who has been missing for nearly 20 years and who's absence, curiously, coincides closely with the death of his wife? Where does it all end?

The real difference in this novel is that Myron starts the novel with Jessica, his always present heartthrob but ends it breaking up with her as he has fallen in love with Debra.

When it's all said and done, everyone is dead including the highly unlikely murderer. Myron is at the end of his rope and is completely heart-broken at the culmination of all the drama.

Good enough read but I need something with more substance soon.

'Deal Breaker' by Harlan Coben

This was my 3rd of 4th venture into 'Bolitarism'. It was what I needed after reading 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atonement' and I went on a tear of 3 Myron Bolitar books. This was the first and, unless I'm mistaken, is the first of the series.

Whilst being introduced to all regular characters and getting a bit of back story we meet the first big client, Christian Steele. He finds himself in an investigation searching for the reason for his ex-fiance's disappearance. Myron, as per usual, investigates, gets too deep, ignores peoples' attempts at intimidation, nearly gets killed, solves the crime and drops dozens of one-liners regardless of the urgency inherent in the situation. This was fluffy but still gave me a good old fashioned 'whodoneit' to ease out of the serious dramas.

I get the impression that each Bolitar I read will have some different culprit and some more and more complicated plots.

Worth reading.

'Atonement' by Ian McEwan

I saw this movie a few years ago so I know how it would end but it was a highly acclaimed read so I was excited to try it on for size.

The prose was brilliant and the plot was ingenious and the characters were fully developed and intriguing.

Briony Tallis is a young girl who misunderstands what she sees happening between her older sister Cecilia and the family's longtime friend Robbie Turner. When she decides to step up and fix the situation she only ruins the course of many lives unfairly. She spends the rest of her life trying to make up for her actions as a 13 year old, giving us the title.

I am impressed with how well a male author gave the perspectives of two female protagonists and even more satisfied with the embodiment of the unjustly accused and incriminated Robbie Turner. The book follows an interesting narrative technique as the author tells the most of the story from Briony's perspective. As the story apparently winds down we jump into her life as she's entering her 8th decade at which point she bemoans her inability to fix the mistakes she made as a youth and the irreperable consequences of her actions. I vaguely knew where the story was going so I was an impatient reader except for the section told in the perspective of Turner but it was an enjoyable read and I recommend it, especially for those who have an interest in the events of World War Two on the European Continent before America joined the contest.

'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand

I can't help it, I love Ayn Rand. Not unlike 'Atlas Shrugged' and most of Stephen King's novels I really enjoyed this book for the process more than the end.

This novel mainly follows and elevates architect Howard Roark. A once in a generation talent, Roark shuns the popular architectural movement in lieu of his own instinctive modern impulses and, after decades of sporadic work, triumphs in the public eye.

As in 'Atlas Shrugged' this novel introduces the reader to a few similarily principled characters. Another strong, individualistic protagonist is Roarks love interest Dominique Francon. We also meet his polar opposite: Peter Keating, a man with little talent that the public is manipulated to hold in high esteem. His rise and subsequent fall balances the inverse function occuring in our protagonists life. The lower Roark falls, the higher Keating rises until the role reversal begins. Another character that embodies all the innate integrity Rand wants us to appreciate is Gail Wynand, newspaper giant and all around tycoon. When put to the test we are shown how integrity means nothing when it folds under pressure but we cannot help but feel this character is another protagonist.

In terms of Antagonists, there really seems to be only one. Keating is a spineless pawn but the real evil mastermind is Ellsworth Toohey. The master manipulator and aspiring ruler of the populace, Toohey makes seemingly benign alliances in part of his grand scheme to dictate popular opinion.

As I said before, I love the way Rand writes. It's a refreshing drink of intellectual cool water after months of reading luke warm stale dumbed down water. That said, there is one thing about her writing that bothers me. I don't know enough to say if this is a product of the times or if it's her own personal vendetta to make things incredible clear cut but there are these monologues by characters that go on for pages upon pages laying out the message which the capable reader should have already gleaned from the story. Aside from this over the head beating of the message I would call Rand my perfect author. This novel is just under 800 pages but I couldn't wait to read more and finished it in about 5 days.

Loved the book, want more Rand, already understood that individualism should never be pushed aside for the idea of holding the unremarkable aloft.

'Where are you now?' by Mary Higgins Clark

I was shocked at how much I did enjoy this book. Again, I felt like there was a surplus of red herrings and the plot sort of unfolded as I expected it to but there was still an awful moment at the end where I thought, 'well, how the hell could anyone ever figure that out?' I don't like to be cheated and it would be easy to read this book and never spend a moment trying to unravel the tale but that's not how I like to read.

Synopsis: Boy dissappeared years ago. Family still receives a call every mother's day 'from him'. Sister starts digging into the circumstances around his 'intentional departure from society' and, simultaneously, other dissappearances come to light with similarities.

Ok read but very dissappointing all in all.

'The Chosen' by Chaim Potok

Another second reading for me and well worthy of it. I read this book for a college course 10 years ago. The aim of the class was to provide the student with a more worldly view. I understand why the book was part of the syllabus. Starting with a baseball matchup of epic proportions we meet our protagonists Rueven Malter and Danny Saunders, sons of Rabbis in opposing sects of Judaism. These clashing systems of religious ideal give the game great importance for both sides. The game ends with
Saunder's team the victors and Rueven on the sidelines with part of his glasses imbedded in his eyeball.

The events of that ball game set up the inevitable character changes we witness as the two once rivals become close friends. The story follows not only the boys but their fathers as a great atrocity is taking place in the world. In the buildup to the Americans entering Europe, the subsequent years of fighting and, finally, the revelation that Jews have been murdered in the millions with nothing done to intercede when there was time we see the differing religious views grow more and more firmly opposite. When the question comes about regarding a Jewish state, these views are vehemently contrarian.

Through out it all we experience the boys growing and gaining certainty in what they will do with their beliefs and their lives. Danny is expected to take over his father's flock and Rueven's father wants him to do something in the mathmatics field. As they are educated and gain experiences they seem to switch roles with Danny desiring to become a psychologist and Rueven feeling called to become a Rabbi.

This book contains many other themes but the way boys become men, assert their own wishes and the enduring, unshakeable love of fathers remain the central themes in my opinion. It was revelatory for the reader and characters alike to see the strength of the bonds we form in this world, both friendship and father-son.

I have always intended to look into more Potok writings and this novel has reaffirmed my belief that I would enjoy anything that has come from his pen.

'Untitled' by Julie Kaewert

Claiming to be a mystery novel for bibliophiles this novel takes the reader through enough twists, turns, and red herrings to please a mystery lover who loves mystery for all the aforementioned ingredients. The references to, details of and high profile society revolving around ancient and rare books will fulfull anyone reading who fits the bibliophile demographic.

All that aside, this book left me disappointed. The writing was good...enough. The plot was satisfactory...in some ways. The characters were interesting and complex...in a way. All that was missing was that key element of believablity that any true mystery lover needs. When the protagonist opts to put himself into a highly dangerous situation with, seemingly, no safeguards a reader feels taken. When the protagonist endures and survives innumberable near death/murder scenarios, the reader feels robbed. Because of these reasons I could not walk away from 'Untitled' with satisfaction in having opened it's cover.

All that aside, the protagonist finds an extremely rare and, as we soon find out, highly dangerous novel. The information supposedly contained within could potentially ruin the reputations of persons who will do anything to get it back. Strangly, the protagonist is suspiciously invited to join a highly elite and exclusive book club. As we learn more about who might benefit from the book being destroyed and what information the book might contain, we are pulled along in the unbearably implausible plot until, all red herrings cleared, we are given the climactic scene where the true bad guy holds our protagonists at gun point and explains everything, just in time to get killed, unintentionally. Even more disappointing, we never see the protagonist reunited with his kidnapped fiance. (oh yeah, that happened too) Well written enough that I could make my way through it but frustrating beyond belief. No more Kaewert please.

'Mila 18' by Leon Uris

I said that I would love to read another novel by Leon Uris and I got the opportunity. This was on par for what I would expect from a piece with the name Uris on the binding. It was long, 800 plus pages, and a brilliant mesh of that which is called, or at least I will call, Narrative Fiction. This story was greatly focused upon the uprising of Polish Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. In the previous novel I read ('Exodus') the plots flashed occasionally back and followed the preceding events encompassing a number of generations. This novel really honed in the the 3 or so years directly preceding and including the invasion of Poland by the Nazis and the subsequent treatment of the Jewish Poles.

We are all well aware of the horrific massacre of Jews at the hands of the Nazis and this story pointed out all the specific atrocities involved with Jews not yet sent to Concentration Camps. Without the straight-forward annihilation, the treatment of Jews in Ghettos was equally terrific.

The characters jump off the page and we see so deeply into what drives them that we feel empathetic even for the antagonists pushed to unthinkable acts, in the pursuit of survival.

This novel follows the families of Andrei Androfski, his sister Deborah's family, and Christopher De Monti. Under the umbrella of these central characters we also gain insight into Gabriela Rak (Androfski's love interest), Paul Bronski, (Deborah's husband) the Bronski Children and their subsequent love interests (Rachael and Stephen and Rachael's lover Wolf Brandel). Most chapters open with a "Journal" passage from Alex Brandel, the primary historian recording the horrors endured by the Jews of the ghetto and his family is inextricably woven into the progress of the plot.

Beginning with Poles prepared to fight and repel the Nazis and ending with the complete liquidation of the Ghetto this story takes the reader through all the ups and downs the struggle for world recognition and, above all, the survival of the actual events that transpired.

I will need to get my hands on more Uris, he has me in awe.

'A Fountain Filled With Blood' by Julia Spencer-Fleming

This book was, mostly, just what I needed. I had just finished a heavy autobiography and was in dire need of something much lighter.

This mystery was one of a series following Reverand Clare Fergesson and Chief of Police Russ Van Alsythe in a small Adirondack city in the North of New York. Without retelling entire episodes, Spencer-Fleming cues us into a past of mutual desire between our two main characters. In the typical mystery style we see the plot unravel leading us in many directions but eventually bringing us back to the first, and most rational culprit and reasoning. It was dissappointing as I tend to overanalyze mysteries and make my guesses based on what would make for the most thrilling motives and unlikely of guilty parties.

Unfortunately, Spencer-Fleming didn't unwind the spool as far as I was hoping and I was left unsatisfied by the ending. One last thing that was dissappointing was the realization that one last, and far more maniacal, person was responsible for everything and escaped with no repercussions.

It was a quick read and, as I said, a necessary respite from the deep pieces I've been drowing in but I won't see out more Spencer-Fleming in the future.

'The Revolt' by Menachem Begin

Autobiographical to a fault.

I picked up 'The Revolt' hoping for a detail narrative of endless battles as Israel fought to attain then fought to retain statehood. Instead I got a, thinly veiled polemic against the Hagganah and Jewish Council leaders bowing and scraping to the British in the years leading to Israel’s jump to recognition on the International stage.

Scathing in it’s, albeit rightly deserved, contempt for the British attempt at maintaining control of their tiny hub in the Middle East, this autobiography also glorifies the actions and reasoning behind said actions of the Irgun. The Irgun was the independent Jewish Militia responsible for almost all the unrest leading upto, and causing, the pullout of Britains troops in the late 1940’s. While other groups were striving to attain a nation diplomatically the Irgun understood the true intent behind all the British were doing, claiming to do, and planning to do. This understanding led them to initiate, maintain and stiffen the armed resistance that, Begin claims, led to the triumphant return of the State of Israel to modern maps.

I know very little, or rather nothing, of what Menachem Begin accomplished or strove for in his time as Israel’s Prime Minister but this novel clearly lays out his belief in the strong hand being the only respectable hand. In nearly a decade of living ‘underground’ he was the most highly sought after and never uncovered agent in the Anti-British movement prior to their leaving Palestine.

I was hoping for narrative of epic battles but got a far more academic, and obscenely biased, outline of the planning phases, ramifications, and justifiable defense of the Irgun ideals. While I can easily admire Begin’s ingenuity, the valor displayed by his compatriots and the brilliant insight indicative of all their plans, I would not choose to read another book written by Begin himself.

'Israel' by Fred Lawrence

I said I was interested in reading more about the birth and subsequent growing pains of the nation of Israel and I have begun reading more about it. 'Israel' by Fred Lawrence is not a fantastic read. Over 800 pages in length, it walks us through the pogroms in Russia, the Labor strikes in Early 20th century America, and, unfortunately, all 50 years preceding Israel's independence. Although the breadth of the story is interesting from a sheer desire to learn more about historical eras, the lack of specificity in the battles to save the fledgling nation was disappointing. Lawrence was more focused on demonstating the parallels between the separated families progressing in America and Palestine.

We start by meeting Abe Herodetsky, an orphaned Russian teenager, who takes in a fellow orphan 10 years his minor. This child, Haim Kolevetsky, grows in his stead and when war comes to Russia they head in different directions. Haim departs for Palestine with his Zionist ideals and Abe intends to strike off to America in hopes of a equitable opportunity to find success. We follow the two men as they find successes and heartbreak in their seperate lives. Children come and the story picks up in their hands. All characters accomplish great things but the emphasis in the family plot is tiresome and doesn't provide the intimacy to the strugglees that I crave.

Altogether, a new perspective but I want to find a different view that will put me in the battles against the Arab Nations as Israel struggles in it's infancy.

No more Lawrence for me. Just didn't satisfy me the way I was hoping it would.

'Drop Shot' by Harlan Coben

The characters we meet that exist solely for these plotlines are intriguing and well constructed. We like them, we don't trust them, we hate the fact that we like them. Whatever we are supposed to feel towards them, we feel as per the author's desire. Duane Richwood is a tennis stud and we like him even though we don't trust him. This book catalogues his meteoric rise to the top of the tennis world and the trouble that comes when he finds his past is about to be revealed.

Primarily, we follow Myron Bolitar: injured professional athlete turned Sports agent extrordinare via federal officer. He is big, trained and smart with a conscience to boot. He gets involved to set matters right and he sees it through to the end, regardless of the consequences. We catch snippets of those in his life as well. His girlfriend/soulmate; Jessica, his assistant/partner in justice; Esperanza, his true crime fighting financial wizard best friend; Win, his mother, and his arch nemeses, the Ache brothers of TruSports.

This was very clearly, yet another chapter in the Myron Bolitar series. Evident from the label on the front telling me that it was a Myron Bolitar novel, it was also very obvious from the references made to prior interactions. Altogether, this was a great mix of new, exciting plotlines with just enough 'inside references' to keep the Myron Bolitar fans feeling happy they read the novels in order.


Quick, great dialogue, enough twists and hints to keep you guessing. All together I like Coben's style alot. I would love to read more of his work. This 340 page book took about 5 hours to chew through and I enjoyed the process immensely.

'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote

An accurate and stunningly descriptive retelling of the events surrounding the killing of the Clutter family. We start the novel by meeting the Clutters. We walk around in their world for a day seeing how they interact with and affect those around them. We are reminded that this is their last day. Later, we meet the agents involved with solving the crime. We see their impressions, their feelings, and their game plan regarding the case. Lastly, we meet the offenders. We learn a great deal about them and we are walked through the crime moment by moment.

Capote started writing short stories and when this novel came out he skyrocketed to fame and celebrity. He truly did his work on this one. His interviews must have been incredibly thorough as he provides great imagery in the way people remember the Clutters on their fateful last day alive and the details we learn about the assailants early years.

This book will leave you rattled. You will feel simultaneously appalled at the failures of the legal system and relieved that this failure provided seemingly positive results.

I would be curious to see what Capote's other works are like. Certainly he would try to match the mood of this novel but I wonder how his skills translate in other mediums.
I may pick up another of his writings.

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is known, first and foremost, for his scandalous lifestyle and his brief stint in prison for 'homosexual practices'. After that, his noteriety stems from his brilliant and witty theatrical pieces. Everyone knows of 'The Importance of Being Ernest' and the wonderful crafting of dialogue therein. I knew that he had at least one novel to his credit and that it was deemed by so many bookworms as a classic but I had not yet experienced his flavor through the medium of the novel.

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' received scathing reviews in its time and I am not suprised by this in the least. It certainly leans towards vulgarity, if only in suggestion, but as all books seem to do, it corrects the balance of good and evil in the end. Is Dorian Gray a bad person? Is Dorian Gray just a man who didn't know what he should be? I would be more inclined to think the latter.

We watch Dorian start off with all that is good in the world; innocence, beauty and faith in humanity. As the influence of Lord Harry takes hold over him he devolves into a satisfaction seeking hedonist. This is, in part, enjoyable for the reader as he protagonist does things that so many of us imagine doing but never step beyond the bounds of acceptability to attempt.

We see and feel his inner turmoil as he literally sees the effect these actions have on his soul and we are left, in the end, knowing that he lived, and was punished for, an immoral life.

From Oscar Wilde, I would have expected more scandal. Why can't the evil doer be free from conscience and survive, unscathed, as those well principled persons around him fall by the wayside. I'm sure if it had been written this way, in it's time, he would have been hung for encouraging depravity. Perhaps I am simply overwhelming myself with books from the wrong era. It sounds like a french author, referenced in this book showed a lack of consequence for immorality. I may need to move to a different genre for a while.

Oscar Wilde=Brilliant!

'Vanity Fair' by William Makepeace Thackeray

What a name!!!

And a pretty great book. With a storyline that has be milked by hundreds of plays, movies and television shows over the past 200 hundred years, it comes as no suprise that this novel seems almost predictable. However, without a lifetime of knockoffs, a reader would be completely enthralled by this story.

Even WITH a lifetime of knockoffs I found myself devouring page after page of this book. With a few weeks of slow, meandering I still finished the majority of this 800 page book in about one week. It gets good and stays good.

With two main protagonists, Amelia Selby and Rebecca Sharp, the plot shows the ups and downs of two women who lead nearly opposite lives. One which starts at the bottom of society and peaks as high as any well bred woman could ever hope to, and another who seems destined for greatness but has a downfall that is unmatched in literature. Karma seemingly rights the wrongs as the novel concludes but it is a marvel at how Thackeray crafted such complex, likeable and opposite women.

The men remain, as it should be, mostly secondary or tertiary characters throughout and we see the best and the worst of behaviours from them as well. One can see a very christian bias in this writing.

Thackeray said that he learned how to write through the penning of this book and boy can he. You would be hard pressed to find an unsettling word or an unnecessary scene between these covers.

Yet again, a classic that belongs in that category.

'Lost Soldiers' by James 'Jim' Webb

Having lived in Vietnam for nearly 3 months now this book had my attention immediately. I bought it 6 months ago on a whim. There were two huge carts full of books at Goodwill and after rummaging through about 300 of them, this book ended up being my only purchase. The classic style of the hard cover and the map of Vietnam on the inside of the cover convinced me that this book would not spend it's life on my bookshelf.

A rich plot that keeps you on your toes til the last minute and, more importantly, a realistic and enchanting view of the life of a Vietnam Vet trying to find a life in the aftermath, Congressman Webb does a commendable job of creating a protaganist that is so awful we can't help but love him. It has been done better by others but this was not far from the mark. Unlike other virtuous villians, I think the reader can almost immediately see through the veil to the deep morality of Condley. Not that this is bad but some of the abrasive mannerisms and lack of social graces come across as unrealistic.

I would read more Webb but I won't spend much time seeking him out. On a cursory search, it doesn't seem that the majority of his work is centered in Post Vietnam War Vietnam. That was what drew me in most of all.

Mr. Paradise by Elmore Leonard

This author is well lauded by his peers. Stephen King called him 'the Great American Writer'. He is known for writing in a way that leaves nothing for the reader to skip and making the dialogue so real that it doesn't feel like writing at all. This may be true but I didn't appreciate his style. It certainly didn't feel like writing but when the dialogue jumps from one person to another with little holding the conversation together it gets quite jumbled. In a movie it would work. In novel it just confusing. I am not saying that script dialogue has no place in a novel but it should be supplemented with more traditional ways of letting the reader keep some sense of reality about it.

Furthermore, the plot was fairly non-existent in this novel. We are told what happened in the first chapters and we spend the rest of the time waiting for the bad guy to get caught. They are not smart and do not try to evade capture. Not exactly a nail biter. I was expecting a 'whodunnit' and got a 'thisiswhathappenedandithappenedinaveryboringandrealisticway'.

I don't need to find another Leonard novel but I am grateful for the adaptations his work has brought into being.

Exodus by Leon Uris

Fantastic book. Intertwined great historical descriptions with a characters that draw you in, impress you, and leave a mark.

This was more than just the story of a group of Jews trying to get into Palestine, it was an epic tale of the 200 years of worldwide Jewish persecution leading upto the moment in time when such a trip means so much to so many.

Learning about the massacres in Russia, Poland, and Germany in the precedent centuries was revelatory. I want now to learn more about the history of the state of Israel. The way they redeemed the land and fought so valiantly to defend it makes me yearn to read more.

This book was great, and if a bit biased, it certainly showed the reader why.

'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernie Hemmingway

It's been a long time since I've read a book that didn't contain the title, almost word for word, somewhere within. This book, as per his style, did not.

You can read so many books and so quickly forget what good writing feels like. This book refreshed my memory.

Robert Jordan is an American fighting Franco and the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. He is an explosives expert and we join him as he enters the small guellerio party of Pablo and his woman Pilar. Along the way we meet memorable and valiant characters like the old man Anselmo, the pissant Augustin and the masculine champion El Sordo. The coltish young lady Maria or 'little rabbit' also finds her way into our story, forever changing our protaganist.

Things I loved about this book:
1. The almost seamless way he blended the English and Spanish. He even wrote the translations from Spanish in a manner that gives the language a higher respectability. Thee and Thou are scattered throughout and the sentence structure finds itself embedded in the English translation. I loooooved that.

2. The use of the words obscenity or unprintable instead of vulgarities. It's more fun to fill in the words myself.

3. The subtle, not overbearing, manner in which the theme of the life of one versus the progress of a philosophy was approached was refreshing.

4. This book had killing, sexing, drinking and philosophy. My dad would say the movie should have all the necessary factors for a good flick.

5. A bad guy you can hate but not too much. You feel the humanity and can empathize.

This book was worth the adventure. Can I get some more Hemmingway please?

'Exclusive' by Sandra Brown

This was airport reading material and I dug it.

Not so fun as Lee Child but far better than many other 'Bestsellers' I've read.

We follow the reporter, Barrie Travis, as she uncovers (or is it that she is the puppet all along) a dangerous and ever thickening crime in the whitehouse. The male lead, Gray Bondurant, is awesome. I would like to read a book from his perspective. Cool, calculating and every man's envy, Gray keeps the book moving when it may very well have stopped in an immature pout. The characters of the president and first lady starkly contrast one another and acheive their desired effects. One is despicable and the other is pitiable, as much as she wants to be, that is.

I could do more Brown but I won't reach past an unread Lee Child to pick it up.

'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Took me a long time, 28 years, to pick up this novel. I can immediately grasp why this is held aloft as a time honored classic. The poignance of the characters as the plot is, in most cases, thrust upon them, is unmistakable. I loved so much about this book. I loved how much I hated Marie St. Clare. I loved how truly stalwart and steady Tom remained through it all. I loved how Stowe stopped to pull punches without truly pulling them. We may have gotten the 'decent version' of many of the atrocities associated with slavery but we certainly didn't miss the allusions to such terrific crimes that one cannot help but scoff at the morality of just over 100 years past.

Tragedy strikes quick and often and really leads the reader to believe that this was either a constant fear or a constant reality for those of the 'lower race'.

What may have started out as a series of pamphlets to raise awareness, verily conveyed the sentiments of an entire demographic during a tumultuous moral battle in our, then, fledgling country.

I would read more Stowe and I would recommend this novel to anyone.

'The Canterbury Papers' by Judith K. Healey

I read this book with excitement. I enjoyed the prose. I, myself, enjoy speaking in Ye Olde English so reading it is always an indulgence for me. The three hundred pages went quickly, ingested in little more than three days. I liked the characters, the plot seemed intriguing....and yet.....

I look back and feel that i didn't like this book.

The characterizations were elaborate but perhaps too much so. I understand that people are complex creatures with a multitude of masks and personas but there are ways of indicating this with greater subtlety. I have always enjoyed a nice twist of Fiction intertwined with reality and this particular book provided just that. I only wish it had been headed somewhere. We know how things actually ended up but, please, change it. Let our beloved characters win and take the day in grand form. Then tell us about it in the Afterword. I promise, it's a far more exciting concept that remaining restricted because of actual events.

If I'm hard up I could read Healey again but I won't pursue her.

'Running with Scissors' by Augusten Burroughs.

Hilarious!

This book was David Sedaris on crack. Filled with the same ridiculous familial antics and uncensored peeks into the lives of the strange but much naughtier. A young boy with a 33 year old boyfriend? A PHD who reads his feces for prognostication? Just awful, in a great way. If you cross bred david sedaris and tucker max with maybe a little dash of chelsea Handler, you might get this hybrid of Augusten Burroughs. Apparently this book has been turned into a film. I must look into it.

'Gone Tomorrow' by Lee Child

This is my 6th or 7th Jack Reacher novel. Just as good as always, maybe even better. I get the impression that, over the years, Mr. Child has either got better editors or developed a finer knack for writing. Not that I was ever offended by his attempts, but this book seemed like a more finely tuned piece than all the others I have read.
Reacher witnesses a 'suicide' on the train and is quickly drawn into a scandal that goes as deep as the DOD, CIA, DIA, and FBI.(shocker)

With great precision, the mind of the former MP is unspooled for the reader, giving them a capable grasp of all the multitudinous minutae that is sifted and categorized through his perceptions.

Perhaps there was a bit of predictability with the bullet count near the end of the book but, nonetheless, it was a great read. 600 pages gone in 3 days.

I hope I find another Child novel soon.

"Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom

I'm sure 'Tuesdays with Morrie' did the same thing to me but i sobbed through the last chapter of this book. As a whole, beautifully written and a wonderful message brilliantly conveyed. The views given by the Rabbi pretty much sum up my feelings about world religions to the Tee. Therefore it was an affirming read.

I'm happy Albom has had commercial success with his stories but I am even more happy for his sake that he was able to live through the experiences which provided these stories. His life has certainly been enriched by the wise people he has be lucky enough to spend time with. He has used the opportunities to ask tough questions and get answers from people who might be best placed to answer them.

This story follows our author as he gets to know two religious leaders. The rabbi and the preacher. The preacher is a 'lost and found again' Christian and the Rabbi is a lifelong influence in the author's life, only recently and intimate acquaintance. Through his conversations with these central characters and his reflection on the time spent with them the religious philosophies begin to fall into place.

I don't know why this book took over a year to pick up. I should not shy away from Mitch Albom next time. The book took me two days to consume and I was enthralled for the duration.

'Murder in Montparnasse' by Howard Engel

Ahhhhhh. How refreshing. It's like two months of hot, sticky heat, the occasional breezy evening, but then the heaven's open and you get caught in the cool, rejuvenating shower.

I have read some crap lately. Not to say that Halberstam was poor writing but it was rather dry and I was into it for over a year. 'Murder in Montparnasse was a huge suprise and I loved every second of it. I honestly said out loud, 'I wish this book would keep going on forever.' It was not that the story's plot was incredibly engaging. It has far more to do with how the characters were presented and their perceptions of the world translated on the page.
The story follows Mike Ward, a Canadian would-be writer, in Paris for the first time translating new stories from french for the Toronto Star. As he meets and, consequently, gets drawn into a circle of other, relatively unknown, artists, we see his life fill out. The characters in this novel are all thinly veiled versions of actual persons of the era. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and on. Reading about the behaviour of these characters fascinates the reader and draws them into a real life experience set in Montparnasse in the 1920's. These elevated artists become real to you as you see how they behave and interact and, most curiously, with whom they become romantically entwined.

The plot is secondary to the characters and 'cut through the bullshit' style of setting the mood. Paris' Jack the ripper is killing and gives one of the crew a perfect opportunity to kill an enemy while making it seem as though it was the act of the homicidal maniac.

He does not get away with it but who cares. The cool water of each page cleansed my reader's soul and I hope I can soon find another book equally as satisfying.

'Blind Side' by Catherine Coulter

I need some Alcoholic mouthwash after this read. It was infuriating to plow though this 'FBI thriller' that was written as it were intended for a 12 year old. The descriptions tried far to hard to sell the ephemeral qualities and the plot gave very little to assist in out-sleuthing the sleuths. I would rather pick up a Lee Child 'Reacher' book any day of the week.

Blind side follows Agent Savich and his wife Sherlock and they must continued characters. It's written with allusions to numerous previous plots. The story also follows Sheriff Katie, from a small town in Tennessee. Our author is clearly infatuated with fall in Tennessee. I can't count how many times I read, 'There is no place in the world as beautiful as fall in the Smokies'.
She helps a boy flee kidnappers and ends up falling for his father as the plot thickens and, spontaneously, erupts. I despise endings that explain everything in the final chapter. I want to be given hints and start figuring it out myself. Not have the story lead in one direction then give a completely lame and fabricated excuse for the bad guys actions.

I hope I never forget that I don't want to read Coulter.

'The Best and the Brightest' by David Halberstam

Wow. What an opus I just finished.
This book is over 800 pages. Not my first time reading a book of that length but this was some dense reading. It could accurately be titled 'A biography of the best and the brightest: a look at the men who got us into Vietnam'. Each chapter of the 27 seemed to be centered around one of the leading players of the Vietnam War. I learned about Dean Rusk, Max Taylor, Mcnamara, Gen Westmoreland, Mac and Bill Bundy, John McNaughton and, of course, Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

The biographies were in depth, engaging and, most importantly, pointed towards what led them to the decisions they made. I have a deeper understanding of how Vietnam happened and, in so many ways, how it should have been avoided.

It was a terrible, wanted by few, occurance that many people fought to avoid and others dreaded, with good reason. The real culprits seemed to be the military, itching to flex it's power. They were given a situation in which they could apply pressure and exact a result and this they did, with unfortunate success.

Halberstam is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist for his work during the vietnam era and he is very worthy of such a prize. I've moved on to my next book and it is a throwaway paperback fbi thriller. I MISS his great writing. He has a knack for keeping the dialogue real and the inner monologue genuine.

I hope to read more Halberstam. Maybe next time I have a month free and a desire for a dense read.

'The Templar Legacy' by Steve Berry

I never thought I would say this: Dan Brown did a decent job writing 'The Da Vinci Code'. I have firmly believed it was poorly written prose wrapped around a decent mystery concept. I have now read the same book written with even worse prose. 'The Templar Legacy' attempts the same goal as Dan Brown's first famous novel but with less believable dialogue, descriptions of character feelings that drip with cliche, and wholly unrealisitic sexual tension.

I can appreciate, as I did with Dan Brown, the intertwining of fact, fiction and imagination in regards to the Templars but I cannot handle the descriptions that actually made me groan outload. 'She couldn't hide her anger well but she swallowed it enough to continue' is an almost accurate example. Mr. Berry, I feel you were just trying too hard. In a book that is about unraveling a mystery, we care far less about the character's feelings. It's really not what drives story. Less is more.

All that said, he sold millions of copies of this and other books. I think. At the very least, he finished a novel and got it published. That's impressive. I hope I don't get talked into reading another of his writings but God bless him.

'The Hours' by Michael Cunningham

Pulitzer prize winner. I am starting to see the value in the stamp on the front. The writing was poetic and I enjoyed the story lines. Cunningham has a way of putting into words they thoughts we all have but fear verbalizing. This story intertwined the lives of a good number of women, all of which were lesbians I'm pretty sure, as they fight the malaise of life. The number one reason for reading this, apart from the beautiful writing, is the way Cunningham makes you feel like one of the world, like your thoughts are not unique.

I'm not really here by Tim Allen

This ended up being a comedian's effort to put very complicated physics into 'people speak'. I like Tim Allen's writing style and the book was interested and lighthearted for the most part. It didn't completely feel like it had a purpose as much as it was a chance to make a little money and expound on a few things going on in his life. He spoke of the physics dilemma as part of his mid-life crisis and, although, he seemed to find closure in the final pages, it was rather contrived. I fair attempt at making physics readable.

'Me: Stories from my Life' by Katharine Hepburn

I know so very little about Ms. Hepburn. I know very little about roles she played and accomplishments she made in her life. I do know that what I have seen in Aviator. I do know that she was apparently quite a character. This is very clear in her autobiography. She prefaced it by stating 'this is just somethings I remember thrown together. There's alot I don't remember too.'

I feel that her age shows in her writings. Through the first 400 pages I see the scatterbrained, back and forth, tangential orgy that is either an 80 something woman or just plain Katharine Hepburn. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is just how she is and even in her 80's she is as she always has been.

It was a nice peek into an era and a personality I was curious about. The last two chapters are less about her life and more about a deeper, human concept. She delves into the unconditional love she had for Spencer Tracy. I really liked the way she wholeheartedly gave herself to him. It was truly a beautiful relationship, at least from her perspective. I am thrilled to have a similar experience. Fully in love and giving without censure.

This 420 page hardback took me around 6 hours to devour. That's a quick read. The pictures were all appreciated.

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

I was excited to read this novel. I had heard great things about it. It spend time as the #1 New York Times Bestseller. It was OK

Things I didn't enjoy:
A. The writing style seemed juvenile. Not uneducated but aimed towards teens.
B. I felt the plot unfolding ahead of me. I like to be surprised.
C. I never yearned to pick the book up again. I read it because it was a quick read and I was semi-interested but I was not enthralled. Felt very 'Dan Brown'
D. The central Character. Eliana's mother pointed this out as the singular reason she was unable to continue reading the book and it rang true for me as well.

Things I did like:
A. The author sprinkled vocabulary in the book in such a way that made it easy to follow and easy to remember that most dialogue was in a different language than my own.
B. The way relationships changed through revelations throughout the book.
C. The descriptive way the author described many beautiful things about the country, culture and traditions of Afghanistan. I feel as though I have a deeper understanding of what the country was like and what it yearns to be once more.

I may read his other book 'A thousand splendid suns' (something like that) but I will not seek it out.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A Pulitzer prize winner, this novel was fantastic. The different characters and there different dialects were so well planted that everyone had their own, distinct point of view. Mr Toole was obviously a very brilliant man.
Ignatius had a some hare-brained plans but a great deal of his philosophy was quite insightful, albeit frequently off the mark. You hate the lead character but you simply cannot help but appreciate and root for him at the same time. Some of the plot points got a bit sticky but, altogether, this was a treasure.

Chapterhouse: Dune by, yet again, Frank Herbert

The climax of the Dune series didn't hold my attention as strongly as the previous installments but it was an interested read, nonetheless. We followed Narwi Ordade (Dar) as she was the new Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit. Duncan and Murbella, his Honored Matre companion, are locked in a NO-ship and have had lots of children as she has been preparing to become a Bene Gesserit. Miles Teg has a ghola except it was born as a child. The Bene Gesserit are seeing their world quickly coming to an end and when the book leaves us we still have no certainty if their fates. Murbella assumes the titles of both Mother Superior and High Honored Matre. Duncan, Sheana, and Teg have fled in the no-ship. Who knows what will come of them.

Not unlike almost every Stephen King novel, this series was worth it for the journey, if not for the end.

Frank Herbert put a dedication in the back of this novel to his late wife. It was beautiful and made both my girlfriend and I well up with tears. He really has a way of pointing out the details that make the whole resonate.

The Human Comedy by William Saroyan

I am 90 percent sure I have read this book before. Strangely, I didn't realize it until I was 20 pages from the end. It all sort of came together as I read about the war buddy Marcus made who fell in love with the idea of having a home.

This book was sad. With a young boy forced to take care of his family by delivering messages of lost men in the second world war to the sad fate of a telegraph operator who has outlived his time, this book pulls at the heart throughout.

Ultimately, this book was Saroyan's attempt to raise attention to xenophobia in America around World War Two. I can't count how many references were made to 'we are all americans', etc. It was not terribly subtle. Nonetheless, I picked "The Human Comedy" up and had a hard time putting it down over the course of a couple days. It was an accurate and shockingly indepth look at humankind and the stages of our lives. Describing what the young boy does as something no man can understand and no child can ever remember was brilliant.

Great book. I will read more Saroyan.

Heretics of Dune

By, once again, Frank Herbert.

The second to last installment of the Dune series, this novel introduced us to Miles Teg who, by way of the T-Probe, accesses never before seen physical abilities. The story also gives us glimpses into yet another incarnation of the Duncan Idaho ghola, Sheeana, Odrade,and Lucilla of the Bene Gesserit, a Tliexu master and the Honored Matres whom are coming back from the scattering to exact their take over.
The whole book was an easy read but the last 50 pages really took me in. Describing Teg's slaughter at the Honored Matre stronghold and the capture and attempted sexual enslavement of Duncan Idaho were an action packed way to end the book. I have begun reading Chapterhouse Dune and am thrilled that Miles Teg has been brought back as a ghola. I hope he gains access to the skills he acheived in the previous volume.