"The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane

I came across this book in a local give/take bookshelf years ago. I was familiar with the author's name but had never read anything by him. Knowing that he wrote Mystic River, Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island, I assumed the story would be based out of Boston and it, for the most part, was. It follows a number of protagonists, from Babe Ruth, Danny and Thomas Coughlin, and Luther Lawrence. Set in the early unionizing days, this novel follows a member of the Boston Polize Department as he becomes disillusioned by the treatment of his fellow public servants. Concurrently, we check in with Babe Ruth as he transitions through his first season of "White Ball" and end up being traded to the Yankees. Lastly, we meet an african american who stumbles through life in the first 90 percent of the book and, finally, navigates the final pages with a modicum of intention. The characters were well rounded and entertaining. The buildup of the preceding events of the Boston Riots of 1918 were methodical and effective. I generally had a tough time calling it a night and putting the book down. I would be delighted to read anything else by Lehane.

"Heretics of Dune" by Frank Herbert

Onward we march into the unending adventures of Dune. This portion follows a young Fremen girl with the abilty to control Sandworms movement, the newest incarnation of Duncan Idaho and the first skirmishes between the Bene Gesserrit, the Tielaxu and the Honored Matres. Not so much a story in itself, it serves as prelude to the next chapters. These characters are established and the stage is set for what will follow in Chapterhouse: Dune. I can't wait to see what happens with the Mentat Idaho and his lover Murbella, Odrade, a new Miles Teg and the Honored Matres as the intrigue unfolds.

"Low Life" by Luc Sante

I'm beginning a dive into New York history. This Sante piece looks into living conditions, entertainment, law enforcement, gang activity and basically everything that is not shown about New York City between the 1840's and 1920's. This book dives way past the mansions and elite of the steadily growing metropolis that was NYC during this era. If I'm honest, I wasn't blown away by the organization of this book and perhaps it's because each chapter could have easily been the centerpiece of a comparably sized research project. It felt a lot more like scratching the surface lightly and planting some names that deserve a great deal more space to fully encapsulate. It was an interesting start, nonetheless, and my intrigue has been struck.