Monday, July 29, 2013

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT let the Science Fiction label turn you off on this one.

Seriously, this novel is done so well and is so interesting that I could not put it down. And I normally would never, ever pick up a science fiction novel unless I was desperate.

World War Z is just as the title states, a history of a zombie war. Because it takes place when it is all over, it really is not about the undead. It is about the living and how they survived the ordeal and continue to live against all odds. The world is a very different place, and Max Brooks travels from country to country interviewing key people that were part of the ordeal. They recount the horror they experienced, as well as the courage and spirit of not just the military but everyday citizens through acts of kindness and selflessness.

Throughout the novel, you keep asking yourself why? And how did this happen? The author is trying to figure this out as well, and you are really pulling for him and those left behind.

Take a chance on this one.

Karen

Monday, July 22, 2013

You Know When the Men are Gone by Siobhan Fallon


I don’t usually read/ listen to short stories, but almost every time I find a fine collection, I say to myself, “You should do this more often!” And I am in total agreement with myself regarding this collection.


All the stories are set in/ around the army base at Fort Hood, TX and are contemporary in their timeline. They are the stories of men and women trying to sustain the normalcy of home and family under abnormal conditions. Some succeed, some fail, and some just “soldier on.” The situations and emotions that take over their lives in You Know When the Men are Gone are the same ones that burdened military personnel and their loved ones from time immemorial.

Some are funny, some are sad, and some simply tell a tale; but they are all worth hearing or reading. I listened to them and found it a deeply moving experience.

CAS

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

College (Un)bound: the Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students by Jeffrey J. Selingo

This is a timely book, coming at a time when so many recent college graduates are unemployed, student loan debt has reached the $1 trillion mark, and student loan interest rates have doubled.  Selingo is editor-at-large for the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is the leading trade journal for academia, so he has insight into today's college experience.  I found College (Un)bound to be all over the board, however, sometimes offering conflicting advice.  For example, Selingo devotes a chapter to the plight of students who go deep into debt to attend an expensive college but then advises students to attend the best college they can get into (even though those colleges tend to be expensive.)  There are a lot of doom and gloom stories and stats about how few students actually graduate in six years, how hard it is to really compare colleges, and how "degree creep" has caused the Bachelor's Degree to be the new equivalent of a high school diploma.  The book really shines, however, in its profiles of schools and entrepreneurs who are improving the college experience for the students.  Most of these improvements come in the form of online learning and student-paced courses.  Although many of these programs are offered outside of established colleges, they are starting to partner with colleges to award credits that could be transferred to another school.  All parents of children who will be attending college within five years would do well to read this book to help them in their college preparations.

Dawn

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason



What do you do if you’ve buried one body in your backyard, and then two other bodies are discovered? This is the dilemma plaguing Jason Getty in Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason. Why did Jason kill the person he buried? He is so consumed by that body, that he doesn’t even know what to do after two more bodies are unearthed.  It turns out that the bodies are the former woman of the house, and her missing lover. Who killed these two and made Jason’s property a graveyard? You won’t be able to guess who the killer was.





This book is full of questions. When I first read the premise of this book, I was excited to read it. It sounds like an excellent thriller. It was a good book, but maybe my hopes were too high. There were so many twists and turns that it was hard to keep up. At just over 300 pages, I felt that Jamie Mason could have made the book longer to iron out the kinks. Overall, though, I’d recommend this book. I’m looking forward to future books by Jamie Mason. 

If you like this book, you might also like books by Tana French.

Carrie

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The Racketeer by John Grisham

John Grisham’s novel The Racketeer held my interest for about the first third of the book and not for a whole lot after that. It is the story of Malcolm Bannister, a former lawyer who unknowingly got caught up helping the mob launder money. He is now serving what he thinks is a very excessive sentence at a minimum security prison. Bannister has a way out, though. He informs the warden that he knows who killed a federal judge named Raymond Fawcett. This is information the FBI is extremely interested in, and they make a deal with Bannister to free him from prison and put him into witness protection in exchange for the name of the killer.

As I said, it’s an interesting first 100 pages or so but The Racketeer soon becomes tedious because Grisham makes Bannister perhaps the smartest person on the planet. He’s thought through everything as he tricks the FBI again and again. I never got the feeling that anything would go wrong with Bannister’s plan, and this led to a lack of tension throughout the last two thirds of the book.  In addition, a lot of the book seems devoted to trashing the U.S. justice and prison systems, the FBI and various other parts of the government. Whether readers agree or disagree with Bannister’s/Grisham’s views, portraying Bannister’s foes as such out-and-out fools just doesn’t make for interesting reading. He could have at least shown the feds as bumbling idiots for comic effect, but he doesn’t take this route either. When we do get scenes with the FBI characters, their dialogue is wooden and dull.  Even though I was initially sympathetic to his plight, I eventually found myself rooting against Bannister by the end of the book, hoping he would get caught and sent back to serve out the rest of his prison sentence and then some.

This is the first book I’ve read by Grisham and I’m hoping it’s one of his weaker efforts. I do have to admit that despite all its flaws, I did at least want to get to the end to understand all of Bannister’s master plan. I guess that shows that The Racketeer has something going for it.

John

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Bookman’s Tale by Charles Lovett




A novel about books: buying, selling, collecting them; a possible lost/destroyed book used by Shakespeare for a play; a mysterious portrait hidden in a collection of (possibly) forged books; two families at war over the possession of manuscripts for generations. No wonder the subtitle reads: A Novel of Obsession!

Not everyone can take a super-introverted book nerd and make him into a romantic hero with a quest, courage, and the purity of heart of a Grail Knight, without seeming ridiculous. Charles Lovett has done that and more in The Bookman’s Tale. The story starts with bookseller Peter Byerly holed up in a cottage in a small town in England. He has fled there from the U.S. after his wife’s sudden death and is barely surviving emotionally.

While trolling the shelves of a used bookstore, he finds what appears to be a Victorian-era portrait of Amanda, his late wife, in an old book. He smuggles it out in a purchased book and sets out to find out the story behind the drawing. And so, “the game’s afoot” (Henry V, iii. 1).

The story moves from contemporary (1995) time to the 17th century to the 1980’s (when Amanda and Peter met) and back again very smoothly.  The suspense builds cleverly in each story line, so even the various minor players’ actions drew me into their lives.

I love books about books, Shakespeare, libraries, dusty bookshops, English villages, clever (but not snooty) people, history, and then to have them all wrapped up in a mystery! "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" (As You Like It, iv. 1).

CAS

Book lovers' read-alikes: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco; The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield; The Shadow of the Wind Trilogy by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

Part women's fiction, part historical fiction, The Engagements is one of those novels that spans decades and covers the lives of five seemingly unconnected people.

At the center of the novel is Mary Frances Gerety. She was a real person and is known for the famous advertising phrase "A Diamond is Forever" which she wrote in 1947 while working for an advertising agency that handled the DeBeers account. This is the part where there is a lot of history about the diamond industry and how the engagement ring came to be.

Now, mix in Evelyn, a well-to-do mother and grandmother very much in love with her second husband and openly still in love with her first. Next, a young Parisian woman named Delphine who is certainly not in love with her husbands and falls for a young violinist. She leaves the only life she has ever known and travels to New York City to be with him, only to have it all go very wrong after they become engaged. And then there is Kate, very much a liberal activist who does not believe in marriage at all, and is against anything or anyone who deals with "blood diamonds". And finally there is James, a young husband and father who is on the down and out and struggling to keep his family together and happy even though the debts are piling up. He would do almost anything to give his wife a beautiful diamond, no matter what the consequences.

Sounds like a lot, but this author manages to weave all these stories together perfectly. And the information about how the diamond and advertising businesses work is fascinating.

Karen

Read-alike author:  Elin Hilderbrand, because of her strong female characters.

Francona by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy

When Terry Francona was playing for the Montreal Expos early in his career he believed the tactics of Dick Williams, the team’s manager, were exceedingly harsh and disrespectful toward players. Francona decided he would not use Williams’ drill sergeant methods if he ever managed.

After a somewhat lackluster managerial stint with the Philadelphia Phillies, Francona was named manager of the Boston Red Sox for the 2004 season.  That year with the Red Sox Francona helped bring Boston its first World Series victory since 1918, and he quickly brought them another one in 2007. Francona’s relaxed attitude toward his players included such strategies as discussing team problems during the card games he held on a daily basis with his team and taking hits from the press and management on issues surrounding certain players even when he knew those players were at fault. After many years of success with these methods, things started to fall apart during the 2011 season. The press and fans blamed the team’s year end collapse on players eating fried chicken and drinking beer in the clubhouse during games. Francona is not proud of the liberties some of the members of his team took with his players’ manager approach, but he insists in Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy, that other problems led to the collapse of the 2011 Red Sox

For most baseball fans the incidents in Francona: The Red Sox Years will be familiar from the amount of coverage they received on Sportscenter. Still, it’s interesting to get Francona’s take on the fiascos that blemished his otherwise remarkable tenure with the Red Sox. Also, like Michael Lewis’ Moneyball, this is a story of a so-called old school manager working with the statistical analysis of baseball known as Sabermetrics. Francona works with his general manager, Theo Epstein, to strike a balance between letting computers print out the lineup card and keeping his players’ egos in mind. He doesn’t embrace Sabermetrics to the degree of the Oakland A’s Billy Beane but does see its place in helping a team win. Finally, as a Cubs fan I enjoyed learning more about Theo Epstein, who is now the Cubs’ general manager.  I came to the conclusion that with Epstein in charge that perhaps it just might be slightly possible that The Cubs are headed in the right direction. But I don’t want to get too optimistic.


John

Monday, July 8, 2013

America 1933 by Michael Golay

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the New Deal.  History professor Michael Golay provides a unique perspective on the program in America 1933.  This American tragedy is told through the work of AP reporter Lorena  Hickok, who was hired by Harry Hopkins to provide field reports for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.  This organization coordinated the monetary relief efforts in the states, and the reports were needed to determine how pervasive the Depression was.  The book focuses on Hickok's travels from Summer 1933 - Summer 1934, when heat, drought and pestilence were at their worst.  Through her writings we learn about the plight of coal miners, wheat farmers, and the Negroes still  living in a South little changed by Reconstruction.  These primary sources make clear the despair of the times but also provide a few insights.  Although labor unions were active, Communists were still despised.  Many families didn't want to go on relief; instead, they favored programs like the Civil Works Administration that provided paying jobs.  (The business owners despised the program because the wages were too high.)  The program was short-lived, however, and even Hickok was happy to see it end.  The book also focuses on the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Hickok, who were lesbian lovers.  I would have preferred fewer quotes from their love letters and more quotes from Hickok's field reports.  But, since FDR was the brainchild behind the New Deal, and ER was involved in it as well, it's impossible to leave them out of the narrative.  The reader will admire Hickok's work and marvel that American was EVER able to recover from the Depression, given the profound effects it had on industry, agriculture and public health.

Dawn


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Being Esther by Miriam Karmel


Being Esther: A NovelKaren was so right about this book (see her 6/4 post)! But I need to talk about Esther, too; and Ceely, her daughter. As one who has been Ceely and is approaching Esther, the story really grabbed me. Ceely appears bossy, overbearing, and often angry or impatient with her mother; especially about moving into a senior facility (which Esther calls Bingoville!). Esther fiercely defends her independence to the point of denying any diminution mentally or physically. This scenario is playing over kitchen tables in millions of households today and with more to come as more Boomers join the Esther dynamic.
Ceely is afraid for her mother’s safety both at home and on the street; Esther is afraid of becoming invisible - one more warehoused body in ‘Bingoville;’ and this is driving them apart.  Esther’s evolution to a more sympathetic understanding of Ceely’s motivations, her granddaughter’s world, and her own past with her late husband moves the story along without becoming saccharine. She remains her feisty self even as she realizes her body, her mind, and her world will continue to change in ways she wouldn't wish despite her.



Being Esther is not great literature, but it is a good story with sympathetic characters whose stories are told with humor and understanding. 

CAS

Monday, July 1, 2013

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan is one of my favorite comedians, and I have watched all of his performances and laughed hysterically each time. So I had very high expectations when I learned that he had written a book. And I was not disappointed!

I chose to listen to the audiobook since I was already familiar with his routine. I do recommend this to those that have watched him perform.

Dad is Fat is a series of essays written by Jim Gaffigan and his wife Jeannie about their five children and what it is like to be their dad. All are funny and sweet. He covers everything from family vacations (they usually rent a tour bus even though they also have to rent hotel rooms in order to have the use of a pool) to simple daily routines, such as bedtime, meals, and school.

Jim Gaffigan is considered a "clean" comedian, so there was no cringing at inappropriate comments. Just lots of laughs!

Karen

Readalike author: Bill Cosby

Love, Water, Memory by Jennie Shortridge

On the back cover of this novel, New York Times bestselling author Jamie Ford writes "A beautiful novel about what the mind forgets and what the heart remembers." This is the perfect way to summarize Love, Water, Memory. This is the story of Lucie, who wakes up one day knee-deep in San Francisco Bay with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She is taken to the hospital and diagnosed as being in a dissociative fugue state, which is very rare. Eventually, she finds out her name and is shocked to discover that she has a fiance, Grady, who comes from their home in Seattle to claim her.

Like any good novel, you know right away that Grady is holding something back as Lucie tries to recover who she is and how she came to be in San Francisco. As she slowly reconnects with family and friends, she discovers that the old Lucie may not have been a very nice person. But why?

Also like any good novel, secrets are revealed.

And we love that, right?

Karen

Readalike novel:  What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty