http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/706269 en-US Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:29:16 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 27770551 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:29:16 -0700
Deaver clearly does a lot of research for his books and most of it is very useful for a good mystery but sometimes it seems like Deaver is putting information in his book just because he took the time to look it up, so he's going to use it.

In general, I enjoy Deaver's books and I do find some of the obscure information that he uses to solve his mysteries fascinating. He always manages to surprise me even though I am trying to look for the next twist and he keeps me reading even though his books are long.]]>
author: Jeffery Deaver
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/20/08
shelves:
review:
Jeffrey Deaver likes his twists and turns and he does build suspense but sometimes everything's a little too perfect and his books are really long.

Deaver clearly does a lot of research for his books and most of it is very useful for a good mystery but sometimes it seems like Deaver is putting information in his book just because he took the time to look it up, so he's going to use it.

In general, I enjoy Deaver's books and I do find some of the obscure information that he uses to solve his mysteries fascinating. He always manages to surprise me even though I am trying to look for the next twist and he keeps me reading even though his books are long.
]]> 27745903 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:44:20 -0700
The author buys a souvenir t-shirt and then she traces the t-shirt's origin to the cotton farmer, the Chinese textile factory and then the used clothes market. She uses each step to explain how things happen the way they do. The book gets a little complex when she tries to explain US trade polices which are so unbelievably complex that they may as well be non-existent.

This book goes a long way to help the reader understand why ae are where we are and why there's no going back. She also does a good job of showing us how far we have come since the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and how all sides of the globalization discussion need each other.]]>
author: Pietra Rivoli
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/19/08
shelves:
review:
As an historian, I find that some of the other social sciences are more about statitics and graphs rather than about people. I find the relationship between people and money interesting; the way money affects people and the way people affect money decisions and policies. However, economice seems to rarely be about people. This book is different. The author's purpose in wriitng this book was to put the story back into economics and to put global economics into story.

The author buys a souvenir t-shirt and then she traces the t-shirt's origin to the cotton farmer, the Chinese textile factory and then the used clothes market. She uses each step to explain how things happen the way they do. The book gets a little complex when she tries to explain US trade polices which are so unbelievably complex that they may as well be non-existent.

This book goes a long way to help the reader understand why ae are where we are and why there's no going back. She also does a good job of showing us how far we have come since the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and how all sides of the globalization discussion need each other.
]]> 23977154 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:01:41 -0700
author: Junot Díaz
name: Sarah
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:
Poor Oscar spent his life living with other people's expectations and never made a life for himself on his own terms. That's really what this book is about. What does it mean to be an ethnic Dominican living in the US? What does it mean to be a man? What if you don't fall into the stereotypes that other people have built for you? These are the questions that Oscar spends his life trying to answer but he is too weak to find the answers on his own.
]]> 23976799 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 05:55:55 -0700
In Clinch's narrative, Finn is a man who spends his entire adult life running away from his authoritarian father. Both Finn and his father, the Judge, would liek to believe that he's a rebel and a black sheep but the truth is that he is too much like his father and that's why they can't get along. On the surface, Finn goes against those things his ftaher stands for but, in reality, Finn is just like his father.

A central conflict between them is race relations. The Judge is opposed to whites and blacks mixing even in unequal terms (he hires white servants because he dislikes blacks so much that he doesn't want to have any black servants in his house although most of his white neighbors do)and Finn's mistress is black. Finn doesn't like blacks anymore than his father does. When a black man tries to buy him a drink in a bar, he beats the man up. However, he is only attracted to black women. This, of course, riles his father up to no end which is probably the whole point behind the compulsion.

Also to his father's dismay, Finn is anti-success. He leads a life which keeps him on the margins bother socially and financially and he resents anyone who does better than him. Hence the whole beating Huck for going to school thing. If Huck goes to school and learns manners and dresses well then he will become what Finn disdains. This another direct rebellion form hsi father who has worked hard to become one of the most prominent citizens in their small, river town.

Yet, despite these two large rebellions, Finn is a cookie cutter image of his father. He is just as authoritarian and narrow minded as his father. He is controlling and judgemental. He can never get away from his father because he is his father.]]>
author: Jon Clinch
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 06/08/08
shelves:
review:
Have you ever wondered if there was more to Huck Finn's father than a drunk who beat Huck for going to school? Finn by Jon Clinch attmepts to develop Huck's father into a real character and see who he was and why he became the man that he became.

In Clinch's narrative, Finn is a man who spends his entire adult life running away from his authoritarian father. Both Finn and his father, the Judge, would liek to believe that he's a rebel and a black sheep but the truth is that he is too much like his father and that's why they can't get along. On the surface, Finn goes against those things his ftaher stands for but, in reality, Finn is just like his father.

A central conflict between them is race relations. The Judge is opposed to whites and blacks mixing even in unequal terms (he hires white servants because he dislikes blacks so much that he doesn't want to have any black servants in his house although most of his white neighbors do)and Finn's mistress is black. Finn doesn't like blacks anymore than his father does. When a black man tries to buy him a drink in a bar, he beats the man up. However, he is only attracted to black women. This, of course, riles his father up to no end which is probably the whole point behind the compulsion.

Also to his father's dismay, Finn is anti-success. He leads a life which keeps him on the margins bother socially and financially and he resents anyone who does better than him. Hence the whole beating Huck for going to school thing. If Huck goes to school and learns manners and dresses well then he will become what Finn disdains. This another direct rebellion form hsi father who has worked hard to become one of the most prominent citizens in their small, river town.

Yet, despite these two large rebellions, Finn is a cookie cutter image of his father. He is just as authoritarian and narrow minded as his father. He is controlling and judgemental. He can never get away from his father because he is his father.
]]> 23082982 Tue, 27 May 2008 17:50:07 -0700
The lawyer is bored with his life and then gets invovled in a grand conspiracy and you're thinking: "see, buddy, be careful what you wish for." The webmaster sees everything through his non-existent camera lens. The bookbinder is so confused about the lies she tells that she's not even sure what's true anymore. There are also Russian gangsters, Jewish ganagsters, obsessed college professors, Catholic priests and professional frogers on the trail of this manuscript.

The story is complex. There are lots of twists and turns and all of the characters have to figure out where they fit into everything; the conspiracy, Shakespeare's leagacy and life.


]]>
author: Michael Gruber
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/27/08
shelves:
review:
Where oh where can Shakespeare be? And what about the meaning of life? In the Book of Air and Shadows, Micael Gruber ties the search for a lost Shakespeare manuscript in with people searching for a purpose.

The lawyer is bored with his life and then gets invovled in a grand conspiracy and you're thinking: "see, buddy, be careful what you wish for." The webmaster sees everything through his non-existent camera lens. The bookbinder is so confused about the lies she tells that she's not even sure what's true anymore. There are also Russian gangsters, Jewish ganagsters, obsessed college professors, Catholic priests and professional frogers on the trail of this manuscript.

The story is complex. There are lots of twists and turns and all of the characters have to figure out where they fit into everything; the conspiracy, Shakespeare's leagacy and life.



]]> 22783513 Thu, 22 May 2008 18:46:30 -0700
Chabon imagines a world without Isreal in which Jewish refugees from Europe have found a temporary refuge in Alaska. This shelter provided by the US was never meant to be permanent and now that the Jews have been in Alaska for 60 years, the area is about to revert to the US. Jews who want to stay in Alaska have to apply for residency. It may not be perfect but it's the only home most of them have, so most plan (hope) to stay.

As a lament to the death of Yiddish, Chabon has created Yiddish speaking culture instead of a Hebrew speaking culture. As a result all of the characters sound like they live in a movie about New York CIty from 50 years ago. In other ways though, the Jewish community is split between practicing and secular Jews with diverse groups of Hasidim and factionalism.

The story begins as a simple murder mystery to be solved by a hard boiled detective whose a divorce and an alcoholic but it becomes a device for examining the splits in the Jewish community, the relationship between the Jews and their outside neighbors and the different reactions of the people towards the upcoming "reversion."

Chabon's descriptive prose is what makes this book worth reading. His skeptical and comical social commentary makes the reader laugh out loud while realizing how accurate it is.]]>
author: Michael Chabon
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/22/08
shelves:
review:
With a line like "...he was oblivious to the racous frontier with jewesses in bluescarves singing negro spirituals to the lyrics of Lincoln and Marx..." how can you go wrong? Chabon fills this book with wonderful phrasing and snappy dialogue, so it is a joy to read even though the plot is a little cliche. The premise, however, is far from cliche.

Chabon imagines a world without Isreal in which Jewish refugees from Europe have found a temporary refuge in Alaska. This shelter provided by the US was never meant to be permanent and now that the Jews have been in Alaska for 60 years, the area is about to revert to the US. Jews who want to stay in Alaska have to apply for residency. It may not be perfect but it's the only home most of them have, so most plan (hope) to stay.

As a lament to the death of Yiddish, Chabon has created Yiddish speaking culture instead of a Hebrew speaking culture. As a result all of the characters sound like they live in a movie about New York CIty from 50 years ago. In other ways though, the Jewish community is split between practicing and secular Jews with diverse groups of Hasidim and factionalism.

The story begins as a simple murder mystery to be solved by a hard boiled detective whose a divorce and an alcoholic but it becomes a device for examining the splits in the Jewish community, the relationship between the Jews and their outside neighbors and the different reactions of the people towards the upcoming "reversion."

Chabon's descriptive prose is what makes this book worth reading. His skeptical and comical social commentary makes the reader laugh out loud while realizing how accurate it is.
]]> 21992060 Sat, 10 May 2008 14:54:26 -0700
Turad lives at the bottom of the social order in Saudi Arabia. He's neither educated, skilled ot smooth enough to be successful in the big city. Yet, he's not cheap enough to compete with foreign workers who will tkae the worst jobs, so he is stuck in the margins. He is angry and confused and trapped.

While sitting in the waiting room, he remembers stories people have told him, memories of his own life and he makes up stories about people he sees in the bus station (well, who hasn't done that. That's how I spend my time in airports; watching people, guessing their life histories and inventing new ones for them). Mohameed's writing style has a way of blending Turad's imaginings and what really happens in the book, so that sometimes one is confused about whether something is really happening or not.

The stories that Turad tells (and imagines) gives the reader a glimpse of what Saudi Arabian culture is like rather than just the land of black chadors and huge palaces. I found it interesting and enlightening. However, I found the stream of conciousness style a little confusing and I had trouble focusing on what I was reading. Also, although it gave me a glimpse of a real person in Saudi Arabia, it didn't give me enough background or context to get a full picture of what I was reading about.]]>
author: Yousef Al-Mohaimeed
name: Sarah
average rating: 2.78
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/10/08
shelves:
review:
Do identity crises always happen in bus stations? Wolves of the Crescent Moon follows that mental wanderings of a man who has found himself at loose ends after losing his latest job. He goes to the Ryadh bus station to catch the first bus to who knows where and ends up spending the night in the waiting room with his thoughts.

Turad lives at the bottom of the social order in Saudi Arabia. He's neither educated, skilled ot smooth enough to be successful in the big city. Yet, he's not cheap enough to compete with foreign workers who will tkae the worst jobs, so he is stuck in the margins. He is angry and confused and trapped.

While sitting in the waiting room, he remembers stories people have told him, memories of his own life and he makes up stories about people he sees in the bus station (well, who hasn't done that. That's how I spend my time in airports; watching people, guessing their life histories and inventing new ones for them). Mohameed's writing style has a way of blending Turad's imaginings and what really happens in the book, so that sometimes one is confused about whether something is really happening or not.

The stories that Turad tells (and imagines) gives the reader a glimpse of what Saudi Arabian culture is like rather than just the land of black chadors and huge palaces. I found it interesting and enlightening. However, I found the stream of conciousness style a little confusing and I had trouble focusing on what I was reading. Also, although it gave me a glimpse of a real person in Saudi Arabia, it didn't give me enough background or context to get a full picture of what I was reading about.
]]> 21729094 Tue, 06 May 2008 15:19:39 -0700
This would have made a great short story or a good screenplay but the best parts ar enot long enough to make a compelling book.]]>
author: Mike Ramsdell
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2006
rating: 1
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/06/08
shelves:
review:
The core adventure story of this book (escaping from the Russian mafia in Siberia) is quite good but the author is not a practiced writer and there's a lot he could have left out. For example, the lectures on what was wrong with communism and how things came to be are not necessary. I mean, after all, I think the failure of almost all of the communist regimes is a testament to that fact. In addition, the author gives more autobiographical information than is necessary.

This would have made a great short story or a good screenplay but the best parts ar enot long enough to make a compelling book.
]]> 21672710 Mon, 05 May 2008 19:27:24 -0700
Wire in the Blood is a cop drama with a forensic psychologist/profiler. It's very psychological and thriller-like. The Grave Tattoo is much more of a traditional mystery with some Lake District, William Wordsworth and modern teenage gangstaness thrown in.

Someone tramping though the Lake District, finds a 200 year old body and Jane Gresham decides that it's Fletcher Christian (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame), that Wordsworth had written an epic poem in defense of Christian and that she's going to find it and become famous, get tenure and have a career. Along the way, Jane befriends a 13 year old girl from a housing project in London and old peopel start dying.

This was a good book but McDermid's ending was little optimistic and some her her story devices were too obvious. In addition, the book seems a little light on history. I found that I was not convinced that Jane was right and I felt as though I should believe in her mission too. Lastly, the book was pretty slow and sedate until the last 80 pages, so the thriller part came as a surprise and disrupted my sedate reading experience.]]>
author: Val McDermid
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/05/08
shelves:
review:
Val McDermid is that author of the books upon which Wire in the Blood (on BBC America) is based. I am a big fan of Wire in the Blood, so I thought I would try this book. It is completely different from wire in the Blood.

Wire in the Blood is a cop drama with a forensic psychologist/profiler. It's very psychological and thriller-like. The Grave Tattoo is much more of a traditional mystery with some Lake District, William Wordsworth and modern teenage gangstaness thrown in.

Someone tramping though the Lake District, finds a 200 year old body and Jane Gresham decides that it's Fletcher Christian (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame), that Wordsworth had written an epic poem in defense of Christian and that she's going to find it and become famous, get tenure and have a career. Along the way, Jane befriends a 13 year old girl from a housing project in London and old peopel start dying.

This was a good book but McDermid's ending was little optimistic and some her her story devices were too obvious. In addition, the book seems a little light on history. I found that I was not convinced that Jane was right and I felt as though I should believe in her mission too. Lastly, the book was pretty slow and sedate until the last 80 pages, so the thriller part came as a surprise and disrupted my sedate reading experience.
]]> 21550200 Sat, 03 May 2008 21:01:35 -0700
Another insight from Preston is that Ginerva has no idea what kind of person she really is. There are moments when she admits to being self centered but she has plenty of good reasons why she's not a terrible person. I htink most self centered people are really liek this and they don't understand why people turn against them.

This book is a fictionalized version of a woman whom F. Scott Fitzgerald had dated when he was in college. She si everything he wants to be and yet she's out of his reach because she doesn't love him. Her perosnality and choices lead to drama in her life but she comes out in much better shaoe than Fitzgerald did because she believed in herself whereas Fitzgerald didn't. Of course, she believed in herself because all she truly cared about was herself.
]]>
author: Caroline Preston
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 04/08
date added: 05/03/08
shelves:
review:
Caroline Preston has an easy going and pleasant writing style. In addition, she lets her readers into Ginerva's character well enough that even though she is an unbelievably self centered girl, you end up liking her a lot. She reminds of those people who such a joy to talk to at dinner parties because they have witty observations and are quite clever but you can't have a real relationship with them because they are too self absorbed.

Another insight from Preston is that Ginerva has no idea what kind of person she really is. There are moments when she admits to being self centered but she has plenty of good reasons why she's not a terrible person. I htink most self centered people are really liek this and they don't understand why people turn against them.

This book is a fictionalized version of a woman whom F. Scott Fitzgerald had dated when he was in college. She si everything he wants to be and yet she's out of his reach because she doesn't love him. Her perosnality and choices lead to drama in her life but she comes out in much better shaoe than Fitzgerald did because she believed in herself whereas Fitzgerald didn't. Of course, she believed in herself because all she truly cared about was herself.

]]> 21549804 Sat, 03 May 2008 20:53:18 -0700
There is some wonderful Venetian scenery and there is a sense of Venice as it once was. Truthfully, I bought this book my parents went to Venice and I was jealous, so I wanted to read books about Venice. This one sufficed.

It was a decent first effort and maybe will improve with more books but it was not the best book ever.]]>
author: Christi Phillips
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 04/08
date added: 05/03/08
shelves:
review:
This book was a fun read but the two conflicts were too easily (and happily) resolved. There is a contemporary plot and a historical sub plot. The historical plot promises lots of intrigue, some of which is done well. However, the intrigues are not quite played through. The contemporary plot offers some romantic intrigue which does not get intense or interesting enough. In addition, the characters are a little plastic.

There is some wonderful Venetian scenery and there is a sense of Venice as it once was. Truthfully, I bought this book my parents went to Venice and I was jealous, so I wanted to read books about Venice. This one sufficed.

It was a decent first effort and maybe will improve with more books but it was not the best book ever.
]]> 19594501 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:26:04 -0700
The protagonist is a young, naive woman from Tasmania who arrives in New York with mo fmaily, no money (to speak of) and little education. She gets a job at a used bookstore where everyone is out for himself and each person is misfit in some way. Although one would think that being misfits would bring people together, in this book, it pushes them apart and hardly anyone has the energy or the ability to care for anyone else.

This divisiness becomes more pronounced when the manager of the book store receives an offer to buy a lost Melville manuscript. To the manager, this manuscript is his avenue out of the bookstore and into retirement. As soon as word gets out about this offer, however, various people in the bookstore begin plotting agianst him in true Medieval royal court fashion and the young protagonist is caught in the middle.

The Secret of Lost Things was a fairly good book however, I think it would have benefitted from more analysis of the characters and their motives. Maybe there were too many misfits and not enough space to analyze how these people ended up together and why their shared isolation did not bring them together. ]]>
author: Sheridan Hay
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/06/08
shelves:
review:
This book is about lonliness and greed and how those things keep us apart from others. When I bought it, I thought it would be more of a literary thriller than it is. The plot synopsis mentions a lost manuscript by Herman Melville but that's really just a plot device to bring out the worst in people and there's very little real mystery.

The protagonist is a young, naive woman from Tasmania who arrives in New York with mo fmaily, no money (to speak of) and little education. She gets a job at a used bookstore where everyone is out for himself and each person is misfit in some way. Although one would think that being misfits would bring people together, in this book, it pushes them apart and hardly anyone has the energy or the ability to care for anyone else.

This divisiness becomes more pronounced when the manager of the book store receives an offer to buy a lost Melville manuscript. To the manager, this manuscript is his avenue out of the bookstore and into retirement. As soon as word gets out about this offer, however, various people in the bookstore begin plotting agianst him in true Medieval royal court fashion and the young protagonist is caught in the middle.

The Secret of Lost Things was a fairly good book however, I think it would have benefitted from more analysis of the characters and their motives. Maybe there were too many misfits and not enough space to analyze how these people ended up together and why their shared isolation did not bring them together.
]]> 19593720 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:13:45 -0700
Eddie Chapman found himself in prison in Nazi occupied Jersey when he decided to propse to the Germans that he work for them as an agent in England. The Nazis too k him up on this offer and spent a year training him in occupied France. They sent him to England where he promptly turned himself in and offered to be a double agent. The British took him up on this offer and he was a double agent for the remainder of the war. Whether Chapman was double agent because he was true patriot or because it was the smartest way to survive (and live well) during the war is unclear. Chapman's family and the author of this book would have use believe so. However, it is clear that his life pattern before, during and after the war show that Eddie's loyalty was Eddie.

This was an interesting book and a good contrast to the other book about Chapman (see Zigazg by Ben Macintyre)which was less sympathetic to Chapman. It was also fun from a James Bond point of view because Chapman was debonnair and elegant and much of what we ordinary people imagine spies are like.]]>
author: Nicholas Booth
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/06/08
shelves:
review:
This is the second book that I read about Eddie Chapman and this one was quite sympathetic to him, seeing him as a lone warrior against hypocrisy and the establishment. I'm sure that most of the authority figures in Chapman's life (including his masters at MI-5) were skeptical of his motives and his way of life. After all, Chapman had been an army deserter and a thief before he became a Nazi spy and then a double agent. However, Chapman was self centered and adapted circumstances to his adventurous and relaxed view of life.

Eddie Chapman found himself in prison in Nazi occupied Jersey when he decided to propse to the Germans that he work for them as an agent in England. The Nazis too k him up on this offer and spent a year training him in occupied France. They sent him to England where he promptly turned himself in and offered to be a double agent. The British took him up on this offer and he was a double agent for the remainder of the war. Whether Chapman was double agent because he was true patriot or because it was the smartest way to survive (and live well) during the war is unclear. Chapman's family and the author of this book would have use believe so. However, it is clear that his life pattern before, during and after the war show that Eddie's loyalty was Eddie.

This was an interesting book and a good contrast to the other book about Chapman (see Zigazg by Ben Macintyre)which was less sympathetic to Chapman. It was also fun from a James Bond point of view because Chapman was debonnair and elegant and much of what we ordinary people imagine spies are like.
]]> 18715149 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:05:15 -0700
What troubled me about this book was how narrow the author's experience was. This book is about a man who meets Mario Batali and goes to work in his kitchen. The experience sends him on a journey to discover things about cooking that invlolve spending considerable time in Europe, working for free in order to learn and embarking on a self education experience that only people with financial stability can partake in. What about young people from working class or poor families who have the same passions?

One thing I truly enjoyed about this book was that at one point, the author is making sausage with two Italians who begin singing as they are working. How many of us have brokeinto song was we worked? How many of us have seen our colleagues break into song? It sounds like such a wonderful thing and makes one wonder what it would feel like to be that happy at work.]]>
author: Bill Buford
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/26/08
shelves:
review:
What I liked about this book was that it gave me an insight into a world that I know very little about. Although I come from a foody family and try to keep up on culinary issues, I knwo very little about the inner workings of a restaurant or about the psychological/learning process of the upcoming chef. I never realized before how driven these people are and how similar their experience is to artists.

What troubled me about this book was how narrow the author's experience was. This book is about a man who meets Mario Batali and goes to work in his kitchen. The experience sends him on a journey to discover things about cooking that invlolve spending considerable time in Europe, working for free in order to learn and embarking on a self education experience that only people with financial stability can partake in. What about young people from working class or poor families who have the same passions?

One thing I truly enjoyed about this book was that at one point, the author is making sausage with two Italians who begin singing as they are working. How many of us have brokeinto song was we worked? How many of us have seen our colleagues break into song? It sounds like such a wonderful thing and makes one wonder what it would feel like to be that happy at work.
]]> 18714270 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:51:25 -0700
In the Middles Ages and the Renaissance, people believed that one's station in life was natural. Not just that one was born to it but also that your personality, values and general manner reflected your stattion and these things were more instinctual than learned. This young man who tried to convince the world he was Richard, Duke of York, was probably the son of a Flemish boatman, proved that manners ar elearned and that anyone with a good brain and a certain amount of determination can be as "noble" as the next guy. While some people believed in him because it was politically useful, it is also clear that many believed in him sincerely.

In the end, he was caught and that is a lesson to how it may be easy to copy the manners of the nobility but it is difficult to find the inner strength of character and purpose that a person who makes decisions which can mean life or death to others must have. Richard or Peter or whoever he was was not able to lead people into battle or make snap strategic decisions or stick to the path he needed to follow in order to be successful.

Wroe's writing is clear and accessible. It can be hard to hang onto all the details of the story but I find that to be true of Medieval and Renaissance history in general because there was always so much going on. She does well explaining things and also examining all the different angles of the issue. The other thing abotu her analysis is that she does not take anyone's motives at face value. She leaves it up to the reader to decide who Richard/Peter was and why he was such a phenomonon.]]>
author: Ann Wroe
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 03/26/08
shelves:
review:
This book was quite good although it was long and quite detailed. It is about a man who said that he was one of the princes in the tower whom Richard III imprisoned and (most likely) had killed. He appeared on the scene about 10 years after Richard III was killed at the the Battle of Bosworth and tried to overthrow Henry VII and become King of England.

In the Middles Ages and the Renaissance, people believed that one's station in life was natural. Not just that one was born to it but also that your personality, values and general manner reflected your stattion and these things were more instinctual than learned. This young man who tried to convince the world he was Richard, Duke of York, was probably the son of a Flemish boatman, proved that manners ar elearned and that anyone with a good brain and a certain amount of determination can be as "noble" as the next guy. While some people believed in him because it was politically useful, it is also clear that many believed in him sincerely.

In the end, he was caught and that is a lesson to how it may be easy to copy the manners of the nobility but it is difficult to find the inner strength of character and purpose that a person who makes decisions which can mean life or death to others must have. Richard or Peter or whoever he was was not able to lead people into battle or make snap strategic decisions or stick to the path he needed to follow in order to be successful.

Wroe's writing is clear and accessible. It can be hard to hang onto all the details of the story but I find that to be true of Medieval and Renaissance history in general because there was always so much going on. She does well explaining things and also examining all the different angles of the issue. The other thing abotu her analysis is that she does not take anyone's motives at face value. She leaves it up to the reader to decide who Richard/Peter was and why he was such a phenomonon.
]]> 15613202 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:31:27 -0800
When I read Venkatesh's feature in Freakonmics, I was interested in the way the gang business model followed the corporate business model and how these groups seemed to bw the antithesis of "the Man" but in reality they were just another version of "the Man." This comes through in Gang Leader for a Day too. It is also clear how exclusive, patriarchical and self serving they are as well - just like many large corporations.

In a way this book just proves that poorest of the poor just can't win. If they're not being pushed down by the institutions, government agencies and upper classes, then they are being pushed down by their local gang leaders. Apparently, it is no one's interest to help people get out of poverty. It is sad but, perhaps not surprising, revelation about class structure and the culture of poverty.]]>
author: Sudhir Venkatesh
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 02/17/08
shelves:
review:
I was interested in reading this book for a number of reasons; I am from the part of Chicago that this book is about (actually I am from Hyde Park where Venkatesh lived at the time and which he refers to as the place where people keep saying: "why can't we all just live together?"), I read about Venkatesh's work in Freakonomics and I teach school in a gang infested area of Tucson and I am interested in the relationship between the gangs and their communities. This book was enlightening for me because Venkatesh illuminated the complexity of the relationship between gangs and thier communities.

When I read Venkatesh's feature in Freakonmics, I was interested in the way the gang business model followed the corporate business model and how these groups seemed to bw the antithesis of "the Man" but in reality they were just another version of "the Man." This comes through in Gang Leader for a Day too. It is also clear how exclusive, patriarchical and self serving they are as well - just like many large corporations.

In a way this book just proves that poorest of the poor just can't win. If they're not being pushed down by the institutions, government agencies and upper classes, then they are being pushed down by their local gang leaders. Apparently, it is no one's interest to help people get out of poverty. It is sad but, perhaps not surprising, revelation about class structure and the culture of poverty.
]]> 11921814 Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:58:37 -0800
This book is about a young girl living in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1943. She is not a Jewish girl and she is not a middle class or upper class girl. She's a poor girl who struggles with deprivations and abandonment in a society that persecutes its own people. She is also a girl who is attracted to words and books and how books look even though she doesn't necessarily know what the words and books say. Her reaction to books is visceral and this reaction gives her a compulsion to steal them.

So why do we want to read about a poor, German girl growing up in the war years and stealing books? One reason is that this book is about the power of words and how words can comfort, educate, hurt people and help people. Also, there's more to the story than a girl stealing books but I'm not going to say what because I don't want to give anything away. In addition, the storytelling is really good.

Thos who read this and who are teachers may know that you can determine the grade level of a book by counting polysyllablic words and computing their square roots. By using that technique, this book would qualify as a fith-sixth grade level book but it's compelling enough for an adult to read and I think it would be an excellent book for high school students to read.

This was a very good book and I highly recommend it.]]>
author: Markus Zusak
name: Sarah
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/07/08
shelves:
review:
This book was excellent for a number of reasons: 1) it's format is clever and varied, 2) it manages to find a unique persepective in an often used time period and, 3) it was great writing.

This book is about a young girl living in Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1943. She is not a Jewish girl and she is not a middle class or upper class girl. She's a poor girl who struggles with deprivations and abandonment in a society that persecutes its own people. She is also a girl who is attracted to words and books and how books look even though she doesn't necessarily know what the words and books say. Her reaction to books is visceral and this reaction gives her a compulsion to steal them.

So why do we want to read about a poor, German girl growing up in the war years and stealing books? One reason is that this book is about the power of words and how words can comfort, educate, hurt people and help people. Also, there's more to the story than a girl stealing books but I'm not going to say what because I don't want to give anything away. In addition, the storytelling is really good.

Thos who read this and who are teachers may know that you can determine the grade level of a book by counting polysyllablic words and computing their square roots. By using that technique, this book would qualify as a fith-sixth grade level book but it's compelling enough for an adult to read and I think it would be an excellent book for high school students to read.

This was a very good book and I highly recommend it.
]]> 11455453 Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:32:58 -0800
This book is about a Dominican who grew up in Paris and decided early in life that clubbing, partying and dating rich women was more interesting than completing schoola dn having a job. I suppose many of us think the same thing although Rubirosa had the intelligence and social skills to actually live according to his preferences! Rubirosa married both Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton; the two richest women in the world at the time, as well two french movie stars and the daughter of a Caribbean dictator.

He maintained diplomatic titles for much of his life but never really worked a day in his life. His social skills were extensive enough that his government kept him on the payroll for the publicity and his contacts. His association with the government of the Dominican Republic came back to bite him once the dictator, Trujillo fell in 1960 but he survived that just as he survived other crises in his life.

He had a very public affair with Zsa Zsa Gabor (also famous for being famous since she never had a real acting career) which exploded with accusations of violence when he left to marry Barbara Hutton. Gabor used the media for all she could and it did damage Rubirosa but he survived and moved on. He was too charming not to survive.

Rubirosa is so like the James Bond character (although James Bond has a job and, presumably, some princeiples) that I wondered if Ian Fleming had modeled his character on Rubirosa. Rubirosa was everything we imagine James Bond to be: suave, charming, intelligent, always smelling like roses.

This book was interesting and fun because it gives the ordinary person the opportunity to see how the half lives and imagine such a life of hedonism, jet setting and exotic locales. Yet, it also reminds the reader that there is a flip side to everything. Can one admire a man like Rubirosa who attached himself to a dictator for thirty years and never thought about what the dictator did to his countrymen? Can one admire a man who was so accustomed to getting what he wanted through charm that when he didn't get what he wanted, he hit women? I have no doubt that if I met Rubirosa is a club in Paris in the the fifties, I would be entranced by him because it is clear through the book that his charm was that strong but I still think he was a flawed and selfish person.]]>
author: Shawn Levy
name: Sarah
average rating: 2.75
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 01/08
date added: 01/02/08
shelves:
review:
This book was both reassuring and scary in some ways. It was reassuring to know that being famous for being famous was nothing new. Porfirio Rubirosa was very famous in his time although he never had a real job or a real purpose. On the other hand, he is almost completely forgotten now, 43 years after his death. I had never heard of him until I saw this book. Maybe that means people will forget about Paris Hilton too.

This book is about a Dominican who grew up in Paris and decided early in life that clubbing, partying and dating rich women was more interesting than completing schoola dn having a job. I suppose many of us think the same thing although Rubirosa had the intelligence and social skills to actually live according to his preferences! Rubirosa married both Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton; the two richest women in the world at the time, as well two french movie stars and the daughter of a Caribbean dictator.

He maintained diplomatic titles for much of his life but never really worked a day in his life. His social skills were extensive enough that his government kept him on the payroll for the publicity and his contacts. His association with the government of the Dominican Republic came back to bite him once the dictator, Trujillo fell in 1960 but he survived that just as he survived other crises in his life.

He had a very public affair with Zsa Zsa Gabor (also famous for being famous since she never had a real acting career) which exploded with accusations of violence when he left to marry Barbara Hutton. Gabor used the media for all she could and it did damage Rubirosa but he survived and moved on. He was too charming not to survive.

Rubirosa is so like the James Bond character (although James Bond has a job and, presumably, some princeiples) that I wondered if Ian Fleming had modeled his character on Rubirosa. Rubirosa was everything we imagine James Bond to be: suave, charming, intelligent, always smelling like roses.

This book was interesting and fun because it gives the ordinary person the opportunity to see how the half lives and imagine such a life of hedonism, jet setting and exotic locales. Yet, it also reminds the reader that there is a flip side to everything. Can one admire a man like Rubirosa who attached himself to a dictator for thirty years and never thought about what the dictator did to his countrymen? Can one admire a man who was so accustomed to getting what he wanted through charm that when he didn't get what he wanted, he hit women? I have no doubt that if I met Rubirosa is a club in Paris in the the fifties, I would be entranced by him because it is clear through the book that his charm was that strong but I still think he was a flawed and selfish person.
]]> 11161987 Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:32:24 -0800
However, since he was creating children's books, he felt compelled to create characters of the writers too. By that I mean, he made up pseufonyms and then pretended that these pseudonyms were each one person when they were really contract writers who wrote about one book per month for this business. This philosophy comes back to bite one of the main Nancy Drew writers and the buisness itself int he 1980's.

There was some analysis of the Nancy Drew character and how she did or did not reflect the itmes in which she was written. There was also some interesting analysis of how Nancy Drew effected women as they grew up and how major movements (the feminist movememtn particularly) drew from her for examples and inspiration.

This book was pretty good but it was not a biogrpahy of the character. It did, however, give the reader some sense of how the second half of the 20th century came to be what it was and how important popular culture is to social change.]]>
author: Melanie Rehak
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/28/07
shelves:
review:
This book was not quite what I expected because I thought it would be a biography of the Nacy Drew character. Instead it was a history and analysis of the people and the industry which created her. Nanct Drew was invented by a man who decided it was more lucrative to manage and organize ghost writers than to write himself. In fact, I found his business model fascinating.

However, since he was creating children's books, he felt compelled to create characters of the writers too. By that I mean, he made up pseufonyms and then pretended that these pseudonyms were each one person when they were really contract writers who wrote about one book per month for this business. This philosophy comes back to bite one of the main Nancy Drew writers and the buisness itself int he 1980's.

There was some analysis of the Nancy Drew character and how she did or did not reflect the itmes in which she was written. There was also some interesting analysis of how Nancy Drew effected women as they grew up and how major movements (the feminist movememtn particularly) drew from her for examples and inspiration.

This book was pretty good but it was not a biogrpahy of the character. It did, however, give the reader some sense of how the second half of the 20th century came to be what it was and how important popular culture is to social change.
]]> 11047594 Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:41:18 -0800
The hero of the series is one of those perfect anti-heroes who are really true heroes disguised as anti-heroes. He's a little cynical and he's always broke. He reminds me a lot of those heroes in Western movies who are supposed to be hired guns but wre really too ethical to be true hired guns and they are constantly derailed from making good money by their personal ethics and altruism. It's really not possible to be an altruistic mercenary and that's why Capt. Alatriste is always broke.

Capt. Alatriste has a Watson who narrates his story. His Watson is a young boy (about 12 or 13) who has been foisted on him by his mother. Alatriste acts as if it's an impostion but he doens't say "no" and he pretends not to care for the boy but is secretly proud of the boy and goes to tremendous lengths to keep the boy safe. His line is that the boy is his responsibility and a man must live up to hsi responsibilities but we (his readers) knwo he truly loves this boy and will take good care of him.

Oh yeah, there's a prostitute with a heart of gold too although the reader never really gets to know her. We know from the narrator that this woman lives to take care of Capt. Alatriste and his foster son and that she hopes Alatriste will someday marry her.

Okay, so it is a little cliche but the adventures are well written and the books are fun. That's what they're all about; not great literature or serious messages but good, clean fun.]]>
author: Arturo Pérez-Reverte
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 10/07
date added: 12/26/07
shelves:
review:
I have read all of Perez-Reverte's other books and this was the first time I had looked into his Capt. Alatriste series. The books he is most famous are sophisticated, modern thrillers and, it is clear, that these books are meant to be an escape for Perez-Reverte and his readers from too much hard work. They are simple (I don't mean stupid just uncomplicated) adventure stories which take place in 1620's Spain. They are fun and amusing although I have learned that seventeenth century poetry doesn't interest me much.

The hero of the series is one of those perfect anti-heroes who are really true heroes disguised as anti-heroes. He's a little cynical and he's always broke. He reminds me a lot of those heroes in Western movies who are supposed to be hired guns but wre really too ethical to be true hired guns and they are constantly derailed from making good money by their personal ethics and altruism. It's really not possible to be an altruistic mercenary and that's why Capt. Alatriste is always broke.

Capt. Alatriste has a Watson who narrates his story. His Watson is a young boy (about 12 or 13) who has been foisted on him by his mother. Alatriste acts as if it's an impostion but he doens't say "no" and he pretends not to care for the boy but is secretly proud of the boy and goes to tremendous lengths to keep the boy safe. His line is that the boy is his responsibility and a man must live up to hsi responsibilities but we (his readers) knwo he truly loves this boy and will take good care of him.

Oh yeah, there's a prostitute with a heart of gold too although the reader never really gets to know her. We know from the narrator that this woman lives to take care of Capt. Alatriste and his foster son and that she hopes Alatriste will someday marry her.

Okay, so it is a little cliche but the adventures are well written and the books are fun. That's what they're all about; not great literature or serious messages but good, clean fun.
]]> 10918478 Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:27:56 -0800
He is out of his depth socially in this exclusive Maine, summer community. He's out of depth intellectually with the woman he wants to date. He's taken a job that he's not qualified for and he's not able to handle the challenge.

Maybe this explains why he's a college drop out who had been subsisting on a part-time library job (he was shelving books which probably made him feel superior because he felt he could do better)and why he writes graphic novels that have no point. He spends a lot of time defending the graphic novel genre as more than comic books but admits to himself that the only book he's actually produced is no tour de force.

I must have liked this book because I kept reading it until I finished it but I didn't like any of the characters very much (even the main character). Now that I realize that I'm not necessarily supposed ot liek anyone but to see how easy it is to be out of your depth, I have a better understanding of the book and what the author was trying to do.]]>
author: Brian Groh
name: Sarah
average rating: 2.59
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/25/07
shelves:
review:
I have finally figured out what this book was about. I read it about two weeks ago and I had already written one review but then, today while I was cooking (maybe I should cook more often), I figured it out and this epiphany explained why I liked it but didn't like it at the same time. This book is about a guy who is out of his depth.

He is out of his depth socially in this exclusive Maine, summer community. He's out of depth intellectually with the woman he wants to date. He's taken a job that he's not qualified for and he's not able to handle the challenge.

Maybe this explains why he's a college drop out who had been subsisting on a part-time library job (he was shelving books which probably made him feel superior because he felt he could do better)and why he writes graphic novels that have no point. He spends a lot of time defending the graphic novel genre as more than comic books but admits to himself that the only book he's actually produced is no tour de force.

I must have liked this book because I kept reading it until I finished it but I didn't like any of the characters very much (even the main character). Now that I realize that I'm not necessarily supposed ot liek anyone but to see how easy it is to be out of your depth, I have a better understanding of the book and what the author was trying to do.
]]> 10954398 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:52:05 -0800
Pamuk was born into a wealthy and prestigious family which lost its wealth over the years and became an ordinary middle class family, sort of. As always, some members of the family never quite adapt to the change in circumstances, so the family is haunted by what it used to be and this affects their realtionships.

For me, the best bit about the book was the descriptions and stories about Istanbul herself. Someday, I'm going to go there!
]]>
author: Orhan Pamuk
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 10/05
date added: 12/24/07
shelves:
review:
I read this book for two reasons; I have always wanted to go to Istanbul and I read Snow and loved it. This book is Pamuk's memoir of growing up in Instanbul in the 1950's and 60's. As is common with these types of books, it's also about his his family's story illustrates changes in Turkey in those years.

Pamuk was born into a wealthy and prestigious family which lost its wealth over the years and became an ordinary middle class family, sort of. As always, some members of the family never quite adapt to the change in circumstances, so the family is haunted by what it used to be and this affects their realtionships.

For me, the best bit about the book was the descriptions and stories about Istanbul herself. Someday, I'm going to go there!

]]> 10954279 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:44:56 -0800
author: Orhan Pamuk
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 08/05
date added: 12/24/07
shelves:
review:
If any book illucidates the theory that all politics is local, then this book is it! This book is about a poet who has been living in Germany who comes home to Turkey for a visit. He gets stranded in a small village because of a snow storm but so does a travelling theater compay which stages a coup! This book is about choice, alienation, serious addictions to Mexican soap operas and complicated love. I really enjoyed it.
]]> 10929065 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:35:58 -0800
Kanon's books are about how to deal with moral ambiguity and can be a bit sanctimonious but The Prodigal Spy is not like that. It's a different kind of spy story.
]]>
author: Joseph Kanon
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 04/99
date added: 12/23/07
shelves:
review:
I think this is the best of Kanon's books. I know that The Good German was made into a movie which implies it is Kanon's bestseller but I think that The Prodigal Spy is his best. One of the htings I liked about it wa show different it was form the avergae spy story. This book is about a young, American man whose father had defected to Czechoslovakia because he was a communist spy. The young man is in Europe and finds his father.

Kanon's books are about how to deal with moral ambiguity and can be a bit sanctimonious but The Prodigal Spy is not like that. It's a different kind of spy story.

]]> 10928585 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:24:08 -0800
In this book, an American (recently demobilized form the army after WW II) has come to Venice to visit his mother and think about his next step. He gets invovled with a woman whose family was killed in the war and she convinces him to help her get revenge. Of course, nothing is as clear as it seems and no one is as clean or as dirty as they seem.

This was a pretty good book but it got a little too involved with itself and I found myself thinking "yeah, yeah, I got the message." It remineded me a little of the Good German which also plays with the idea of "he who is without sin, throw the first stone."
]]>
author: Joseph Kanon
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 07/07
date added: 12/23/07
shelves:
review:
The premise of this book is that once you do something morally questionable (even if you have a good reason), it's a downward spiral from there. I would say that the other lesson to be learned form this book is not to let someone talk you into something until you know all the facts.

In this book, an American (recently demobilized form the army after WW II) has come to Venice to visit his mother and think about his next step. He gets invovled with a woman whose family was killed in the war and she convinces him to help her get revenge. Of course, nothing is as clear as it seems and no one is as clean or as dirty as they seem.

This was a pretty good book but it got a little too involved with itself and I found myself thinking "yeah, yeah, I got the message." It remineded me a little of the Good German which also plays with the idea of "he who is without sin, throw the first stone."

]]> 10918343 Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:17:55 -0800
However, the actual story part of the book was great. The mystery was complex, the characters were well developed and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I also thought the writing was very suspenseful and i liekd the way the author kept his readers up to date. Since the mystery was so complex, each chapter started with a copy of Rhyme's "what do we know" list. This way, the reader could keep up without interrupting the story. I thought that was a pretty clever device.]]>
author: Jeffery Deaver
name: Sarah
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 11/07
date added: 12/23/07
shelves:
review:
I though this book was really excellent until the end when the author suddenly had to end the book and all these things that wer enot the focus of the mystery becamse part of the climax. I thought the end was hurried and not very believable.

However, the actual story part of the book was great. The mystery was complex, the characters were well developed and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I also thought the writing was very suspenseful and i liekd the way the author kept his readers up to date. Since the mystery was so complex, each chapter started with a copy of Rhyme's "what do we know" list. This way, the reader could keep up without interrupting the story. I thought that was a pretty clever device.
]]> 10892145 Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:19:11 -0800
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Sarah
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 10/07
date added: 12/22/07
shelves:
review:
I really enjoy the way Hoseini writes and they way he paints a picture with words. I have to admit that I spent a good deal of my time reading this book wondering where it was going to go. One thing I liked about this book is that it gave me some sense of what Afghan society was like before the Taliban and that some of the policies of the Taliban were based on tensions and conflicts that existed in Afghan society before they came to power.
]]> 10891840 Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:15:33 -0800
author: Kiran Desai
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 07/07
date added: 12/22/07
shelves:
review:
I bought this book primarily because it was set in the Himalayas (is that shallow?) and I liked it. It's about social class tensions and identity confusion that came with independence from Britain. It was interesting to me that this lask of identity was still strong for many upper class Indians even though India has been independent for 60 years. It was also interesting to me that the class divisions were not explained away as caste divisions but somehting more complex.
]]> 10887035 Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:58:24 -0800
Anyway, this was a nice book. It was not too deep and it's theme was that the best things are often unexpected and that you ahve to be open to the unexpected but it did give soem Buenos Aires atmosphere which I enjoyed. I don't know how accurate it was but I enjoyed it anyway.

I do know that it was very light on the history and political situation of Argentina in the 20th century. There is a brief homage to the "madres" who protest for the disappeared but there is no real explanation of why they are there, how they came to be there and what effect they have on average Argentines.]]>
author: Jessica Morrison
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 12/07
date added: 12/22/07
shelves:
review:
I am not a big chick lit type but I am a sucker for any book that has a locale to which I have never been in the title. Is that shallow?

Anyway, this was a nice book. It was not too deep and it's theme was that the best things are often unexpected and that you ahve to be open to the unexpected but it did give soem Buenos Aires atmosphere which I enjoyed. I don't know how accurate it was but I enjoyed it anyway.

I do know that it was very light on the history and political situation of Argentina in the 20th century. There is a brief homage to the "madres" who protest for the disappeared but there is no real explanation of why they are there, how they came to be there and what effect they have on average Argentines.
]]> 10887191 Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:29:43 -0800
author: Edmundo Paz Soldán
name: Sarah
average rating: 3.39<