DWD's Reviews

Very good Published by Audioworks in 1999. Read by the author, Stephen Ambrose. Duration: approximately 3 hours on audio cassette. Abridged. Ambrose's stories of male friendship in Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals would be good in any format, but why read what Ambrose wrote when you can hear him read it to you? There is the added benefit of hearing Ambrose's emphasis on a phrase, his light-hearted tone in some areas and, even more important to the emotional punch of some of the stories, hearing his voice break at particularly touching moments (perhaps the most touching was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's Band of Brothers . A veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.") Stephen Ambrose (1936-2002) Ambrose focused on the friendship he and his brothers share, his friends from college, from work, the friendships of Lewis and Clark, Dwight E...

Strong, entertaining read Published in 2000 by St. Martin's Press 352 pages  Rough Draft is my first foray into a book by James W. Hall . I found it to be an entertaining read with a couple of really good plot twists. The original premise of the FBI sting seems so silly that I cannot imagine anybody would permit it, but once I got past that part it was a great spring break thriller. James W. Hall While the villains were fairly interesting, I found myself really rooting for the underachieving FBI agent, Frank Sheffield. I wonder about the source of Mr. Hall's fascination with Indiana. I'm a lifelong resident of the Hoosier state so I was interested in the fact that the main bad guy comes from Evansville (his bare description of Evansville, even though it is vague, tells me that he's never seen it or has not seen it in a loooong time). Also, his knowledge of Indiana geography seems a bit sketchy since he has the boy in the foster care system in Evansville yet...

Very, very, very good Published by D.C. Comics in 2004 160 pages First things first. I am not a gigantic comics fan. I've never been to a comic book shop. I know the big names. Basically, if they had a live action TV show, I know them. So, my opinion is not as well-informed as that of some. But, I know what I like and I thought this was some grade-A, high test sci-fi with a good deal of political science thrown in. Superman has always been of limited interest to some because he is an all-powerful good guy. He can't be hurt (technically, I know he can but who has Kryptonite sitting around?). He has the tools to deal with any situation. He has a healthy psyche. He is a good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting. But, let's take away his All-American freedom-loving politics and partner him with a truly soul-crushing totalitarian regime - the Soviet Union. Stalin backed by Superman's talents is a truly scary thought. Soviet theory b...

Robert Lacey Thouroughly enjoyable Published by Whole Story Audio Books Narrated by the author, Robert Lacey Duration: 5 hours, 45 minutes. Robert Lacey has done something that many writers have failed to do (unfortunately) - he has written history in a fun, accessible, easy to grasp manner. After all, as Lacey points out in his introduction, the "history" and "story" come from the same Latin root word. Essentially, history should be the simple story of how things happened, to the best of the teller's knowledge. Lacey's power as a storyteller is highlighted here in spades. He narrates his audiobook as well so there is the added bonus of hearing the author add nuance to the reading - essentially reading it the way he meant it to be heard. The stories are short and entertaining. Only a couple of times in 5 hours and 45 minutes of listening did I find my attention wandering. This is a terrificly fun experience for any history lover. Ful...

The Jesse Stone novels continue a rally for the legion of Parker fans - score this one a double. Published in 2007 by Putnam 304 pages To use a baseball analogy (Robert B. Parker fans would surely approve...), this one keeps the current rally of good Parker books going. If you are unsure what I am referring to then you must not get much of the baseball comments that Stone and Spenser use. Anyway, a rally is a run of good offensive plays when your team is down a few runs. Ideally, those offensive plays would be smashed out of the park home runs. However, in a pinch, a base hit beats a strike out. Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) Now, notice that I did not label this one a great book. This is not a home run. It's more of a double. It is a good book but not Parker's best. It's not even the best Jesse Stone novel. The mystery is not terribly complicated (I think I could have solved this one) but I enjoyed this quick read. In a lot of ways the mystery is secon...

Two great stories Published in 2008 by Galaxy Audio Multicast performance with music and sound effects Duration: approximately 2 hours. <br /> <img src="http://wms.assoc-amazon.com/20070822/US/img/noscript.gif?tag=dwsre-20" alt="" /><br /> The audiobook If I Were You is actually two very entertaining short stories written by L. Ron Hubbard when he first began his writing career writing for class pulp fiction magazines. The stories are performed by multiple actors and include music and sound effects to help the story move along. The first story ("If I Were You") has a celebrity voice, Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson for the last 23 years. She portrays Little Tom Little, a little person in a traveling circus who, despite his great success, wants to be big more than anything else. A mysterious circus magician (who really dislikes Tom) leaves Litt...

Not the best Harry Bosch (or Mickey Haller) book but solid enough Published in 2010 by Little, Brown and Company 389 pages Bosch and Haller are half brothers, as has come out if you follow the series. Bosch has become a bit more domesticated, now that he is a full time dad and has a niece and a brother and an ex-sister-in-law and I am not sure if I like it. I like the brooding intensity of the earlier installments of the  Bosch series. Michael Connelly Not that this book does not have its creepy moments, its dramatic moments and action. It has all of that, but it just didn't feel like a Bosch book - and that was all because of the inclusion of Haller and the fact that it was a hybrid book. In The Reversal defense attorney Mickey Haller has been asked to step in as a special prosecutor in a 24 year old case involving a child murder. The case was resolved 24 years ago but a DNA test has cast doubt on the verdict and a court has ordered the conviction to be reversed. ...

Very entertaining Published by Hachette Audio in 2005 Multicast performance Duration: 3 hours, 12 minutes . Fast-paced, loud, chaotic, sometimes confusing. Sounds like a typical night with Batman. Also, it describes the Batman: The Complete Knightfall Saga audiobook. This project was completed as a full-fledged production, just like an old-time radio show rather than having one reader cover all of the characters. I am an occasional Batman reader but a regular listener to audiobooks and I found this one to be outstanding. I am not totally enamored - the ending was too "Leave It To Beaver", the Joker degenerated from credible threat to goofy annoyance as the story went along and Avenging Angel Azrael was more hilarious than scary on the first CD (he constantly yelled out the beginnings of a speech about transgressors, punishment, etc. He did it so many times that it became slapstick). However, I'm going to grade it on a Batman curve. Was it better than the mov...

An interesting read with a twist at the end Published in 2005 by Dark Horse Books Written by Mark Millar. Illustrated by Peter Gross 72 pages. I will not include any spoilers here - suffice it to say that a 12 year old starts to exhibit powers that Jesus once exhibited - healings, etc. The artwork highlights the drabness and ordinary, humble origins of this boy and hints that others have been waiting for these powers to surface. The ending has a good plot twist - good enough that I read it 3 times to make sure I got it right. The end of this edition has a "DVD extras" discussion between author and artist full of the little clues they had put in along the way and their motivations for making this graphic novel. It's a welcome addition. Good work on this one. I give it 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Chosen by Mark Millar and Peter Gross. Reviewed on March 16, 2007.

Slow start, sizzling end Published by HarperCollins in 2006 384 pages First and foremost - Boo to the publishers of this book for not clearly labeling that this paperback book is part of a trilogy. Sure, it's clear if you carefully look at the extremely long list of Cornwell's books inside the front cover, but I was holding my 15 month old while using my Christmas gift card and I really did not have the luxury of perusing through every page in the book store! On to the book - Bernard Cornwell Despite not having read the first book, Cornwell does an admirable job of catching the reader up to where the action is in book two. However, he then goes meandering a bit. The story sort of sidles along until the Danes invade again and then it's a real action story. Cornwell's battle descriptions are top-notch. Perhaps only topped by Pressfield's Gates of Fire - but not by much. The Pale Horseman is saddled with one of the most worthless maps I...

Fascinating Originally published in 2004 by Pavilion Books. 144 pages. Indianapolis Then and Now is part of a series that looks at cities all over the country. While this book would most likely be of limited interest to non-Hoosiers, I found this book to be riveting. I've lived in Indy for almost all of my adult life and I often visited the city as a child. The format of the book is side by side photos of an Indianapolis address in the past (from 60 - 150 years ago) and a current photo of the same building. Sometimes the same buildings and landmarks are still in places, other times there are whole new buildings and landscapes. Part of Indy's canal walk (photo by DWD) Most striking are the changes in the area around Indy's much lauded canal walk, White River State Park and IUPUI. I was also surprised that the Indianapolis Star building is actually quite old - two beautiful buildings with character were merged into one building and then covered with one o...

Published by NAL Hardcover in 2005 320 pages An enjoyable memoir of  Dick Winters ' life, mostly focusing on his time in the military. Dick Winters is one of the main focuses of the splendid HBO mini-series Band of Brothers and the Stephen Ambrose book by the same name. Throughout, Winters gives open and honest assessments of fellow officers and soldiers, and training levels of replacements soldiers and Korean War soldiers. Dick Winters (1918-2011) I have not yet read Stephen Ambrose's book B and of Brothers but am a giant fan of the mini-series. Dick Winters re-tells this story with the focus on his own experiences. The Nixon-Winters and Stobel-Winters relationships are explored a bit more in-depth than are presented in the TV program. The pacing of the non-military aspects of his life is generally very good, with the exception of one page early that goes into too much detail about his family background. This reflects the fact that the author is a...

Okay, but disappointing Published in 1979 by National Geographic So, why am I disappointed? I was hoping for an theme-based work that looked at different mysterious objects, behaviors and cultures of the ancient world across the world and made comparisons and connections between them. Easter Island Instead, this book is a series of unrelated articles that have the look and feel of the National Geographic style. Don't get me wrong - I like the National Geographic style but the book as a whole lacks flow and feels more like a copy of the magazine than a special book. It is not an integrated work and leaves out plenty of big mysteries (Great Zimbabwe, Nazca Lines, Petra, the Olmecs) in favor of smaller mysteries such as the Etruscans and Catal Huyuk. Topics include: -The Etruscans -Ice age cave paintings -Stonehenge and related Megaliths -Minoan civilization -Mycenaean civilization -Catal Huyuk and Jericho -Easter Island and the South Pacific Ocean...

A beautiful book. Recommended for map lovers and hard-core Civil War buffs. Published by Rutledge Hill Press (Thomas Nelson) in 2004. 48 pages   Thomas Nelson's Rutledge Hill Press publishing division has created a lovely book that tells a simple narrative of the Civil War focusing on the importance of maps in the war and the men who made them. The cover of the book is designed to look like a leather bound canvas portfolio, much like a mapmaker's sketchbook of the era. The text of the book is beautifully printed on high quality paper. I appreciated the fact that the publishers included lots of pictures of everyday soldiers - not just the same old posed shots of the generals and politicians. Lincoln and McClellan after Antietam There are 32 removable maps included as well. The removable maps are stored in between the pages. The publisher has printed on only one side of the thick paper pages and then glued the blank sides together on the edges to make an e...

Pleasant musings from the mind of Wolfsie Published in 2001 by Guilde Press of Indiana. 189 pages. Dick Wolfsie is a local TV morning show personality in Indianapolis. He specializes in finding the offbeat and showing it to everyone with a camera and an interview. He used to share this responsibility with his lovable dog Barney, a runaway beagle that he found one day. Unfortunately, Barney is no longer with us. Dick Wolfsie's writings are mostly light-hearted humourous musings about life. Many are re-prints from a column he writes. While I rarely laughed out loud at his commentary, I did find it amusing and enjoyed myself. Recomended for that middle-aged dad that's hard to buy for. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Reviewed on January 17, 2008. This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Life in a Nutshell . <br /> <img src="http://wms.assoc-amazon.com/20070822/US/img/noscript.gif?tag=dwsre-20" alt="" /><br />

Wolfsie's lighthearted, witty style is perfect for this topic Published in 2003 by Globe Pequot 306 pages Indianapolis TV personality Dick Wolfsie is well-known in Central Indiana for finding fun, interesting human-interest segments for his station's morning show. Wolfsie continues this theme by digging up oddities from all over the Hoosier state that would interest any traveler who wants to stray from the beaten path. Wolfsie provides a description of the curiosity, organized by region, and alphabetized by the town in which it is located. The book covers five regions and includes a map of that region that labels every town mentioned in that section of the book, no matter how small the town. Examples include the RV museum in Elkhart, a jar museum in Muncie and the site of John Dillinger's first official crime in Mooresville. Wolfsie includes addresses, phone numbers, websites, e-mail addresses, and contact names (some are only available through appointme...

WOW! Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio Read by James Daniels Duration: 9 hours, 33 minutes. Unabridged. I must be out of the loop - I am a Crais fan but have never seen this book before nor was I aware that it had been made into movie until I wrote this review. Nevertheless, despite my previous ignorance I found Hostage to be thoroughly enjoyable. More than that, I found it to be riveting, fascinating and I enjoyed Crais's ability to turn a cops and robber story into something more. James Daniels's brilliant narration is perfect for this text - every character has his own distinct voice. Daniels puts the right edge in his voice, be it the menacing quality of some of the characters or the panicky threats of others as they scream at the hostage negotiators. This is an audiobook done right! The plot revolves around 3 guys who rob a small town gas station and then while attempting to flee run into a gated community and take a family hostage inside their own h...

Strong, flawed, important work with a valuable, urgent message Published in 2007 by Walker and Company 288 pages.   I had to pick up this book as soon as I stumbled upon it. One of the themes in my history classes is the expansion of freedom in the West following the same general timeline that Grayling follows. Who doesn't like to have his own thoughts echoed by a major English philosopher? Strengths: I do recommend this book - it is a readable, admirable attempt at covering a vast, important topic. Grayling covers John Locke especially well (although he disposes with the views of Hobbes rather quickly by asserting that people are not necessarily nasty and brutal with one another). Grayling's most important message is quite simple: the rights that we have are the product of a lot of time and a lot of struggles and they should be cherished and well-guarded. When the reader has completed this book it should be quite clear that this inheritance is too valuab...

An important piece of "comic book journalism" Published in 2007 by Fantagraphics books. 320 pages . Joe Sacco headed off to to the Palestinian refugee camps with a few bucks in his pocket, a sketchpad, a little training in how to draw comic books, a rarely used camera (film was too expensive) and a curious mind. Sacco interviewed Palestinians and asked them about all sorts of aspects of their lives: jobs, the intifada, women's rights, Land for Peace, and much more. Sacco turned those interviews into this graphic novel (although Sacco does not like that term much - instead he prefers "comic book journalist"). Joe Sacco (self-portrait) There is no traditional narrative to this book. Sacco does not turn these interviews into a large over-arching history of the Palestininan people. Instead, it is like reading a series of illustrated interviews. This gives the reader the feeling that he or she is there sitting right there with Sacco talking ...

Published by MacMillan Audio Narrated by C.J. Critt Duration: about 8 hours. Ten Big Ones features Stephanie Plum and Lula going up against 1) a soccer mom who raids potato chip trucks and 2) a psychopathic street gang member. Stephanie's endless on-again-off-again relationship with Morelli continues its strange path - but the twists and turns seem forced this time. Too bad, I was such an enthusiastic supporter of the early books in the series - but the newer ones just don't have it. In fact, the whole franchise seems tired. Lula and Stephanie's banter. Stephanie's sister and her fiance. Grandma. Morelli. Ranger. It has a warmed over feeling. I found Stephanie's total lack of awareness of street gangs (and their propensity to violence) in her hometown is silly, especially considering that she admits to having caught some of these gang members in the past. She didn't notice the graffiti? The outfits? Doesn't she listen to the news? M...