DWD's Reviews

Mary DiNunzio is back for more. Published in 2004 by HarperCollins  I have a soft spot for Lisa Scottoline. Many years ago I was working in a used book store when I ran across her first book, Everywhere that Mary Went and I loved it. We had two copies of that book and we must have re-sold them a dozen times after I started recommending them to people who asked for someone new to read. Pretty soon, Lisa Scottoline was one of our hottest items - we even special-ordered in some new copies! I like to think that I had a very, very small part in her success, even though the used book store is now defunct. Killer Smile continues on with several familiar themes in Scottoline's books. Once again Bennie Rosato's all female (with the exception of an office manager) law firm swings into action in a case involving the Italian neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Mary DiNunzio, Scottoline's original character is back with a pro bono case based in history. Some Italians wer...

A review by an infrequent reader of comics Published in 2005 by Titan Graphic Novels. Originally published in 2004 by D.C. Comics 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. Superman has always been of limited interest to me. 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. Good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting. Batman, on the other hand, he oozes character exploration opportunities. Surprisingly, Loeb and company have made Superman very interesting, by looking at him through the prism of Batman, and also by seeing Batman through Superman's eyes. Their chosen format of having dueling interior thought lines from Batman and Superman offer t...

Published in 2005 by Anchor Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic is a well-written fact-filled narrative interpretation of the end of the Roman Republic. Interpretation? Of course - all history books are the author's interpretation. Holland has his biases, but it does not distract from the power of the book. With the exception of a slow bit in the middle, this is an entertaining read and worthy to sit on the shelf next to other histories of Rome. I wholeheartedly recommend this one for enthusiasts (his spin on things should pique your interest) and also for newcomers to Roman history. It is a fine springboard for further study. Tom Holland That being said, I do have a little bone to pick with the author, on a topic that has little bearing on the text as a whole. On p. 21 (paperback) Holland claims that the Circus Maximus, the chariot racetrack, was the largest sports arena in the world (200,000 spectators) and it still holds that title today. That ...

I was expecting more   Published in 2006 by Pantheon I may be living in a box because I had not heard of this book or the movie before I found the graphic novel. When I saw it was based on a Philip K. Dick book I was hopeful - after all, he is the author of such thought-inducing works as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (A.K.A. Blade Runner ) and he is the inspiration for The Minority Report and Total Recall (Not that Total Recall is as deep as the other two, but there are some themes that the three share, including a caste system based on birth, be you an android, a mutant or someone who can see the future). What I hoped would be a thoughtful commentary on the "War on Drugs" and/or the damage that drugs do to the user turned into a rambling work of several episodes in the lives of some druggie pals and the undercover narc officer who has caught himself in the web of addiction. Sometimes funny, usually odd, this book just never lived up to the other P...

An important tale to be told - unfortunately this one fails to tell it well enough Published by First Second in 2006. Deogratias is the name of a young man from Rwanda. The story dances back and forth between pre- and post-1994 massacre Rwanda. Pre-massacre Deogratias is a likeable young man. Post-massacre Deogratias is insane. As one reads this graphic novel one finds out what drove him insane - in a climax that is not all that surprising or shocking (just sad), especially if one knows any of the detail of the Rwanda massacre. An image from the graphic novel Great works take the story of one person or group of people in a tragic situation and somehow make their story universal. For example, the Civil War movie Glory is the story of the first all-Black Federal regiment in the Civil War - it is also the story of every soldier - black or white, Union or Confederate. In Saving Private Ryan , the Tom Hanks character epitomizes the average man stuck in a terrible situa...

Published by Scholastic in January of 1994. The Glory Field is the story of an African-American family and their tie to a piece of land on Curry Island in South Carolina over the course of 250 years. Reminiscent of the James Michener sagas that follow the same format, The Glory Field is not nearly as detailed or as rich as a Michener selection. However, Michener's primary audience was adults and Myers' intended audience is young adults, most of whom would not have the patience or the courage to pick up a 1,000+ page book. Myers has broken this book up into a series of six stories, snapshots of the Lewis family throughout nearly 250 years of history. The quality of the stories goes up and down. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th stories are so-so. The first is vivid, strong and way too short. The last two are so strong that, in my mind, they saved the book. I was considering not including it in my classroom library because of the middle stories - they drug along and just didn...

  Despite some flaws, still a strong story (and a possible explanation for the flaws- as a literary device...) Published by Harper in November of 2006.   There are numerous flaws in Hillerman's newest book, including a confusing, often rambling first 100 pages or so. However, at about the halfway point in the book it catches some traction and moves forward with purpose and speed and the last half of the book reminds me of the Hillerman of old. For those readers who are disappointed with this one, might I suggest that some of the flaws are built in on purpose. Not to see if you are paying attention to the over-arching plot line, but because the story is not being told with strict and exact attention to detail. Remember, the story is being told from Leaphorn to Chee and Bernadette. Leaphorn makes several references to the old days in which the Navajo stories would be passed down from one generation to the next. Leaphorn missed out on those days because he was...

A thoroughly entertaining audiobook experience Published in 1994 by Simon and Schuster Audio Division Read by John de Lancie Duration: 2 hours, 59 minutes Abridged I picked this audiobook up at a library sale - they were clearing out all of their audiobooks on cassette. So, I picked up a bunch of them and dusted off the Sony Walkman (literally) and gave it a listen. Back in the day (1994) most audiobooks were edited to about 3 hours. This book was originally over 400 pages long so it was edited extensively as well, although the cover does not admit to it. That being said, the editing was very well done here. This could have been an extraordinarily confusing book considering that it bounces around in 3 different universes, but the editors have demonstrated a great deal of skill. All that being said, Q-Squared is not an audiobook for the Star Trek newbie. In the original Star Trek , Captain Kirk and company encountered Trelane, a being of extraordinary power but very little matur...

I hate to be the party pooper but... Published in 1997. Despite good experience with Lescroart in the past, despite the rave reviews on the back cover and a dozen rave reviews inside the front cover, I found myself only caring about what happened to Abe Glitsky. The slow-moving, plodding plot line only reinforced the fact that I did not care what happened to the Mark Dooher. Did he kill his wife? I don't know - it's mentioned in the first sentence in the plot synopsis on the back cover and 200 pages into the book she's still alive and I'm getting irritated at reading about Dooher's connivings to sleep with one of his young employees. So, anyway, I read exactly 200 pages of this book. It was not easy. I was forcing myself to continue on, much like I would do with a college textbook. Then I came across the new Tony Hillerman book and I gladly dropped this one into the box of books that I'm dropping off at the Goodwill. Thank goodness I am no...

Good Early Spenser novel Published August 1st 1988 by Books on Tape, Inc. Read by Michael Prichard Duration: 5 hours, 4 minutes Unabridged Robert B. Parker and Tony Hillerman are the two authors I most consistently check when I go to a library or a bookstore. When it is a great day, one of the two has a new book. When it is a tremendous day, they both have a new one out and I have to decide which to read first! In the meantime, I am making do by going back over their collected works as audiobooks. I have a long drive to work every day and Spenser makes a very good ride-along companion. I have long-since read all of the older Spenser books, but the beautiful thing about a faulty memory is that the plot lines get a bit hazy over time and now I can enjoy them all over again! Besides, it is always interesting to see how the reader interprets Spenser and the gang. One of the best to capture Spenser smart-aleck comments was Burt Reynolds, although his inte...

After seeing the movie I was expecting much more First published in 1965. If you've seen Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger tear into one another in the movie version of this book you may be expecting a few more fireworks than this book delivers. Heck, even if all you know of the story is the TV show with Carrol O'Connor and Howard Rollins than you have already seen more fireworks than this book delivers. And why is that? Because in the book version of In the Heat of the Night , Virgil Tibbs is a proud man but he often fails to show the fire that both Poitier and Rollins brought to the character. John Ball (1911-1988) Throw in a near-total lack of action (there are two small fight scenes, but they are almost incidental to the plot) with about 50 pages worth of driving around a small Southern town in the middle of the night and you can quickly figure out why the movie version remains popular, with more than 50 reviews on Amazon.com at the time of this writing, w...

Sometimes funny, sometimes just the rants of a cranky old man  Performed by the author, George Carlin Published by Highbridge Company, April 1, 2001 Duration: 2 hours, 29 minutes abridged G eorge Carlin (1937-2008) was an iconic stand-up comic known for his cutting edge humor. This audiobook is not really either, however. I am not saying it does not have its funny moments - it certainly does. But, large stretches of it sound more like a cranky old man spouting off than an actual attempt at humor. George Carlin (1937-2008) Funny parts of Napalm and Silly Putty include his observations on cats, dogs, grocery stores, "saving" the environment, health nuts and driving. Those are actually full blown comedy bits  and remind me quite a bit of Dave Barry with generous quantities of superfluous cursing thrown in for spice. Sadly, for a comic known for his edginess, none of these topics are particularly edgy. His attempts at edginess come with rants about businessmen, or...

Not the best of Bernard Lewis Published January 24th 2002 by Oxford University Press, USA Hardcover, 192 pages I've read two other books by Lewis and found both of them to be much more comprehensive and satisfying than this one. My dissatisfaction stems from the title. The title What Went Wrong? implies a discussion of how the Islam world went from being the most advanced culture on the planet to one of the most insular and, in many ways, most backwards cultures on the planet. While such a discussion is implied, it is barely touched upon in the body of the book. Lewis finally gets to this general topic in his conclusion. He notes, "By all standards that matter in the modern world-economic development and job creation, literacy and educational and scientific achievement, political freedom and respect for human rights - what was once a mighty civilization has indeed fallen low." (p. 152) Bernard Lewis ...

Abridged Published by Simon and Schuster in 2000 Read by Chris Meloni Duration: 4 hours, 41 minutes I am a relative newcomer to the works of Steve Martini, this being my third book, the second one as an audiobook. As a listener, I can tell that Martini's craft has improved quite a bit - my first experience with a Martini audiobook ( The Judge ) only accentuated Martini's overuse of the simile (he moved like a cat, etc.) - it was so obvious that I began a running count of how many times I heard them! This plot is not as strong as that one, but his skills as a writer have improved so that the entire effect is actually one of improvement. Steve Martini Paul Madriani and his partner Harry are back for another turn as protagonists in The Attorney , although Harry largely takes a backseat in this one, which is too bad. Nevertheless, the plot moves well, suspense builds nicely until the ending comes along and there is a bit of a letdown. However, I am not one t...

"Stop throwing sandwiches!" Published in 2005 by Scribner Teacher Man is my first McCourt book, as I am apparently the only person in the English-speaking world that has not read Angela's Ashes . The book started like a house afire for me - full of the trepidation of the first day of school for a brand new teacher. What would he say? First impressions are vital - how much more vital is the first impression for an entire career? As is normal on a first day (I've had 17 years of them!), the first words from McCourt are not planned - they are a reaction to what the kids say and do - he has to yell, "Stop throwing sandwiches!" Frank McCourt (1930-2009) photo by David Shankbone McCourt's classroom memories are enjoyable - his style is not mine (at least not as of yet - styles evolve and change over time) but it was certainly original and caused the kids to think and he had their attention - more than half the battle is won if you have ...

Published in 1999 by Dark Horse The Battle of Thermopylae is one of my favorite things to teach about in my world history class so this graphic novel was of particular interest to me. Miller takes some liberties with history in the graphic novel 300 , such as the homophobia of the Spartans and the ethnicity of the Persian emperor. But, he gets the heart of the story correctly. Thermopylae was one of those "turning points in history" battles - not for the events of the 3 days of the battle itself but rather for the time it gave the rest of Greece to prepare (and evacuate, in the case of Athens) and for the inspiration it provided (Think about Texas and the battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" and you get the idea). A more accurate portrayal of the battle in a piece of fiction would be found in Pressfield's Gates of Fire . However, as a piece of art and as a simple introduction to the Spartans and to the battle, this book is quite good. Of course, this gr...

Published in 2011 by iUniverse Joel Mark Harris is a young Canadian journalist and new novel writer. The advice always given to writers is to "write what you know" so Harris has done that - the main character of this novel is John Webster, an experienced investigative journalist for a Vancouver newspaper. Webster carries physical and emotional battle scars from covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is too old to start a blog to promote his articles and he is definitely too experienced to be playing fast and loose with the mob as the bullets start to fly and the bodies start to fall. But, he does, for reasons he doesn't quite understand his whole life has fallen apart since his horrible experiences in the war zones and he seems driven to push away his son and his ex-wife and take on ever more dangerous assignments at home. The book begins with Webster listening in on a clandestine meeting of mobster leaders in a barn. The meeting becomes a crime scene as ...

Published in 2012 by Thomas Nelson Larry P. Arnn is the president of Hillsdale College and I suppose I should tell you that I receive Hillsdale's free monthly bulletin,  Imprimis , which features excerpts of speeches given by guests at Hillsdale College. President Arnn is featured annually so I was fairly familiar with his work before I picked up this book. In fact, that was the reason I picked it up in the first place. Arnn's key point in this book is that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are highly inter-related and that the efforts of some politicians and academics to separate them are not only incorrect but are also symptomatic of a larger effort to redefine and dilute the rights and governments described in both documents. Arnn makes this point early and brilliantly in simple and soaring language. He demonstrates that the series of complaints against King George III in the Declaration describe how the King did not act as a faithful representa...

Published in 1991 by Silver Burdett Press 118 pages of text. 8 pages of timelines, sources and an index at the end. This book is part of a larger series (The History of the Civil War Series). It is very readable with a good balance of national history versus the biography of Swedish immigrant inventor John Ericsson, with the glaring exception I note below. John Ericsson (1803-1889) was almost the stereotypical nutty professor type inventor - he never properly patented many of his best inventions. Ericsson built a great number of inventions, but unlike Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, he never really built any industries around them. He seemed to have trouble with personal relationships and was happiest when the was building in his laboratory. John Ericsson (1803-1889) Among other things, Ericsson invented a screw propeller, a "caloric" engine and, most importantly, he was the designer of the famed U.S.S. Monitor, the first ironclad in the Union navy, part...