The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr

Majestic and Poetic - an Outstanding Experience

Published in 2007 by Picador

Howard Bahr

If you pick up The Judas Field give it about 30 pages. Up to that point I was fairly confused and lost. Then, it suddenly comes together and this book became one of the most powerful books I've read all year.

The book features two story lines - one set approximately 20 years after the Civil War and one that consists of flashbacks about the Battle of Franklin. Both are interesting. Bahr's descriptions of the battle contain some of the most poetic descriptions of the most awful things that men can do to one another that I've ever read. Truly beautifully written.

On top of that there is an ongoing discussion about the role of God in war. Does he take sides? Has he forsaken both sides? This discussion is not done lightly. These are not post-modernist characters - they believe in God but they must reconcile that belief with the awful experience of war - what they did, what they saw done, what they prayed for, and why God has allowed it. Here's a snippet of this discussion:

Confederate soldiers at the end of the war.

" 'What do you ask for then?' said the boy.

Roger pulled the quilt around his shoulders. 'To be forgiven,' he said.

They were quiet then. The snow swirled around them, borne on a cutting wind, and through it ghostly shapes began to pass, bending, searching, speaking softly." (pp. 168-9)

The dialogue works. The descriptions are so thorough that I could almost hear the horses stamp and the men groan and stretch. This book is an outstanding experience.

I rate this novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr.

Reviewed on October 24, 2008.

Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West by Anthony Pagden

Disappointed

Published in 2008.

Anthony Pagden's Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West was a book I was really looking forward to reading. It sat on my wish list for months and when I saw it just sitting there at my local library I greedily snatched it up and considered myself lucky to even have found it checked in.

Thank goodness I did not waste my money buying it.

I suppose the problem with a book of this nature is that it is bound to disappoint - some things will be "too" highlighted, some left out. Even worse for this book, niggling factual errors crop up that bother the careful reader and throw into doubt the validity of the more complicated interpretations of the work as a whole.

Positives:

The book is quite readable and you must give a tip of the hat to anyone who undertakes such a large and sweeping history.

Negatives:

The anti-religious comments taint large sections of the book: "...nor have I made any attempt...to disguise the fact that I believe the myths perpetrated by all monotheistic religions - all religions indeed- have caused more lasting harm to the human race that any other set of beliefs..." (p. xix) In my opinion, his anti-religious bias does immeasurable harm to this history because holders of religious belief are held in disdain. This is a history full of religious beliefs, perhaps even based on it. Viewing all of those beliefs as despicable and marginalizing them leads to some of the more simplistic interpretations noted in other reviews of this book.

-The author comments that in this book Christianity "seems to fare slightly better than Islam in this story..." (p. xix) but I really doubt that. At least he spent several pages on the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam. He doesn't even bother to tell about the life of Jesus (not even a "supposed" version) or a history of St. Paul (whom he refers to in passing several times, but the uninformed reader is left, well, uninformed.) Imagine, a history of the West without even a page devoted to the beginnings of Christianity. The closest we get to an outline of Christ is a brief comparison to Mithraism (pp. 130-1). Christians are often slighted, such as on page 519 when he opines that Christians would like to make Shari'a law for the United States if only they could figure out how.

-Judaism fares even worse. It is rarely mentioned. Even then it has inaccuracies, such as on pages 151-2 when he notes, incorrectly that Moses was only given 10 laws. A passing glance through the book of Deuteronomy would tell the most casual of reader that dozens and dozens of laws were given to Moses.

-The Persian-Roman conflicts. I was looking forward to learning more about the Persian empire(s) that fought Rome to a standstill. Usually in this type of history there is just one paragraph that tells you little more than I've already mentioned - that the Persians fought the Romans to a standstill and an accomodation was made. He includes a fancier explanation, but it is still just the one paragraph. (pp. 175-6) I was hoping for much more - especially since this accounts for roughly 500 years of the 2,500 years of conflict that is discussed in the book.

--Refers to the year 1098 as being a part of the "ninth-century". (p. 231)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

-Luther's teachings are misstated at times. "Mankind did not need to labor to win God's favor, as the Church had always maintained; it could be vindicated by faith alone. To be justified in the eyes of God, one had only to believe and lead a true and godly life." (p. 297) The part about leading a true and godly life would be the same as laboring to win God's favor. It is not Luther's theology. He stated the godly life would proceed from one's faith, it would not, in and of itself, do anything to get one into heaven.

Some might find the point about Luther trivial, but this is not a small thing. In the last 500 years there have been two large-scale organized religious movements in the West and both were inspired by Martin Luther - the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation (aka the Catholic Reformation). Failing to understand this simple part of Luther's theology means that those two movements are not understood as well. If you were reading a book that mentioned the philosopher Socrates and the author failed to grasp the concept that Socrates wanted people to question everything you'd have to question the author's competence as an authority on the topic. If the author also openly ridiculed philosophers in general and Greek philosophers in particular you'd question why he even bothered to write on the topic in the first place.   

-On page 74 there is a reference to "brothels in Pompey" (p.74). Pompey was one of Julius Caesar's rivals. Pompeii is the standard spelling for the city he is referring to.

-On page 249 he refers to the Afghan War of 1991. 2001, perhaps?

-There is a complete failure to mention the clash between Communism, Fascism and the East. The Ba'ath Party was influenced by the Fascist movements. Afghanistan was nominally Communist when the USSR invaded it to support the floundering government in 1979. He expounds on the murderous history of religious movements but blows off the terrible history of secular movements like Communism with one really long sentence (pp. 533-4) that fails to address the issue or the scope of their own murderous pasts.

-"Soviet Block"? (p. 526). The standard spelling is bloc, not block.

-On page 526 it is claimed that East Germany "took the first steps that would eventually bring down the Communist regimes of eastern Europe." (p. 526) Funny, I remember it being Poland with Lech Walesa and Solidarity being the first. The Wall came down only when Hungary and other countries had already lowered their barriers and made East Germany's Communist rulers irrelevant.

Final thought: Buy something else. Perhaps more specific histories rather than a more general, biased one that demonstrates little respect for the religious traditions of the peoples involved.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West.

Reviewed on October 28, 2008.

The Run (abridged audiobook) by Stuart Woods

A political thriller for people who do not really follow politics

Published in 2000 by HarperAudio
Read by Ken Howard
Duration: 5 hours, 39 minutes
Abridged

Ken Howard (most famous for his TV show The White Shadow) narrates this nearly 6 hour abridgment of The Run, a below par political thriller.

Filled with undeveloped story threads that promise something interesting but rarely delivers (the VP has Alzheimer's, militias are out to assassinate the candidate, the candidate's wife is a bigwig in the CIA, there's dirt on the candidate - all for naught) The Run is a great example of a political thriller for people who do not really follow politics. Lots of things won't sit right with folks who watch politics -primaries are still happening in July and August, there is at least one brokered convention (another one is hinted at but it may have been abridged out of my version), the amounts of money spent are tiny, even by year 2000 standards.

The White House

Perhaps strangest of all, Bill Clinton is referenced several times throughout this book which purports to be about the year 2000 election. Strangely, Clinton is not the president at the time of the 2000 election in this book, nor had he been removed by impeachment in the story (Woods would have been writing this at the time of Clinton's impeachment). Why not make the election the 2004 or 2008 election? Not a big deal, but it still bothered me throughout.

Skip this one. If you want to read a good Stuart Woods thriller, read Chiefs or White Cargo.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found in abridged and unabridged formats on Amazon.com here: The Run by Stuart Woods.

Reviewed on November 6, 2008. 

Widow's Walk (A Spenser Novel)(audiobook) by Robert B. Parker

 

"Mr. Spenser, you are a little man in a big arena. You simply don't matter." 

Published by Books on Tape
Read by Joe Mantegna
Duration: 5 hours, 41 minutes.
Unabridged

With that comment fans of Spenser know that in Widow's Walk he's going to be digging in his heels and pull even harder at all of the loose ends until he finds something he can use. That is both the beauty and the weakness of the Spenser novels - they are formulaic. Spenser has a routine and this one touches all points: 

Help from Hawk with a tail? Check. 

Vinny Morris brought in to back up Hawk? Check. 

Bounce his case off of Susan for a new perspective? Check. 

Witty commentary? Check. 

Both the cops and the bad guys irritated with Spenser? Check. 

It's predictable but quite enjoyable. 

The case is interesting and goes all over the place. The only real problem I had with this audiobook presentation is Joe Mantegna as the reader. Mantegna does a solid job of reading - his diction is impeccable, he can deliver a smart-aleck comment pretty well but his range of different voices is limited and his Susan Silverman voice sounded like Carey Grant to me. A four-star book is reduced to a total of three stars by the narration.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Widow's Walk by Robert B. Parker.

Reviewed on November 9, 2008.

Islam: The Religion and the People by Bernard Lewis

Outstanding

Published in 2008 by Wharton School Publishing.

Islam: The Religion and the People is, without a doubt, the single best academic introduction to Islam that I have seen. It covers just about every facet of the religion for the non-expert, from what happens in a mosque on Fridays to the split between the Shiites and the Sunnis to how the Muslim world deals with not being able to charge interest to rules concerning food and the question of jihad.

This volume is short, well-written and thorough. It includes a glossary of terms mentioned in the book with more explanation (so the text does not bog down). Sidebars are included throughout the text with humourous notes that further illustrate the issues that are being discussed.

I have not encountered a better book to introduce Islam to the curious Westerner. I highly recommend this one to anyone heading off to a Muslim country, who works with Muslims or who is just curious about this popular, controversial and influential faith.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Islam: The Religion and the People.

Reviewed on November 9, 2008.

Warrior Woman: The Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief by James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom

Not up the high standards that have been set by other books by James Alexander Thom

Published in 2003 by Ballantine Books

To start, let me establish my bonafides as a fan of Mr. Thom's work. Five of his novels proudly sit on my bookshelf. When I teach world history I have my kids read a piece of historical fiction as part of a semester project. I have proudly placed copies of Follow the River and Panther in the Sky in my classroom library as examples of historical fiction at its finest. I met Thom at a conference this past spring and told him that his books were the reason I created this type of project. When at his best, Thom's books make you feel as though you have stepped into that world of the past.

Warrior Woman, while accurate is just not entertaining reading. The plot meanders around and never seems to pick up steam. We never really understand Nonhelema's motives in the book - why is she so desperate to negotiate a peace when it is so obvious that those treaties will be broken? Perhaps if her early life had been explored in more detail. The reader is offered snippits of earlier times - past battles, a trip to New Orleans some twenty years earlier but we don't know how these things formed her Revolutionary War-era self.

George Rogers Clark 
(1752-1818)

Warrior Woman seems to be the capstone on the series he has written about the Ohio and Missouri River Valleys. He mentions the legendary "Welsh Indians" he writes about in The Children of First Man. George Rogers Clark, the star of Long Knife appears several times, as does Tecumseh who is the focus of Panther in the Sky. William Clark, who is featured in his two books about the Lewis and Clark expedition makes a cameo appearance. Kidnapped whites raised by Indians are featured prominently in The Red Heart and Follow the River. They are important in this book as well since Nonhelema's daughter is one of those kidnapped children who chooses to stay with the Shawnee. Even a young George Drouillard is mentioned twice in passing. He is featured in yet another book entitled. Sign-Talker: The Adventure of George Drouillard on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. To me, it seemed that Thom was closing the circle on his interpretation of this period of history.

Before you read this book, read any of the other ones I mentioned above.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Warrior Woman.

Reviewed on November 21, 2008.

Kari's Saga: A Novel of Viking Iceland by Robert Jansson

A Viking book that's less of a "bash 'em, slash 'em" book and more of a legal thriller

Published in 2008 by BookSurge Publishing.

So, you pick up a book about Icelandic Vikings and what do you expect? Well, if you're like me you expected a lot of men with long hair brandishing swords and axes along with lots of blood and longboats, much like the Saxon Chronicle books of Bernard Cornwell.

A Viking Longhouse

Kari's Saga starts out with just that - a failed attempt to burn a rival's longhouse. But, there's a twist. Iceland is trying to limit the the amount of violence that plague the island (revenge killings and so on). The Icelandic Vikings are actively trying to be more creative in applying Viking laws and the legal system to limit this violence. Notice I said limit, not end it - these are, after all, Vikings.

Throw in the threat of political change (invasion from Viking kings back in Denmark - Iceland had no king, just a loose collection of weak semi-feudal lords) and religious change (Christianity was supplanting the Viking gods and the desire to make Iceland Christian was one of excuses used to threaten the invasion from Denmark) and you have an interesting story line with lots of twists and turns.

The author, Robert Jansson, does a great job of explaining the political, religious and legal issues involved. His battle scenes, while few, are well done. He adds in greed, lust and love to make this a worthy read. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon at this location:  Kari's Saga: A Novel of Viking Iceland.

Reviewed on November 29, 2008.

Gotham Central Vol. 5: Dead Robin (graphic novel) (DC Comics) by Greg Rucka

Batman, super-villains and the insanity of life in Gotham from the point of view of the police

Published in 2007 by DC Comics.

Ever wonder how Batman and his cronies seem to the cops? Ever wonder how cops deal with super-villains, super heroes and the insane amount of crime that Gotham City generates?

Gotham Central is a great twist on the Super hero tale. Told from the perspective of Gotham's Major Crime Unit, this series puts a different point of view on the super hero story. Besides that, many of these cops are involved in super heroics of their own. Imagine NYPD Blue or Law and Order SVU with the occasional super villain and super hero and you've got the idea. Gritty, tough, action-packed and good.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Gotham Central Vol. 5: Dead Robin.

Reviewed on November 29, 2008.

Identity Crisis (graphic novel) by Brad Meltzer and DC Comics

Published in 2006 by DC Comics

So, what happens when you take a best-selling author of thrillers and have him work with a great comics team?

You get Identity Crisis - a strong story, great art and some of the cherished ideas of comics are re-worked.

To quote the introduction by Joss Whedon, "it's unlikely that Elongated Man is your favorite-ever character. But halfway into issue one he was certainly mine. Brad and Rags paint a portrait of a man - and a marriage - that is so unassumingly lovely, it's unbearable to think anything bad might happen to either. And inevitable that it will."

****Spoiler alert****

Thank novelist Brad Meltzer for making you care and thank artist Rags Morales for making you feel the pain of Elongated Man's loss on page 31 (even now, I just glanced at THE page and I felt it all over again).

Meltzer re-works some of the bad guys and makes them truly awful. Why shouldn't they be. Regular villains stalk, kill, rape, maim and torture. Shouldn't super villains do even more of that? To combat that, the super heroes are not morally upright in all of their actions. They are after all, human (except for a few of them). They are scared for their families, friends and loved ones that cannot defend themselves against freaks with a funny suit and a good search engine. The scene in which Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) rush to save Robin's father (p. 170) illustrates this fear and is great only because of the art - the art tells the story better than paragraphs of text would. But, the text does add something - Batman says only two words: "Not again..." as he mashes the Batmobile's pedal to the floor. We all know what the orphaned Caped Crusader's motivations are. On page 182 the art is equally compelling. You can see the horror in Robin's eyes with Batman assuming an unusual compassionate role - cradling Robin and saying, "...I've got you..." The accompanying narration notes "Batman and Robin. Orphans."

*******End Spoiler Alert**********

I give Identity Crisis 4 stars out of 5 simply because I did not like the Whodunit of the whole mystery. It seemed odd and random, but then again lots of life is odd and random so maybe I'm overly critical.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Identity Crisis.

Reviewed on November 29, 2008

The Fire-Eaters by Jason Manning

Good historical fiction about an oft-forgotten era of American History

Published in 2003.

The Fire Eaters is the sequel to Long Hunters, a book about Timothy Barlow and his experiences as a young officer during the War of 1812 and the Creek Uprising with Andrew Jackson. You do not have to have read the first book to read this one.

In this second book of a Barlow Trilogy, Captain Barlow is asked by Andrew Jackson to go on a fact-finding mission to find out the source of a dispute between the Cherokee and White Georgians. Jackson is pre-disposed to remove the Cherokee and Barlow is upset by the idea. However, he fulfills his mission since he is honor-bound to fulfill his duty as a soldier.

Later, he is sent on another mission to deal with the nullifiers of South Carolina (AKA the 'Fire-eaters').

Andrew Jackson 
(1767-1845)

If you are not familiar with the real life Fire-eaters or with the issues involved with the Cherokee disputes, Manning does an exceptional job of explaining the issues and putting Barlow right in the middle of the action. Manning does something that I've never seen done before as well, and that is to tie both issues together in such a way that you can see the logic behind Jackson's actions concerning the Cherokee, although I personally strongly disagree with Jackson's actions.

The only problem with this story is Barlow's romantic life. It is tedious in a male action-adventure sort of way. By this I mean that all of the love interests in action-adventure books are all stunningly attractive, lusty, itching to take off their clothes and are insatiable in bed. Nice daydream material but C'mon! This type of woman abound in action-adventure stories but is rarely seen in the real world. However, Barlow's love life is the glue that holds the story together so I guess it has to stay in.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Fire Eaters by Jason Manning.

Reviewed on June 6, 2006.

Anthem by Ayn Rand

A simple but profound piece of science fiction

Originally published in 1938.

I have not read any Ayn Rand before Anthem. I know this may seem strange for a person that enjoys politics, leans heavily to the right politically, and enjoys science fiction, but it is true. The reason is quite simple - the people at the Ayn Rand Institute are so enthusiastic about Ayn Rand and her ideas on talk shows and in interviews that they seem like a religion to them. I feel similarly creepy about the postage paid information card that is included in my book. Plus, let's face it, her most famous works are L-O-O-O-N-G and I was not sure I wanted to invest that much time into Rand.

But, I decided to give Anthem a try because it is very short (105 pages) and my local bookstore had it on clearance.

So, what did I think?

There was a stretch of time before and after World War II, when the collectivization political movements were gaining momentum (fascism and communism) when some great novelists grew wary and wrote some fantastic and simply written works to warn others. Specifically, I am thinking of Brave New World, Animal Farm and 1984. Now, I can add Anthem to that list.

Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

Anthem is set in a future world that has collapsed technologically due to some sort of disaster and the survivors value group cohesiveness, stability and tradition above all else. Innovation and original thought are stifled (violently, if necessary) and individualism is repressed to the point that the word "I" does not even exist in the language any longer. No individual choices are allowed - not in education, not in profession and no one is allowed to choose their own mates. One of their favorite sayings is: "We are nothing. Mankind is all. By the grace of our brothers we are allowed our lives. We exist through, by and for our brothers who are the State. Amen."

Some are fine with this emphasis on the group but the main character, Equality 7-2521, is a natural-born scientist who likes to question and experiment. He is assigned to be a street sweeper instead (the reader is led to assume that he is not chosen to be a scientist precisely because he is know to be an innovator).  Equality 7-2521 mentions other characters who are especially gifted in an area but are not allowed to act upon those gifts who seem to be slowly going insane.

Equality 7-2521 develops a friendship with an artist (friends are not allowed) he falls in love with a pretty girl and he re-discovers some of the lost technology from the past (electricity and light bulbs). When he shows the science council what he has discovered and re-built they condemn him to death for daring to make the candle obsolete. They say to him, "...how dare you think that you could be of greater use to men than in sweeping the streets?" and, "How dare you...to hold yourself as one alone and with the thoughts of the one and not of the many?" and "What is not thought by all men cannot be true." Equality 7-2521 is sentenced to die but he escapes into the forest that surrounds his small city with his girlfriend. Together they begin to re-discover what has been lost and make plans to re-build civilization. Symbolically, they re-discover the word "I" and begin to use it.

Anthem is written in dramatic broad strokes. It is over the top in many ways - but it makes its point even stronger - it is a warning against the collectivist ideologies, telling the reader that this is where those ideologies all end eventually, if they are unchecked. I am still not a fan of Rand's philosophy (Objectivism), but this is still a remarkable novella - a warning of what can go wrong with collectivism.

My book had an introduction by Leonard Piekoff, the founder of the Ayn Rand Institute. It also includes the original UK version of the story with Rand's handwritten edits. I found that mildly interesting but mostly ignored that section (fully half of the book).

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Anthem by Ayn Rand.

Reviewed on June 28, 2011.

The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life by Steven Pressfield

'It's not about golf,' said the student to this teacher.

Originally published in 1995.

The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life was on the shelf in my classroom. I hadn't read it yet and was discussing it with one of my students who was looking for something to read. I had suggested it to him since he is a fan of many sports. He said he'd already read it. I told him I had not, since I am not a fan of golf. He looked at me like I was a small, silly child and said, 'It's not about golf.'

At that moment, I determined to read this book. So, this was my first free choice of a book this summer and I enjoyed it.

First things first. You do not have to understand golf to understand the book. The golf match is merely the vehicle to move the story forward. When Bagger Vance encourages his pupil to find his 'authentic swing' I simply inserted my own experiences with baseball to understand the feeling.

Steven Pressfield

Secondly, the book is full of eastern philosophy. It's an interesting dichotomy - the American South during the Great Depression and Hinduism. Search 'Bhagavid-Gita, Bagger Vance' on the search engine of your choice and you'll find it laid out quite nicely on many, many sites.

So, my final grade: 4 stars. Not Pressfield's best work but still quite interesting and well done.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life by Steven Pressfield.

Reviewed on June 4, 2006.

The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton (abridged audiobook) by Jane Smiley

An interesting look at the 1850s in the Kansas Territory through the eyes of a young woman.

Published by Random House Audio in 1998.
Read by Mare Winningham.
Lasts about 5 hours.
Abridged.

I purchased the abridged version of The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton on tape (5 hours) and found it to be quite enjoyable. The listener is treated to a ground level view of the politics of slavery in the 1850s and how violence based on the 'goose question' (code for the slavery issue) swept through households, towns and eventually the entire Kansas Territory.

Smiley's characters are not simple cardboard cutouts - some of the pro-slavery people are quite nice, some of the anti-slavery people are quite insane (she mentions 'Old Brown' and his atrocities and his actions cause some dissent in Liddie Newton's household).

Many readers have complained of the plodding pace. Although my version was abridged from 18 hours to 5 hours, there were still some plodding moments. However, the superb reading by Mare Winningham spared the listener from most of those moments. She is able to express so much emotion and humor with her voice that I found myself forgetting that Mare Winningham is a modern actress. She sounds like she is an older woman telling of her sad, profound trip through a bit of American history.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley.

Reviewed on May 30, 2006.

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Revealing. Fascinating. Educational. A valuable experience. A+++

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2003.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see the world through the perspective of someone whose mind works much different than your own? How different? Do you want to visit a mind that has different opinions and points of view? What about someone whose mind works in a fundamentally different way than yours? How about someone whose mind perceives the world differently than almost everyone you have met in your entire life?

The wonderful thing about a work of fiction is that the reader can be transported into the mind of anyone and see the world as it might be seen from another's point of view. There are no constraints. Elizabeth Moon has done just that in her novel The Speed of Dark.

Elizabeth Moon

As it proceeds, The Speed of Dark does bring up many important themes and holds its own on matters such as the rights of the individual to be the person he or she wants to be, tolerance and the inherent value to society of people who think differently. Perhaps most importantly, she does give the reader just a taste of what it might be like to experience the world as a person with autism sees it.

Moon's motivations for attempting this novel are readily apparent. Moon has a son who is a young adult with autism. Already an established, award-winning author of science-fiction, Moon decided to put her investigative energies into learning as much as she could about autism and learning about the world as seen by people with autism. The result is The Speed of Dark, a fascinating novel featuring a man named Lou Arrendale living approximately 35 years in the future.

The strength of the book is that most of it is told from the first-person perspective of Lou, a man who has autism. Lou is very high functioning: he has an apartment, a job and good friends both in and out of the autistic community. He is entirely independent and is incredibly intelligent. Lou lives in a future in which autism has been cured. Children born with autism receive treatment when they are two years old and their brains develop and they are nearly indistinguishable from those that Lou calls `normals.'

However, Lou was too old to receive the treatment when it was developed. Instead, his parents made sure he was enrolled in the best training programs possible so that he could learn what was expected out of a member or society as a whole. Lou was a very good student and he learned to read the social cues that the `normals' pick up and send throughout the day. Rather than instantly recognizing them, Lou must recall them as isolated facts and respond to them with much thought since these gestures, facial expressions and idioms have no innate meaning to Lou. His experiences and confusion bring to mind the experiences of many foreign travelers who must re-learn all of the gestures and social cues of a new culture as they travel. On top of this, Lou struggles with the reality that normals expect him and his friends with autism to respond and behave `normally', even though normals themselves often do not behave normally.

We learn about Lou and his life and the difficult choice he must make when he is offered the chance to change his life forever and take a part in an experimental surgery to make his brain 'normal.' Guaranteed to make you think.

One of the best books I have read  - period.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. Highly recommended.

This book can be found in multiple formats on Amazon.com here: The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon.

Reviewed on May 29, 2006.

The King of Torts (audiobook) by John Grisham

Grisham continues with a trend previously established

Published by Random House Audio in 2003.
Read by Michael Beck
Duration: 11 hours, 43 minutes.
Unabridged.

Grisham's The King of Torts continues the trend that he started in other books such as The Chamber and The Runaway Jury. The book isn't really about the characters or the plot. Instead, it's a easy to swallow education into how the legal system actually works.

In The Chamber the reader sees how death penalty cases work in detail. In The Runaway Jury the readers sees how a civil jury trial works in detail - from selection of the court venue to clothing worn by the attorneys to jury selection specialists.

In The King of Torts we learn all about how the class action lawsuit works. Ever wonder how former presidential candidate John Edwards made his money? This book well give you a good idea. Grisham argues all sides of the class action lawsuit as he tells the story. It can help and hurt the little guy. It can enrich an attorney, but that's not entirely a bad thing since he's put money into telling people about bad products that injured them with no promise of an actual payoff. It can wipe out businesses, but if you've put a bad product out there why shouldn't you be hurt? Then again, wiping out a bad business still puts a lot of people out of work through no fault of their own.

Grisham argues all sides and leaves the reader to make up his or her own mind. It was a wonderful education, well-read by Michael Beck who created dozens of voices for his narration. However, the actual story was less than satisfying. The plot seemed to meander around with pointless interludes that did little to advance the plot but did take up lots of time. I gave it 3 stars - 5 for the education averaged with just 1 star for the plot. It's worth a listen, but only for the education.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The King of Torts. 

Reviewed on November 29, 2008.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

An enjoyable read but does it do what it claims to do?

Published in 2005.

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is an enjoyable read - I breezed right through it and found it to be a book that I would look forward to opening up. Gladwell does a masterful job of weaving together 3 or more points at the same time without losing the reader and frequently leaving me amazed at his organizational skills.

That being said, does Blink get the job done? Does he prove his thesis about "The power of thinking without thinking"? Yes and no. He starts out with a great example of a supposed piece of Greek art that may or may not be a real piece of ancient art. His thesis plays out well there, with his comments on why certain musicians make it and others don't and his comments on police and the need to think quickly are all strong.

His arguments about Paul Van Riper and the war game he won, however, were more about the power of de-centralized decision-making versus centralized planning, in my opinion. Nonetheless, it's a good read and well worth your time.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Reviewed on December 6, 2008.

"J" is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone #10) by Sue Grafton

Hits the spot

Originally published in 1993.

So, here I am reviewing an old Sue Grafton novel. What does this tell me? It could be telling me that I need to find more current things to read, but I remember 1993 just fine so this book did not feel old to me. What it really tells me is that I have not come anywhere near reading this series in alphabetical order and have never went out of my way to find them. Not that I don't like them - I have liked all but a couple. It is more like they have been my backup books when I'm needing something that I know is going to be solidly written and interesting.

In this case, I am knee deep in my summer reading marathon in which I feel I need to catch up on a bit of some of my more difficult reads in my to-be-read pile. Now, wait. I know that the Kinsey Millhone series hardly qualifies as difficult reading. This book was an easy one in the middle - dessert, so to speak.

Sue Grafton

"J" is for Judgment features Kinsey Millhone's search for a man who was presumed to have committed suicide because of a horrible financial situation by throwing himself off of a boat at sea. But, years later, he is spotted at a resort city in Mexico. Kinsey Millhone is hired by the insurance company to go and find him, if she can so that they can get their money back - you don't pay out a life insurance policy for a guy who is not dead.

Kinsey heads off to Mexico and, of course, opens up a whole can of worms. She also, incidentally, gets herself involved in one of the funnier scenes that I have read for a while in a neighbor's hotel room. In a separate storyline, this is the book in which Kinsey discovers her long lost relatives.

Rather than insert a lot of spoilers, let me say that "J" is for Judgment hit the spot - a good mystery, a chance to re-connect with Kinsey Millhone and a couple of good laughs along the way.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: "J" is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone #10) by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on June 27, 2011.

Where Lincoln Walked by Raymond Bial

Great introduction to Lincoln for children

Published by Walker Childrens in 2008.

Where Lincoln Walked is a wonderful little history mostly about Lincoln's pre-Presidential life. Lots of beautifully shot full color pictures of such places as Lincoln's mother's home in Kentucky, Lincoln's boyhood home in southern Indiana and his law offices in Springfield. The author, Raymond Bial, took most of these pictures himself. He has a good eye for photography and does a great job with the text and the captions.

Recommended for budding young history buffs, classrooms and the hardcore Lincoln collectors.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Where Lincoln Walked.

Reviewed on December 6, 2008.