Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals (abridged audiobook) by Stephen E. Ambrose

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 Eisenhower and his brother Milton, Lewis and Clark, the men of Easy Company in 'Band of Brothers', the friendship of men who fought against one another in war but meet again as old men and the friendship between Ambrose and his father. I was surprised that he did not mention the friendship that he shares with his sons since he did the friendship between he shared with his father. Perhaps it was edited out in the abridgement.

Ambrose comments on the beauty of friendship between old men - no rivalry, nothing but support and love. He notes that he can't wait until he is old and can enjoy such friendships. Sadly, Ambrose died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 66.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Reviewed on April 5, 2007.

Rough Draft by James W. Hall

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.

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 committing crimes in Indianapolis. They are a good 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive apart. Plus, Hall mentions some overweight teachers from Fort Wayne in a bar trying to get lucky with some Cuban lotharios. Yes, my beloved Hoosier state, home to serial killers and desperate big girls...

Despite that, I give this book a final rating of 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Rough Draft by James W. Hall.

Reviewed on March 30, 2007.

Superman: Red Son (graphic novel) by Mark Millar

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 becomes reality. A true dictatorship of the proletariat becomes possible since Superman hears and sees nearly everything.

With that you have enough to make this history teacher happy. Add to it the Lex Luthor (USA)/Superman (USSR) Cold War, a reference to Plato's Republic, a Soviet Batman (loved him! Loved the hat!), Wonder Woman, Area 51 and Nixon winning the 1960 Presidential election instead of JFK and you've got a great read!

Some may quibble with details, but when you get down to it, aren't the comics supposed to entertain and take you to another world for a little while? Mission accomplished.

Bravo.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman: Red Son.

Reviewed on March 26, 2007.

Great Tales from English History: Cheddar Man to the Peasants' Revolt by Robert Lacey

Thoroughly 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 terrifically fun experience for any history lover. Full of interesting tidbits but not lacking in the larger themes or commentaries.

I am going to look for volumes 2 & 3 and hopefully he has written or is writing his volumes on Scotland and Ireland as well.

Bravo!

I give this one an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Great Tales from English History. (Note: I was unable to find the audiobook on Amazon, but I did find multiple version and combinations of these stories. The link goes to a 3 volume book collection.)

Reviewed on March 25, 2007.

High Profile (Jesse Stone) (Sunny Randall) by Robert B. Parker

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 secondary to Jesse's turbulent personal life (the enticement of Sunny Randall is complicated by issues with his ex-wife) - for me that is not a plus. Not that I'm not interested but I like the ratio of mystery to personal struggles to lean a bit more heavy on the mystery side.

So, I give this one a grade of B- (4 stars out of 5).

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: High Profile.

Reviewed on March 21, 2007.

Updated December 24, 2024.

If I Were You (audiobook) by L. Ron Hubbard

Two great stories

Published in 2008 by Galaxy Audio
Multicast performance with music and sound effects
Duration: approximately 2 hours.

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 Little Tom Little his magic books when he dies with instructions for Tom to look for a certain spell - a spell that allows someone to change bodies with another person. Tom finds the spell, follows the instructions and begins to understand that this blessing may well have been a curse from his old enemy.

 

The second story ("The Last Drop") is the more fun of the two. It involves a bartender who is sent a secret ingredient from his brother in Borneo. The ingredient causes people to shrink or to grow, depending on the amount they consume. The characters don't realize this before they consume it as part of an experimental new drink at the bar, though!

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: If I Were You by L. Ron Hubbard.

Reviewed on January 1, 2012.

The Reversal (Harry Bosch #16 and Mickey Haller #4 ) by Michael Connelly

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 already 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.

Not that The Reversal 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. The prosecutor has chosen Haller to re-try the case and Haller has picked his ex-wife to help and Bosch to be his investigator.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Reversal by Michael Connelly.

Reviewed on January 1, 2012.

Batman: The Complete Knightfall Saga (audiobook)

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 movies? All but the Nicholson "Batman" and "Batman Begins series". I looked forward to hearing more of it during my commute (unlike Clooney's Batman - I watch just to see if they are as bad as I remember - and invariably they are worse!)

Others who have reviewed this one have complained about the use of sound effects to describe the battle scenes. I liked it - it reminded me of the sound effects as described in a comic - Thwap! Pow! The audiobook covered it in a similar manner to keep the pace going.

Kerry Shale did a tremendous job as the voice of Joker, especially in the opening scenes at Arkham Asylum.

Despite its flaws, I give this one a grade of A-. 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman: The Complete Knghtfall Saga. 

Reviewed on March 16, 2007.

Chosen (graphic novel) by Mark Millar and Peter Gross

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.

The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Chronicles Series #2) by Bernard Cornwell

Slow start, sizzling end

Published by HarperCollins in 2006
384 pages

First and foremost - Boo to the publishers of The Pale Horseman 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 -

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've ever seen in a book. Most of the cities, towns and forts Cornwell mentions are not on the map - perhaps he assumes a strong familiarity with English geography, but that is a rather big assumption for a book sold in the United States. Still, the book is quite enjoyable. I'll be looking for the sequel.

I give this one 4 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Pale Horseman.

Reviewed on January 21, 2007.

Indianapolis Then and Now (Then & Now Series) by Nelson Price

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 of the most boring brick facades I have ever seen on any building anywhere. Too bad.

Strongly recommended for residents of Indianapolis as a unique gift.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Thsi book can be found on Amazon.com here: Indianapolis: Then and Now.

Reviewed on January 6, 2008.

Biggest Brother: The Life Of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led The Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander

.

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 biographical 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 Band 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 also a Pennsylvanian who is from the same area that Winters grew up in. Those family connections mean something to locals, but I skimmed it and hoped that the rest of the book wasn't going to be like that one. It was not and the rest of the book was really quite good.

A must for World War II devotees and recommended reading for fans of Band of Brothers.

I rate this biography 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers.

Reviewed on January 6, 2008.

Mysteries of the Ancient World by National Geographic Society

Okay, but a bit 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.

Instead, Mysteries of the Ancient World 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
-Ancient Egypt
-Ancient India

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Mysteries of the Ancient World.

Reviewed January 8, 2008

Great Maps of the Civil War: Pivotal Battles and Campaigns Featuring 32 Removable Maps (Museum in a Book) by William J. Miller

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 envelope of sorts between the pages. The maps are securely stored so there is no chance of accidentally losing a map.

I would not recommend this book as an introduction to the topic of the Civil War since it does precious little to introduce the issues that caused the war or Reconstruction. However, it is an attractive volume that would be welcome in the collection of any Civil War buff.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Great Maps of the Civil War.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on January 10, 2008.

Life in a Nutshell: A Nutty Look at Life, Marriage, TV, and Dogs by Dick Wolfsie

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.

Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff by Dick Wolfsie

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 appointments). Rough directions from Indianapolis are included.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Indiana Curiosities.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on January 28, 2008.

Hostage (audiobook) by Robert Crais

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 home. The SWAT team shows up and surrounds the house. We discover the small town police chief is actually a former big city hostage negotiator who is not sure if he can deal with another high pressure situation.  But, that may be the least of the criminals' problems - father of the family is actually a mafia accountant and the mob knows that if the police storm the house they will discover enough mafia secrets to take down their organization and they will do anything to prevent that...

5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Hostage by Robert Crais.

Toward the Light of Liberty: The Struggles for Freedom and Rights That Made the Modern Western World by A.C. Grayling

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 valuable to be squandered.

To his credit, Grayling does not treat Marx and Engels as if they were true prophets. Rather, he successfully counters their arguments and, unlike many academics, expresses no sympathy with their devotees in the USSR - tyranny is tyranny, no matter its political leanings with Mr. Grayling.

Weaknesses:

Grayling has intended this book to be an answer to 19th century English historian Lord Acton's incomplete "History of Liberty" - a work that is friendly to the role of religion in Liberty and Freedom in the West. Grayling is most definitely not agreeable to that point. It is too bad that this bias runs throughout the book. This work is strong in so many ways, but this attitude is over-emphasized

John Locke (1632-1704)

Grayling begins with Martin Luther and the Reformation. The longest argument that Grayling makes is against the uniform power of the Catholic church during those dangerous times, especially the Inquisition. Grayling overplays his hand by painting all religions with the taint of the Inquisition over and over throughout the book. At one point (p. 234) he even argues that religious people are not good citizens because their loyalties are divided between the "secular state" and their religion. Too my mind, his argument comes dangerously close to swinging to becoming zealous opposite of the Inquisition - an anti-religious inquisition, if you will.

The book gets bogged down for about 20 pages in a detailed look at the labor movement in England in the 1800s. I am not quite sure why he focused this intently on reciting this story because it stands in stark contrast to the philosophical and idea-centered writing that fills the rest of the book. My advice - skim and move on to the meatier portions that follow.

Grayling includes photos in the center of the book. Oddly they include photos of Martin Luther King, anti-segregation protestors in both America and South Africa and Algerians being hassled by French troops in the 1950s - these topics are not actually addressed in the book.

A pet peeve - Grayling has lots of end notes - many of them with comments. Why not make them footnotes so the reader does not have to flip to the back so often?

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Toward the Light of Liberty: The Struggles for Freedom and Rights that Made the Modern Western World.

Reviewed on January 30, 2008.

Palestine: The Special Edition (graphic novel) by Joe Sacco

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 Palestine: The Special Edition. Sacco does not turn these interviews into a large overarching history of the Palestinian 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 and drinking green tea in the camps. There is an argument to be made that the story would be better if he had tried to make an illustrated history, but, in the end, I think this is a more powerful presentation. Imagine "based on real events" movie vs. a documentary and you get the idea.

Sacco occasional touches on the topic of who is right and who is wrong in this book. It does carry a pro-Palestinian slant (it was designed to be that way - I have no idea where Sacco's real sympathies lie), but it does not hammer on those issues.

Not a fun book, but an important one. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, no matter which side you come down on.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Palestine: The Special Edition

Reviewed on February 2, 2008.

Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum #10) by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)

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?

My unabridged audio version was read by C.J. Critt. Critt did an okay job, but not a great job. Too many of the lines were read as though they were one-liners - too many punchlines that just hung there because they really weren't terribly funny. She is not the reader of the Audible.com or CD versions of the book.

This was a solid two-star read for me except for the last scene - it made me laugh out loud and that's worth a star to make it a total of 3 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ten Big Ones.

Reviewed on February 16, 2008.

Glacial Period (Louvre) (graphic novel) by Nicolas de Crecy

"Glacial Period" comes up short despite self-proclaimed greatness.

Published in 2007 by NBM Publishing.
80 pages.

So, what do you get when a hotshot graphic novelist teams up with the Louvre to showcase their works of art with a twist?

Well, you get a short sci-fi book that has a solid start but a contrived, odd end. In short, this is a half-hour read for most and the story was not all that great. It wasn't bad, but it just doesn't live up the self-promotional hype that fills the inside flaps of the front and back covers - such as "Here are the most intelligent comics the world has to offer" and claims that the other is a "mad genius" and his artwork is "breathtaking."

Not really. This one is too sketchy (not the art style, the plot) to be considered great by this reader.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Glacial Period. 

Reviewed on February 7, 2008.

Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves by Kevin Bales

An Important Book

Published in 2007 by University of California Press.
274 pages.

So, who is surprised to hear that there are still slaves in this modern world in such places as India, Burma, Brazil, Haiti, Maryland and San Diego? What - Maryland? San Diego? Sadly, yes. Approximately 27 million of them around the world.

Ending Slavery is a well-researched, easy-to-read, hopeful book that details several individual examples of slavery, how slaves are captured nowadays, the jobs they typically do, what to look for, how to combat slavery, and long-term solutions.

It is occasionally repetitive, but it will definitely make you think.

Pet peeve: Bales includes lots of endnotes with commentary. This necessitated my having to flip back and forth from the text to endnotes. Please authors - if you are going to make comments in your endnotes, make them footnotes!

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves.

Reviewed on February 16, 2008.