Book Reviews, Part 2

And the reading continues. I was on a furious pace in the beginning and have cooled slightly since my last book review posting. I am getting quite good at swapping used books for others and have been fortunate to snag a couple of gems in the process.

And special thanks go to Dean for showing me how valuable an excel spreadhseet can be in keeping lists of things. Before we left, Dean sent me his spreadsheet detailing weather mixed with tourist peak seasons, color-coded in an excel megalist. It freaked me out. Normally, my anal side is repressed by my mellow, let it be attitude, but with all this free time on my hands, I allowed myself to let it out!

So now I have a list of Title, Author, Genre, and my own personal rating system (1 star = shit; 5 stars = epic, brilliant, perfect). Geeky yes, but I imagine I will look back on this list and appreciate having it. So now on to the books…

The Devils Playground by Stav Sherez – A crime thriller that takes place in Amsterdam can only be one thing, good, debaucherous fun. The story pits a depressed Londoner confused by his Jewish heritage sucked into a who-done-it plot after helping a bum off the streets with a place to stay and some food. He is dragged to Europe’s sin city to help solve the case of Nazi snuff films being auctioned online and tortured girls found in the city gardens. It was fast paced and very exciting. Also, after spending some time in Amsterdam on this trip, it was nice to imagine bikes, streets, tourists, canals. It made me want to go back to Amsterdam … sort of. (4 stars)

Amrican Pastoral by Philip Roth – Roth is considered one of America’s greatest writers and after reading Goodbye Columbus 10 years ago, I was positive he was a genuis. I loved that book. This sweeping saga follows the life of a former high school stud athlete throughout. It starts in the days when he was idolized for being Jewish, blonde haired and an amazing football player in Newark, NJ. It followed through his marriage to Miss New Jersey and then continues to his life as a married man, taking over his dad’s glove making business. When the 60’s hit, his daughter becomes part of the anti-war movement and the main crux of the story is about how he deals with life turning out differently than he expected. He tried to make everything perfect. I loved this book. At first it was slow and dull and I wasn’t sure where it was going to go. But when I realized Roth’s style of describing everything, and I mean everything, I really got into the story. He went into detail on the most undetailed events ever. Every character had his/her backstory and it taught me to not get hung up on plot but rather to focus on descriptive narrative. It also made me think about the importance of parental influence on their children and how people are who they are from the minute they are born. (5 stars)

The Icon by Neil ? – I gave the book away before writing down the author’s name and I can only remember his first name was Neil. The story is of a stolen Icon painting from a Greek church during World War II and the subsequent fight to find it and destroy. It follows the Icon through all the hands that have touched it and found that it possesses a healing, eternal life mystique to it. But it also makes men do horrible things to possess it. It was good, nothing special. I called what would happen in the end before I was half way through it. The book was partly set in Greece and I liked reading about the countryside while we were there looking at it. (3 stars)

The Agressor by Andy Ncnabb – A former UK special ops guy writes about espionage, oil money, America’s imperialism, and murder in this action packed thriller set in Russia. I really enjoyed reading this one and finished it in about two days – a true page turner. It’s funny, as I read more and more of these “thrillers,” I seem to get the formula and they sometimes blend together. I’m not saying these guys are unoriginal. Each story has its own feel, but I think I have seen the light. (3 stars)

Anansi Boys by Neil Gayman – I freakin loved this booked. It’s a dark, comic tale about a family of spiders who are actually in human form. Weird sounding? Wait till you read it. It begins like any other story about a schlub of a guy who doesn’t know where he comes from. Then it turns into a fantasy world of animals, tales, magic, witchcraft all still staying based in reality. I won’t even try and describe the plot, but I will say there is a twist at the end and I was smiling for a few days after finishing it, thining about how awesomely crafted it was. I highly recommend this book. (5 stars)

The Chamber by John Grisham – I know, John Grisham, yawn. But I was in the mood for some legalese and who better to turn to then Mr. G. It was the story of a man on death row, sitting there trying to appeal his crime just before his execution. The KKK man was committed to die for blowing up a building in the 60’s of a Jewish lawyer who was fighting for the civil rights movement. The lawyer’s kids were in the building and they both died. The plot was not all that important in this one, although it was a solid story. What struck me was beginning to think about the death penalty and its uses and its effectiveness. I am still slightly torn on the issue but feel deep in my heart that killing people for killing people is just the most absurd theory ever thought up. (3 stars)

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka – A tale spun about two sisters in their 50s trying to stop their 80 year old father from marrying a 30-something Ukrainian, blonde bombshell who, according to them, is after her father’s pension and their inheritance. It was funny and simple, yet as the book unfolded, the story got deeper into this fractured family’s history of persecution. I really liked this book despite its weird title and bland-sounding, back-cover jacket description. Solid effort and I’m glad I read it. I chuckled often and outloud while reading it – can’t say that about every supposed comic novel. (4 stars)

The Traveller by ???? - Mix one part Matrix with a little Davinci Code and throw in a little Peaceful Warrior. This book floored me. It was a story of our current society of being monitored by being hooked to The Grid. We live our lives attached to computers, magazine subscriptions, shopping. The governments know everything about us. It is a fact that a British citizen is filmed 200 times a day just by going to the bank or the mall or driving through an intersection. We are being monitored and The Man (in the book they call it The Tabula) wants free thinkers out of the way. Those who don’t follow the normal path of life, (ie. Work, shop, consume) is targeted for destruction. The main characters are Travellers, those who can leave this realm and vist other realms of the universe. There are harlequins that are nasty band of warriors sworn to protect travellers from The Tabula. As the Travellers become closer to extinction the Tabula tries to obtain one of the enlightened souls and use his power as a weapon for total control of the people. Apparently the author envisions a three-part book so the ending of this one was kind of a cliffhanger and I will surely be reading the final two chapters of this story. It was enthralling and scary and a must read for anyone who thinks government is unjustly crossing the civil liberties line. (5 Big Stars)

I Never Played The Game by Howard Cosell – How do you follow up one of the best books you have ever read? Why not with a scathing account by Cosell of the atrocities of the NFL and Boxing commissions. It was fun reading and I needed something light after The Traveller. I don’t really remember much of Cosell’s career in journalism, only the portrayal of him by the Asian kids in the John Cusack movie Better Off Dead, but he sounded like a real egomaniac. He kept praising himself for his impact on sports and bashing those who didn’t agree with his stances. I liked reading about the Georgia Frontiere scandal with the LA Rams in 1979 and then about Sugar Ray Leonard in the early 80’s. Also, his account of the debacle on Monday Night Football with Frank Gifford and Don Meredith was amusing. And of course, his relationship with Muhammed Ali was touching. It was a bit too detailed oriented for me though. He would write five pages about a conversation he had with a boxing commission official. I would have liked more about the man, Howard Cosell, and less about the people that, according to him, tried to do him harm. (3 stars)

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard – Just finished this and thought it was great. I read one of his novels earlier in the trip and loved that as well. His dialogue is infectious. It’s so freakin real. How does he do that? It’s one of those books that makes a writer think to himself, “How am I ever going to be as good as this guy? He’s incredible.” Some of you have probably seen the movie. I have not but I heard it was solid. The story of a mobster trying to switch careers and become a movie producer all while trying to tie up loose ends on the gangster front. I read it in two days without even trying. If you haven’t seen the movie, this one comes highly recommended. (4 stars)