BOOK REVIEW

Author: George, Elizabeth

Title: Careless in red

In ten words or less: Lynley finds a body; reluctantly joins investigation

Review: Grieving over his pregnant wife's violent and senseless death. Thomas Lynley takes a solitary walk along the Cornish coast and discovers a body. When he approaches a nearby cottage to use a phone he meets Daidre Trahair, a local vet. When she lies to local police about not knowing the identity of the victim, Lynley wonders what she is hiding. And Lynley is looked upon with suspicion by the local cops--he is unshaven, unwashed, and without identification.

The local detective drafts Lynley to help with inquiries, and Barbara Havers is sent from New Scotland Yard to assist, and to see how Lynley is holding up.

Nicely complicated characters keep the reader interested, although here's hoping for more Lynley/Havers interaction in the next book in the series. And please let there be a next one. Author George has not run out of steam yet.

Why bother? For readers of the series--Lynley and Havers come together again to solve the mysterious death of a young man. It's a welcome return. Readers looking for a gritty story, with plot twists and turns, and well-developed characters need look no further. If you like Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse series, try these.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Bond, Stephanie

Title: Body movers

In ten words or less: Shallow store clerk and petty criminal brother miss their fugitive parents.

Review: Carlotta and Wesley Wren were abandoned by their parents when their father was accused of embezzlement and jumped bail, leaving with their mother. Carlotta was 18 and Wesley 9 when they left, leaving their children to fend for themselves.
Carlotta overspends her credit cards on designer clothes, steals from her employer, and crashes parties. Wesley doesn't work, hacks into the city computer system, and is in debt to loan sharks for compulsive gambling. They are supposed to be charming and lovable, but they are self-centered and spend money they don't have as if there were no consequences. You want to slap them and tell them to grow up.
They get involved in the murder investigation of Carlotta's former finace's wife. Carlotta is pursued by a hunky detective, a medical examiner with a shady past, and her enormously rich ex-fiance, now a widower. This author is no Janet Evanovich.
Why bother? Don't.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Barnard, Robert

Title: Last post

In ten words or less: Daughter investigates her dead mother's mysterious past

Review: Eve McNabb returned to her mother's house to put affairs in order upon her mother's death. May McNabb was a well respected school administrator who had raised Eve by herself after the death of her husband. But while Eve was reading condolence letters, she discovers a note that implies a lesbian affair in her mother's past. And, as she hunts down the letter's author, she discovers the truth about her father, also.

Why bother? Barnard, a Diamond Dagger Award winner and author of more than 2 dozen mysteries, does not disappoint.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Preston, Douglas

Title: Blasphemy: a novel

In 10 words or less: Scientists proving Big Bang theory torn between science and religion.

Review: The world's biggest supercollider, brainchild of Novel laureate Gregory Hazelius, is the most expensive machine ever built. The project is supposed to explore the Big Bang theory--will it explain the mysteries of the universe or will it suck the earth into a black hole?
Reverand Don T. Spates accuses Hazelius of heading a Satanic attempt to disproved the existence of God. Spates recruits right wing evangelicals to confront the scientists in the Arizona desert. The U.S. government calls in CIA operative Wyman Ford to convince the scientist to shut down the experiment.
Preston's other books include "Jennie" and "Tyrannosaurus Canyon." He is also the author, with Lincoln child, of the Special Agent Pendergast mystery series.

Why bother? A science vs. religion thriller--if you liked HAL in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A space odyssey" be prepared to meet Isabella.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Crusie, Jennifer

Title: Getting rid of Bradley

In 10 words or less: Teacher dumps cheating husband; was he a secret criminal?

Review: High school science teacher Lucy Savage divorced her cold-fish husband Bradley when she caught him cheating with a blonde. When Bradley didn't bother to show up at the courthouse, Lucy and her sister went across the street for lunch at a diner. Over her salad, Lucy noticed an unshave, shaggy haired man in a leather jacket. She couldn't help herself--he was disreputable, she was sure. And when he attacked her in the parking lot later....

Why bother? Crusie has written a dozen books, and her light romantic comedies sparkle.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Kristen Laine

Title: American Band: music, dreams, and coming of age in the Heartland

In ten words or less: Spend a year with a high school marching band.

Review: Laine tells the story of a year in the life of a high school marching band at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana. Over 240 students are preparing to defend their state title. It's a remarkable insight into the world of competitive high school marching. Max Jones is the band director, and it is his final year at Concord before he takes a prestigious job at Purdue. The story follows several students--one whose mother has terminal cancer, another who hopes to attend West Point, a young woman who is interested in Israel and Judaism, though there are no Jews attending the school. It is a sampling of life in small town middle America.

The author tries to show how the group grapples with African American music and struggles to play their instruments like black jazz players. There is no sex and no swearing--is this typical of a high school these days?

Why bother? An intimate but selective look at teenagers involved in a competitive music program. Contrast these teens to the ones in William Gilder's "Where the game matters most: a last championship season in Indiana high school basketball," or Ben Joravsky's "Hoop dreams: a true story of hardship and triumph."

April’s Books

One of the best books of the month was Susan Wicklund's "This common secret: my journey as an abortion doctor." Wicklund became an abortion provider when she graduated from medical school. She writes of how she had to sneak into clinics, sometimes in disguise, the death threats, the toll her profession took on her family and marriage. Sometimes the protesters who reviled her sought treatment from her. She spent 20 years making sure women had access to safe and legal abortions. It is the story of a caring and courageous woman.

Max, Gerry. Horizon chasers: the lives and adventures of Richard Halliburton and Paul Mooney
Barnes, Gregory. Biography of Lillian and George Willoughby: twentieth-century Quaker peace activists
Wicklund, Susan. This common secret: my journey as an abortion doctor
Levine, Laura. Killer blonde
Monette, Sarah. The mirador
Kercheval, Jesse Lee. The Alice stories
Rabe, Jean. Fenzig’s forture
Combes. Mark. Running wrecked: a Phil Riley novel
Coben, Harlan. Gone for good
Scahill, Jeremy. Blackwater: the rise of the world’s most powerful mercenary army
Apps, Jerold W. In a pickle: a family farm story
Rock, Rose. Mama Rock’s rules: ten lessons for raising a houseful of successful children
Gasperetti, J.A. Landon’s odyssey
Berghaus, Bob. Black and blue: a smash-mouth history of the NFL’s roughest division
Heth, Edward Harris. My life on earth
Stoob, W. Nervous systems
Koethe, John. The constructor: poems
Standiford, Les. Meet you in hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the bitter partnership that transformed America

WHAT'S IN THE SUMMER BOOK BAG

These are a few of the titles I'm looking forward to reading this summer--some of these books have yet to be published. The month in parentheses is when they are due out.

Block, Lawrence. Hit and run (June)
One of my favorite authors. This one is about hit man Keller who is looking to retire, after finishing one last job.

Crosley, Sloane. I was told there’d be cake (April)
A book of essays. Tales of a New Yorker in her mid 20s. Reviews have compared her to David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell.

Schilling, Peter. The end of baseball (April)
A novel set in 1944. What if Bill Veeck (former owner of the Cleveland Indians)—he signed the first American League black player, Larry Doby—purchases a major league team and recruited an entire roster of Negro League stars?

George, Elizabeth. Careless in red (May)
A favorite series of mine. Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley spends 6 weeks alone after the murder of his wife. He then discovers the body of a man who appears to have fallen to his death from a cliff. I especially enjoy the pairing of Lynley and his partner Barbara Havers.

Gillette, Kathy. Firefighterette Gillette (September 2007)
A woman who has been a firefighter for 22 years tells her story. I enjoy biographies of woman in nontraditional careers.

Feldman, Ellen. Scottsboro (April)
A novelization of the infamous Scottsboro case. In 1931, 9 black youths were arrested in Alabama by an irate white mob, accused of raping 2 white girls. They were repeatedly tried and found guilty, although eventually all the men were found innocent and freed—in one case after he had been in prison for 20 years.

Coben, Harlan. Hold tight (April)
A thriller/mystery about parents concerned for their teenage son, after his friend has committed suicide. Plus there is a killer on the loose in the area. Coben is known for his plot twists and turns.

Matloff, Judith. Home girl: building a dream house on a lawless block (June)
A foreign correspondent and her husband buy a fixer-upper brownstone in a rough New York City neighborhood.

Thompson, Christina. Come on shore and we will kill and eat you all: a New Zealand story (July)
An American woman married a Maori man. He was a tradesman from rural poverty; she was a graduate student from the middle class.

Barnard, Robert. Last post (May)
A top British mystery writer’s new novel unravels the secret of a woman’s recently deceased mother.

Hannah is a ten-year-old kitty adopted from the local shelter. She is a shy and quiet girl, and the resident cat, Gypsy, does not like to share. Here's hoping that the two of them will get along. If you are able, please consider adopting an animal from a shelter--many older kitties need homes.

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Mozzarella Most Murderous

Author: Nancy Fairbanks

In ten words or less: Food columnist stumbles upon body while in Italy and investigates.

Review: Carolyn Blue is a homemaker and food columnist from El Paso with two grown children. She can’t wait to accompany her chemist husband, Jason, to Sorrento, Italy, for a conference, and hopes it will be a romantic second honeymoon. But Jason’s plane get grounded in Paris because of a strike, and Carolyn is at the hotel by herself. She strikes up a conversation with a lone Italian woman, Paolina, who is waiting for her lover to arrive, and they spend the day sightseeing and commiserating with each other.
But the next morning Carolyn discovers Paolina’s body in the hotel pool. The authorities are content to write the death off as a suicide, but Carolyn doesn’t agree. With the help of another hotel guest, Bianca, the hugely pregnant wife of another chemist, she is determined to persuade the authorities that Paolina was murdered.

Why bother? Mystery lite, with recipes, which are decidedly not lite. For fans of other foodie mysteries.

MARCH'S BOOKS

These are the books I read in March. Some pretty good nonfiction, some poetry (which I don't usually read), and a really bad romance. Tara Taylor Quinn's "Merry Christmas, Babies" is the story of a beautiful, successful businesswoman who is artificially inseminated and becomes pregnant with quadruplets. Unbelievable as this may be, the most off-putting part of the book is when she has hot, wild sex well-along in her pregnancy with her business partner--up til this point they had not been romantically involved. What WAS the author thinking?

Tisserand, Michael. Sugarcane Academy: how a New Orleans teacher and his storm-struck students created a school to remember
Percy, Benjamin. Refresh, refresh: stories
Campbell, James. Ghost Mountain boys: their epic march and the terrifying battle for New Guinea, the forgotten war of the South Pacific
Jones, Jeffrey. Unaffordable nation: searching for a decent life in America
Olds, Bruce. Moments lost: a Midwest pilgrim’s progress
Holmes, Hannah. Suburban safari: a year on the lawn
Hinkes, Enid. Police cat
Horwitt, Sanford. Feingold: a new Democratic party
Quinn, Tara Taylor. Merry Christmas babies
Eugster, Sandra. Notes from Nethers: growing up in a sixties commune
Jacobson, Douglas. Night of flames: a novel of World War II
Shy, Shoshauna. What the postcard didn’t say
Lurie, Nancy. Mountain Wolf Woman, sister of Crashing Thunder, the autobiography of a Winnebago woman
Cusac, Anne Marie. Silkie: poetry
Potos, Andrea. Yaya’s cloth: poemsErskine, Kathryn. Quaking

"Singin' in the Rain" movie premiere March 27, 1952

How many times have I seen this film? Thirty? Forty? I own the DVD and I still watch whenever it comes on television.

THE BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

March 26, 1911

"Why did I write? Because I found life unsatisfactory."--Tennessee Williams

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Trask, Kerry A.

Title: Black Hawk: the battle for the heart of America.

In ten words or less: Sauk Nation forced into exile; massacre follows.

Review: The Sauk Nation was one of the largest Indian settlements, with a population of 6000 in 1822, located east of the Mississippi River in Illinois. After years of encroachment by white settlers, the Sauks were forced into exile in the west. In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk and his followers crossed the river to reclaim their lands. The uprising ended three months later, in a tragic massacre. Trask examines the actions of Black Hawk and those of his contemporaries in light of white idealization and prejudice about Native Americans.

Why bother? Excellent and very readable examination of a part of American history that gets swept under the rugs in textbooks.

February's Books

These are the books I read last month. One of my favorites is "The Dangerous Book for Dogs," by Joe Garden. The authors are listed on the cover as "Rex and Sparky" but they are actually the folks who bring you The Onion. Even if you haven't read "The Dangerous Book for Boys," which is being parodied here, this book is funny. Included are the formal rules of fetch, building a bed out of your owner's laundry, and how to pick a pill out of peanut butter.

Sikes, T. The artful home
Baker, Ellen. Keeping the house
Niles, D. MacArthur’s War
Junger, S. Death in Belmont
Myers, T. As the world churns
Greenberg. Complete travel detective
Mischler. Blood sweat and cheers
Preston, Douglas. Blasphemy
Seebold. Almost moon
Berg, Elizabeth. Dream when you are feeling blue
Beaton, M.C. Death of a gentle lady
Streckert, Toni. Potluck: home cooking
Molt, Mary. Food for fifty
Maltman, Thomas. Night birds
Curtis, C. Bucking the sarge
Garden, Joe. The dangerous book for dogs
Mitman, Gregg. Breathing space
Goc, Michael J. Hero of the red river

Beyond the Mississippi: A Lewis and Clark Reading Guide

Thomas Jefferson chose Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition west of the Mississippi River. From 2003-2006, there were events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Voyage of Discovery. Here are some titles—both nonfiction and fiction—about their journey.

Ambrose, Stephen. Lewis and Clark: voyage of discovery, 1998.
In this companion to “Undaunted Courage,” outstanding photography, maps, and period reproductions invite readers along on the expedition west.

Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American west, 1996
Ambrose pens a tale of politics, adventure, and tragedy as he follows the trail of the Corps of Discovery.

Botkin, Daniel B. Our natural history: the lessons of Lewis and Clark, 1995.
The author compares the west of 1804 to the west of today and the changes brought by industrialization.

Bowen, Peter. Cruzatte and Maria: a Gabriel DuPre mystery, 2001.
Maria’s boyfriend is working on a film crew making a movie about the Lewis and Clark expedition. DuPre discovers the missing journals of Meriwether Lewis.

Carlson, Laurie M. Seduced by the West: Jefferson’s America and the lure of the land beyond the Mississippi, 2003.
Lewis and Clark were preceded in their search for a Northwest Passage by French, Spanish, Russia, and British explorers. The author suggests political and diplomatic motives were at work.

Carter, W. Hodding. Westward whoa: in the wake of Lewis and Clark, 1994.
A lighthearted account of Carter’s attempt to recreate the voyage of Lewis and Clark by rubber raft. Carter and his friend get lost, run out of gas, and have their tent torn down by a tornado.

Cleary, Rita. River walk: a frontier story, 2000.
The first in a series of historical novels about the expedition.

Duncan, Dayton. Lewis and Clark: an illustrated history, 1997.
A companion book to the Ken Burns’ PBS film, with lots of beautiful photos.

Fanselow, Julie. The traveler’s guide to the Lewis and Clark trail, 1994.
Want to follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark? This guide suggests a two week itinerary, with history, lodging, sites, and side trips.

Glancy, Diane. Stone heart: a novel of Sacajajwea, 2003.
Told from the perspective of the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their journey. Exerpts from the actual Lewis and Clark diaries are interspersed through the book.

Hall, Brian. I should be extremely happy in your company, 2003.
An historical novel of the journey, focusing on Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea. Booklist compares Hall’s writing to that of Cormac McCarthy.

The Lewis and Clark journals: an American epic of discovery, ed. By Gary E. Moulton, 2003.
An abridgment of the 13 volume edition of the journals, by the leading Lewis and Clark scholar.

MacGregor, Greg. Lewis and Clark revisited: a photographer’s trail, 2003.
Photographs of the path traveled by the Corps of Discover, and capturing the images of what 200 years of habitation has done to the area.

Tubbs, Stephanie Ambrose. The Lewis and Clark companion: an encyclopedic guide to the voyage of discovery, 2003.
An encyclopedia of all things relating to Lewis and Clark—what they ate, where they camped, and the people they met along the way.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Martin, Lee

Title: The Bright Forever

In ten words or less: A child’s disappearance is explained from difference viewpoints.

Nine year old Katie disappears on her way to return her library books. There are two suspects— creepy ex-con Raymond and Mr. Dees, a middle aged math teacher. The story is told from the perspectives of various characters, including Katie’s parents, her brother, Raymond and his wife, and Mr. Dees. This is not a traditional mystery, but a look inside the minds and motivations of the characters, and you are kept in suspense until the end.

Why bother? Everyone sees life through a different lens, and witnesses to a crime each see something unique. Readers of Ruth Rendell and fans of the tv series “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” will appreciate this novel.

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Pinkwater, Daniel.

Title: Looking for Bobowicz: a Hoboken chicken story

In ten words or less: Nick searches for bicycle thief; hears rumors of giant chicken.

As soon as Nick and his family moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, his bike was stolen. He is sure a mysterious phantom has taken it, but as he investigates, he finds no one will talk about it. In the basement of the house next door, he finds two new friends—they drink soda, read comic books, and listen to a pirate radio station. And then Nick reads about the 266 pound chicken that used to run loose in Hoboken. The friends ask the local librarian to help them find out what happened to the bird. This story is written for 8-12 year olds, but adults will love it, too. It’s even better to get the CD and listen to Pinkwater read the book himself.

Why bother? Daniel Pinkwater has sly humor, and doesn’t write down to children. Everyone will like this tale, including fans of the mythical giant chicken.

NO JOY IN MUDVILLE

Brett Favre today announced his retired from pro football. Since the media here in the frozen tundra cover the Green Bay Packers all year round, what will be filling the newspapers, and the air time? No doubt speculation on Favre's replacement. Who will it be?

BOOK REVIEW

Author: Hribal, C. J.

Title: “The Company Car.”

In ten words or less: Dysfunctional city family moves to a farm.

Emil (Emmie) is one of seven children of Wally and Susan Marie Czabek, and is meeting with his siblings do decide if their elderly parents are still able to live on their own. The story of his parents marriage is told through a series of reminisces and conversations Emmie has with his wife, Dorie.
Married after World War II, Wally and Susan Marie begin life in a new suburb of Chicago, with Wally on the road all week as a traveling salesman and his wife tending to the increasing family. In the late sixties, Wally decides to uproot the family and move to a farm in Augsbury, Wisconsin, a fictional town in the Fox River Valley.
Wally is a planner, a dreamer, and none of his farming attempts are successful. The implementation of his plans falls to his long suffering wife and children, as he continues to travel and spend time at bars. The author is a great storyteller, and the tales of one misadventure after another are hilarious. Why Susan Marie stays with Wally is a question the children ask, when they are old enough, and perhaps the parents are asking themselves the same question.
Local readers may try to puzzle out exactly where the Czabeks have settled. The Butte des Morts bridge is mentioned, as is Appleton, Neenah and other area cities. Author C. J. Hribal has said in interviews that Augsbury is a combination of several towns in the area. Although the book is fiction, Hribal himself was born in Chicago, raised on a farm in Wisconsin, and graduated from St. Norbert College.

Why bother? Fans of Richard Russo, Anne Tyler, and John Irving would enjoy this family saga, with its cast of characters that is familiar to any baby boomer.

Dexter

The new tv series, “Dexter,” now on CBS, is in its second season on Showtime. Based on the novels of Jeffry P. Lindsay, “Dexter” follows Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst with the Miami Police Department. But Dexter has a secret—he is also a serial killer, who selects victims that have committed horrible crimes, but have eluded police. He is judge, jury, and executioner.

Lindsay’s three Dexter novels are: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), Dearly Devoted Dexter (2005), and Dexter in the Dark (2007). They are available on audiobook, narrated by Nick Landrum. In an interview, Landrum confessed that they were his least favorite books to narrate, as they were so violent and dark.

Based on the first episode, the creators of the tv series are sticking pretty close to the books. Although there are chopped up bodies, they aren’t any bloodier or gorier than on CSI or Law and Order. The characters are very close to the books version—the suspicious cop, the ambitious but slightly clueless sister, the girlfriend who is a survivor of a violent marriage. You don’t want to like Dexter, but to be honest, you hope he’ll give the bad guys what they deserve.