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Book Review: Monuments Men

I reviewed the movie The Monuments Men in an earlier issue of The Little Paper. I liked the movie, but felt it was a tad glib. I could tell there was more to the story, and indeed, the book The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter is stellar. It is the nonfiction story of WWII heroes who saved hundreds of thousands of pieces of art work from destruction. We meet the soldiers, art historians, and scholars who, thanks to General Eisenhower, became a very small group saddled with a large mission near the end of the war.

Hitler’s Nazis had plundered museums, churches, and private collections throughout France, Belgium, Poland, Italy, et al. Hitler had dreams of creating a huge museum someday in his hometown of Linz, Austria. Thus, massive amounts of paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, jewelry, gold, ornamental pieces, and manuscripts were hidden in castles, salt mines, and even in private homes. Like detectives solving crimes, the Monuments Men worked to uncover the lost art and save it from being destroyed (the Germans rigged explosives in key spots). The Men were also racing against time as the Russians moved westward to claim territory and artwork.

This nonfiction book is fascinating. You get history, art, and personal stories mingled against the backdrop of the Alps and the horror of war. Here is one listing of finds from a salt mine at Altaussee on May 21, 1945

6577 paintings, 230 drawings or watercolors, 954 prints, 137 sculptures, 129 pieces of armor, 79 baskets of objects, 484 cases of archives, 78 pieces of furniture, 122 tapestries, 181 cases of books, 1200-1700 cases of book and papers, 283 cases of unknown content. (p 384) Wow! And that was just one of many hidden places.

I recommend The Monuments Men as a great exciting read, as a history book, and as a plea to save the arts. This book will stun you with the enormity of what occurred.

Book Review: One More Thing - Stories And Other Stories

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak is a rather bizarre collection of tales. Novak is known as a comedian, an actor from The Office, and as a writer. The stories in this book are short (one is two sentences long) and quirky. Newly arrived in Heaven, a man is overwhelmed with the options of fun and things to do. Thus he puts off seeing his beloved grandmother. In another story, a vengeance-minded hare is obsessed with a rematch with the tortoise. And in another story we learn why the stock market is sometimes just down.

From the cover blurb: Finding inspiration in questions from the nature of perfection to the icing on carrot cake, One More Thing encompasses love, fear, hope, ambition, and the inner stirring for the one elusive element that just might make a person complete.

I laughed out loud at times, and then skimmed sometimes. That’s the nice thing about short stories – you can make snap judgments. All in all, I liked B.J. Novak’s humor and cleverness. He certainly views the world in a skewed vein. If you are looking for something different to read, I recommend One More Thing.

Book Review: Frog Music By Emma Donoghue

I am a fan of author Emma Donoghue. Her book Room is stellar and has stayed on my list of favorites. Now with Frog Music she fictionalizes a real unsolved murder from 1870s San Francisco. You can tell her research went deep, and her writing brings to life the raunchy, rough world of "entertainer" Blanche Meunon, her lover gambler Arthur, and the frog catcher gal in pants - Jenny Bonnet.

From the cover blurb: Blanche struggles to piece together a tale of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers, arrogant millionaires, jealous men, icy women, and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.

Emma Donoghue's writing is lyrical, and she charms with Blanche's immigrant French flair for life and survival. Jenny's American common sense shines and you'll want her murder solved too. Frog Music leaps into a bawdy San Francisco, and as the reader you'll croak with surprise at the tale.

Book Review: This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage By Ann Patchett

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett is “an examination of things she is committed to – the art and craft of writing, the depths of friendship, an elderly dog, and one spectacular nun.” (cover blurb). Her writing is sublime (See State of Wonder, Patron Saint of Liars, and Bel Canto – all great fiction) and she exudes compassion as she tells her tales in essay form. This book is a mix of life and philosophy all told with humor and a smooth command of language.

Patchett began as a nonfiction writer for magazines. She eked out a living and was able to turn to fiction. She always knew she was going to be a writer and stayed focused in learning the craft.

P. 21 “ We all have ideas, sometimes good ones. …The story is in us, and all we have to do is sit there and write it down. But it’s right there…that things fall apart.” She goes on to discuss the actual writing and how difficult it is to commit to paper. “The book I have not written yet is a thing of indescribable beauty, unpredictable in its patter, piercing in its color, so wild and loyal…it is the single perfect joy in my life. But to go from three dimensional to the flat page is to have a dry husk of a friend, the broken body chipped, dismantled and poorly reassembled. Dead. That is my book.”

She is being modest. Her “dead book” is generally a well-received, well written tome. But the writing process is not easy and if you do any writing at all, you will chuckle at her descriptions.

This collection of essays has her dating, divorcing, and finding true love. It has her on book tours, and opening her own book store just when the world says independent book stores are doomed. (NOT) It has her dealing with her elderly grandmother with quiet exasperation. All in all, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a visit with Ann Patchett. So, pour a cup of tea and settle in with an old friend. You’ll be a fan for life.

Book Review: Under The Wide And Starry Sky

Nancy Horan had great success with Loving Frank, a fictionalized account of Frank Lloyd Wright. Now she takes her skills and entertains us with Under the Wide and Starry Sky starring Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a love story, a writer story, and a tale of fragile health. Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, a tempestuous American, came to Europe to study art, escape a philandering husband, and find her own identity. She meets Robert Louis Stevenson – a Scot, ten years younger, weak lungs, no money, and a gift for telling a tale. He’s a lawyer who hates the law and decides to devote himself to writing, despite his father’s misgivings. Together the odd couple embark on a love affair and marriage that “spans decades and the globe. The shared life of these two strong-willed individuals unfolds into an adventure as impassioned and unpredictable as any of Stevenson’s unforgettable tales.” (cover blurb)

As a writer, it was fun to read about his slow success in magazines and finally books. In the late 1800s, writers depended on the mail for letters of success or rejection. He was often down to his last penny when something would pay off. His success with Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cement him as a classic author. He also had a winner with A Child’s Garden of Verses. He was close to death many times and seemed to find health on the high seas and finally in the South Seas islands. Fanny nursed him, fought for him, and also wrote and published. She recognized his genius and had to live with his peculiarities. Nancy Horan captures the personalities and we root for Fanny – her passion, her self-esteem, her pride, her American identity, and her love for RSL. This is a smooth enjoyable read as Robert Louis Stevenson and the woman behind him come alive on the page.

Book Review: In The Blood

In the Blood by Lisa Unger will have you rapidly turning pages. I have read some of her previous books and she is getting better every time. We meet Lana Granger who’s lived a life of lies. Her father is in prison for murdering her mother. Was Lana involved? And now that she’s graduating from college, her friend Beck goes missing. A few years ago, another friend was found murdered. Is this all tied in to Lana?

Lana herself still needs counseling, and when she takes a sitter job for a very troubled 11 year old Luke, her fears heighten. She thought she was smart, but Luke is extraordinarily brilliant, manipulative, and possibly a psychopath. Is he involved in Beck’s disappearance? Lana’s college mentor questions her actions in regards to dealing with Luke, Beck, and her future.

In this social media age, it might be difficult for Lana to “keep her ominous secrets buried.” (cover blurb). P. 20 “I caught sight of myself in the mirror, a slim black line with folded hands and furrowed brow, an ink stain on cream silk.”

p. 46 “In my darkest moments, I wonder if it was a cheat, an escape from that cosmic yawning. Maybe there was an angry god somewhere, raging. He wanted us, he almost had us.”

In the Blood is smart, stylish, and slick. The plot will keep you and the police guessing until the end. It’s satisfying to read a book like this – an entertaining, well written thriller. It is not gory, but don’t slip in the blood.

Book Review: The Heist

Daniel Silva knows how to write a thriller and The Heist does not disappoint. If you are a fan of Gabriel Allon – super Israeli spy/art restorer – then get set for quite a ride. Our favorite art dealer, Julian Isherwood, stumbled upon a dead body in Lake Como. He thought he was working an art deal, but the dead man is a fallen British spy. Uh-oh – he’s been trafficking stolen art for a collector. The most famous “lost” piece is Caravaggio’s Nativity with St.Francis and St.Lawrence.

Gabriel tries to recover the Nativity. His forays to Paris, London, Corsica, and Austria dig deep into the underworld. The wealth of a brutal dictator (Syria) lead him and his crew (the best spies ever from Israeli intelligence) give him a chance to amass millions from this evil dynasty. But there’s a young woman’s life at stake. She works for the banker who moves the big bucks. She helps Gabriel, but through no fault of her own, is put in jeopardy. What is the resolution?

The Heist is a page turner – art history guide, current events commentary, and just plain exciting. Gabriel’s wife, Chiara, is pregnant with twins so he has so many reasons to live. Daniel Silva’s writing is smooth, exciting, and exhilarating. You can pick up with Gabriel Allon on The Heist or start at the beginning. No matter what, you’ll be rooting for the good guys to win in a crazy world.

Book Review: The Quick

The Quick by Lauren Owen is “an astonishing debut, a novel of epic scope and suspense that conjures up all the magic and menace of Victorian London.” (cover blurb)

It’s 1892 and James Norbury, newly graduated from Oxford and ready to try his hand at poetry, follows a friend into high society, encounters trouble in a private club, and vanishes after a brawl and bite from a stranger. His best friend is dead. There is a supernatural city of evil, and James is caught in the middle. A chilling character, Doctor Knife, is researching all manner of creatures. James’ sister Charlotte arrives in London to find and save her brother. She’s drawn into the gothic mystery and soon must fear for her life too. The Quick – folks who are not undead, but do shed blood for answers walk a fine line in underground London.

Ultimately, Charlotte finds her brother within “the doors of the exclusive Aegolius Club, whose predatory members include the most ambitious, and most bloodthirsty, men in England.” (cover blurb)

This book is well written and well-paced. It’s eerie and creepy in a good way. This is not a Twilight vampire book, nor is it Anne Rice’s Lestat and crew. It’s more highbrow and energetic. It fleshes out the characters and describes the underbelly of London. Kudos to Lauren Owen for her debut novel – The Quick. I’d read it with the lights on and perhaps a fire in the fireplace. Easy to feel chilled, and a bit thirsty too.

A brief note on Lauren Owen’s bio – I’m jealous. She was born in 1985, studied at Oxford and the University of East Anglia. She received the 2009 Curtis Brown Prize for best fiction dissertation. The Quick is her first and no doubt, not last novel.

Book Review: The Book Of Life By Deborah Harkness

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is the finale to a great trilogy. In A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night, we meet Diana Bishop, a woman finally learning about her witch powers. She’s a timewalker and a weaver – that’s a powerful combination. Falling in love with Michael Clairmont has proven problematic since he’s a powerful vampire from a strong family. However, together they demonstrate that love conquers a lot. Now the key mystery book and missing pages from Ashmole 782 again binds them to a daring finish to a battle of vampires, daemons, and witches.

Returning from Elizabethan England, Diana and Michael face new enemies – many who are related and have even inherited his blood rage. Diana’s pregnancy adds a new urgency to the family lineage, as witches and vampires line up to question the powers of the upcoming children. Palatial homes, university laboratories, and rich libraries from Auvergne to Venice provide the backdrop for a chase, a mystery, murders, and a joyous birth. Harkness deepens “her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and present consequences.” (cover blurb)

The All Souls Trilogy is rich in language and lore, with an intermingling of characters from the past. Harkness herself is a weaver – she casts a spell in her pacing and intrigue. “Matthew and I were an alchemical marriage of vampire and witch, death and life, sun and moon. That combination of opposites created something finer, and more precious than either of us could ever have been separately. We were the tenth knot. Unbreakable. Without beginning or end.” Read the series and rejoice in rooting for Diana and Matthew in the tamat Book of Life.

Book Review: China Dolls By Lisa See

It’s San Francisco 1938: “A world’s fair is preparing to open, a war is brewing overseas, and the city is alive with possibilities.” (cover blurb) Grace, Helen, and Ruby, all from varied backgrounds, meet as dancers in the Forbidden City nightclub. Through challenges and shifting fortunes, their friendship is tested. “When their dark secrets are exposed and the invisible thread of fate binds them tighter, they find the strength and resilience to reach for their dreams.” (cover blurb)

China Dolls by Lisa See shows a world of wealth, poverty, and prejudice. San Francisco’s hills are alive with love and luck, or after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the atmosphere shifts to one of suspicion and fear of Asians. Our young heroines, Grace, Helen, and Ruby, must overcome paranoia and work together. They all learn about friendship and life.

Lisa See writes a lively tale with endearing characters. These girls have family scars, but gumption in a changing world. For Grace on her bus trip from Ohio, “each new state I passed through loosened another rope around my heart, my legs, my arms, yet my whole body ached, and I couldn’t shake my vertigo.”(p.3) Helen must break free from an overprotective family and risk bringing them dishonor. Ruby is a free spirit that hides deep secrets. These China Dolls are fragile, and yet up to the task.

Book Review: Outlander

“Outlander” is now a STARZ series, and I just finished the first book in the series. I’m late to the party but ready to scavenge for crumbs. Diana Gabaldon must only write. She can’t possibly sleep, eat, or breathe like a normal human. In paperback, “Outlander” is 850 pages of page-turning action, adventure, love, history, murder, and mayhem. Life in 1743 is brutal, especially if you’ve arrived there from 1945!

Claire Randall is a former combat nurse, reuniting with her husband on a second honeymoon. They stroll the moors of Scotland, enjoy a small inn, and he works on his history projects. They also hope to start a family. One day she strolls through an ancient stone shrine and finds herself in the midst of a raiding clan war in 1743. She’s a Sassenach – an “outlander”. From the back blurb “Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life…and shatter her heart.” She meets and falls in love with James Fraser, a gallant Scots warrior, but she’s married to Frank in 1945. “Torn between fidelity and desire, she must survive.”

What a concept. With the knowledge Claire has of 1945 and history she’s gleaned from her husband, she must not reveal too much. Her nursing skills save lives (keep things clean first and foremost), and with a few vague warnings she can turn the tide of a battle. Gabaldon keeps things moving and her details are fascinating. The pages burn when Claire and Jamie are together. I’m hooked on the “Outlander” series and highly recommend you start reading now.

Book Review: The Mockingbird Next Door

Any fan of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, should read The Mockingbird Next Door - Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills.

The author, a Chicago journalist, by sheer luck/chance/a modest letter of introduction, began a long conversation and friendship in 2001 with Alice Lee (a lawyer) and her younger, more famous sister Nelle Harper Lee in Monroeville Alabama. Marja Mills traveled to the small town to do research for a Chicago Tribune article about Harper Lee. Chicago had a book initiative and To Kill a Mockingbird was its selection.

Something clicked and Mills spent time slowly learning about the Lee sisters, their lives, love of history and literature and the south, and about fame and elusiveness. She learned about the childhood time with Truman Capote, and then life in New York. She got better insight into why Ms. Lee never wrote another book, after such huge success in her 30s. She appreciated the "great intelligence, sharp wit, and tremendous storytelling power of these two great women." (cover blurb)

From this rare opportunity and with Harper Lee's blessing, Marja Mills wrote this book and has allowed a glimpse into this celebrated author's life. Conversational in tone, it's thoughtful, well written, and feels like home.

p. 273 All those years later Nelle's dark hair now white, her hands arthritic, her voice in To Kill a Mockingbird still could be heard on those Sunday drives, as she and Alice remembered a place that was.

Book Review: Some Luck By Jane Smiley

Jane Smiley’s Some Luck is part of a planned trilogy. Lots of good reading and writing to look forward to. She never disappoints. The book begins in the 1920s as soldiers return home. Walter is a farmer in Iowa and we follow his struggles through the Depression and then on to success in the 1950s. Through the decades, Rosanna is at his side – cranking out kids and supporting Walter and their life. Frank is the handsome, willful oldest son. He’s brilliant and enigmatic. Joe, never bright, turns out to be a great farmer. Lillian, the shallow beauty, has her issues. The youngest of six, Claire, is truly her Dad’s daughter and when this book ends we have no idea of her potential.

Personal and historical aspects of America merge seamlessly in this broad story of America and its growth. From the cover blurb – Some Luck delivers on everything we look for in a work of fiction. Cycles of birth and death, passions and betrayals, and characters we come to know inside and out, it is a tour de force. It’s a literary adventure that will span a century in America, an astonishing feat of storytelling by a beloved writer at the height of her powers. Indeed, you can count on Jane Smiley to slowly play her cards and deliver full characters that we care about.

p. 332 As if on cue, Walter turned from Andrea and looked at Rosanna, and they agreed in that instant; something had created itself from nothing – a dumpy old house had been filled, if only for that moment, with twenty-three different worlds, each one of them rich and mysterious.

Some Luck starts a tad slow, but it builds. It’s a pleasant read about a family. Join in and celebrate births, mourn deaths, and worry about whether the farm will produce or not. The book ends in 1952, and you’ll be wishing the next book was in the queue. What shall happen to the Langdon extended family? No doubt, they’ll muddle along with some luck. Join me in this trilogy.

Book Review: The Bone Clocks

I gave up on The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. I did not even skip to the last chapter and read it, and I was two thirds through the book. I flat out did not care.

I had concerns when I signed up for this at the library. I never read Cloud Atlas (supposedly genius book), but I had tried to watch that movie from Netflix and gave up on it. It was a confusing mess. Hmm. Do you see a pattern? However, movies from some books don't translate well, so I was willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt.

Oh well. I actually liked the first bit and was interested in the Holly Sykes character. I thought, "Okay, this is going to be interesting." Then we leaped to some weird shit (excuse the language) and I had a WTF feeling.

There's psychic phenomena, time jumpers, people who host others, some Constantine character - not sure if bad or good, and they "all have a part in this surreal, invisible war on the margins of the world." (cover blurb)

The writing was fine - it was the whole jump around plot and weirdo factor. Maybe I just wasn't smart enough to grasp the author's intent. I like challenges, but I did not accept The Bone Clocks mess.

Consider yourselves warned.

Book Review: The Secret Place By Tana French

I Know Who Killed Him – that card with a picture of Chris Harper kicks off The Secret Place by Tana French. The secret place is a bulletin board where the girls of St. Kilda’s school can pin anonymous notes. Detective Stephen Moran is handed the card by Holly Mackay, a student, and a lagging investigation kicks back into gear. Moran hopes to show his skills and get into Dublin’s Murder Squad. Detective Antoinette Conway hopes to redeem herself. Holly’s father, Detective Frank Mackay, circles to protect his daughter. Conway and Moran must penetrate a close-knit group of teenage girls. Tough crowd.

Tana French’s writing is sublime and the Irish setting adds a fresh flavor to the genre. In describing the Court, a mall, and the kids – They always act like they’re having an amazing time, they’re louder and high pitched. ..Their faces on the way home afterwards look older and strained, smeared with the scraps of leftover expressions that were pressed on too hard and won’t lift away. (p. 41)

p. 48 Detective Moran at the school – The air felt full and glossy, felt high, felt shot through with the sun at mad-dash angles; sun swirling along the bannisters like water….lifting me, catching me everywhere and rising.

p. 431 Moran again – All I could find was the look on Holly’s face and Julia’s, watching the last shadow of something craved and lost; the distant blue of Selena’s eyes, watching things I couldn’t see; Rebecca’s laugh, too clear to be human. The car was cold.

I liked the book’s structure. We’d go back to when Chris was alive and see the interactions of the teens from different perspectives. Then French brings us to present day questioning – Holly’s group versus the Joanne mean girls group. So many little picky moments. She captures the true horror of that age, when girls are figuring out friendships, loyalties and life. I personally did not immediately guess who killed Chris Harper. I just went with the flow of the book, until author Tana French got us to That Secret Place.

Book Review: The Paying Guests

It's 1922 and times are tough in London after the First World War. "Widowed Mrs. Wray and her daughter, Frances - an unmarried woman with an interesting past, now on her way to becoming a spinster - find themselves obliged to take in tenants." (cover blurb)

Life will never be the same with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a young modern couple. The change is unsettling with extra footsteps, music, laughter, and a dash of frivolity. Frances is drawn to a new friendship with Lilian, and uncertainty with Leonard. With this comes underlying currents of danger, passion, and drama.

This historical fiction novel has "nail-biting tension, believable characters, twists, and surprises. It's a love story, a crime story, and an atmospheric portrait of a fascinating time and place." (cover blurb)

Opening chapter - The Barbers had said they would arrive by three. It was like waiting to begin a journey, Frances thought. She and her mother had spent the morning watching the clock, unable to relax

I found The Paying Guests to be an interesting journey - well-written and mannered. I could frown with Frances, sigh with Lilian, and worry about everyone under this one roof. Nothing like opening the door to strangers. Life would truly never be the same.

Book Review: Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is a different take on the future. It was named Entertainment Weekly’s top fiction book of the year, and I’m good with that. We meet Arthur Leander, a famous actor, as he has a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, former paparazzi is the EMT who tries to save him, and a child actress Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as her friend and mentor dies. Meanwhile, a horrible flu is breaking out. This is the last night of normalcy.

Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. This nomadic troupe moves between settlements never knowing what they’ll find. Kirsten lives by a tattoo on her arm – a line from Star Trek: Because survival is insufficient. Unfortunately, the arrival into St. Deborah by the Water finds them battling a new violent prophet. The troupe is tested and friendship, love, and the new order of family proves momentous.

Cover blurb – Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty….Strange twists of fate connect them (Arthur, Jeevan, Kirsten, and more) all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

This book truly reflects on the people involved. Many still remember how things were and can tell stories -rueful scratching of the head as they think back. I enjoyed Emily St .John Mandel’s characters and the lives portrayed before the flu, and now after.

p. 32 No more Internet. No more social media, no more scrolling through litanies of dreams and nervous hopes and photographs of lunches, cries for help and expressions of contentment and relationship-status updates with heart icons. No more reading and commenting on the lives of others, and in so doing, feeling slightly less alone in the room.

Station Eleven entertains and makes one think. It’s a worthwhile way to end 2014 in the world of fiction.

Book Review: Harry Quebert Affair

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker annoyed me, but I kept reading. And then it would annoy me more, but I had to know - Who did kill Nola? And when the author finally tied up his mess, I was still annoyed. This was an international bestseller and my friend Trish bought it based on a booklist rave rating. Later, my Entertainment Weekly magazine listed it as one their bottom five – called it Euro-Pop trash. So, here’s a quick blurb – read the book at your own risk. You could love it or be annoyed.

The book starts out actually quite well. The buildup and characters are interesting. It’s August 1975 and a girl is glimpsed fleeing through the Somerset, NH woods. Nola Kellergan, a fifteen year old lovely young lady – the pastor’s daughter, isn’t seen again until thirty-three years later when her skeleton is dug up on the grounds of Harry Quebert. This cold case turns into quite a hullaballoo.

Marcus Goldman, a young successful writer, needs another hit. Faced with writers’ block, he comes to visit his old mentor, Harry Quebert, and ends up launching his own investigation and cinching a three million dollar book deal. Following a trail of clues, he finds that the citizens of Somerset are hiding a lot of secrets. Was there abuse in the pastor’s home? Was Chief Pratt involved? Travis Dawn is sweet on the daughter of the owner of the local diner, who back in the day yearned to have Harry fall for her. Elijah Stern, the richest man in Somerset, has a painting of a naked Nola. How? And why?

So from the cover blurb – what did happen one misty morning in Somerset, the summer of 1975? And how do you write a book to save someone’s life? Harry Quebert is vilified and a sad man still mourning a lost love. In flashbacks, we meet Harry as he first becomes the town celebrity – the famous New York writer. Then we see his current day struggles. We get words of wisdom he dispensed to Marcus through the years – “You must give meaning to your life. Two things can make life meaningful: books and love.”

The first half of the book is intriguing and decently written. The second half of the book seems rushed. The author throws us red herring after red herring until we are sick of seafood. What should have been a page turner was easily put down. And yet – you seek the truth – you want to know The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair. Who killed Nola? Really? Seriously?

Now that’s annoying.

Book Review: Hilary Mantel

Shocking title, isn't it?

From the cover blurb - Cutting to the core of human experience, Hilary Mantel brutally and acutely writes about marriage, class, family, and sex. Unpredictable, diverse, and sometimes shocking, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher displays a magnificent writer at the peak of her powers.

This two time winner of the Man Booker Prize excels in this collection of short stories. I shall give some examples of superb writing, and then say "Go read the book as a master class of character, story arc, and unsettling brilliance."

p.47 There was a dull roasting sensation deep inside your limbs, but no sensation as you peeled yourself like a vegetable. You were sent to bed when you were sleepy, but as the heat of the bedclothes fretted your skin you woke again

p.143 Eccles House, was on a stifling scale of its own. I stood and breathed in- because one must breathe- tar of ten thousand cigarettes, fat of ten thousand breakfasts, the leaking metal seep of a thousand shaving cuts, and the horse chestnut whiff of nocturnal emissions

p.198 Render me the texture of flesh. Pick me what it is, in the timbre of voice, that marks out the living from the dead

p.201 I am willing, though, to tear up the timetable and take some new routes; and I know I shall find, at some unlikely terminus, a hand that is meant to rest in mine.

Gosh, I wish I had written that last line

Book Review: 41 A Portrait Of My Father By George W. Bush

41: A Portrait of my Father by George W. Bush is unique in that a former president (43) is writing about his father (41), a former president. This is a look into history and a love story of a strong family, a dynamic admirable man, and a salute to a true American hero. It’s also not overly gushy, and does have some minor comments or criticisms that hindsight 20/20 vision does give. I, personally, was hesitant to read the book since I wasn’t overly fond of George Jr., as president. (I think he’s a decent man and is doing a lot of good work as an ex-president). I am, however, very interested in George, Sr. and excerpts of the book intrigued me.

Sure enough, 41: A Portrait of My Father is well written and has plenty of “Wow, I didn’t know that moments.” George H.W. Bush was born into privilege but never overly took advantage of it. Graduated from high school, he volunteered to join the Navy in WWII and was the youngest torpedo bomber pilot. He returned home to marry Barbara Pierce, graduate from Yale, and then turning down lucrative Wall Street offers, headed west to Midland Texas to make a name for himself. After much success, he moved on to public service. There he encountered defeats, successes, and a long career in politics, diplomatic service to China, CIA director, and Vice President under Ronald Reagan. Then he earned his own presidency in 1988. In one term, he oversaw the end of the Cold War, oversaw liberation of Panama and Kuwait, and guided the country through some tough economic times. Tax decisions cost him another term, but probably set the path for Bill Clinton’s economic successes.

The key to the book is the man behind the accomplishments. George Sr. kept old friends, made new friends, shook hands across the aisle, wrote personal letters, stayed true to commitments and loyalty, valued America but was interested in the world, and is flat out a decent man with an excellent sense of humor. That is what shines through this book. He took pride in family and gave steady support to his wife and kids. From the cover – George H.W. Bush is one of the most beloved statesmen of the twenty first century. 41 is a stirring tribute to an inspiring father and great American.

I highly recommend this book for a glimpse into history and the Bush family. It’s a quick smooth read, and a powerful portrait of George H.W. Bush (forever 41). He’s now 90 + and in frail health, but still took his parachute jump in 2014. After finishing the book, you shall root for that jump at 95 and 100.