The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman
Category: Mystery Grade: B
This is Hillerman's 20th mystery novel centered on the Native American community. He has done two series - one featuring Joe Leaphorn and the other featuring Jim Chee, both Navajo tribal policeman. A couple of years ago, Hillerman brought the two characters together and the books since then have featured, or at least had appearances by both. Leaphorn, newly retired in this book, was sent as a young child to a school designed to integrate Native children in to the broader culture. Part of that education was designed to wean these children away from their own Navajo culture so, as its represented, Leaphorn is fairly assimilated and extremely skeptical of Navajo legends. Chee, on the other hand, is much younger and is trying to simultaneous be a policeman in the modern world and a Navajo shaman who knows the old ways.
Unfortunately, this book, while good, focuses on Leaphorn, with Chee only making a token appearance. What that means is the book is a fairly standard detective novel without much of dipping in to Navajo lore - the thing that makes most Hillerman books interesting. The story itself is a good one involving a "cold case" that Leaphorn starts looking in to mostly because he's bored with the retired life. The cold case fairly quickly becomes a current case with the commission of new crimes, but Leaphorn continues to work the case unofficially.
Bottom line -- nothing wrong with the book. It's entertaining and a good, fairly short diversion. It's just not the kind of multi-cultural story that Hillerman's fans have come to expect. Leaphorn is probably a character who has played himself out. It's time for Hillerman to focus on Chee and his new wife, Bernadette, also a policewoman. Hillerman can get enough of his traditional vs. modern tension between the newlyweds. Put Leaphorn out to pasture.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Hopefully have the problem fixed
Folks -- not sure how long this distribution list has been broken. Apparently, a change got made to prevent spam from being sent to the whole list and, when that happened, it stopped sending any of the posts out to everybody. Sorry.
All of the reviews for the past few months are still out there. You can always look at the whole blog by going to mseriff.blogspot.com. If you receive this email, then you should start getting the reviews sent to you directly via email again. As always, if you'd rather not get them, I'll be happy to take you off the list.
A quick overview of the reviews that you probably didn't get:
Title/Author/Category/Grade
Pillar of Fire/Branch/History/A-
The Road/McCarthy/Novel/C
Variable Star/Heinlein&Robinson/Sci Fi/B
The Wayward Bus/Steinbeck/Novel/B+
Timothy Leary/Greenfield/Biography/B-
Glass Books of the Dream Eaters/Dahlquist/Novel/A
The Innocent Man/Grisham/True Crime/B-
Thunderstruck/Larsen/History/A-
The Fourth Bear/FFord/Novel/B+
Audacity of Hope/Obama/Political/A-
In theory, you should be able to click on the title of the book to pull up the full review.
All of the reviews for the past few months are still out there. You can always look at the whole blog by going to mseriff.blogspot.com. If you receive this email, then you should start getting the reviews sent to you directly via email again. As always, if you'd rather not get them, I'll be happy to take you off the list.
A quick overview of the reviews that you probably didn't get:
Title/Author/Category/Grade
Pillar of Fire/Branch/History/A-
The Road/McCarthy/Novel/C
Variable Star/Heinlein&Robinson/Sci Fi/B
The Wayward Bus/Steinbeck/Novel/B+
Timothy Leary/Greenfield/Biography/B-
Glass Books of the Dream Eaters/Dahlquist/Novel/A
The Innocent Man/Grisham/True Crime/B-
Thunderstruck/Larsen/History/A-
The Fourth Bear/FFord/Novel/B+
Audacity of Hope/Obama/Political/A-
In theory, you should be able to click on the title of the book to pull up the full review.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
The Audacity of Hope
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Category: Political/Memoir Grade: A-
Every indication is that Barack Obama is going to emerge as one of the primary political leaders of the next decade whether he runs for President next time or not. Because of that alone, I'd recommend anybody interested in where the country is going pick up a copy of this book. Whether you agree with Obama's politics (for the most part, I do) or not, his thoughts are going to be a big part of framing the debates of the next few years.
That said, the other reason to read Obama is that he's just an amazing writer. His first book, Dreams of My Father, is incredible, especially since it was written before he became a politician. This new book is really serving a very specific purpose and you have to remember that as you read. That purpose, of course, is to set Obama on the path to the Presidency. He's not quite as candid as he was in his first book, but, for a politician there really seems to be a lot of soul baring going on.
His chapters on the constitution and politics are written by a politician. They're well constructed, informative and give you a good idea of his position on a lot of issues and also a good glimpse of what his style might be. Of course, he has relatively little power right now, so it'll be very interesting to see if his, centrist, listen-to-everybody, comprising style would last when he's got his fingers on the button.
To get a better idea of his ability as writer, though, pay special attention to the chapters on faith and family. Its really beautiful writing. If the President thing doesn't work out, he's definitely got a future as a writer.
This book ended by making me hope Obama does decide to declare his candidacy. I'm pretty sure at this point I'd support him, but, whether you would or not, you'll see that an Obama candidacy would really raise the quality of the discussion during the election. Here's hoping that the other candidates rise to his level instead of sucking the soul out of this guy.
Category: Political/Memoir Grade: A-
Every indication is that Barack Obama is going to emerge as one of the primary political leaders of the next decade whether he runs for President next time or not. Because of that alone, I'd recommend anybody interested in where the country is going pick up a copy of this book. Whether you agree with Obama's politics (for the most part, I do) or not, his thoughts are going to be a big part of framing the debates of the next few years.
That said, the other reason to read Obama is that he's just an amazing writer. His first book, Dreams of My Father, is incredible, especially since it was written before he became a politician. This new book is really serving a very specific purpose and you have to remember that as you read. That purpose, of course, is to set Obama on the path to the Presidency. He's not quite as candid as he was in his first book, but, for a politician there really seems to be a lot of soul baring going on.
His chapters on the constitution and politics are written by a politician. They're well constructed, informative and give you a good idea of his position on a lot of issues and also a good glimpse of what his style might be. Of course, he has relatively little power right now, so it'll be very interesting to see if his, centrist, listen-to-everybody, comprising style would last when he's got his fingers on the button.
To get a better idea of his ability as writer, though, pay special attention to the chapters on faith and family. Its really beautiful writing. If the President thing doesn't work out, he's definitely got a future as a writer.
This book ended by making me hope Obama does decide to declare his candidacy. I'm pretty sure at this point I'd support him, but, whether you would or not, you'll see that an Obama candidacy would really raise the quality of the discussion during the election. Here's hoping that the other candidates rise to his level instead of sucking the soul out of this guy.
The Fourth Bear
The Fourth Bear by Jasper FFord
Category: Nursery Crime Grade: B+
Really hardly worth reviewing this one. At this point, you're either reading Jasper Fforde or you're not. He has two series going. The first is the Thursday Next mysteries. These feature a police force that is able to go in and out of literature. Makes for some interesting twists and makes you feel pretty literary, if you get the references.
The Fourth Bear is the second book in Fforde's "nursery crime" series. These are sendups of police procedurals. They focus on the detective Jack Spratt - yes, of "eats no fat" fame. In this world, nursery characters coexist with "real people" and, for the most part, their actions follow the pattern. E.g. Spratt really doesn't eat any fat. His first wife, of the "no lean" fame, is dead and his second wife doesn't know that Jack is a nursery character.
The first book, The Big Over Easy, about the murder of Humpty Dumpty, was cute and entertaining. This one isn't quite as good, mainly because this is really a one joke series, but it still holds up enough to be enjoyable. Spratt is investigating the apparent murder of Goldilocks and it seems to have something to do with the recent escape of the notorious physo-killer, the Gingerbread Man. No, that's not a nickname -- he's eight feet tall and four inches thick...
OK, its really starting to sound pretty stupid, but its fun. If you haven't read Fforde before, I'd probably recommend starting with the Thursday Next series. You'll either think its the stupidest thing you've ever read or, like me, you'll be hooked and will add Fforde to your "always buy" list.
Category: Nursery Crime Grade: B+
Really hardly worth reviewing this one. At this point, you're either reading Jasper Fforde or you're not. He has two series going. The first is the Thursday Next mysteries. These feature a police force that is able to go in and out of literature. Makes for some interesting twists and makes you feel pretty literary, if you get the references.
The Fourth Bear is the second book in Fforde's "nursery crime" series. These are sendups of police procedurals. They focus on the detective Jack Spratt - yes, of "eats no fat" fame. In this world, nursery characters coexist with "real people" and, for the most part, their actions follow the pattern. E.g. Spratt really doesn't eat any fat. His first wife, of the "no lean" fame, is dead and his second wife doesn't know that Jack is a nursery character.
The first book, The Big Over Easy, about the murder of Humpty Dumpty, was cute and entertaining. This one isn't quite as good, mainly because this is really a one joke series, but it still holds up enough to be enjoyable. Spratt is investigating the apparent murder of Goldilocks and it seems to have something to do with the recent escape of the notorious physo-killer, the Gingerbread Man. No, that's not a nickname -- he's eight feet tall and four inches thick...
OK, its really starting to sound pretty stupid, but its fun. If you haven't read Fforde before, I'd probably recommend starting with the Thursday Next series. You'll either think its the stupidest thing you've ever read or, like me, you'll be hooked and will add Fforde to your "always buy" list.
Thunderstruck
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Category: History/True Crime Grade: A-
OK, so right after telling you I don't like true crime novels, here comes a good review for a book that is half crime non-fiction. Sorry.
Larson seems to have stepped in to a really interesting way to combine stories. He picks some major crime and some contemporary major historical event and weaves them together in to a non-fiction gem. He kind of did this in his first book, Isaac's Storm, a great book about the early 20th century hurricane that destroyed most of Galveston. He really mastered the technique in his second book, Devil in the White City. In that book, he interweaves the story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with the story of one of the first known serial killers. Great book if you haven't read it.
Although the critics haven't been as kind to Thunderstruck, I thought it was right up there with Larson's previous books. The historical part of the book tells the story of Marconi and the development of wireless communications. Its actually a really interesting story that highlights the war between scientists and inventors, international business competition and even a little about the impact of business startups on marriages. Its really something that I new almost nothing about and it could have been an interesting book on its own.
True to his style though, Larson draws you in to the story of Hawley Crippen, a patent medicine salesman (among other things). This was apparently a very famous murder case at the time. Crippen ended up being one of Scotland Yard's big investigations (and more successful that the previous one - Jack the Ripper). It was also the first big murder that was followed all over the globe thanks to Marconi's new invention.
Larson's style is light. He's a storyteller not a historian. Doesn't really matter whether you come to this book because of the murder story or the Marconi story, you'll enjoy it either way.
Category: History/True Crime Grade: A-
OK, so right after telling you I don't like true crime novels, here comes a good review for a book that is half crime non-fiction. Sorry.
Larson seems to have stepped in to a really interesting way to combine stories. He picks some major crime and some contemporary major historical event and weaves them together in to a non-fiction gem. He kind of did this in his first book, Isaac's Storm, a great book about the early 20th century hurricane that destroyed most of Galveston. He really mastered the technique in his second book, Devil in the White City. In that book, he interweaves the story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with the story of one of the first known serial killers. Great book if you haven't read it.
Although the critics haven't been as kind to Thunderstruck, I thought it was right up there with Larson's previous books. The historical part of the book tells the story of Marconi and the development of wireless communications. Its actually a really interesting story that highlights the war between scientists and inventors, international business competition and even a little about the impact of business startups on marriages. Its really something that I new almost nothing about and it could have been an interesting book on its own.
True to his style though, Larson draws you in to the story of Hawley Crippen, a patent medicine salesman (among other things). This was apparently a very famous murder case at the time. Crippen ended up being one of Scotland Yard's big investigations (and more successful that the previous one - Jack the Ripper). It was also the first big murder that was followed all over the globe thanks to Marconi's new invention.
Larson's style is light. He's a storyteller not a historian. Doesn't really matter whether you come to this book because of the murder story or the Marconi story, you'll enjoy it either way.
The Innocent Man
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
Category: True Crime Grade: B-
I'm not crazy about true crime books, so maybe I'm biased on this one, but I really think Grisham should stick to his fiction. He has definitely done a lot of research on this crime - a wrongful conviction that took place in Oklahoma in the early 70s. He's able to include lots of dialog to make this a really quick read.
There are two basic problems with the book. First and foremost, the story around the crime and the trials just isn't all that interesting. To make matters worse, the second problem is that Grisham pretty explicitly tells us how its all going to work within the first few pages. He then reinforces the direction with his comments and tone thoughout the book. There's just no suspense at all. Ultimately, I think that's why I don't like this kind of book. It takes a really talented writer to make you interested in a trip to a place you already no about. It can be done. If you want a good example of this genre, try Norman Mailer's Executioner's Song.
Category: True Crime Grade: B-
I'm not crazy about true crime books, so maybe I'm biased on this one, but I really think Grisham should stick to his fiction. He has definitely done a lot of research on this crime - a wrongful conviction that took place in Oklahoma in the early 70s. He's able to include lots of dialog to make this a really quick read.
There are two basic problems with the book. First and foremost, the story around the crime and the trials just isn't all that interesting. To make matters worse, the second problem is that Grisham pretty explicitly tells us how its all going to work within the first few pages. He then reinforces the direction with his comments and tone thoughout the book. There's just no suspense at all. Ultimately, I think that's why I don't like this kind of book. It takes a really talented writer to make you interested in a trip to a place you already no about. It can be done. If you want a good example of this genre, try Norman Mailer's Executioner's Song.
Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
Category: Fiction Grade: A
This novel is pretty hard to categorize, but I'll try. Take 4 parts historical fiction, 3 parts spy/action fiction, 2 parts science fiction and 1 part (or maybe half a part) of romance novel, mix them together and you'll this terrific first book by Gordon Dahlquist. Its definitely one of the more original plot lines I've read in quite a while.
I'm not going to say a whole lot about the story since half the fun of the book is slowly figuring out what's going on. It takes place in Victorian England. The fact that there are trains but no cars, slots in to the late 19th century. The three stars of the book are a recently jilted young woman, a German court doctor to a visiting prince and a street tough for hire. They independently stumble on a strange plot that has something to do with the minerals found on the woman's former fiance's estate that is processed in to a beautiful blue glass with strange attributes. Without giving away too much, I can tell you that the breakup of the woman's engagement, the doctor's loss of his prince and the street toughs most recent job all have to do with events that surround the blue glass.
If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll remember a book from last summer called The Stolen Child. If you picked that one up and liked it, give this a try. It's likely to appeal to the same reader. For most of the book, the fantasy/science fiction is pretty subtle so you don't have to be a Tolkien fan to like this.
One quick comment on the mechanics of the author put this book together. There are a lot of books out there where, apparently, the author assumed that the reader would devote his life to reading from the time he picked up the book until the time he puts it down. Long chapters; no intra-chapter breaks -- i.e. no logical place to stop when its time to turn out the light. Dahlquist gets it right here -- the book is broken in to bite sized pieces. Chapters tend to run long but, there's a defined stopping point every couple of pages. Wish more authors would do this.
Category: Fiction Grade: A
This novel is pretty hard to categorize, but I'll try. Take 4 parts historical fiction, 3 parts spy/action fiction, 2 parts science fiction and 1 part (or maybe half a part) of romance novel, mix them together and you'll this terrific first book by Gordon Dahlquist. Its definitely one of the more original plot lines I've read in quite a while.
I'm not going to say a whole lot about the story since half the fun of the book is slowly figuring out what's going on. It takes place in Victorian England. The fact that there are trains but no cars, slots in to the late 19th century. The three stars of the book are a recently jilted young woman, a German court doctor to a visiting prince and a street tough for hire. They independently stumble on a strange plot that has something to do with the minerals found on the woman's former fiance's estate that is processed in to a beautiful blue glass with strange attributes. Without giving away too much, I can tell you that the breakup of the woman's engagement, the doctor's loss of his prince and the street toughs most recent job all have to do with events that surround the blue glass.
If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll remember a book from last summer called The Stolen Child. If you picked that one up and liked it, give this a try. It's likely to appeal to the same reader. For most of the book, the fantasy/science fiction is pretty subtle so you don't have to be a Tolkien fan to like this.
One quick comment on the mechanics of the author put this book together. There are a lot of books out there where, apparently, the author assumed that the reader would devote his life to reading from the time he picked up the book until the time he puts it down. Long chapters; no intra-chapter breaks -- i.e. no logical place to stop when its time to turn out the light. Dahlquist gets it right here -- the book is broken in to bite sized pieces. Chapters tend to run long but, there's a defined stopping point every couple of pages. Wish more authors would do this.
Here comes catch up
I haven't forgotten you guys! Between company and my new Playstation 3, I haven't gotten to the keyboard to review any of the books I've read over the last 3 or 4 weeks, so you're about to get a short flood (well, 5) reviews. There are definitely some good ones in the list so take a close look if you're looking for reading material.
By the way, the PS3 is incredible. Amazing graphics and the games are really full blown "you're in it" movies. We've come a long way since Pong!
By the way, the PS3 is incredible. Amazing graphics and the games are really full blown "you're in it" movies. We've come a long way since Pong!
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