Men Are Like Waffles--Women Are Like Spaghetti Review

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(More customer reviews)Excellent book! I have read several relationship books and this is the FIRST one that I have totally agreed with. It's amazing. They've described the workings of my relationship with my girlfriend perfectly. (now she's my wife) It has done wonders. I know I will never totally understand her, but at least now I understand why she sees things the way she does. Also, it's almost worth buying just for the humorous sections. :o) Thanks Bill and Pam Farrel!

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Bill and Pam Farrel explain why a man is like a waffle (eachelement of his life is in a separate box), why a woman is life spaghetti(everything in her life touches everything else), and what these differencesmean. Then they show readers how to achieve more satisfying relationships.

Biblical insights, sound research, humorous anecdotes, andreal-life stories make this guide entertaining and practical. Readers willfeast on enticing insights that include:

letting gender differences work for them
achieving fulfillment in romantic relationships
coordinating parenting so kids get good, consistentcare

Much of the material in this rewarding book will alsoimprove interactions with family, friends, and coworkers. Questions andexercises help readers apply the principles to their own lives.

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Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sabina Kane is half-vampire and half-mage. She has no true hold in either world, so she serves as an assassin for her grandmother and the Dominae; however, this role has never gained her anything but the deception of those she trusts and now she must decide what side she will take...
I learned a few things from Sabina Kane. Mostly I learned that even though an author says someone is a great assassin, said assassin may actually be completely inept and without a spine. Random example? Let's say the Great Assassin allows someone to sneak into their apartment, their own territory, and then shoot them through the heart. Even if the shooter is a demon--you've failed as an assassin and should be dead.
Okay, but miraculous survival saves the Great Assassin, one would think that Great Assassin would rip her attacker limb from limb ... Instead of offering them a place to stay.
And if the same demon/would-be-assassin starts using the Great Assassin's credit card and memorizes the number on it, then cancel the card or cancel the demon's life or kick his ass out of the apartment ... not just give a long-suffering sigh.
(Oh by the way, these aren't really spoilers, all this happens before page 50. And it's only the beginning of the very long trudge through silly writing and circumstances masked with angst towards the ending.)
Something just didn't quite work for me in RED-HEADED STEPCHILD. Maybe it was the frivolous writing, maybe it was the annoying Sabina Kane... Either way, not a book I'm recommending despite the gorgeous cover.
If you want a kick-ass mercenary heroine check out Ilona Andrews. At least Kate Daniels makes sense when she sets out to do something--and isn't utterly invincible, whiny, and "the chosen one" (heed this warning, by the next book of Wells I predict you'll be hearing that phrase more than once). Perhaps Wells will be improving with the next volume, but I won't be spending money on the sequel to find out.

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In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she's on. She's never brought her work home with her---until now. This time, it's personal.

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What It Takes: The Way to the White House Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very good book that delves into the type of personalities that "have what it takes" to climb to the top ranks of presidential contenders.
Focusing on the Democrat and GOP hopefuls in 1988, Cramer paints a devastating portrait of the personalities of the ten or so aspirants. Along the way, he provides a good snapshot of modern presidential politics.
What is revealed are hard driven men, who are willing to sacrifice all other concerns to their political ambitions. Although Bush, Gore, Dukakis, Hart, Biden, Dole and the others have very different life stories and personalities, they are very similar in their focus, drive and ego. This book provides biographical sketches of each as well as an insiders view of their 1988 campaigns. Knowing Delaware's Biden a little, I would say that he captures at least that character fairly accurately.
The only complaint with this book is that Cramer takes great liberties with his characters in telling their stories. He can not know what they were thinking exactly during all the vignettes he paints, yet he writes as if he were the central character and he had intimate knowledge of conversations, feelings and dialogue. Cramer also draws many conclusions from the life portraits of his characters. This style is not unenjoyable, but one should be forwarned that the author writes in the "gonzo" journalism style that sounds more authoritative than it could possibly be. This is the type of writing that makes these types of books difficult to rely on as historical sources, but can present an interesting story.
What it Takes is very readable and enjoyable.

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Nightwalker (Dark Days, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)Centuries ago, the Naturi nearly destroyed Mira in their attempt to control her and her unusual gifts. Not many Nightwalkers are endowed with powers such as Mira's abilities with fire, an element deadly to other Nightwalkers.
Only a Triad of powerful vampires saved Mira, as well as both the human and Nightwalker races. Sealing the Naturi where they could do no harm was effective, but also temporary - at least if the Naturi who managed to escape that fate can do anything about it.
The Naturi have already broken the Triad and now it is up to Mira to protect the remaining two and find a new third before it is too late. And the only one she can trust to help is her worst enemy - the vampire hunter Danaus!
NIGHTWALKER kicks off the first book in Jocelynn Drake's DARK DAYS saga with a bang! This newcomer to the publishing arena has crafted a rich and powerful world with characters that are as real as imagination can get, and likeable despite their foibles. Well, except for those nasty Naturi, of course.
The Naturi are the major villains of this story. So far, there are just no redeeming qualities about this hateful and destructive race, which is perfect for their role in this battle. With all of the other characters we meet, however, there is a touch of good and evil in each person, no matter if they are human or Nightwalker.
And then there is Danaus. No one really knows what he is, and he isn't talking. Yes, he is a vampire slayer, but this man has more secrets than anyone can guess, and he keeps fairly closemouthed about them. Still, he says what needs to be said, and certainly gets the job done.
Mira is absolutely a kick-butt heroine. Vampire she may be, but she is a woman of honor who takes her responsibilities as guardian to those weaker than herself very seriously. She can kill without blinking an eye, but only those who deserve it. She is strong, yet with her world closing in on her and her worst nightmare determined to recapture her, she needs someone to rely on. Strangely enough, she finds that person in Danaus, the most unlikely of places.
It is interesting to watch the evolution of Mira's and Danaus' convictions concerning each other as they spend time in close proximity, fighting at each other's sides against a greater evil than either can handle alone. They discover that neither is quite what they expected and their preconceived notions begin to waver in the face of the truths they witness in each other. Consequently, they form a grudging mutual respect and eventually there is even a bit of old fashioned chemistry...
If you are looking for a good piece of paranormal fiction, then you should give NIGHTWALKER a try. If you are looking for romance, this is not the book. That said, even though there really isn't any romance in this first story, Mira does have chemistry with a couple of men in her life, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a relationship with one of them develop in a later story. In fact, the book feels much like Laurell K. Hamilton's first ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER book in that respect. There was no romance in those earlier ANITA BLAKE books, but there were definitely potential love interests and later editions in that series explore those relationships, as I hope will happen in sequels to NIGHTWALKER.
I do have to say that the pacing of NIGHTWALKER was a bit slower than I would have liked. Although it didn't ruin the story, it did detract a bit from my enjoyment of it. For something that feels more like an action-oriented paranormal, the barrage of history, some of which seems superfluous to the plot, bogged that action down.
Also, there were a lot of repetitive words and phrases throughout the novel. In particular, the heroine constantly referred to her bodyguards as her `angels', or variations of that word. Most often she called them her `Guardian Angel' or `my Angel'. It was not unusual to see Mira reference the bodyguards with some form of the word angel many times in a very small section of text, and on one page, she referred to the same bodyguard as `my angel' three times. While I appreciated that the men who protect her during her day sleep were special to her, the repetitive endearment became tedious after a while. It would have been less so for me if the author had substituted an alternate endearment or used the bodyguard's names more often.
Those two disappointments are what made me rate this book a four instead of a five. I really liked the plot, loved the characters, but these issues did keep me from totally loving the book.
That said, it is a very enjoyable read, and I have very high hopes for the next book. For an author's debut novel, I think that Jocelynn Drake has done admirably well and I hope to see more soon from this imaginative author. I certainly cannot wait to see what happens next with Mira and her companions!
**Courtesy of Wild on Books**

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For centuries Mira has been a nightwalker—an unstoppable enforcer for a mysterious organization that manipulates earth-shaking events from the darkest shadows. But elemental mastery over fire sets her apart from others of her night-prowling breed . . . and may be all that prevents her doom.

The foe she now faces is human: the vampire hunter called Danaus, who has already destroyed so many undead. For Mira, the time has come to hunt . . . or be hunted.

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Up in the Old Hotel Review

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(More customer reviews)Joseph Mitchell may be the best writer ever to have worked on the 'New Yorker' staff (the other contenders would include Edmund Wilson and A. J. Liebling). Every story in this long book is worth reading, and re-reading; the later pieces, from 'The Bottom of the Harbour' and especially 'Joe Gould's Secret' are tours-de-force of reporting. Mitchell invests his characters with so much life that they take on almost mythical proportions, without ever sacrificing their humanity. Although Mitchell often chose to write about people on the margins of society -- a homeless beggar like Joe Gould, a bearded lady, the hard-drinking Hugh Flood -- he never did so in a patronising manner. He admires these people not because of their struggles or hard lives, but despite them: he sees them, and makes us see them, as fellow human beings, not social welfare cases. Mitchell freely admits that listening to Joe Gould was a strain, and that Gould could be, like people who own houses and property and know where their next meal is coming from, selfish and mean-spirited; far from making Gould unattractive, this serves to make him come alive - homeless people don't become plaster saints, and it's silly to pretend otherwise. A key component in these stories is Mitchell's own persona, which is much like his prose style: quiet, unassertive, but immensely attractive. It is a great pity that, for whatever reason, Mitchell fell silent for the last thirty years of his life; but any sadness can be assuaged by dipping back into 'Up in the Old Hotel', where Mitchell's brilliant handling of detail and character -- and his shapely way with the structure of a profile, always dovetailing to a perfect close -- can be sampled time and again.

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Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue Review

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(More customer reviews)In my family, there is a sin for which there is no name. If someone asks you to state an opinion one way or another, whether you're asked if you'd like a slice of cake or how you would like your hamburger cooked, you give an answer. If you chose to say, "I don't care", however, you are to be subjected to unending torments. For two minutes. The classic Sendakian classic, "Pierre", understands the horrendous nature of this sin. Taking a sort of "Mrs. Piggle Wiggle" type of extremist cure (in this case, getting eaten by a lion) the book examines Pierre's sin of noncommittalness and treats him accordingly.
Pierre is a well dressed lad. Sporting a jaunty blue suit and no shoes or socks whatsoever, he lives with his respectable mama and pop. In the first chapter, Pierre's mother attempts to elicit some sort of a decision from her son aside from, "I don't care!". Failing to do so, chapter two follows Pierre's father, who attempts the same thing. In chapter three a lion appears and the oblivious Pierre is eaten, after much dialogue with the aforementioned feline. By chapter four the parents have discovered the sickly lion (Pierre didn't go down so well, I suppose) and swiftly take the lion to the hospital. Happy ending, chapter five, the doctor merely shakes the lion and out pops Pierre. From then on, Pierre cares.
The book has much in common with the classic Little Red Riding Hood tale. Fortunately, rather than cutting Pierre out, the doctor (looking like nothing so much as a slightly modified Mr. Magoo) removes Pierre by upending the lion. The lion has seemingly learned his lesson as well, and serves as a mode of transportation for the transformed Pierre and his loving, well dressed parents. The story is small, simple, and easy to read. It's also one of the odder morals out there. But then again, maybe it's a lesson that we all should have learned long ago. It is better to care than to remain indifferent. A difficult thing to teach, but by no means impossible. In my opinion, one of Sendak's best books ever.

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Pierre's ‘I don't care!' intrigues a hungry lion. ‘A story with a moral air about Pierre, who learned to care.'

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Shine Review

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(More customer reviews)It is October, 1998. I am close to the end of the first semester of my senior year of college, just a few months away from beginning my student teaching experience and one month away from my 21st birthday. Early in the month, the news is dominated by the story of Matthew Shepard, a boy the same age as me, who has been tortured and left for dead in a field in Laramie, Wyoming. His crime? Being gay. On October 12, Matthew died in a hospital, unable to recover from his injuries. This crime haunted me then and still does today. How is it that human beings can be so cruel to one another? What drives someone to act out so violently just because someone else is different?
Reading the first pages of Lauren Myracle's Shine brought back all these emotions. The book begins with a newspaper clipping, "stunned residents of Black Creek, North Carolina, pray for seventeen-year-old Patrick Truman, beaten and left for dead outside the convenience store where he works." The article goes on to describe the abuse Patrick suffered, clearly the victim of a hate crime. All the emotions I felt in college hearing about Matthew Shepard came back at once. This introductory article would not be the last time this story brought me to tears, Patrick's story is agonizing and, unfortunately, very familiar.
Shine is narrated by Cat, one of Patrick's friends, who struggles with feelings of guilt for not having been a better friend and anger at the abuse he suffered not only the night he was beaten, but daily as he was the victim of school bullies. Unsatisfied with the attention the local police are giving this crime; Cat takes it upon herself to investigate and to bring justice to Patrick, who lies comatose in the hospital.
Myracle is a master story-teller with an uncanny insight into the human experience. None of her characters are stock, none are uncomplicated. Readers will recognize in the characters the complexity of the human experience. In flashback, Cat describes a particularly terrible instance of bullying that took place on the first day of high school. Patrick is pushed into the boy's bathroom and tormented by some of the school jocks. Instead of helping her friend, Cat turns a blind eye, afraid if she stands up for him, she will also become a victim. Those are the kinds of choices humans, whether teenagers or adults, are faced with every day. How many times have you turned a blind eye to something because it was easier than getting involved? We all know what the right thing to do is, but sometimes are unable to speak up for fear of drawing attention to ourselves. Through Cat's journey, readers will be inspired to take a stand and will be forced to evaluate their own actions towards others.
Equal attention is paid by Myracle to creating a cast of supporting characters who are every bit as human and imperfect as Cat. She brings to life the reality of living below the poverty line in the south. The school Cat attends is divided sharply down socio-economic lines. Patrick, as it turns out, is not the only one who has been the victim of bullying. Cat has also experienced torment, though she suffers her victimization silently, afraid of the ramifications of standing up to a rich and powerful family in the town. What would happen if her aunt, with whom she lives, is fired because she speaks up against her boss? Again, Myracle deftly illustrates the painful decisions we are faced with every day.
Beyond her mastery of characterization, Myracle is a master of words, able to paint beautiful or terrifying pictures with her words. Through her brilliant use of imagery, she is able to draw readers into the scene and set the mood. "Patrick's house was a ghost, dust coated the windows, the petunias in the flower boxes bowed their heads, and spiderwebs clotted the eaves of the porch. Once I might have marveled at the webs--how delicate they were, how intricate--but today I saw ghastly silk ropes." These first lines of chapter one paint a beautifully haunting picture and let readers feel the pain Cat is feeling--a house that once was beautiful and full of life is now empty and somber, symbolic of both Cat and Patrick. Myracle is indeed a master wordsmith.
To say Shine haunted me would be an understatement; I struggled to write this review hoping to do justice to the book. The story is both tragic and inspirational and is one that needs to be read. Parents, kids, teachers, everyone needs to read this book--the story is too important not to be heard. After reading Cat's tale, you will see the world differently, you will be different yourself. This may be the most important YA release of 2011.
Review from [mymercurialmusings.com]

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Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What's Right Review

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As I began to read this brilliant book, I was reminded of James O'Toole's contribution to a book he co-authored with Warren Bennis and Daniel Goleman, Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, when O'Toole discusses "speaking to power." He briefly examines several plays (Sophocles' Antigone, John Osborne's Luther, and Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons) whose protagonist offers a reminder to leaders in our own time of the responsibility to create a transparent "culture of candor." O'Toole also examples of organizations that do -- or do not -- have such a culture, those whose leaders are - or are not -- "constantly willing to rethink their most basic assumptions through a process of constructive dissent...about such often-taboo subjects as the nature of working conditions they offer employees, the purposes of their corporation, and their responsibilities to various stakeholders." Whatever the size and nature of an organization may be, O'Toole insists, it must be one "one in which every employee is empowered to speak the truth." Trust must be the essential ingredient to its effectiveness [and is] the most elusive and fragile aspect of leadership" because it is so difficult to earn but so easy to lose and, once lost, nearly impossible to regain.
I hope Gentile will forgive me for beginning this review as I have. She and O'Toole are kindred spirits. Both stress the importance of focusing on an awareness of ethical issues and then determining with meticulous care what would be the right thing to do in a moral crisis. However, well-aware of the perils of the "Knowing-Doing Gap," she and O'Toole also stress the importance of taking appropriate action in a timely manner, driven by values to be sure but also guided and informed by scripts, rehearsals, and other preparations that will achieve the desired results. It is Gentile's stated purpose to help her reader develop the skills and confidence as well as "the moral muscle" to express and affirm their values. She proceeds on the assumption that "most of us will encounter values in conflict with the expectations of our clients, our peers, our bosses, or our organizations. That is why this skill and practice-based approach is essential."
Here in Dallas near the downtown area, we have a Famers Market at which some of the merchants offer sample slices of fresh fruit. In that same spirit, here are three brief excerpts from Gentile's lively and eloquent narrative that suggest the thrust and flavor of her insights:
"Recognizing the fact that we are all capable of speaking and acting on our values, as well as the fact that we have not always done so, is both empowering and enlightening...It opens a oath to self-knowledge, as well as situational analysis, that we may otherwise shirt-circuit." (Page 49)
"One of the most powerful enablers we have identified has been the ability to reframe a position: an opportunity with less than ethical attributes is reframed as a risk we all want to avoid; a disagreement that appears to throw the ethics of our audience into doubt is reframed as a `learning dialogue' wherein we are trying to uncover the true parameters of a possible decision; a win-lose choice is reframed through the use of argument and research as a win-win situation; seemingly self-evident assumptions or `truisms' are reframed as debatable or even patently false." (Page 67)
One of the most promising levers for enabling us to voice our values "appears to be generating a self-story that allows us to find ways to align what we think is right with who we already think we are. The point here is that how we incorporate values conflicts into our self-story can serve to enable, or disable, our ability to act on our values. It can allow us to play to our strengths, or not. Creating this story is not just about self-knowledge; it is about the way we choose to use that self-knowledge...[especially in light of research] suggesting that most of us are susceptible to self-justifying biases or finding ways to view our decisions as positively motivated, even when we would be critical of someone else who made the same choices." (Page 115)
Gentile frames her narrative within a structure of several assumptions about her reader. For example, that her reader wants to voice and act on her or his values; has already done so in the past, with mixed results; can do so more often and more effectively than before; has found it easier to voice her or his values in some contexts or situations than in others; is more likely to increase frequency and effectiveness of voicing and acting upon values after focused and rigorous practice; and can offer "a powerful example" to others to voice and act on their own values more often and more effectively. Readers will greatly appreciate the fact that, before concluding her book, Gentile provides various resources (including some self-diagnostic exercises) that will help them to review key points, identify and then evaluate their options, and then formulate an appropriate action plan. She includes a "To-Do" list on Pages 244-245.
For some people, hopefully for many people, this will be the most important book they ever read IF they absorb and digest the wealth of information and counsel with meticulous care. I urge them to highlight or underline key passages and review them frequently... and re-read the entire book again in 2-3 months. It will reward their attention generously. More to the point, it will strengthen the skills they need to think more clearly and to assert themselves more effectively. Mary Gentile does more, so much more than encourage principled people to speak up and take action when they know what's right and what must be done. She also prepares them to speak with greater eloquence and to increase the impact of any actions their conscience compels them to initiate.

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A Hard Day's Knight (Nightside) Review

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(More customer reviews)Fans of Simon R. Green may have been a little disappointed with his Ghost of Chance novel this year, but don't lose faith just yet because Green's latest in the Nightside series, A Hard Day's Knight, is fantastic!
I had been losing a little interest in the Nightside series lately, I felt like since the Lilith wars, John Taylor hadn't had any big surprises or quests to deal with. Yes, he did defeat demons and gods, but he seemed to indestructible to beat. Of course when you introduce King Arthur into the picture then everything gets a whole new look. But besides introducing the gallant King Arthur, A Hard Day's Knight also introduces some very surprising and interesting twists to the series. I can't say what they are but it will definitely effect that rest of the series in a significant way.Of course besides these new characters and twists in the overall story, I felt A Hard Day's Knight was a better story overall compared to some of the most recent books in the series. Fans of the series will get back to what they initially loved about the series, tricks, magic, violence, and a sarcastic wit. We finally get to see Taylor back in the real world and have to face down some thugs without his magical gift. Suzie gets to play a bigger part in this story than she has in the last few books, and I found the overall wit and tone of the book much more to my liking.
Of course if goes without saying (but of course I will say it) that readers who haven't read the series should start from the beginning of the series, but overall I very much enjoyed A Hard Day's Knight, and I can't wait for the next book in this revitalized series.
[...]

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We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love Review

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(More customer reviews)I have spent many years reading books, talking to counselors, and talking to friends about relationships. Reading Johnson's book was a real eye opener, to put it very mildly. I have enjoyed the author's style in his other books where he presents a myth and discusses it's psychological meaning. This book is no exception, except that it's relevance is way off the charts. Before reading "We" I had all but thrown my hands in the air in frustration regarding relationships. The author's beautiful style drills deep and answers the many questions I had. Johnson's use of the Tristan myth told me what I did not want to hear, but the pain I have experience in relationship told me that Johnson was right on the money. The author's analysis of romantic love and the distinction he makes between passion and true love (which is more low key and may even come across as boring sometimes) spoke loud and clear. He made me realize that I have been searching out there in vain for so many years for lady soul, because lady soul lurked within my unconscious mind. Since reading this book I was able to connect with lady soul and have that symbolic marriage that Johnson talks about.
I highly recommend this book to each person who has a lot of questions about why relationships in our cultures are in a state of epidepic crisis. The author's answers may not be what you want to hear if you are a "zealous" romantic. If you are willing to stretch yourself and change, then Johnson's words are an excellent catalyst for changing your ways and heading in the right direction.
I consider "We" among the most relevant books by Robert Johnson, and among the most relevantt books by any author!

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Provides an illuminating explanation of the origins and meaning of romantic love and shows how a proper understanding of its psychological dynamics can revitalize our most important relationships.

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Soft Apocalypse Review

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(More customer reviews)Jasper and his tribe of formerly middle class Americans describe themselves as nomadic rather than homeless: they travel around the Southeastern U.S., scraping together the bare minimum to survive by spreading out solar blankets or placing small windmills by the highway to collect energy from passing cars, then trading the filled fuel cells for food. Fewer and fewer people want to deal with the "gypsies" who use up dwindling resources, and often they meet with indifference or even violence. Jasper was a sociology major, but those skills are no longer in demand in 2023, about ten years after an economic depression set off the Great Decline and society as we know it gradually began to fall apart. So begins Will McIntosh's excellent debut novel, Soft Apocalypse.
One of the most interesting aspects of Soft Apocalypse, and something I've rarely seen done so well in a dystopian novel, is the fact that it shows society in the early stages of dissolution. Many post-apocalyptic stories show a finished end product, an established dystopia in which the Earth has already been torn apart and people are trying to survive the aftermath. Other stories show the events right before and during the actual earthquake/meteor strike/plague, with people trying to make it through the disaster as it happens. Soft Apocalypse instead happens during a period of gradual but inexorable decline: as the back cover says, the world ends "with a whimper instead of a bang." If Robert Charles Wilson's excellent Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd America is set in post-collapse U.S.A., when enough time has passed for society to fall back into established structures and classes, Soft Apocalypse could almost be set in the same world, but a couple of centuries earlier and during the gradual collapse of the previous system.
"Gradual" is the key here: Soft Apocalypse shows normal people clinging to the shreds of life as they knew it, while things slowly go from bad to worse. Many still hope that the economy will pick up and life will go back to what it used to be. Even though the streets are filled with homeless people and unemployment stands at 40%, others can still drive a car to work. Walmart still operates its stores, even if they raise prices to extortion-like levels whenever there are reports of a new attack or designer virus. When they can afford the electricity, people still watch cable news to find out about wars and disasters abroad, and even if there's a developing pattern of widespread war, it's all distant enough to seem unreal--until it starts getting closer and closer.
Soft Apocalypse consists of ten chapters and covers about ten years, with anywhere from a few years to a few months passing between chapters. Jasper narrates the story in the first person, dividing his attention between his struggle for survival in the slowly disintegrating society and his attempts to find love--because even during a slow apocalypse, people still crave romance, improvising dates and respecting the social niceties. When it comes to his love life, Jasper sometimes reminded me of a less music-obsessed version of High Fidelity's Rob Gordon: a generally nice, sensitive and intelligent guy who isn't aware of how clueless he occasionally acts when it comes to women. Throughout the novel, Jasper tries to find love while doing his best to survive the dangers of the collapsing society around him.
Negatives? Very few, if any, and definitely all qualified with a solid "but." Early on, the novel feels more like a collection of connected short stories because so much time passes between the chapters, but Jasper and a well-drawn cast of side-characters pull everything together until a plot emerges, and even before that happens, the story is hard to put down because of the gorgeous but bleak descriptions of life during societal collapse. Also, "bleak" may be too mild a term for some of the horrors that Jasper and his friends encounter: there were a few times I just didn't expect Will McIntosh to push things that far, but at the same time, you have to admire him for not shying away from scenes that would surely be cut from the Hollywood version. The plot sometimes seems driven by random, often violent events, but then again, life in this novel's environment would probably be full of random, violent events. More importantly, even though it may not seem that way early on, all of them have a meaningful impact on Jasper's personality, leading to an ambivalent ending that I'm still coming to terms with.
Soft Apocalypse, while not perfect, is a great achievement for a debut. It took me by surprise early on and never let go. It's a short, effective dystopian novel that should go down well with people who enjoyed the aforementioned Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd America by Robert Charles Wilson or even The Rift by Walter Jon Williams. (Maybe not coincidentally, Will McIntosh participated in Williams' Taos ToolBox workshop in 2008.) The real sadness of Soft Apocalypse is seeing normal people operating under the illusion that life will still go back to what it used to be. They try to hold down a job or complete a post-grad degree, and even though the world falls apart around them, the changes are too gradual for them to lose hope completely. It's like watching rats in a maze, unaware that their paths are slowly being closed off around them and the maze is starting to catch fire at the edges. A soft apocalypse, indeed.

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Echo (Alex Benedict) Review

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(More customer reviews)Just two months ago, I had never heard of Jack McDevitt. I was browsing in a bookstore and came across a title which caught my eye -- "A Talent For War", the first of the Alex Benedict novels. It was both a science fiction and a detective novel, and the basic premise really intrigued me.
I picked up all four of the Benedict books and plowed through them, and then read the six Priscilla Hutchins novels for good measure. I am thoroughly hooked on the works of this author. A couple of his standalone works are also top notch.
Alex Benedict is an antiquity dealer who, along with his assistant Chase Kolpath, lives some eight thousand years in the future on a planet called Rimway. With faster-than-light travel a routine matter, and a wealth of planets (including Earth) harboring the ruins of countless ancient human civilizations, there is no shortage of artifacts and memorabilia to buy and sell.
Every now and again, Alex comes across something mysterious which really captures his imagination, and he focuses an intense amount of his, and Chase's, time and energy into pursuing it. It's not about the money, it's more the thrill of the chase, the thirst for knowledge. The pair begin to receive death threats and even become the targets of diabolically clever assassination attempts. While Chase has reservations about the sanity of continuing the quest, Alex is undeterred. After all, if someone is willing to kill to keep a secret, it must be really, really big. The kind of stuff that can rewrite history books or even save huge numbers of lives.
Since all but the first book are narrated in first person by Chase, we can assume that she's going to survive to write about it, but we never know about Alex.
So, when "Echo" came out, I was very eager to dig in. In a brief prologue, we are introduced to two key individuals. The first is Somerset Tuttle, a maverick scientist who has devoted his whole life to finding an alien civilization. True, there is a telepathic race known as the Ashiyyur, nicknamed the Mutes. But they're old hat -- people want to find OTHER aliens. And yet, Tuttle has become the butt of jokes. Real scientists know the galaxy is empty. There are planets with life, but no intelligent life. "Found any little green men yet?" is a common question or maybe taunt hurled at Tuttle.
The second person we meet in the prologue is Rachel Bannister, a spaceship pilot for World's End Tours. She is very upset about something she saw out there, something terrible. But we won't find out what for the rest of the book. It's a bit of a surprise, nothing I would have guessed.
Chapter One picks up 28 years after the prologue. Tuttle has died and Rachel is no longer piloting. Alex and Chase are invited to pick up a peculiar stone tablet from Tuttle's old home. It's been sitting out in the yard, and the new owner doesn't want it. Alex is intrigued by the pictures because of its mysterious writing. It matches nothing known to humanity, and is unlikely to match anything Ashiyyur either.
But, before Alex can examine the stone, Rachel Bannister's relatives snatch it up and proceed to lead Chase and Alex on a merry, but fruitless hunt. Soon, the first assassination attempt takes place. True to form, Alex knows he's on to something big, and won't quit.
The burning question: Did Tuttle find an alien civilization? His old friends think the idea is preposterous. He would have shouted his discovery from the rooftops to prove his ridiculers wrong. But whatever he found, people are willing to kill to cover it up. Rachel clearly knows something, but won't say what.
Soon, both Chase and Rachel will be pushed to the breaking point as the pressure mounts, and the news media begin to have a field day.
I enjoyed "Echo" as much as its predecessors in the series, but noticed an interesting development. The other series, featuring Priscilla Hutchins, is set in the relatively near future, on Earth and nearby star systems. McDevitt extrapolates current environmental and political developments to their logical conclusion, and humanity's prospects look dismal indeed. People are beginning to give up space travel and are looking inward, and history shows that civilizations tend not to survive once they lose a crucial amount of dynamism.
The Benedict novels, in contrast, are so far in the future that they're completely detached from 21st century Earth's affairs. Human interstellar civilization has gone through two major dark ages, but things are currently pretty vibrant.
At least, they were for the first four books of the series. With "Echo", a certain malaise is starting to creep in, just like the Hutchins books. People are more interested in experiencing the universe virtually than in taking an actual star voyage. Hardly anyone goes exploring any more. What's the point, they ask. People are getting too soft and comfortable.
It will be interesting to see what happens with any future books. I'm hoping a certain amount of optimism remains.
What I really enjoy about McDevitt's writing is his matter-of-fact approach to the technological marvels surrounding the characters. When someone asks how antigravity works, Chase replies: "Push a button, and you lift off." The books don't get bogged down with technobabble.
McDevitt drops you, the reader, right into the local culture, with plenty of offhand remarks about popular writers, singers, restaurants and sports games. He mentions exotic (to us) pets in a casual way, and we get some idea that they're dog- or cat-like from general descriptions.
It looks like the Hutchins series has ended, but I'm certainly hoping there will be a few more Benedict books before McDevitt hangs up his quill.


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A new novel of the fantastic unknown by the national bestselling author of Time Travelers Never Die. Eccentric Sunset Tuttle spent his life searching in vain for forms of alien life. Thirty years after his death, a stone tablet inscribed with cryptic, indecipherable symbols is found in the possession of Tuttle's onetime lover, and antiquities dealer Alex Benedict is anxious to discover what secret the tablet holds. It could be proof that Tuttle had found what he was looking for. To find out, Benedict and his assistant embark on their own voyage of discovery-one that will lead them directly into the path of a very determined assassin who doesn't want those secrets revealed.

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The Plot to Seize the White House: The Shocking True Story of the Conspiracy to Overthrow FDR Review

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(More customer reviews)Excellent attractive and inexpensively priced paperback edition of the Jules Archer classic. It is terrific to have this wonderful book back in print again!
The book tells the shocking true story of how United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was the savior of our Republic from a fascist plot by Wall Street plutocratic militarists in the early 1930s.
Author Jules Archer is featured in The History Channel documentary, The Plot To Overthrow FDR, a concise summary of this exceptional book. This program is available for viewing at Google Video.
For more on Butler and the attempted 1930's fascist coup d'etat against FDR, see my Amazon.com Listmania! book and video list, Smedley Darlington Butler.

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Most people will be shocked to learn that in 1933 a cabal of wealthy industrialists—in league with groups like the K.K.K. and the American Liberty League—planned to overthrow the U.S. government in a fascist coup. Their plan was to turn discontented veterans into American "brown shirts," depose F.D.R., and stop the New Deal. They clandestinely asked Medal of Honor recipient and Marine Major General Smedley Darlington Butler to become the first American Caesar. He, though, was a true patriot and revealed the plot to journalists and to Congress. In a time when a sitting President has invoked national security to circumvent constitutional checks and balances, this episode puts the spotlight on attacks upon our democracy and the individual courage needed to repel them.

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The Dawning of Power Review

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(More customer reviews)It's hard for me to get into fantasy, even though I like to write it.
Yet, though I don't read much of it, it seems lately I've read more than my norm.
My publisher suggested I read The Dawning of Power. He even let me borrow his copy. I'll admit, I nearly put this book down. At the start, I was lost. I wasn't into it. A bit bored. Perhaps it was reading too late at night. Perhaps it was just my mood. No matter, I sat the book down for a week.
Usually, it's over at that point--off to the cemetery of unread books.
I'm glad I gave The Dawning of Power another chance. I found the story to be a solid, intense read. It was thick, in depth, and sometimes over my head.
This book is long--a hefty read. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but be ready and be patient. It was a bit intimidating at first, but I found myself flying through the pages.
My only complaint: The Dawning of Power is mostly a character driven book. Overall, I felt Mr. Rathbone's characters were vivid and alive. Likeable. However, the vast amount of characterization took away from the story at times. I felt it was lacking in drama--tension--the chase. The white knuckle, page turning feeling wasn't always present. However, this didn't distract me, and it was not always the case; I simply felt Mr. Rathbone could have put a bit more emphasis on the suspense. Regardless, it didn't take away from my enjoyment.
Overall, The Dawning of Power is a classic tale, filled with adventure and lovable characters. The writing is passionate, and I suspect we'll see much greatness from Mr. Rathbone in the future as his career progresses.
Vincent Hobbes
[...]

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The Dawning of Power is the debut trilogy in Brian Rathbone's fantasy series: The World of Godsland. Echoes of the ancients power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind s deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war. In times such as these, ordinary people have the power to save the world . . . or destroy it.

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A Voyage for Madmen Review

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(More customer reviews)One day I heard a couple of book reviewers on the radio rattle off a list of good books, and I jotted this title down. When I got the book, I was uncertain as to whether I would enjoy it. The only sailing I had ever done was out in SF Bay as a passenger whose assigned job was to stay out of the way.
But after reading the book, my view of sailing has changed. This book utterly grabbed me. I couldn't put it down and I relished every word.
While the book is a true story, it isn't just a documentary. It is full of stories and portraits of people who are more fantastic than fiction. I think that not knowing anything about the Golden Globe race kept me in greater suspense. This was a page-turner 'til the very end.
I applaud Peter Nichols and his writing style. I read Perfect Storm and found it sterile and unemotional. This book was just the opposite. It was invigorating, enriching and human.

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Zombies vs. Unicorns Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been looking forward to this one for awhile. I had read books by some of the authors, but not all - there are a lot of stories in this one! The running commentary from Black & Larbalestier was funny, too. I think I'd have to give it to Team Zombie, in the end, but I did find a few Unicorn stories that I liked.
The Highest Justice by Garth Nix - haven't read any Nix books before. This one has a unicorn and a zombie, so maybe its best that it starts the collection. I liked it, not spectacular but still a good one.
Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson - half-zombie boy falls for boy who has his own killer secrets; I liked this one, it drew me in and although the zombie-mind is not a happy one, I found myself rooting for them.
Purity test by Naomi Novik - Loved this one, very funny. A unicorn needs a virgin to help it on its quest to save baby unicorns, although capable warrior virgins are hard to find.
Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan - set in the world of Forest of Hands and Teeth, although with different characters. I can't say that I liked the main character, but she felt very real (which was probably the unsettling part). I liked the end.
A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan - for me the most disturbing, about what happens after the unicorn and virgin meet up. Not sure how I feel about this one. The prose was well done, but the subject matter if you thought about it too much was icky.
The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson - this one was all right, taking its cues from entertainment gossip; a student on the vacation from hell finds herself caring for the children of a famous, mysterious celebrity. But something isn't quite right with those kids...
The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund - Set in the same world as her Rampant series. This one was good, but it felt unfinished, too rushed.
Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld - I haven't read anything by this author, but he is going on my TBR list. Good story about the kids who grow up after the zombie apocalypse, and what happens when a chance mutation gives them a second chance. I won't look at boredom quite the same way...
Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot - Liz dreams of getting her own car for her 17 birthday, and ends up with a unicorn. Then she finds out just how handy a unicorn can be, Fun story - especially when she deals with her ex and the bully.
Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare - this one was OK. In a town where the dead come back, Adele and her love are parted by death, for a little while.
The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey - this one was just OK too, a darker unicorn story, with a beast addicted to life - taking it that is.
Prom Night by Libba Bray - Another good one, a mixture of hope and moments of happiness in a hopeless situation.

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Come Love a Stranger Review

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(More customer reviews)Ashton Wingate is a wealthy plantation owner in Mississippi. With his good looks and fortune, he had his choice of women but none was able to capture his heart like Lierin. He knew that he had met the woman of his dreams and so married her after a very brief courtship. On their honeymoon aboard one of Ashton's boats, the River Witch, with the ink on their marriage papers barely dry, they were attacked by river pirates and his wife of merely a few days was thrown overboard never to be seen again, leaving Ashton a widower.
Fast forward to three years and we see Ashton in a carriage on his way home to Belle Chene. Deep in thoughts, he is startled by the sound of a woman's scream. Thrown off her horse, Ashton immediately jumps out to her rescue and takes the unconscious woman to the safety of his home. But when moonlight frames her face, he is shocked for right in his very arms is the face of the woman who has haunted his dreams for the last three years - his beloved wife Lierin. Unfortunately, the woman wakes up with no memory whatsoever of her past or identity. But in his heart, Ashton knows that she is Lierin. And when fate once again threatens to tear them apart when Malcolm Sinclair turns up and claim her as his abducted wife Lenore, Ashton vows to fight for her no matter what.
What follows is a series of confusion and heartbreak for Ashton and Lierin. Although Ashton's heart tells him that the woman is his dear wife, mounting evidence seem to prove that the woman is indeed Lenore, Lierin's twin sister. For her, as much as it pains her to leave the kind and gentle stranger who has managed to convince her that she is Lierin and whom she has fallen in love with, she knows that she must uncover the truth about herself and whom she's really married to. Sadly, things seem to favor Malcolm's side of the story, especially when the man who claims to be her own father refutes Ashton's claims.
COME LOVE A STRANGER is an exciting story filled with deceit and mystery. As usual, Kathleen Woodiwiss shows her flare for storytelling with her vivid descriptions of each scenes and portrayal of her characters. I absolutely loved Ashton! His tenderness towards Lierin, his patience and undying devotion is simply adorable. I enjoyed their playfulness toward each other and those scenes made me smile. And when Lierin was taken away from him again, I really felt his grief and couldn't wait for the truth to come out. But personally, if I were the heroine, I would have gone back to Ashton immediately after seeing him come out of the sea wearing nothing but that loincloth!
What's good about this is the mystery. It is well-plotted and I actually found myself confused and unable to figure out whether the woman is actually Lierin or Lenore, adding further to the suspense. My biggest gripe though is the ending. I closed the book rather dissatisfied, feeling as if the author has reached her word count and therefore decided to rush the ending. Overall, I thought that this book was good.

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