I Read!

Sam isn't the only one who has been reading around here.  I've mostly been reading light fiction this summer because we've been traveling.  I can never read anything challenging while on vacation, and I do love my thrillers and mysteries.  Here's a quick summary of what I've read in the past few months:

Knockdown, by Dick Francis.  I'm really excited to have found a new author that I like, especially one who has written over 30 books!  (Thanks, S. and D.)  In this book (the first of his that I've read), I loved the protagonist and I found the story compelling, but I thought the ending was weak.  The plot-theme was, "Under pressure and threats from dishonest colleagues, an honest racehorse broker struggles to maintain his livelihood, and even his life, without compromising his integrity." 

Trunk Music, by Michael Connelly.  I've read a few of his books now, and I like Connelly, but this wasn't his best.  His Harry Bosch character is likeable and smart, and the mystery was not bad, but I didn't find anything about the book compelling.  There's not much point in writing out the plot-theme here, but it might be something like, "An independent, dedicated detective must solve an apparent mob-hit without the support of his department."  You get the idea.  If you want to try Michael Connelly, I'd recommend Blood Work or The Poet.  I'm sure I'll eventually read all of his books just on the strength of those two.

Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child.  This is Lee Child's 13th Jack Reacher novel.  These are the only light fiction books that I buy new, in the bookstore, at hardcover prices ($28!).  Jack Reacher is a lot like the Dirty Harry character:  brutal, competent, stoic, a loner, and dedicated to justice.  But Dirty Harry has tremendous inner conflict; Jack Reacher has none.  Stepping into Jack Reacher's world is like climbing out of a swamp of muddy complexity into a clean, black and white, wide open world.  He has absolute confidence in himself.  He is not fearless, but, to play off of Ayn Rand's description of Howard Roark, his fear only goes down to a certain point.  Other things I love about these books are the descriptions of the settings, from deserted corn fields to big cities, and the subtle, thematic threads that are often woven into the plots.  The plots in the earlier books are very good, but even with the series weakening a bit, this was the best of my summer reading.  The plot-theme was, "While investigating a mysterious death, an ex-military cop finds that sometimes our friends become our enemies, and sometimes our enemies become our friends."  If you want to try Lee Child, I'd recommend starting with Die Trying, his second book.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility, by Toni Weschler.  This was recommended to me by a couple of people when I mentioned that Adam and I are working on another baby.  Essentially, this book explains how to read your body's signals to understand what part of your menstrual cycle you are in, using a process they call the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM).  I didn't read the parts on birth control, but the rest of the book was very good.  I'd recommend this book to all women as a basic health and wellness text.

Food of a Younger Land, by Mark Kurlansky.  I heard the author discussing this book on NPR and was intrigued.  It's a collection of writings from the Depression era about the eating habits of people in different regions of the country. I gave it a shot, but I just couldn't bring myself to read the whole thing.  It had interesting factoids and some funny recipes, but it was just too long for my level of interest.  Check out LB's review if you want to know more.

Right now I'm reading three more books, and then, in keeping with the back-to-school mentality of September, it'll be back to the Great Books series for me.