My usual routine is to read whatever number of books I can, and post an entry here, typically by the 24th of the month. Looking back, I realized that I tend to soften my opinion of a book as the month wears on. Basically, I may not like/hate it as much when I post as I did when I finished it. To change that, I've taken to keeping notes in Word so you get my honest opinion.
Miscellaneous
Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon ($14.00/$.50, copyright 2007, 206 pages, Trade Paperback)
I’ve read several of Chabon’s works in the past. They have all been different - different characters, even different genres. Here we have two disparate adventurers - Zelikman and Amram - plying their “trade” wherever the road takes them in a past time somewhere around 950 AD. True to type for these kinds of stories, they wind up involved in rescuing a member of a royal family and saving a kingdom all while trying to make a few dinars. I wanted to like this, but Chabon has a tendency towards really long run-on sentences and he comes on pretty heavy with the fact that a lot of his characters are Jewish. (Also, he dedicates the book to Michael Moorcock when he obviously owes more to Fritz Leiber. AND this was originally serialized in the New York Times so, in my mind, the cover price isn‘t justified.). It was OK.
White Sky, Black Ice - Stan Jones ($15.00/$.50, copyright 1999, 264 pages, Trade Paperback)
An interesting premise. The main character, Nathan Active, is an Alaskan State Trooper looking into a string of suicides by Eskimos. He's also a native-born Eskimo who was given up for adoption to a white couple but now finds himself serving in the town of his birth. I was hoping for some fish-out-of-water stuff, maybe some Northern Exposure stuff. Definitely some Alaskan nature/harsh weather stuff. Jones glosses over all of it. There's some interesting stuff here but I figured it out early. It was OK.
Alex Cross's Trial - James Patterson & Richard Dilallo ($9.99, $.50, copyright 2009, 392 pages, Paperback)
And the Patterson Machine keeps on rolling them out. I'm listing this one under Miscellaneous because I don't believe it should be classified as part of Patterson's Alex Cross series. In part, because he has a co-writer, in part because it is supposed to be a book written by Alex Cross about something that happened to his ancestor. It revolves President Theodore Roosevelt sending a friend, Ben Corbett, down to Mississippi to investigate reports about lynching, and what happens when he gets there. I have to admit that having read all of the Alex Cross books, I found it a bit difficult remembering that the main character wasn't black. But there are scenes involving local color, violence, and court rooms that ring true. I was reminded at times of the movies To Kill A Mockinbird and Inherit the Wind. I enjoyed it.
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame-Smith ($13.99/$5.99/Gift Card*, copyright 2010, 336 pages, Trade Paperback)
OK. I don't see how I can talk too much about this since the title pretty much tells it all. What I will say is that it is well written, mixes first and third person narratives (sometimes confusingly) to keep the story moving forward, and actually makes sense as you read through it. Unfortunately, I couldn't agree with the ending, but I did enjoy it. (*The cover price was $13.99 but it was reduced to $5.99 and I used what was left on a gift card.)
Something Special
Aaron Burr - Samuel H. Wandell and Meade Minnigerode
I'm guessing that you've noticed that there are no particulars about this work. That's because I haven't read it yet. I mention it because, once in a great while, you can find something interesting. As I've said, I usually confine myself to libraries, but once in a while I do check out used book stores. Particularly when I'm looking for something specific. I was looking for a copy of Edward Hale's "The Man Without a Country" and didn't have any luck. But I did buy this. A 2 volume, hard cover, biography of a very interesting character in early American history, copyright 1925. I paid $10.00 for the 2 of them. When I got home, I checked out Amazon. Collector's editions were selling for $75.00, used for $30.00. Not a bad investment. I hope it reads well.
Anyway, it's mid-July, it's very warm, and you should stay cool and..........
Keep reading.
