Archive for the ‘Book reviews’ Category
New Review at SBR — for Hirsh’s “Capital Offense”
Folks, if Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, Alan Greenspan and Timothy Geithner (among others) had one-tenth Michael Hirsh’s mental acuity, we wouldn’t have had the financial crises of 2007 and 2008.
Unfortunately for them — and for the world as a whole — Michael Hirsh wasn’t then aware of the huge mess that was about to occur, but fortunately, once he became aware, he turned his weather eye onto financial markets and the major players behind them and came out with the outstanding book CAPITAL OFFENSE: HOW WASHINGTON’S WISE MEN TURNED AMERICA’S FUTURE OVER TO WALL STREET.
Please read my review at SBR to find out why I say you must read this book right now (then be prepared to throw major quantities of china, etc., as you watch these folks spend money like there was no tomorrow, no regulation, and no sense):
Just reviewed Yu’s “How to Live Safely in a SF Universe” for SBR
Folks, here’s the latest review; for those of you who’ve read my Amazon.com review from last year, this goes into a little more detail about the plot and gives a short snippet from page 213. (I loved HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE last year; that is unchanged.)
Now, as to why I reviewed it again? It’s a good book that makes me laugh and think — rare, that combination — and it’s about to come out in trade paperback (meaning it’ll be a little cheaper to buy — $11 versus $16 or thereabouts).
So if you somehow missed this book last year, and you like SF, philosophy, and humor — because philosophy doesn’t have to be dry as dust nor boring as Hell — you will love Charles Yu’s book.
Check out the review at:
http://shinybookreview.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/yus-universe-well-worth-entering/
Just Reviewed NRP’s anthology “Night Whispers” for SBR
Folks, please take a look at my review for the Naked Reader Press anthology NIGHT WHISPERS, which I just posted a few minutes ago at Shiny Book Review:
http://shinybookreview.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/night-whispers-scary-stories-from-a-short-anthology/
If you like stories about vampires, magic, or “things that go bump in the night,” you will love this anthology.
Just reviewed “My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You” for SBR
Folks, go out and grab Louisa Young’s MY DEAR, I WANTED TO TELL YOU as soon as you can, especially if you love World War I historicals, realistic romances, good characterization or excellent writing. Young’s novel has it all, and I truly enjoyed it.
Here’s the link to my review:
Just reviewed Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ “Call Me Irresistible” for SBR
Folks, here’s the link for tonight’s review at Shiny Book Review, first off:
Now that you’ve seen that, and have had a chance to read my review of CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE, let me elaborate a little more about Ms. Phillips’s newest effort.
First, this is Ms. Phillips’s twenty-first novel, and yet she couldn’t come up with a better “flaw” than the hero, Ted Beaudine, being a guy who makes love to his partner for several hours at a time? No matter how well this was described or set up this isn’t enough of a “flaw” — how can someone being so caring of his partner be considered a flaw by anyone?
I don’t care that Ted’s intended, Meg Koranda, believed she wasn’t “special” enough because this apparently was Ted’s standard practice with his girlfriends (Ted’s a serial monogamist, so he only has one GF at a time). Meg knows this is Ted’s policy — Ted is much too nice to point this out himself, of course, as that would be really crude — because her best friend Lucy had been engaged to Ted and nearly married him and said so. (Lucy jilted Ted at the altar.) Lucy’s comments to Meg add up to this: Ted’s every woman’s dream lover, and he’s world-class in the bedroom department because he takes his time and makes sure his partner appreciates the act before he finally gives in and takes his own. But because Ted apparently treated every woman this way, even though he has every possible good quality there is, by the time Meg and Ted get down to business, Meg does not feel like Ted’s seeing her — and that’s just wrong.
But Meg goes too far in her beliefs, believing that Ted doesn’t really care unless he loses control now and again in the bedroom department. This just doesn’t make any sense. Most women do not wish for their intendeds to lose control in the bedroom, yet Meg does exactly this. How is this believable?
Finally, the way Meg is treated throughout isn’t really believable, either. Meg is broke, desperate, without employment and a car that’s barely running that’s also out of gas, and is stranded in Wynette, Texas, with a bunch of people who hate her because they believe that Meg somehow coerced Lucy into running off and jilting “favorite son” and town Mayor despite his young age of twenty-nine or so, Ted, at the altar. So everyone goes out of the way to insult Meg, which is a very similar plot-line to AIN’T SHE SWEET? with much less justification for it, and very few of the townspeople give Meg a chance.
While this is a very funny novel in spots, and I enjoyed it because of the humor, I didn’t feel this was up to the best novels of Ms. Phillips, which along with AIN’T SHE SWEET? include DREAM A LITTLE DREAM and LADY BE GOOD. And it’s because of the lack of a true flaw in the hero — or at least a true explicit flaw (as Ted believing Meg was at fault at first is definitely a flaw in a guy who supposedly is a world-class inventor with a genius IQ) — along with how poorly the heroine is treated that just did not sit well with me. At all.
Just reviewed “A Rush of Wings” for SBR
Folks, I urge you to check out my review for A RUSH OF WINGS, a Naked Reader Press anthology edited by Amanda S. Green; I enjoyed it quite a bit, with there being one outstanding story — Kate Paulk’s “His Father’s Son” — and several good to excellent stories by Sarah A. Hoyt, Dave Freer, Taylor M. Lunsford and Chris McMahon. There wasn’t a bad story in the lot . . . at any rate, to find out more about this fine anthology, please read my review, available at:
http://shinybookreview.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/a-rush-of-wings-good-stories-about-angels-demons/
** Note I’ve finally figured out how to put links into my blogs. Hat tip and drum roll to Jason Cordova, who finally beat it into my brain.
Just Reviewed Dave Freer’s “Dragon’s Ring” for SBR
I was so entertained by Dave Freer’s DRAGON’S RING that I literally hated for the book to end . . . so I was glad that I got a chance to review it for Shiny Book Review (SBR) tonight.
DRAGON’S RING, put simply, is a tour de force, but that’s so often overused that at SBR, I called it a “masterpiece” instead. DRAGON’S RING contains a deceptively simple plot about Fionn the dragon-shapechanger and his apprentice, Meb (also called Scrap) who are determined to destroy the world they live on, Tamarind, by any means necessary — yet it’s so much more than that, too. It’s an action-adventure story, yes, but also a coming of age story for Meb, a rather understated romance between the pair of ’em, and a cultural study to boot . . . and that’s still barely scratching the surface of DRAGON’S RING.
What I loved most about DRAGON’S RING was its humor; Finn (that’s what he’s called in human form) is such an interesting, intriguing character that it was hard for me to put the book down now and again to do unimportant things like eating and sleeping because I never, ever knew what Finn was going to do next, nor whether or not it’d turn out to be a good or bad thing. And how Finn interacts with Meb is a delight, going from mentor to friend to protector to, ultimately, feeling a gentle love that may just be the fiercest sort of all.
What an excellent novel. And what a privilege to get to read and review it.
As Garth Nix’s quote, which appeared on the back cover of DRAGON’S RING, states so aptly:
“Dave Freer always delivers compelling, fast-moving and addictive fantasy adventures. Write more, Dave.”
So, since I can’t do any better than that, I’ll leave it there — except to say that you really should read my review, then go grab the book! (Or do it in the reverse order. Trust me, I’ll be happy either way.)
Here’s the link:
Now, go read it!
** NOTE: I even got the links right, too! Both here, and at SBR. (Maybe it’s not a huge thing to celebrate, but I take whatever I can get. Especially since technology and me aren’t always on too friendly of terms.)
Just reviewed “A Touch of Night” for SBR
Folks, if you love fantasies, love Regency romances, love Jane Austen or just plain love good writing, you really owe it to yourself to give Sarah A. Hoyt and Sofie Skapski’s A TOUCH OF NIGHT (available at the Naked Reader Web site, www.nakedreader.com) a try . . . please give my new review a look-see at:
Trust me — this one will keep you up much past your bed-time — but you’ll enjoy every minute of it.
Note that right now my flirtation with adding links doesn’t seem to be working; go to the regular Naked Reader Web page, hit “New Books” on the far right-hand upper corner of the page, then you’ll see A TOUCH OF NIGHT right up at the top, on the right.
Just reviewed Ellie Ferguson’s “Wedding Bell Blues” at SBR — and Brewers lose again
Folks, I just reviewed Ellie Ferguson’s WEDDING BELL BLUES (available at the Naked Reader Press, www.nakedreader.com) and enjoyed it thoroughly; before I forget, here’s the link to that review:
This was a funny, sexy, spicy book that made me laugh, and the plotting was good. Nice work, Ms. Ferguson! I look forward to whatever you write next.
Here’s a direct link to her book, which I might add is on sale right now for the low price of $1.99:
At any rate, I’m glad I had a book review to write for WEDDING BELL BLUES because otherwise, it was a somewhat depressing night again of baseball. At least, unless you’re a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, or possibly of pitcher Jaime Garcia in particular; Garcia threw a two-hit shutout that until the 8th inning was a perfect game — then Garcia walked Casey McGehee and gave up a solid single to Yuniesky Betancourt. It didn’t help the overall score, of course, as the Brewers still lost, 6-0.
But it might’ve made the Brewers feel better about the loss.
As for me, I think Corey Hart is close to snapping his slump because he’s had a few intelligent at-bats (though he’s also taken Ks and hit into double plays, just like the rest of the Brewers) and has battled some rather good pitchers lately, from Tim Hudson the other night to Jaime Garcia tonight. And he’s playing the field well, which is a big plus (especially as so many other Brewers are playing very poorly defensively; our infield, in particular, has no really good defenders and only two passable defenders, Rickie Weeks and Casey McGehee — though Prince Fielder improved a lot last year and maybe he’ll get back to that form this year. if he does, he’ll be passable, too).
But very few bright spots exist so far for this year’s Brewers except the hitting of Fielder and Ryan Braun — and right now they’re both in mini-slumps, which isn’t helping anything.
Now, has there been some good pitching here and there? Sure. But no pitcher can win without some hitting coming from somewhere . . . and right now the Brewers’ hitting is nonexistent (not what I was expecting as a Brewers fan, as the Brewers are stocked with good hitters — only Carlos Gomez is a flat-out liability as a hitter and Yuniesky Betancourt, over the course of a season, is probably a .250 hitter at best).
What I’m hoping for, as a Brewers fan, is that things will improve and that this will be the last really bad streak of the season. But to be one-hit the other night by Hudson, then two-hit tonight by Garcia, is really bad — I agree those two are very fine pitchers, but to have that happen two out of three games is nearly impossible unless you agree that the Brewers simply cannot hit the ball right now.
Brewers Update, and two novellas by Kate Paulk reviewed by me at SBR
Folks, I just reviewed two excellent novellas by Kate Paulk, both available at the Naked Reader Press (www.nakedreader.com) — they’re called “Knights in Tarnished Armor” and “Born in Blood,” with the first being a really funny farce written in epistolary style (letters to one another) and the other being a very nice prequel to Paulk’s novel IMPALER, also out from the fine folks at the Naked Reader.
Before I get, here’s a link to my review of those two fine novellas at Shiny Book Review:
Now, as for updates: Zack Greinke will pitch tomorrow for the first time in the regular season for the Brewers against the Atlanta Braves in the second game of a doubleheader (as Tuesday night’s game was rained out). This is very good news, and I know I, for one, will be riveted to the television to see how well Greinke pitches.
I also have a political update of sorts; the drive to Recall the Republican 8 netted only six of the Republicans — to wit, the petitions against Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) both failed. Grothman’s failed by about 5,000 signatures, while Lazich’s was far closer — apparently they were less than two-thousand signatures short there.
I know some of the folks recalling both the Republicans and a few of the Democrats (though I don’t approve of the latter, as I think the Democratic Wisconsin Senators — often called the “Wisconsin 14” — did the only thing they could in leaving the state for three weeks in order for every citizen of the state to get a chance to read Governor Scott Walker’s “budget-repair bill” for themselves), and I know that folks in the Recall Grothman and Recall Lazich camps needed more resources — they weren’t able to start as soon as the others (from what I could tell, the really big efforts to get both Grothman and Lazich out started about two and a half or three weeks after the others yet had to meet the same deadline) and didn’t have the same monetary resources as both Grothman and Lazich are in heavily Republican districts — yet both found many people willing to sign recall petitions to remove both Lazich and Grothman. This bodes well for the future, at least so far as getting a decent candidate of some sort to run against both of these Senators . . . Grothman has not fared well in the media, especially due to his famous “slobs” comment (where he called Wisconsin voters, some from his own district, “slobs” for protesting in Madison against Walker’s “budget-repair bill”), and one would hope that he will indeed go down to defeat in 2012 (which is when his, and Lazich’s, seat is set for re-election).
What it looks like to me is, there will be six recall elections from the “recall the Republican 8” push, and there will be one or two or maybe three recall elections from the three Democratic petitions which were turned in. I am hesitant to say whether or not more than one of those petitions will hold up because in at least one case, a dead person’s name was used and a signature forged on a recall petition against the three Democratic Senators — and I find that disgraceful.
Also, because we have a mandatory recount going on in the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court judicial race, the Government Accountability Board (which oversees that, and the recalls, among other things) cannot do much to look at the petitions against the Dems or the Rs until that recount has been completed. The GAB has mandated that the recount must finish by May 9, 2011, but the Waukesha County folks have already indicated that they wil be unable to do this as apparently many oddities have been found there. (So far, only about 15,000 votes have been counted in Waukesha County according to representatives from the Kloppenburg campaign.) Fourteen counties, including Milwaukee, Dane and Waukesha, have yet to complete their recount; the other counties in Wisconsin have completed their tallies (mind you, Dane and Milwaukee are the most populous counties in the state, so it’s not surprising they have not yet completed thier recount. It is surprising that smaller Waukesha is having so very many problems, but in another way I’m not at all surprised because as I’ve said and written before, Kathy Nickolaus’s procedures, at best, were highly suspect and have been since at least 2004.)
So that’s about it from here; watching the recount unfold, and continuing to read interesting stuff from the Naked Reader Press folks, along with a little baseball watching. (If the economy were a bit better, I’d even say it’s fun — as far as it goes.)
Barb Caffrey's Blog 