A Death in Vienna

A bomb goes off in Vienna. Art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon, is sent in to see what happened to his friend who happens to hunt down items stolen from the Jews in World War II. What he finds is a complicated web of lies and deceptions that will take him around the world in Daniel Silva's A Death in Vienna.

Silva writes an exciting book that takes readers on a whirl of four continents. Gabriel is a killer, but as he becomes more entangled in the plot, he finds himself providing revenge for those who were killed in the gas chambers. And Silva makes him a complicated Renaissance man. We want to discover more about the contradictions in this artist, who has been trained to kill. We learn more about his personal background and his personal ties to this case.

Silva also touches on the aftermath of the war. Which lower level Nazis escaped? And how did they do it? Via the Americans, via Rome, via Argentina? Who helped the murders along the way - to rebuild their life and not suffer retribution for their sins? Silva has done his research well and provides the reader with enough details to want to learn more about the post war period. This period of history was not black and white - there is a whole lot of gray.

A fine read and a good thriller. I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series.

Christmas Love Stories

One of the reasons, I am behind in posting, is that at this time of year I start reading or re-reading romance Christmas stories. Yes - those short stories set in the days of old, or that are in a "modern" environment. I start reading them in November. About one an evening - or more, depending on if I can't fall asleep.

Yes, they can be sappy. Yes, they are unrealistic (Hello, we are reading fiction here!) And yes, some of them are not even historically accurate about Christmas. (I'm a history minor. I'm picky.) And everything is solved by the miracle of Christmas, or New Year's or Boxing Day. (Sure.)

But in today's cynical and hectic times, a little "what if" is good for the soul. What if everyday were Christmas? What if everyone were nice and kind to each other? What if love was around the corner for everyone? (The romantic lives!) It's a nice thought. ;- )

But heck, my comfort read may not be your comfort read. There is a book out there for everyone. Even Scrooge. But have yourself a merry little Christmas, now...

Leslie Charteris' The Saint

The Saint in Europe is one of the many Simon Templer mysteries written by Leslie Charteris. We find our debonair thief lounging in the watering holes of Europe and looking at jewelry along the way. How can you dislike such a smooth operator?

"For the saga of any adventurer take this: an idea, a scheme, action, danger, escape, and perhaps a surprise somewhere. Repeat indefinitely, with irregular interludes of quiet. Flavor it with the eternal discontent of unattainable horizons, and the everlasting content of an eagle's freedom. That had been Simon Templar's life since the day when he was first nicknamed the Saint..."

This book features seven short stories. In them he rescues the damsel, discovers the murderer, helps the police and does some thieving on the side. What more could you ask out of life?

A fun read. For those classic puzzle mystery fans.

Swashbuckling through Spain - Captain Alatriste

Arturo Perez-Reverte has created a wonderful swashbuckling character in Captain Alatriste.
He starts out with a bang with this description: " He was not the most honest or pious of men, but he was courageous." And the fun begins from there.

Alatriste has always been a soldier in the wars of Spain. He is struggling between the wars, and is recovering from injuries, and has a cronic lack of ready funds. When he is not drinking, he hires himself out as a swordsman, bodyguard and for other unsavory jobs that bring in the coins. He gets a secret commission to waylay some English travelers. One unknown boss says rough them up, the other man says kill them. What to do? And who are these English men? Alatriste discovers that they are sword savvy and are not typical travelers. These are gentlemen. One is the infamous Lord Buckingham and the other is the Prince Regent! Who wants to kill them? Who hired Alatriste? And how can he escape being killed because he did not complete his mission?

Lots of Spanish history, lots of swords, lots of danger and a character you want to cheer for! A fun read, and hopefully a fun series.

Raise the Titanic!

In the mood for some daring do and adventure on the high seas? Come join the ride with Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt in Raise the Titanic! Written before they actually found the Titanic, the book provides a big "what if" to the concept of having the ship rise to the surface. And that is just part of the story!

Scientists are hunting for a rare element to create a anti missile security system. As they track the element down - they found out that someone else has been in on the trail - in 1911. And one of the miners - was on the Titanic. N.U.M.A. and Dirk Pitt to the rescue!

It is a tightly written story - a bit dated - but it takes you on a roller coaster ride. If you can't handle the "Armageddon Factor" (the unbelievable task of landing two space shuttles on an asteroid flying into the planet Earth) then you won't be able to have fun reading this book. But try it - you might like it. A fun read.

Thin is the New Happy

Thin is the New Happy: A Memoir by Valerie Frankel is a thought provoking book. Frankel who is a prolific writer of magazine articles, Chick Lit fiction, Young Adult fiction and a few non-fiction titles, has her work cut out for her when she decides to explore her obsession with body image. She is brought to this self discovery when she realizes that her daughter is the age she was when she started dieting. At 11, Frankel started down the road of weight loss and lack of self esteem about her body weight. Having a mother who focused on it, didn't help either. Frankel takes the brave step of exploring her past and changing her future.

Frankel is a funny quirky writer on her best days, and she brings those skills to play here as well. Certain passages of the book will hit too close to home for many women, and others will bring you tears with her self effacing humor. She compares her story to other women, and finds that she is not alone in the body image struggle. But she is determined to conquer her demons and not pass them down to her daughters.

Part of this book is memoir, part of it is self help too. She reveals her past bluntly and with humor. (Sometimes however, with contemporary memoirs, I find myself saying "Too Much Information!" here.) But she does triumph. No, it is not instantaneous. It is a struggle; within her family, her professional life, and with herself. A good and inspirational read.

One Bad Apple

One Bad Apple by Shelia Connolly is a great first mystery. Our heroine Meg is new to town and is trying to rehab a old family property that has an orchard on it's grounds. She is learning more about apples and 17th century homes than she ever wanted to know. Everything in this place needs to be fixed, but first thing to go and need fixing is the septic system. Thank goodness she seems to have a competent (and nice looking) plumber in Seth! Her joy is short lived when there are more plumbing issues in the morning. Seth comes out - takes a look in the septic system and finds a dead body. Not just any dead body. It turns out to be an ex-boyfriend of Meg's.

There is a lot more going on here than meets the eye, Meg discovers. Her ex was involved in bringing in a development project that would change the town. Everyone in town she meets, seems to be on one side of the project or the other. Who would kill for this development? What part does her property play in all of this? Will she stay to take a side?

Connolly has a group of nice small town characters in this book. It will be interesting to see how they interact throughout the planned series. I think she has a great first start with this book and I want to see how Meg and her house develop. A fun read.

The Wordy Shipmates

Yes, Sarah Vowell has done it again! She has a taken a tiny section of American history and made it her own. The Wordy Shipmates is her latest micro-history. This book is about the early settlers of Massachusetts. Nope - not those pilgrims with a capital "P". This is about that other group - those future Bostonians, the Massachusetts Bay Colony and their leader John Winthrop. They want to build "a city upon a hill" but their way. And if you do not agree - then they banish you. And thus Rhode Island is born!

There are some problems with this book. It is hard to be quirky about major players in history, when what writings that are available seem to suggest that some of the founding fathers had no sense of humor at all. And most of us modern folk would call them cranks. But different times for different men, and Vowell tries to make them alive for us, with all their sins and faults. While her admiration for their struggles and the principles that they passed on to us future Americans, is evident, it is hard for the reader to get excited by the early 17th century prose.

Winthrop and his group survived, passed on their beliefs, created Harvard, started Indian wars, and helped create a uniquely American culture. And Vowell ties it all together for you. This book is a must for a Sarah Vowell fan, or a early American history buff.

Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China

Jen Lin-Liu is an American journalist and food writer living in Beijing, China. She decides to hone up on her cooking skills by taking Chinese cooking classes in a state run cooking school. Her adventures have lead to the book, Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China.

So is this book about Chinese cooking? Yes - but it is so much more. It is also a study of China today and where it is headed. It is about the ambition of it's people and where they have been. Who knew that one of the most important people that she meets is the secretary and caretaker of the school? This "non" teacher becomes Jen's guide to the China of yesteryear as well as her traditionalist cooking advisor and friend. As Jen discovers and learns about different regional cuisines, she travels and cooks in different areas and restaurants. Everything from your local small lunchtime noodle shop to the high class international restaurants of Shanghai.

A good book for Chinese food fans, history fans, and those who are trying to get a grasp on the Chinese culture today. After reading this, one has a better understanding of how the latest food scares out of China can happen and why they will probably continue. An excellent read.

Murder of a Small Town Honey

Murder of a Small Town Honey is the first book in the Scumble River mystery series by Denise Swanson. School psychologist, Skye Denison, is not too happy to be back in her small home town in Illinois. She had thought she had moved on to broader horizons. But a job loss and personal setbacks have her back at home starting a new job, and getting reacquainted with the busybodies and her relatives. She even gets suckered into judging the local Chokeberry Days jelly contest.

But the festival is suddenly ended, when she finds a dead body of a TV celebrity who happens to have her same small town past, and who turns out to have dated her older brother and several others... well, it might need some looking in to. And when her brother is arrested for the murder, she has to take a hand in getting the police on the right track.

Moving back to your hometown is tough, when you really did not want to come back. Skye mixes those feelings with trying to get her life restarted again. And how come she keeps finding every one's home ransacked? And what does her brother have to do with all of this anyway?

A clever story of reinvention, confronting your past, and small town life. And murder thrown in. A good read. Looking forward to the next one.

Death in the Orchid Garden

Going to Hawaii to film part of her PBS TV gardening show sounded great to Louise Eldridge. They were filming in the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kaui, with three world renowned botanists. The shoot went well. She would even have time to relax in the hotel's lovely water lagoons. She did not expect to find one of the botanists on a cliff ledge with his head bashed in.

By setting her story, Death in the Orchid Garden in Hawaii, Anne Ripley manages to make the islands another character in her mystery. She shows us the beauty of the area (checkout the website of the gardens - http://www.ntbg.org/) and hints at the darker side of tourist lands. Louise's suspects equally have their own mysterious pasts. It is a small community of scientists, but they have worked with and against each other for years. Just who is telling the truth, and who is lying?

Louise is bit reluctant to investigate. She really has been lured by the islands' seductive powers. But people, she has come to respect and admire, are getting hurt. And it looks like she is in danger too. This is an exciting story that will interest the serious plant enthusiast and Hawaiian islands fan as well as the mystery lover. A great read.

Tomb of Zeus: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery

Laetitia Talbot is a woman who know what she wants. She is no simpering miss. This British gal is about to embark on her first archaeological dig that she is overseeing. She has money. And a family that supports what she is doing - even if it is reluctantly. She is clever and a bit nosey. All fine traits when she is digging for her next find or involved in a mystery.

The Tomb of Zeus by Barbara Cleverly is Letty's first adventure - even though it is alluded to that she has had an adventuresome life before this particular trip to Crete. She has been sponsored by the renowned Theodore Russell, and soon finds that his household has a rather sinister feeling that she can't shake. She is not sure why - his second wife Phoebe is delightful, his son George is very pleasant and she finds that she has an ally - and maybe an unwelcome one in this group - William Gunning. So why does she have this strange feeling all is not well?

But before she can embark on her dig, there is a shocking death and the little perfect world that was the Villa Europa seems to be falling apart. Was it murder? And why? Why is Gunning there? Why does Russell seem to send her on a wild goose chase of a dig? And what about her dig site? The tomb of Zeus or just an ordinary burial chamber or religious site?

Letty is a fun character - not too sentimential; the previous war (WWI) took care of that - but smart and trying to balance several things at once. The dig, the mystery, the land and it's people, and her relationships. What or who is telling the truth?

A very fun read. It may start out a little slow but hang in there. Can't wait til the next one comes out.

This Organic Life

This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader by Joan Dye Gussow is already considered a "classic" in the growing number of books being put out that are about "going Green." Written in 2001, she predates Barbara Kingsolver's experiment of growing everything you eat for a year. This is not an experiment. This is how she lives.

Gussow is a friendly writer. She makes herself sound like the cheery next door neighbor with the good gardening tips that we would all love to have. Going "Green" is nothing new to her. To her this is just good gardening. And she manages to do it in a small plot that has flooding issues, by the Hudson in the outer suburbs of New York. Her and her artist husband's struggles to create a "retirement" home from a very old property takes center stage in the book. She is more concerned with the garden - because that is what already provides them with most of their food. And it is a struggle. And their life is a struggle. And each growing season is different and has its own unique challenges.

A great story about how the careful care taking of the land provides you a glimpse into the character of the people. A story of patience and hard work, and a must read for vegetable garden lovers. And there are some great recipes for those times when you have an explosion of vegetables. A very good read.

Ruby in the Smoke

Phillip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke is an exciting adventure and mystery story geared toward a young adult audience. Sally Lockhart has just lost her father at sea. But she recieves an unusual note and when she goes to his partners to ask about it, one of them drops dead, and she manages to set in motion a ripple in sea of conspiracy. Sally is not your average heroine, she has pluck and her father raised her more like a boy than girl. She starts to investigate these questions and accuires along the way some trustworthy friends and pals.

What really happened when her father died? Did it have anything to do with the nightmare she has been having since she was a little girl? How does the opium trade play a role in this? And who is the puppet master controlling things behind the scenes?

Pullman takes the reader on quite a roller coaster ride and provides a unique view of the grittier side of Victorian England. A fun thrilling mystery. I look forward to reading the sequels.