Cubra Libre (1)

Cubra Libre
Elmore Leonard
finished 3/31/11

My reading has become nearly non-existant, but I will see what I can do to turn this around. I started reading this book last fall and stopped. I picked it up again this winter and started from the beginning... then fell off... and read about 1/2 of it this week. Honestly this is not one of Leonards best. It is set in late 1800's in Cuba and revolves around a horse trader who gets thrown in jail... involved in a plan that involves a pretty girl from New Orleans and $40,000 in cash... all set against the back drop of the looming Spanish American war. I kept getting lost in the characters and the causes... at least I got through it!

Life Before Man (4)

Life Before Man
Margaret Atwood
Read Sept 5, 2010

I really enjoy Margaret Atwood books... they are hard to catagorize, but always very interesting. This one written in 1979 revolves around a couple Nate & Elizabeth. Elizabeth is in a deep depression as her lover Chris has just committed suicide. From here we delve deeper into their lives, their childhood and in time Nate develops a relationship with Lesje a co-worker of Elizabeth's.
The story is not so much about what happens is it is about learning about the characters and what drives them, what motivates them to go on.

Catcher In The Rye (3)

Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
Read 8/25/10

I have not been reading much and came across an article on an entertainment site that listed the best opening lines from books... and this was one of them, so I got a copy of it and read it. This is suppose to be a banned book, although from todays perspective there is not much offensive in it... perhaps that was different in the late 40s when it was written.
It is basically the story of a person who is going insane.. it is told after the fact, but that isnt always obvious. The person becomes more and more detached from everything around him and his life, tormented by the death of his younger brother and his inability to do well in school and please his parents he eventually goes off the rails.

Deception Point (2)

Deception Point
Dan Brown

This is the second book by the author of the DaVinci code. I am trying to figure out if his earlier books are not as good, or if I was wrong about his later books. I think he was still trying to find his style in the early books. He bounces around between characters constantly and everything is a cliff hanger. It reads like a made for TV movie and gets a bit tiring after a while.
The story isn't bad but the characters and their motivations are a bit over the top. In the end the book has a nice little twist that I didn't see coming, and he does tie the story together nicely.

You Wouldn't Like It Here (1)

You Wouldn't Like It Here
Lon L. Emerick

I bought this book while camping at Tahquamenon Falls in Sept of 2009. It is a tongue in cheek book about life in Upper Michigan. The name rang a bell with me but could not quite place it. He has also written serious history books about Upper Michigan and I read one years ago called Going Back To Central.

Trust Me (32)

Trust Me
By Peter Leonard

This is the second book my Elmore Leonards on Peter. Much like his first book it is quick paced and full of twists and turns. He has his fathers flair, not exactly the same but he captures the same interest in the characters.

This turned out to be the last full book that I finished in 2009. I started The Great Bridge, but will not finish that until well into 2010. My reading has fallen off a lot from my peak, but I still read all the time, I find that I am reading more magazines and other pubs.

The Crying Lot of 49 (30)

The Crying of Lot 49
by Thomas Pynchon
read 10/18/09

Time listed this in their top 100 books from 1923 - 2005... I can sum up my views on the book quickly... I didn't get it.

I am not saying it was bad... I just didn't get it... read it yourself and see what you think.

Sandy MacDonald’s Man (29)

Sandy MacDonald’s Man
By R Clyde Ford
Read 10/1/09

My wife found this gem of a book in a used store years ago and it became one of my favorites at once. It tells the story of a young man who works for his uncle at an independent fur trading post on Mackinac Island. He goes ‘into the woods’ for a season and spends a winter in the Wisconsin woods trading and living with the Indians. It is an interesting look at life, trade and the views of people of that time, and perhaps how much has changed in 150 years.
The book was written by a Prof at Michigan Normal College (now Eastern) I have never been clear if this is a fictional account, or a historical account. I have not been able to find much information on it online anywhere. Either way it is an enjoyable read.

White Pine Days on the Taquemenon (28)

White Pine Days On the Taquamenon
William Daveport Hulbert
Read 9/23/09

This book was written over 100 years ago, by a gentlemen that lived in the Taquamenon area, and whose family owned a timber business. He has wonderful stories about the people and the business and timber cruising. But what comes across all his stories are the beauty of nature and the area in the U.P. He has wonderful descriptions of the area. I read this book because we were going to Tahquamenon area camping and after reading this book (again) it is still as true today. It is a beautiful area and this book is a great way to experience it.
The book itself was published about 60 years ago by the Michigan Historical Society and is no longer in print. I was able to find a nice copy on Amazon for $35, and I was happy to have it in my collection of books of Michigan.

How To Sell (27)

How To Sell
By Clancy martin
Read 9/15/09

This was an odd and confusing book. The story takes place over about 20 years and starts with a teen moving from Canada to Texas to join his older brother who is doing well in the jewelry business. There is a host of characters in and the business always seem slightly shady in a way that is hinted at but never explained. The brothers move on to run their own store, and have flashbacks to other problems in the past . As well as a father who is mentally unbalanced, but living the life of a preacher. The book always seems to be going somewhere, but never quite arrives. There are relationships and stories but you are never sure where it is going, or where you were once it was over. An odd book that was largely a waste of time.

Preston Falls (26)

Preston Falls
By David Gates
Read 9/5/09

This is the second book by Gates, the first Jernigan I read a few weeks ago. This is a similar character in a different setting. This character takes time off from his job that he dislikes and stays at their house in the country in a small town called Preston Falls. Much like Jernigan his life is quickly falling apart, however he can rationalize it each step of the way to the point that it seems like the logical course of action. I really enjoyed this book as I did his first and hope to see more work from this author.

Memoirs Of A Welshman (25)

Memoirs Of A Welshman
By Lyn Clarke
Read 9/2/09

My college roommate was originally from England, occasionally his dad would come visit and go out to the bars with us, he was quite a character. Fast forward 20 years my old roommate has moved back to England, but his Dad moved to Florida and retired… and started writing books about his life. He is an interesting guy and never afraid to strike up a conversation with someone.. through this, and a lot of Rugby playing he has met some interesting people and has some great stories. This is the first of four books that he has written. While heavy on Rugby and Soccer it is an entertaining read.

Road Dogs (24)

Road Dogs
Elmore Leonard
Read 8/30/09

In Leonard’s latest book he combines 3 characters from previous stories. Jack Foley from Out of Sight, Cundo Rey from LaBrava, and Dawn Navarro from Riding the Rap The three characters did not know each other, but Cundo married Dawn before being sent to prision where he met Foley. Now the jailbirds are out and hanging out in L.A. where Dawn has been watching over Cundo’s fortune for the 8 years he has been in prison. Dawn wants the money, but how can she get it from him… and will Foley help.

I love Leonard, this wasn’t his best book, but not his worst either. There were a lot of characters, but some of the minor ones became important. Some of the developing story lines really didn’t go anywhere. I guess that is part of the fun of Leonard is trying to figure out what the story is, and who will be important to it.

Jernigan (22)

Jernigan
David Gates
Read 8/20/09

This book is in the same vein as Bukowski. Jernigan’s life continues to slide downhill. His wife dies, his teenaged son is distant. Within his own mind all seems well, but bit by bit his life starts to fall apart. Yet he accepts each small part of it and to him it all seems to make sense. The book has an interesting twist by starting at the ending… so you sort of know what happens, but you don’t know why or how. He gets involved with a woman who at first he loves, but then comes to loath, as she does him. He loses his job, he starts drinking more and more. Things come apart in such an orderly manner, that he barely seems to care. Which might be the most elegant part of this story. People seldom crash and burn, it is usually a slow process, and piece by piece it comes apart.

Green Lantern Hero’s Quest (21)

Green Lantern Hero’s Quest
Dennis O’Neil
Read 8/16/09

This is another in the Justice League novels. I have read most of them now, some are good and some not. This was one of the better ones. Kyle becomes a Green Lantern by chance, then has to figure out how to use his new powers, and do some soul searching to figure out if he even wants the power, and the responsibility that comes with it.

As with many of these books this one gets way out there with the science fiction and science, yet this is very much like a comic book, and it was enjoyable.

I generally do not read the afterwards… thanking lots of people I don’t know or care about but this one talks about the day Sept 10 1997, the book was bout ¾ written. He was having lunch in NYC and he had a heart attack, he thanks the people who saved his life and made finishing the book possible. Nice story, but even more pointed for me as this happened on my birthday.

People of the Lie (20)

People of the Lie
M. Scott Peck
Read 7/28/09

Written by a doctor of psychiatry this is a look at people who are clinically evil. While this is not an officially recognized diagnosis, he maintains that it should be and provides some examples of different people. The examples are interesting, in some cases horrifying. I had trouble with the whole concept of evil, while the people in the examples definitely did some odd and destructive things, I have trouble calling it evil. This is my hangup, not necessarily the books. The Doctor is also a born again Christian and is very open about his faith and how it colors his out look, so that lost me to an extent also.
While I didn’t buy into everything in the book it was a worthwhile read.

You can visit the authors website at: http://www.mscottpeck.com/index.html

When Pine Was King (19)

When Pine Was King
Charles Lewis Reimann
Read 7/27/09

I had actually read this book several years ago and enjoyed it. Reimann wrote several books which I purchased used on Amazon. Unlike the previous book this was just about the lumber industry in Upper Michigan circa 1890’s, the boom years. It is a great look at life in the lumber camp and how the men lived and worked. Some of the stories in this book also appear in Between Iron and Pine. While not nearly as detailed as that book this is an enjoyable read, and I believe to be an accurate look at life in the woods.

Between Iron and Pine (18)

Between Iron and Pine
Charles Lewis Reimann
Read 7/19/09

Charles Reimann was born around the turn of the last century in Iron River Michigan back when it was a booming lumber and mining town. Part of a large German family he takes a detailed look at all aspects of his young life, from the lumber and mining industries to life at home, food, chores, winters and other day to day aspects of life. It is a great first hand account of the way life was in a UP town 100+ years ago.

I read a lot of books about Michigan history of this period and I think this is one of the best that I have read. It looks at many different aspects of life and gives you a real feel for what life was like.

Payback (17)

Payback
Margaret Atwood
Read 6/28/09

I had the opportunity to see Maraget Atwood speak last fall. Authors don't tour like rock starts so I was pleased to have the opportunity to hear her speak. She is very entertaing with a wicked sense of humor which surprised me but probably shouldn't have. Afterward I purchased a copy of her newest book Payback and she autographed it.

The book looks at the relationship between creditor and debtor, not just in money but in all exchanges.
The first section looked at Ancient balances and our sense of fairness and balance. Next she examined debt and sin, and their relationship in history. Next was debt as a plot. The last section was 'the Shadow Side' that looked at thing such as debtors prisons etc.

The book was interesting in its topic but the two thing that made it readable was first of all, Atwood's style of writing it in a very conversational way, as if you were sitting down with her and discussing it. The next thing that made it interesting was the examples in history.. it was a brief lesson in many subject that made it all the more enjoyable to read.

Forever War (16)

Forever War
Joe Halderman
Read 6/14/09

I have read science fiction by Halderman before, usually set in the future, usually with some over tone of war. This book starts out fine, about soldiers who sit in a room and "jack" together with their group to remotely control robot thousands of miles away fighting in an endless war. About 2/3 of the way through it the book takes a strange turn and starts going in several different directions which were not directly related to the beginning of the book. While it was not bad, I had trouble caring about what was going on, as it seemed very arbitrary and didn't really fit in well with the rest of the story.