Book Shelf:  2010 Books Link to Big Book Shelf: All Books 1999-2009

This web page lists all books reviewed by Steve Hopkins at http://bkrev.blogspot.com during 2010 as well as books pending (The Shelf of Possibility), or relegated to the Shelf of Reproach or the Shelf of Ennui. You can click on the title of a book or on the picture of any jacket cover to jump to amazon.com where you can purchase a copy of any book on this shelf.

Key to Ratings:
*****	Outstanding book-read it now
****	Highly recommended
***	Recommended
**	Mildly recommended
*	Read if your interest is strong
DNR	Do Not Read: Take a Pass

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Title (Click on Link to purchase at amazon.com)	Author(s)	Rating	Blog Date	Comments	Click on Picture to Purchase at amazon.com
The Room and the Chair	Adams, Lorraine	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in March 2010
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World	Ahamed, Liaquat	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2009
Have a Little Faith: A True Story	Albom, Mitch	***	4/8/10	Search. Readers looking for a touching story about real people will enjoy Mitch Album’s latest book, Have a Little Faith. He presents the lives of two men from different backgrounds, different faiths, and different places. Albert Lewis was the rabbi from Album’s hometown synagogue, and Henry Covington is an African American minister of a church in Detroit. What they share is hope and faith, and a love of God and people. These are inspiring lives that will lift the spirits of every reader.
The Promise: President Obama, Year One	Alter, Jonathan	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
The Pregnant Widow	Amis, Martin	****	6/2/10	Stratagems. Maybe Martin Amis will finally win the Booker prize. His new novel, The Pregnant Widow, set mostly in the summer of 1970, provides the sweep, language, imagery and character development of the quintessential English novel. Protagonist Keith Nearing has joined his girlfriend Lily in Italy for the summer, in the castle of her friend Scheherazade’s uncle Jorquil, the romantic target of another houseguest, Gloria Beautyman. A broader cast of engaging characters come and go, as the sexual revolution satisfies and teases Keith. He gets some of what he wants, more than he imagines, and then nothing at all. Throughout the summer, Keith is reading the English canon of great novels, as he plots stratagems to pursue his carnal interests. Through chapters set in the present and in-between, readers come to understand just how pivotal that summer was for Keith and others. Amis writes with great skill and fans of finely written literary novels are likely to appreciate the talent he displays here.
Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater	Amster, Matthew	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2009
Heyday	Andersen, Kurt	***	4/25/10	Details. Any reader picking up a work of historical fiction with over 600 pages of narrative should expect close attention to detail. Kurt Andersen delivers details by the yard in Heyday. Set in the mid-nineteenth century, readers who like that historical period will savor in what this book offers. Andersen sweeps across America from New York to California, while the events of the time come to boil and overflow. Science, adventure and love fill these pages with such detail that a reader feels present.
Good Things I Wish For You	Ansay, A. Manette	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in October 2009
Googled: The End of the World As We Know It	Auletta, Ken	***	2/25/10	Efficiency. Ken Auletta’s book, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It, presents the creation and explosive growth of the company that is also a verb: Google. This is a well-written account of the people and the culture, and shows off fine writing following significant access to key people. This is a story of the impact of efficiency: smart engineers who make things better. The success from their work is obvious; the fallout for others, especially traditional media companies (that Auletta knows well), would be less well done in the hands of a different author. Auletta excels at description, examples and insight. Googled melds personal stories with corporate culture and competitive behavior in ways that will interest many readers.
Invisible	Auster, Paul	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in August 2009
The Anthologist	Baker, Nicholson	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in September 2009
Deliver Us From Evil	Baldacci, David	**	6/14/10	Loss. I’m at a loss to understand why David Baldacci sells so many books. His latest, Deliver Us From Evil, reprises protagonist Shaw from an earlier novel, and introduces a new character, Reggie Campion. Katie James also appears in this novel. Reggie works as a killer for a vigilante organization that selects as targets criminals who have escaped justice, characters they call monsters. Think of the work as a battle of evil against evil. Shaw meets Reggie as his clandestine organization and Reggie’s have targeted the same monster. Set mostly in Provence, England and Labrador, the novel provides a fast-paced plot delivered with bite-sized chapters packed with poorly written dialogue. The descriptions of torture are too vivid and add nothing to but more unnecessary evil to the novel. Deliver us from Baldacci. Readers who like to stick to familiar authors will find action here, along with poor writing. Discriminating readers will find plenty of better choices from Daniel Silva or Alan Furst.
The Infinities	Banville, John	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
I'll Mature When I'm Dead: Dave Barry's Amazing Tales of Adulthood	Barry, Dave	**	6/14/10	Longer. I miss Dave Barry’s humor columns, so when a collection of 18 new and longer pieces was published as I'll Mature When I'm Dead: Dave Barry's Amazing Tales of Adulthood, I scooped up a copy. All but one of the pieces was new, and are packed with Barry’s trademark quirky humor. After the first half dozen or so, I found myself still laughing, but concluding that longer isn’t necessarily better. Barry honed his craft on shorter work, and having more space doesn’t necessarily lead to better writing. Most readers will laugh and enjoy each of these pieces. For my taste, shorter was better.
Blacklands	Bauer, Belinda	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Something Is Out There: Stories	Bausch, Richard	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
I Know I Am, But What Are You?	Bee, Samantha	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
The Midnight House	Berenson, Alex	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
The Last Time I Saw You	Berg, Elizabeth	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
The Paris Vendetta	Berry, Steve	***	4/25/10	Familiar. It could be that Steve Berry’s recurring protagonist, Cotton Malone, has started to grow on me. The sixth and latest thriller to feature the former Department of Justice hero is titled The Paris Vendetta, and reprises the Danish billionaire Henrik Thorvaldsen who wants to find out who killed his son. So, Cotton is hauled out of his Copenhagen bookstore on another adventure. Along the way there’s a search for Napoleon’s secret treasure. Berry isn’t a terrific writer, but readers who like a quick-to-read thriller might find a few entertaining hours reading this one.
Death Message: A Novel of Suspense	Billingham, Mark	***	1/16/10	Learning. No matter how much he already knows, Detective Inspector Tom Thorne continues to learn, and continues to make mistakes as he learns again. The latest thriller featuring Thorne is titled, Death Message, in which Thorne is receiving photos and messages from a killer. The ensemble cast of characters help and prod Thorne who acts both within and outside the constraints of proper procedure. Death Message is entertaining especially for those readers who like British detective fiction.
The Road from Ruin: How to Revive Capitalism and Put America Back on Top	Bishop, Matthew and Michael Green	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in March 2010
Elegy for April	Black, Benjamin	****	6/22/10	Family. Benjamin Black’s latest novel is titled Elegy for April. Quirke is back. Out of rehab for his alcoholism, Garret Quirke agrees to help his daughter find a missing friend. The writing is taut, with a great plot and well-developed characters. All the family relationships presented in the novel contain insights into these closest of relationships. Black is the pseudonym of award winning writer John Banville. The quality of writing here exceeds that of most mystery novels. The more Banville develops Quirke the more engaging a character he becomes. In this enjoyable installment, he’s almost endearing.
The Postmistress	Blake, Sarah	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
Dimiter	Blatty, William Peter	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
Where the God of Love Hangs Out	Bloom, Amy	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in March 2010
The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being	Bok, Derek	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
2666: A Novel	Bolano, Roberto	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in November 2009
Monsieur Pain	Bolano, Roberto	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
Ordinary Thunderstorms	Boyd, William	****	2/19/10	Stormy. There’s nothing ordinary about the thunder than rains on protagonist Adam Kindred’s life in William Boyd’s new thriller, Ordinary Thunderstorms. It takes a powerful suspension of disbelief to go along with Boyd as he transforms Adam from an academic climatologist to a homeless fugitive. Boyd’s writing is so fine that a reader’s disbelief remains suspended as Adam finds ways to survive and somewhat thrive under trying conditions. The descriptive language brings every scene to life, and the development of each character kept me engaged and interested throughout the novel. Ordinary Thunderstorms provides hours of entertaining reading, and enough unresolved by the end to expect and savor a rewarding sequel.
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion	Boyle, Gregory	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Wild Child and Other Stories	Boyle, T.C.	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
Boom! Aftershocks of the Sixties and Beyond	Brokaw, Tom	***		Read and not yet reviewed.
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History	Bunker, Nick	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right	Burns, Jennifer	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
You Better Not Cry	Burroughs, Augusten	***	4/25/10	Presents. Like much of life, the collection of stories from Augusten Burroughs titled, You Better Not Cry, represent a mix of the naughty and the nice. Readers are more likely to laugh than cry, although there are sad stories here that will at least lead to a wince. Burroughs knows how to write well, and each story is well constructed and accomplishes what the author set out to do. Some readers may prefer to read this away from the holiday season, so the lessons of disaster and redemption can be more distant from one’s own reality.
Parrot and Olive in America	Carey, Peter	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer	Carpenter, Novella	***	2/19/10	Locavore. I found myself both laughing and wincing as I read Novella Carpenter’s Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer. Any reader wanting to glimpse into a way of living that’s more likely than not to be opposite from one’s own will find a lot of reading pleasure here. Carpenter describes growing food as a squatter on a lot next to the apartment she rented, and also keeping bees, raising rabbits and even raising two pigs, all in the city of Oakland, California. Dumpster diving three times a week at gourmet restaurants to find food for the hogs made me wince. The smells of the place also came alive for me, and made me glad that I don’t live next door. Humor and lightheartedness reign throughout, and Carpenter tells a light story with grace and ease. Farm City may lead some readers to reconsider eating locally.
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains	Carr, Nicholas	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America	Carr, Patrick J. and Maria J. Kefalas	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in December 2009
The Rehearsal	Catton, Eleanor	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son	Chabon, Michael	****	1/2/10	Wordcraft. Michael Chabon knows how to turn a phrase. I’ve enjoyed his fiction, and was intrigued by his assembly of a bunch of essays in a collection titled, Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son. Each essay is candid and thoughtful, and for most readers, some element or other will resonate with one’s life experience. Chabon comes across as comfortable with himself and at ease in the disclosure of aspects of his life and behavior that others might withhold. He does this with the perfect choice of words and phrases, and never falling into the kind of disclosures that many readers find icky or uncomfortable. With skill, Chabon finds a balance in his writing, and his wit and wisdom kept me turning the pages of Manhood for Amateurs, occasionally re-reading a paragraph to enjoy how well we writes.
Trouble	Christensen, Kate	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in July 2009
Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It	Clarke, Richard A.	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Summertime	Coetzee, J.M.	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in December 2009
House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street	Cohan, William D.	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2009
I Am America (And So Can You)	Colbert, Stephen	***		Read and not yet reviewed.
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present	Collins, Gail	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In	Collins, Jim	***	1/16/10	Stages. I’ve liked the fact-based research approach that Jim Collins takes in writing his business books, specifically Good to Great and Built to Last. His latest book, How the Mighty Fall, examines the research on how companies decline, and what might be done to avert disaster. Collins structures decline into five stages, and provides brief examples of companies in each stage. Steps can be taken through four stages to overcome setbacks. Collins makes the point toward the end of the book, “… success is falling down, and getting up one more time, without end.” Any manager reading How the Mighty Fall will come away from the book with thoughts about how success can be achieved and disaster averted.
Nine Dragons	Connelly, Michael	***	1/2/10	Character. Michael Connelly’s fourteenth Harry Bosch novel is titled, Nine Dragons, and is set both in L.A. and Hong Kong. The pacing of this thriller engaged me from the beginning to the end. Harry Bosch is a complex character who works diligently and cares deeply for family. In Nine Dragons, those two elements converge as he works a homicide in L.A. that leads him to rush to Hong Kong to find his daughter who has been abducted. While both plot and character development are finely developed in this novel, the dialogue is often sketchy, and a lot of momentum takes the form of narrative. Fans of Bosch will enjoy this latest installment, and new readers can start here as easily as anyplace and come to enjoy reading exciting stories about an interesting character.
Intervention	Cook, Robin	**	5/5/10	Soliloquies. When Robin Cook talks to himself in his novels, is anyone listening? His latest novel, Intervention, is filled with long explanations of what Cook is trying to convey, and the tedious dialogue to deliver his messages became overwhelmingly frustrating at times. On the positive side, the return of protagonists Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery provided some entertainment. A trip to Rome added to the excitement, since Jack in New York can be more than a little manic. Readers who love medical thrillers may find some reading pleasure here, as will returning fans of Jack and Laurie. Other readers can find much better books to read.
The Burning Land	Cornwell, Bernard	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
The Future of Faith	Cox, Harvey	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in September 2009
All That Follows	Crace, Jim	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
The First Rule	Crais, Robert	***	2/12/10	Justice. Protagonist Joe Pike takes center stage in Robert Crais’ second novel to feature him titled, The First Rule. Pike’s cool and competent demeanor is put to the test when one of his guys is murdered. You don’t let one of your guys down, so Joe, always faithful, doggedly pursues the murderer in a page-turning thriller that deepens Pike’s character development just a little more than the previous book and in the Elvis Cole novels that included Pike as a character. Always a tough guy, Pike is aided in this novel by a supporting cast of heroes and villains that will delight those readers who love the achievement of justice even outside the system. Crais’ writing can often be clumsy, but plot and character offset any weaknesses in The First Rule. Any reader looking for a few hours of escapist entertainment will find pleasure from reading The First Rule.
Pirate Latitudes	Crichton, Michael	***	1/16/10	Escape. Thanks to the discovery of a completed manuscript, fans of the late Michael Crichton have another novel of his to read: Pirate Latitudes. Set in the late 17^th century, this novel is an action-packed romp around the Caribbean as protagonist Charles Hunter overcomes all odds, escapes peril at every turn, and makes friends as easily as he vanquishes enemies. The action is non-stop, the gore plentiful, and the plot twists frequent enough to keep the pages turning briskly. Any reader looking for entertaining escape fiction will find lots of pleasure in Pirate Latitudes.
The Passage	Cronin, Justin	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
The Silent Sea	Cussler, Clive	***	4/5/10	Reliable. The Clive Cussler brand of action writing continues to provide reliable entertainment to those readers who like strong heroes, evil enemies, and lots of adventurous action. In the seventh Oregon series novel titled, The Silent Sea, protagonist Juan Cabrillo leads a team into hostile Argentina to recover a NASA satellite. Some opportunistic Chinese have been partnering with Argentines in Antarctica, and much of the context for the novel involves ancient Chinese sailing ships. Juan and his team travel the world to confront enemies, solve mysteries, and restore world order. Not bad in 400 pages.
The Spy	Cussler, Clive	***	6/22/10	Pacing. The latest adventure novel to feature protagonist Isaac Bell is titled, The Spy, and most readers are likely to enjoy this well-paced book as perfect summer reading. Fans of Cussler will find the usual elements: highly skilled heroic protagonist; something featuring technological innovation; and plot momentum that keeps the pages turning swiftly. The novel is set in 1908 and the spies represent the superpowers of that time trying to build their forces before the first world war. Bell and the Van Dorn Detective Agency encounter a formidable opponent in the spy who is trying to set back America’s naval advancement. Bell again survives lots of close calls that supply the adrenalin rush in this exciting novel.
The Privileges	Dee, Jonathan	***	3/22/10	Detached. There’s a moral vacuum in the lives of the protagonists of Jonathan Dee’s new novel, The Privileges, the Morey family. Having acquired great wealth, some of which was gained illegally, Adam Morey has grown in wealth over the course of the novel, but not in conscience or character. Despite philanthropy, Cynthia Morey seems to live an unexamined life that comes across as empty and ordinary when money is stripped away. The children have received everything they want, leading them nowhere. Each of the Moreys has an expectation of entitlement that detaches them from the experience of living in relationships with close friends. For those who wonder why a lot of money is never enough for some, here’s a great quote, “Success was a fortress at which fear constantly ate away.” The unsatisfying lives of the Moreys provides some entertainment, but little insight for readers looking to novels for deeper understanding about life.
Point Omega	DeLillo, Don	***	3/5/10	Focus. After finishing Don DeLillo’s novel, Point Omega, I closed the book and had two immediate reactions: “huh?” and “wow.” Protagonist Richard Elster is in the California desert reflecting on his life and the role he played in helping plan the invasion of Iraq in 2003. With a funnel-like focus, DeLillo deconstructs Elster’s troubling questions. The title refers to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s notion that humans are evolving a consciousness that is moving toward a point of exhaustion that could lead to paroxysm or to the sublime. Readers will choose for ourselves one or the other by the end of Point Omega. I find that I keep thinking about the art exhibit DeLillo uses in the novel, the 24 hour Psycho, in which the Hitchcock movie is played at a slow speed to cover a full 24 day. In that way, one’s focus moves to elements not observed at the regular rate. The focus that DeLillo demands will reward some readers and frustrate others.
The Storm	DeMoor, Margriet	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Bad Things Happen	Dolan, Harry	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2009
The Dead Republic	Doyle, Roddy	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Sacred Hearts	Dunant, Sarah	***	3/22/10	Cloistered. Sarah Dunant transports readers into a convent in 16^th century Italy to tell an engaging story about the lives of women during that period. Sacred Hearts is a well-told story featuring a cast of fully developed characters who reveal so many aspects of human nature and the range of our behavior that at times I forgot the action was taking place behind the walls of a cloistered Benedictine convent. The Council of Trent has just ended and reforms are being implemented by bishops. Convent life is about to change, and the convent of Santa Caterina in the town of Ferrara is trying to keep a low profile and maintain good relations with their bishop. The abbess, Madonna Chiara, is equal parts CEO and politician, and she runs convent meetings expertly, charms money from the local swells, and gives the bishop what he wants. Born to a noble Ferrara family, Chiara has lived inside the convent since she was a child. The novice mistress, Suora Umiliana, would like the convent to return to greater simplicity and mortification of the flesh. A newly arrived novice, Serafina, provides the tension in the novel. She’s been sent to the nunnery to end what he father considered an undesirable relationship with a fellow musician. She’s mentored by protagonist Suora Zuana, who was also sent to the convent against her will following the death of her physician father. Zuana is the dispensary mistress and provides medical care to the nuns. Sacred Hearts is fine historical fiction that will captivate any reader who enjoys good writing and the joy of arriving in an unfamiliar place and uncovering a full range of behavior that displays human nature.
Submarine	Dunthorne, Joe	***	5/5/10	Youth. Readers looking for something new and creative to read might want to try Joe Dunthorne’s debut novel, Submarine. The protagonist, Oliver Tate, is an almost-fifteen-year-old living in Swansea, Wales. The log of his daily observations reveals a precocious child on the one hand, and an adolescent bully on the other. His observations of his parents lead him on an investigation, as he looks to lose his virginity. Dunthorne’s writing kept my interest throughout, and he offers a new voice that I found quite entertaining.
Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed	Easterbrook, Gregg	***	4/5/10	Clamor. I think that Gregg Easterbrook makes a single forceful point in his book, Sonic Boom: Globalization at Mach Speed: worldwide development is booming and the change will be messy, loud and disruptive. I kept thinking as I read this book that Tom Friedman presented much of this in his recent books. In a single global market where goods and services will be both cheaper and more widely available, entrenched players need to be nimble. Sonic Boom is an optimistic and opinionated view of the world economy that readers may find agreeable or disagreeable with one’s own view. Easterbrook presents no clear data to support his views, but I find his writing engaging enough to hear his views whether backed by facts or not.
A Visit from the Goon Squad	Egan, Jennifer	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America	Egan, Timothy	***	5/5/10	Proven. Do yourself a favor and consider reading Timothy Egan’s book, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America. August 2010 will mark the hundredth anniversary of the largest wildfire in American history, one that consumed three million acres of Western land. Teddy had just left office, and his head of forestry, Gifford Pinchot, was under fire from member of Congress who were questioning the need for forest rangers, who were seen as good for nothing. Egan does a fine job in telling the story of the fire, the people and the impact of this catastrophe on the century that followed it.
Zeitoun	Eggers, Dave	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in September 2009
I Am Not Sidney Poitier	Everett, Percival	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2009
Hell Gate	Fairstein, Linda	***	4/5/10	History. Linda Fairstein’s 12^th mystery novel featuring assistant district attorney Alexandra Cooper is titled, Hell Gate. This time out, the crime topic is human trafficking, and the subject of the history lesson about New York City is the story of some old large mansions that have not been torn down as the city has grown. Politics, crime, corruption and connections are sufficient enough to allow most readers to sit through the history class sections of the book to savor the unfolding action. Alex’s partner, Mike Chapman, keeps the repartee and tension sharp, and Alex’s French friend, Luc, remains an invisible presence this time out. I liked the history lessons in Hell Gate, but for some readers, the slowing of the action might be a distraction. Fans will appreciate every page that features this finely developed female protagonist.
The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers	Falsani, Cathleen	***	1/2/10	Lenses. Cathleen Falsani seems to have had fun writing her latest book, The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers. My guess is that she was able to write it over the course of a long weekend or two. In The Dude Abides, Falsani presents the fourteen major Coen brothers films using a three-part structure for each film. She provides a high level summary of the film in the section titled, “The Forest.” The longest section is titled, “The Trees” and in that one she sometimes laboriously provides a more detailed description of what happens in the film. She wraps up each film with her conclusion in the section titled, “The Moral of the Story.” Falsani loves these films, and given her perspective as a journalist who writes about religion, she applies a religious lens to her view of each film. While most filmgoers and readers would agree with Falsani that the Coens tackle some confounding questions in their films, my guess is that a minority would view these films in a way that matches Falsani’s. I kept thinking after reading about a film whether she and I saw the same movie. Nonetheless, her love for the films comes out in The Dude Abides, and each of us brings our own perspective. It’s interesting to read here a perspective that found aspects of these films that I would not have considered in a million years. Any teacher will find something interesting here to stimulate class discussion.
The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11	Farmer, John	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better	Farrell, Chris	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
A Week in December	Faulks, Sebastian	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
The Vikings	Ferguson, Robert	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
The Unnamed	Ferris, Joshua	****	2/19/10	Surrender. I’ve never read a novel like Joshua Ferris’ new book, The Unnamed. Readers are likely to love or hate it; I’m closer to the love end, thanks to Ferris’ fine writing. Protagonist Tim Farnsworth suffers from a mysterious (unnamed) disease that compels him to walk until he’s exhausted. His wife, Jane, brings meaning to the worse part of “for better or for worse” as she drops whatever she’s doing to rescue Tim from wherever he’s collapsed after his forced walking. The Unnamed presents marriage from many perspectives and with great skill, especially on the ways in which love endures all, and the sacrifice one can make out of love for another. Tim ends up surrendering his career as a high-powered lawyer because of this disease. His daughter Becka cares for him while Jane works, and their relationship provides a strong motif in the novel. Ferris deals with all aspects of surrender in The Unnamed: to illness, to the loss of work, to not being able to live with the one you love. The transformation of Tim and his family in this novel will leave all readers thinking about identity and what changes when one surrenders to forces that are uncontrollable.
The Good Soldiers	Finkel, David	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in December 2009
The Kingdom of Ohio	Flaming, Matthew	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City	Flint, Anthony	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in August 2009
The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity	Florida, Richard	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Apple Turnover Murder	Fluke, Joanne	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
Plum Pudding Murder	Fluke, Joanne	***	1/9/10	Salivating. The mystery in Joanne Fluke’s latest novel, Plum Pudding Murder, was quite easy to solve. The pleasure in reading the entire book with one’s mystery appetite sated comes from the delight in the many recipes included, the descriptions of which led me to salivate on occasion. Readers looking for light and pleasant reading, alongside calorie-rich sweets will find lots of pleasure on these pages.
How Capitalism Will Save Us: Why Free People and Free Markets Are the Best Answer in Today's Economy	Forbes, Steve and Elizabeth Ames	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in December 2009
The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street	Fox, Justin	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2009
Freedom	Franzen, Jonathan	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Faithful Place	French, Tana	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All	Fry, Stephen	Ennui	1/9/10	Homage. Humorist Stephen Fry has published an interesting book and TV series as a homage to the United States titled, Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All. I ended up watching the television version of this and enjoyed it. The book version looked interesting, but I lost interest in reading it, and just turned the pages, looking at some of the pictures and remembering the TV version. Either medium presents a lively and engaging view of the creative Fry, who but for a twist of fate, might have grown up in the USA.
Spies of the Balkans	Furst, Alan	****	6/14/10	Choices. Alan Furst’s latest spy novel is titled, Spies of the Balkans. Set in Salonika, Greece in 1940, protagonist Constantine Zannis faces personal and professional choices as rumors of a Nazi invasion grow. Furst presents and develops Zannis as an ordinary and likeable character who is presented with choices during crisis. As a reader, I was compelled to reflect on whether or not I would have made the same heroic choices that Zannis does in this book. I concluded that his personal courage far exceeded my own, but remained believable. When asked to assist in the safe transport of Jews from central Europe through Greece to Turkey, Zannis readily responded with skill. Beyond fine character development, what Furst does well in this book as in his earlier work is to describe the places and period with such care that readers feel immersed in the situations presented. Any reader who loves this period and genre will find much to appreciate from these pages.
An Echo in the Bone	Gabaldon, Diana	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in September 2009
The Man in the Wooden Hat	Gardam, Jane	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
The Sellout: How Three Decades of Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System	Gasparino, Charles	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in October 2009
Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime	Gates, Sr., Bill	***	2/25/10	Philosophy. Each chapter in Bill Gates, Sr.’s book, Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime, conveys a tidbit of wisdom, a family story, an anecdote that provides a building block in the development of one’s personal philosophy. Each of us decides how we choose to live, and in Showing Up for Life, Mr. Gates makes it clear that some of those decisions are as simple as deciding whether to be present or not. Most decisions, though, involve a sense of purpose or duty. After reading this book, it’s easy to understand why Bill Gates, Jr. looks up to his father, and also easy to understand why philanthropy is of such importance to this family. Any reader who enjoys listening to the wisdom of elders will enjoy this book, and every parent will find something on these pages to emulate in one’s own family.
The Missing	Gautreaux, Tim	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in November 2009
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right	Gawande, Atul	***	3/12/10	Protection. Atul Gawande has written another thoughtful book, this one titled, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. In it, Gawande highlights a simple method to provide protection against failure: a checklist. Even the most expert professionals can benefit from help in the form of a structured approach to ensure that communication and engagement occurs among team members working together to achieve results. He examines the way pilots and builders use detailed checklists, and describes how the use of a surgery checklist led to improved results. His writing style allows readers to remain fully engaged, and any expert upon finishing the book, will be hard pressed to conclude that those involved in complex work can get by without a tool like a checklist. Resistance is futile: try a checklist as protection against unintended ineptitude.
The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible	Geiger, John	***		Read and not yet reviewed.
Two of the Deadliest: New Tales of Lust, Greed, and Murder from Outstanding Women of Mystery	George, Elizabeth	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage	Gilbert, Elizabeth	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
What the Dog Saw	Gladwell, Malcolm	***	6/2/10	Addictive. Malcolm Gladwell has assembled a collection of his articles from The New Yorker into a new book titled, What the Dog Saw. Although I had read most of these articles when they were first published, they still felt fresh as I re-read them. Gladwell’s writing style is always interesting and compelling, and his approach is often creative and unusual. The result is an enjoyable reading experience, especially for those readers who prefer short doses of reading on a variety of topics.
Unfinished Desires	Godwin, Gail	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction	Goldstein, Rebecca	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
The Cookbook Collector	Goodman, Allegra	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis	Gore, Al	Ennui	1/16/10	I skimmed this, and read the captions for many illustrations. The whole book was too textbook-like for my liking, so I decided to take a pass.
Drink, Play, F@#k: One Man's Search for Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas, and Thailand	Gottlieb, Andrew	*	2/12/10	Adolescent. Parody can be the funniest of all types of humor, so it was with high expectations that when I saw the book cover of Andrew Gottlieb’s, Drink, Play, F@#k, as a match to Elizabeth Gilbert’s popular Eat, Pray, Love, I picked it up with relish. I had given Gilbert a two-star rating, and never bothered to write a review. Following a divorce, protagonist Bob Sullivan decides to let himself go loose for the first time in his life, and see what happens. His first step was to drink, and he did that with gusto in Ireland, meeting compatible characters and telling stories to all who would listen. I wish this book had such gusto, but the drinking episode came across as maudlin. The pace picked up when Bob heads to Vegas to play, and along the way meets a guru who guides him through the Vegas games. The gambling, golfing and playing had little humor and unexceptional stories. At just the right time, the guru suggests the pleasures of Thailand, and Bob ends up in a remote resort to enjoy great physical satisfaction, until a car accident. While I laughed at times, there just wasn’t enough laughter to make the full parody work. By the end of the book, I couldn’t care less what happened to Bob.
U is for Undertow	Grafton, Sue	***		Read and not yet reviewed.
By His Own Rules- The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld	Graham, Bradley	Shelf of Ennui	3/26/10	Raw. I’ve had Bradley Graham’s massive biography of Donald Rumsfeld sitting around for almost a year. Titled By His Own Rules, this book provides an extensive look at one of the most beguiling characters of recent decades. I plodded through about 250 pages, and then stalled out. I had come to the point at which Rummy became the Secretary of Defense. Probably because so much of what happened under his tenure remains raw, I didn’t have the enthusiasm to keep reading, despite several attempts. More hearty readers might plow on, but my heart wasn’t in it.
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession	Grann, David	***	3/26/10	Eclectic. David Grann’s book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, will appeal to all readers who enjoy fine writing about an astonishing array of real people. In fiction, many of these characters would be dismissed as implausible, certainly as more extreme that we would see in the real world. Grann chooses people whose work or lives grabbed his attention, and he uses his writing skills to present these people and their stories to readers in ways that fit a short form well, and for me, left me wanting to learn more about many of these people.
Home for Christmas	Greeley, Andrew M.	***		Read and not yet reviewed.
The Red Queen	Gregory, Philippa	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Ford County	Grisham, John	***	3/22/10	Story. I enjoyed reading each of the seven short stories in John Grisham’s Ford County. Grisham writes crisply on these pages, providing readers with just the right amount of description and character development. He delivers well-told stories here, with characters that are memorable and situations that reveal the breadth of human behavior. While I have been entertained by some, but not all, of Grisham’s novels, I found these stories to be engaging and entertaining and recommend them to any reader who enjoys a well-written story.
The Thousand	Guilfoyle, Kevin	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Boom!	Haddon, Mark	***	6/2/10	Spunky. I decided to read Mark Haddon’s new novel, Boom!, because I thought his debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night was the best debut novel of 2003. The new novel is a rewrite of an earlier work of Haddon that was a bit of a publishing flop. As a result of Haddon’s rewrite, Boom is a fun book that will appeal especially to pre-teens. I laughed, and expect that kids who read this will enjoy it. Consider it for a vacation book to read aloud in the car.
The Capitol Game	Haig, Brian	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator	Hall, Tarquin	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010
Tinkers	Harding, Paul	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in May 2010
Basketball Jones	Harris, E. Lynn	*		Read and not yet reviewed.
Conspirata	Harris, Robert	****	4/8/10	Alliances. The second novel of Robert Harris’ life of Cicero is titled, Conspirata, and I found I liked it even better than the first book, Imperium. Politics does make strange bedfellows, and Cicero finds himself isolated by changing alliances among his opponents. The financial and personal consequences are severe, and the orator can’t talk his way out of this jam. The mob and the army have senators who use them effectively, also to Cicero’s detriment. The Rome that Cicero saved seems to be a wholly different place. Readers who love historical fiction will savor the way in which Harris makes this tumultuous period of Roman history come alive, and how the character of Cicero becomes more complete and complex.
The Farmer’s Daughter	Harrison, Jim	***	1/9/10	Desires. Jim Harrison’s new book The Farmer’s Daughter contains three novellas, each of which contains a reference to Patsy Cline’s “The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me.” The novella form is a perfect vehicle for Harrison’s spare writing style. He covers a lot of ground with few words. In each novella, characters are developed clearly and a tight plot brings readers into lives that are both dark and lively. The strong desires of key characters are exploited by Harrison with humor and poignancy. I read each novella in a single setting, and marveled at the way in which The Farmer’s Daughter presents our human condition with great insight and skill.
The Third Rail	Harvey, Michael	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in June 2010
Union Atlantic	Haslett, Adam	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in March 2010
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard	Heath, Chip and Dan Heath	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in January 2010
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle	Hedges, Chris	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in July 2009
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime	Heilemann, John and Mark Halperin	***	3/12/10	Inside. John Heilemann and Mark Halperin must have talked to everyone involved in the 2008 presidential race. The result is titled, Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, an insider’s view of the feats and foibles inside each major candidate’s campaign. This is required reading for political junkies, for whom every step and misstep can be savored. For those interested in the dirt, within days of release, the most startling revelations were covered in the press. I was less interested in the gossip, and more intrigued by strategy and execution. With even the short distance from these events, it is easy to see the gaps in the Clinton and McCain strategies that led to their losses. At times the level of backbiting and infighting among staffers of the same candidate made me feel like I was reading about high school cliques. Any reader looking for a distraction from the current political mauling over healthcare will find a few hours of gossipy revelation and a bit of insight into strategy and execution on the pages of Game Change.
Horns	Hill, Joe	***	3/22/10	Devilry. Any reader looking for fun that includes an imaginative plot and finely written dialogue will find a lot to like on the pages of Joe Hill’s latest novel, Horns. Protagonist Ignatius William Perrish awakes following a night of heaving drinking and other bad stuff to discover that he has grown a set of horns. A side effect of the horns is that after he touches other people they tell him things that they would normally keep secret. Hill uses this novel to explore the nature of good and evil and the battle of these forces within each of us and in the world. It’s also novel of love, loss, and plenty of snakes. Another horn in the novel is the instrument played by Ig’s brother, Terry. Hill finds a place in the novel to reference every phrase about the devil we’ve ever heard. Character depth remains shallow, and while I read Horns swiftly, the pace slowed often enough to lead to some level of annoyance with wanting things to move along. Hill’s writing and vivid descriptions kept me going, and by the last page I realized that the whole book was fun to read.
Mortal Friends	Hitchcock, Jane Stanton	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in July 2009
Hitch-22: A Memoir	Hitchens, Christopher	***	6/22/10	Separation. Christopher Hitchens has a way with words, and he displays that skill in his memoir, Hitch-22. He’s a reluctant memoirist, and that shows by how much about his life he neglects to mention on these pages. His detachment from his own life seemed to make the book even more interesting. In the six degrees of separation, it seems that Hitchens can make most connections around the world in two or three. The cast of characters mentioned on these pages reads like a who’s who of global and literary affairs of the past four decades. The book also abounds with political theory and intellectual ostentation that will please many readers while alienating others. For me, it was a pleasure to sit back and listen to his life stories told with such finely selected words and to hear him place the greatest emphasis on his own astute and immense intellect and persona.
Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street	Ho, Karen	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in February 2010
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science	Holmes, Richard	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in August 2009
Next	Hynes, James	Unread		Added to Shelf of Possibility in April 2010