The Hunger Games

I got this book two days after it’s release and was done in less than one. This is definitely one of those books that you can read over and over and still not get bored. It’s like a whole new adventure every time. I cant decide if I should label it a “girl book” or a “boy book” since the story seems to swing back and forth. There is a lot of weapons and fighting and at the same time [...]

The Hunger Games

Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them!

Goldman, Goldman! I don’t think I have a seen a book that has got as many negative reviews as this one. The author does not only manage to offend a really large group of people by his supposedly sexist comments and get himself accused of plagiarism since most of the images in the book are copied from somewhere else, but he also makes the list of the top 100 people who are screwing up America. And yes, this is actually [...]

Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them!

One Day

I decided to check out this book after hearing and seeing quite a number of people raving about it. Unfortunately I can’t really say I enjoyed it. If you like David Nicholls books then yes, you will most likely enjoy this one too. I felt it to be too depressing. It is written almost as if it is a screen play. The dialogue is crisp and the scenes are described so vividly you can almost see them. Throughout the book, [...]

One Day

The Trouble With Aid why less could mean more

This is one of those books that you will either really enjoy or get really offended by. Glennie, the author, argues that government aid to Africa actually has many very harmful effects. He claims that aid has often meant more poverty, more hungry people, worse basic services for poor people and damage to already precarious democratic institutions. He is not just saying this from the top of his head. Through an honest assessment of both the positive and negative consequences [...]

The Trouble With Aid why less could mean more

The Help

Ordinarily I would pass on a book about America in the south in the 50’s and 60’s since I’ve already read so much about this period I feel like there is nothing I’ve not seen. But a friend of mine recommended this book and I have to admit it did surprise me. The story is about a young white woman in the early 1960s in Mississippi who becomes interested in the plight of the African / African America maids. She [...]

The Help

The Girl Who Played with Fire

I found this book to be a solid sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in fact, I may have liked it ever better than the first. In this book we learn more about Salander. Skillfully exposed throughout the course of the novel, bits and pieces of her background appear until by the end a full picture has emerged. Some satisfying, some not so satisfying. A couple points easily guessed early on. She’s a fascinating character, and the parts [...]

The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a masterwork of fine craftsmanship. When I reached the final page I was disappointed that there was no more to read. I did not want the story to end. The characters are too intriguing for this to be the end. Apparently this was the first novel in a trilogy by the brilliant writer, Stieg Larsson, who unfortunately died in 2004: the book contains a tribute to him and his career. I cannot wait [...]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940-1945

So many books have been written about Churchill, in particular about the wartime years, that another biography might be needless. However, Max Hastings presents a wonderfully balanced portrait of the man, the politician and the statesman. While in no way a revisionist history, Hastings has used distance and time to place Churchill’s immense contribution in historical perspective. It is fascinating to compare the Churchill revealed in the “War Diaries of Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke” (from which Mr. Hastings quotes) with [...]

Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

Tarquin Hall’s new “cozy”, is a great read for those interested in India, its people, and its customs. “Died Laughing” is Hall’s second mystery, and again features Vish Puri, a 50-something detective in Delhi who bills himself as India’s “Most Private Investigator”. He’s often called on by public officials to look into crimes, as well as investigating for private clients. Puri also has a large family; wife, children, mother, and siblings as well as a large cast of “operatives”, who [...]

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

So Cold the River

This book begins with The protagonist Eric Shaw at a funeral watching with the family the DVD video that he created of the deceased’s life. He was trained as a film maker but has had issues with the people he worked with. When he has to take inderal and Xanax to get though the funeral you can figure that anxiety is one of his issues. After the funeral the sister of the deceased asks him to go to her father [...]

So Cold the River