Book Review Friday: Dead Wake

 

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
By Erik Larson


I thought I knew about the Lusitania.  Heck, we all learned about it in school, didn't we?  Now I know better.   Even though I knew the outcome I was caught up in Erik Larson's narrative. Told from the varying perspectives of the passengers and crew of the Lusitania, the German captain of the u-boat that fired the fateful torpedo, and the movers and shakers in the British, German, and United States governments, Larson does an amazing job of pulling all the facts together and weaving a tale of thrills and suspense out of an historic event.   I listened to the audio book narrated by Scott Brick, he was an excellent narrator.

If you liked Dead Wake you might like:

Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy and the End of the Victorian Age by Greg King and Penny Wilson
Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy by John P. Easton

Also by Erik Larson:
Isaac's Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Thunderstruck
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Friday ... again

Do you know what happens when you try to read three books at once?  Especially when one of them is for the book discussion you're leading next week?

You don't finish any of them by Friday. 

I"m reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan for our book discussion next week.  I'm loving it.  But I wonder how the group will like it's techie view of the world.  I'll find out next Thursday and let you know.

In the car I'm listening to Dead Wake by Erik Larson.  How can a book, when you already know the ending be so darned thrilling?  I'll tell you.  Erik Larson is a genius at building suspense.  Chapters are going round robin, from the Lusitania to the U20 (German U-Boat), to the Room 40 (Code room in London intercepting German messages to its submarines), and to the various politicians at the head of the governments involved (especially Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson).  Larson is painting a picture and with each stroke of his pen it becomes more detailed and clear.  Can you guess how I feel about this book so far?

On my eReader I've got Lawrence Block's Burglar in the Library.  I haven't actually started it.  But it's waiting for me as soon as I finish Penumbra, which might be today, depending on how energetic I'm feeling about getting the housework done.  And since I've got a wicked cold, that's not very energetic at all.
 

Ah well, stay tuned, more book reviews are on their way.

Book Review Friday: The Book of Speculation

The Book of Speculation
By Erika Swyler

Long Island librarian Simon Watson receives a mysterious book in the mail that seems to explain his family’s history.  It’s a history of mermaids, women who work in carnivals as swimmers and breathe holders, women who die before they’re thirty by drowning and always on July 24th.  And now his sister is coming home in July and Simon is desperate to keep history from repeating itself.
Swyler tells two stories, that of Simon, a confused, depressed young man trying to cope with his own personal tragedies; and his ancestors who worked in traveling carnivals and had tragedies of their own.  The pace and the tension build as the stories converge.  The author uses elements of magical realism to tell her tale of carnivals, tarot, and most important the ties that bind families together.
The details of Long Island locales were great except that Swyler's view of how libraries in Suffolk County are run is more imagination than reality.  And as a librarian in Suffolk County I'm in a position to know.  But once I decided to suspend disbelief over that little detail I enjoyed the story very much.  I listened to the audio narrated by Ari Fliakos.  He did a great job.  If you like audiobooks give this one a try.

For more stories with touches of magic you may like:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

For more books about librarians, you may like:

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Murder Past Due by Miranda James

For books set on Long Island try:

The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra

Book Review Friday: Saint's Gate

Saint's Gate: A Novel of Suspense
Bu Carla Neggers

Heron’s Cove is a beautiful, scenic town on the coast of Maine.  Home to scenic overlooks, trendy boutiques, and the Convent of the Sisters of the Joyful Heart.  It is also the longtime home of Emma Sharpe, whose family owns the world renowned Sharpe Fine Art Recovery firm, specializing in solving high end art thefts.  Emma was once a postulant at the convent, but left before taking her final vows.  Now she works for the FBI.  A call from Sister Joan at the convent draws Emma into a mystery surrounding a painting and then Sister Joan is murdered and the painting disappears.

Half an hour up the Maine coast is tiny village of Rock Point.  Lobstermen make their home here. And so do the Donovans, four rugged, independent brothers and their parents.   Colin Donovan is one of the FBI’s most valuable deep cover assets.  Home recuperating from a dangerous mission, Colin gets drawn into the mystery at the convent. 

Emma and Colin, highly trained, independent, and wary, must learn to trust one another as they work together to catch a killer and find the missing painting before anyone else dies.

Saint’s Gate is the first book in Carla Neggers’ FBI series, featuring Agents Sharpe and Donovan.  The sparks fly as these two strong, complicated characters solve crimes and fall in love.  Neggers’ narrative provides beautiful descriptions of the Maine coast as well as Ireland.  The mystery is intriguing and the suspense builds to a surprising twist of an ending.  The romance that blossoms between Emma and Colin is no surprise, but their complex pasts add just enough tension to keep the relationship interesting. 

I read Saint's Gate, but listened to Heron's Cove.  I recommend skipping the audio versions.  The narrator wasn't the best and Neggers' prose is not well suited to reading aloud. 

Hot as opposed to steamy, I could recommend this romantic suspense series to my mother without blushing. 

Other books in the Sharpe And Donovan Series
Heron’s Cove

Declan’s Cross

Harbor Island

Keeper’s Reach

If you like Carla Neggers’ Sharpe and Donovan Series you may like:

The Callahan & McLane series by Kendra Elliot

The Buchanan novels by Julie Garwood

The Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle

And books by:

J. D. Robb

Sandra Brown

Christine Feehan

Jennifer Crusie

Amanda Quick
Iris Johansen

Linda Howard

Book Review Friday: The Thin Man

 

I've been a fan of Nick and Nora Charles for years ... the William Powell and Myrna Loy version via the Thin Man movie franchise.  I finally decided it was time to read the book and find out where it all started.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett is a New York Noir 1930s potboiler detective story.   Nick Charles is a retired detective married to Nora, an heiress who has come into her fortune.  Like others of the fashionable 1930's social set, they spend their time traveling, partying, and drinking.  During Christmas week in Manhattan, Nick runs in to the daughter of an old client.  Dorothy Wynant asks Nick for help finding her father, the inventor, Clyde Miller Wynant, who hasn't been seen in over three months.  Nick gives Dorothy a simple suggestion and moves on to his next drink with Nora.  But things start happening and soon Nick and Nora are up to their necks in murder.

This was a quick read and a lot of fun.  The story got bogged down once as Nick told a long, convoluted story about cannibals to young Gilbert Wynant, but aside from that it was a fast-paced story, long on dialogue and action, short on descriptions.

I read the book and listened to the audio, narrated by William Dufris.   Dufris's narration was excellent.  Tho' his voice for Dorothy might have been too spot on, that bratty whine occasionally got on my nerves!

If you want more Dashiell Hammett try:

The Maltese Falcon 
The Glass Key

For more gritty, noir detective novels try these authors:

The Philip Marlowe series by Raymond Chandler, start with The Big Sleep
The Spenser series by Robert B. Parker, start with The Godwulf Manuscript
The Amos Walker series by Loren Estleman, start with Motor City Blue
The Michael Kelly series by Michael Harvey, start with The Chicago Way

Book Review Friday: Eighty Days

 

Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
Truth be told, I had never heard of Elizabeth Bisland, and while I know the name Nellie Bly I did not know she ever raced the iconic Phileas Phogg around the world.  So I was intrigued when this book came across my desk and I added it to my never-ending To Be Read list.  I'm glad it made it's way to the top.
Eighty Days takes place in 1889, when Nellie Bly was a young reporter working for the World newspaper, specializing in undercover and investigative work.  As a stunt to help boost circulation Bly's editor agreed to allow her to attempt a trip around the world in less than the time it took Jules Verne's Phileas Phogg in Around the World in Eight Days. Bly left New York headed east across the Atlantic on November 14, 1889, and using only conventional modes of travel intended to return in approximately 75 days.  Across town, the editor of The Cosmopolitan magazine decided to send his own female journalist west across the continent in an attempt to beat Nellie Bly home.  And thus Elizabeth Bisland was launched into the race with just a few hours notice.
This book by Matthew Goodman, part history, part biography, part travelogue tells the tale of this remarkable race across time and around the globe.  Goodman alternates between the travels of both journalists as he describes the lives and times of these remarkable women.  Traveling alone, when it was almost unheard of for a lady to do so, these women encountered inclement weather, illness, missed connections, and unusual cultures and climates.  Included in his narrative are details of the history of journalism and the vast expanse of the British Empire under Queen Victoria.  A fascinating glimpse into the Victorian Age and a race that caught the imagination of the entire world.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Kathe Mazur.  Ms. Mazur's narration was even, well-paced, and made listening a pleasure, even when the book seemed to run a little long.

If you like this you might also like:

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

The Woman Who Walked to Russia: A Writer's Search for a Lost Legend by Cassandra Pybus

The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-bats in Nineteenth Century New York by Matthew Goodman

Audio Books Go Mainstream

"Once I had a secret love ... my secret love's no secret, anymore." (from the movie Calamity Jane).

Well the secret is definitely out!  Audio books are moving front and center in the publishing world.  Check out this article at the Wall Street Journal, "Can You Hear Me Now? The New Explosion in Audio Books" for a discussion of what's going on in the audio world.  Now that, in the words of Hachette Audio VP, Anthony Goffe, "Everybody has an audio book player in their pocket at this point" sales have taken off.  In fact, Hachette has seen their sales go up over 30% in the past year.
Of course, not quite everyone has a smart phone, but we're getting there and the major audio book publishers as well as straight downloadable companies like Audible (part of the Amazon corporation) are taking full advantage.  This is great news for libraries and lovers of audio books because higher demand is bringing prices down and expanding the list of available titles for downloadable audios and  traditional CDs alike.
While the debate will go on about whether or not listening to a book is the same as reading it or better or worse, the fact remains that audio books are here to stay.  Not just for the visually impaired, but also for the commuter, the treadmill user, the crafter, and the dozens of other reasons that people choose to listen rather than read.
Personally, I listen while I commute.  Nothing to heavy, I've found there are certain books that require too much concentration to make good commuter fair.  But in some cases I have found that listening to a book actually enhanced the experience.  One recent title that comes to mind is Sutton by J R Moehringing.  The print version was leaving me cold, the narration by Dylan Baker brought the book to life for me.
Haven't tried an audio book yet?  You never know what you might like until you try.