A race through American history for the Fourth of July

The Lost Constitution by William Martin


My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I was given a hardcover edition of this book by the publisher at a publishing event several years ago.

William Martin has had much success at writing historical fiction, and after reading this book it is easy to see why. What a fun read!

When a terrorist plot on America is thwarted, politicians respond by urging repeal of the Second Amendment and a nationwide debate on the meaning of the Constitution begins. At the same time, two apparently unrelated individuals are found dead -- an elderly mill worker and a Dartmouth professor researching the narrow period in American History between the time of the Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution. After being contacted by the professor's research assistant about some rare documents the professor was chasing, antiquarian books dealer Peter Fallon realizes that the deaths may be related. In the course of his investigation, Fallon learns of the possible existence of an original draft of the Constitution that was annotated by some of the Framers with their thoughts on certain provisions, a document that has never been found. Fallon is approached by several parties to the Second Amendment discussion, including the Congresswoman who is leading the charge for repeal, a media mogul with his own publicity agenda, and a prominent judge who is associated with a group of gun-rights activists. Fallon agrees to search for the document, and the race is on. In the course of the search, Fallon and his girlfriend are marked for murder and kidnapping as they struggle to secure the document before it falls into the hands of those who might destroy it if it does not support their views.

In The Lost Constitution Martin has not only crafted an intriguing story, he tells it in an original and highly engrossing way. In chapters that alternate between the present and the past, the reader learns how the draft came to be, how it was stolen from an aide to a delegate from the Constitutional Convention, and then watches as the document changes hands against the backdrop of watershed moments in American history. Along the way, the reader is treated to the elements of a good saga: murders, betrayals, family grudges and love stories. Martin artfully seeds the story of the lost draft with discussions of how the document would have profound implications for a national issue at each stage of history: thus, during the Civil War, it is sought for its insights as to what the Framers thought about slavery and the right of secession; in the early 1900's women's suffrage is the issue of the day; and in the present, in addition to the gun issue, the question of the separation of Church and State drives a prominent Christian conservative to join the quest for the draft.

Lest you think this sounds a bit dry -- it is not! While there are one or two parts where the action slows somewhat, in general this book moves at a fast pace. I cannot emphasize enough how much I was taken in with the way the novel was structured. The chapters describing the past move forward in time and are juxtaposed with the chapters set in the present that show Fallon moving backward in the chronology. Ultimately, the two stories converge in a climatic ending in Fenway Park that is sure to blow your sox off (sorry couldn't resist the baseball pun).

Martin has a new book out, City of Dreams (a copy of which I have also received from the publisher) and after reading The Lost Constitution I am anxious to see what he has in store for readers now.

Am I the only one?

What is the profile of a typical book lover….Is there such a thing?
I have often thought that people who are obsessive about books are likely to share other "quirks." The question is, what kind of quirks? What innocent oddities will you confess to?

My list looks something like this:

1). Word and number puzzles: crosswords, cryptograms, Kendoku, hidato are a few that I love to do. While no one would realistically deem this pastime odd, it takes on the character of “obsessive” for me in that I have to do the puzzles in a certain way. The numbers puzzles are always in pencil, and the word puzzles are always in ink, with a particular type of roller pen if possible. When I do the puzzles from a newspaper, I must fold the paper in a certain way. Gee, this is starting to sound a little weird….hope this rings a bell with some of you. Could I be the only one?

2). Organizing. Do you spend an inordinate amount of time organizing your pantry…your medicine cabinet…your closets? I do. Are your bookshelves arranged in alphabetical order, grouped by subject or color? Surprisingly, my shelves are not in any particular order, but I have to admit to spending hours going through my books for no apparent reason, except that I like to do it.

3). Magazines. I always have at least five magazines on my nightstand at any given time and when I go to the library, I rarely come home without a few periodicals. I never actually read them all cover to cover. I currently have five magazine subscriptions and I’m lucky if I get through one month’s issue before the next arrives in the mail. Along this line, I routinely cut out (relax, not from the library materials), coupons, recipes, puzzles and articles I mean to discuss with someone. Invariably however, the coupons expire, I decide to take a hiatus from cooking and the articles get eaten by the dog. Note that the one thing that survives is the puzzles: those I do right away…folded just right…using the proper writing implement….

Book Reviewing

I am not a professional book critic -- I make no pretensions in that regard. My chosen career involved a substantial amount of specialized writing, but I was not an English major and I have read probably less than half of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels. When it comes to books, I am a reader, plain and simple.

However, a recent experience with reading and reviewing a book that I thought was great, but contained material that was just too creepy for me, made me wonder about the book review process in general. Is it really possible for even professional reviewers to critique a book objectively that they would be wholly unlikely to select for themselves? I suppose the professional reviewer would respond, “that’s what they pay me for,“ but I am left wondering nonetheless.

More and more I find myself turning to fellow book lovers for recommendations rather than relying on the “official” reviewers employed by various periodicals and media sources. I have found internet sites that bring readers together like Goodreads, Library Thing and Book Browse to be much more valuable for finding my next great read as I am able to see what else this person liked or did not like and how that matches up with my own preferences. While professional book critics might dismiss much of the discussion on these book sites as amateurish, for me it works. Of course, I won’t stop reading the professional reviews. I just look at them differently now. How about you?

Wonderful literary novel

The Quickening by Michelle Hoover


My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher, Other Press LLC.

The Quickening tells the story of two very different women who live on neighboring farms in the Midwest during the years after the First World War, through the Great Depression and beyond. Stolid Enidina loves her husband Frank and her life on the farm, but must live through the sorrow of several heart-wrenching miscarriages. Mary was born in town, is married to a volatile man, and believes that she is destined for something better than the harsh realities of farm life. These two women come together to fill a need for each other, although their relationship ultimately ends in tragedy.

By the end of this novel I was simply captivated. Ms. Hoover is a wonderful storyteller and her characterizations are vivid and entirely believable. I could clearly see each of the women, their husbands and their children as if they were sitting with me while I read. Turning the pages, I felt the dreariness, desperation and deep isolation as the families struggle to survive. And, while the book is a somber one, there are also moments of profound joy, particularly in the marriage of Enidina and Frank. Perhaps most compelling for me was way the author enabled me to appreciate the sensibilities of a community and way of life with which I am wholly unfamiliar. Remarkably, this a book that I almost gave up on. I was having a hard time getting into it, and I put it down briefly. I am ever so glad that I tried again. I highly recommend this book for those who like literary fiction and I eagerly look forward to the author's next book.

A different kind of courtroom drama

In The Name Of Honor by Richard North Patterson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher, Henry Holt and Company.

Having read several of Richard North Patterson’s previous books, I was eagerly anticipating this one. I am happy to report that I was thoroughly caught up with In the Name of Honor from the moment I picked it up.

Patterson’s latest recounts the story of a young lieutenant, Brian McGarran, who is charged with murdering his commanding officer shortly after the two men return home from Iraq. McGarran, the son of an Army General of mythic reputation, suffers from the aftereffects of the trauma he endured in horrific battlefield conditions. He is defended at his court-martial by Paul Terry, an army lawyer wrestling with demons of his own stemming from the death of his father. Further complicating the trial is the fact that the victim was married to a woman (Kate Gallagher) with whom McGarran had a sisterly connection from the time McGarran’s mother committed suicide when McGarran was a boy.

There are so many things I like about this book, it is hard to know where to start. Like Patterson’s earlier novels, In the Name of Honor tells a riveting story while exploring serious questions raised by a contemporary issue. Here, the reader is asked to consider how the concepts of honor and obedience interact with personal moral imperatives when executing orders of a questionable nature, and how the definition of honor in any situation may ultimately depend on an individual‘s moral code and circumstances. For the older McCarran, honor may not allow him to admit to the deleterious effects the war had on his soldier son; for the prosecutor it is a question of honor to defend the Army unquestioningly; for the victim, honor is found in adherence to the Army's chain of command.

This story also causes the reader to reflect on how Iraq veterans are treated upon returning home, as well as the possible legal implications of the diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The combat scenes are so well written that they are hard to read -- all the more so because you are aware that such scenes are being played out overseas as you are reading. The acknowledgements section at the end of the book indicates that Patterson researched this book thoroughly, a fact borne out by the compelling authenticity of both the battle scenes and those set in the military courtroom.

Interwoven with this thought-provoking legal and military narrative is a multi-faceted family drama. The intrigues of the McCarran and Gallagher families, who are connected by war and tragedy, make for an engrossing saga. Patterson creates characters who are wholly human, foibles and all, who act in ways that show humanity at its best and its worst.

For the seamless combination of legal thriller, human drama and military fiction, with a denouement that kept me glued to the edge of my seat (to the extent that’s possible when reading), I highly recommend this book.

I spy a reader

Do you ever look at what other people are reading? I do.
I use mass transportation often, and whenever I see someone carrying a book, I try as unobtrusively as possible to see what it is. Sometimes I am quite surprised, other times amused. The real question is, though, do you form an opinion of the stranger based on the book he or she is reading? I’d like to think I don’t, but I am afraid I might. Worse yet, is the prospect of someone judging me by my chosen reading material. Don’t get me wrong, I love literary fiction and I have read my share of the classics while riding the bus. But I have also been found in public with my nose in a pure “chick lit” story, a sports trivia book (gotta love that baseball), a salacious biography, or some other such book that would probably cause the literary intelligentsia to dismiss me out of hand. How about you? If you were spotted reading today, would your book choice make you feel smug, or embarrassed, or satisfied? Or, do you not care at all what others might think? If the latter, then I say good for you. And read on.

A healthy obsession

If you’re reading this, you undoubtedly love books. The form that love takes varies from person to person. Are you a book hoarder with teetering piles of books in every spare corner of your home? A serial library patron (defined as one who at any given time has at least ten books out and five books on hold)? Do you scour used bookstores or spend all your disposable income at the nearest Barnes and Noble or Borders? At various points in my life I could answer each of those questions in the affirmative (although not at the same point in time -- well, maybe).

As obsessions go, books are certainly a harmless one. About the worst thing that can happen to you physically from overdoing it with books is a bad back from carrying too many hardcovers. So, you switch to a kindle or Nook or some other such thing (I refuse, but that’s for another post). If the e-reader gives you eyestrain, you can switch to audio books. And, when your hearing goes, you can always get a hearing aid and have someone read to you.

Right now, my home looks like a library fell on our house and deposited its contents in neat and not so neat stacks and arrangements. In the near future I will comb through the books, culling out those to be formally shelved, those to rest on my nightstand for immediate reading, and those to join the ever increasing ranks of the infamous TBR (to be read) pile. What I have come to accept is that the piles will never go away; books will get read, but others will take their place. And that is a good thing.

A family of secrets

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives: A Novel by Lola Shoneyin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was given an ARC of this novel by the publisher, William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins.

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives takes place in present day Nigeria and tells the story of Baba Segi and his four wives and seven children. Much of the novel is narrated by Bolanle, the last wife. Her entrance into the family causes turmoil above and beyond the usual upheaval that occurs when a new wife is taken, as it exposes a secret that will change the family forever.

While the novel is set in an unfamiliar world, both geographically and culturally, the author makes you feel as though you know these people because the stories they live out and the emotions they display are common to people the world over. And because each of the women has a fully developed back-story that explains how they came to participate in the marriage, the reader easily understands why they act the way they do. Apart from the fact that the characters seem to jump off the page, the machinations of the family are fascinating. In particular, the first wife, Iya Segi, is wickedly Machiavellian in her running of the household, although her attempt to insure her place of superiority amongst the wives ultimately ends in tragedy for her.

In addition to the richly drawn characters, the author spins a gripping story that kept my attention throughout until the poignant ending. When I finished this book, I felt as though I were returning from a far-off world and while I’m glad to be home, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

Decisions, decisions

Life After Yes: A Novel by Aidan Donnelley Rowley


My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I was given an ARC of this novel by the publisher, Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Life After Yes chronicles the emotions that overwhelm Prudence Quinn O’Malley, a 27 year-old Manhattan attorney, after she accepts her boyfriend Sage’s marriage proposal. Her anxieties about what her “yes” will mean for the rest of her life are played out amidst her struggle to reconcile the loss of her father a year earlier in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Along the way we meet her friends, one of whom is a fellow lawyer with a brash exterior that hides massive insecurities, and the other, an eternal optimist pursuing her own conventional dreams of happily ever after. Her friends play to the dueling aspects of Quinn’s personality that, all truth be told, are most likely present in us all: the prudent, careful nature that can keep us tied to jobs we don’t like or partners who are not all what we had hoped for, and the competing inclination to take a risk and move into unfamiliar territory that can allow us to find happiness in unexpected ways. Rounding out the cast of characters are Quinn’s wisecracking personal trainer, old flames, assorted partners and associates at Quinn’s firm, and members of both their families, including the image of Quinn’s father that the reader gains from her recollections. As the novel progresses, the reader is introduced to the world of big firm lawyering with all its warts and the genteel South that is Sage’s home, and made aware (if he or she was not already) of the peculiar pull that the world of technology has on this generation, as personified by the ubiquitous BlackBerry.

I have to admit that when I received this book I was afraid that I might not be able to relate to Quinn and her “issues” given that I am technically old enough to be her mother, although my daughter is only beginning college. While I have no doubt that those of Quinn’s generation and younger will find much to identify with in Ms. Rowley‘s sharp and well-written dialogue, I was a little skeptical for myself. Much to my pleasant surprise, however, I enjoyed Life After Yes, in large part due to Ms. Rowley’s insightful depictions of the emotions experienced by Quinn’s mother and future mother-in-law at the prospect of the impending marriage. Without revealing too much of the story, there is a passage toward the end of the novel in which Quinn’s future mother-in-law opens up in a way that will powerfully resonate with any mother out there who has experienced on some level letting go of her child. As well, Quinn’s inability at times to decipher what is right for her is not limited to her generation, as I daresay that there are few among us who have not felt at one time or another that we may be on the wrong road. Finally, I appreciated that Ms. Rowley remained true to her characters by resisting the escape of a happily ever after ending.

If you’re looking for a summer read that is above and beyond the type of books that show up on “best beach read” lists, I would try Life After Yes.

Stepping out of the box

How interesting that just after my last post on Friday, I started to read The Lovers which I had been given for review and was a book that I would probably never have chosen myself. Talk about moving out of my comfort zone -- a noir thriller featuring touches of demonic spirits and fallen angels is about as far out of my zone as I could get! But, like previous experiences have taught me, sometimes I can be pleasantly surprised by stepping out a bit, and that was definitely true here. While there were aspects to the book that unsettled me, it was without a doubt a book that I couldn't put down, and I always appreciate that.
Before I sound too puffed up with my new adventurous self, however, know that I will now return to familiar ground, and read something entirely light, uplifting, and entirely predictable for me.

Thrilling and chilling

The Lovers by John Connolly


My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


I was given this book for review by the publisher, Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster.

Have you ever read a book where you kept saying to yourself, “I really have to go do x y or z … five more minutes…one more chapter…” and then one chapter turns into two until you’ve read far longer than you intended and you still can’t stop? This is that book.

The Lovers tells the story of Charlie Parker, a PI with a temporarily suspended investigator’s license, and his attempt to understand once and for all what has haunted him since he was a boy: why his father, a New York City policeman killed two unarmed teenagers for no apparent reason, and then committed suicide. Alongside Parker’s story, the novel interweaves narratives of several apparently unrelated homicides.

Never having read any of the previous seven Charlie Parker novels, I had no idea what to expect from this book beyond assuming it to be the usual thriller/detective type story. I could not have been more wrong. John Connolly writes beautifully, and the novel is peopled with richly drawn characters. One in particular, that of Parker’s father’s partner, Jimmy Gallagher, poignantly depicts the ramifications of being a gay Irish cop in the NYPD in the early 70’s. The portions of the novel exploring the psychological aspects of Parker’s suffering as well as that of the people he has helped and hurt get equal play with the fast paced action, making this much more than a standard thriller.

Make no mistake, this book is dark, and at times quite disturbing. It also veers into the paranormal sphere at some point although this is no simple horror story. As one who almost never reads horror or paranormal works (with the exception of Stephen King’s Misery and Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles read many years ago), I have to admit that this part of the book was not really to my taste. That said, for those who like that kind of fiction, this is very well written and thoroughly compelling. If you’re looking for a story that grabs you from the first page and propels you along to a terrifying end, this is it. Just don’t expect to sleep soundly the night you finish it.

As a point of information, this novel can easily be read as a stand alone book, although there were a few references that I felt I missed not having read any of the previous books in the series.