Debt of Honor really ups the ante after Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears, if that can be believed. Corporate espionage, bad Japanese men, and an act of terrorism that is a little too close to home. By the end of this novel, where else can Jack Ryan go?
A dreamy first-person about a man trying to get behind the mistakes made in a recent obituary. Why is this man doing this? It's hypnotic, full of quirky characters. I really liked it.
This book brought tears to my eyes in the first two chapters. A story told from multiple points of view. Ms. Hamilton describes a simple man's mind perfectly. Deeply touching, but not mawkish. Just superb.
Clancy-esque, without the technical style. A straight-ahead plot that reads almost like a screen-play. All action. Card-board characters with simple motivations. An easy page-turner.
I had seen the movie, but this book is much much better. A lawyer's fantasy about solving a mystery is realized in this Grisham classic. I couldn't read this book fast enough.
A look at the haphazard life of an NBA professional. Sadly, Mr. Williams is now charged with a murder, probably the result of a hard-charging lifestyle desribed here. Lots of little details about the NBA that will make anyone look twice when watching pro basketball.
Lovely book about a woman undergoing a French divorce. The narrator (Roxanne) has intricate adventures as she learns the language and the culture. An affair, a murder, a police chase, and a museum controversy are part of this stylish book. As you might expect, this is going to be movie.
I read Next over the span of two afternoons. Next is a collection of Michael Lewis' high-energy essays, most of which have appeared in the NY Times magazine. He captures the stories of people who have used the Internet to change themselves, and how people see them. I've always enjoyed Mr. Lewis' enthusiastic style, and it's in fine form here.
The hardest book I've read in quite some time. This sweeping, monumental history of the origins of the atomic bomb is breathtaking. It's a very technical history: plenty of world history (World War II, Pearl Harbor) and physics. The descriptions of the key discoveries are vivid, and awesome. The decisions made by FDR to create the Manhattan Project are rendered here too, paving the way for the most fearful weapon known to man.
Picked this up for my wife, and after she panned it, I gave it a shot. I liked the idea of a story taking place in Los Angeles. The characters do seem drawn for television of film. The "comedic" cliches made me feel like this was a Sex and the City episode gone, minus the characters I liked. The tidy morals and bow-tie ending made the book feel flat.
Direct contrast to L.A. Woman, this brilliant book left me gob-smacked. Rebecca comes to life with a yearning wistful wit that made me smile and laugh throughout. Very much on the order of Bridget Jones Diary. My wife loved this book. There are morals here too, but the journey was wonderfully executed.