by Stuart Woods, 2008, Penguin Books, LTD
I had read only two other books by Stuart Woods (Hot Mahogany and Two Dollar Bill) and I rated both of them 2.0 Stars. This one is quite a bit better and held my interest more so I gave it 3.0 Stars. Maybe there is some hope for him after all. 
by Robert B. Parker, 2002, G.P. Putnams Sons
This is book in the Spencer for Hire series. It is not worthy of a revue. The plot is thin, the characters are all caricatures, and the ending is unfulfilling. It is totally recreational reading but this one barely held my interest. 
by Dr. Sharon Saline, forward by Dr. Laura Markham, 2018, Tarcherperigee One of our grandchildren has been diagnosed with a form of ADHD where he focuses so hard on whatever he is doing that he has difficulty transitioning to another … Continue reading →
by Morris L. West, 1971, Compania Financiera Perlina, S.A.
This book is a hard one to review. I loved the writing. The setting of the book is in the Hebrides and we had read the Lewis Trilogy (The Black House, the Lewis Man, and The Chessmen) by Peter May which also takes place in the Outer Hebrides. The characters and the descriptions of the area are excellent. The plot focuses on the relationship of the main character with a native of the islands and it is a strange relationship. Some of the interactions reminded me of The Great Gatsby because the character he describes is so full of himself. The book does bog down a bit, however, because as it is somewhat short on action and long on delving into the individual’s character. I did enjoy reading the book, however, and would recommend it to anyone who isn’t looking for a quick thriller. 
by Lee Child, Audiobook narrated by Scott Brick, 2018, Random House Audio
We listened to this book in the car on our annual migration from Florida to Rhode Island. It was okay, but not Child’s best. The book is about a couple of Canadians on their way to New York City who are kidnapped in New Hampshire on their way. Reacher is hitch-hiking to California and just happens to stumble into this situation.
I had enjoyed a previous Reacher novel where it delved into more of Reacher’s personal motivations and where he had established a bit of a relationship with another character in the novel. This one might have been better had it focused a bit more on Reacher’s past and his family ties. It had a lot of potential to do this as the location was the area where his father grew up. Instead, the plot revolved around the kidnappers and the strange venue that they had contrived.
The plot seemed to be a bit thin and the characters were not very well developed. The book could have been better.
by Fredrik Backman, 2019, Atria Books
After reading Us Against Them by Backman, I swore I would never read another book by him as I really hated that book. I was presented with this book and decided to read it despite my prior pledge. It turned out to be delightful.
At first, I didn’t much care for he characters. They were all somewhat odd and even the author often referred to them as idiots. As the book unfolds, however and their true natures are gradually revealed, it turns out that deep down they are all pretty nice individuals. Their various hang-ups were preventing them from connecting with others and the circumstance that brings them all together forces them to make these connections.
The end result is probably a little too nice to be realistic, but it is, nevertheless, a pretty good story. The author also does a good job of tying the plot together at the end.
So Backman is redeemed after writing that perfectly worthless book, Us Against Them and I may even consider reading some other books by him. If I ever encounter another one as bad as Us Against Them again, however, that will be it between Backman and me.Â
by Ken Follett, 1991, Macmillan
This book had a lot more potential as the setting was a Pan Am Clipper flight which had a diverse set of passengers and crew, all of whom had their individual stories. The problem is that Follett kept repeating the same information about each one, over and over. With a little bit of editing and refinement, this book could have been another Murder on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express. Follett clearly let the plot lag because of this repetition.
The end of the book was somewhat of a letdown. The plane, on it’s longest leg, was short on fuel and whether it would make it was a major concern. At the end of this leg, however, it apparently was no problem as the plane splashed down at it’s intended landing area and the fuel situation wasn’t even mentioned. So much for suspense!
As a former Navy C-130 navigator, I flew this route once with minimal navigation aids. Our loran wasn’t working and we were below clouds so celestial sightings were not available. This was in the days prior to GPS or inertial navigation systems. So, I was interested in how the navigation was performed on these flights and was disappointed that there was very little mention of the navigation on this Clipper flight.
The book was a quick read, even though it was over 640 pages, and the setting was interesting. I was disappointed, however, because it could have been a much better book.
by Hyeonseo Lee, 2015, Kindle Edition, William Collins
If her story is all true, this is a great book about an incredible journey to freedom. Each chapter ends with, Oh, No! What Next? Just when you think she is finally out of danger, along comes something else that puts her even more in danger. The narrative is compelling and keeps you wanting to know how the heck she managed to do what she did.
The author also nails what it must be like to migrate from a totally controlled dictatorship, where all of your decisions are made for you by the state, to a country where all of your decisions are your own, including the responsibility for the consequences. Also, in many totally free countries, discrimination exists which makes it difficult to succeed unless you have a certain pedigree.
I enjoyed reading this book, even though parts of it were painful to imagine. 
by Paul Kalanithi, with forward by Abraham Verghese and epilogue by Lucy Kalanithi, 2016, Random House, New York
This book is a memoir by a young neurosurgeon who is just about to complete his residency when he discovers that he has terminal lung cancer. There is no need to issue a spoiler alert because the outcome of the books is spelled out very early in the book as well as the on the jacket of the book. As such, it is a very sad story considering the amount of work and effort the author put in to achieving his goals, only to be cut off at the time of his reaching what he thought would be the key to his fulfilment of those goals and the meaning of his life.
Paul had graduated from Stanford with a BA and MA in English Literature and a BA in human biology. He discovered that his calling in life was to become a neurosurgeon but, when he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, he turned to his background in literature to write this book to leave it as a gift. It is beautifully written but difficult to read because of the sadness of the eventual outcome. I found myself trying to imagine dealing with that situation at such a young age with so many dreams unfulfilled.
by Lisa Scottoline, 2004, Harpertorch, New York
The plot of this book is about a case that Mary DiNunzio, a lawyer in Philadelphia, takes for the estate of an Italian-American who died in a detention camp in Montana during World War II.
The book moves right along and is humorous as well, but it is the author’s note at the end that is most interesting. It seems that Scottoline’s grandparents had to register as a enemy aliens during Word War II, even though they were naturalized American citizens and had lived in the U.S. for quite some time. There were many Italian-Americans who were sent to detention camps. The historical perspective gives a little bit of authenticity to the novel which otherwise it would be lacking.