I Would Rather Be Reading

I received a free copy of this book through Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program, now known as BookSneeze. The author is a former mob boss turned motivational speaker. In this book, he takes lessons that the learned while in the mob and explains how those same lessons can be used in a positive sense in a legal business.

Much of the book centers around the conceit of choosing which path you are going to follow, that of Machiavelli or of Solomon. The points that he makes are legitimate, however, for a book by a motivational speaker, I found it less than motivating. It was a quick read, I just never felt any desire to pick it up and read it.

I expect that the same material delivered by the author in a live presentation would be quite different and enjoyable. In book form, however, it came across as mostly trite. Notwithstanding some of the triteness, I thought the advice that was included in the book was good. I also enjoyed his stories about things that happened when he was in the mob. In fact, I enjoyed those stories much more than the “advice” portion of the book.

One of the things that I loved about this book was the fact that it was part of the NelsonFree program. This means that when you get the book, you also have the ability download both an electronic copy of the book as well as an audio version of the book. I see this as a great value added benefit.

In fact, I downloaded both the electronic version and the audio version. I finished reading the book on the electronic version and I listened to selection portions of the audio book. As I hinted above, I actually enjoyed the audio version of the book better than the printed version.

In short, this is an easy read, I was just never captivated by it. On the other hand, I love the experimentation with the NelsonFree program and I hope more publishers trying this type of program.

Every year for the last few years, I have set for myself the goal of reading 50 books a year. Once again, in 2009 I fell short. I read 36 books in 2009. This is an increase over 2008 (29) but still below my levels of 2007 (40) and 2006 (46). I guess I will have to wait and see what 2010 brings. I have not blogged about each book I read in 2009, but I thought I would give some quick hits of just some thoughts about some of the books I read this year.

Best Book in a Genre I Didn’t Think I Liked: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. I loved this book. I know I wrote a review of it, but I had to mention it again. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it.

Best Michael Connelly Book: I love Michael Connelly. He is one of my favorite crime/thriller authors. However, I was less than impressed by 9 Dragons. Sure the Hong Kong imagery was good, but I didn’t feel like the story was there, like is has been in previous books. Yes, I enjoyed the book, but not one I have any interest in reading again. I also enjoyed The Scarecrow, but my favorite Michael Connelly book I read this year was The Brass Verdict. I found the story compelling and I loved seeing Bosch from another person’s perspective. With exception of the “surprise” at the end of the book (which I found disappointing) this was a great book.

Best Conclusion to a Trilogy: One of my new favorite authors is Brandon Sanderson. I read Mistborn and absolutely loved it. In 2009, I read the final two books of the Mistborn Trilogy: The Well of Ascension and The Hero of the Ages. In these final two books, Sanderson does what few authors do. He completes a trilogy in which each of the books is interesting, and enjoyable, yet each tells a different story and accounts for the changes that occur as a result of the actions in the prior book(s). I particularly like The Well of Ascension in that it tells the story that is rarely told, namely the rebels have won and are in charge: now what? I cannot recommend these three books highly enough.

Nonfiction Book I Bought on a Whim: I normally do not read a lot of nonfiction. This year, however, I was in Seattle and browsing at the Elliot Bay Book Company when I came across Traffic: Why We Drive the the Way We Do. I flipped through the book and thought it looked interesting. I eventually bought the book and really enjoyed it. Traffic is one of those things that endlessly frustrates me. It was great to read this analysis of traffic as well as many explanations about how our views about traffic are intuitive, but wrong. I know this is a strange book to point out, but I enjoyed it so much, that I sent it to my sister as a Christmas present.

Of course I read a number of other books that I enjoyed as well. Without going into details, I would just say that I really enjoyed the following books as well: The Reapers and The Lovers by John Connolly, 7th Son: Descent by J.C. Hutchins, and Whiskey Rebels by David Liss.

Like many people, my introduction to the steampunk genre was with The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Like many others, my experience with steampunk stopped there. I know that the book has its supporters, but it just didn’t do it for me. The book plodded for me and never really sucked me in. From that, I drew the completely inaccurate conclusion that I didn’t like steampunk.

Fortunately, Cherie Priest has come along and knocked me back on the steampunk path with a fabulous book Boneshaker. In his blurb on the front cover of the book, Scott Westerfeld describes the book as:

A steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details. This book is made of irresistible.

Really, I can’t say it better than that. I fell in love with the book, the characters, and the setting (especially the setting) from the very beginning. This was one of those books that I hated to put down and I read it as much as possible until I finally finished it. Of course, once I finished it, I was upset because I wanted to read more about.

If you do not know what steampunk is, see here. To find out how the author describes the book and the idea behind it, see her Big Idea piece at Whatever. I think those links give you a good idea about the book.

There are a couple of things that I wanted to note about the book that I particularly appreciated. First, I thought Priest did a great job of pacing and keeping things interesting. Because of the setting, I never had more than a general idea of approximately what time it was in the book. I think this helps put the reader in the character’s situation. Nevertheless, there was plenty happening and the story moved forward at a great pace.  Second, (minor spoiler ahead) I thought Priest did a great job in how she brought the main characters together. Sure she had opportunities where she could have had them “bump” into each other. However, she avoided those cliches and set up a scene that made perfect sense with what was happening in the story.

Cherie Priest has injected the fun back into steampunk for me and I can’t wait to read the next book set in this universe.

I am currently reading Cherie Priest’s new book Boneshaker and I am loving it.

It is a steampunk novel that takes place in Seattle. Many people have questions about what Steampunk is. If you are one of those people, Cherie has a Steampunk FAQ at her site The Clockwork Century.

Death on the Fourth of July is subtitled “the Story of a Killing, a Trial, and Hate Crime in America.” Were this the case, I think I would have enjoyed this book much more. Unfortunately, however, the book is much more about the author proselytizing about his position on hate crimes and their enforcement, or lack thereof, throughout the country.

Ostensibly, the book is about a death that occurred over the fourth of July holiday in 200o in Ocean Shores, Washington. Although I enjoy reading true crime books, this book is probably not one I would have picked up normally. However, I could not pass up the conincidental fact that I stumbled across this book just before I left on a trip to visit Ocean Shores. I simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a true crime book at the same time that I was visiting the location where the crime occurred.

There are two parts to this book. One part tells the story of an Asian American man who killed a young white man who had been shouting racial slurs at him. This part provides background information on the event and covers the subsequent trial. This part was well-written and interesting. Unfortunately, it seemed as though this was a small part of the book. I don’t know exactly how much of the book was devoted to this story, however, it seemed like it was equivilent to a lengthy feature story in a magazine.

The second part of the book dealt with the history, nature, and enforcement of hate crime laws. Although parts of this book were interesting and although the author made a few good points, this part of the book suffered from a very bad case of repeatition. In multiple instances, the author repeated the same facts and arguments, several times. This part of the book could have used the stern hand of a good editor. Additionally, it went beyond the normal exposition that I expect to find in such a book and entered the realm of strongly advocating the enactment and enforcement of hate crimes laws.

Put simply, this wasn’t what I expected from the book. Had the book been described as a advocacy piece on hate crime enforcement that was illuminated by an examination of the fourth of July incident in Ocean Shores, then I would not have been surprised by what I read. As it was, however, I felt that I did not get what I expected.

If you are interested, you can find the book here:

The book is also available in a Kindle edition:

I read the Kindle edition of the book and I cannot end this review without addressing the problems with the Kindle edition. Like many non fiction books, this book contained endnotes. For reasons that make absolutely no sense to me, there were no hyperlinks to connect the endnote reference in the text to the actual endnotes. This absence is simply inexcusable. One of the great benefits of having an electronic edition of a book is the ability to leverage the electronic features, such as hyperlinks.

Additionally, the book also contains an index. However, on the Kindle, the index is absolutely useless. The text is small and, for reasons I don’t understand, the publisher did not bother to reformat the index so it can be read on the Kindle.

Stated simply, this is a poor implementation of an electronic book and I hope that future Kindle books that I purchase do not suffer from these same problems.

Nina Kimberly the Merciless, both the character and the book, are summed up perfectly in the first paragraph of the book:

Nina blushed, then cut the man’s head off . . . . Or at least, mostly off. In her haste, she slopped the follow-through and failed to completely sever the neck, a lapse that did nothing to improve her mood. The end result, however, was much the same, and the remains of her would-be suitor slumped to the floor.

In a recent interview, Ellis talked about how the first line of the book stalked her until she started writing the book.

The book is about Nina, the teenage daughter of Marcus the Merciless, is a heroine like I have never seen before. She sets off on a heroic quest, with a dimwitted king who thinks he is in love with her. Along the way, she encounters (of course) a dragon and a handsome rouge. Their adventures take a humerous trip through many fantasy tropes, giving them the humorous treatment that tropes deserve.

For example, Nina is on a quest to find a wizard give her magical aid. She eventually finds the wizard, who, of course, helps her understand several problems she has been encountering. When she leaves the wizard, she tries to offer him some compensation. In response, he says:

“No please.” He waved his hands and walked forward to take her hand. “I need nothing in return. It has done my heart good to play a small and primarily expository but nonethless critical role in your larger story.”

Another humorous aspect that I love about the book is the number of people who refer to Nina as “Miss the Merciless.” For some reason, I found this really amusing.

In addition to the novel succeeding on a humorous level, it also works well as a story. Sure the book is not War and Peace. Then again, I have never had anyone put a copy of War and Peace in my hand tell me that I had to read it because it was such a fun book. Here, I will tell you that with this book. In a nutshell, Nina Kimberly the Merciless by Christiana Ellis a fun and clever read. I am putting it in your virtual hand and telling you to read it.

Although The Scarecrow is arguably about a serial killer and his assistant being hunted by Jack McEvoy and Rachel Walling, I found the B story, which provides an undercurrent for the entire book, just as compelling. That story is one that chronicles the slow slide into oblivion that the newspaper industry is currently experiencing.

The book begins with McEvoy learning that he is being laid off and that for the two weeks that he has left, he must spend his time training his replacement. From there, the book addresses many of the issues currently facing the newspaper industry and its employees.

As a former crime reporter, Connelly brings his knowledge of the industry to the novel and brings the newsroom alive. Maybe it is because I find the study of the decline of the newspaper industry fascinating, but I found this story more interesting than the actual plot of the novel.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the book. The plot was typical Connelly (this is a good thing in my book) with plenty of action to keep things moving and a bad guy that was certainly creepy.

One of the things that made this book less creepy, however, was that, like The Poet (the novel where McEvoy first appears) the story is told from both McEvoy’s and the bad guy’s point of view. This means that, even when McEvoy thinks he has everything figured out, you know that he doesn’t.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the time I spent reading the book and would not hesitate to suggest it to anyone who likes Connelly’s books.

On a related note, there are two other aspects about this book that I really enjoyed. First, there is a book trailer that gives some back story into events that happen before the book starts. You can find chapter one, chapter two, and chapter three, all on YouTube. I thoroughly enjoyed the movies. I also picked up on two two (admittedly inconsequential) inconstancies between the book and the movies. However, I recommend that you check them out. They contain no spoilers, so feel free to watch them before you read the book.

The second thing was that there are a number of websites referenced in the book. Those sites take you to secret locations on Connelly’s website that include additional background information about things in the book. As an added bonus, if you read the book on a Kindle (as I did), the hyperlinks are active and you can easily navigate to the sites with a simple click.

You can buy the book in hardcover

Or in a Kindle edition.

Although  The Brass Verdict unites LA defense attorney Mickey Haller (from The Lincoln Lawyer) with his principal detective Harry Bosch, the story is very much Haller’s story. One of the aspects of this book that I enjoyed is that we get to see Bosch work from the outside. Instead of getting Bosch full on, we get only glimpses of what is actually going on in the police investigation. It allows allows us an outsider’s view of what Bosch looks and acts like when he is conducting an investigation.

The story revolves around a trial for a major client that has been accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Haller gets the case (and several more) by inheriting them when a fellow defense attorney is murdered. Bosch is trying to solve the murder of the first defense attorney while Haller is trying to build a defense for his client.

The book is very much in the vien of The Lincoln Lawyer and is an enjoyable ride. It includes many twists and turns as you try to figure out who killed the first defense attorney and why as well as whether Haller’s client is guilty of not. I really enjoyed the book and completed it in less than 48 hours. If you like Connelly’s other books, you will like this one.

Notwithstanding my enjoyment of the book, I did have a couple of small quibbles with it. It turns out that Haller was as much of a jazz aficionado as Bosch is. The scene where this is discussed, just didn’t ring true to me. Second, there is a reveal at the end of the book that I just did not enjoy. It felt contrived and pointless to me. Nevertheless, these quibbles did not dampen the overall quality of the book for me.

As an additional bonus, you can listen to a chapeter that Connelly cut from the novel. It deals with one of the  other cases that Haller inherited. This case doesn’t really have anything to do with the events of the book (thus explaining why Connelly cut it).  However, it is an enjoyable short piece that provides a nice insight in the failings of the justice system. You can download an mp3 of Connelly reading this chaper at Crimewav.com. If you enjoy crime fiction  and are not familiar with Crimewav, I urge you to check it out.

This week my wife and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. Although we typically don’t do the gift thing for our anniversary, we decided to give each other a gift this year. On Tuesday we exchanged our gifts. To my surprise, my wife bought me a Kindle.

I have been intrigued by the Kindle for quite a while. Plus I know that both Ernie the Attorney and Michael Hyatt love their Kindle. Thus, I was quite excited to get my hands on it and try it out.

My first impressions, after using it for less than 18 hours:

• I love the sleek, thin design.
• I love the pictures that are displayed on the screen when it is in sleep mode.
• The e-ink is crisp, clear, and easy to read.
• Buying a book is a very easy process (perhaps way too easy for me).
• I wish the bottom (where the keyboard is) was tapered slightly. I think it would be easier to hold and type on if it were.
• I wish it had a touch screen. the 5-way navigator works fine to move your cursor around the page, however, it does not work nearly as nicely or elegantly as it would if it had a touch screen.

Although I have the second generation Kindle, I recognize that this technology is really still in its first generation. I an anticpate that in the near future, we will see these devices with color screens, touch screens, and the ability to take notes on the screen. I know Plastic Logic is working on some aspects of this now. On the other hand, the Kindle has a market and appears to be selling well. Plastic Logic doesn’t expect to hit the market until 2010.

Anyway, I love the Kindle so far and my wife is awesome for getting it for me.

When studying American History, I always learned about the Whiskey Rebellion. However, I never really understood why it happened. Sure I knew it was about taxes, and I knew that no one liked taxes. But, I never understood what drove people to rebellion.

After reading David Liss’s novel The Whiskey Rebels, I now understand the reasoning behind the Whiskey Rebellion. This novel, set primarily in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the time just after the constitution was adopted follows the story of Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott. Saunders is a war veteran who left the service under a cloud of treason. Maycott newlywed who travels to the frontier in the Pittsburgh area with her new husband.

The book does an excellent job of weaving historical facts involving Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and William Duer (along with others) into a compelling story involving the struggles of frontier life as well as a man trying to redeem himself in his own eyes, as well as the eyes of the woman he loves.

The book provides an interesting look at the Panic of 1792, a situation that bears more than a little similarity to our current economic situation.

Many people are familiar with the events of the American Revolution. However, very little attention is paid to typically paid to the period of time just after the constitution was adopted. This book provides an educational view of that time period that is wrapped up in an interesting story in which Saunders tries to discover why his former girlfriend’s husband has disappeared.`

The book contains mysteries, financial shenanigans, double crosses, and some really good fight scenes.

In short, I really enjoyed this novel and will likely be checking out additional novels from Liss.