Quick Book Reviews Blog

I’m sure some, if not most of you have already heard about To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee … as a matter of fact, chances are that you were force-fed while being back in school.  Regardless of what emotions or grudges you may have from your experience with this book, I highly recommend that you read it from your current, fresh, adult perspective if you haven’t already.

We often hear stories about people spiraling away into insanity, with some even witnessing such happenings first-hand. However, it is one of those things a person simply cannot understand without experiencing it; it can be observed and described, but once it actually happens to you, chances are you’ll have a lot of trouble sharing your story. In any case, in Still Alice by Lisa Genova, we are told such a story from an omniscient perspective as Alice, a fifty year-old woman at the peak of her career and personal life, suddenly has to deal with an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Fate is a strange thing: some believe we control entirely, others believe we control it partially, and a third group believes we have no control over it at all. While there are other schools of thought, those three are the main ones. Unfortunately, as far as we are concerned, we are only living on one timeline, and determining whether or not we have control over our fate would require us to at least go back in time. In any case, what I’m getting at is that fate is one of the most interesting subjects out there for there are no facts to support any kind of conclusion, and I find that in Shantaram , the author, Gregory David Roberts, does justice to that subject.

While justice may be something that shouldn't be anything but factual and impartial, those who administer it are, after all, human beings, and in some cases, they are a far cry from being factual and impartial. We can see this phenomenon at its brightest in Plummet by Michael Zarocostas, a book in which we are told a whodunit story taking place in Manhattan’s most renowned law firm.   More precisely, it follows three lawyers: a rookie who just got out of law school, a degenerate senior who can’t resist temptations, and another senior who is a millionaire and living the dream life. Two of those lawyers have a lover in common, and soon, one of them is found murdered.

If there is one thing Khaled Hosseini is known for more than anything else, it’s his ability to create an authentic, believable, and basically true-to-life Middle Eastern setting for his stories, something very few other authors can even come close to managing.  The first time he displayed his skills in front of the whole wide world he wrote The Kite Runner , a novel about a very unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and his servant’s son, one that lasts over thirty years in a country torn apart by war and countless conflicts.

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War was written by Karl Marlantes over a period of more than thirty years. Marlantes himself is a veteran of the Vietnam War , and in this book he tells us the story of a young Marine Lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his fellow comrades in Bravo Company. The group of young boys, barely even adults, is forced through countless perils in the Vietnamese jungle, including malnutrition, wild animals, mud, monsoon rain, disease, and of course, enemy soldiers. As if that wasn’t enough, there are also some internal struggles in the form of racial tension, colliding ambitions and treachery. Soon, the boys are due to become men.

In Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingslover we follow the story of a young and bored woman by the name of Dellarobia Turnbow, living in rural Tennessee. One day, in an attempt to escape the boredom plaguing her life, she makes her way up the mountain behind her husband’s farm and stumbles into what is known as the “Valley of Fire”, where she sees millions of monarch butterflies. The local parish is very quick to label this event as being truly miraculous and a sign of great things to come. When a scientist makes his way to the quaint little town to study the phenomenon, he makes an alarming discovery: the butterflies could be a sign of an impending natural disaster. 

Basically-put, East of Eden by John Steinbeck is a loose retelling of the book of Genesis using modern Americans. It follows the events that take place in a family, with there being many obvious references, allegories, metaphors and more. What sets this work apart from the other John Steinbeck books, such as Grapes of Wrat h and Of Mice and Men , is the fact that it is more loose in its structure, more vague in its meaning, and much more daring in its events. It is a very lively novel, and it shows that Steinbeck had a lot of pleasure in letting his imagination fly whichever way he wanted to; it is vulgar, provocative, and though-provoking, all in one. 

Hyperion by Dan Simmons is one of the most revered science fiction novels of the 20th century, taking place on the eponymously-named world where people live beyond the laws of man. On this world, Hyperion, a mysterious creature of supposedly-immense power awaits, only known as the Shrike.  It is unclear as to what it is exactly, with many fearing it, others revering it, and with the rest declaring it something that needs to be destroyed at all costs.

Steadily, Brad Thor has been becoming one of the most celebrated thriller writers out there, with every one of his books being somehow better than the last. With Black List , it seems to me that Brad Thor has once again outdone himself, bringing to us a real thriller of a novel revolving around the James Bondesque Scot Harvath, a counter-terrorist.

I find that in the present day, there is a distinct lack of Middle Eastern literature... and I’m not just talking about novels that take place in that exotic part of the world. I’m talking about books written by people who can give first-hand accounts of what life and certain historical events were/are like...  I’m talking about authentic books in which authors know well both the beauty and ugliness of it all. By chance, I happened to stumble across A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-born novelist and physician.

Into the Darkest Corner , written by Elizabeth Haynes, introduces to the young and beautiful Catherine Bailey, full of hopes and dreams of having a wonderful life. One day, she makes the acquaintance of Lee Brightman, and it seems she gets closer to living her dream life; he is the perfect man, albeit a bit mysterious. However, after some time, their relationship dissolves into chaos, with Lee displaying a very dark, brutal and violent side he kept hidden all this time.  After failing to gain support from her friends to break it up, she makes a plan to escape her predicament. Skip forward to four years later, and Catherine lives a new life in a new city while Lee is rotting behind bars. 

Most novels about the zombie apocalypse out there, regardless of their differences, have the same structure: it is told through the point of view of one or multiple survivors of the apocalypse who try to make their way somewhere while fighting off hordes of the undead, all while learning that people can be worse than zombies.  However, in Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, the approach taken is quite different. The story is told through the perspective of R, a young man facing a crisis: he is a zombie. However, he isn’t brain-dead like all the books and movies would imply. In fact, he has a very complex emotional life brewing inside, but he can barely communicate. 

While the Iranian Revolution may have happened more than three decades ago, it is far from being over and forgotten. The massive shockwaves it sent out have traveled through time, and such is the setting for The Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg. More precisely, it follows the exploits of David Shirazi, a Farsi-born CIA operative whose family escaped from Iran in 1979, at the peak of the revolution.

Judas Coyne is a death metal rock god, one that has legions of fans at his back, despite his best days having left him very long ago. If there is one thing Judas is passionate about in his life, it’s the collection of macabre treasures, such as a used hangman’s noose, a snuff film, or even a cannibal cookbook. One day though, he notices an add in which someone is selling their stepfather’s soul, apparently trapped in a suit. Knowing no fear, Judas decides he must have that trinket, whatever it is.

In my opinion (and probably that of many others) some of the greatest heroes to ever grace to Earth will remain unknown until the end of time, for their heroism lied in the prevention of some kind of catastrophe, rather than retaliation or repair. In Damascus Countdown by Joel C. Rosenberg, we follow the story of such a hero, one whose deeds may make him one of the greatest people to have ever lived on Earth.

First off, yes, The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy was actually made into a movie with Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck , and although it hasn't exactly received the best reviews, it wasn’t a bad movie. If you are planning on judging the book following what you have seen in the motion picture, I would urge you to take a deep breath and remind yourself how different books can be from movies. In any case, for those hearing about it for the first time ever, the story starts off as a group of terrorists decide to rekindle the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviet Union , who are almost at peace with each other at the moment.

First off, I’m going to say that even though I do believe that there is some kind of higher power out there, I’m not a religious person. Though I was baptized as an Orthodox Christian , I decided to stop following the teachings of religious groups (mostly due to the club mentality of it all), attempting to find out the truth for myself.  Regardless of what I have found and come to believe, I cannot help but pay attention to The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, the second most published book on Earth, after the Bible of course. It focuses on giving an answer to a question most of us have probably pondered time after time without results: what is our purpose in life, and how do we live it?

As you all probably know, the CIA is one of the world’s most secretive organizations, lending covert assistance when it comes to civil and military operations alike. In Ghost Wars , Steve Coll comes out with a detailed overview of the CIA’s history, starting with their involvement in Afghanistan with the Soviet Union, going all the way to September 10th, 2001, when they began an invasion.  The book is a factual one, although there is a slight bit of novelization to it, and even though it is true that some of the so-called facts may have been fabricated, everything points to this being a true, honest and legitimate account of one of history’s most secretive organizations.

In Anathem , by Neal Setphenson, author of classics such as Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle , we are presented with a strange, alternate world where men of science, mathematics and philosophy are confined to live in seclusion behind the walls of an ancient monastery, keeping on doing their work in complete isolation from everyone else.

While it is true that there are many things that need to be experienced or seen first-hand in this life to truly be known or understood, there are also other truths you can use common sense to deduce. For instance, one doesn’t need be a rocket scientist or the greatest detective since Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the FBI has a long, secretive and shadowy history that spans over a hundred years.  Even though many of their actions have never been disclosed, we can always guess as to their involvement when it comes to preserving the security of American people. However, it seems that we no longer have to guess, ever since Tim Weiner released Enemies: A History of the FBI .

The 20th century was a very turbulent one for the people of Iran, as numerous political events, including, the nationalization of foreign oil industries, a coup d’etat, and an ever-increasing rise in poverty, have led to what became known as the Iranian Revolution of 1979 . When it happened, millions of citizens surrounded the American embassy in Tehran, capturing nearly all of those within as hostages, also executing many of them. 

Most of you probably know J. D. Salinger for his famous novel that has become a mandatory reading in many schools, The Catcher in the Rye . However, most people forget that despite what they felt about that book, Salinger has written many other, different ones, and it took more than one piece of work in order to get him recognized as an internationally-celebrated author. Without a doubt, Nine Stories is one of those works that helped him to achieve his status. As you can probably tell by the title, the book is a collection of nine different stories, only related by themes and not by plot. These include “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” , “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” , “Just Before the War with the Eskimos” , “The Laughing Man” , “Down at the Dinghy” , “For Esme -- With Love and Squalo” , “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes” , “De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period” , and “Teddy” .

In Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan we are introduced to Sadie Turner, who cannot live her life unless everything is in perfect order, and as you can guess, it’s far from it, especially since her now-ex-husband cheated on her.  In order to recuperate she decides to spend a summer vacation at her aunt’s lake house, in hopes of finding some peace, tranquility, and put her life back in order. During this time, she has vowed to stay away from all men, without a single exception. However, when she arrives to her aunt’s, things become everything but peaceful and quiet.

Nathan Zuckerman is a young and budding writer whose life can be summed up using one word: literature. He spends his time burying his nose into any book he can get his hands on, hoping to find some kind of meaning to his life in the literature he reads.  The era he is living in is right after the Second World War , in the 1950s. During his travels he comes to stay at a lonely New England farmhouse, one that belongs to his idol, E. I. Lonoff. While staying there, Zuckerman comes to make the acquaintance of a young woman by the name of Amy Bellette, whose strange mannerisms and mysterious background intrigue Zuckerman. As becomes apparent, she was once a student of Lonoff, perhaps even his mistress... and what’s more, Zuckerman suspects she was the victim of Nazi persecution, something that can end up changing his entire life.

While Tom Clancy may be a household name these days, with plenty of novels, a few movies, and even video games under his belt, there was a time when he was a simple insurance salesman, simply trying to make his way through the world. He wrote in his spare time, and most people are going to argue that when it comes to Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October was his magnum opus, projecting him into fame and stardom. There was even a movie filmed based on the book, starring Sean Connery .

In The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult, we are introduced to Sage Singer. She runs her own bakery, spending her nights preparing the goods for the morning, hoping to escape the gaping emptiness that her life has become.  Her head filled with memories of a past she’d rather forget, an acceptance of the reality that she is a lonely soul, and as if that wasn’t enough, she also has the passing of mother weighing down on her shoulders. One day though, she makes the acquaintance of an old man at her grief support group.

When most of us think of Alaska, we probably picture some kind of gloom and snowy wasteland with a few buildings here and there. Well, I’ve personally never been there, but I do have a good idea of what the Alaskan wilderness looks like (thanks to pictures and Google Earth), and I can tell you one thing: it’s not a place I would want to live in.  In The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, we follow the story of a childless couple, living on a farm in the Alaskan wilderness in 1920. Both Jack and Mabel are on the brink of losing their sanity from loneliness and the amount of hard work that needs to be done.

In Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner we are presented with the Denbe family. They are the perfect model, with the husband Justin and his wife Libby being as happy as they ever were, and their gorgeous fifteen year-old daughter, Ashlyn, living the perfect life any teenager could ask for. They have installed themselves in one of Boston’s most prestigious neighborhoods, and they are admired by all of their family, friends and neighbors.

Hadley Richardson is a very quiet and unassuming twenty year-old lady who has given up on the chance of ever finding true love and happiness in her life. However, as fate usually does, it threw a wrench in her plans by introducing her to one of the century’s most influential authors, Ernest Hemingway . The passion that joins them seems to know no weakness, and soon after the wedding, they set sail for Paris and become part of a very interesting group of people: the Lost Generation, including F. Scott Fitzgerald , Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein . Regardless of the love they both feel for each other, Hadley and Ernest start having a hard time as the constant drinking, risk-taking, love and omnipresent Jazz make for a lot to handle, both of them struggling with their own demons.