And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East by Richard Engel ( My Review)

And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East by Richard Engel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have seen Richard Engel's reporting from the Middle East as he is the Chief Foreign Correspondent for NBC news. He can be found in the hot and dangerous spots of the Middle East including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan usually at personal risk. Engel provides two perspectives in this book. First, he opines about the events, people and diplomacy that have created the terrorism, violence and mayhem currently taking place in many Middle Eastern countries. Engel is not a fan of either George W. Bush's or Barack Obama's diplomacy as it relates to the Middle East. Basically, he thinks that we have made a bad situation much much worse.

Second, Engel provides an interesting narrative of his adventures covering the Middle East. He describes his kidnapping by terrorists and his near misses of various bombings and mob violence. He takes enormous risks in getting the story. He describes the perils of covering the initial days of the Iraq-US war.

While this is an informative and entertaining book for general readership, those who are interested in journalism would be wise to read this.


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Family Jewels by Stuart Woods (My Review)

Family Jewels by Stuart Woods
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I guess that I have read about 10 or more books in the Stone Barrington series. This may be the last one I read. I have opined that this series is junk food for the reading palate. I did not find this book interesting at all. Disappointing.


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Slow Burn by Ace Atkins (My Review)

Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn by Ace Atkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 I have been reading Spencer books for quite a while. I don't think that I can distinguish the plot lines or stories among the 20 or more books that I have read in the series. If a reader picked up this book without having read the previous Spenser novels, they would not be at a significant disadvantage as far as understanding the characters. I really am looking for some type of change in the Spenser novels.

In this book, Spencer searches for arsonists responsible for the deaths of three firemen as a result of a church fire. In the course of his investigation, Spencer spits out one-liners and literary references. Of course, he engages with customary fisticuffs with various heavies. Hawk is there to cover his back. Susan continues to be his soulmate, lover and confidant.

Meh.


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House of Cards by Michael Dobbs (My Review)

House of Cards by Michael Dobbs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a huge fan of the current Netflix series House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey. This book is part of a series written by Dobbs witch sparked the Netflix show. The big difference between the book version and the film version is that the book version takes place in England. Francis Urquhart is the Chief Whip of the majority party. Like Frank Underwood (his US variation), who was the House Whip for the Democratic Party, his ambitions and plans were thwarted at the highest levels. Urquhart matches Underwood for evil deeds and manipulation of people for his own ambitious ends. The reader keeps expecting Urquhart to get tripped up. Urquhart screws over his Prime Minister and other candidates who run against him for party leadership. The reader of this book who is also a viewer of the Netflix series will notice a number of similarities in terms of plot and characters. This book was a great joy to read – – highly recommended. I look forward to reading the other books in this series.


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The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Valvano and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry by John Feinstein

The Legends Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry by John Feinstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

John Feinstein is my most favorite author of sports books, particularly those related to college basketball. He covers a thirty year basketball rivalry among Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State. Most of this book centers on the coaching rivalry between Dean Smith from North Carolina and Mike Krzyzewski from Duke. After North Carolina State won the NCAA Tournament in 1983 under Jim Valvano, they have struggled to keep up with their other NC competitors. Valvano was the most interesting character of the three coaches and his struggle against cancer was heroic and inspiring.

I found the friendship between Valvano and Krzyzewski very interesting given their polar opposite personalities. There are a lot of great stories about the competition for recruits and the competition on the court. The ACC was my second favorite brand of basketball in the 1970s and early 80's. (My favorite was Big 5 basketball.)

This book is well researched and a pleasure to read if you like college basketball. Plenty of great stories.


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The Harsh Truth about Speed Reading by Simon Oxenham

I have questioned since my college days the benefits and flaws of speed reading. To me speed reading a book can be like wolfing down a meal. You get to finish fast but did you enjoy the food for thought or meal?

Below are some takeaways from the article...

Essentially, the speed readers had increased their ability to construct reasonably accurate inferences about text content on the basis of partial information and their preexisting knowledge.

Speed-reading often produces a confused understanding—in some cases, a completely fabricated one, the researchers reported. They quoted Woody Allen’s classic line: “I took a speed-reading course where you run your finger down the middle of the page and was able to read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It’s about Russia.

The best way to increase the speed of our reading is to practice reading itself, particularly different types of text with varied language. The more familiar we are with complex styles of written language, the easier it is to conduct the “elegantly choreographed dance” that is reading.

The take-home lesson from efforts to increase our reading speed is to question whether speed-reading is a healthy aspiration at all. Speed-readers don’t see what’s on the page; they read what they want to see, which perhaps explains why the practice continues to thrive. It must feel very good to devour a whole book in a few seconds and discover it only said what you already thought anyway. But that’s pretty much the opposite of learning. 

My Review: Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this novel in a couple of hours. I found the story very compelling and did not want to put the book down until I was finished. My guess is that readers younger than 50 might not have the same interest in the story as I did. Basically, two lonely people hook up, a widow and a widower in their 70s. Their relationship begins slowly, both taking small steps to see if this relationship would work and it does for most of the book. I guessed that as the book moved along that there would be some event or unforeseen occurrence that would ruin their happiness. I was right. Beautifully written story but very melancholy.


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