Agent in Place--#22 finished

The next in the Gray Man series.  A really good series and good character even if unlikely anyone could be this talented & lucky with these foreign mission/assassinations.  This time he gets pulled into Syria and that whole mess.  I know the author tries to get the surrounding info on what is happening as realistic so a decent way to sort of become informed while also being entertained.  A good read, and just a fast page turner type book.

There are 14 WL for the book so I will mail it off at some point.  This gets me to 10 books read for the month and a good start to the year.

A Swollen Red Sun--#21 finished

A book from a local writer, a fictional story about terrible meth & drug problems in Gasconade county MO.  Really horrible lives & just terrible things going on with the people making & using the drugs.  Not sure how realistic this all is but does seem to give some insight into the small town hill country type life even if hopefully the drug problems maybe overstated.

I will post it on PBS at some point, there are 10 WL for the book.

Polaroids from the Dead--#20 finished

A short story type book well maybe not so much stories as observations of real events.  The beginning is mostly about dead heads at or going to a Grateful Dead concert in Oakland, CA.  Interesting & strange people.  A few other stories about happenings & then at the end about Brentwood, CA with the OJ Simpson case going on & a look back at Marilyn Monroe too.  I have liked a couple of his other books that I read but this one not so much, oh well that happens.

I have posted it on PBS, there were no other copies so since a kind of popular author I would expect it would get requested at some point.

To Win and Die in Dixie--#19 finished

A book about J Douglas Edgar, a golfer from northern England in the early 1900s.  He eventually developed his swing & taught others the swing that is the modern golf swing.  I am not enough of a golfer or student of the game to know how it is different though.  WWI came & he enlisted, and I thought it was interesting because he thought it would be over in a few weeks as most thought. He lost 4 years out of his prime of golfing there.  When back & had some success but Europe being tore up from the war and England not having money for golf while re-building, he came to the US & became pro of a course in Atlanta.  Had a couple impressive wins in the Canadian Open which was like a major back then before he died.  He died along the side of a major road around midnight in Atlanta.  At first thought to be from a car accident but then further investigated as homicide but I guess never completely solved.  The author and person that did research before him on this that he got use of the notes, thinks it was a husband of a lady he was having an affair with.  A sad ending to the life of a talented golfer.  One of the people he played a big role in influencing was Bobby Jones.

I have already posted this book & there was 1 WL & it has been accepted so probably getting it out in the mail today.

Writing from Left to Right--#18 finished

Michael Novak with a long history in politics--advising, assisting campaigns, working as ambassador level with human rights issues under Reagan and beyond.  He writes about his start as a more leftwing kind of Kennedy supporter and then McGovern and others through the '70s but then joins with Reagan and continues with Bush.  I really knew nothing about Novak before reading this book, I might have seen him on TV a few times but not really sure on that either.  Interesting read through the politics of the 1960s & into the 1990s.  Not much on Clinton on W.  No the most exciting read but still some good stuff in there.

I have already posted it & mailed it off, there were 2 WL and didn't see a reason to keep it around longer.

Good Morning, Midnight--#17 finished

I enjoy some of the apocalyptic writing out there & this is one has a little different twist that I enjoyed.  It followed people in two unusual areas that were left without information about what was happening or going on.  One was a researcher and a small girl that were left at a research facility in the Arctic, plenty of food and enough fuel to heat their living area but soon after everyone left all communication stopped.  The other area was a space ship that had gone around Jupiter and was returning to earth with 5 in the crew.  There were getting regular updates from earth & then it all stopped.

There was a twist in that the researcher in the Arctic was the father of the communications specialist on the spaceship with a twist on the little girl being in his imagination the daughter he never knew.  I didn't really like the twist, I thought without it the story was interesting enough & would have like to seen it expanded.  That is just me though, it is the author's story so I don't like to grumble too much.  I did enjoy the book, especially the beginning & the whole premise of the story.

There are 11 WL for the book, so I will mail it off at some point.

The Tulip & the Pope--#16 finished

This non-fiction book, author Deborah Larsen, had joined a convent in 1960 and after 3 years decided to leave just before taking final vows.  She talks about her time in the convent and what it was like and then some of what was going on in the country at the time too.  Since she & her fellow postulates were basically cut off from all news the first couple of years, when was able to find out more, had to be just amazing what was happening then.  A good read to get some insight into what joining a convent was like back then and while I know many changes have occurred since, still a lot of what was going through her mind is the same as today.  Not a normal book for me but I like mixing in some like this too.  Glad I read it.

I have posted it on PBS, there is 1 copy ahead of it and since this book is like 15 years old, I don't think it will be going anywhere any time soon.

The Deceivers--#15 finished

Next in the John Wells series, action adventure with spies and this time evil Russia wanting to take back some former USSR countries, the Balkans.  Interesting stuff and fun action, one of my favorites of this whole spy/action/thriller series that I am reading.  Still they do seem to all run about the same too.  Oh well, worse ways to spend my time.

This one I got done & since was on Auto Approve on PBS, I posted it & mailed it off last weekend.  As I said a couple books earlier, I am playing catch up on my March readings/finished readings.  This one should be delivered any day now to the next in line.

Great Plains--#14 finished

The author Ian Frazier moves to Montana and basically travels around the Great Plains of the US and writes about what he sees or who he meets and weaves it into some history of the place.  Obviously the native Americans play a big role in the book like they did in the great plains.  A good read with lots of interesting things but is a little disjointed.  Almost like a short story book with a travel log going on, a little different but also little hard to get used to as well.

I will post on PBS at some point, I think there are 7 or 8 WL for this book.  I got it from PBS so sending it on is always a good idea.  Just no hurry since have enough credits at this point.

Three Stations--#13 finished

Playing catch up for the books that I have finished in March.  First is Three Stations, so far the last book in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith, one of my favorite series.  I really enjoyed all the books and situations he gets himself into.  The span of years from first book to last is a bunch like 30 some years but the series seemed to age well in my mind.  I just hope it continues on.  It has been too many years since I read the first book Gorky Park so that will have to be one I get to hopefully sooner than later.

This series is a keeper series for me so this one will stay with me.