The Whistler--#43 finished

 The state office that investigates judges in Florida is handed a big complaint about a corrupt judge taking payoffs from a mafia type group that is behind the scenes running an Indian casino in N Florida.  This is a good Grisham read, moves quickly and keeps you hooked.  Introduces lots of characters but does a good job in giving you the info where you want to keep know what is going on.  Bad guys get arrested in end and the good people end of making out okay.  This one was started on vacation and finished a few days after--Grisham books and vacation just seem to go together for me.

There are already enough copies in PBS so will probably just look to give this one away.

Killer View--#42 finished

 This is the 2nd in a series about a sheriff in Idaho, a part of Idaho where the super rich have moved into the skiing town and meet with the locals.  Some interesting stories and characters.  Action moved quickly and was an easy read--started just before vacation and finished during vacation.  It was a good vacation read.

At this point there are already plenty of copies in PBS so will probably not post.  The author is from St Louis and still lives here part time, part of the reason I wanted to read some of his books.  Not sure if keeping or stocking up & giving away, will have to see.

Killing Reagan--#41 finished

 This is one of the several Bill O'Reilly books that he did about famous people.  This one gives background on both Ronald Reagan and the person that nearly assassinated him--John Hinckley.  An easy quick type read with good info on Reagan--where he came from & his acting career & then entry into politics.  Info on Hinckley that I wasn't aware of either.  How after Reagan was shot, Nancy inserted herself even more into controlling Reagan--especially his schedule.  It sort of leaves open the question of what his presidency would have looked like if he wasn't shot.

I have posted it on PBS, there were no copies so I would expect it will get moved at some point. 

Ready For a Brand New Beat--#40 finished

 This book looked at the emergence of rock n roll and rhythm and blues influences and then into Motown and Detroit.  The hook I guess is how "Dancing in the Street" became a Motown song that was a happy dance song to some and others became a rallying cry for the '60 protests.  I have read more than a few of Mark Kurlansky's books and I really like the way he does the research but also lays it out in an easy to read fashion.  Lots of info here about music and bands/singers of the '60s.

There are 2 WL for the book but not sure if will keep and handout to friends that might be interested.

Dragon Teeth--#39 finished

 The author Michael Crichton passed away several years ago--2008 but in a note in the Afterward section it says that he was always working on several projects and this was one.  It was already researched out and maybe written that someone was able to complete this.  His wife Sherri Crichton lists several people that helped get this book done but Michael is still listed as the author.  A story that is based on some real happenings and people--two university professors that were strong rivals in the new field of paleontology both were headed west in the 1870s with teams of people looking for dinosaur bones to bring back to their university for further studies.  A story revolved around that with the whole traveling the west, trains and then horseback & wagon.  Fighting indians and sometimes soldiers too.  The star then gets separated and runs through Deadwood and other parts out in the wild west.  To me not a great read but just a nice easy sort of page turner.

This was a book that I got from a friend on our books exchange and will give it back next time we all get together.

Bicycle Love--#38 finished

Just a lot of short stories about people and their love of bicycling.  True stories that range from a couple of pages to maybe 6-8.  Interesting range of bicycling people--commuters, mountain biking, cross country trips, team biking, etc.  Made of something different every few pages.  I am not a bicyclist--I have a bike & it gets pulled out a couple times a year at most.  It is probably 20 years old but looks mostly new once the spiderwebs are pulled off, so I don't really fit with the stories but was still a good read.

I have posted it on PBS, it is the only copy so hopefully will move at some point. 

John Quincy Adams--#37 finished

This book took a long time for me to read and it has also taken long for me to get it logged in.  I finished it on the last day of May and just now getting to it.  A really good read with a ton of great information about John Quincy Adams.  A lot of the infighting going on in politics back then is a good reminder that politics has always been a fight.  Each generation or time thinks it is worse now than ever, maybe some ways it is, but it has always been kind of ugly. 

JQA is really a person that was a bridge from the founders of our country, traveling with his dad to France during our fight for Independence and then with his career in the House extending to when many Republicans were starting to join him--not called Republicans yet but the seeds of the Civil War were certainly sprouting by then.  An amazing person and statesman.  I a really glad I read this book

There are 8 WL for this book so at some point I will post & mail off.  I thought about seeing if friends would be interested but really such a long book and almost work to read it I doubt they would be interested.