Pro Bono--#85 finished

This is about a mother and son that are victims of a con job.  Their husband/dad passed away and a new guy came into their life and married the mother.  He switched paperwork into his name and was robbing them almost completely.  The son then a college student back for summer runs him off road and bad guy dies.  Convicts fighting a fire returning to their prison in a bus stop at accident scene and two of them find paperwork that the stash away for years.  Boy grows up and goes to law school and has a practice back in CA where he looks for these kind of con jobs.  A widow comes for his help with her retirement funds being depleted.  Since now many years later the convicts are out now and have the paperwork but need help in accessing this money.  Confusing just to type this out.  Convicts and lawyers eventually trust each other enough to help out.  Original con man that was killed in car accident was part of con family so when try to access the money this family comes out of woodwork to get this money.  

To me this seems like 2 or 3 ideas for books that in the end the author decided to combine them together into one book.  While I was more disappointed with his book--Murder Book, this one has that same feel.  I did enjoy it more and while it seems unlikely the puzzle pieces would fit it still made for a good read.

There are 5 WL for this book on PBS so I will probably post it at some point.

"If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?"--#84 finished

The author, Gina Barreca is an English professor at UConn and also does columns for Tribune News Service that are syndicated throughout the country.  I hadn't heard of her before this book.  This is a book of her columns basically from over time.  Kind of funny and trying to see things in a little different light.  Just a nice and easy read as most were around 3 pages so easy to read a couple and set asside.

I have already posted it back on PBS, it is the only copy in system so will see when & if it goes.

Black is the Body--#83 finished

The rest of the title:  Stories from my Grandmother's Time, my Mother's Time and Mine.  It is a kind of memoir by stories.  The author is a black lady married to a white man, they are both professors in Vermont.  She moved from Nashville and went to college there and has stayed there since.  Her mom was born and raised in Mississippi and had moved to Nashville.  Emily--the author--tells stories about growing up and also going back to MS as a child and then later as an adult.  Also stories about living in a very white state Vermont and teaching to mostly all white students in her classes about African American Studies.  Emily & her husband are unable to have children and go through a process to adopt and are able to adopt twin girls that were around 1 year of age from Ethiopia.  The stories are very good and make you think about things that are outside of what I would think--the questions students ask, hair problems for their young black daughters, south vs north ways of blacks and living and working.  Just a really good and interesting book.

There are no copies on PBS but for now I am keeping this book.  Might be a loan out book or maybe just a keeper for me, not sure at this point. 

The Fury--#82 finished

This is a whodunit kind of mystery.  A retired famous actress, her husband and son, an actress friend and a writer friend are all invited by the retired actress to her Greek island for a long weekend.  We know going in that someone is murdered and so the story starts.  Background of the people is woven into story.  It does keep you guessing.  I had trouble that I really didn't like any of the characters enough to care what happens to them.  Oh well a good kind of read overall I guess.

There are 22 WL for this book on PBS so I will probably mail it off at some point.

American Gun--#81 finished

The author of this book Chris Kyle served in Iraq and probably Afghanistan too and was a top sniper there and wrote a book I read years ago I think was American Sniper--yep just looked it up.  A movie was made and Chris was a kind of famous person.  Just as this book finished up Chris and a friend were killed, it says trying to help another veteran.  If I remember right I think the guy had ptsd and shot up a firing range--not sure and will probably try looking up after typing this up.  This book is about 10 guns that influenced the US from it's very beginning to present day.  Good stories and writeups on each gun as well as talking about other similar guns or guns the opponents were using.  I am not much of a gun guy so was just a good read for me, people with real interest in guns probably enjoy this book much more.

There are no copies on PBS but at this point not posting it either.  Not sure if keeper since a lot good information here or maybe post or maybe donate away.  No hurry to decide. 

Taylor Made--#80 finished

This is a locally published kind of self published book.  The author started her own publishing company and this book came from it.  It is a rough book, rough story, 4 girls starting in middle school and going through high school and then college in St Louis in North St Louis are involved with young men that are dealing drugs and raking in a bunch of cash.  The language is rough, a ton of n-words or variations of that.  The years are late 1980s into the early 1990s which is when I came to St Louis so time and setting seem a little familiar but don't know this area or the in & outs of this life at all.  This is the first book by this author and it seems like it too.  Story gets confusing, introducing people and roles and not really sure how everyone fits at points.  Oh well a good story that reminds me that the crack epidemic of that time was really a tough time.

I have posted it on PBS, not sure if it will get requested but figure will post & see.  Might get donated away if stays on my PBS list too long.

An Unfinished Love Story--#79 finished

This is the first book I have read by the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin & it is really good.  The rest of the title is: A Personal History of the 1960s.  Her and her husband didn't meet until the 1970s but each played a somewhat important role in the politics of the 1960s.  Her husband Dick Goodwin was older and had more roles starting with JFK and his election to President and then staying on with LBJ and helping push through many of the Great Society bills.  He left LBJ to teach but also split with him on the Vietnam war.  He was back in politics help McCarthy and then his good friend RFK until he was assassinated.  Meanwhile Doris was a college student & then Phd as well that got a position in DC that eventually turned into a kind of personal assistant to LBJ.  She was with him till end of his Presidency and then continued to work on his memoirs.  This was told as a look back for them both going through boxes of material they had saved.  Unfortunately Dick made it through the boxes but died from cancer before writing the book so Doris had to do that on her own.  Just a really in depth look at politics in the US in the turbulent 1960s from an insider type perspective. 

There are 32 WL for this book on PBS so might get mailed at some point but might also loan out to friends as well or maybe just put on a keeper shelf here.