March 30, 2014

“Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker” by Jennifer Chiaverini – A New Perspective

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker (Book cover)
Though it seems as if the subject of the Lincoln presidency has been covered in all of its aspects from A to Z, there are still some out there who are trying to find new perspectives to give on this extraordinary journey through life.

In Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker Jennifer Chiaverini attempts to do just that by presenting us the point of view entertained by Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who was a seamstress in the White House.

March 29, 2014

“The Auschwitz Escape” by Joel C. Rosenberg – Resisting at the Core

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg (Book cover)
Though the occupying Nazi force during the Second World War was indeed overwhelming for many countries, there are still countless people who risked and gave it all they had to resist the invading force.

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel Rosenberg presents us the story of Jacob Weisz, a man involved in the German resistance. Though Weisz is indeed German himself, he sees what scourge the invading Nazi force truly is, and decides that it is his duty to preserve the Fatherland he knows and fight back against this oppression.

March 28, 2014

“Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer – The Perils of Faith

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (Book cover)
Though religion can certainly instruct people to live on a righteous path filled with love and kindheartedness, when taken too far it can very well lead to tragedy.

In Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer focuses on the religious communities in America isolated from the rest of the world, mostly Mormon fundamentalists.

March 27, 2014

“After I’m Gone” by Laura Lippman – The Desolation of the Void

After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman (Book cover)
After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman tells of a rather long and convoluted affair spanning over twenty-six years and revolving around the mysterious disappearance of one man and the women he left behind.

To make any kind of sense of this, we have to go back to 1959, as Bernadette Gottschalk makes the acquaintance of Felix Brewer. Thanks to the latter’s less-than-legal business, the couple was able to live in comfort alongside their three little girls. However, in 1976 Felix makes a very sudden disappearance as he faces the possibility of being convicted.

March 23, 2014

“A Red Herring Without Mustard” by Alan Bradley – A Fortune in Death

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (Book cover)
A Red Herring Without Mustard is yet another addition by Alan Bradley to the Flavia de Luce mystery series, and it follows in the same vein as the ones that came before it, following our beloved heroine as she tries to solve a murder that should be way above her head.

This time around, the victim is none other than a gypsy woman, who only a few hours before her apparent death read Flavia’s fortune. What’s more, it is known that the gypsy woman was thought of by the locals as a criminal who had something to do with the abduction of a child many years ago.

March 20, 2014

“The Martian” by Andy Weir – Perils of the Red Planet

The Martian by Andy Weir (Book cover)
With the exploration of Mars being closer to realization than most of us believed in our childhoods, interest in the red planet is once again starting to rise, and unsurprisingly, so is the number of novels in relation to it.

Amongst all of them though there is one surprising standout, The Martian by Andy Weir, and it is actually the author’s debut novel. The premise is rather simple: a group of astronauts arrive on Mars for the purposes of exploration, but very soon, all but one of them die because of the unexpectedly hostile environment.

March 19, 2014

“Terms of Enlistment” by Marko Kloos – One Way Out

Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos (Book Cover)
The year is 2108, and most of humanity living on Earth doesn’t have it easy; overpopulation led people down to a spiral of crime and poverty, with countless living in slums where the daily ration consists of two hundred calories of soy.

Andrew Grayson is sick and tired of living his life, and so he decides to take one of the two options available to him: join the military (the other, winning a lottery-ticket off-world was never going to happen anyways).

March 17, 2014

“Still Life with Bread Crumbs” by Anna Quindlen – You Get what you don’t Expect

Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen (Book cover)
Rebecca Winter was once a phenomenal photographer (by all rights, she still is) and took her professional world by storm, to the point where many heralded her as their heroine. However, all things must come to an end at some point, and Rebecca’s career was no exception to the rule.

Being on her professional downfall, Rebecca feels rather overwhelmed by the world around her and decides to escape from the tedious prison she has been living in… in favor of going in the middle of nowhere.

March 15, 2014

“Seabiscuit” by Laura Hillenbrand – An Unlikely Legend

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (Book cover)
We are used to sports players being on the receiving end of untold amounts of fame and riches for their ability to play their game and entertain the crowd.

However, it is far less common for animals to be awarded the same honor, but that didn’t stop the entire nation from falling in love Seabiscuit, the racing horse whose life is the quintessential underdog story.

March 14, 2014

“Deadly Sanctuary” by Sylvia Nobel – Wild West Reborn

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel (Book cover)
The Southwest of the United States has always been a rather interesting place, one where death and beauty have seeped into the soil itself and majestic landscapes hide the scars of countless wars and battles. Though the Wild West isn’t exactly alive anymore, there are still many stories to be told in it, whether real or fictional.

Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel (and illustrated by Christy Moeller) takes place in Arizona, and is the first book to follow the exploits of Kendall O’Dell, a young and spirited journalist who recently took a job with a failing newspaper.

March 8, 2014

“The Book of Secrets” by Deepak Chopra – A Quest for Personal Power

The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra (Book cover)
Most of the day is spent by us in what some like to refer to as “robot mode”, in the sense that we are not truly awake and simply go through each action instinctively, without thinking about it. When we do start to think about what we do, who we are and what we want to achieve, more often than not all the reflections lead to one question: how can I navigate life with success?

In other words, what we are looking for is the power to steer our fate in the direction we want to… however, as you can guess, if such knowledge exists in the first place it certainly isn’t easy to obtain. Where would you even start your quest for such a power anyways? Well, there probably is an infinite number of such places, but one of the better ones, in my opinion, is The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra.

March 7, 2014

“Doing Hard Time” by Stuart Woods – The Power of Shadows

Doing Hard Time by Stuart Woods (Book cover)
With Doing Hard Time Stuart Woods returns to us once again with a short Stone Barrington story, and to be frank, due to its length I can only very tentatively refer to it as a novel.

In any case, we are following Stone Barrington once again, this time as he tries to catch a bit of a vacation from the rat race his life has turned to while in New York City. Of course, in such stories vacations never pan out as expected, and such is the case here as an old and supposedly resolved case resurfaces with many questions needing to be answered.

March 6, 2014

“Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” by Mindy Kaling – Experimenting with Life’s Pathways

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (Book cover))
Most of you probably know Mindy Kaling from her role on the hit sitcom, The Office, and from what I gathered based on my viewings of it, she played the kind of character you either loved or hated.

Personally, I couldn’t stand every moment she spent on screen, and as a result I was extremely skeptical about purchasing her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?… I only did so because of the number of good reviews and a personal recommendation which came from a friend.

March 1, 2014

“Many Lives, Many Masters” by Brian L. Weiss – Science and Reincarnation

Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss (Book cover)
It is no secret that on this planet, the majority of people follow some kind of religion out of faith rather than proof. The many spiritual realities people have come to believe do not seem to require any kind of concrete evidence or proof, at least in the traditional sense.

The whole thing relies on faith, and there are many people out there, more logically-oriented ones, who discard any beliefs which cannot be demonstrated in the physical world.