Tomorrow by Graham Swift

After reading and loving Waterland by Graham Swift, I was excited to read his 2007 effort, Tomorrow. In it, Paula Hook spends a night lying in bed next to her husband, Mike, contemplating their marriage and the big secret they have kept for years. The next day, they will reveal this family secret to their sixteen-year old twins, Kate and Nick.

Swift is apparently incapable of writing bad prose. The reader is swept along in the story, reading of Paula and Mike's courtship, early marriage and decision to have children. Their relationships with their parents and their feelings about careers are explored. We even hear the story of the only pet they ever had, Otis, their pet cat.

While the book is interesting, I wouldn't rate it as highly as Waterland. The big family secret seemed like fairly trivial to me, and the book was a bit of a letdown after the revelation of it. Perhaps a more emotional person would have found the secret more devastating than I did. Regardless, I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy great writing and like reading about family relationships. I will definately seek out other novels by Graham Swift in the future.

The Islands Of Divine Music by John Addiego

John Addiego's debut novel, The Islands Of Divine Music, is a multigenerational saga of the Verbicaro family, Italian immigrants. The matriarch, Rosari, fled Italy after getting involved with a criminal in Italy when she was a young teenager. Fooled by him into activities that could get her into legal trouble, her family migrated to America for a better life. Once here, Rosari and her father moved on from New York City to San Francisco, where there was a large Italian settlement. There she met Giuseppe, the man she would marry and have seven children with.

Although she and Giuseppe had a long marriage, it was not a happy one. In his older years, he left Rosario and married a prostitute, who had a son, Jesus. Jesus's life story is intertwined with that of the Verbicaro children, throughout their lives. Rosario's children follow Giuseppe into the construction business, where they are successful. Jesus and his mother become migrant workers, and later he becomes a transexual prostitute.

Each chapter in the book narrates the life of another Verbicaro family member. There are the smart brothers, the dumb yet charming ones, the girls who make good marriages and those who make good careers. As time goes on, the children of these family members grow up and their life stories are explored also. Some family members reappear in multiple chapters, like Paul, who comes back from the war addicted to drugs and plagued by the things he'd seen. A continuing theme is also how the family searches for their missing half-brother, Jesus, over the years.

This book will be enjoyed by those who like to read family sagas, and have an interest in the lives immigrants built in this country. The characters are distinct, and remain in the reader's thoughts well after the book is finished. This is an impressive debut for a new author, and I hope to hear more from him.

The Coming China Wars by Peter Navarro

In his book, The Coming China Wars, Peter Navarro outlines the startling evidence of how China is becoming a world leader and the frightening side effects of their policies. This is an expanded and updated version of Navarro's findings. The book is broken into various areas of China's dominence or attempts to dominate with experts and scientific studies quoted to support the author's thesis. It would be a rare reader who wasn't concerned or even alarmed after reading the facts laid out by the author.

One of the first areas is familiar to all, the explosion of Chinese products on the American consumer market. Many even remember the recent scandals and recalls of items from pet food to toys. Yet, most don't stop to think of the implications of China winning market after market. Jobs are exported overseas, as manufacturers look for decreased costs of production. These costs are often achieved at the expense of horrific working conditions, little if any quality control, government disregard of counterfeited name brand products and little concern for environmental factors. That results in Chinese goods of inferior quality flooding markets. While many consumers are aware of fake brand name pocketbooks or watches and may see little reason to worry about them, the picture changes rapidly when the counterfeit goods happens to be the pharmacuticals that consumers count on to save lives or alleviate medical conditions. This was one of the topics I'd never heard of before reading this book that is truly frightening. Imagine relying on a medication to lower your cholestrol or diabetic condition, and after a tragedy, finding out that what you were taking wasn't the real product at all. Navarro mentions two areas that are particularly prone to these products. He speculates that small, locally owned pharmacies might be willing to buy products that are cheaper in order to compete with the large drugstore chain's discount purchases. He also points out that most of the medication purchased on Internet sites is in fact this adulterated medication.

Another side effect that is slowly becoming evident is the financial implications of purchasing such a large amount of Chinese goods. This results in large trade deficits for the American economy, pumping billions into the Chinese economy to fuel their projects. American jobs are being outsourced at an alarming rate. This cash drain has further implications. It leads to the need for the federal government to borrow vast amounts on the international financial markets. China then turns around and uses these dollars to buy up our debt. This scenario is being played out right now in the current financial straits that the country finds itself in. It leaves the country dependant on the whims of another country which can dry up the credit market at will, forcing policies to be initiated that are not in our best interest, or that diverts money from projects we need to do.

As a result of the lax industrial policies of China, the environment is suffering. Working conditions are horrific in Chinese factories, with many workers toiling away as little better than slave labor. Industrial accidents abound, and the victims are rarely compensated, just released from their job to make their way as best they can. Toxic ingredients are released into the air or water. China's rivers and water supply are so polluted that cancers and other illnesses are on a steep incline. Worse, China is becoming a major exporter of food products, spreading that exposure throughout the world. The need for large dams to provide the electricity needed is changing the natural rise and fall of rivers, diverting water and interrupting natural food chains. The toxic waste in the air results in large acid rain areas, both within China and in neighboring countries.

China seems to be on the rise in international matters. The country has an increasing need for energy, which translates into oil and natural gas. They have no qualms about exporting weapons and technology to smaller nations that could be terrorist nations in exchange for access to their natural resources. China also wants to corner supplies of various minerals. They come in and provide technology and infrastructure to small nations, which seems like a good relationship to the country that wants to modernize. But in return, the natural resources of the country are stripped and sent to China, draining the supplying nation of resources needed to become self-sufficient down the road.

There is also concern about China's military rise and future intentions. The large cash flows into the country fuel expansion of their military arsenal. Large stockpiles of missles, aircraft, nuclear submarines and other weapons is occurring. It is unclear what the intent of such a massive arms buildup is. There are various trouble spots that China is involved with that could trigger international warfare. Some of these include Taiwan, a conflict with India, the funding of Iran which might then attack Israel, a Russian conflict, or Korea. In addition, China has entered the space race, and seems to be making progress on this front also. Again, the secrecy that characterizes this country makes it difficult to discern their goals in this area.

The final chapter in the book outlines various steps that Navarro believes can stem some of the rising problems that China presents to the United States, and indeed, to the world. He provides items that consumers and governments can pursue in each of the areas outlined in the book.

I found this book compelling. It opens the curtain on issues that most Americans are unaware of, except in a dim recognition that more and more of what they buy seems to have a Made In China sticker on it. Even when noticed, most are unaware of the implications of allowing another country to have such a large cash drain from us, or that this cash then funds negative events in the environment, or military issues. The Coming China Wars is recommended for those readers concerned about the world and the realities that it is facing from a rising supernation.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

The Vanger family is one of the richest families in Sweden; heads of a multinational corporation. Yet there is a tragedy in the Vanger background. Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger, only sixteen, vanished one summer day. The disappearance has never been solved. Henrik Vanger, the family patriarch, has decided that the time has come to try once again to find out what happened to Harriet. Now 82, he has given over the reins of the company to his nephew, Martin, and has spent years trying to solve the mystery to no avail. Harriet was Henrik's niece and was his favorite family member.

In order to try once more, Henrik hires Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative reporter. Mikael has recently been convicted of libel and is at loose ends. Henrik hires him to use his skills to see if there is anything left to discover. The cover story is that Mikael is writing a biography of the Vanger family. He meets the various surviving family members and digs into the story. Along the way, he is helped by a young computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Antisocial and living below the radar, she adds her unorthodox methods to Mikael's investigation. Against all odds, Mikael and Lisbeth are able to find out what happened that long-ago summer day and bring closure to Henrik with the case's resolution. In the process, though, they uncover vile crimes that have gone undetected for years.

I enjoyed this book. It was more literary than the usual mystery, and delved into the relationships between the various characters. Lisbeth Salander is a unique character, and one that the reader is left wanting to know more about. This book is the first of three in a series, and I will definately look for the others as they become available. This book is recommended for general fiction readers and mystery lovers.

An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

In An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination, Elizabeth McCracken tells the heartbreaking story of the stillbirth of her son. McCracken never expected to have children, but fell in love in her mid-thirties, and was pregnant at 39. She and her husband were living in France when something went wrong with her pregnancy. In a horrific scene, the doctors confirmed to her that her baby had died. She then went through delivery and saw her perfect son, who unexplainably would not be coming home with them.

The book follows McCracken and her husband's journey through the year after the death. She goes through all the stages of grief, and wonders if she is a mother if her baby isn't there for others to see. Some days start to seem better, only to have the rollercoaster of grief crush her again the next. The lifelines she grabbed for were the love and support of her family and friends. She got pregnant again three months after the stillbirth, and gave birth a year later to a healthy baby boy.

This book was absolutely accurate. I went through the same thing years ago, and had almost the same story. The pregnancy was uneventful, and then one day, my daughter didn't seem to be moving as much, and then there was the doctor visit and the news that no pregnant woman expects to hear. I lived with that news for almost a week before my body was ready to deliver, and like Elizabeth, my baby was perfect. The grief was like nothing I had ever encountered. The guilt is overwhelming. Having to talk to strangers about how many children you have, or what did you have or how does your son like his baby sister were unimaginably hard. Emotions that vary greatly from day to day and second-guessing are inevitable. Finally, with time, the raw grief subsides, but the family is never the same again. Like Elizabeth, I was able later to have another baby, although it took five years for me, and was a surprise pregnancy.

This book is recommended for anyone facing this situation, or for anyone with family or friends going through this disaster. I couldn't put the book down; it felt so real and so close to my experience.

Good-bye And Amen by Beth Gutcheon

The Moss family has come together in the wake of the deaths of the parents. The lives of this family were detailed in Leeway Cottage, and Good-bye And Amen is the next stage in this family's saga. Laurus and Sydney Moss were strong individuals. Their deaths leave three grown children. Eleanor is the oldest daughter, and probably the best adjusted. She married her college sweetheart, Bobbie, and has three children of her own. Monica, the middle child, was engaged in lifelong conflict with Sydney. Sydney picked her out early as an enemy and carried out a lifelong war against her. Monica is married to a charasmatic preacher, Norman, with two grown children. Jimmy, the only son and youngest child, spent years rebelling against the family and its influence. He now lives out west, married to Josslyn, and their three children.

The book details the various family relationships. Parent and child, husband and wife, sister and brother, in-laws, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews, cousins, old friends and current relationships. We see how patterns established early tend to play themselves out over the years. We see how each generation takes from the past and carries forward with new relationships and ways of handling the world. There are sibling rivalries, marital issues, yet underneath it all, we see the love that holds this family together over the generations.

I really enjoyed this book. I had not read the predecessor but plan to go back and read it, since this book was so intriguing. The method of narration was interesting. The entire book was told in first voice, but not one narrator as you might expect. Each character told their part of each event, and we got to see how each person's mind worked and what was important to them. Often an issue of major importance to one character was totally insignificant to another. Seeing this, it was easy to see how conflicts and misunderstandings occurred over the years. I enjoyed the sense of family over the generations, grounded in one spot regardless of where life had moved them. This book is highly recommended for readers of fiction and those interested in family relationships.

Bad Seeds In The Big Apple by Patrick Downey

In this exhaustively researched book, Patrick Downey writes of the robber gangs that were common in New York City in the 1920's through the 1940's. The time was ripe for such gangs. Police work did not have the investigative or forensic tools now available. More importantly, since electronic fund transfers were not available, businesses and banks tended to have large amounts of cash on hand.

Each case is presented with the gang leader, his nicknames, biography, crimes attributed to him, and members of his gang. The captures, trials and often the deaths of each individual is detailed. Death sentences were much more common then than now, and an astounding number ended their days in the electric chair. There were several interesting facts I discovered. One was the number of escapes from prison that occurred, and the frequency of these. I hadn't realised how often criminals were able to escape through various plots and schemes. One fact that was striking was a man who was electrocuted with a wieght of 220 pounds. At the time, he was the heaviest person to be electrocuted, but these days a man weighing 220 pounds is not uncommon. Another striking fact was how young these men tended to be. Most were in their early twenties. Finally, I found it interesting how many criminals really did stick to the credo of not informing on their associates. While many did, there were just as many who refused to help police even when it would result in lighter sentences.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I had not heard of many of these individuals, and it was interesting to read their stories. There was an extensive illustration section in the middle of the book, allowing the reader to visualize the individuals being discussed. This book is recommended for readers of nonfiction and especially true crime.

Onitsha by J.M.G. Le Clezio

Onitsha is J.M.G. LeClezio's Nobel Prize-winning book. The book follows Fintan, a young boy who travels to Africa, and specifically, the town of Onitsha, with his mother in 1948 to join his father who works there for United Africa, a trading conglomerate. Fintan does not know his father, Geoffroy, as he had been separated from Fintan and Maou, his mother, during the war. Now that the war is over, they are following Geoffroy to Africa to reunite as a family. The book follows Fintan's relationship with Geoffroy and Maou as well as his perceptions of Africa.

His first perception of Africa is space. Everything is bigger there than in his native Italy, more sun, the sky spreads forever, the rain is fierce. He sheds his protected persona as a little boy and learns to explore and fend for himself as he grows up. The reader sees the people of the area through Fintan's eyes. Bony is another boy who befriends Fintan at first, then turns against him as the colonial establishment starts to crumble and the natives are treated even more shabbily by those who control the area. He learns about sex from Oya, a beautiful, mysterious native woman. There is an English gentleman, Sabine Rodes, who seems to love the country but is considered an outsider by the establishment. He teaches Fintan much of the history and customs of the native people.

The establishment is a group of Englishmen set up in a typical Colonial situation of businessmen and governmental representatives. Gerald Simpson is the leader and he expects everything to be ordered by rank. He considers the natives as lesser beings, and his expectation of a swimming pool dug by black convicts fuels much of the conflict shown between the natives and those in the local government. The other English have carved out their own fiefdoms. They gather in the local club and attempt to set up a mirror of the England they have known. Contact with the natives is rare, except for expectations of service. The native people are treated with condescension at best and more often, with total contempt.

Over time, Fintan grows to disapprove of all the other English. His sympathies lie with the native population, who are treated with disdain and routinely humiliated and exploited. His parents also fall out of favor. Geoffroy has an obsession with local history and the legends and religion that fuel it. Maou quickly becomes shunned, as she shows her contempt for the way the other colonials treat the native population. Geoffroy is considered weak since he does not control Maou and her display of emotions. This disfavor finally results in Geoffroy losing his job and the family leaving Onitsha.

Readers of this book will learn a lot about Africa. It is set in the area that later becomes Biafra. The food, customs, religion and people are portrayed in such a way that the reader is transported there, and the descriptions of the area leave one with a feel for what draws people to the area. The language is haunting and dreamlike. The contrast between the language and the harsh events that are explored sets a stark contrast that outlines the brutality of colonialism. This book is recommended for all readers.

Divine Justice by David Baldacci

Divine Justice is the fourth book in David Baldacci's series, The Camel Club. The book opens with two murders, that of a Senator and that of the head of Intelligence. Oliver Stone is the assassin, and the reader starts with a negative impression of him. However, the secrets of why Stone has done such an act are revealed as the book unfolds, and it is soon clear that, while a troubled man, Stone has reason for doing such horrific things.

Stone is a former CIA assassin, and has been living below the radar for years. He goes on the run after the murders. On the train he is riding, he defends a young man attacked by a gang, and after saving him, accepts his invitation to go home with him. Home is a small coaltown in Southern Virigina named Divine. Divine appears to be a typical coal mining town, but it is soon evident that there are troubles in the town. There are several murders and suicides that may not be what they appear. Drug abuse is rampant, and several of the town's young men are caught up in drugs and their havoc. Stone quickly gets tangled up in the troubles and tries to find out what is happening, while staying underground.

Back in Washington, D.C., Stone's disappearance isn't unnoticed. Joe Knox is one of the CIA's best agents, and he is sent to find Stone. As he investigates, he realises that Stone is not even this man's name. He started life as John Carr, one of the most courageous soldiers the U.S. ever had. For some reason, Carr was denied the honors he earned on the battlefield. Knox also finds out why Stone has killed the two men whose murders opened the book. As he follows Stone, Knox encounters Stone's friends, who call themselves the Camel Club. The plot pulls all these threads together into an intricate plot that resolves satisfactorily.

Although I haven't read the first three in the Camel Club series, I didn't find it difficult to catch up with the back story to Divine Justice. The book is quick-paced and action-packed. I enjoyed it and will look for other books by this author. It is recommended for thriller and legal mystery fans.

The Subway Chronicles by Jacquelin Cangro

The Subway Chronicles, edited by Jacquelin Cangro, is a collection of essays by various authors about the New York subway system and their experiences riding it. Some of the authors include Francine Prose, Lawrence Block, Calvin Trillin, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Jennifer Toth, April Reynolds and others. There are 27 essays. Each essay is followed by a short biographical sketch of the author and their body of work.

The stories range from comic to haunting, from history to wry observations about the people encountered riding. I enjoyed it quite a lot, partially because New York City is my favorite place in the world, and I have experience with the subway system as a visitor. The book is a great pick up book when the reader only has a few minutes as most of the essays are fairly short. I recommend this book for the general reader and for those planning a trip to New York City.

Cakes And Ale by W. Somerset Maugham

Cakes And Ale by W. Somerset Maugham follows the lives of a great novelist, Edward Driffield, and his first wife, Rosie as seen through the eyes of a young man who knows them over a span of years. Set in the early 1900's, the book is a telescope into the culture and attitudes of England during this time. Life is changing there, and while the nobility is still honored, more and more "trade" people are moving into society. Edward Driffield is such a man, and he compounds the disdain polite society has for him by marrying Rosie, who was a barmaid.

Yet, Edward's talent and the couple's social skills mean that soon they are at the center of a social group that includes up and coming artists, authors, bankers, and an occasional earl or duke. The narrator, a well-brought boy who becomes a doctor and later an author himself, is at first diffident about the couple. Yet, they are charming to him and he soon finds himself caught up in their circle.

Rosie is a great beauty, and it soon is revealed, a woman who spreads her charms widely. The narrator becomes one of her lovers. None of the men in her life seem to scorn her for her lifestyle as all are captivated with her. As an analogy, one likens her to a cool, refreshing forest pool. Does the enjoyment of diving in and cooling off diminish because others have also done so?

I adored this book. It is totally charming, while outlining a story that could have been sordid. Maugham writes about various aspects of society comically. The tone of the entire book is wry, while outlining a young man's growth and the morals and culture of an age gone by. I enjoyed this one immensely and recommend it wholeheartedly.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain

The Road Home starts with a bus journey. Depressed by his wife's death and his sawmill job disappearing, Lev is leaving his Eastern European home, immigrating to England to try to restart his life. The book follows Lev for the year he spends in England, and his rebirth and resurgerance of purpose by the time he returns home. Lev starts as a leaflet deliveryman. From there he becomes the dishwasher in an up-and-coming restaurant, and when that goes well, the prep chef. After leaving that job, Lev works as a farmworker for a season, picking asparagus and other crops. He has come to love food, however, and goes back to London and becomes a waiter. As he moves from job to job, he begins to see a plan for the rest of his life, and he returns to his home in Eastern Europe, determined to live his dream.

Along Lev's journey, the reader meets many individuals. There is Rudi, Lev's best friend at home. Rudi is a larger than life figure, always dreaming and scheming and forcing life to bend to his will. Lev has a five year old daughter, Maya, whom he leaves with his mother, Ina. In London, Lev rents a room from an Irishman, Christy Slane, who becomes a fast friend. He helps Lev adjust to England, and in turn, Lev helps Christy get his life back together. Sophie is Lev's English love, and the book follows their love affair. There are Jimmy and Sonny Ming, Chinese immigrants who work with Lev in the fields. G.K. Ashe is the restauranteur who gives Lev his first chance and demands excellence from him. There is also Lydia. Lev meets Lydia on the bus, and although she is also an immigrant, she seems more in tune with various processes, and whenever Lev encounters difficulties, Lydia is the one he turns to for help.

The Road Home won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2008. Rose Tremain has written several other novels that were acclaimed, such as Music And Silence, The Colour, and Restoration. One of her strengths as an author is character development. She writes characters that are instantly believable, and that the reader cares about. Even minor characters are fully developed, written in such depth that the reader feels they would recognize the characters if they passed on the street. There is also an underlying beat of hope in her novels that draws in the reader and makes her books compelling reads.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I cared about Lev, rejoiced in his triumphs and grieved at his setbacks. The resilience he showed after tragedy made him a sympathetic figure. His kindness and refusal to let life beat him down makes him a memorable character. This book is highly recommended.

Songs For The Missing by Stewart O'Nan

Songs For The Missing by Stewart O'Nan follows a typical family's life after their teenage daughter goes missing. Kim Larsen is home for her last summer before college. She disappears one afternoon between an outing with friends and going to work. The book follows lives in the time following the disappearance, showing how this occurrence affects each individual as well as the family dynamic. It explores how such an event can unravel familial and friendship ties and explores the stages of grief.

O'Nan is masterful at showing how the disappearance affects everyone. Ed Larsen, the father and a real estate broker affected by the economy and bad financial decisions, feels guilty that he hasn't prevented the disappearance and protected Kim as he feels a father should do. He stays busy at first searching, then becomes depressed as time moves on. Fran, the mom, goes into super-organizer mode, lining up volunteers, publicity, and donations. The disappearance and the organization of the events necessary for a full-fledged search become her life. When she isn't working on it, she knocks herself out with sleeping pills. Lindsay, Kim's younger sister, is confused and angry. Always in Kim's shadow as the little sister, now she has to create a new life with her own identity. Not only family, but friends are also affected. The book follows the lives of Kim's best friend and boyfriend as they also try to cope with the tragedy.

As time goes on, support from volunteers starts to dwindle and the police check in less often as the disappearance becomes a cold case. Kim's friends move on, starting their college careers, and forming new relationships. The Larsen family is faced with the dilemma of how long the disappearance can remain the primary focus of their lives. Is it fair to Lindsay to allow her life to be second to that of Kim's forever? Can they sustain the strength that focused their search? As time moves on, the family moves through the recognized stages of grief and finally finds acceptance that they will probably never see Kim again.


I've heard great things about O'Nan for quite a while, and this is my first experience with his writing. The writing is not overblown, which would be easy to do with this situation. While the situation is grim, the book is not depressing. Relationships and their exploration seems to be a real strength for O'Nan. He gets the tone of the average family in a small town exactly right, and takes the reader into the experience of losing your child without knowing what has happened. This book is highly recommended for all readers. I rate it four stars and enjoyed it despite the material.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

I finished Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson last night and I'm really glad I finally got around to this one. It has won many awards such as IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Independant Foreign Fiction Prize. It was recently translated from the Norwegian language so that those who read English are able to enjoy it.


The book follows the life of Trond Sander with two focuses. It concentrates on his current life as a sixty-seven year old man who has moved to a remote house in the country after the death of his wife three years before in a car accident. He chooses to return to the area where he had spent several summers with his father as a teenager in the country. His only current neighbor is Lars, whom he realises is the same Lars who was a neighbor's child back then. Once he realises this, the book focuses on his memories of those summers, and especially the summer when he was fifteen.


Like most fifteen year old boys, he was in that half-boy, half-man stage and testing everything. He loves and admires his father, but wonders at his frequent absences from the family back in Oslo. His best friend in the country, Jon, faces a family tragedy that Lars is also a pivotal part of, and leaves the family. Trond starts to put together pieces of his own family's history and to understand the relationships going on around him that he had been oblivious to as a child.


One of the big secrets he discovers has to do with those absences. It turns out that his father was involved in a network of Norwegian resistance workers who smuggled out documents and later people during World War II. Other members of the network included his father's best friend, and Jon and Lar's mother. Trond is a bit in love with this woman, and starts to act out his emerging sexuality with her by putting his arms around her in front of her husband and his father. That shocks them enough that the physical work they were doing is interrupted and an accident occurs, injuring the husband. Trond is shocked later to observe his father and Jon's mother kissing, making it evident that they are involved in an affair. That leads to the last secret, the fact that when Trond returns to his mother and sister at the end of the summer, his father stays behind. He leaves them and starts another life with Jon's mother. Trond never sees his father again.



I really enjoyed this book. The language is poetic, and reflects the stark beauty of the Norwegian countryside. The secrets are revealed slowly and with each secret, the reader feels that another piece of a jigsaw puzzle is slotted into place. The issues of family, relationships, and control are explored. This book is recommended for all readers.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Can a murderer be sympathetic and yes, even charming? As strange as that proposition seems, Aravind Adiga has created such an individual in The White Tiger. This book won the Man Booker Prize in 2008, and it is one of the more interesting books I've read lately.

The book follows the life of Balram Halwai, a man born into poverty in India. His father was a rickshaw operator, and died early of TB. Balram's life was dire as every day was a struggle to survive for his family. In fact, Balram didn't even get a name; he was named by the schoolmaster when he started school. In India, the family and ritualistic culture forms a straightjacket under which individuals are given a place in society and all behavior is defined and proscribed well in advance.

Balram wants something different. He is very bright, and a schoolteacher identifies him early on as a "white tiger", a rare animal that comes along only once in a generation. But his education is cut short when a cousin must be provided a dowry, and he is taken from school to work a menial job.

Things change for Balram when he is taken by the village's richest man to the city to serve as a driver for the man and his American wife. Balram thinks things will be different, but the life of a servant in India is one of total servitude. He is at the beck and call of his masters at all times, is paid very little, and is demeaned daily. The book portrays the life of the millions of Indians for whom life is short, brutal and mired in poverty, and the corruption that underlies every facet of civilization. Yet Balram takes matters into his own hands, and carves out a new life.

I really enjoyed this book. Despite the subject matter, it is not depressing to read. Balram is a very sympathic character, and the reader is led step by step into actions that seem justifiable, even when they result in murder, and leads to thoughts about morality, how to handle poverty and other questions about what is justifiable. The book shows an underside to Indian society that is rarely shown. India and China are the new giants of the century, and I've been reading a lot of books about both societies. The language in the book is breezy, and it flows steadily for a quick read. This book is highly recommended for all readers.

The Trouble With Boys by Peg Tyre

In The Trouble With Boys, the author Peg Tyre, researches current educational practices and reveals how recent changes often mean that our boys are not thriving in school. For years, school and education in general, were male domains, so much so that specific laws were written to insure that girls were given the same chances at a quality education. These laws have worked well, so well in fact that contrary to popular opinion, girls are now thriving and make up the majority of those on honor rolls, advanced placement classes, leadership roles in extracurricular activities and are the majority of those applying to colleges.

I found this book fascinating. Tyre talks about the educational history that led to this current problem. Societal changes such as unskilled jobs being outsourced overseas, have forced the education system to focus on reading, writing and math skills as those are the skillsets that are required in typical jobs in the United States these days. Unfortunately, this emphasis has led to techniques that tend to favor the innate abilities of girls and that often disparage the innate abilities of boys. Changes in schools such as reduced recess, emphasis on early writing and small-motor coordination, organizational skills and collaboration rather than competition, tend to showcase girls' abilities. Male characteristics such as kinetic movement, noisiness, and the willingness to take chances are less valued and often emphatically discouraged.

Tyre covers many topics. She talks about the rapid rise in ADHD diagnosis, with a 48% rise in cases between 2000 and 2005. Since true ADHD is a fairly rare neurological issue, the large rise in diagnosis makes many experts question who is doing the diagnosing and what are the criteria they use. The rise of "redshirting", keeping a child out of school for an extra year of maturation, is another rising phenomenon. The impact of reading choices in the classroom, and the effect of video gaming are both explored, as is the issue of one-sex schools or classes. She also covers several projects and trials that are attempting to reverse the poor performance of males, and reports on their effectiveness.

A final area I found interesting was the chapter that spelled out why this poor performance by so many boys is a reason for all of us to be concerned. If boys are turned off to education, it is unlikely that they will continue on to college, and more and more, college is the mealticket to a stable, finanically rewarding career. When boys aren't represented in college, girls will be less willing to get married to those men who are less educated and have less money-making potential. Already one in three women make more money than their husbands, and this is a significant change in our society that will have far-reaching effects that are as yet unknown. As a sidenote, when there are fewer male applicants to college, less qualified males tend to be selected over those women who are qualified, but whose selection would make an imbalance in the incoming class.

The research in the book seems quite well-done. I particularly liked that Tyre pointed out areas of disagreement as well as areas in which she agreed with various researchers. This book is highly recommended for all parents. It will be a valuable resource for parents of sons who are starting to have issues with their education, and a thought-provocating read for those who have daughters. This book is highly recommended.

The Woman In The Wing by Jean Sheldon

The Woman In The Wing is a mystery that follows the adventures of Charlotte Mercer and other members of the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during World War II. This organization, made up entirely of women, was loosly attached to the Air Force and did routine flying missions within the United States, such as delivering planes to new locations, or towing targets for gun practice, so that male pilots in the Air Force would be freed for fighting missions overseas. The women in the WASP were not considered full service people, and had no benefits such as medical insurance or even money to cover funerals when a woman died during a mission. Still, women flocked to serve as opportunities to fly and serve the country were rare. Charlotte, know as Char is crushed when weeks from getting her wings, she encounters a Air Force Major who refuses to pass her for graduation unless she performs sexual favors for him.

When Char refuses, she is taken off the flying rotation and given an alternate assignment. She is assigned to work undercover in a plant that builds aircraft, and that has been experiencing sabotage and accidents. Char is to room with an FBI agent named Ellie, and they work at riveting plane wings while trying to discover the spy responsible for the problems. People start to die, both plant employees and women pilots, and the book revolves around the investigation until the spy is captured at the book's climax.

This book is recommended, both for mystery fans and for those interested in World War II history. While I'd heard of the sterotype of Rosie the Riveteer and the work these women performed, I had never heard of the WASP, and the women who served their country in this fashion. I found the history as interesting as the plotline and welcomed the chance to learn more about a time that helped lay the groundwork for the women's liberation movement in the next generation.

Exit Music by Ian Rankin

Exit Music is Ian Rankin's latest in his Inspector Rebus series and is the eighteenth book about this policeman. It is perhaps the last, as the book follows Rebus in his last week of work before his retirement. Set in Edinburgh, Rebus is somewhat of a maverick, his foibles tolerated due to his murder clearance rate.

A mugging has resulted in the death of a man. The victim turns out to be a Russian poet, living in Edinburgh for a few months. As Rebus and his longtime partner, Siobhan Clarke, investigate, ties to politicians, businessmen, and one of the city's well-known gangsters start to emerge. The fact that this is Rebus' last case means that new detectives are drawn into the investigation and start to form ties with the rest of the police force assigned to the investigation.

A second murder occurs, that of the sound engineer who recorded the poet's public readings. All of the businessmen and politicians seem to still be involved in this newer case. Then the gangster, a longtime enemy of Rebus', is attacked and left in a coma. Rebus is suspected and those in the police force who have seen him as a thorn in their side, are glad to try to charge him with the crime. He is suspended, yet solves the case which ends with a surprising twist.

Fans of Rankin's work will enjoy this latest novel in the series, although with bittersweet regrets that the series seems to be ending. The novel not only delivers an intricate mystery, but reveals the atmosphere of Edinburgh and the inner workings of the police there. This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Cross Country by James Patterson

Cross Country is another in James Patterson's extremely popular series about homicide detective Alex Cross. In this book, Alex is called to the scene of a gory crime where an entire family has been massacred. He quickly realises that the mother was his college girlfriend. Other family massacres start occuring, and Alex hears rumors that The Tiger is responsible. The Tiger is a shadowy figure who is known for having no mercy and for using young boys as his gang.

The action shifts to Africa when Alex hears that The Tiger has returned there. He moves from Nigeria to Sierra Leone and Laos, tracking the assassin and finding that he is not welcome by the police in these countries or even by the CIA, whom he expected to help him. Alex meets a woman reporter who helps him untangle the web of interconnections that make up the background against which The Tiger is employed. He encounters the inter-tribal wars, the lawlessness and the hopelessness of the African refugee camps.

After being captured and imprisoned, Alex is released and sent back to America. He returns home to find that his family has been kidnapped by The Tiger. Knowing what he does of The Tiger's methods, he is appalled and determined to do whatever is necessary to bring them home. The book moves quickly to a stunning climax.

This book is recommended for those who have read previous books in Patterson's series and are interested in an additional story about Detective Alex Cross. It is more of an issue-driven novel than the usual Cross motif, where Alex works to arrest and stop serial killers. Cross Country is a mystery but also gives the reader insight into what is occuring in modern Africa.

Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk

This is one of the final books for 2008, and how I wish I'd waited for 2009. It is rare that I don't like a book, but this one was like Real Housewives of London, and I just don't have any patience for that kind of thing.

The book follows various women who live in a suburb of London, Arlington Park, through a day. Some work and some are stay at home moms. The one thread that ties them together is that none of them is satisfied with their life. They all feel that life has passed them by, that everything is just too, too hard and that their husbands just aren't pulling their weight in the marriages. They all have children, and treat them as an afterthought, little people that just add more work to their existence.

ARGH!! This is exactly the kind of person I avoid like the plague in my life. I have an optimistic outlook on life, and little patience for the poor little me attitude. If you don't like your life, change it? Or, as I often say, if everyone in your life is causing you problems, it's not them. You need to change yourself. I hate to end the year with a book I can't recommend, but this one was not for me at all.