May 12 2010

Call It What You Want by Keith Lee Morris

I have been very busy with offline activities and haven’t had a chance to post reviews here. As I have mentioned before, that is likely to continue for the next six months and perhaps beyond. But I still want to try and post – even if short, quick bursts – about the books I have read. So here is the first of some catch-up posts.

I loved The Dart League King and so was interested in seeing Keith Morris work in short stories (I haven’t read any of his previous works) in his latest work Call it What You Want. I was not disappointed.

Although the stories share a similar form and focus – the “dreams and disappointments, good intentions and small triumphs, chronicles the lives of men lost in the liminal spaces between adolescence and adulthood” – each one has a unique angle and feel to it.

Morris has a honesty to his writing that comes from honing his craft so that just the essentials are left (isn’t that the essence of short story writing?) and a sympathy and humanism to the way he presents his characters. The surreal or absurdest nature of many of the stories adds a twist as well.

If you are a fan of the short story format – or just quality writing – be sure to check out Keith Morris.


By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , ,

May 11 2010

In the Mail: This Body of Death

This Body of Death: An Inspector Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller George’s richly rewarding 16th novel to feature Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley (after Careless in Red) offers an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense. Aggressively career-minded Isabelle Ardery, the new acting superintendent of London’s Metropolitan Police, boldly manages to lure Lynley, who’s been grieving over his wife’s murder, back from Cornwall to look into a murder case. The body of Jemima Hastings, a young woman recently relocated from Hampshire, has turned up in a London cemetery. With suspects in both locales and numerous leads to follow and interviews to conduct, Ardery succeeds in raising the hackles of Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, Det. Insp. John Stewart, and other members of the investigating team. George tantalizes with glimpses of a horrific earlier murder case; showcases Lynley at his shrewdest, most diplomatic best; and confounds readers with a complex array of evidence, motives, and possible solutions.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , ,

May 10 2010

Islands of Hell: The U.S. Marines in the Western Pacific by Eric Hammel

In my third review of a book on World War II, I read Islands of Hell: The U.S. Marines in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945by Eric Hammel.  The book is a pictorial history of the Marines’ advance across the Pacific beginning with the Saipan Campaign in the Marianna Islands and ending with the Okinawan Campaign.  In between, the book chronicles Peleliu and Iwo Jima.

Along with the photographs, Hammel writes a brief history of the campaigns during the time period.  The description is brief enough to give you a good overview of the subject, but not too detailed to be cumbersome.

The photographs capture Marines in the heat of battle and the brief periods of respite between firefights.  Many of the photographs have never been seen before.  Hammel fills the book’s 278 pages with hundreds of black and white photographs of the images of war.

I have read much about the horrible conditions the men fought under, but it is one thing to read about it and another to see the fear and carnage of the war (and I am sure that the pictures do not show half of the horror of war).  The war photographers capture some riveting events – Marines landing on beaches that are still being shelled and machine gunned, the effects of artillery on men caught in the open, the raw emotions of men who have seen their friends killed in front of them.  It would have been interesting if Hammel had included a section on the war photographers of the Pacific.

A curious thing happened when I looked at photographs of those who died in combat – I glanced over those of the “enemy,” but I closely examined those of our troops.  The photographs of our own war dead show young men who look like our young men of today – it is sad to think that they died on some island that most Americans could not find on a map.  Some of the men are no older than 18 years of age.  These photographs are good reminders that war is a terrible thing and that it is not some romantic adventure.

Anyway, I would highly recommend any aficionado of the Pacific War to pick up this book – you will be glad you do.

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 1

May 5 2010

In the Mail: The Templar Knight

The Templar Knight: Book Two of the Crusades Trilogy by Jan Guillou

Kirkus Reviews

The second installment of the Crusades Trilogy by Swedish author Guillou (The Road to Jerusalem, 2009, etc.). In his native country, Guillou is well-known as a journalist and as the author of a popular series of spy novels. His Crusades Trilogy features the fictional Swedish knight Arn Magnusson. The Road to Jerusalem chronicled Arn’s youth and his forced entry into the Knights Templar as a teenager. This second installment opens with Arn in the Holy Land a decade later, circa 1177. During the next several years he takes part in major battles of the period, including the brutal Battle of Hattin, and gets to know the powerful sultan Saladin, the leader of the Muslim armies. The novel also follows the complex story of Arn’s betrothed, Cecilia, who, after becoming pregnant by Arn before marriage, was confined to a convent. The prose style is reminiscent of ancient sagas, and the battle scenes are grand. A fine second volume in an original trilogy.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , ,

May 4 2010

Book Giveaway: Radical by David Platt

UPDATE: Giveaway is closed. See comments below. Thanks everyone.

I am participating the Multnomah Blogging for Books program this week. The Book is Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.

Publishers blurb:

IS JESUS WORTH THIS TO YOU?

It’s easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily…

BUT WHO DO YOU KNOW WHO LIVES LIKE THAT? DO YOU?

In Radical, David Platt challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our cultural preferences. He shows what Jesus actually said about being his disciple–then invites you to believe and obey what you have heard. And he tells the dramatic story of what is happening as a “successful” suburban church decides to get serious about the gospel according to Jesus.

Finally, he urges you to join in The Radical Experiment –a one-year journey in authentic discipleship that will transform how you live in a world that desperately needs the Good News Jesus came to bring.

Look for a review later this week.

I also have a copy to give away. Not being particularly creative about these things, I will make it simple.  Just leave a comment below and I will pick a name randomly.

So if the book sounds interesting and you would like a copy, leave a comment for a chance to win.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 10 • Tags: , , , ,

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