Publishers Weekly

Goodman (Everyone’s Money Book), former Wall Street correspondent for Money magazine, offers a lifeline to Americans drowning in debt—with attention to explaining the new rules that the government has put in place since unveiling its stimulus package, including new borrowing guidelines by banks and new policies to avoid mortgage foreclosures. After a brief sketch of the origins of the credit crisis, the author provides a way to determine just how much debt one is in and shares tips on negotiating various payments. Addressing refinancing and paying off mortgages, avoiding identity fraud, selecting the right car deals and student loans, and surviving bankruptcy, the book covers virtually all the debt bases with hard-hitting advice. Goodman offers a detailed appendix with contact information for further reading as well as various resources to empower readers and help them regain their financial footing.

The Great Medieval Heretics: Five Centuries of Religious Dissent by Michael Frassetto

From the Publisher

Replete with terror, passion, and hope, this gripping narrative history explores the intricate mysteries of medieval Europe through the lives of the great heretics whose beliefs and practices challenged the teachings of an all-powerful church. Five centuries of social and spiritual turmoil are covered through a vivid and telling mix of events, personalities, and ideas. A host of figures are discussed in detail, including Bogomil, an obscure priest from the Balkans who introduced Manichean ideas to parishioners; Henry the Monk, who eluded capture and prepared southern France for the Cathars; Marguerite Porete, the great mystic who was burned at the stake; Fra Dolcino, whose brigand followers terrorized northern Italy; and John Wyclif and Jan Hus, the heralds of the Reformation. By the end of the Middle Ages, the courageous lives and beliefs of these and the other heretics discussed had transformed the religious, cultural, and political map of Europe.

Publishers Weekly

In this gripping second installment to his ancient Rome trilogy (after Imperium), bestseller Harris proves once again that politics is an ugly game. Beginning in 63 B.C.E. and told by Cicero’s slave secretary, Tiro, this complex tale continues to chronicle Cicero’s political career as he charms, co-opts, and bribes his way into the exalted position of consul, ruler of Rome. Although Cicero is known as a brilliant politician and philosopher, he was also a slick manipulator and shameless schemer, competing with equally sneaky rivals Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Cicero realizes that as the empire expands, the greatest threat to Rome comes from within, plotted by well-financed conspirators bent on turning the republic into a dictatorship. With fabulous oratory and trickery, Cicero uncovers and crushes an insurrection, exposing himself to great danger and possible assassination. Riots, murder, civil unrest, corruption, treachery, and betrayal mark Cicero’s political legacy, resulting in a battle between him and Julius Caesar. Throughout, however, Tiro remains loyal and remarkably astute, recognizing that it is an act of madness for a man to pursue power when he could be sitting in the sunshine reading a book

Description

Did you know you have better odds at winning the lottery than an Olympic medal? To bring home one of those coveted medals–or achieve any great personal goal in life–you need a lot more than luck. You need a game plan.What if you could learn the secrets of success from an Olympian? A Nobel Prize winner? A Fortune 500 CEO? Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone has compiled a treasure trove of compelling stories to illustrate each step on the path to success. She’s gathered humorous, heartwarming and hugely inspirational tales from some of today’s most brilliant business leaders, scientists, soldiers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs…a host of people whose very names epitomize achievement. Winners such as: * Designer Tommy Hilfiger * Prince Albert of Monaco * X-Games& Olympic Champion Shaun White * NFL Quarterback Steve Young * Musician Jazz Branford Marsalis * Best-selling Author Dr. Stephen Covey * Olympic star Skiing Lindsey Vonn * Celebrity Chef Todd English * Venture Capitalist Leading Vinod Khosla * And many more successful greats

Now an acclaimed motivational speaker and peak performance coach, author Nikki Stone helps people in all walks of life to overcome fears, failures and plateaus and realize their full potential. In this step-by-step guide to success, she and her team of high achievers share their stories about reaching for dreams…and grasping them. 25% of the author’s net proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the American Cancer Society

Like most things in my life these days, it took me a while to get it together but I finally managed to read it. And I am glad I did as it was an enjoyable and interesting read. But I had a host of reactions from a variety of angles that led to an ambivalent conclusion.

So I will try to organize my thoughts by themes or perspectives.

First the basics. As you might have guessed from the title, the story takes place over 31 hours. The central character is Jonas Meitzner a 21-year old who has dropped out of college and who – lonely, emotional and confused – connected with Islamic terrorists in New York City.  The story relates the hours as he prepares to complete a suicide mission in the heart of the city.

Interwoven in with the story of Jonas are the lives of his friends, family and potential victims: his divorced parents, his high school best friend turned recent lover (and her family), and a homeless panhandler who makes his living on the subway system Jonas plans to attack.

My semi-organized thoughts below …

From a literary perspective Hamilton handles this very well. She skillfully draws these characters and their connection to Jonas. And as she weaves their stories together she builds the tension that comes from knowing what is at the end of the 31 hours (or is it?).

In a novel of only a couple hundred pages the characters were surprisingly well developed.  And the subplots helped the reader understand them and their perspective without becoming a distraction or undermining the tension.

If there is one complaint it is the ending. It felt a bit like a cop-out. I understand structurally why Hamilton likely chose such an ending but I don’t have to like it! It wasn’t a ruin the book type thing – just mildly annoying.

Another theme that runs through the book is one of faith or spirituality.  Of course, there is an Islamic element connected to the terrorism but Jonas practices a sort of spiritual smorgasbord where he embraces all religions and their insights (and even their practices). And Jonas’s mentor isn’t really motivated by religion either as it is a personal loss that sends him on his trajectory. So religion in a formal sense plays very little into the story.

Instead, what is woven into the story is a sort of spiritual longing. Every character comes to a point in which they feel they need to pray – a place where they need help seemingly beyond human abilities.

But when they come to this point none of them have a true spiritual foundation to ground these longings or provide the solace and guidance they need. Even Jonas tries a variety of liturgical/meditation techniques as if groping for something that feels real.

My obviously biased take on this as a Christian was that all of these people needed a faith that was more than platitudes and good feelings – more than “spirituality.” Jonas’s parents specifically rejected formal religion and yet their lives – and their son’s – seem to have suffered mightily from that choice. Having viewed faith with a political lens when the politics fall away they are left with nothing to hold onto.

Everyone wants to pray when tragedy strikes and yet none of them know how. I am pretty sure Hamilton didn’t mean it this way, but it struck me as a sad commentary on the thoroughgoing secularism of much of our culture (or a certain segment of our culture).

Which brings us to the political (or perhaps cultural) side of the novel. It didn’t bug me much while reading it, but the argument underlying the story is, to my mind, completely unconvincing.

Jonas strikes me as basically what those on what you might call the pacifist left wish home grown terrorists were like.  He is sensitive, tolerant and passionate. He feels deeply the suffering and violence in the world. He isn’t a radical fundamentalist bent on lashing out at the world in the name of his faith but an intelligent young person who has become convinced that only in violent acts can the change that is needed take place. Someone who is willing to sacrifice himself in the name of this change.

Hamilton avoids judgment for the most part but sort of shades Jonas as deeply confused – as too emotional and sensitive and thus captured by others for nefarious ends. And of course it is American violence – collateral damage in Afghanistan – that motivates his handler Masoud to embark on terrorism. The circle of violence argument lurks in the shadows.

As Jonas prepares for his mission he is the sensitive humanist enjoying food, thinking about the simplest of things, seeking spiritual insights from everything around him. But Hamilton seems to just put aside the fact that this sensitive and intelligent middle class young man is comfortable killing thousands of people in some misguided idea about changing the world.

By the end of the story the terrorist plot aspect just rings false. Jonas doesn’t feel like a terrorist and his connection to Islam seems tenuous at best. He has a family who cares about him, and a new found relationship with some he loves, but somehow he is going to blow up a bomb in the New York subway system? When the story ended the carefully and artfully constructed plot just seemed to collapse. (for a different take see the Washington Post review).

As the above has probably made clear, I have a hard time balancing my opinions about this book. On the one hand it is an interesting portrait of intertwined lives; a picture of how you can be involved in someone’s life but not really understand what they are thinking and feeling deep inside their own thoughts. It captures the incredible variety and complexity of human life (and there is, I think, also an underlying argument that this is what makes NYC so beautiful and interesting).

But the thread that brings the tension and the danger – the act of terrorism – is thin and incongruous enough that for me it couldn’t carry the weight. Which explains the ending perhaps.

Of course, I have strong opinions on religion, politics and most everything. So it seems safe to say your perspective on these issues will color and impact your reaction to 31 Hours.

If any of you have read it I would love to hear your take on any or all of the above.

Libraries use video games to attract teens:

The electronic ding-ding-ding of Sonic the Hedgehog collecting coins became familiar background noise in the teen section of the Main Branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public library downtown recently as video games were introduced for young patrons.

[...]

Within the last decade, libraries nationwide have embraced gaming as a way to get teens through their doors, said Linda Braun, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Video games were once criticized by parent groups for promoting violence and childhood obesity. But studies now suggest that video games may have a positive impact by fostering literacy as well as team-building and problem- solving skills in young gamers.

“The literacy aspect is huge,” Ms. Braun said. “Many video games have books related to them. And there is a lot of reading that goes on with actual game play.”

My first thought was: “Boy, those budget cuts must have been brutal!”

In all seriousness, call me an old foggey but it does bug me a little that libraries spend valuable time and money on offering video games, movies and popular music and then complain about funding cuts as some sort of cultural suicide. Are libraries cultural and educational institutions or are they public babysitting and entertainment zones paid for by public dollars?

I also love the absolutely ridiculous rationalizations quoted above.  I am sure the kids will be tricked into the library to play video games and suddenly find themselves absorbed into literary culture. The video games are about books!

This isn’t about reading but about getting kids in the library so the library can argue it is important and therefor shouldn’t be cut.  But I think the argument over library funding shouldn’t be tied to getting kids to come play video games no matter how educational.

What do you think? What is the role of a library and what is going to far in terms of offering entertainment rather than literacy and ecuation?

The book follows the standard framework of unit histories.  Brief background on segregation in the Army, training and formation of the unit, combat actions of the unit, and the deactivation of the unit.  Briefly, the unit was formed in October, 1950 and deactivated in July, 1951.  Between those dates the rangers were trained, transported to Korea, fought in several engagements, and finally sent to Japan.

Although I have read some criticism of this book that it is just a glorification of a unit that did not contribute much to the war effort, I would disagree on the value of the book.  Maybe I am too much of a history buff, but I believe that the human experience (whether unique or not) must be recorded.  And this book is no exception – it is fascinating to read about the experiences of these men as they had to deal with not only the normal Army life, but also that of an Army that had members that were racist.  I am sure that not all members of the white Army were racist, but even a few well-placed racists could and did make the lives of the African-American soldiers more tedious.  It is to their credit that the men ignored these racists and served their country with honor.

Anyway, Posey (who was a sergeant in the company) provides a good narrative of the company’s experiences.  Following the last chapter on the unit’s history, Posey includes a chapter that provides the experiences of the individual members of the company in their own words.  Although there is some repetition of events described in the unit’s narrative, it is compelling reading.  The details of their experiences brings a fuller understanding of the events described earlier.

The book is generally well-written with some awkward writing in places.  It is a quick read that keeps you interested throughout.

The narrative portion of the book is 136 pages and the recollections of the individual members portion is another 31 pages.  In addition, there are several pages of black and white photographs.  Finally, Posey includes several appendixes that cover such topics as the unit’s roster and a glossary of terms used in the book.

Please note that this book was provided to me by the book’s publisher.

Osprey proclaims that this is the first “high-quality games system aimed specifically at the Ancient and Medieval wargamer for over 10 years.”  I am not a wargamer, but I did find the information in the book interesting.

The book is divided into headings that align with each type of army that existed from 496 AD to 1070 AD.  It highlights such armies as the Post-Roman British, Magyars, Early Slavic, Early Medieval French, and Early Polish.  Each heading has a brief history of the fighting forces and a brief description of weapons and tactics used.  In addition, the book includes charts about who made up the armies.  For example, the Post-Roman British Army shows that the Cavalry was made up of men of varying quality.

As with all of the Osprey publications, there are excellent illustrations that show the combatants and their equipment in historical (as much as they can be historical without many written records) terms.  The illustrations are rich in detail and color.

I will be honest.  I am an Olen Steinhauer fan. Have been since I picked up his first book, The Bridge of Sighs, some time ago (and started reading his blog as well).  His crime series set in an unnamed Eastern European country during the Cold War was in my sweet spot as a former grad student with a focus on the Cold War: great writing, interesting characters, an espionage/crime thriller with the Iron Curtain as a backdrop, what’s not to like?

But Steinhauer has put that series to bed and has started a new direction or at least a new series with The Tourist.

Here is the plot as outlined by the publisher:

Milo Weaver used to be a “tourist” for the CIA – an undercover agent with no home, no identity – but he’s since retired from the field to become a middle-level manager at the CIA’s New York headquarters. He’s acquired a wife, a daughter, and a brownstone in Brooklyn, and he’s tried to leave his old life of secrets and lies behind. However, when the arrest of a long-sought-after assassin sets off an investigation into one of Milo’s oldest colleagues and exposes new layers of intrigue in his old cases, he has no choice but to go back undercover and find out who’s holding the strings once and for all.

This book carried risk and reward. New is exciting but what happens when the author leaves a much loved series behind and starts a new project? Sure, it is still what I like to call a literary thriller, but what if Steinhauer stumbled on his first stand alone?  Made me a little nervous, I will admit.

Another element of pressure, and an opportunity to stumble, was provided by the pre-publication publicity – which has been known to trip me up in the past.  The publicity  put Steinhauer in the pantheon of great spy thriller writers like Le Carre, Deighton, Graham Green, etc. Not an easy label to live up to.

Well, as I noted earlier, I am happy to report that Steinhauer didn’t stumble but merely brought his talents to a different task. I am in no position to label him the next Le Carre etc. but he certainly has tapped into the same vein and talents that kept me reading these type of authors.

The Tourist is a great and thought provoking read for anyone who enjoys the thriller aspects of the espionage genre but prefers better – and more philosophical – writing than your average airport pick up.

More below.

What makes Steinhauer different from so many writers of international thrillers is his ability to write a suspenseful espionage plot and yet still have elements of the more literary aspect of novels.  The writing is tight and even graceful at times.  The characters are not cardboard cutouts and Steinhauer delves into their psychological make up and personality for more than just plot plausibility.

Steinhauer also has that ability to create a wider lens; make you see the world through his – and his character’s – eyes.  This was obviously the case in his creation of the fictional Eastern European country in his previous series, but it is also the case here.  He creates this concept of the Tourist’s and builds a whole department around them.  As is always the case with thrillers, the details are not always completly plausible but the world of Milo Weaver feels all to real.

The style and structure of the story match the philosophical questions and themes that lay below the surface.  The reader both enjoys the story and is made uncomfortable by it.

The result is a depth and a richness that, as I said, is just not there in so many other examples of this genre.  Not to pick on Alex Berenseon, but he writes like a reporter not a writer; and there is a difference.

So what is The Tourist about?  Well, nothing less than the nature of truth and how we come to it.  OK, maybe that is an exageration, but it is certainly about lies and (self) deception.

Janet Maslin’s NYT review points out one of the ideas the novel turns on:

Mr. Steinhauer’s book also operates on the principle that this story’s secrets can be coaxed forth only indirectly “because it’s a known fact that no decent intelligence operative believes anything he’s told.

In exploring spy tradecraft and the role of intelligence in the modern world Steinhauer ponders what this means.  How do spies – and spy agencies – get caught up in their own paradigms and how can this lead to self-deception and treachery?

And that is one of the reasons Milo is such a great character.  In many ways he is the iconic world weary but almost supernatural spy.  He kills before he is killed and always seems one step ahead of his enemies.  Milo is a excellent Tourist; one of the best.

But despite his heroic acts he is contemplating suicide.  He manages to survive and find love, but treachery pulls him in again (or is it his inability to let things go or say no?) and just when he thinks he is using all of these skills to get the truth he finds he isn’t quite so clever. His friend Angela was a better spy and his actions lead – at least indirectly – to her death.  His boss and mentor Grainger also dies because Milo thinks he understands when he clearly doesn’t; when he acts on instinct with out evidence.  Weaver only survives when he hands over control to someone else; when he puts his faith in something other than his own knowledge and actions.  And this leads not to happily ever after but being a Tourist again in some fashion.

Trust is inexplicably mixed up in our search for truth.  In the absence of clear facts we need trust and authority to help us makes sense of the world.  But what happens when you can’t trust anyone?  When trust and loyalty are seen as luxuries you can’t afford; as something that can get you killed.

This is where Milo finds himself in his work and in his personal life.  Milo’s marriage begins to unravel because the life he has led is based on deception and this eats away at the trust in all his relationships.

I think Steinhauer is also saying something about the power of storytelling.  The ability to weave a convincing story is a powerful thing, but it is also the power to deceive.  What we might think of as reasoning can easily be rationalizing.  But no matter if used for evil or for good – or somewhere in between – storytelling is central to our lives.

Lastly, Steinhauer seems to be saying something about empire.  The Tourist is a cynical and stoic work.  (In fact, Milo seems to me like the quintessential stoic in the mold of Marcus Aurelius. He comes to see balance as the key to mental health, etc.)  The book depicts a world where greed and the need for power result in violence and manipulation on a grand scale and this has a corrosive effect on the people touched by it.

Steinhauer seems to hint that the desire to form an empire, or defend one, both causes American to act in the same way and in ways counter to her founding ideals.  In essence, we are Milo the husband and father and his Tourism is the part we hope doesn’t exists or don’t want to know about.  Or perhaps I am reading too much into things on this one.

Well, enough of my musings.  I hope the above makes clear why I am a fan of Steinhauer’s work and encourages you to pick up The Tourist.  It is a perfect example of why the blending of genre elements with a more literary style can be so rewarding.  You get the entertainment value of a thriller without sacrificing the writing quality or the wrestling with ideas.  There are always trade-offs in any attempt to blend genres and styles, but Steinhauer pulls it off more often than not in my opinion.

Here’s hoping readers of The Tourist will finally bring him the wider audience he deserves.

West’s book is a refreshing and insightful look at the Iraq War from 2003 to 2008. West examines the strategy and tactics used during the war – those that worked and those that failed miserably. He details why we were losing the Iraq War in the early years and how the corner was turned more recently.

Unlike many of the books written about the United States’ counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq, West brings personal experience and a vast array of knowledge into his examination of the war. West was a Marine captain in charge of a combined action platoon during the Vietnam War – these units lived in Vietnamese villages to become closer to the population in order to fight the Viet Cong. Based on his experiences, he wrote The Village – which is taught at war colleges as the primer in counterinsurgency.

Along with his battlefield experience, West knows how the higher levels of government work from his stint as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs under the Reagan Administration. In addition, in researching the book, West spent fifteen extended tours in six years in Iraq talking to those at the lowest level (squads of Marines and soldiers) and those at the highest level (division, corps, and army commanders).

As you can see, West has the experience and knowledge to discuss the good and bad about the Iraq War. He begins the book with the bad. The American military and political leadership bordered on complete incompetence at the beginning of the war. For example, West asserts that Iraq fell apart because President Bush and the Pentagon leadership pursued opposing strategies after the invasion of Iraq – the Pentagon wanted to give the war effort to the Iraqis to win or lose and the President wanted the U.S. military to win the war, not hand it off. West contends that these conflicting goals led to confusion and a lack of cohesion in command.

As the war continued, it began to turn in favor of the Americans and their Iraqi allies. Many believe that the change was because of General Petraeus and his surge strategy that he instituted. However, West aptly points out that the war began to change prior to the appointment of Petraeus (although West points out that Petraeus did an excellent job in managing the surge). He contends that the war changed from the bottom up through the cooperation of the Sunni tribes in Anbar and the American commanders in that province. The emergence of the Sunni tribes in Anbar in support of the Americans – called the Awakening – occurred because they were tired of being poorly treated by al Qaeda in Iraq. Additionally, as a result of the Marines’ constant patrolling in Anbar, the Sunnis grew to trust and respect the Marines. The close relationship between the local leaders and Marine battalion commanders allowed the Americans to find the insurgents and either eliminate them or arrest them.

In addition to dispelling the myth that Petraeus single-handedly turned the war around, West also counters the claim that if more troops were present earlier in the war, the war would have ended much faster. There were more than 140,000 troops with 100,000 contractors in a support role after the invasion. West contends that these numbers were sufficient to suppress the enemy, but more men would not have countered the incompetence of Paul Bremer – head American administrator in post-invasion Iraq – and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez – Corps commander of U.S. troops. These men “lacked a plan, a counterinsurgency doctrine, and proper training” to win the war. In addition, West states that more troops “operating alone under a doctrine of attack and destroy would have exacerbated the rebellion.”

Although many of the weaknesses of the fight in the early part of the war were remedied, West argues that many remained unresolved. One of the biggest, according to West, is the misuse of American forces. After the initial invasion, the Iraq War became more of a police war than a fighting war. In a police war, one has to understand police techniques. The American military did not (and still does not) understand how to fight a police war. West asserts that in order to fight an effective police war the male population of a country must be counted. The male population must be counted in order to identify who the enemy is through fingerprinting and other identification methods. If the American military was trained to understand police techniques and the population was fingerprinted, West contends that the insurgents in civilian clothes could have been identified and the war shortened.

As for the book’s style and organization, I think it is well organized along an historical timeline of the events of the war. The writing is smooth and the book reads well. At 376 pages, West’s arguments are clear and precise. In addition, there are three appendixes that cover such topics as America’s experience of counterinsurgency during the Vietnam War and West’s counterinsurgency lessons.

The Strongest Tribe is a fair and balanced analysis of the occupation of Iraq.