book reviews

Jim Kjelgaard, Outlaw Red. This is a pretty solid dog book, enjoyable and fun to read ... but not as good as Big Red or Irish Red, the prequels.

Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time. This was the "Andover Reads" book - one book that the whole town could read together. I admit to not going to any of the related activities (maybe next year), but the book was well worth reading. It was a well researched, intimately told story of the experiences of people in the Dust Bowl, and eye-opening beyond anything I've ever read about the period. I had no idea what the experiences were of people there. Really good and well worth reading.

Burke Davis, The Civil War: Strange and Fascinating Facts. Pretty much just what the title says - a book filled with lists of interesting facts about the Civil War. Useful for reference, although a mite dated: it was published in 1960, and scholarship has moved forward some since then!

James Clavell, Noble House. Obviously a reread. It was fascinating to read this just a few weeks after having rewatched the miniseries, both for the first time in years. So much of the dialogue in the miniseries was directly from the book, which was refreshing. Love the story, enjoyed retracing the intricate plot. One big difference between book and series is that the book takes place in the early '60s and the miniseries in the '80s - the character of Casey Tcholok, as a woman in business, and the reactions to her by others are the most affected by this change. In the book, the fact that she's a woman is a huge issue, in the series, not as much.