Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Thursday, May 15th, 2008
Hardcover, 439 pages, 2008
Rating: 10/10
Reason for Reading: Always happy to try out a new thriller author - especially one who had a big-name director (Ridley Scott, American Gangster) attached to the movie adaptation a year before his debut novel was even in stores.
Synopsis: It’s hard for atrocities to stand out in Stalin’s brutal Russian regime during the 1950s - everyone is a potential enemy of the state, and men, women, and children are routinely rounded up and killed with no more than the fear-induced pointing of a finger. But staunch supporter of the regime, Leo Demidov, has found something that may stand out as horrific even amongst his own brutalities: the possibility of a serial killer who focuses only on children. The problem? According to the ideologies of Stalin, there is no crime, and all efforts to investigate the killings make Leo a rebel and betrayer of state policies. In order to pursue a criminal, he must become one, endangering his life and those of his family…
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Posted in Fiction, Historical, Thriller, Politics, Action | No Comments »
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Trade, 441 pages, 2004
Rating: 9/10
Reason for Reading: I picked this up at the used bookstore because I figured anything about the 1960s tends to be interesting, and if a man could write entire (and popular) books on things like salt and cod fish, it was a good bet.
Synopsis: In 1968, everything changed - everywhere. Kurlansky examines how revolutions, both personal and political, occurred all over the world, in an odd mix of isolation and an explosion of media that made rebelling students in Germany feel a connection to protesting students in the U.S. or Czechoslovakia. While the 1960s may be better remembered for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, all of this was born of the politics and the revolutions that Kurlansky expertly explores in this book.
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Posted in Historical, Non-Fiction, Culture, Politics | No Comments »
Monday, March 26th, 2007
Hardcover, 453 pages, 2006
Rating: 9/10
Reason for Reading: I like a good thriller, and the fact that it was set somewhere that I don’t often read about (Spain) was also a motivator.
Synopsis: Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón is investigating an unusual murder, in which the body has been stripped of all means of identification in a very professional manner, when the town of Seville, Spain, is sent into a panic from a massive explosion. It looks like a terrorist attack, but Falcón is about to discover that nothing is as it seems in a world where mind games matter as much as, if not more than, the horrible physical realities they inflict upon innocent lives.
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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Religion, Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006
Hardcover, 108 pages, 2006
Rating: 8/10
Reason for Reading: We’ll call this a tribute to the mid-term elections of our southern neighbours.
Synopsis: George and Laura Bush take their daughters to visit George Sr and Barbara for their birthdays, and are also joined by George’s charming assortment of brothers…but they’re doing it in Yiddish. Watch the dysfunctional presidential family interact with each other, all while learning Yiddish words to slyly get your digs in at the shmendrik in your life.
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Posted in Fiction, Humour, Current Affairs, Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006
Hardcover (available in mass market May 2007), 510 pages, 2006
Rating: 10/10
Reason for Reading: I own The Zero Game but haven’t read it yet, so on to my usual bad habit of reading newer books first.
Synopsis: Wes Holloway was a presidential aide ready to take over the world until a would-be presidential assassin destroyed his face with a bullet and took out Ron Boyle, one of the president’s oldest friends. It’s now eight years later, and Boyle seems to be alive and a massive conspiracy underway, but unless Holloway can figure out who’s being targeted and what exactly is being covered up, he’s just a disposable pawn who might be in the way of the most powerful government in the world…
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Posted in Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Politics, Action | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 15th, 2004
Hardcover (available), 438 pages, 2004
Rating: 10/10
Reason for Reading: The 2004 winner of my favourite award, the Booker Prize.
Synopsis: In the year 1983, 20-year-old Nick leads what is, to him, a very complicated life. He’s a wannabe trying desperately to fit into a wealthy, politically active family, convinced that he’s got the smarts and culture to pull it off. He’s desperate to impress his friend Toby’s father, Gerald, an ambitious man of politics with a determination to make it into Prime Minister Thatcher’s inner circles, but it’s going to take a lot to win the approval of a group that speaks casually of dukes and the expensive artwork hanging in their homes. Nick’s dilemma? He believes that the thing he wants the most - to find a man he can love and that will love him in return - is his biggest obstacle to acceptance by the elite crowd.
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Posted in Fiction, Award Winner / Nominee, Contemporary, Politics, Gay & Lesbian | Comments Off
Saturday, August 14th, 2004
Hardcover (available in trade), 373 pages (incl. 54 pages of notes/bibliography), 2003
Rating: 9/10
Reason for Reading: I’m fascinated by how the Renaissance was a time for such dramatic strides in so many areas seemingly all at once, and Michelangelo’s works are definitely a favourite of mine.
Synopsis: Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling analyzes all of the troubles that ailed Michelangelo in his four years of painting the Sistine Chapel for the religious leader of his time, Pope Julius II. Michelangelo was forced by the pope to paint the ceiling, despite how Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor rather than a painter, as well as various issues with his family, a lack of money, a rivalry with the young up-and-coming painter named Raphael, an expected completion date that moved ever further away, and war being waged outside of the city. This is an account of how Michelangelo dealt with all of the obstacles to paint one of the most magnificicent artistic endeavors the world has ever seen.
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Posted in Historical, Non-Fiction, Religion, Politics, Art | No Comments »
Saturday, November 22nd, 2003
Hardcover (available in trade), 249 pages, 2003
Rating: 9/10
Reason for Reading: I liked Stupid White Men, as well as Moore’s documentary, “Bowling for Columbine.”
Synopsis: Moore explores post-September 11, 2001 America, and how the event has been exploited and lied about for political gain, including trying to justify the war in Iraq. He also looks at how America’s wealthiest have exploited not just other countries, but their fellow countrymen as well. He finishes up by arguing that most of America consists of RINOs - Republicans in Name Only, and how America needs to change it’s idea of ‘liberals’ to get rid of Bush in the upcoming election.
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Posted in Non-Fiction, Humour, Culture, Current Affairs, Politics | No Comments »