Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
Type: Fiction
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: Lisa Scottoline (pronounced Scot-oh-lee-nee) is a local Philadelphia author and I saw her speak and met her briefly while she was signing books at a Michael Smerconish Book Club event a few years ago. At the time, Lisa had just written Dirty Blonde, which has a portion of the story set in Centralia, PA. Lisa is sometimes referred to as the female John Grisham. She was previously a litigator at a Philadelphia law firm.
What I liked about it: This book felt to me like a James Patterson novel and had lots of little chapters (more than 90) which seems to be typical in a Patterson novel. There is even a blurb on the cover of the book from Patterson. It also felt more like a chic-lit novel than a legal thriller. The story seemed rushed and the ending predictable. But all-in-all it would make for some light summer reading.
Book 29
Boggs: A Comedy of Values by Lawrence Weschler
Type: Non-fiction
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: I found this book mentioned either in a blog or an article in reference to money and what makes up money and how anyone attributes value to money. This is the story of an artist who draws pictures of money and, as part of his "art," attempts to exchange his money at face value for goods and/or services.
What I liked about it: There were several good comparisons between money and art throughout the book. Art is similar to money in that it has nothing backing it. It is merely the perception that money and art have value.
Although this book was written in 1999 there was a discussion that is very relevant today. On page 92, it is written "Experts calculated that almost half a trillion dollars in value had disappeared from the American economy overnight (sound familiar?) - but what had happened to it, one wondered. Where had it gone? One answer was that it hadn't gone anywhere; it wasn't now in some new place, where we would eventually be able to locate it if we just set our minds to it. Rather, it had in a sense never existed in the first place. There is always something dreamy about great speculative frenzies, and, inevitably, at some point the dreamers awake. It was simply, as many commentators now took to noting, morning again in America."
Type: Non-fiction
My rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: I found this book mentioned either in a blog or an article in reference to money and what makes up money and how anyone attributes value to money. This is the story of an artist who draws pictures of money and, as part of his "art," attempts to exchange his money at face value for goods and/or services.
What I liked about it: There were several good comparisons between money and art throughout the book. Art is similar to money in that it has nothing backing it. It is merely the perception that money and art have value.
Although this book was written in 1999 there was a discussion that is very relevant today. On page 92, it is written "Experts calculated that almost half a trillion dollars in value had disappeared from the American economy overnight (sound familiar?) - but what had happened to it, one wondered. Where had it gone? One answer was that it hadn't gone anywhere; it wasn't now in some new place, where we would eventually be able to locate it if we just set our minds to it. Rather, it had in a sense never existed in the first place. There is always something dreamy about great speculative frenzies, and, inevitably, at some point the dreamers awake. It was simply, as many commentators now took to noting, morning again in America."
Book 28
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Type: Fiction
My rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: This book was sitting in my library for about 6 months. I think it must have been on a top selling list at one time and caught my eye.
What I liked about it: I wish I would have picked this up and read it sooner. This is a book for book lovers about book lovers. One of the main characters is a world famous writer of books. Another works in a used book store and is an avid reader. This book is a classic example of great story telling. You can almost imagine sitting around a cozy fire and having this story told to you by someone. I found myself carrying this book around so that any free time I had I could crack it open and read a bit. This one kept me up past my usual bedtime each night, which is my internal gauge as to when a book becomes a 5-star pick for me.
Type: Fiction
My rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Why I chose it: This book was sitting in my library for about 6 months. I think it must have been on a top selling list at one time and caught my eye.
What I liked about it: I wish I would have picked this up and read it sooner. This is a book for book lovers about book lovers. One of the main characters is a world famous writer of books. Another works in a used book store and is an avid reader. This book is a classic example of great story telling. You can almost imagine sitting around a cozy fire and having this story told to you by someone. I found myself carrying this book around so that any free time I had I could crack it open and read a bit. This one kept me up past my usual bedtime each night, which is my internal gauge as to when a book becomes a 5-star pick for me.
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