last mile

Like the last book I read, I also borrowed this one from my wife. I've read a couple of Baldacci's books, and I don't like him as much as some of the other prolific action writers out there, but this one wasn't bad. I guess I have a little trouble with the dimension of his characters. I don't really understand how the main character's head works. Maybe that's the point about Amos Decker, but I'm not sure if its that, or if that's just the writing, because I don't really understand any of the minor character's either. There are a bunch of people that are included in Amos Decker's newly formed team, and even the most prominent of them seems like a stand-in. A borrowed stereotype that is completely 2-dimensional and we're relied upon, almost exclusively, to fill in the blanks of these characters. They just seem to wander into scenes and say lines the main character can react to and then disappear.

When one of the new team members goes missing, I'm like, who? I don't even know this person, I have no idea why they are on the team, and I'm not sure the team does either. And then it seems like a day or two will go by and then someone seems very concerned about finding the missing teammate and I realize that I'd forgotten they were gone. Because it seemed like everyone in the story had forgotten they were gone too.

That said, the Amos Decker character is interesting. His personality and the way he thinks is the engine behind the plot. The story has some twists to it, that only Decker can see, and then they are revealed to us in short order. I'm not wild about the tactics sometimes; like Decker scribbling a note on a slip of paper at the end of a planning meeting and saying something like, then this is what we'll do. No one would do that. They've just been talking in a room for 20 minutes, why would he suddenly stop and write something down instead of just saying it, if only to keep it from us for a chapter or two. I don't feel like the author should be huddling with his characters and whispering so I can't hear. hey Dave, I'm right here. I can see you hiding stuff with your hand 

So if you're like me and you need something to read, this is definitely something to read. There's pages and everything.

no middle name

I just borrowed No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories from my wife, who hadn't read it yet. She picked it up recently in paperback and I was looking for something to read. I've read a bunch of the Reacher Stories, but not in order, and I certainly haven't read all of them. I didn't know what this one was about--I don't usually read book jackets and back covers--so I was on my third story before realizing that this wasn't a novel and I was reading a series of unrelated short stories. I remember thinking, we're really jumping around in time, and I'm not sure how these things are even related

The way I've noted the title with its sub-title above, its a little easier to see. The sub-title on the book cover is a little small, as you can see in the image to the left. If the size of the text on the cover is any indicator, and I assume it is, Lee Child is what is selling the book, Jack Reacher is next in line, and the book's title is third, almost an afterthought down there at the bottom. And the sub-title? Well, you're going to need to dig for that, its not even as important as the best seller list crap. Its even written in that too-narrow-to-read, Surgeon General's Warning font. warning, the information contained here is not really meant to be read

The stories range from novella size to a few pages that read more like a slice-of-life; just Reacher being a good guy. Some of the stories fill in some of his early life, and other slot in between his larger adventures, and I'm not sure the timing, or where they fit in is even important. I get the feeling that Lee Child may have an idea, and if he can't spin it up into a novel, he doesn't just give up on it, he writes it through to see where it goes. Sometimes its 500 pages, and other times its 50. or 10.

So, as I said to my wife when she asked me about it, it wasn't what I was expecting. Is the publisher really trying to hide the fact that this is a collection of short stories and not the next Reacher novel? I'm not sure, but I can tell you that my wife is the one who bought this, and after reading a few of the stories, she wasn't sure when they were going to get tied up into the same story either. score two for the publisher But this book is better than the last one.

My recommendation is clear, you should read this if you're a Jack Reacher fan.

essential ingredients

The School of Essential Ingredients is the first novel by Erica Bauermeister, which I picked up in paperback at my library's on-going book sale. Lillian owns a small restaurant in a quiet neighborhood, tucked into a old house with a front porch and small gardens in the yard, where she mixes flowers with herbs she uses in the kitchen. Once a week, Lillian hosts a cooking class, on Mondays when the restaurant is closed. The story opens with Lillian, and why she got into cooking, what she thinks it did for her, and how she thinks that it may help others to connect or re-connect with people, feelings, memories, and their own sense.

Each of the following chapters is focused on one of her students in this particular class, what their history is, what they bring to the class and its explorations of flavor, memory, confidence, and connectedness. Lillian sees food as more than sustenance, she sees it as one of the essential ingredients in life. The point seems to be, that there are a number of things that we as human do throughout our lives, maybe even most of our lives (such as work) which are really essential to human life. What we need is food, water, air, and in some or most cases shelter, clothes, and to procreate. That's it. Of that short list, only food gives us the opportunity to dazzle all of our senses, or perhaps just comfort them.

The cooking class is not really about food--although the descriptions of the food and the cooking are well done, and help form the backbone on which this sweet story is about. This story is about the people in it, and how slowing down and allowing their senses to indulge can help unlock other feelings they may not have been allowing themselves to have.

It was an interesting, and sensual look at what simple pleasures can do for us, and how they may not be so simple after all. This is a great first book, and I bet was popular with the book club folks, and cooking clutch folks as well.