Book Review

I've been reading a whole lot lately. Sadly, I'm just reading to be reading. I haven't been following any suggestions from anyone (though I have noted Lori and Tara's blogs), I've just been picking up books from authors I've never read with the attempt to broaden my vision of authors and possibly find someone new. So in the past 6 weeks, I've read the following:

• Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
• Envy by Sandra Brown
• Secret Sanction by Brian Haig
• "P" is for Peril by Sue Grafton
• Summer Island by Kristen Hannah
• The Incumbent by Brian McGrory

And this is what I think:

Peace Like a River was actually a recommendation from my last book club. I didn't get a chance to read it for the book club, but I have since and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone. But go ahead and "make of that what you will."

Envy was okay. A romantic suspense novel that was a little too predictable, but had it's intriguing moments and was a good way to pass time.

Secret Sanction was very good. It's a military/law book about an army lawyer who investigates a mass murder in the middle east. It keeps you guessing how it would end. I had a hard time following Mid-East politics, but that soon passed.

"P" is for Peril was pretty lame. The author has an entire series of books that goes through the alphabet starting with "A" is for Alibi. I haven't read the others. They were written in the 80's, so I kept getting angry at the protagonist for not using her cell phone when she was in trouble.

Summer Island was even lamer and terribly predictable. Maybe I'm a cynic and just can't handle cheesy romance novels anymore. I only read it because I it was in my house.

The Incumbent was very fun to read. Kind of a Tom Clancy feel. Based in D.C. with lots of whodunit going on. A journalist gets caught in the middle of his own story just as he's been asked to be the next White House press secretary during the upcoming election. Very good.

I'm in the middle of A Mulligan for Bobby Jobe by Bob Cullen. I'll let you know how it goes.

*I should note that a few of these were out of a Reader's Digest Select Editions. If they were edited for both length as well as content, I don't know. I'm not sure how they decide what to edit. If you pick up the real thing and it's vulgar or distasteful, I SO sorry.

If you have some good, entertaining books, I'd love to hear about them. I really need to find a book club around here. The city has one, but I hesitate because I have no idea who's picking the books and what their standards are. I know, I should start one, but it's just not in my game plan at this moment. Give me a month, and I'll be all over it. Until then, you need to make recommendations to me until the "Best Book Club Ever" is born. Do you think I'll get my own sticker on my recommended books like Oprah does? Hmmm, for some reason, I doubt it.

Happy Summer Reading!