The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (1959) by William L Shirer. This is a monumental work, over 1100 pages long, documenting exhaustively the political story of Adolph Hitler and his henchmen in Germany during the years of Nazi ascendancy, approximately 1933-45. The subject is fascinating, but this book may contain more detail than the average reader would care for. One thing it has that is kind of tedious is lots and lots of footnotes, which add little tidbits of information which, though interesting, we might could have done without. One thing it lacks is maps, which would have been helpful in many cases to those who are not familiar with the map of Europe. Fortunately, these days we have the Internet, and it is easy to find many maps of any particular subject. Looking them up does draw out the process of reading the book, however. All in all, I felt that I had really accomplished something by plowing through this book, and in its pages I found many ideas for further reading. Even though most people I know can't even be troubled to read a short book, I find that this one deserves a Grade: A

Suck it, Wonder Woman!

Suck it, Wonder Woman! (2010) by Olivia Munn. This is a book which seems to have been written, not because the author was compelled to write her story, but because she got a book deal and had to write something. The subtitle is "The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek," and it is refreshing to see a lovely woman like Munn joyfully embrace the label of "geek." The truth is, she's not much of a writer, and that's even with a ghost. But the book is fairly amusing, with chapter titles like "The Sweetest Moments in Geek History! Of All Time!" and "Sex: What You Can Do to Help Yourself Have More of It." Her intended audience is obviously male geeks, and that's OK. She hits the target time and time again, and I'm sure she'll sell a healthy amount of books. I found the book readable, but hardly earthshaking. Grade: B

Brilliant

Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light (2010) by Jane Brox. In this thoroughly researched book, Brox explores the history of artificial light -- starting with stone lanterns burning animal fat in prehistoric days, and progressing up to the present day, when electric lights have created light pollution and tremendous demands on the electric grid. In between the beginning and the end, she ranges far afield, exploring the history of lamps of all kinds, from kerosene to gaslight; the taming of Niagara; the blackouts made necessary by bombing in World War II; the unplanned blackouts in the U.S. in the late 20th century; and modern innovations in fluorescent lights. She also covers much, much more, to the point where at times I felt overwhelmed with information. This is not a long book, but there's an awful lot packed into it. It was something of chore to read, but it rewards the patient reader. Grade: B+

Storm Prey

Storm Prey (2010) by John Sandford. Minnesota detective Lucas Davenport swings into action again in this, the 20th Prey novel. This book is something of a departure from earlier books in the series, as it interweaves the story of wife Weather's job as a brain surgeon with the crime story. The crime in this installment involves some small-time crooks who decide (with some inside help) to rob the hospital pharmacy of all its re-sellable drugs. In the process of robbing the pharmacy, one of the crooks gets carried away and kicks a man to death, thus making it a capital crime and setting off a series of crimes aimed at covering up the crime. It's a little bit complicated, but it's an enjoyable read and Weather's story, which involves the separation of two toddler twins joined at the head, spices it up and adds human interest. Grade: B+

Sh*t My Dad Says

Sh*t My Dad Says (2010) by Justin Halpern. The title of this book is appropriate, because most of what Halpern's dad says is liberally laced with obscenity. He is particularly fond of the words fuck and shit. Whether you find this book funny or not may depend strongly on your tolerance for profanity. Personally, I don't find dirty language amusing in and of itself. To be funny, something has be clever, witty, involve a nice turn of phrase. The fact that Halpern's dad cusses like a sailor doesn't make him ipso facto funny. But occasionally, one of his zingers did hit my funny bone. And the prose portions of the book, in which Halpern describes events in his relationship with his dad, are entertaining. So: not bad. Grade: B

You Lost Me There

You Lost Me There (2010) by Rosecrans Baldwin. This is Baldwin's first novel, and it really felt like a first novel. It's about Victor Aaron, a 58-year-old Alzheimer's researcher, a widower who has a 25-year-old girlfriend, but can't stop mourning the loss of his wife, Sara. I'd be lying if I said this book was a joy to read. It was work, from beginning to end, to plow my way through Baldwin's elliptical prose and try to make sense of it -- something I never quite managed. For one thing, the characters all drink a lot, which I have trouble relating to. Victor Aaron, the main character, was drunk for about half of the book. And these people are surprised when things in their lives don't quite go right. There were numerous cases where lines of dialogue just didn't sound right, and I had to stop and ask myself, "Now what die he/she mean by that?" Maybe it was a lack of insight on my part, but I just couldn't comprehend much of the novel. Grade: C+

Lucy

Lucy (2010) by Laurence Gonzales. In order to enjoy this book, you have to buy the basic premise: that a man could mate with an ape (presumably by artificial insemination) and produce offspring. And that if he did this, the offspring would be a beautiful blond human-looking girl, not a half-human, half-ape looking abomination. When I read the book, I found the basic premise impossible to buy into. I couldn't even temporarily suspend disbelief. On the other hand, some parts of this novel are fun to read. You can learn a lot about bonobos from this book. And Lucy is kind of a superhero type of character, one you will root for. So there are pluses and minuses. It's certainly an easy read, and at times compelling. Grade: B

The Invisible Bridge

The Invisible Bridge (2010) by Julie Orringer. A great first novel by Orringer, who writes with authority about the experiences of a Jewish family in Hungary before and during the Second World War. Orringer seems to have mastered not only English, but French and Hungarian, in the writing of this book. As so many authors have before her, she draws upon the seemingly bottomless well of horror that is associated with the Jewish experience during the ascendancy of Hitler in Germany and later in the rest of Europe. In this particular case, Orringer's protagonist is Andras Levi, a young Hungarian Jew who, in 1937, journeys to Paris to study architecture. With no real knowledge of the coming storm, he goes to classes, does his best to survive in a foreign land, and falls in love. The love story forms the central theme of the book from that point forward, and it is always to his Klara that Andras hearkens when things get to their worst. There is a staggering amount of detail in the book, some to do with French culture, some with Hungarian, and one is left to wonder where Orringer gained her knowledge. At any rate, it is a marvelously well written book, at almost 600 pages not a difficult read at all. Grade: A