Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Battle for North Africa by John Strawson

The Battle for North Africa by John Strawson describes the north African campaign from 1940 through the final collapse of the German and Italian forces. Strawson tries to keep his level of analysis on the troops themselves which is unusual most histories of this campaign focusing on the high command arrangements. He does share some unusual perspectives he thinks very highly of Wavell and Auchinleck. I think there's definitely some hyperbole there particularly his statement that Wavell is one of the great captains of history. Discussion of the battles are clear and easy to follow.

Recommended.

Friday, October 23, 2009

High Chicago by Howard Shrier

High Chicago by Howard Shrier this is the second book in an ongoing mystery series. Jonah Geller is a Toronto private investigator who was asked to investigate the suicide of the daughter of a developer. This leads to the high stakes world of construction. Shrier is excellent at characterization, if a touch stereotypical at times. The plot is fast moving. The conclusion was a little over the top. I'll be looking for the first book in the series.

Recommended.

Note:This book was provided through Librarything's early reviewer Program.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Quotation [occasional]

"This cat does more for the war effort than you do. He acts as a hot water bottle and saves fuel and power"
Winston Churchill to Rab Butler, referring to nelson his cat.

Flu

Since a week last Tuesday I've been fighting with the flu not really sure if it's seasonal or the big one H1N1. Mostly back to normal now except for a occasional sneeze or cough. Blogging should resume soon have several book reviews to do including one of an early reviewer book from LibraryThing.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Crystal Rain by Tobias S Buckell

Crystal Rain by Tobias S Buckell is a science fiction novel the first in a series. John suffering from amnesia must help protect his community from an attacking army of Azteca [like the Aztecs] who want to human sacrifice everything in their path. The book takes quite a while to get going but the last third with the race to find an abandoned piece of technology is well worth the journey. The dialog which is based on Caribbean dialect takes some getting used to but it does make the thing nice and atmospheric. I'll try the sequel.

Mildly recommended.