Rough and Tumble

Rough and Tumble

by Mark Bavaro

This best-seller is a "must read" for any sports fan. The main character is an aging pro football player. In one week, his girlfiend rebuffs him, the team's star defensive player is severely beaten and left in the parking lot dashing his hopes to play in the Superbowl, and he discovers that he has a career-ending injury. Confronted with the reality of life without football, he must also deal with conflict between players, drugs, gambling, and the parasites that hang around the team. The author was former New York Giants tight end consequently writes a very realistic tale. Easy.

Death of a Red Heroine

Death of a Red Heroine

by Qiu Xialong

This is a remarkable crime drama, set in modern Communist China, because it is written by a Chinese author and breaks out of the conventions of the genre. Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police must find a murderer and then risk his own life and career to see that justice is done despite the political implications. The main character, Inspector Chen Cao, is a published poet and and translator of American and English mystery novels and his musings are in descriptive couplets which punctuate the action. "The novel reads like the translation of an ancient text imposed over a modern tale of intrigue." (Amazon). Moderate difficulty

Curse of the Blue Tatoo

Curse of the Blue Tattoo

By Louis A Meyer

This fast-paced historical fiction is the second in the Bloody Jack series. In 1803, after being exposed as a girl and forced to leave her her ship, Jacky Farber finds herself attending school in Boston, where, instead of learning to be a lady, she battles her snobbish classmates and roams the city where she has many misadventures. This heroine is rowdy and brash and bucks the Boston society in which women have very few rights. This book can stand alone but the ending is left open for another sequel and will leave readers yearning for more. Easy but long.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

by M.T. Anderson

Set in pre-Revolutionary Boston, Octavian lives with his mother in pampered luxury. The reader slowly realizes that they are black and are part of an experiment to see if Africans have the same mental capacity as Caucasians. The Southern plantation owners who fund this research use it for their own ill-gotten gains; Octavian learns of his own chilling role. The novel is written from Octavian's point of view and in letters written by a soldier who befriends him. The issues of slavery and human rights, racism, free will, the causes of war, and one person's struggle to define himself are all examined in this book. Moderately difficult but worth the challenge.

Storm Thief

Storm Thief

by Chris Wooding

This is a very original fantasy, set in the post apocalytic city of Orokos, a crumbling city/island. It is peopled by all manner of strange beings and residents live with the constant threat of "probability storms" "...order is elusive in Orokos, where at any time a probability storm can occu. Children can turn to stone, people turn into cats, left-handers become right-handed." (School Library Journal). One of the main charcters is affected by a storm that rendered him unable to breathe by himself. He must rely on a respirator. The main charactes are Rail and Moa who live among the ghetto folk and teenage thieves. When they steal a valuable artifact, they are pursued.
After many plot turns and twists, they meet a group of rebels who are planning to leave the protectorate permanently.

Peace like a River

Peace Like a River

by Lief Enger

This book has the feel of a western ballad. The oldest son. Davy shoots two intruders and ends up in jails. When it appears he'll be convicted, Davy escapes and goes on the lam in the Dakota hills. His father, Jeremiah, his 11 year old brother, Reuben (the narrator), and poet sister, Swede, take to the road to find him. They are just one step ahead of the FBI. Jeremiah is torn between love for his outlaw son and the desire "to do the right thing". This is a novel about faith, miracles, and family that is ultimately miraculous.

Nick Adams Stories

Nick Adams Stories

by Ernest Hemmingway

In this chronological collection of stories about Nick Adams gleaned from Hemingway's early writing, one can see the outline of a life with close similarities to his own. Poignant and powerful, it is a good introduction to Hemingway's work and provides insights, not only into the author but into ourselves as well. A reader writes "To me, this book is so eloquent I am reluctant to review it because it will be impossible to do it justice." (Bruce L. Nelson, Amazon) Easy to read but complex subjects.