Mailbox Monday

I was out of town for a while and happy to come home to find several books had arrived in my absence. I also picked up a short stack on my travels.

Thanks go to Avis of She Reads and Reads for hosting Mailbox Monday in October.

Here's the list:

Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW by James H. Keeffe III.  My husband is particularly excited about this one because he loves personal accounts of WWII.  He will probably read it before I get to it, although it does look interesting.



Green Oranges on Lion Mountain by Emily Joy.  This is a British doctor's memoir about working for two years in Sierra Leone. It looks very good and I can think of a couple of people who would like to get a copy of this one for Christmas.



Fish with What You Find by Jim Gilsdorf. This is a collection of articles about fly fishing and fly tying. I do neither, but it still appeals to me, maybe because of the adorable illustrations.



Trespass by Rose Tremain. This is a LibraryThing Early Reviewer book.  Apparently I have caught up enough on my list to get more books.



The New Woman by Jon Hassler.  This is my first (and maybe only) book I received as part of a book chain letter I sent out about two months ago.



Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers.  This won the National Book Award. 



Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This won the Pulitzer Prize.



The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey. I like the whole idea of these Soho Crimes international mysteries. This one is set in England.



Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby.  Because I am on a Hornby kick these days.



61 Hours by Lee Child.  Because I am on a Jack Reacher kick these days.

A Literacy Award

My thanks go to the talented Michele Emrath of Southern City Mysteries for passing on the "I'm a Literacy Builder" award to me. Deanna of The Other Side of Deanna created the award to recognize International Literacy Day and help promote literacy efforts around the globe. Here is a link to programs supported by the UN Literacy program.

Here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Display the award logo on your blog site.
3. Tell us five of your favorite words and why you like them, (add as many as you like).
4. Pass the award on to three bloggers you feel are excellent literacy builders, and link to their sites – Yes, only three!
5. Contact the bloggers you’ve chosen and let them know about the award.

My words:

1. squirrelly: This is a great word because it exactly captures someone getting agitated and fidgety like a squirrel.

2. lunatic: I like the sound of lunatic and the old-fashioned idea that the moon caused insanity.

3. dipsomaniac: This is one of my all-time favorite words. It packs so much more punch than the more prosaic "alcoholic" and is more flexible in its variations -- dipsomaniacal, dipsomania, etc.

4. derelict:  Again, I like the sound of this word. Apparently, words with clicky sounds in them appeal to my inner ear. This is such a descriptive word, like "decrepit," although this one can be used as an adjective to describe a building or a noun to describe a person.

5. brigand:  Although there is not much opportunity to use this word, I like it and its bad guy kin, bandit and buccaneer.

6. scurrilous: This is one of those words that sounds great and proves that the English language can be infinitely precise.  It means to be vulgar or obscene and evil. I wonder what word describes someone who is refined or inoffensive but evil?

Passing it on to:

Paperback Fool
100 Books. 100 Journeys.
chaotic compendiums

Review of the Day: The Truth About Obamacare

In The Truth About Obamacare, Sally C. Pipes examines the details of the new health care law and tries to show what its implementation will mean for individuals, doctors, and the country. She argues that, contrary to supporters’ promises, the new program will make health care more expensive, limit options, lead to deteriorating medical care, and weaken America’s already frail economy.

Pipes is the president of the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank based in San Francisco. In the debate over health care, she has definitely chosen her side, championing market-based reforms such as allowing the interstate purchase of health insurance and revising the tax code to encourage individually-purchased, instead of employer-provided, insurance. But Pipes is no ranting demagogue. She bases her arguments on the language of the bill and lots of research rather than emotional rhetoric.

Pipes's prognosis of health care under the new rules is grim.  However, she closes the book with an optimistic section on alternate proposals for solving America's health care problems.  She argues for repealing the recently-enacted statute and then focusing federal policy on encouraging increased individual purchase of health insurance, expanding Health Savings Accounts, and establishing a voucher system for the uninsured who cannot afford insurance and who do not already qualify for existing government programs.

The book is aimed at a general audience and, although dependent on some pretty dry statistics and detailed research, is readable and accessible. Those opposed to the new health care laws will definitely want to bone up on the subject with Pipes’s book. Proponents also may want to read the book to better understand some of the rational arguments against the new system.

OTHER REVIEWS

David Bandow's review from the Washington Times

Here is my review of The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care: A Citizen's Guide, also by Sally Pipes

(If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.)

Author of the Day: Saul Bellow

Saul Bellow (1915 to 2005) may have been born in Canada, but he was an American treasure. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. He also won the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Award three times.

Bellow is a real favorite of mine. Henderson the Rain King didn't do anything for me, but I think Hertzog and Humbolt's Gift are wonderful.

Those I have read are in red; those currently on my TBR shelf are in blue. I plan to read them all eventually. I may have to re-read More Die of Heartbreak because I read it in high school and don't remember it.

Dangling Man (1944)

The Victim (1947)

The Adventures of Augie March (1953) (National winner; reviewed here)

Seize the Day (1956)

Henderson the Rain King (1959)

Herzog (1964) (National winner)

Mosby's Memoirs (1968) (short stories)

Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) (National winner; reviewed here)

Humboldt's Gift (1975) (Pulitzer winner; reviewed here)

To Jerusalem and Back (1976) (memoir)

The Dean's December (1982)

Him with His Foot in His Mouth (1984) (short stories)

More Die of Heartbreak (1987)

A Theft (1989) (novella)

The Bellarosa Connection (1989)

Something to Remember Me By: Three Tales (1991) (short stories)

It All Adds Up (1994) (essays)

The Actual (1997) (novella)

Ravelstein (2000)

Collected Stories (2001)  (short stories)

OTHERS READING SAUL BELLOW'S BOOKS

If you would like links to you posts about Saul Bellow or reviews of Bellow's books listed here, please leave a comment with a link to your post(s) and I will add it.

NOTES

Last updated October 4, 2012.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Case Has Altered

"Dorcas hated the fens."

-- The Case Has Altered by Martha Grimes.

That is, she hated the low, swampy wetlands of Lincolnshire. Understandable. Especially as she was about to walk across them at 11:30 at night, in pumps.

This is the 14th book in Grimes's 22-book series featuring Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury. I've never read any of her books before. While I am usually one to read a series in order, I will occasionally take a flyer on a new series by jumping in out of order with one of the books I picked up along the way.

So far, I have a mixed reaction to this one. I get a little sense that Grimes, who is American, is trying to out-English the English, with place names and characters that are just a bit over the top.

And maybe the point is more to read the series and get to like the recurring characters and their personal story lines, but the actual mystery solving seems a little thin. I'm three quarters of the way through and there's been only rehashing of the same circumstantial evidence on the one hand and, on the other, Jury sticking to the idea that his friend didn't commit the murders because he knows her.  There is a lot of repetition and not much forward progress.

I'd like to hear from fans of the series. Am I missing something?