The Confession

The Confession by John Grisham

When my family and I take a road trip, I like to listen to a book on my iPod while driving. I usually finish one complete book during the drive which equates to about 1,000 miles or roughly 16 hours round trip. This last one to San Antonio and the Gulf Coast was a three-book trip which equaled about 3,350 miles or about 58 hours round trip. The first of the three was The Confession.

Donte Drumm is about to die. He's days away from being put to death by the state of Texas for a crime he insists he didn't commit. While he's sitting on death row awaiting the decisions on his final appeals and motions, another man walks into a Lutheran minister's office and confesses to having committed that crime.

Travis Boyette was recently released from a Kansas prison after having completed his sentence for multiple sex crimes. He claims to have an inoperable brain tumor that's killing him and says he wants to make restitution for all his past mistakes by stopping the execution of an innocent man.

The Confession is another step back in the right direction for Grisham. It reminded me a lot of The Chamber which I thoroughly enjoyed reading back when it was written. The political ideology in this one is a little heavy-handed at times, (Grisham makes his view on capital punishment quite clear in this one) but
the story was compelling and enjoyable to read, exactly what I'm hoping for when I read one of his books.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

M is for Magic

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

Every time I start a new book I do so with a certain level of excitement because I figure there's a chance it's going to be really really good. Every time I start a book by Neil Gaiman, the excitement level is significantly higher because I KNOW it's going to be really really good.

Gaiman first came on the scene with his very popular Sandman graphic novels series, which have been credited for redefining the comic book genre. Since then he's written children's books (which my kids have enjoyed a lot), novels, short stories, and most recently an episode of Dr. Who. His most mainstream success came with his Young Adult novel Coraline which Tim Burton made into a movie.

The first book of his I read was Neverwhere and I absolutely loved it. I've since read all his other books and none of them have been disappointments. 

M is for Magic is a collection of some of his short stories and is described as "for Young Adults." However, I would recommend that parents read them first before passing them along to their children. My oldest daughter is 12, and I think she needs to be a few years older before reading a couple of the stories. They're not offensive or profane, but the subject matter in some of them is a little more mature than I'm comfortable with her reading right now.

The stories are all classic Gaiman, which means they're extremely creative, a little warped, and a lot of fun to read. I think he's probably one of the most consistent writers alive today in terms of the quality of his writing and he seems to be able to accomplish it effortlessly.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Hadrian Memorandum

The Hadrian Memorandum by Allan Folsom

I've been reading Allan Folsom's books ever since his first one, The Day After Tomorrow, which I thought was fantastic. Unfortunately, in my opinion, he's never been able to achieve the same level of creativity and excitement since that first one. His other books so far have all been worth reading, but compared to that first one, they've always left me disappointed. After finishing The Hadrian Memorandum I think I've decided I'm done buying his books.

The book is a sequel to The Machiavelli Covenant and follows ex-LAPD Detective and current landscape architect Nicholas Marten, who is conveniently a close associate of the President of the United States. The President has a special assignment for the landscape architect that no one else at his disposal is qualified to undertake - travel to the West African nation of Equatorial Guinea and determine whether rebel fighters there are being armed by a U.S. oil exploration firm. I know what you're thinking, with a plot that good, why no Pulitzer?

Because of an undiagnosed disorder which causes me to believe that a book will eventually get better if I keep going, I finished it. But it was like running on a treadmill. A lot of work was involved, but when I was done, I hadn't gone anywhere.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Tragedy of Arthur

The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

Arthur Phillips has written a singularly unique book. It's a fictional memoir, in which he incorporates factual events from his life and literary career and then spins them into a fantastic story about a previously unknown play by Shakespeare.

Arthur, the author of four previous novels (all highly recommended), is the son of a man who spent many of Arthur's formative years in prison, convicted on multiple occasions of committing acts of fraud such as forging state lottery tickets. That same man, a huge fan of Shakespeare, tried from the time Arthur was very young to instill that same love for the Bard into his son.

After Arthur becomes a successful and critically acclaimed author, his father, now dying of cancer and wanting to make amends for his errant ways, entrusts to him what he claims to be a previously unknown play written by Shakespeare and wants him to see that it's published for the rest of the world to enjoy.

It's truly a brilliantly conceived story. What (if any of it) is true? Is it entirely the product of Arthur Phillips's mind? It's questions like these that I was continually asking myself and that kept me entertained throughout. The way Phillips seamlessly incorporates biographical information about both himself and Shakespeare gives the novel the feel of a true memoir. He even includes the entire play at the end of the book. The play alone is proof enough of how great an author he is. And with the story surrounding the play included in the book, it's a must read.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

One of Our Thursdays is Missing

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Jasper Fforde has returned to his fantastic series featuring Thursday Next, the Jurisfiction agent tasked with keeping order and continuity in the BookWorld. At the beginning of this one, war is brewing between genres. A border dispute has erupted between Racy Novel and Women's Fiction and since Thursday has evidently retired to Realworld, the Council of Genres turns to the written version of Thursday to settle the dispute and bring peace back to the world of fiction.

Fforde is a British author who I have been recommending to people for years. To date, no one that I've spoken to about his books has read one of them though. I've been a complete failure. I think the problem occurs when I try to describe one of his books, especially the Next books. I know I must sound like an idiot whose head doesn't contain a coherent thought. But it's not me, I swear. His books just don't lend well to summary. Instead they're the type of books that you just buckle up and enjoy the ride.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Iliad

The Iliad by Homer

When my sister asked me what I was reading and I told her it was The Iliad, her response was "Why?" The only answer I could give her I borrowed from Mallory when asked why he'd want to climb Everest - "Because it's there." The Iliad falls into that group of books I wanted to read before I died. Done.

Obviously it's not a casual read. For me, with the exception of Achilles, Odysseus, and Agamemnon, it was a little bit problematic keeping track of the different characters. I had to go back and refresh my memory whether they were Trojans or Greeks far too many times. But that might just indicate a deficiency with the reader.

It takes place during the Trojan War, but if you read it expecting to find the story of the Trojan Horse like I did, you'll be disappointed. (Serves me right for thinking I was learning something from watching a Brad Pitt movie.) Historically that event took place in between The Iliad and The Odyssey and Homer never wrote about it. It's in Virgil's The Aeneid. Who knew?

I feel a little guilty giving The Iliad fewer stars than I give most books written by authors like Steve Berry, James Rollins, and Jeffery Deaver, but that's the way it goes. It's an indication of how much I enjoyed reading it and not its historic or cultural significance.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Skinny Legs and All

Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins

It'd been quite a while since I had read one of Robbins's books. And after finishing Skinny Legs and All I remembered why I space them out like I do - his books take a long time to fully digest. I'll begin by saying his books are not for everyone. To the unaccustomed, his books might come across as wacky or off the wall. But like the dance of the seven veils depicted on this one's cover, his writing consists of many different layers.

To describe the plot would take far too long and more than likely would fall far short of doing it justice. So instead I'll say that Skinny Legs and All is about the Middle East, and the Apocalypse, and an artist, and an Airstream motor home converted into a giant turkey, and Isaac's & Ishmael's - a restaurant co-owned by an Arab and a Jew, and a Baptist minister bent on bringing about the Second Coming, and a can of beans, and a spoon, and a sock, and a conch shell, and a painted stick, and a dancer, who may be able to answer all of life's questions without ever opening her mouth.

It's obvious that Robbins is a believer in a lot of things, and that formalized religion is not one of them. His books seem deeply influence by Eastern philosophies and mysticism. And I loved it. He's not a very prolific writer, he takes in inordinate amount of time between books. But as you read his books you'll see that the time he takes is justified. It's obvious that he thinks long and hard about every sentence he writes. His writing is simultaneously beautiful and absurd which demonstrates a tremendous amount of talent. He's almost 80 years old which at his rate of writing means there may only be one or two more books to come. But I'm sure they'll be brilliant.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆