Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath

Alarm. I admit that I had some trouble sleeping for several nights after reading Ted Koppel’s book titled, Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath. My fright came from Koppel’s description of how a cyber attack on the power grid could impact Americans, especially those of us living in large cities. To say the least, Koppel makes the case that we are vulnerable and unprepared. If by any chance you have any shortage of nightmares in your life, be sure to read this book. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Lights Out from amazon.com.

Last Ragged Breath

Coal. Julia Keller plays me like a fiddle. Just when I expected that the fourth installment in her Bell Elkins series of mystery novels set in West Virginia would be on cruise control, Keller offers her best novel yet titled, Last Ragged Breath. Having proven how well she does character, plot and descriptive language that keeps an intelligent reader engaged, she finally reveals the story of coal in this part of the world. She does it ruthlessly and with great skill, approaching a preachy tone only once or twice. She really finds a way to express what home can mean, and how callous behavior by companies can destroy communities. Readers of the series will likely love this one, and new readers can either start here or read from the beginning. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Last Ragged Breath from amazon.com.

Muse

Vanity. I read so many different sorts of books that when I heard that Farrar, Straus and Giroux publisher Jonathan Galassi had written a novel titled, Muse, I figured it might be a delight. Perhaps there was too much inside baseball for me in a novel about publishing by a publisher and poet. With fewer than three hundred pages, I read it quickly, but never really felt engaged by the prose. Close to the end, I came as close as I ever would to “getting it,” when I read the following: “Their authors were their gods, despite their high-handed behavior, egomania, and competitiveness. In the end, it had been all about them.” (p.234) Having understood that point, I raced to the end, eager to find another author god whose prose would provide me with more pleasure than this novel did. Readers with a strong interest in publishing are those most likely to enjoy reading this novel. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase Muse from amazon.com.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States

Wit. Sarah Vowell’s wit tickles my funny bone, so I am willing to read whatever she writes. She turned her attention to the eighteenth century in America for her latest book titled, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. Her curiosity about what brought young Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, to George Washington’s side in the Revolutionary War. Vowell studies the topic, thinks about it, and then draws readers into a witty and often ironic story that should keep most readers interested and engaged. Her connections of that time to contemporary life are a bonus and also a delight. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Lafayette in the Somewhat United States from amazon.com.

House of Echoes

Fear. Readers who like creepy page turners will find a lot to enjoy from Brendan Duffy’s debut novel titled, House of Echoes. The Tierney family was ready for a change. Ben has writer’s block on his novel. Caroline lost her banking job. Young Charlie is being bullied at his Manhattan school. They pour buckets of money into restoring a huge property in a remote valley in rural New York State. The town of Swannhaven was where some of Ben’s Lowell ancestors lived, so he felt a connection to this place. The creepy people in the town felt the connection to him and his family as well in ways that led me to yell at the page: “don’t go into the woods” and other assorted exclamations as Ben and Caroline do the wrong thing at the wrong time with great frequency. Despite the implausibility of much of the story, I felt well entertained by the plot’s pacing and the ways in which Duffy kept the fear level at a low boil for hundreds of pages. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase House of Echoes from amazon.com.

Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman

Policy. Historians have good reasons to be fascinated by Henry Kissinger. Thousands of pages have been written this year alone presenting viewpoints drawn from the extensive documents both by and about Kissinger. NYU Professor Greg Grandin’s book titled, Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman, is one of the shorter contributions to the Kissinger saga, and offers one of the clearest viewpoints. Things are not often the way they appear to be, and what is said in the open does not always match what happens behind closed doors. Grandin offers his analysis of the Kissinger record, and how facts were sometimes dismissed and lessons not learned in pursuit of policy to promote the interests of the United Sates in world affairs. The subtitle reflects the core of what Grandin contributes: Kissinger’s policies remain influential in contemporary foreign affairs. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Kissinger’s Shadow from amazon.com.

The Mare

Mothering. A reader looking at the cover of Mary Gaitskill’s novel titled, The Mare, could assume that this is a book about a girl and her horse. It is that and so much more. The ensemble cast of characters are so finely developed, calling just one the protagonist may minimize the strength of how each character contributes to the whole novel. Gaitskill’s plot will appeal to any reader who enjoys literary fiction that has a clear structure. The novel explores mothering from multiple dimensions, a biological mother who fights for survival; a surrogate mother who wants to become more than that; and a young girl who needs to mother herself. Gaitskill presents multiple narrators in ways that lead readers to see the plot from multiple perspectives. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Mare from amazon.com.