Review "The Camel Club" by David Baldacci

I tend to think of Baldacci as John Grisham with less small town humor and a lot more violence. And that is not meant as a complement. My opinion is that his first book was his best (Absolute Power.)

"The Camel Club" is entertaining as a conspiracy / thriller novel but doesn't rise to the highest levels of that genre. The book centers on four conspiracy theorists who call themselves 'The Camel Club.' The plot centers on this group's discovery of an actual conspiracy at the highest levels of the U.S. government and how they attempt to stop it. But I thought the villain's plan was a little out there (and if you make an international relations plot that I have a hard time getting then the book needs some work.) Since this is a Baldacci book it ends with large amounts of violence by super-skilled professionals. Which can be entertaining, but doesn't make it a great book.

If you are on a long train/boat/plane ride and need a book then go for it. Otherwise there is probably lots of better stuff there that you haven't read yet.......

Review: "The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell

This book is the sequel to "The Last Kingdom" and should only be read as part of the series.

Bernard Cornwell may be the best historical fiction writer today. The major events of the book involve King Alfred the Great and how he leads the Saxons against the Danish (Viking) invasion. I didn't realize before reading this book how close the Saxons came to losing England to the Danes - we might all be speaking Danish now! For a few months, the limit of Saxon control of England was a few miles of swamp in Wessex. The story is about Uthred, a Northumbrian raised by Danes whose loyalties are divided between the Saxons and Danes. He is a pagan surrounded by Christian priests, a man whose dream is to reclaim his birthright in northern England but finds himself siding with Alfred in the swamps in southeastern England facing overwhelming odds.

"The Last Kingdom" has more combat and action but this book has excellent character development and plot development. At the end of the book I could not wait for the next one to come out, and that is a good sign.

One warning - the book contains old English, Danish and Welsh names for people and places and that takes some getting used to. (if you have read Cornwell's Warlord series on King Arthur 0r Mary Stewart's Merlin series then you know many of the place names already.)

One review down and thousands to go. ha.

Update

What I am reading now "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (for the second time). Why again? Any book like this I read so fast the first time that I don't savor it or enjoy it and I usually miss a few small things. Plus, my daughter will be reading it soon and I want to remember what the scary / disturbing parts are......


What have I been reading?

"The Pale Horseman" by Bernard Cornwell (review coming soon.)

"The Camel Club" by David Baldacci (review coming soon)

First thoughts: I have read a lot of books

To start off, I thought I would throw a list out of some of the stuff I can remember reading (a lot of which I will go back and review later.)

I will edit and add to this list as things come back to me.

NOTE: there are many titles and authors I can only vaguely remember so I will have to find them and add them later......

General fiction:
John Grisham (everything, I will rank them later)
Michael Chrichton (everything, will rank them later)
Tom Clancy (all the fiction until the newest one)
Dan Brown (everything, and his older stuff is weak)
Audrey Niffenegger "The Time Traveler's Wife"
Stephen King, "The Stand"
Arthur Golden "Memoirs of a Geisha"
Mark Haddeon "The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time"
Scott Turow (everything, finished his WWII book a few weeks ago)
Anne Rice (a few vampire books)
Patel "Life of Pi"
etc.

Spy novels:
John LeCarre (everything)
Robert Ludlum (the good ones)
Jack Higgins
W.E.B. Griffin (mostly his WWII stuff)
a bunch more here I can't even remember now

Historial fiction:
Colleen McCullough's Roman series (excellent, great stuff)
Bernard Cornwell (series on the Archer, Alfred the Great are both good)
Robert Harris "Fatherland", "Pompeii", "Engima" and "Archangel" (All are very good!)


Fantasy (Arthurian):
Bernard Cornwell (Arthur - Warlord series)
Mary Stewart's series on Merlin
T.H. White "The Once and Future King" and its sequel


Fantasy (Epic)
Tolkien (everything, more literature than fantasy, the best ever)
George RR Martin ('Song of Fire and Ice' is the best non LOTR series ever)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter series
Terry Goodkind, Sword of Truth series
Robert Jordan, Wheel of Time series
Ursula K. LeGuin, Wizard of Earthsea series
Stephen R. Donaldson, Thomas Convenant series

Fantasy (General)
Piers Anthony (Xanth - probably 10 books, and all of Phaze Doubt?)
Margery Weis and Tracey Hickman - Dragonlance Chronicles (First 2 series are good)
Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series, first 7-8 books)
Terry Brooks (Sword of Shannara series)
C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia)
Michael Moorcock (Elric series)
Raymond Fiest (Magician - Riftwar series)
Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy)
Fritz Lieber (Lankmar)


Science Fiction:
Frank Herbert (Dune series - the Tolkien of science fiction)
Follow on series to Dune by his son
Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game and sequels)
Tad Williams "Otherworld" (excellent science fiction-fantasy series)
Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series (I have read them ten times and would still falll on the ground laughing if I read them now.)

Non-fiction (I don't read much of these.)
Thomas Friedman's books "The World is Flat" most recently
"The Five People you Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Album
"Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Album
Bryson "A Walk in the Woods"

Opening Day

Greetings!

The purpose of this blog is for me to discuss and review stuff - mostly books but occasionally movies or computer games. But I read many books (30-40 a year?) and want to share my thoughts on what is good, what is great, and what is worth avoiding. Please let me know what you think.