Category: Books-eReader

Ratlines by Stuart Neville

Ratlines by Stuart Neville

Posted on by Jack

Based on a little known and disturbing aspect of Irish history and a mix of real and fictional characters, “Ratlines” by Stuart Neville is an intriguing story.

This is clearly a work of fiction. At the beginning he lays out a few historical events. And then tells you:

The rest is just a story

But what a story.

First, the historical events that inspired this story. As I said some facts are given in the beginning of the book and then in the Acknowledgements at the end, the author list a few sources of the history including a documentary you can find on YouTube

Or if you prefer reading about this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1538969/Ireland-welcomed-Hitlers-henchmen.html


So with a base of real characters, Neville adds fictional characters and fictional events and weaves a complicated tale of intrigue involving Nazis, the IRA, Irish intelligence, a love story, and much more. What makes it more interesting to Americans is that this story mainly takes place during the preparations for President Kennedy’s visit to Ireland.

As would be expected in a story involving Nazis, the IRA, and Stuart Neville, there is violence. But as in his previous books (reviewed here: The Ghosts of Belfast and Collusion), the violence seems to fit into the story which is more about right and wrong (often the lesser of two wrongs) and a complex character dealing with inner conflict.

In this book the complex character is Lieutenant Albert Ryan of Irish Intelligence, who left neutral Ireland to fight the Nazis for the British and now is asked by his government to protect Nazi war criminals in Ireland such as Colonel Otto Skorzeny (formerly an SS officer and now a well-connected resident of Ireland.)

I read the galley from netgalley on my Kindle and the book won’t be released until early January, 2013. I guess my only real disappointment is that the book won’t be available this year for gift giving.

Other reviews:

The book is published by Soho Crime. If you like good books, especially with an international flavor, you might want to check out Soho Press.

The Philosophical Practitioner by Larry Abrams

The Philosophical Practitioner by Larry Abrams

Posted on by Jack

I thoroughly enjoyed The Philosophical Practitioner by Larry Abrams . It is an unusual book, a thought-provoking philosophy lesson wrapped in a compelling story with romance and mystery. The story grabbed me at the beginining and made it hard to put the book down. But since I read it on my Kindle, it might be more accurate to say that it was, hard to put my Kindle down.

So what is the mystery? A potential client seems to be seeking his help in deciding on whether she should kill a man. It turns out that the target is the philosophical practitioner. Is she serious? If so, why him? When, where and how add a bit more to the mystery.

The romance progresses as does the practice. Eric, the philosophical practitioner, consults with people with a variety of problems. This consultation is not unlike that of a psychologist but the emphasis of the philosopical practitioner is on getting the client to use reason to find out what is important in each situation. It is interesting to listen to Eric present his reasoned philosophical arguments to his clients. And to think about how you might handle a similar situation.

So this is both a learning experience as well as a good read. The book is available as both a paperback and Kindle edition. The Kindle edition is a fraction of the price so that might be a consideration for you.

So, what is the meaning of life? What is important to us? Whether you agree with Eric or have another philosophy, you are going to learn something about yourself here.

Harmattan by Gavin Weston

Harmattan by Gavin Weston

Posted on by Jack

About a month ago, I get an email. Gavin tells me he is an Irishman who has written a book from the point of view of a 12 year girl old growing up in Niger, West Africa. And that he has a website, http://www.gavinwestonbooks.com/ , which has further details on his book including an extract, reviews, an interview, and more.

I looked at the website and it did look interesting. I was 12 a long time ago but I never was a girl. And I have never lived in Niger. But the Irishman writing as a 12 year old girl from Niger sounded convincing to me in the short excerpt on the website. But I wasn’t sure if he could pull it off for the whole book. I think he did it. I decided to try the book and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit.

Several years back I read a novel about a culture that was foreign to me. It was written by a journalist who was asked in an interview why a novel rather than the reporting of facts. The answer was that sometimes the best way to convey the truth is a novel. This novel conveys a reality in ways that facts never could .

How many Nigeriens are poor, how poor are they, do they have access to adequate medical care or nutrition???? These questions and more can be answered and they are on the UNICEF fact sheet. The answers are that many are poor, so poor that over 60% get by on less than 1 US Dollar per day. Medical care is inadequate for many. One in 5 children die before their 5th birthday. Many of those who survive are malnourished. Almost half do not have access to clean water. But you still are missing the reality associated that faces people living with these facts.

Gavin Weston, the author of Harmattan, is working with FORWARD UK on the problem of child marriages . The facts are available there. You can also look at the UNICEF fact sheet cited above and see that over a third of the girls in Niger are married before they are 15. UNICEF-USA ups the number to 1 in 2 and says the Niger has the highest rate of child and forced marriages in the world. Maybe they used a slightly difference source of data or maybe they just rounded differently but the point is that we are talking about a very large number.

Harmattan puts a face on these numbers. It is a book well worth reading. I found myself drawn into the story quickly. My guess is that good writing may have played a role. The story seems to slow down a bit toward the middle (at least it seemed that way to me.) But if it slows down for you at this or other points, it is well worth finishing.

There are several books named Harmattan or that have Harmattan in the title. That surprised me since I had not even heard the word a month ago. But my point is not that I have a limited vocabulary. I just wanted to warn you so you get the right book. Look for the author’s name when you buy or better yet buy though my website (link above) or Gavin’s. The book is now available in the Kindle version and the physical book should be out soon.

Black Echo by Michael Connelly or When Harry met Eleanor

Black Echo by Michael Connelly or When Harry met Eleanor

Posted on by Jack

I’ve long been a fan of Michael Connelly’s books. I decided to read or re-read The Black Echo by Michael Connelly because it was the first of the Harry Bosch series which I have enjoyed over the years. It has been so long since I may have read it that I wasn’t sure if I read it or not, but after a few pages I knew that I had. I did not remember it well enough that I knew what was coming so I was surprised by most of the twists in the plot but at least parts of the story were familiar. I totally enjoyed this mystery and as a bonus Harry worked with Eleanor Wish who will feature in other books of the Harry Bosch series.

I do not wish to say too much about the plot or specifics about characters as I don’t want to spoil the surprises for that rare reader who has not yet discovered this series. But, in short, both Harry and Eleanor are very interesting characters and the story is well-told with a number of surprising twists. For me, it was a re-read and a very enjoyable experience. For someone new to the series, it may be a bit different but I can’t imagine not enjoying it. I think this would be a great introduction to the characters as well as a great story. If I was thinking about trying a Harry Bosch book because so many people love the series, I would probably start at the beginning with The Black Echo .

I would guess that the new reader would be fine jumping into the series with any book that sounds interesting to him or her. Michael Connelly does work enough background of the characters into each book that I’ve read that the new reader should be able to enjoy the stories. But it is interesting to start at the beginning and watch a character develop and age. In The Black Echo Harry is close to 40 but in the later books he is at an age when lots of us are retired.

Michael Connelly has written quite a few books and I have enjoyed all of those I’ve read. If you are interested in learning more about this author you might want to check out Michael Connelly’s Amazon page.

On an unrelated note, I just wanted to add that I started reading this book on my Kindle. I had borrowed it from the county library and I’m not quite sure how borrowing ebooks works. But when it was ready (and there was a waiting list), it was sent to my Kindle by Wi-Fi and through my Amazon account. I did enjoy reading the book on the Kindle and my only gripe was that the loan period was one week which included Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Since I hadn’t finished by the end of the week and the book on my Kindle disappeared, I borrowed the actual book from the library to finish the story.

Nook Simple Touch and excessive legal agreement

Nook Simple Touch and excessive legal agreement

Posted on by Jack

I recently bought a Nook Simple Touch as a present. I have a Kindle and like e-reading sometimes and I thought this would be better for at least 2 reasons. One is I thought the touch screen navigation would be easier than the Kindle interface. Second I thought borrowing a library book would be simpler. From what I’ve read, with the Nook you just borrow the book from the library. With the Kindle you need both to borrow the book and have Amazon reformat it .

However, the first step in activating the Nook Simple Touch is agreeing to a 178 page legal agreement. I decided this is the type present I’d rather not give. I returned the Nook.

My question to Barnes and Noble:
Don’t you think this is a bit excessive?

A second question for anybody:
Has anybody actually read the whole agreement?

The Book, a dystopian novel

The Book, a dystopian novel

Posted on by Jack

The opening line is “Don’t read The Book” but I’m glad I did. The book is The Book by M. Clifford.

I thought the idea behind the book was important but I wasn’t always fond of how the author told the story. A good editor may have improved matters. The idea is somewhat similar to other dystopian novels in that the government controls and modifies information.

This book adds an interesting twist in that they do so not by banning books or burning books but by becoming a sole publisher of books which are electronic and can be edited as the government wants and paper copies are no longer printed and old paper copies recycled. The great recycling is presented as an environmental plus and government edits of books are a secret and only suspected by a few.

This reminded me of 1984 with government control of information but the technology is now more believable.

Thus this is a cautionary tale which features eReaders as an instrument of government control. It was an unintentional irony that I read my copy on a Kindle. By the way, the paperback version is about what you would expect to pay for a paperback but the Kindle version is only $2.99 (at least that is what I paid and it was still that when I looked tonight.)

Free Books for your eReader

Free Books for your eReader

Posted on by Jack

I am kind of new to the Kindle. I got it as a birthday present and have been using it for about 3 weeks now. At first I downloaded lots of free books to see how it works. No matter what eReader you are using lots of free books are available.

Barnes and Noble has free books for the Nook. Amazon has free books for the Kindle. There are multiple sources for free books in a variety of formats. Most tend to be older books which are out of copyright. But sometimes a book just a few years old is released as a free book. Gives those of us who hesitate to buy a book by an unknown author a chance to try for free. I imagine the publisher hopes we will like the author and buy a more current book. This way I found both Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for free.

And have downloaded and read a couple books I paid for. Right now reading the new John-Abigail Adams book by Joseph Ellis.

I have the least expensive version with Wi-Fi. There are fancier, bigger, and more expensive versions with various options. I have shopped the Amazon Kindle Store from my computer and my sections are downloaded wirelessly to my Kindle using my home wireless router. It is very easy to do. This low-cost option works well if you have wireless at home or access to wireless. If not you can pay a bit more and have 3G connectivity.

If you get a free book via Project Gutenberg or something similar, you can just download it to your computer and copy the file to your Kindle. So far everything seems pretty easy.

I am still thinking about physical books vs Kindle version. It is a very different experience and I see advantages and disadvantages to each. I imagine I’ll have a bit more to say when I’ve used the Kindle a bit more.