Losing My Mind : An Intimate Look at Life with Alzheimer's by Thomas DeBaggio

In this incredibly brave book, Thomas DeBaggio describes what it’s like to suffer from Alzheimer’s. In a poignant autobiography, he offers a heart-breaking meditation on memory – and the role that memory plays in making us human – as well as a beautiful story of love, family and the power of words.

As the book progresses, we watch as DeBaggio struggles to hold on to the sentences that make up the description of his life, which seem to slip ever faster through his fingers. A writer of three previous books on herb farming, this loss of syntax and vocabulary is especially hard.

In the end, however, the reader can’t help but find a mysterious beauty in this tragic book. For as the author notes early on in his story, “Getting used to the idea of dying is difficult, emotionally and physically, but what awaits me is losing the idea of dying and that is incomprehensible and at the same time it may be liberating."

3 out of 5 stars

Grievance by K. C. Constantine

Wow. Just wow. This book is, without a doubt, one of the best novels that I have read in the past few years. On the surface, this is the story of a rich industrialist who is murdered, and the police investigation to track down the killer. To describe this amazing work with those words, however, with not do this book justice. For in reality, this is not a traditional police mystery, but the tale of how the working class in the United States has been manipulated, beaten down and cheated.

In his trademark brilliant writing, K.C. Constantine describes -- among other things -- how steelworkers in Pennsylvania were cheated by both management and their union. We hear about the power that insurance companies have with the quality of health care that blue coller people in the U.S. receive. We bear witness to the personal struggles of Detective Ruggiero "Rugs" Carlucci, the protagonist of this tale, whose vulnerability is portrayed in such vivid detail that the reader is left with the impression that they are eavesdropping on a real life family crisis.

For years, Constantine has captivated readers with the life story of Mario Balzic, the chief of police in the fictional town of Rocksburg, Pennsylvania. After retiring Balzic, this wonderful series continued with the adventures of Detective Carlucci. Fans of Constantine's amazing series will simply love this book. (It seems that the series gets better with each novel). For those readers who have never visited Rocksburg before, this story will offer a taste of why Constantine is one of the best writers in the United States. In a word, this is a gem, and I highly recommend this book.

4 out of 5 stars

McTeague by Frank Norris

I am not sure what to think of this book. On the one hand, this novel is light years ahead of its time in terms of style and tone. First published in 1899, this dark tale about the self-destruction of a dentist feels like a modern terror story.

On the other hand, this book suffers from dozens and dozens of unnecessary pages that just drag on with pointless scenes and dialogue. By the end of the novel I was left with the impression that this could have been a brilliant story, if only the editor had cut out 100 pages or so. To make matters worse, the ending is slightly cheesy, which is too bad, for overall this is a very interesting tale.

2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Shooting the Stars by John Metcalf

This book compiles three novellas by British-born (but long-time Ottawa resident) John Metcalf. Within these pages we are introduced to a housekeeper who sells the furniture of her unwitting employers, a man who has a strange experience with a dating service, and another man who recounts -- in very funny and clever details -- the history of his sexual awakening as a boy.

At his best Metcalf is a fantastic writer. The last story in particular is quite clever, with hilarious (and all too true) anecdotes of the sexual yearnings of a young man. At other times, however, his writing seems a bit forced, as if he were a student in a creative writing class trying to impress his teacher. This being said, this is an enjoyable read and I will definitely seek out more books by Metcalf.

3 out of 5 stars

The Blank Page by K.C. Constantine

K.C. Constantine's wonderful work reminds me of why I love the HBO-drama The Wire. Unlike typical cop and robber shows that are formulaic -- Law and Order and CSI come to mind -- The Wire tells stories that are filled with rich characters, complex plot lines and wonderful dialogue.

Constantine's novels are as good as any HBO-drama. (Stephen King once

described his work as watching the Soprano's, but from the perspective of the police). In the Blank Page, Constantine begins his story with a college student who is strangled in her room, wearing only her panties and, to the puzzlement of police, a blank page that has been placed over her body. The ensuing story reveals a fascinating set of characters who, in their own way, struggle with the dilemma of writing the story of their lives on their own blank page.

At his best, Constantine's books are a brilliant sociological portrait of small-town United States. But even novels like the Blank Page, which is more of a traditional police mystery, contain writing that is so good that one cannot help but be drawn into this world. I normally do not read mysterious stories, as I find this genre to be cliche and repetitive. (Too many detective novels seem like clones produced in a word factory). But then there are those exceptional characters -- e.g. Sherlock Holmes -- that capture the reader's imagination. Constantine's set of characters, led by Police Chief Mario Balzic, fall into this special category. To paraphrase one of my favourite Canadian TV channels, Constantine's mystery books are too good to be mystery books. Though the Blank Page is not among Constantine's best novels, it is still a wonderful read, and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates solid fiction.

3 out of 5 stars

America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy by Francis Fukuyama

Once a prominent neoconservative, Francis Fukuyama breaks with his former political comrades by attacking the U.S. invasion of Iraq. With deep insight, this book begins by tracing the origins of neoconservatism in the 1930s, with a group of left-wing intellectuals. Over the pursuing decades, this group moved, to greater and lesser degrees, to the right of the political spectrum. Unlike traditional conservatives of the Nixon-Kissinger school, however, the early-neocons blended a desire for greater human rights and liberty, with a belief that U.S. power could be used for moral reasons. (The "realist" school of Kissinger, in contrast, saw geopolitics as primarily a struggle for power among states). With the rise of Reagan, Fukuyama argues, the neoconservative worldview was able to trump the "realist" politics of detente espoused by Kissinger, and help bring an end to the cold.

But with the rise of a unipolar world led by the United States, the neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration overreached, with the result that the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq at a huge military, human and political cost. Furthermore, in a case of political irony, the invasion of Iraq -- with its visions of nation building and spreading democracy across the Middle East -- was championed by a group of people who historically had been very critical of massive social engineering projects. Overall, this is a very smart book that provides insight into what went wrong in Iraq, and provides lessons on how the errors of the neocons can be avoided in the future.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower by Zbigniew Brzezinski

In this short book, Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security advisor under President Carter, analysis the three U.S. presidents who governed after the fall of the Soviet Union. Citing the immense opportunities that were available to the United States after the end of the Cold War, Brzezinski concludes that neither Bush I, Clinton or Bush II took advantage of their position as the de facto global leader.

Of the three former Presidents, Brzezinski rates the elder George H. W. Bush as the best. Between 1989-92, Bush I had to deal with an incredible number of international events: e.g. the collapse of the U.S.S.R.; emerging democracies in Eastern Europe; Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, to name just a few. With great skill, however, he was able to usher in a peaceful end of the Cold War, while keeping together the U.N.-sanctioned coalition that drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Unfortunately, this great tactical skill was not exploited with an ensuing strategic vision.

Bill Clinton, meanwhile, is portrayed as a brilliant man who failed to live up to his promise, and whose haphazard decision making style resulted in a self-indulgent foreign policy. Clinton may have been loved around the world, but he did not use this goodwill to make an important mark in geopolitical affairs.

George W. Bush, on the other hand, is portrayed as a terrible president who sullied the reputation of the U.S. around the world. The invasion of Iraq is particularly criticized as a geo-political failure. His president is described as a complete disaster.

With this in mind, Brzezinski argues that the next U.S. President -- this book was published in 2007, a year before President Obama was elected -- will have to repair the image of the United States around the world, while pursuing a coherent strategic vision that escaped his three predecessors. In an ominous passage at the end of the book, however, is this sentence, which was written well before the current financial meltdown: "Given America's growing global indebtedness (it now borrows some 80 percent of the world's savings) and huge trade deficits, a major financial crisis, especially in an atmosphere of emotionally charged and globally pervasive Anti-American feeling, could have dire consequences for America's well-being and security."

As the Chinese curse says, may you live in interesting times.

3 out of 5 stars

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard

A good friend of mine has been telling me for years that I should read Elmore Leonard. After finishing "Get Shorty" I finally understand what all the fuss is about. This book is a true joy to read, with its wonderful dialogue, great pacing and delightful plot. I definetly plan to read more Leonard books in the near future.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Rocksburg railroad murders by K.C. Constantine

This is the fourth book by K.C. Constantine that I have read and it is by far my least favourite novel by him. If you were to go to your local public library or bookstore, chances are that Constantine would be classified in the police mystery section. But what makes his books a fantastic read – and they truly are remarkable stories – is not the cloak-and-dagger detective work of his hero, Chief Mario Balzic, but the insightful portrait that he draws of blue collar America.

Unlike his other books, however, “The Rocksburg Railroad Murders” is a typical detective story that could have been written by numerous other writers. To make matters worse, the ending seemed rushed, as if the book were an hour-long television show that was nearing the end.

To be fair, this is the first book in the long Mario Balzic series and it’s possible that Constantine was still finding his voice. As well, the book is filled with excellent dialogue that is a hallmark of Constantine’s great work. But for those who have not read this brilliant author before, I would not recommend starting with this novel.

2 out of 5 stars

Time's Child by Rebecca Ore

This book is a mess. With one dimensional characters, boring dialogue and random scenes that are mashed together without much thought, this novel is a perfect example of a writer losing the plot. So why do I want to read more books by Rebecca Ore? Well, because for all its fault -- and there are MANY in this story -- it is clear that Ore has a wonderful bank of ideas.

The premise behind "Time's Child" is an interesting one. It's 2308 and the earth has descended into a collection of city states, following a plague that has devastated the world. In this post-apocalyptic setting, the surviving humans use a time machine to bring back people from the past. The main protagonists in the book -- a woman who is a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci; a Norse viking; and a computer hacker form the 21st century -- struggle to adjust to their new reality.

Unfortunately, this promising beginning descends into a pointless plot. Equally frustrating, a series of intriguing ideas -- e.g. men who can become pregnant; mysterious people in alternate futures beyond the 24th century that seem to control the characters in the book -- are never fully developed and are allowed to languish. The result is a chaotic mess that, if written better, could have been an excellent science fiction work.

1 out of 5 stars

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

This book is absolutely brilliant. Set in modern-day Cairo, this wonderful novel follows the lives of a series of characters that live and / or work in the Yacoubian Building, which was built in the 1930s by the millionaire businessman Hagop Yacoubian.

In roughly 250-pages, we are introduced to a large cast of characters, each of which struggles with the problems of contemporary Egypt. For instance, there is the son of a doorkeeper whose dream is to become a policeman, but due to his poverty is rejected from the police academy, and in frustration joins the Islamic resistance. Then there is the gay editor of a French-language newspaper, whose professional success is tempered by the rampant homophobia all around him. There is the aging playboy who blames Nasser for the downfall of Egypt, his bitter sister who wants to throw him out of his apartment, and the young woman who discovers that all of her male employers want to sexually harass her.

This is fantastic book is noting short of extraordinary and I highly recommend it.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident by Eleanor Druse

This is a terrible book. Purporting to be the true life story of an elderly woman named Eleanor Druse, this novel is in reality the work of Richard Dooling, who co-wrote and co-produced the 2004 ABC miniseries "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital."

Unfortunately for the reader, it seems that this story serves no major purpose besides acting as an advertisement for the Kingdom Hospital TV series. The writing is clunky, the plot progression incredibly slow, and the dialogue filled with cliché after cliché. This is a shame, as the idea behind the story -- an elderly woman discovers (and then remembers) horrible experiments on children that take place in a hospital -- has a lot of potential.

This is the first book by Dooling that I have read. I don't think it would be fair, however, for me to assume that he is a bad writer, as it is pretty clear that this book was written quite quickly for purely commercial reasons. I have a suspicion that his other works are much better.

1 out of 5 stars

Cranks and Shadows by K. C. Constantine

It is a pleasure to have stumbled across the work of K.C. Constantine. In a highly acclaimed series of books, Constantine has created a wonderful set of characters that revolve around Mario Balzic, the police chief of the fictional town of Rocksburg, Pennsylvania. But it's the dialogue -- a fantastic script that is nothing short of brilliant -- that makes the Balzic books sparkle.

In "Cranks and Shadows," a mysterious swat team suddenly appears in Rocksburg, filled with camouflage wearing men with machine guns. The police chief, who is caught flat footed, sets out to find out what is going on. But as he pursues his investigation, Balzic soon discovers that his power as chief has been undermined, and that he has been oblivious to who really controls Rocksburg.

In this very entertaining book, Constantine weaves a tale filled with, among other things, political power struggles, the fear of unemployment and the limits to what a newspaper reporter can print, all enclosed in a working class setting. If you enjoy mystery books you do yourself a favour and start visiting the world of Chief Balzic.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Dark Half by Stephen King

Stephen King is a fantastic writer. Even great novelist, however, can produce boring stories. "The Dark Half," I was disappointed to discover, is one of those stories. This book recounts the tale of Thad Beaumont, a writer who pens several blockbuster horror books under the pseudonym George Stark. But when Beaumont decides to kill off his alter ego, and stop writing under his pen name, a series of strange murders start to occur. To his horror, Beaumont soon discovers that Stark has become real, and is threatening to kill him and his family if he doesn't start writing again under the Stark name.

It would unfair to call this book poorly written (King is too skilled of a wordsmith to write dribble). But what this book does suffer from is pages and pages of unnecessary scenes and narrative. Two-thirds into the book I became bored with the story, as I found the development incredibly slow. As well, some of the scenes descended into typical Friday the 13th slash-and-burn pulp, rather than interesting horror. By the end of the book my reaction was simply "blah".

I have read enough of King to know that he is a brilliant writer. But if I had to recommend one of his books, this one would not be it.

2 out of 5 stars

Family Values (Rocksburg Novels) by K. C. Constantine

After 24-years as the chief of the fictional Rocksburg Police Department, Mario Balzic settles into a well deserved retirement. But before he can get too comfortable into his new life, an official with the Pennsylvania Department of Justice comes knocking, and offers the newly retired Balzic the opportunity to be a special investigator for a post-conviction hearing. A prison inmate who has been incarcerated for 17-years, it turns out, is asking the court to have his conviction overturned on the grounds that he was wrongly imprisoned.

Balzic soon finds himself investigating a double homicide that took place more than one-and-a-half decades earlier, and which revolves around a corrupt police department, a tragic inter-family love triangle, and horrific domestic abuse.

In this gripping novel, K.C. Constantine presents an wonderful set of characters, whose brilliant dialogue sparkles off the page. A very enjoyable read for those who love police mysteries.

3 out of 5 stars

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

It is early June and Trisha McFarland, a nine-year-old girl, sets out on a hike in the New England woods with her mother and older brother Pete. Ever since the divorce Mom and Pete have been arguing, and this family weekend is no different. So when Trisha has to pee in the forest, neither Pete nor her mom – who are busy fighting – notice as she scurries away into the trees.

But instead of heading back the way she came, Trisha decides to go down a different path to rejoin her family, and soon finds herself lost in the woods. As the hours pass, Trisha finds herself stumbling through the forest, and with each step getting more lost. When night arrives she has to scramble just to stay alive. With each passing day her ordeal worsens, with her only human contact being her walkman, which allows her to listen to Boston Red Sox games, and to hear if her favourite closing pitcher Tom Gordon can save the game.

In this high-enjoyable novel, Stephen King takes us into the mind of a lost child, who caught in an unimaginable situation is forced to find ways to survive, while trying to keep away from the mysterious creature that keeps following her through the trees.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Brushback (Mario Balzic Novel) by K. C. Constantine

Bobby Blasco was a sports icon in the (fictional) town of Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, after becoming the first – and so far only – town resident to play in major league baseball. But with the golden arm came a violent temper, and a tendency to hit batters on purpose, which earned him the moniker the “Brushback Kid.”

A mysterious accident, however, soon ends his professional career, resulting in his eventual return to Rocksburg as a restaurant owner. Flash forward several decades, and an aging Blasco is found murdered after being clobbered to death with a baseball bat. Sergeant Rugs Carlucci, the city’s acting police chief, is called to the scene, and the ensuing investigation is recounted in a series of brilliant dialogue.

K.C. Constantine is, without a doubt, a master craftsman of writing conversations. Reading this book is like watching a riveting play, or better still, listening to a captivating radio drama. For the dialogue in this book – a fantastic collection of sounds, images, nervous uhs and all too familiar hmms – that make this novel a pleasure to read.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

The Man From St. Petersburg by Ken Follett

It is 1914 and the British government is preparing to go to war with Germany. Aware that the English forces are weaker than the German army, Winston Churchill recruits Lord Walden to initiate talks with Czar Nicholas’s nephew Prince Alexei, in order to form a military alliance with Russia in the event of war. The negotiations are soon thrown into turmoil, however, when an Anarchist from St. Petersburg arrives to kill the Prince.

At its best, this book is a fascinating look into English society just before the First World War. From suffragettes, to British nobility, to working-class revolutionaries, this book is filled with wonderful characters living in a world on edge. On the negative side, parts of the novel descend into tacky dialogue and / or sentimental sap that’s straight out of a harlequin romance. There is no doubt that Follett is a talented storyteller who can create wonderful historical fiction. What is disappointing, however, is that this skill is often lost in romantic dribble.

3 out of 5 stars

From a Buick 8 by Stephen King

Eighteen-year-old Nate Wilcox is lost in grief after his father Curt, a Pennsylvanian state trooper, is killed in a car accident. Wanting to help their late-colleague’s son deal with the tragic death, Curt’s coworkers invite Ned to become a member of the police barracks, first by allowing him to do odd chores – i.e. mowing the law; cleaning the precinct – and then working in the radio dispatch room.

One day Nate begins to inquire about a mysterious Buick that is parked in a shed in the back of the barracks. What follows is a fantastic story of this terrifying car, which some officers speculate is not a vehicle at all, but rather an alien creature from another world. As the reader flips through the pages of this wonderful book, it is revealed that the Buick could be responsible for the disappearance, murder or suicide of several characters. An incredibly well written book by a master of terror.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax) by Robert J. Sawyer

In this finale in the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Robert J. Sawyer offers a book filled with brilliant ideas. Whether it's his speculation on religion -- he offers a biological explanation for the belief in God -- to his musings on sexuality and the reduction of crime, Sawyer proves once again why he is one of Canada's leading science fiction writer.

My only complaint with this book is that the writing can be clunky at times, resulting in some wooden characters. As well, with so many ideas packed into a single book, the reader is not able to fully enjoy many of Sawyer's wonderful concepts. A good example is the book's theory that human consciousness is impacted by the earth's magnetic field. This is an intriguing idea that unfortunately is not fleshed out, due to Sawyer's having to deal with so many other concepts. All in all, however, this is a highly enjoyable book.

3 out of 5 stars