Dead Wake: The last Crossing of the Lusitania or Dead Wake: Germany's Agggressive Submarine Program During World War I

Erik Larson is one of the masters of narrative non-fiction, and he again proves it in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. The book is about the fatal last crossing of the Lusitania the largest passenger steamship of its time, and its sinking off the coast of Ireland. It gives us a look into the wealthy class that could afford a luxury cruise during war time. Tells us stories of the passengers,  some famous and some not, and lets us sail on the Lusitania with them without the seasickness. The most interesting story being told is the German submarine campaign of the first world war and of  the captain of Unterseeboot-20 that sunk the Lusitania, Captain Walther Schweiger. Captain Schweiger, as were the captains of the U-boat fleet, was directed to sink as much tonnage as possible, whether military or civilian. Civilian lives were of no consequence. The previous restrictions of warfare that protected civilian ships no longer applied to the war zone that Germany placed around Great Britain, Germany was intent on sinking any vessel that was not German. Tracking Captain Schweiger was a clandestine British intelligence unit, Room 40, a group that came into possession of the German code book, and monitored radio transmissions of U-20 and those U-boats within range. Room 40 had been tracking Schweiger's U-20 and knew when it entered the waters off the coast of Ireland, and knew the Lusitania would be sailing through the same channel and would be in jeopardy of attack. America was not involved in the War at this time and to attack a passenger steamship that was on route from American to London that carried many American citizens, many of which were children and babies, was thought to be an invitation to join the war. Perhaps British intelligence were hoping such an attack would persuade President Woodrow Wilson to declare war, or perhaps it was an egregious oversight, but the Lusitania's Captain Turner was never notified of an enemy submarine in its path nor was he given directions on evading such an attack. This story is a sad tale, one that could have been avoided but for the lack of the flow of information and oversight. The information was there, the jeopardy of attack was known, but the Lusitania was sunk and lives were lost, many lives were lost. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania was an intriguing read, one I recommend.

Q&A A Day: A 5 Year Journal

If you keep a journal or if you have always wanted to keep a journal but did not know how to start this is the perfect book for you. This is a different type of journal, each day has a question for you to ponder and write about, you can answer the question or let it take you in a different direction. Also, it is a 5 year journal so that each day has 5 spaces for your thoughts over the years, and allows you to see what you were thinking each previous year.  I love it and look forward the next day to write something and to the next year of the first day I wrote in this journal. It makes a perfect gift, I have already purchased one for my friends birthday.

Another Spademan thriller hits the mark, NEAR ENEMY by Adam Sternberg

In 2014 hubby and I went to the L.A. Times Festival of Books and had a wonderful time. We are both bibliophiles and were in heaven; books, books, books and authors, authors, authors.  One of the panels we attended was hosted by the very funny, writer and podcaster Tod Goldberg, with Adam Sternberg introducing his first Spademan book SHOVEL READY. Being a fan of the mystery/thriller genre I picked up the book, after all the author was there ready to autograph it for me. Well as things often go SHOVEL READY sat on my "priority to read" shelf for around 6 months before I pulled it and jumped in.  Let me tell you, SHOVEL READY isn't the typical dystopian novel. This is a future  where you either live in a ravaged New York City decimated by a dirty bomb, or tap into the limnosphere to live a virtual reality of your own making. The protagonist, Spademan, is a garbageman turned hit-man, kinda the same, the difference being the garbage you dispose of.  In NEAR READY Spademan was contracted to dispose of a hacker and limn bed-hopper Jonathan Lesser, only when he meets up with Lesser he tells Spademan of an impossible occurrence he witnessed while bed-hopping a bankers virtual reality in the limn. What Spademan soon learns is terrorists are again threatening to bomb New York, only this time ground zero isn't Times Square this time it is the limn. As fun as the Spademan novels are they do have a serious side to them and NEAR ENEMY seems to be a tad edgier than the first book, SHOVEL READY. I loved both books and NEAR ENEMY didn't have to sit on my bookshelf for long as I began reading soon as I had it in my hands. But I will warn you, after reading NEAR ENEMY you will be standing on Adam Sternberg's front lawn with me holding banners demanding the third Spademan novel. Mr. Sternberg assures me he is working on the third Spademan.......at least he better be.

P.S. The L.A. Times Festival of Books for 2015 is being held at University of Southern California on April 18, 19, 20. I recommend you attend if you are a lover of books as you will meet authors, book sellers, publishers where you will pick up some fantastic books, many are give-a-ways by the publishers. And you will have a fabulous time.

GREAT HOUSE A NOVEL By Nicole Krauss

This book has sat on my bookshelf for several years; on the shelf I reserve for immediate reading. I don't know why it took me so long to pick it up and begin as I was mesmerized by this tale of a great looming desk that seemed hovered over everyone who sat at it, and the relationships of the people who owned, borrowed, or searched for this desk. The book is in two parts with four chapters in each part. The four chapters in part I are revisited in part II, and none of the chapters are told in order. As I read I admit I was confused to how the story played out in sequence, but when I got to part II it started to become more clear, albeit, still murky.  Upon finishing this wonderful book I went to the table of contents and made notes trying to link the sequence of the stories of these lives. The chapters in both parts have the same titles which helped me as I reread parts of the like named chapters to help with my sequencing of the story.  Some of you may be incredulous that I would even try to put the entire story in sequence. Normally when reading a book written in this style I am not concerned with analyzing and sequencing the story as I accept the book as I originally interpreted it. But with GREAT HOUSE I needed to make that connection, I needed the right sequence, and once I found it one of the mysteries of the book came to light. I am happy.

AGAINST THE COUNTRY A NOVEL by Ben Metcalf

I picked up this book and read the first page, the beautiful prose pulled me in.  However, I was unable to concentrate on a book written in this style as I had recently lost two close friends to sudden illness and cancer so I put it down. I am giving 4 stars as I believe the language and writing are unique, I will pick this book up at a later time when I am more able to lose myself in it.

THE ACCIDENT by Chris Pavone is a wonderful followup to his debut THE EXPATS

I love thrillers, mysteries and suspense...they are my favorite genres and Chris Pavone has satisfied my craving again with THE ACCIDENT. This is not a sequel to THE EXPATS, but characters from his debut do show up in the current thriller. That is something I like about certain authors, they don't necessarily write sequels or prequels but bring familiar characters into their work, it is like going to a party and knowing one other or two other people there. In THE ACCIDENT a manuscript has been hand delivered to a literary agent; not on jump drive or disc but hard copy, I'll bet this hasn't happened to an agent in this digital age, but it did happen here. The manuscript, titled "The Accident" is the title of an expose written about Charlie Wolf, an all around greedy silver-spooner and the founder of Wolf Worldwide Media. This expose tells of an accident that occurred during college when a young woman was killed by Charlie Wolf's car. The killing was vehicular manslaughter, an accident, that was never reported by Charlie or his roommate Dave Miller who were involved. But that is not the only revelation in "The Accident," during the course of building his empire Charlie became involved with nefarious dealings involving the CIA and foreign governments. The manuscript is so inflammatory that numerous people, government spooks and industry insiders are desperate to squash the publication by finding the original manuscript, any illicit copies that may have been made, anyone who may have read the manuscript or part of the manuscript, and destroying everything and everyone involved or peripheral to this expose. These people are serious about keeping secrets secret. Something else quite interesting is the story takes place all in one day and by the end of the book you will feel like it was the longest day of the year. This is nail biting, edge of your seat reading. If you liked THE EXPATS you will love THE ACCIDENT.