Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Dell
ISBN: 0440244714
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54

Product Description

Rick Dockery was the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game, to the surprise and dismay of virtually everyone, Rick actually got into the game. With a 17-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provided what was arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he became a national laughingstock—and was immediately cut by the Browns and shunned by all other teams. But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that his agent find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds, Rick finally gets a job—as the starting quarterback for the Mighty Panthers . . . of Parma, Italy. The Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL player—any former NFL player—at their helm. And now they’ve got Rick, who knows nothing about Parma (not even where it is) and doesn’t speak a word of Italian. To say that Italy—the land of fine wines, extremely small cars, and football americano—holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement. . . .

Review

I'm sure that many hardcore Grisham fans will not see this as one of Grisham's best books -- and they will be right, but I really liked this book. Yes -- it is true that the characters aren't as well crafted as many of his others are, but then these are really likeable people. Rick Dockery is just like the jocks you know -- a big goofy guy who isn't too deep but then he has a sense of honor and openness that makes it hard not to like him. He likes to play football and that is really all he knows so he is willing to play for peanuts -- not really Pizza but not much more. It is a wonderful trip watching him develop from the aging frat boy into a real man who finally sees himself and others as they truly are. I particularly liked his discovery of Opera, because it was similar to my own. I even sympathized with his view of all of those historical churches and cobblestones -- like him I loved Italy but there are more churches and cobblestones than I care to see. His girl friend is a little enigmatic but then she really drives him to a more mature view of himself and others. Grisham also captures the feel of Italy and the Italian attitudes better than any book I have ever read. The Italians have a view of life that is hard to beat and Grisham really captures that feel in this book and it is that Italian view of life that eventually captures Rick as well.

There is really only one bad guy in the book and he isn't all that bad -- he is more like pain in the neck and Rick deals with him very effectively and precisely like you would expect someone like Rick to deal with a pain in the neck -- as I said Rick is not deep or devious. I liked this book and highly recommend it even though it is a little fluffy compared to other Grisham works. If you want to read a feel good book -- buy this one. I would love to see the movie.

More helpful review

Those who read this book thinking it's another typical Grisham novel will be sorely disappointed, but for those of us who rely on an author's writing skills and storytelling rather than pigeon-holing him into one genre will get a kick out of this heart-warming football story.

Playing for Pizza takes the reader on a journey of personal growth and a true love of football. The main character, Rick Dockery, a third-string hack of a pro football player, begins the book in the most humiliating circumstances possible for a pro football quarterback. He loses the AFC Championship game in two bad throws when his team had a 17-point lead, and he's completely drubbed out of the pros. His adventures really begin when he goes to play for an Italian team.

I really enjoyed watching a down-and-out character drag himself up in the most unlikely circumstances, and his re-discovery of football and the meaning of the game makes for a lighthearted and entertaining read.

So, if you're looking for a legal treatise or some deep insight into the meaning of life, steer away from this book. If you're looking for an entertaining, well-written story, definitely pick up a copy of Playing for Pizza.

Buy Playing for Pizza from Amazon.com

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Author: Khaled Hosseini
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
ISBN: 1594480001
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6

Book Description

In his debut novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini accomplishes what very few contemporary novelists are able to do. He manages to provide an educational and eye-opening account of a country's political turmoil--in this case, Afghanistan--while also developing characters whose heartbreaking struggles and emotional triumphs resonate with readers long after the last page has been turned over. And he does this on his first try.

The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. ("...I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.")

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg from Amazon.com

Review

The earth turns and the wind blows and sometimes some marvelous scrap of paper is blown against the fence for us to find. And once found, we become aware there are places out there that are both foreign and familiar. Funny what the wind brings.

And now it brings "The Kite Runner," a beautiful novel by Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini that ranks among the best-written and provocative stories of the year so far.

Hosseini's first novel -- and the first Afghan novel to be written originally in English -- "The Kite Runner" tells a heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between Amir, the son of a wealthy Afghan businessman, and Hassan, the son of his father's servant. Amir is Sunni; Hassan is Shi'a. One is born to a privileged class; the other to a loathed minority. One to a father of enormous presence; the other to a crippled man. One is a voracious reader; the other illiterate.

The poor Hassan is born with a hare lip, but Amir's gaps are better hidden, deep inside.

Yet Amir and Hassan live and play together, not simply as friends, but as brothers without mothers. Their intimate story traces across the expansive canvas of history, 40 years in Afghanistan's tragic evolution, like a kite under a gathering storm. The reader is blown from the last days of Kabul's monarchy -- salad days in which the boys lives' are occupied with school, welcome snows, American cowboy movies and neighborhood bullies -- into the atrocities of the Taliban, which turned the boys' green playing fields red with blood.

This unusually eloquent story is also about the fragile relationship fathers and sons, humans and their gods, men and their countries. Loyalty and blood are the ties that bind their stories into one of the most lyrical, moving and unexpected books of this year.

Hosseini's title refers to a traditional tournament for Afghan children in which kite-flyers compete by slicing through the strings of their opponents with their own razor-sharp, glass-encrusted strings. To be the child who wins the tournament by downing all the other kites -- and to be the "runner" who chases down the last losing kite as it flutters to earth -- is the greatest honor of all.

And in that metaphor of flyer and runner, Hosseini's story soars.

And fear not, gentle reader. This isn't a "foreign" book. Unlike Boris Pasternak's "Dr. Zhivago," Hosseini's narrative resonates with familiar rhythms and accessible ideas, all in prose that equals or exceeds the typical American story form. While exotic Afghan customs and Farsi words pop up occasionally, they are so well-defined for the reader that the book is enlightening and fascinating, not at all tedious.

Nor is it a dialectic on Islam. Amir's beloved father, Baba, is the son of a wise judge who enjoys his whiskey, television, and the perks of capitalism. A moderate in heart and mind, Hosseini has little good to say about Islamic extremism.

"The Kite Runner" is a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart. His canvas might be a place and time Americans are only beginning to understand, but he paints his art on the page, where it is intimate and poignant.

See more info at Amazon.com

Barefoot: A Novel

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Back Bay Books
ISBN: 0316018597
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6

Product Description

Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women-- two sisters and one friend--make their way to the sisters' tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They're all trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed in-vitro attempts, learned her husband was having an affair, and then discovered she's pregnant; Brenda embarked on a passionate affair with an older student that got her fired from her prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister Vicki, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, lover.

Review

Josh Flynn, a creative writing student, immediately noticed the three women and two small children as they embarked from the airplane. Perhaps the twenty-two-year old smelled a good story. He knew his dad would be watching, so he was subtle as he sniffed out the stories. He was training himself to be observant. Two of the women looked like they could be sisters. One sister looked sad as though she was about to cry. The other looked unhappy, maybe angry. The three women together looked miserable.

Brenda had agreed to come to Nantucket to help her sister Vickie, who had been diagnosis with cancer. Vicki had invited her friend Melanie. Melanie found out that her husband was having an affair just as she discovered she was pregnant. She left without telling her husband where she was going. Brenda had her own set of problems. She was no longer employed or employable. She had had an affair with one of her students. It did not matter that the handsome Australian was a year older than she, at thirty-one, and that they really cared for each other.

Josh soon becomes the babysitter. They need him as much as he needs them. He encourages, assists and challenges the three women.

"Barefoot" by Elin Hilderbrand will be the hit of the summer. Hilderbrand has written the perfect woman's book. Three women, all with their own set of problems, escaping to Nantucket, add in a sexy college student who offers more than babysitting services, and you have the formula for a bestseller. This is not an action-packed thriller; the plot flows along smoothly, drawing readers in like a slow-moving river. The characters are well-developed. Vicki is the most likable and draws the most sympathy. Melanie likes to complain, a lot! Brenda shows signs of possessiveness and jealousy. All show attributes of three "normal" women. The cover is delightful. The legs of three women standing together on a beach with their jeans rolled up and no shoes, as they gaze at the ocean -- three women comfortable with each other, learning to bond together in friendship and need. I highly recommend this one to women!

Buy Barefoot from Amazon.com

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0446698334
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54

Book Description

#1 New York Times bestseller Nicholas Sparks turns his unrivaled talents to a new tale about love found and lost, and the choices we hope we'll never have to make.

Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life - boating, swimming , and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, THE CHOICE ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?

Review

Having read True Believer and Message in a Bottle and watched the film version of The Notebook, it is safe to say that I have become a big fan of Nicholas Sparks. He writes the sort of tear-jerking love stories I love, and he writes them with a great deal of passion, creating wonderful characters that feel real. The Choice is his newest effort, and my favorite from the ones I've read so far. The story sort of reminds me of The Notebook, which is definitely not a bad thing, but more on that later. At thirty-two, Travis Parker is a confirmed bachelor. All three of his best friends are married with kids, and their wives have fixed him up with every single woman they encounter, no matter how much he wished they wouldn't. Why would he want to get married? He has it all -- a great job, a full life and a beautiful house in a small town in North Carolina with a gorgeous river view. Nothing is missing in his life, or so he thinks until Gabby Holland moves in next door. The beautiful redhead, though standoffish and downright rude at first, intrigues him from the very beginning, and he doesn't let a small detail like a boyfriend stand in the way of getting to know her better. I don't want to tell too much (though I'm certain that many reviewers have done so already), but this seemingly simple (at first) love story is heart wrenching and memorable...

And the aforementioned qualities make this novel not only a must-read but also an absolute keeper. The Choice is a gorgeous read, perfect for this holiday season (not a holiday-themed book though). The four-hour train ride from Manchester to London was a breeze because I couldn't put this book down. Travis faces a difficult choice, and those crucial chapters pulled me at the heartstrings, making me want to know what would happen next. I am glad the book ended the way it did. My breath caught in my chest as I read the epilogue. I loved it. The love story is wonderful and Travis and Gabby will remind many people of Noah and Allie from The Notebook. A friend of mine who has read both books said that reading this book was like getting reacquainted with those old characters again. Sparks loves his native North Carolina. His passion for the place shines through in the writing. I love the way he describes the surroundings. At times, I felt I was there, feeling the breeze stir in the air as I gazed at the ocean along with the main characters. The Choice is a fine read and I cannot recommend it enough. I look forward to reading Sparks's backlist.

Buy it from Amazon.com

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ISBN: 0142001740
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54

Amazon.com

In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their Georgia peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart's answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily's beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of--Tiburon, South Carolina--determined to find out more about her dead mother. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed, The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lily's story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidd's debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic. --Regina Marler

Product Description

Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the town's fiercest racists, Lily decides they should both escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters who introduce Lily to a mesmerizing world of bees, honey, and the Black Madonna who presides over their household. This is a remarkable story about divine female power and the transforming power of love--a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.

Review

The Secret Life of Bees will sting your heart right from the first page. I fell in love with the the main character, Lily, immediately. Lily is a 14-year old girl growing up on a peach farm with a cold & abusive father, T-Ray. When a mishap occurs over the newly enacted Civil Rights Movement, Lily and her black caretaker, Rosaleen, flee from town.By a series of events that can be nothing short of divine intervention, little white Lily, and big, black Rosaleen end up in the charming South Carolina home of three sisters, May, June & August. While Rosaleen bonds with May in the kitchen cooking good old-southern cooking, Lily works with August as a beekeeper's apprentice. Each chapter of The Secret Life of Bees begins with a charming "life of a bee" fact that relates to the chapter that follows. As the story unwinds, secrets of a painful past are revealed, but simultaneously a new and happy life is created. You will experience some painful endings as well as some happy and hopeful beginnings.

The Secret Life of Bee's is about facing our pasts, accepting them and finding the "mother in ourselves" to move ahead with strength & love. It's about friendships that aren't bound by color or society, and ultimately about love. This novel, by Sue Monk Kidd now holds a special place in my heart as one of my all time favorite reads.

Buy The Secret Life of Bees from Top-BuyersGuide.com

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew Bacevich

Author: Andrew Bacevich
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 0805088156
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.973

Product Description

From an acclaimed conservative historian and former military officer, a bracing call for a pragmatic confrontation with the nation's problems

The Limits of Power identifies a profound triple crisis facing America: the economy, in remarkable disarray, can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; the government, transformed by an imperial presidency, is a democracy in form only; U.S. involvement in endless wars, driven by a deep infatuation with military power, has been a catastrophe for the body politic. These pressing problems threaten all of us, Republicans and Democrats. If the nation is to solve its predicament, it will need the revival of a distinctly American approach: the neglected tradition of realism.

Andrew J. Bacevich, uniquely respected across the political spectrum, offers a historical perspective on the illusions that have governed American policy since 1945. The realism he proposes includes respect for power and its limits; sensitivity to unintended consequences; aversion to claims of exceptionalism; skepticism of easy solutions, especially those involving force; and a conviction that the books will have to balance. Only a return to such principles, Bacevich argues, can provide common ground for fixing America’s urgent problems before the damage becomes irreparable.

Review

This is the bluntest, toughest, most scathing critique of American imperialism as it has become totally unmoored after the demise of the Soviet Communist empire and taken to a new level by the Bush administration. Even the brevity of this book - 182 pages - gives it a particular wallop since every page "concentrates the mind".

In the event a reader knows of the prophetic work of the American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, you will further appreciate this book. Bacevich is a Niebuhr scholar and this book essentially channels Niebuhr's prophetic warnings from his 1952 book, "The Irony of American History". The latter has just been reissued by University of Chicago Press thanks to Andrew Bacevich who also contributed an introduction.

In essence, American idealism as particularly reflected in Bush's illusory goal to "rid the world of evil" and to bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East or wherever people are being tyrannized, is doomed to failure by the tides of history. Niebuhr warned against this and Bacevich updates the history from the Cold War to the present. Now our problems have reached crisis proportions and Bacevich focuses on the three essential elements of the crisis: American profligacy; the political debasing of government; and the crisis in the military.

What renders Bacevich's critique particularly stinging, aside from the historical context he gives it (Bush has simply taken an enduring American exceptionalism to a new level), is that he lays these problems on the doorstep of American citizens. It is we who have elected the governments that have driven us toward near collapse. It is we who have participated willingly in the consumption frenzy in which both individual citizens and the government live beyond their means. Credit card debt is undermining both government and citizenry.

This pathway is unsustainable and this book serves up a direct and meaningful warning to this effect. Niebuhrian "realism" sees through the illusions that fuel our own individual behavior and that of our government. There are limits to American power and limits to our own individual living standards and, of course, there are limits to what the globe can sustain as is becoming evident from climate changes.

American exceptionalism is coming to an end and it will be painful for both individual citizens and our democracy and government to get beyond it. But we have no choice. Things will get worse before they get better. Bacevich suggests some of the basic ways that we need to go to reverse the path to folly. He holds out no illusions that one political party or the other, one presidential candidate or the other, has the will or the leadership qualities to change directions. It is up to American citizens to demand different policies as well as to govern our own appetites.

While this is a sobering book, it is not warning of doomsday. Our worst problems are essentially of our own making and we can begin to unmake them. But we first have to come to terms with our own exceptionalism. We cannot manage history and there are no real global problems that can be solved by military means, or certainly not by military means alone.

Fellow citizen, you need to read this book!

Buy The Limits of Power at Top-BuyersGuide.com

Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown

Author: Sandra Brown
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1416563067
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with a tale of corruption and betrayal, revenge and reversal - where friends become foes, and heroes become criminals in the ultimate abuse of power.

When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there...or of how Jay wound up dead.

Handsome and hard-partying, Jay was a hero of the disastrous fire that five years earlier had destroyed Charleston's police headquarters. The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety.

Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might not have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered.

Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers -- and ruin his -- had festered, but he was helpless to set things right.

That changes when he learns of Jay Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication -- and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire.

But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives.

Friends are exposed as foes, heroes take on the taint of criminals, and no one can be trusted completely. A tale about audacious corruption -- and those with the courage to expose it -- Smoke Screen is Sandra Brown's most searing and intense novel yet.

Review

I got SMOKE SCREEN in the morning from Amazon and I sat right down and read it. I could not put it down. The story is amazing and the characters are great. Sandra Brown has been one of my favorite authors for a while. I have all her books and they are mostly keepers. This one is definitely a keeper.

Britt Shelley is a news reporter for a TV station in Charleston. She made her first big break on a story about the Charleston PD and Fire Dept. An arson specialist with the Fire Dept was found in bed with a dead woman at Jay Burgess's apartment. That was five yrs ago and she and Jay had a short liasion. Jay's friend who was found in bed with the dead woman left town and has not been heard from in all that time. She is not surprised when Jay calls and invites her out for drinks. He has been one of her informants in the PD since the day she met him. She knows he is a player but now they just are friends.

She meets Jay and has a drink while he tells her he has a big story to tell her. He also tells her he has cancer and only a few weeks to live. They go to his apt for some privacy to talk, and imagine her horror to wake up in bed with Jay and he is dead.

Raley Gannon was the friend of Jay's who was found with the dead woman. He not only was disgraced and lost his job he lost his fiance. He has not forgotten the experience. When he hears about Britt's experience it sounds alot like his, because he does not remember anything about how he wound up in bed with the dead woman, when he went to a party at Jay's. He was engaged at the time and very much in love with his fiance. Britt is insisting she has no memories of going to bed with Jay.

Raley kidnaps her and interrogates her about Jay. Finally he tells her what really happened to him. Jay had convinced him to not mention anything about drugs because the dead woman had OD'd on coke. But now Raley is sure he was set up and so was Britt. They join forces when the autopsey says Jay was smothered.

From here on out this is a major ride and I loved it. There are some quaint characters and the roller coaster ride is chilling. How can they prove anything while she is wanted for murder and he is still thought of as a looser. Do not miss this one.

Buy it at Top-BuyersGuide.com