Never Eat Alone

Here's one that I think everyone could take a quick look at-- Keith Ferazzi is the CEO of a well-known marketing firm, and the very existence of his company depends on the power of his network. So, if you've ever wanted improvement on networking skills, here's a good place to start.

Keith goes into detail in this book about the various ways you can up the power of your network, the proper way of thinking about networking, and, most importantly, keeping in contact with your network. While I think the guy sounds like a bit of a schmoozer, and someone that I would never be fast friends with, he sounds like he's mastered the social skills to creating useful business contacts, and that's worth its weight in gold.

Heart of Darkness

This classic from Joseph Conrad is actually a really, really short read. So, if you've ever wanted to dip your toe into the novels you should have read in high school but never got around to, this one's a good one to start you off.

The story is rather straightforward, so much so that one might argue very little happens-- the true beauty of the novel, however, is in the atmosphere that Conrad creates throughout the book, bringing to life the struggles of the African people, and the darkness that is within everyone.

I thought this book was fantastic, and definitely worth the read. If you're willing to brave a couple of nightmares, pick this sucker up from your local library.

Walden

I know what you're thinking: you're remembering back to high school when you were forced to read this book cover to cover, and after you finished, you instantly shredded and burned your copy. While I can understand where these poor high school students are coming from, I think you might want to re-visit this old classic, especially in light of today's hectic lifestyle.

Since it is a collection of essays, Walden has no narrative, which makes the lengthier passages about as interesting as watching grass grow.This, however, is part of the book's charm. The very point of Walden is to force the reader to slow down, to read about a lazier and simpler lifestyle. If you're reading the book to just get through it, or to seem like an intellectual in front of your friends, you will have a miserable time.

If one reads the book simply for its own sake, however, the true beauty of it comes out. The book is an ode to the poetry and the philosophy in every day life that we constantly miss. Thoreau hopes, desperately hopes, that maybe somebody will pick up the book and realize what they've been missing all this time. They might hear the call of the loon out behind their house, and go out to watch the morning sun rise.

In short, if you want a thriller, or a heartrending tale of despair, or even just a book that you can read to the kids at bed time, this is most definitely not the one you want. But if you ever feel the need to just sit down and clear your mind, there will never be a book more suited to such a purpose than this one.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories

Breakfast at Tiffany's, featuring Capote's most memorable character, Holly Golightly, is a breezy and captivating story with a perfect concoction of wit, dramatic confrontations, breathless innocence, and lost youth.  Lovely writing - I plan never to spoil it by seeing the movie!  The short stories in this volume were also quite wonderful....very evocative, often funny, and very touching.

Cold Days

"Cold Days", despite what you might expect from the name, is not a heartrending tale concerning furnace malfunctions, but, rather, is the 14th book in the fantasy series, "The Harry Dresden Files", a series which I have been reading for many years now, and have thoroughly enjoyed. And yes, you read that corrrectly: Jim Butcher has 14 books in the series, which beats out just about every other fantasy series I've known (except maybe for the Dragonlance chronicles, but since those are mass-produced by monkeys at typewriters, there is no comparison).

Like the other Dresden books, it was an extremely enjoyable mix of witty banter and fast-paced action, with a hint of mystery and obfuscation that made the big reveal at the book's denouement as enjoyable as laying out a full house in poker. Here, however, is when I am forced to stoop to criticism. Fans everywhere, be warned: Dresden, though it has held out for many years, has begun to reach the point of serialization.

What do I mean by this? Think James Bond: it's the exact same plot in a different country each time. Shark attacks are replaced by barfights, blondes are replaced by brunettes, and Sean Connery is replaced by Daniel Craig (though you can thank the lord that we'll always have the same Harry Dresden, assuming Jim Butcher doesn't die in a tragic automobile accident). The point is, Butcher has run out of new plot devices, and has been forced to reuse all his old characters without adding anything particularly shiny or new to any of them.

This does not mean I did not enjoy the book: in fact, it felt good to re-visit old themes, and appreciate how far things have come since the very first book. If you want a good read, this one is a winner, though reading the first 13 is beneficial (and, in fact, necessary). Just don't expect it to be full of fireworks as the previous books were.

Just finished The Mystery of Swordfish Reef and The Devil's Steps, two more Bony mysteries from Arthur Upfield. I enjoyed Swordfish Reef, but it was an indifferent mystery and was not so strong in the other elements that characterize the best Bony mysteries: delightful interactions between Bony and one or more women characters, and the presence of unusual, eccentric, or oddball "characters" that provide excellent seasoning to the main course. In this book, the main interest was several descriptions of swordfish fishing, which were fascinating and exciting.

The Devil's Steps, in contrast, was excellent! A tantalizing mystery, several interesting and unusual characters, a striking visual image (the Devil's Steps), and interesting interactions between Bony and the proprietress of Wideview Chalet. Bony is a guest at this luxury resort, investigating a man believed to be carrying secret German plans, when the man is killed. Bony must disentangle the efforts of three different groups seeking the same man and perhaps the same plans. Bony strikes up an alliance with Bisker, a rough, hard-drinking former bushman, working at the Chalet and also associates with a mysterious author who lives nearby - and whose feet are gigantic - and, possibly, responsible for the size-twelve Devil's Steps "burned into" the spacious lawn of the Chalet, but only revealed when the lawn is mowed! Lots of action, lots of suspense, amidst beautiful scenery and dangerous adversaries. Great read!

The Dirty Life

This excellent book is kind of a family chain-letter. First read, I think, by Jillian, who gave it to Marcia, who gave it to Karen, who gave it to Linda, who gave it to me! Who's next? Don't break the chain!

Kristin Kimball was an archetypal New York free-lance writer, pitching a story on the local organic food farm scene. She interviews the highly energetic and charismatic Mark, and before you know it, has abandoned her New York apartment, singles scene and budding writing career for a truer, close-to-the-earth life.

But wait! Farming, as Mark wants to do it, growing everything a small upstate NY community needs and selling to customers who would contract for a season's worth of produce, herbs, maple syrup, dairy products and meat, is crazy ambitious and exhausting! Kristin works so hard, she nearly forgets that she has trouble committing to a relationship, even to someone as solid, admirable, (and manic) as Mark. But plans for a farm-based wedding move ahead at breakneck speed, even though Mark and Kristin have no time to buy wedding clothes, fix up the barn, repair the house, find enough chairs, and prepare for guests. OK, no spoilers - you have to read it to find out how these dilemmas are resolved. And you should read it, because Kristin is a hell of a writer. The wonderfully lyrical descriptions of fields, flowers, horses, and home are kept in balance by the her superb ability to convey the crushing workload, heartaches, and pain of farming. Really a terrific read!