Don't be Part of "The Inner Circle"

Let me preface this review in saying that, in general, I enjoy mystery thriller novels that have an historic backstory. I've read Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code and liked it. The Amber Room and The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry were enjoyable (albeit not very memorable) novels. I have read most of Brad Meltzer's novels (i.e, The Zero Game, The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel), which are exciting thrillers, but for some reason I just could not get through The Inner Circle, Meltzer's latest novel.

Synopsis:  "Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself...Until now. When Beecher's first childhood crush, Clementine Kaye [whom Beecher annoyingly calls "Clemmie"] shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - a 200 hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington, hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.  Soon a man is dead, and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for."

Review: I recognize that you have suspend your disbelief when it comes to mystery thriller novels, but this novel is annoyingly incredulous. Approximately 100+ pages into the 450-page novel, I tossed the book down and couldn't read one more sentence. Initially, I was looking forward to reading this novel. The idea of a protagonist who works in the National Archives was a interesting concept, but unfortunately, that was the most interesting part of this novel. Just within the first 100+ pages, there's a mysterious death of the security guard, Clementine's father is discovered to be an attempted assassin of a previous President of the United States (currently living in a mental hospital for the criminally insane), a mysterious book dating back to George Washington, Beecher implicitly trusting his childhood flame, Clementine, whom he hasn't seen in 17 years, and a whole host of other nonsense. This seemed like a train wreck just waiting to happen. After deciding not to finish the book, I read some additional reviews. It turns out Meltzer does not even give the reader a definitive ending (as this book is just the first in a series featuring the character of Beecher White). Ugh! I hate that! Each novel should be a complete story and not leave you with a "cliffhanger" ending. Blech!

All in all, I'm glad I didn't waste more than a couple of hours struggling through the first quarter of this novel. If someone has read this novel and has a different opinion, I'd be interested in hearing it.

One additional note, I think Meltzer needs to rethink all of his characters names, not just "Clemmie." Who lives in a world where you are surrounded by people named Aristotle ("Tot"), Dallas, Beecher, Nico, Clementine ("Clemmie"), Venkat, Orson, Andre? No one does! Most of my office jobs have been filled with Mikes, Johns, Marys and Sues. Not an Aristotle or Beecher in sight!

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

"Can You Keep a Secret?"

What would you do if you suddenly spilled all your innermost secrets to a complete stranger during a moment of stress only to discover that "stranger" is actually the multimillionaire CEO of the corporation you work for?  This is dilemma of Emma Corrigan, the novel's protagonist, in Sophie Kinsella's, Can You Keep a Secret?  Emma begins to wonder if her life could get any worse and then it does!  

Just a sampling of some of this irrepressible woman's secrets are:

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.
Sammy the goldfish in my parents’ kitchen is not the same goldfish that Mum gave me to look after when she and Dad were in Egypt.

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

Secrets from her colleagues:
When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.) 

It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
My G-string is hurting me.
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

This is actually the second time I've read this novel.  I first read this book back in 2004 when the novel was released. In perusing the stacks of the library yesterday, I came across this book and I thought that I'd re-read it and see if it was still as enjoyable. I must say it did not disappoint.  Funny, moving and surprisingly thoughtful, Secret is a fun look at relationships and what happens when you're either completely truthful with people or tell little fibs to make everyone's life easier.  

Yes, it is definitely a chick novel.  No, it will never win a Pulitzer prize for literature. But it is a fun, funny novel which entertains. And really is there anything better than that??

Stephanie Plum is Smokin' Once Again!

I have been reading the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series for well over a decade. The series is currently at book seventeen with an eighteenth book scheduled for release later this month. Up until the fourteenth book, I was enjoying the series immensely, but I noticed that books 14, 15 and 16 weren't up to the quality of the previous 13 books and it felt like perhaps Ms. Evanovich was losing interest in writing for this character. Well, Janet Evanovich is back! Smokin' Seventeen bears all the earmarks of a classic Stephanie Plum novel: wacky characters, several dead bodies, hilarious situations and a bevy of destroyed cars.

For those who have never read a Stephanie Plum novel, here's a synopsis of the series:  Born in Trenton, NJ and raised in the Chambersburg neighborhood (or the Burg as it's known locally) of Trenton, Stephanie is of Italian-Hungarian descent, has a fast metabolism, brown curly hair, blue eyes, a penchant for getting into trouble and is a bounty hunter - a really, really bad bounty hunter! In One of the Money, the first novel in the series, Stephanie blackmailed her cousin Vinnie, into hiring her as a bounty hunter, when she has zero experience. Somehow through dumb luck and perseverance, Stephanie is fairly successful. In Smokin' Seventeen, "dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie's name is on the killer's list...With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie's life looks like it's about to go up in smoke."

Other than books 14-16, the Stephanie Plum series does not disappoint. Yes, the situations are improbable but that is what makes it for fun, light-hearted reading. If you haven't read any of the series, I say give it a go. If you stopped reading along the way because you started to get disappointed, then pick up Smokin' Seventeen and enjoy the fun again!

The Lives of Gen X'ers in "One Day"

Now that the weather and the clocks have changed, you will notice an increase in book reviews. Reading is the best winter activity!! (It definitely beats sliding down a snow-covered hill, at 20 mph, strapped to 2 pieces of wood, screaming at the top of my lungs and face planting into a pile of snow.)

I had seen advertising for the movie, One Day, starring Ann Hathaway and Jim Sturgiss and found the premise interesting. What I found even more interesting was that it was originally a novel.  As I nearly always try to read the book before watching the movie, I patiently waited for this book to be available at my local library.  It well worth the wait!

"It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. The both know that the next day, after college graduation, they must go their separate ways. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day (July 15th) of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself." (From the publisher)  Set predominantly in London, the twenty years of Dex and Em spans a lifetime of memories from births to deaths, relationship happiness and disappointments, marriages and divorces, career successes and failures, but at the heart of it all is an everlasting friendship and love that these two people have for each other.

Anyone who has ever had a person with whom they share a special bond will appreciate this book. But if you were born anywhere between the mid-60s and the early 70s, One Day by David Nicholls will be extra special as it follows the time span of Generation X. It will bring back memories of clubbing in the 80s and 90s, the heady days of drinking and drugging, the birth of cell phones and cds, and the pitfalls and triumphs of aging during the 80s, 90s and 2000s. These are characters and situations that I related to quite well. In fact, I almost felt like David Nicholls had read my diary and wrote a book about my life. Scary! Filled with witty British dialogue and unforgettable characters, One Day is a triumph. For anyone not terribly familiar with England, you might not quite understand some of the references, but the storyline is ultimately very relatable as relationships are essentially the same anywhere in the world.  "I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats."  (Then, again - what isn't better than Cats?)

I can only hope the movie lives up to the book. But I doubt it will. As my local bookstore posted:

Phones in Bathrooms? What?

I know I keep banging on about manners, but each day I get more and more shocked at the liberties that people take. For instance, today I witnessed someone on a business conference call who, I suppose, figured that he needed to use the men's room. As he was on a wireless headset, he decided to go to the bathroom while on the call. Is it just me? Have I become a stick in the mud? But candidly, I find that type of behavior to be reprehensible. Why wouldn't you just tell the other caller that you need to put them on hold (to take another call... the building's on fire... the dog ate my homework, whatever), go 'do your business' and then return to the call? Quite frankly the last thing I want to hear while I'm on a call is someone using the toilet, particularly a business call. Talk about unprofessional. And don't tell me that no one notices. Yes, they notice - they just don't want to talk about it.

This isn't the first time I've witnessed this act. Have you ever been in a public bathroom in... oh... let's say, a mall and someone is on their cell phone, in the next stall, having a conversation which is generally some mind-numbing prattle of little importance? I even heard one woman complain when another person flushed a toilet, because she was on a call and couldn't hear her conversation. Really? What was the other woman supposed to do, leave a mess for someone else to clean up? Of course, 'cell phone woman' would probably be the first to complain that someone didn't flush a toilet.

When did we get so lax in our manners that phone usage in bathrooms is considered acceptable behavior? Personally the last place I want to sit and have a chat is in the bathroom. The "eeeeuuuwww" factor is pretty high on that. I wouldn't even do it in the comfort of my own home, let alone in an office or public bathroom; equally out of consideration for the person I'm talking to and my own sense of being. <shrugs> Maybe it IS just me. 

A Profile in Courage!

Today, I read a very moving and inspiring article in my local newspaper about a local high school senior who has participated in 12 seasons of cross country and track. Why is that feat so impressive? The student being profiled has cerebral palsy and his doctors told his parents that he would be unlikely to ever walk, never mind run. Sean Mitchell is an inspiration for all of us about overcoming adversity. He went from a 60 minute 5k in his first race to a 27 minute 5k in his final race. Now that's an amazing accomplishment! He didn't allow his 'physical limitations' to stop him from participating in an activity that he truly loves. What does that say about the rest of us 'healthy' people?

Many people, myself included, often forget just how fortunate we are because we get bogged down by the minutiae of our lives and don't consider the big picture. It's easy to get frustrated by all the things we don't have or need or want and even easier to forget all the great things we do have. No, our lives are not perfect - does anyone have a perfect life? If you say "yes," then you're either very, very lucky or very forgiving or delusional. The parts of my life that I'm thankful for are: excellent friends, my health, my humor, my intelligence and a loving, lovely kitty cat. That's more than many people have and I am grateful for all of it. Today, I challenge you to make a list of all the things that make your life a fulfilling one and remind yourself how blessed you truly are. 

I found #2&7 to be particularly relevant!

A Stargazers Tale!

One of my favorite pastimes is stargazing. I fondly remember, while living in the suburbs, hanging out with friends in backyards, flopped on our backs, chatting and watching the stars. We would challenge everyone to try to find all the constellations: Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Orion, Andromeda, etc.  Then I moved to New York City. Ever try to stargaze in NYC? You're correct - it's impossible. Thanks to the skies being light-polluted, the tall buildings which block off views of the firmament, and the fact that spending time in poorly lighted, unpopulated areas is not considered a smart thing to do. Therefore, there's very limited opportunity to stargaze, other than taking trips to the Hayden Planetarium, which I think I only did once or twice in my 17 years in NYC.

Why do I mention this?  Tonight, I was feeling a little claustrophobic in my apartment and decided to take a stroll to the library to return a book and pick up a new one. I happened to look up to see the most gorgeous night sky: a near full moon and tons of stars visible. I had nearly forgotten how amazing the night sky can be. I took a seat on a bench near the library and just gazed at the lovely night sky. Into my head popped the following nursery rhyme:

"Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight."

Now I haven't wished upon a star in 35 years, after I realized that it never worked. If it had, I would have gotten the Barbie Dream House that I wished for time and time again.  Still I decided to be a little silly tonight and made my wish, just for old time's sake. Don't ask me what I wished for because it's a secret. When was the last time you wished upon a star? That long ago, huh?? Well, get up off your couch, go to the window and make your wish. Just a little reminder that it's okay to be silly sometimes.

I did not wish for this!

"The Radleys" Had Such Potential

Does the world really need yet another vampire story? The literary world is awash with a bevy of vampire novels: The Twilight saga, the Vampire Chronicles, the Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse) series, Salem's Lot, I Am Legend and the masterpiece - Bram Stoker's Dracula, just to name a few.

Cashing in on the recent vampire craze, British author Matt Haig has penned The Radleys. Set  in modern day England - in the small village of Bishopthorpe located in North Yorkshire, the Radleys are an ordinary, humdrum middle class family, who just happen to be vampires. As with many of the modern novels, there are two types of vampires; in this novel they are: the practicing (blood drinking) vampire and the abstaining (non-blood drinking) vampire. The Radleys are the latter of the two. The parents bend over backwards keeping up appearances with their bourgeois neighbors, attempting to deny their innate blood-lust and refusing to tell their two teenage, angst-ridden children that they are all vampires. Unconscious of this vampiric knowledge, one evening, the daughter defends herself from a over amorous bully to a horrifying 'bloody' end. The family must now deal with the aftermath of this murder, the burgeoning vampirism with their children, their own marital issues and a police investigation. Rounding out the story is a Byronic uncle whose influence is felt throughout the local vampire community of northern England and whose past is linked with his sister-in-law's.

This novel had so much promise. Witty British humor and a clever story was bogged down by countless pages of tedious vampire lore that did nothing to move the story forward. Interestingly enough, had those passages been edited or removed altogether, this novel would have been brilliant. Once I got past the boring sections (after approximately reading two-thirds of the book), the story moved along like a speeding bullet to a very exciting conclusion. On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give this story a 3. With better editing, I would have raised it to a 4. It's also a very quick read, having finished it in less than a day. This book would definitely appeal to anyone who loves the vampire genre.

Movies, Movies, Movies

Have you ever felt this way?  (Warning: contains strong language)

Neither have I!

Actually, this clip is from one of my all time favorite films, A Fish Called Wanda. I love watching movies because they're a great source of entertainment and distraction. I recently requested responses to a movie survey that I created to find out the movie habits of other movie watchers - a truly fascinating undertaking. The survey questions posted were: how often did the respondent watch movies; what is their all time favorite movie; worse movie; favorite guilty pleasure movie; and whether or not they had ever walked out on a movie and asked for money back.

1.  62% of the respondents watched movies 'moderately often' which shows that they actually have a social life! Well done, you! The other 38% watched movies 'extremely often' - no worries, that's my response too. Yeah, I don't have a social life.

2.  The list of 'favorite all time movies' ran the gamut - from comedies to dramas: The Princess Bride, Titanic, The Shawshank Redemption, Shrek, The Replacements, Harold and Maude and Chasing Amy. Now personally I agree with The Princess Bride, The Shawshank Redemption and Shrek. But Chasing Amy? Ugh! That movie actually makes my list of one of the worse movies I've ever watched. Titanic is a tough call for me. I thought the first 2 hours were horrendously bad. I barely could make it through them, but the last hour was brilliant... well, not the entire hour:  I loved from the moment the ship hit the iceberg until Kate Winslet ridiculously couldn't scream for help but had enough air to blow a whistle. What the...???  Okay, I really didn't like Titanic. It's tough for me to name just one favorite movie. There are just too many.

3.  The list of worse movies: The English Patient (fo' shizzle!), Jackass, Hut Tub Time Machine (just the title makes me not want to watch this movie; a shame because I love John Cusack), Elektra, A.I. and Wagons East. No complaints from me about this list.  Pretty much, it is right on the money. For me, the worse movie was The Blair Witch Project... or Moulin Rouge.... or Boxing Helena... or The Piano... or... well, never mind. My list again is too long.

4.  Guilty pleasure movies had the most fascinating responses!  Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Staying Alive, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Footloose (1984), Dirty Dancing, Miss Congeniality, Grease and Pretty Woman. Actually, I like most these films and agree that they're all great guilty pleasure movies.  For the record, mine is Down Periscope. I don't know why, but every time this movie is on, I MUST watch it! It's juvenile and stupid and yet I cannot help myself.

5.  50% of the respondents said that they had walked out of a movie theater because a film was unwatchable, but no one has ever asked for their money back.  I have walked out of an unwatchable movie (i.e., JFK), but I, too, would never ask for my money back. In my opinion, it's always a luck of the draw if a movie is worth the $10-$20 ticket price, and you can't blame the theater for an unwatchable film. Though I have always wanted to ask the production company for my money back, but I've never actually tried it.

The most interesting thing about the list of movies that were provided is that they're all fairly recent films. The earliest movie listed, Harold and Maude, is from 1971. Generally speaking, the movies made in the past 30 or 40 years are superbly better than many earlier movies; from the quality of the material to how acting has improved over the years and the improvement in production. A short list of some note-worthy movies from pre-1970 are: Battleship Potemkin, Bringing Up Baby, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz.  There are a many, many more, but these are some of the best, in my humble opinion.

A sincere thank you to everyone who responded to my survey. Feel free to continue to respond, as I'd definitely be interested in hearing from more movie watchers.  For all A Fish Called Wanda fans who would like to view The Full Otto, check out this video (I dare you not to laugh):

A well deserved Oscar for Kevin Kline!!!

"Our Guys" - A Disturbing Look at Suburbia

I am a huge fan of the Law & Order franchise, particularly the original series. Their "ripped from the headlines" stories often got me to research the inspiration for the episodes. Recently, I re-watched one very disturbing episode from Season 8 (1998), "Damaged", which deals with the three high school athletes who sexual assault a mentally challenged 17-year old girl. I vaguely recalled hearing something about this case back in the late 80s/early 90s when I was living in New Jersey. Lo and behold, after a little research, I found the "Glen Ridge rape" case. I also discovered that Bernard Lefkowitz, an Edgar Award-winning author, wrote a very detailed, meticulously investigated book on this case.  Our Guys (1997) not only discusses the case and the parties involved, but the society that the athletes were brought up in and how the affluent town of Glen Ridge created an atmosphere of acceptance of this type of behavior.  After all, "boys will be boys."

On a blustery afternoon in March 1989, a group of teenage athletes lured a 17-year old mentally retarded girl to a basement in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and gang-raped her. An horrific act in and of itself, but the fact that these boys had a history of behavioral problems and had created a pack mentality, which led to their belief in their own superiority over everyone else, makes this reprehensible act even worse. Add to that, the parents, teachers and other authority figures, who turned a blind eye to repeated acts of vandalism, sexual misconduct and other forms of antisocial behavior by this group and writing these acts off as the boys being "high spirited," makes this a societal issue and not an isolated case of a group of teenagers behaving badly. In the town of Glen Ridge, from the time these children are 5 years of age, they are taught that athletes are the best and the brightest (regardless of the reality), are held in the highest regard and are an example for all others to aspire to be. If you're not an athlete, then you're not important.

The frightening thing about this situation is that this type of behavior could happen anywhere. When certain groups are given carte blanche to behave any way they please, then they develop a sense of entitlement. Athletes have always been given preferential treatment, whether professional, college, high school or youth, and it's time we stop treating athletes as something special. I'm not saying there isn't a place for sports, but the fact that it takes higher precedence over academic, artistic or intellectual pursuits is fundamental wrong. Our Guys is a frighteningly real tale of a morally bankrupt society in a place where one wouldn't expect such events to occur. I would hate to call it an "enjoyable" read, but it is a book well worth the time and effort to read if for no other reason than to be aware of the societal implications of the case. If this book doesn't anger you, then you need to look inside yourself and ask "Why doesn't it?"

A Dollar and a Dream!

I read a blog the other day about a man who knew a co-worker who won $38 million in their state lottery and after she collected her winnings, no one ever saw or heard from her again. I imagine that must happen a lot because the winners don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry hitting them up for money. Why do I bring this up?

I am sure we've all had this thought, "if only I would win the lottery..." Last night, I had stopped in a local convenience store and saw that the Powerball jackpot was $245 million and I figured "what the heck" and plunked down a couple of bucks. I don't play the lottery often but that didn't stop me from spending last night and today dreaming about what I would do if I won $245 million. I definitely would not be working a ruddy office job - GUARANTEED, but otherwise what would I do? Would I up and disappear? Not a chance! But I would have no problems whatsoever telling people "no" when being asked for money. First, I'd buy a new car. Nothing fancy, nothing outrageously expensive, just newer than my '95 Jeep. Next, I'd pay off my debts (okay, maybe that should be done first). I would give a decent chunk to various charities. Then, I'd invest the rest of it in something that would give me a steady rate of return. After that, I'm not sure. 

Would I travel? Wwwwwwwell, I do love to travel, but traveling on my own has gotten old and my cat might not like me being away so much. Okay, some limited travel. Buy a house? Probably. No McMansions for me - something small. After all, how much room does one person with a cat need? How about starting my own theatre company and perform every show I've ever dreamed of performing? That's a possibility. I'd call it Vanity Productions. Hamlet played by a 40-something plus-sized woman. Hmmm. Perhaps I'd open up a business. Owning a little bookstore has been a long time wish (which really is just an excuse to spend my day reading). Maybe start my own charitable organization, like Alison did in At Home With The Braithwaites (a British comedy-drama television show which ran in the early 2000s).  Go back to school and get my Master's and PhD degrees? Truth is, with enough money, I could do all these things (except maybe the Hamlet part). The possibilities are endless when you have the funds. Most of these wishes I probably could to do without the funding but it would be much more difficult.

The reality: I have the world's worse luck therefore I know I will not be winning the $245 million, but it's nice to spend some time just thinking about the good you could do with that kind of money. The other reality is that I don't need $245 million. I would settle for a couple hundred thousand which would be enough to change my life for the better.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

[Follow up - 11/3: I was right, I did not win the $245 million, but there is someone in Connecticut who can make that claim.  Lucky dog!]