Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

It's 1809, and Napoleon's forces have largely conquered Spain. The British came to the Spaniard's aid, but were promptly trounced. Now the country is in chaos as British troops scramble to get out of the country and the Spaniards settle into a guerrilla war.

The new lieutenant Richard Sharpe, raised from the ranks and completely unrefined, feels the full weight of leadership fall on his shoulders when his riflemen are cut off from the retreating army. His first challenge as an officer is to see his men safely out of the country and back to the British army. All that stands in his way are the wild mountains of Spain, the French army, and fifty riflemen who don't trust him.

This is the 6th of the Sharpe novels, although it's the first chronologically. Sharpe is a British hero who fights in the Napoleonic wars under Wellington, and eventually is at Waterloo. Like the Hornblower and Bolitho novels, this is really well written and researched period work. I was already a fan of the movies with Sean Bean, but now I'm a fan of the books, too. I can't wait to read the next one.

Recommendation: Buy it.

Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

This is a fascinating book, and a surprisingly easy one to read. Perhaps this is because the formulae and tables one might find in an Economics textbook are notably absent. Instead, the writers ask - and subsequently attempt to answer - questions about everyday things that cast a light on the hidden incentives that permeate our lives.

The writers attack a lot of sacred cows in this book, but they try not to make moral or ethical observations. Instead, they present the data and their conclusions, and attempt to disassociate themselves from any emotional connotations. A good example of this is in the chapter on why the crime rate dropped in the 1990's. Most people assumed it was due to improved policing methods, the aging of the population, the bursting of the "crack bubble", and so on, but the authors made a compelling case for it being an unexpected consequence of the legalization of abortion in the 1970's.

Other questions they take on deal with the profitability of dealing drugs, the honesty of Sumo wrestlers and real-estate agents, what makes a good parent, and (my personal favorite), whether or not giving black children unusual names hurts their future earnings potential. There's a lot of information in this book, and bonus material, too, if you get the paperback.

I highly recommend it; it'll bend your mind.

Recommendation: Buy it.

The First Commandment by Brad Thor

I'm almost afraid to criticize this guy's work because he comes across as pretty militant in his bio. This is yet another hawk fantasy from the growing list of best selling authors who's stock-in-trade are post-9/11 political thrillers.

As is typical of this genre, the hero is a hard-as-nails ex-military operative who seems to have a unique insight in terrorist ass kicking. Throughout the novel, he bends and breaks the rules, but he has that rare, god-like ability to implicitly know how to keep his footing on that slippery moral slope.

I found Thor's staccato writing style reminded me of the old Sgt. Friday dialog from Dragnet, and his characters feel pretty two-dimensional. However, in all fairness I should admit I found some of Thor's prose personally insulting (such as his implication that atheists are bad people when talking about one of the villain's parents being "godless.") For this reason, I may not be coming at this book with a very open mind.

Recommendation: Skip it.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

This is the second Mitch Albom book I've read this month. His books have the benefit of being short and easy to read, which makes them ideal for me in such a busy month.

When Albom learns that his favorite college professor has a fatal illness, he flies out to meet with him. Before long, he starts a series of regular Tuesday visits with his dying mentor, wherein he is taught a master's class in life and, necessarily, death.

The old man's grace in the face of his mortality is irresistible. Although the insights he offers aren't anything new, hearing them from this gentle and loving man on his death bed gives them a new gravitas.

This is definitely a book worth reading.

Recommendation: Buy it.

The Gingerbread Girl by Stephen King

This is a nice little story King wrote for Esquire magazine that's now available exclusively as an audio book.

When Emily loses her two-month old daughter, she takes up running metaphorically and literally. She runs away from her marriage, her house, and her life - retreating to a mostly-deserted island in the keys. That's where things go from bad to worse when she oversees a grisly killing and is suddenly running for her life.

I didn't particularly like Emily, but I couldn't help but root for her when things turned bad. I guess that's what makes King such a great writer; he doesn't white wash his characters or try to hide their warts; instead he celebrates them and makes us love them in spite of their blemishes.

Recommendation: Borrow it.

Tricky Business by Dave Barry

This novel is reminiscent of screw-ball comedies such as Cannonball Run, It's a Mad Mad World, and What's Up, Doc. The first two-thirds is just a set up to a long-running punch line that feels furiously frenetic as it unwinds.

There are some great characters in this book, including Tina the flatulent croupier, and a pirate who answers the question, "Whatever happened to them good-ole-boys from Deliverance?" There are some old stereotypes in here, too, including the lovable stoners and the feisty old men. Barry handles them all with the timing and finesse of a master. If you can make it through the early chapters, you'll grow to love this book.

Barry opens with a warning (and an apology) to his usual fans for using "strong language." He explains this novel has bad people in it, and this is how they talk, as if the Pope never stubbed his toe in the Vatican bathroom. Apparently he put this warning in his last novel, and even with it people complained. Too bad, he deserves a much hipper audience.

Recommendation: Borrow it.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

When Eddie, an 83-year-old maintenance man, dies, he goes to heaven where he meets five people who help him see what his life meant.

There's a need in all of us to find meaning. Mitch Albom attempts to answer this need in a modern parable with five lessons. Like most parables, the message isn't always clear.

It doesn't matter, because this story will touch your heart. It is another example of the beauty faith can inspire.

Recommendation: Buy it.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

Roach has really done her research - this is an exhaustive book on the history of sex research from the Victorian era all the way up to today. Unfortunately, she finds something to make a man cringe in just about every chapter, and seems to delight in such material. For instance, she discusses how some men, including noted sex researcher Kinsey, place large and unpleasant things in their urethras; she goes into horrific detail on surgery to prevent unwanted drainage of blood from the penis, and dwells on the number one problem associated with penile implants (extrusion.) It seemed like I had my legs squeezed together throughout most of this book.

The book does have a message: despite the great contributions these people have made to our lives, it remains a thankless and - sometimes - dangerous job. She points out that most people believed (and still believe) that sex researchers are perverts. I have to admit, I found I had this bias myself, although I seemed to doubt the motives of male researchers much more than females. These poor people are reviled and their work is ridiculed (even Roach couldn't resist poking fun at some of them, such as when she sent her sympathies to the wife of a researcher who said two minutes was the average time men took to ejaculate once they enter a woman.) It seems we're more conservative today than at any other time since the 1950's.

Perhaps one of the most powerful stories in this book is that of an Egyptian researcher, who faces imprisonment and even death for carrying out his work in a conservative Islamic country.

All in all, this book isn't for the faint of heart. It turns out sex researchers are doing medical research, with all that that entails. This is not erotica by any stretch of the imagination.

Recommendation: Borrow it.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

After his death, a "finished" manuscript was found in Crichton's files. It was a pirate story, filled with fun albeit cliched characters and set in 1660's Jamaica. When a ship from England spots a Spanish Galleon berthed at a nearby Spanish fortress, the governor enlists a privateer named Charles Hunter to capture it. This launches an adventure that rivals the Odyssey.

This is actually a fun read, but it isn't one of Crichton's better works. The scenes are often sketchy, and I wonder how much more this book might have been reworked had Crichton not passed away. Even so, one of Crichton's mediocre books is better than most writers best work.

Recommendation: Borrow it.