Dear
Readers,
I’m not
sure when I first became an avid reader and my mother is no longer here to tell
me how it came about. I do recall spending hours scanning the Funk and
Wagnall’s dictionary when there wasn’t anything else available. The well-used bookshelf
in our home also included a complete set of encyclopedias, National Geographic
magazines, picture books of all sorts, and various novels my mother had
collected over the years. I cherished a beautifully illustrated, four book set
of Alice in Wonderland, and lingered over the full color illustrations, my imagination
fully engaged.
Dr. Seuss books, every one, I can’t possibly
pick a favorite. Charlottes’ Web was so powerful, though I know its coming, even
today I cry over the death of Charlotte. Among the novels my mother collected I
found the Old Man and the Sea, I fell in love with Don Quixote, and through the
reading of both, I learned to embrace the impossible dream. I wept for Buck, in Call of the Wild; my
youthful outrage at the cruelty of men, knew no bounds. My Friend Flicka, Black
Beauty and let’s not forget Old Yeller, the biggest tear jerker of all time,
and one I can’t bear to read again—it’s just too painful.
My sister
and I would walk three miles to the library and max out our library cards, trudging
home with ten books each, clutched in our arms. I was never happier than when I
wandered through the library, seeking out exciting adventures, and I knew where
they lay— captured within the pages of all those books. The
words were color and life to me, reading wasn’t an escape, it was a reward, and
I rewarded myself frequently from as far back as I can remember.
My latest
reward has been Brad Thor’s; Hidden Order: A Thriller. I’d never read this
author before, and I chose this title because so many people said it was a
novel, though attached to a series, that could stand alone. Here is my review;
“It is said that
power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible.”
– David Brin
Power beyond measure?
That is without a doubt the most terrifying of thoughts. Why is it that so
often the intentions of a few, which start out cloaked in good, and espoused to benefit the many, turn out when
the layers are peeled back, to reveal exactly the opposite?
With all the scandals
currently fouling the already poisonous atmosphere of our Nation’s Capital, I
get where Mr. Thor was going. If you’re going to write this kind of book, you
are going to have to tip toe around in the politics.
Very interesting insight
into the workings of the Federal Reserve, and at times I almost felt this was
an entertaining text book, one that went off to visit murder and intrigue.
It’s always hard to fill
in the back story without the narration beginning to sound like a history
lesson. When I become aware this is happening, I start mentally urging the
author to hurry it up, tell it faster, get back to the action, in other words I
get bogged down, it frustrates me and detracts from my pleasure.
There were so many characters;
I found I wasn’t invested with any of them. This could probably be cured by
reading the other books in the series. With the recurring protagonist theme of
a series, it would give me the insight about the lead characters that I didn’t
get in the quick overview the author accorded each in this book.
With my few criticisms aligned
all in a row, it sounds as though I didn’t enjoy the book, but I did, and I
fully intend to start the series from the beginning when I get a chance.
Next up another Breeders’ Cup “Win and
Your In” challenge event, the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen. Yikes…don’t try to say
that after you’ve been to the dentist.
Take care,
Shelley
Riley
No comments:
Post a Comment