MacArthur

by Richard B. Frank

Published 2007

So, I’ve recently read several books in this Great Generals Series.  I like the layout of the books, and they have just about the right amount of detail for me; I like to know about people’s lives but don’t always need a 600+ page dissertation.

MacArthur’s life and personality made for an interesting read, and Frank’s writing was easy to follow.  However, the entire final chapter of the book was devoted to how MacArthur would have viewed all major foreign policy since his death.  And it wasn’t even couched in terms of “perhaps MacArthur would have…”  Nope, the author would say things like, “MacArthur would most certainly have disagree with the handling of…” and it just really annoyed me that this random dude thinks that he has the right to make MacArthur’s decisions for him.

Anyway.  Otherwise a good read.

The Princess Academy

by Shannon Hale

Published 2005

I actually read this book just a year ago, but I wanted to read it again before reading the new sequel Hale published last year.  I really like this little book.  The story is happy, and I love the way that the heroine realizes the beauty of home and the value of family.  4/5.

The Black Spaniel Mystery

by Betty Cavanna

Published 1945

When I was a little girl, we went to a nearby library that was in a castle-like building.  Made of stone, with flagstone floors and stained-glass windows, little nooks and crannies and hidden places to curl up with a book.  The children’s library was bright and happy, full of color and chairs just the right size.  I loved that library.

And I remember checking out this book.  It’s the old library binding–that printed hardcover.  They don’t seem to bother making special library editions of books any more,  but I have so many discards in my personal collection that are bound this way; they’re perfect.  This book’s pages are soft and so worn down on the edges that sometimes it’s hard to turn the page.  Sixty years of reading will do that to a book, I suppose.

Years after I first read it, I found this book–the same copy I’d read as a child–at the library discard sale for a quarter.  And so The Black Spaniel Mystery became a permanent part of  my collection.  And even those book is not brilliant literature, it is a happy and innocent story, where honesty, integrity, hard work, and friendship, are rewarded.  4/5.

The Guardian

by Dee Henderson

So I’m a total slacker: I not only didn’t take a picture of this book, I didn’t write down the publish year, either.  Ah well.

This is the second book in the O’Malley series, the hero of the story is the oldest O’Malley, Marcus.  As a U.S. Marshall, Marcus spends his time traveling around the country protecting important people, and he starts this book watching a judge–who gets murdered that night.  There is one witness to the murder, and suddenly the young woman Marcus had met earlier the in the evening becomes his number one priority, as the murderer is trying to make sure that she never has a chance to testify against him.

Per usual, the pacing is excellent and the questions raised (and answered) quite good.  4/5.