Book In Review

      Iris Johansen has done it again…she wrote a page-turner.  I like alot of Ms. Johansen’s books because she invariably taps into secret compartments, inside of each of us, that seek to understand just what motivates the people that she writes about.  She seems able to capture a reader’s desire to know more about the characters in her books.  By the time you realize that you have invested a little emotional connection to the outcome of the story…you have already reached the point of no return; in putting the book down to attend to your other responsibilities in life.  I am guilty of a gluttony of the written word!   I wasn’t personally enamored with the title of this book…but, the book itself was good. 

      It has  action, drama, and of course, romance.  There is the typically large, overly dramatic misunderstanding in the romantic relationship, between the hero and heroine…which of course, happily resolves itself before the end of the book.  Knowing that this is coming in the story doesn’t take anything away from the story or away from Ms. Johansen’s writing; she writes in a way that justifies it; by making it appear as if, it too, could happen to you in one of your real life relationships.  After all, we can’t read our partner’s minds in real life…and just because we can climb into the charater’s heads in the book…that doesn’t mean that the characters in the book can do the same.  Read the rest of this entry…

        This collection of stories by Ernest Hemingway was interesting to read for a variety of reasons for me.  First of all, Ernest Hemingway had a history in my own home state of Michigan.  He loved and appreciated the gift of nature in the upper reaches of Michigan.  Many of the stories illustrate his love of fishing and hunting…and living off of the land. 

        Some of these stories have not been published previously.  The stories of Nick Adams and his life very closely mirror some of Ernest Hemingway’s life experiences.  It is a peek into a very complex man and his writings. 

        Be forewarned…this book may cause a unique reaction by igniting a desire to read more Hemingway works!

        This edition was published by Scribner and was a paperback edition copyright 2003.