http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog Reviews and recommendations by a reading fanatic Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:10:26 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_111" align="alignleft" width="90" caption=" "][/caption] Review: This book records the life and times of Enzo the dog. Enzo is part labrador, part poodle and german-shepherd, unofficially part terrier (because terriers are problem-solvers, and Enzo would like to believe that he comes from "a determined gene pool") and wholly ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2009/01/01/the-art-of-racing-in-the-rain-by-garth-stein/ Review: Growing up turns out to be a hard task. Ask any teenager (of whom I know many), and I am sure that they will agree that their lives are filled with drama of the highest order. Friends turn on friends, potential suitors are taken up and ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/11/20/twenty-chickens-for-a-saddle-by-robyn-scott/ Review: For some boys, life can be a lonely and desultory place which slowly grows grimmer and darker each day. When David’s mother dies, she takes with her most of the light and love that David really knew. The books which they once enjoyed together are now ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/10/26/the-book-of-lost-things-by-john-connolly/ Review: For three years Shadow has been biding his time in prison and waiting for the day when he can return home to the woman of his dreams, his wife Laura. Prison has neither broken him nor enlightened him, but it has taught him coin tricks. He ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/09/20/american-gods-by-neil-gaiman/ [caption id="attachment_52" align="alignleft" width="82" caption="City of Thieves"][/caption] Review: Eggs. Why did it have to be eggs? In a Russian city under siege by German forces, food runs scarce and eggs seem to be the scarcest of all. A Russian commander plans a birthday celebration for his beautiful, ice-skating ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/09/04/city-of-thieves-by-david-beinoff/ Review: Zimbabwe is dying. Robert Mugabe who began his presidency by helping to stimulate the economy and providing a foundation for rapid growth now cripples his country. White farmers are driven off their prosperous farms and into exile or hiding while Mugabe uses them as scapegoats to cover ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/08/21/when-a-crocodile-eats-the-sun-by-peter-godwin/ Review: Inside the country of India is a place called The Darkness. Here the people work in filthy conditions, live in sordid huts, and struggle for little. Rickshaw pullers wait by the road, emaciated and oppressed, waiting for the rich to buy their services. Corruption thrives ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/08/07/the-white-tiger-by-aravind-adiga/ Review: There is a villain caged in the prison system with a laundry list of crimes against the world. His skin is impermeable to bullets. His movements are a blur. His mind operates at a level not seen since Einstein or Feynman. This is his ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/07/26/soon-i-will-be-invincible-by-austin-grossman/ Review: Liz Gilbert, socialite, author, journalist, realizes her life is spiraling out of control. As her marriage falls apart, she begins to question her direction. Rock bottom starts to appear when she finds herself searching for answers on the floor of her bathroom. She claws through ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/07/15/eat-pray-love-by-elizabeth-gilbert/ Review: The world has turned to gray. The sky remains the same color of leaden despair day after day. The ground smolders, powdered in ash and the charred remains of civilization. When night descends, the land is engulfed in a darkness more complete than anything one can ... http://cwablogs.org/blogs/scotblog/2008/07/04/the-road-by-cormac-mccarthy/