Book Review:
The Triple Agent by Joby Warrick
The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA
Review by
Alan Eggleston
Writer, editor, bookseller of leisure and business books
Follow me on Twitter: @Booksville
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Triple Agent, Triple Crossed
Review by
Alan Eggleston
Writer, editor, bookseller of leisure and business books
Follow me on Twitter: @Booksville
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Publishers Weekly's Best Books 2011
Publisher's Weekly presents its list of "Best Books 2011: The Top 10", including brief synopses.
- The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
- State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
- After the Apocalypse by Maureen McHugh
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
- Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie
- There but for the by Ali Smith
- Hemingway's Boat by Paul Hendrickson
- One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina
- Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
See what the publishing industry thinks are the year's best reads.
___
Follow me on Twitter: @Booksville
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Rowling Dumps Longtime Literary Agent
Harry Potter's J.K. Rowling has dismissed her literary agent, Christopher Little. It's a stunning development discussed today in London's Daily Mail: "The announcement in the industry journal The Bookseller stunned the literary community and industry watchers, who had always regarded the Rowling-Little partnership as one of the strongest and most enduring in the business. Little, a fiercely private man, would say only that he was ‘disappointed and surprised’ by the ‘premature news’."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-book-agent.html#ixzz1RkX1GHUn
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2012997/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-dismissed-Dumbledore-book-agent.html#ixzz1RkX1GHUn
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A Book Series for the Non-Reader?
If you have a non-reader in the family - someone who doesn't enjoy the process of reading or who is more visually oriented than word oriented, a new non-fiction book series may be their answer. It's called For Beginners Books.
Here is how their website describes themselves:
I bring it up because I think everyone should have the opportunity to "read," and a discomfort with the traditional book shouldn't be a reason not to. If something new comes along that will open them to the world of discovery that is the book, then by all means take it! If graphic novels, For Beginners Books, or even comic books introduce you to the joy of reading, have at it.
Credit to Jason Sadler of iwearyourshirt.com for bringing For Beginners Books to our attention.
Here is how their website describes themselves:
"Every book in the series serves one purpose: to present to the reader in a straightforward, accessible manner the works of great thinkers and subjects alike. With subjects ranging from philosophy, to politics, to art and beyond, the For Beginners® series covers a range of familiar concepts in a humorous comic book-style, and takes a readily comprehensible approach that’s respective of the intelligence of its audience. This series is for those who want to know more about a subject, but don’t want to get bogged down in dry facts. Each book is painstakingly researched, written and illustrated in a style that best suits the subject."
I bring it up because I think everyone should have the opportunity to "read," and a discomfort with the traditional book shouldn't be a reason not to. If something new comes along that will open them to the world of discovery that is the book, then by all means take it! If graphic novels, For Beginners Books, or even comic books introduce you to the joy of reading, have at it.
Credit to Jason Sadler of iwearyourshirt.com for bringing For Beginners Books to our attention.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Lord Hornblower Is a Great Adventure in the Forester Tradition
Lord Hornblower
A Book Review
By Alan Eggleston, writer and editor, business books, leisure books
C. S. Forester’s Hornblower was the first Age of Sail series I’d read, and in 2002 I bought the last two books of the 11 book series. At the time, I didn’t realize there were other authors also writing Age of Sail books, and not wanting to run out of books to read, I set these aside for some future need. I’ve since discovered Patrick O’Brien, Dudley Pope, and now Julian Stockwin. So I’ve begun the final journey with Hornblower.
Lord Hornblower is Forester’s 10th masterfully written book. In it, Horatio Hornblower, now knighted and a Lord, married to his second wife, sister to people in high places, is living the high but un-seaman-like life on land. He gets the call from Admiralty to scuttle a mutiny on board a frigate off the coast of the enemy, France, that threatens to hand the ship over to the French if every man isn’t given amnesty and the Captain court martialed for cruelty. But discipline at sea requires the men responsible be punished without mercy.
Lord Hornblower (Hornblower Saga)
Only Hornblower’s ingenuity can save a ship, her crew, and England from losing face to Napoleon. Yet this is only the beginning of a tale that takes Hornblower to service on land to confront Napoleon’s Army and face eventual death by firing squad. In the meantime, his wife goes off to Austria with her brother to reunite Europe against Napoleon, leaving Hornblower to fall in love with the daughter of an old French ally. These are the waning days of Napoleon’s attempt to build an empire, and you are there to witness the effects on the countryside and its people.
This story is full of brave sea tangles, edgy land battles, daring escapes on horseback, and dear friends lost. It’s a great adventure in the Forester tradition.
(I purchased these books and was not compensated in any way for this review.)
A Book Review
By Alan Eggleston, writer and editor, business books, leisure books
C. S. Forester’s Hornblower was the first Age of Sail series I’d read, and in 2002 I bought the last two books of the 11 book series. At the time, I didn’t realize there were other authors also writing Age of Sail books, and not wanting to run out of books to read, I set these aside for some future need. I’ve since discovered Patrick O’Brien, Dudley Pope, and now Julian Stockwin. So I’ve begun the final journey with Hornblower.
Lord Hornblower is Forester’s 10th masterfully written book. In it, Horatio Hornblower, now knighted and a Lord, married to his second wife, sister to people in high places, is living the high but un-seaman-like life on land. He gets the call from Admiralty to scuttle a mutiny on board a frigate off the coast of the enemy, France, that threatens to hand the ship over to the French if every man isn’t given amnesty and the Captain court martialed for cruelty. But discipline at sea requires the men responsible be punished without mercy.
Lord Hornblower (Hornblower Saga)Only Hornblower’s ingenuity can save a ship, her crew, and England from losing face to Napoleon. Yet this is only the beginning of a tale that takes Hornblower to service on land to confront Napoleon’s Army and face eventual death by firing squad. In the meantime, his wife goes off to Austria with her brother to reunite Europe against Napoleon, leaving Hornblower to fall in love with the daughter of an old French ally. These are the waning days of Napoleon’s attempt to build an empire, and you are there to witness the effects on the countryside and its people.
This story is full of brave sea tangles, edgy land battles, daring escapes on horseback, and dear friends lost. It’s a great adventure in the Forester tradition.
(I purchased these books and was not compensated in any way for this review.)
My next read in the series:
(Links: commission may be paid on purchase)
(Links: commission may be paid on purchase)
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Victory by Stockwin Wins the Day
A Book Review
By Alan Eggleston, writer and editor, business books, leisure books
Why do you read? Is it to rip through a book a day and move on to the next, or is it to lose yourself in a story with amazing characters living under incredible circumstances? For most people, I suggest, it’s the latter. And if you’re a reader like the latter, I suggest you read Victory
by Julian Stockwin, his 10th novel in the rousing Thomas Kydd series.
• (Search Amazon.com for julian stockwin kydd sea adventures
)
In Victory, Stockwin takes his two signature characters – and, thus, us – onto the decks of Britain’s most venerated flagship, the HMS Victory, to get to know her most famous leader, Lord Horatio Nelson, the Admiral who defeated Napoleon’s navy in the Battle at Trafalgar. We see him in the eyes of the nation who depended on Nelson for their survival, the men and officers who looked to him for inspiration and leadership, and the newly promoted frigate captain, Thomas Kydd, who looked to Nelson for mentorship.
What you look to Stockwin for in his books is authentic description of battles, of the daily life at sea, of the language and attitudes of the men and officers in service, of what ships and seaports were like, of how people lived at the time and how they saw the world. In Victory, there is that aplenty and more. Right from the beginning there is a consequential battle whose description takes you in “living color” to the times of fighting sail. Then you’re transported to 19th century England and the life in Britain awaiting certain invasion by a menacing Napoleon whose massive and experienced army had already gathered across the English Channel. Finally, you’re swept to distant places with a British Navy pursuing a restless enemy desperate to be unleashed from blockade to gather strength for invasion, and once unleashed difficult to track despite their size. It culminates in the build up to and action in the Battle of Trafalgar, told from the eyes of a young Midshipman serving on Victory and Kydd whose frigate provides intelligence. You’ll live life at sea and in those times throughout this novel.
Much has been written about the Battle of Trafalgar. Much has been said about Lord Nelson. Be there, meet him, in the pages of Victory by Julian Stockwin.
____________
For the sake of transparency, I’ll admit at the outset that I’m a big fan of Stockwin. I have been disappointed on occasion and have written about it in my reviews, but on the whole I find Stockwin gives great value for the money you pay for his novels. He has written that he spends 50 percent of the time he devotes to writing a story to research, which results in deep levels of authentic detail to his stories. He travels the world visiting the places in which his stories take place, where he runs into diaries, letters, and historical records, facts and artifacts from which appear as observations or intimate details in the stories. In addition, Stockwin served in the British Navy, so he is knowledgeable about the history and traditions of British seamanship, which is a rich part of the detail of each novel.
____________
Julian Stockwin publishes a monthly fan newsletter. In it he held a drawing for a free copy of the book for anyone willing to write a review. I was one of the lucky winners. Thus, I didn’t purchase the book for this review. However, if I hadn’t won I would have purchased it.
Links to Victory: Commission may be paid for purchase.
____________
Tweet me at Booksville or AlanEggleston
By Alan Eggleston, writer and editor, business books, leisure books
Why do you read? Is it to rip through a book a day and move on to the next, or is it to lose yourself in a story with amazing characters living under incredible circumstances? For most people, I suggest, it’s the latter. And if you’re a reader like the latter, I suggest you read Victory
by Julian Stockwin, his 10th novel in the rousing Thomas Kydd series.• (Search Amazon.com for julian stockwin kydd sea adventures
)In Victory, Stockwin takes his two signature characters – and, thus, us – onto the decks of Britain’s most venerated flagship, the HMS Victory, to get to know her most famous leader, Lord Horatio Nelson, the Admiral who defeated Napoleon’s navy in the Battle at Trafalgar. We see him in the eyes of the nation who depended on Nelson for their survival, the men and officers who looked to him for inspiration and leadership, and the newly promoted frigate captain, Thomas Kydd, who looked to Nelson for mentorship.
What you look to Stockwin for in his books is authentic description of battles, of the daily life at sea, of the language and attitudes of the men and officers in service, of what ships and seaports were like, of how people lived at the time and how they saw the world. In Victory, there is that aplenty and more. Right from the beginning there is a consequential battle whose description takes you in “living color” to the times of fighting sail. Then you’re transported to 19th century England and the life in Britain awaiting certain invasion by a menacing Napoleon whose massive and experienced army had already gathered across the English Channel. Finally, you’re swept to distant places with a British Navy pursuing a restless enemy desperate to be unleashed from blockade to gather strength for invasion, and once unleashed difficult to track despite their size. It culminates in the build up to and action in the Battle of Trafalgar, told from the eyes of a young Midshipman serving on Victory and Kydd whose frigate provides intelligence. You’ll live life at sea and in those times throughout this novel.
Much has been written about the Battle of Trafalgar. Much has been said about Lord Nelson. Be there, meet him, in the pages of Victory by Julian Stockwin.
____________
For the sake of transparency, I’ll admit at the outset that I’m a big fan of Stockwin. I have been disappointed on occasion and have written about it in my reviews, but on the whole I find Stockwin gives great value for the money you pay for his novels. He has written that he spends 50 percent of the time he devotes to writing a story to research, which results in deep levels of authentic detail to his stories. He travels the world visiting the places in which his stories take place, where he runs into diaries, letters, and historical records, facts and artifacts from which appear as observations or intimate details in the stories. In addition, Stockwin served in the British Navy, so he is knowledgeable about the history and traditions of British seamanship, which is a rich part of the detail of each novel.
____________
Julian Stockwin publishes a monthly fan newsletter. In it he held a drawing for a free copy of the book for anyone willing to write a review. I was one of the lucky winners. Thus, I didn’t purchase the book for this review. However, if I hadn’t won I would have purchased it.
Links to Victory
: Commission may be paid for purchase.____________
Tweet me at Booksville or AlanEggleston
Saturday, August 07, 2010
BiAlien: You Need to Look at this New Book
Book Preview for
BiAlien by Vlane Carter
BiAlien by Vlane Carter
There’s a new book I think you should take a look at: BiAlien. Admittedly, I’ve only read the first chapter myself, for lack of adequate time with my other writing and editing duties. But if you’re interested in science fiction and like science fiction art, or if you have been thinking of exploring science fiction or science fiction art, this is a book you should see. You can do so easily through the author’s very imaginative website and Facebook page.
The author, Vlane Carter, has tried very hard to make it a space adventure readable for every kind of audience. Says Carter, “My novel was written for the non-science fiction, fiction and sci-fi book readers. My facebook friends who don't read sci-fi, the novel is well explained and even has a glossory of definitions at the back of it.” He also isn’t shy about trying new techniques to engage the reader, such as using the present tense rather than the typical past tense to give you a sense of watching the action in-the-now, like watching a movie. The artwork, which Carter personally art directed, is very creative and lends to the unique flavor of the storyline. See samples on the BiAlien website, including a link to chapter 1.
In addition to the book website, Carter is very active on his Facebook page. There he frequently interacts with readers discussing the book. This is a great attribute for an author. Every author ought to be accessible to his or her readers. I know that’s sometimes difficult, especially when an author’s fandom reaches into the hundreds of thousands, but Carter, from New York State, currently has just over 160 members and manages the exchanges well. He’s erstwhile about his creation, and readers can catch – and enjoy – his enthusiasm there.
Take a few minutes and browse the site and the Facebook page, and give the book a look. Let me know what you think.
Update: The author, Vlane Carter, put together a superb video showing some of the incredibly imaginative artwork from the book. Have a look.
Update: The author, Vlane Carter, put together a superb video showing some of the incredibly imaginative artwork from the book. Have a look.
(Not a paid or compensated endorsement.)
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