Book Thief - Book Detective - Book Writer Book

Enigmatic thief, passionate dealer/detective, questing journalist; good book.

Much of 'The Man Who Loved Book Too Much’ by Allison Hoover Bartlett (to be published September 2009) reads like a police procedural – we all know the thief gets caught – the attraction is in seeing how, and how the thief and pursuer – equally obsessed – are alike and different. Some reads like a revelatory memoir where the author chronicles her shallow journey into the depths of rare-book obsession. Despite the clunky title that the too-much-information overtone of the author’s interspersed first-person narratives, overall enjoyable for anyone who likes (or is obsessed by) books – rare or not, or by well-depicted quirky protagonists, or by off-beat detecting.

I don't always buy books, but when I do I buy them at the Blue Willow Bookshop

I was a teen-age vampire author escort

I was the fill-in local author-tour escort for urban fantasy author Richelle Mead in Houston on Saturday.

These author tours are usually my wife’s gig – sort of an add-on to her work at Houston’s leading indie-cool Blue Willow Bookshop. She was in Boston helping #1 son move into his sophomore dorm, and got a bonus dash of hurricane and almost-state funeral for Ted Kennedy; leaving me to handle the author tour. Main event was a reading/signing at the Barnes and Noble in the Woodlands. 200-plus fans (some from NOLA and Dallas) with about 1,000 copies of her books (the fourth in the young-adult series just came out; there are two adult series – also vampire-centric – as well) waited in a long line for a signature, a photo and a quick chat. Who knew teen-age vampires were such a draw?

'Connected’ - Christakis and Fowler

PhD authors figure out that our friends make us happy – or not. Lots of data; pretty interesting.

Authors Christakis and Fowler draw on diverse studies to chart how we manage our social networks. Lots of sociology, a little evolutionary biology and more than a few observations about online society. A good summary with a few rules of networks would be helpful.

'A Voyage Long and Strange' - T. Horowitz

Journalist traces marches and mayhem of pre-Columbian incursions into North America; witty observations ensue.

Good idea already done better in Lost City of Z - author Tony Horowitz visits Plymouth Rock and realizes that a lot happened before the Pligrims and Columbus. He sets off to follow the routes earlier explorers took into what is now the U.S., ties in the Lost Colony of North Carolina, south-west cliff-dweller civilizations and Florida retirees, making slightly sharky observations along the way. Nice read for history buffs and people looking for echos today of what happened long ago.

Doing my part

Yesterday I started a new job and the Fed declared the recession over. Coincidence?

On August 12 I started in a new position (new for me and newly created) in corporate communications at Reliant Energy, the largest electricity supplier in Houston. After several months in career transition, I'm really excited about getting started in new company with some great opportunities.

Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley

If both were the same race, would there have been a different outcome? I doubt it.

A friend in Boston – we have known each other well for 30 years ; he is black and I am white – have talked a lot about the reporting on what happened between Professor Gates and Sargent Crowley in Cambridge. He asked me today, ‘What would have happened if Prof. Gates had been white?’ My immediate reaction was that nothing substantive in what went on between the two would have been different; there probably would have been no media reporting either. I have been thinking about this all day – what caused the interaction between what appear to be two level-headed, well-intentioned and responsible men was miscommunication rooted in legitimate but conflicting expectations of deference. The NY Times has a lengthy piece today that speaks to this. Professor Gates, a citizen in his own home with no knowledge that anything amiss had been reported, had a legitimate expectation that the policeman at his door was not there to investigate or question him or his actions, and would exhibit respect and deference to the sanctity of that home. Sargent Crowley, invested with the authority to investigate potential crimes and, if necessary, use force, had the legitimate expectation that a person in a house where something amiss had been reported would exhibit respect and deference to his lawful authority. Two honorable men were talking right past each other. If we are honest, we will acknowledge that race may have been a factor in each man’s response. We would also have to acknowledge that race did not spark the interaction or determine its outcome. See today’s article in the New York Times.

'The Monuments Men' - Robert M. Edsel

'The Monuments Men' - Robert M. Edsel
Untold story of rescuing Europe’s art after D-Day –great art, heroes, exploding mines, venal Nazis.

‘The Monuments Men, ’scheduled for publication in September 2009, chronicles the efforts of a small, understaffed group of Allied officers and enlisted men to recover art looted from across Europe. A little heavy on reconstructed conversations and internal dialogues, the book nonetheless paints effective portraits of the diverse group of Monuments Men and their efforts from D-Day through the end of the war in Europe and beyond. An interesting account of something I knew of , but not about.
http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org/