Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

I am not much of a reader of Westerns, but Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic. On the Utah frontier, Mormons and Gentiles are in constant struggle. Jane Withersteen, the wealthy owner of a prosperous ranch finds herself at odds with her fellow Mormons, squarely in the middle of the struggle. What follows is a moving tale of intrigue and secrets, of sorrow and love.

I enjoyed reading Riders of the Purple Sage. However, I found that language a little archaic and the pacing somewhat slow. Still, as I said Riders of the Purple Sage is a classic and deserves to be read by any bibliophile.

3.5/5

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is a sprawling "Sensation Novel" about familial intrigue in Victorian England. It is a story about marriage, inheritance, deceit, and secret societies. The novel is full of interesting characters: the tempestuous Sir Percival Glyde, the cunning Count Fosco and his submissive wife the Countess, the indomitable Marian Halcombe, and of course Walter Hartright and the love of his life, the Lady Laura Glyde.

I really enjoyed this book, despite the overwhelming complexity of its narrative. Just before finishing it, I picked up a copy of Collins' The Moonstone from Half Price Books and hope to read it next year. If you have not read this classic, give it a try. You won't be sorry.

4.00/5

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan

I must admit this was the book that I read at the end of the Readathon, so my recollections of it are vague. Black Dogs is about a woman's encounter with two huge, menacing black dogs while on a walk in France. Her husband out of earshot, the woman is attacked by the dogs. She manages to fend them off, but her life and the life of her husband are deeply altered. For Bernard, the encounter was just an unpleasant event. But for June, the dogs are the incarnation of evil. This rift drives them apart, opening a large metaphysical gulf between them as she becomes a devout Catholic and he remains an atheist.

It is really hard to rate this book because I don't remember it very well. But I do remember my impression that Black Dogs was not as good as my previous McEwan read, Amsterdam.

3.0/5

The Pink Insititution by Selah Saterstrom

The Pink Institution by Selah Saterstrom is a short novel that chronicles four dysfunctional generations of a post-Civil War Mississippi family. A prose poem, many parts of it were touching, many disturbing, but they were well written. But there were also parts where the novel jumped the shark and became a little to "artsy" for me; parts where the narrative was absent or too difficult to find.

1.5/5

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

When Green's family leaves her behind to weed the garden while they go to the city, Green is angry. Her anger turns into intense grief when a fiery disaster destroys the city, killing Green's sister, mother, and father, leaving Green to survive alone. What follows is a magical tale of how Green overcomes her grief to learn to live and love again.

Green Angel is not the kind of book that I would normally read. First, it is a YA novel, which I tend to avoid since I am an adult. (I know ... I am a little snobbish when it comes to reading.) Second, Alice Hoffman really isn't the type of author that usually catches my attention. However, when I couldn't find my first choice for a Green book for the The Colorful Reading Challenge, I saw that Mardel at Rabid Reader had read Green Angel as her Green book. Since I had just finished Blue Angel as my Blue book for the Colorful Reading Challenge, I thought I would give Green Angel a go.

I have to say that I am pretty happy I did. The story is sparsely told, but touching. The prose is wonderful. At 116 pages, it is a great short read, so go ahead, give it a try.

3.75/5

Blue Angel by Francine Prose

When it comes to embarrassment, I am a little squeamish. I don't like to read a book or watch television when a character is about to do something that will ruin their life in an extremely embarrassing way. So, I found reading Blue Angel by Francine Prose to be an uncomfortable experience.

Ted Swenson is a has-been novelist who makes his living teaching writing at an expensive albeit backwoods private college. When one of his students, Angela Argo, gives him a manuscript that shows real talent, Swenson wants to help her. But things soon go horribly awry. His marriage is destroyed and his tenure lost when Angela accuses him of sexual harassment.

Prose does a magnificent job of communicating both the depths of Swenson's unhealthy obsession and Angela's manipulative character. The events are an interesting contrast to those that take place in J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace where the professor is the transgressor. In Blue Angel the lines between culprit and victim are much blurrier.

4.00/5

Fool's Gold by Gillian Tett

In Fool's Gold, Gillian Tett, a reporter for the Financial Times, tells the story of how esoteric credit derivatives were developed and championed by a small group of independent thinkers at J. P. Morgan and how these derivatives came to ran amok among other banks causing the financial crisis from which we currently suffer. She details how a small close-knit group at J. P. Morgan developed and championed credit derivative swaps (CDS). J. P. Morgan was quite careful with these derivatives. It is interesting to note that they looked into the possibility of creating similar instruments backed by residential mortgages, but thought it too risky.

When J. P. Morgan merged with Chase Manhattan, the change in culture led many of the team to leave JP Morgan Chase for other banks or hedge funds. Those that stayed watched as the credit derivatives they invented took off, sometimes baffled by the risks other banks seemed to be taking. Did those banks know more than they did?

Another merger, this time between JPMorgan Chase and Bank One, brings in Jaimie Dimon who was the head of Bank One. He soon took over as JP Morgan Chase. The previous derivatives team had been conservative, but Dimon, with his "fortress balance sheet" idea really drove home the possible dangers of credit derivatives. Other banks, however, continued increased their CDO outputs, leveraging themselves with increasing ratios to do so. Then the bottom fell out. Two hedge funds at Bear Stearns collapsed due to their heavy investment in CDOs. Downgrades by the rating agencies forced many banks to write down their derivative assets, leading to billions in losses. Mortgage lenders like Countrywide failed, then commercial banks like Northern Rock. Bear Stearns blew up, with J.P. Morgan swooping in the buy them for a song. More write downs led Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and AIGs government rescue. The original team watched in horror as all this unfolded, but retained a belief that the instruments themselves were a useful way to manage risk, even if their abuse led to a financial crisis.

If you are at all interested in the how we got into this current financial mess, Tett's book is a good place to start. Earlier this year, I read William Cohan's account of Bear Stearns fall, The House of Cards. I found this a much more readable book.

3.75/5

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett is the story of an anonymous Continental op, a private dick, that is hired by newspaper man Donald Willsson to come to Personville for a case. As soon as he arrives in Personville, which is sometimes called Poisonville, his employer is murdered before they can meet. So begins the story of intrigue and deceit in which the Continental op finds himself in the middle of a war between four men who want to run Personville.

I was quite disappointed by this novel. I love the movie Yojimbo, which is said to based, in part, on Red Harvest. Perhaps this led me to set the bar too high, but I did not feel that Red Harvest lived up to its billing. It was entertaining, sure, but it really wasn't anything special. So, if you like noir, give it a try. Otherwise, you might want to look elsewhere for your fill of crime and punishment.

2.0/5

Silver Canyon by Louis L'Amour

Louis L'Amour's Silver Canyon is the story of Matthie Brennan, a drifter and gunslinger who rides into dusty town of Hattan's Point and finds more than he bargains for. Almost immediately, he finds the woman he loves and, he insists, is going to marry, Moira Macleran. To win her hand, Matt vows to settle down. He hears that there is a bitter, sometimes violent, dispute over the land of the Two-Bar Ranch. Sensing the opportunity to make a settled life that would allow him to marry Moira, Matt leaps into the fray by forming a partnership with the owner of the Two-Bar. What follows is an adventure, for Matt and the reader.

The plot, while intricate, is easily followed. L'Amour's prose is simple and clean, making the book an easy read. It was my first western and I have to say I enjoyed it more than I thought.

3.5/5

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

One of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper is a novella of a mere 23 pages. However, it is a hauntingly spare depiction of the descent into madness. The Victorian narrator has been removed from her home to a cottage in the country in order to recover from a nervous breakdown. However, the "resting cure" is foiled when her husband, a physician himself, chooses to situate their bedroom in the former nursery, a room with walls covered by a wallpaper the narrator describes as repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, with patterns in it that commit every artistic sin. Supposed to be resting, the narrator becomes obsessed with the wallpaper and its pattern. Eventually it begins to drive her mad. (Or does it?) She begins to see a women caught behind bars formed by the wallpaper's pattern. She soon becomes wild and violent, tearing at the wallpaper; biting the bedposts. At the conclusion of the novella, she locks herself in the room, the madness overcoming her completely.

This short novella was quite creepy. Not in a BOO! scary kind of way. But instead, in a raise the hairs on the back of your neck way. However, I cannot say that I enjoyed it all that much, so I would not necessarily recommend it to anyone. I certainly wouldn't characterize it as something you must read before you die.

1.75/5