Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges - Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner

After reading an excerpt of this book in the ABA Journal, I knew I need to have this book. Mr. Garner is the present editor of Black's Law Dictionary, and Justice Scalia is, perhaps, the most eloquent writer on the Supreme Court. Much of the advice in this book isn't new, but it is relevant and pulled together well in this volume. Even though I'm not in practice, the material can be easily applied to business writing and any meeting with colleagues and customers. I definitely recommend this book to anyone practicing law, and anyone (like me) that loves the law but makes a career elsewhere.

Odd Hours - Dean Koontz

Once again Odd has found trouble where it isn't expected to be - in the California town of Magic Beach where a handshake just a few pages into the story prompts Odd to dive off a pier and hide from the Harbor Patrol. Accompanied by the ghost of Frank Sinatra, Odd thwarts a terrorist attack in a plot that is somewhat attenuated but still interesting. Like all of Koontz' recent books, this can be read in a day or two, is entertaining enough, but is ultimately not great literature. Still, if you're looking for a great summer or weekend read, this is a book for you!

Vicious Circle - Mike Carey

Aha, you're saying, this book doesn't come out until July! True, but even its sequel is available in the U.K. presently, and I couldn't wait. This is a familiar theme this year! This book rejoins Felix Castor, an exorcist in a society where Parliament is debating the rights of the dead, but he finds himself in quasi-partnership with the succubi Juliet that attempted to -- ahem -- eat him in "The Devil You Know." As odd as it sounds, this was actually a well-crafted story wherein both a group of Satanists and a fringe group of the Catholic Church (assisted by were-persons) are seeking the ghost of a little girl, one intent on feeding her as a sacrifice to Asmodeus, the other on excommunicating her to close the door to Hell. A dark outline, to be certain, but the characters carry the story with a bit of wit, and the author has crafted a great book.

Temple of the Winds - Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth

Book 4 in the Sword of Truth series reads a bit more like a "who done it" type of mystery than a pure fantasy novel.  This works nicely and progresses the story line nicely.  I enjoyed this one the character development, which focused mostly on Richard and Kahlan this time.  It did get a bit tedious reading over and over how much they loved each other, but it was actually important to the story so I can understand.  Most annoying thing about this book is again the page long explanations of what happened in the previous books.  This is truly annoying and is getting worse with each book.  At this pace, book 10 will be mostly a rehash of the previous 9 books.  But still a great story and I really do want to see how this all plays out, so onward we go to book 5.  7/10

The Rosetta Key - William Dietrich

I was excited to be rejoining Ethan Gage in this sequel to "Napoleon's Pyramids!" An American adventurer, student of Ben Franklin, and accused murderer finds himself still seeking the book of Thoth and his lover Astiza, this time to Jerusalem and Napolean's Battle of Acre. Gage is a man of many lives, and he spends many of them in this book as he jumps between the English and the French, never with any more committed thought than survival, his friends, and keeping the book out of the wrong hands. This book is a guilty pleasure, some actual history mixed with a great bit of fiction and great storytelling - a good book for a summer weekend.

Sex, Drugs, and Coca Puffs - Chuck Klosterman

The author started his career locally, and came of age in the same rock-inspired environment that I enjoyed. His stories are sometimes tedious, okay often tedious, but I still enjoy the few "I remember that!" moments as I read through various cultural events of my early twenties. The balance of the commentaries read more like personal rants that you might find on any blogging site, not especially witty or good. This almost made the "back on the shelf" list, but I forced myself to finish it. You'd be better served not even starting...