One read and a flop

Continuing to post my reads so that at the end of this year I will know what I read and hopefully not buy the same book when I see them at a sale.

BIG FLOP: Red River by Lalita Tademy
I read her Cane River novel a couple years back and thought it was ok. So I picked this from the sale table of Barnes & Noble. Big Mistake. Supposedly based on the true story of what happened in April 1873 in Colfax, LA but slow writing. About the newly freed black residents during the beginning of Reconstruction. With friends in Alexandria, La. and having visited Colfax Parish I thought I'd enjoy this. Pure torture to get through 92 pages. I thought it would get better. This goes right into the donate bag.

Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury is one of those fluffy women's books that took only a couple sittings to breeze through. Karen is a well known Christian writer who is very popular with lots of women, and some men too, I guess. This book will be the first in the Baxter Family Sunrise series and introduces Dayne Mathews, the returning lost son from Hollywood to the Indiana Baxter family. It is an easy read and enjoyable enough and one of those books to set with when not wanting to concentrate too much. Family and faith triumph and all is well. And no 4 Letter words to worry about. No big language either .

The Preacher and the Presidents by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, published 2007 the true story of Billy Graham and his years as counsel to all the presidents from Harry Truman through George W. Bush. It's an excellent book and a keeper for my library and one I will only loan to those I absolutely trust to return it. I have this idea that grand daughter and niece can help me catalogue all these books when they visit in April--wonder if that will work. I can use their help to read titles, authors and enter into a data base. But back to this great book which I bought at the Christian book store using the gift certificate our departing minster gave me last year. I loved every page and reading the history of different events. Over the years I have developed more respect for Gerald Ford though I was very against his pardon of Nixon. I came to understand why Ford took that action and agree it needed to be done. This book contains other information about that in Ford's own words invoking his belief in God. As I read through the JFK era I realized how far we have not come as voters. Graham predicted that with the election of a Catholic president "never again would religion prove so divisive. I think that is a hurdle that has been permanently passed." How wrong, think of those who spurned Mitt Romney because he was a Mormon in 2008!

I especially liked reading the different episodes with the different Presidents as if I were reading short stories. I never lost my train of concentration because the chapters are distinctive. This is the kind of book that does not have to be read at one sitting and is still so enjoyable. From the skepticism of Harry Truman to the embrace of Nixon each presidential encounter is different.

It shows Billy Graham's humanity and weaknesses too as he gets drawn into some political areas where he vowed he would not be drawn. I was fascinated by the LBJ interactions with Billy Graham. The chapters on Nixon demonstrate Graham's devoutly helping his friend and yet even Billy Graham is manipulated and deceived by Nixon's shenanigans and perhaps distrusted by some of the Nixon colleagues. Billy Graham never admits that but trusts. The reader perceives that from the writing . This book shows Grahams's remarkable character and conservative leanings, but never reveals his political party. Perhaps it intrigued me because I too started out a Democrat.

There is interesting perspective about the disagreement between Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham and a mention of William Randolph Hearst. Billy Grahams's famous crusades are slightly mentioned this book. The real focus is interaction with the presidents and his determination to keep their trials and quests in confidence.

Some quotes to give a flavor of the writing: From the authors, "We knew that there were millions of people inclined to see Graham as a saint: we'd also encountered those who dismissed him as a showman, a sycophant, or a pawn of powerful men, with a mass-market message too silky and simple to merit further study. Graham agreed to talk to us without any conditions or control over what we would write. He had one challenge to us as we set out:"I hope it will just be fair and honest and tell the bad and the good." The book does that!

"Of the 11 presidents he'd known, 10 became friends and seven of those close ones. They entered into an unspoken covenant of private counsel and public support..."

"That still left the problem of election years. Again and again he vowed to stay out; again and again he was drawn back in. He always reminded people he was raised a Democrat and had friends in both parties and while this was true, it became clear long ago he had the soul of a mainstream moderate Republican...."

"His reluctance to challenge presidents privately or chastise them publicly reflected his conviction that the truth that mattered most was the gospel truth;..."

Reading this book left me much more curious about Billy Graham. And I have pulled his autobiography "Just As I Am" from my shelf and placed it out front on the To Be Read shelf.

Fat Tuesday by Sandra Brown, who is one of my favorite mystery, thrill writers is a typical Brown book. Burke Bastle is the cop with nothing left to lose and Pinkie Duvall is the corrupt attorney who would make him lose it all. It's a quick read with fascinating characters including a Madame of a New Orleans bordello and the former cop who becomes a recluse running a fishing resort on the bayou. My only quibble with Sandra Brown is that despite the intrigue and great stories she cannot write without including sex scenes. While some find these steamy I guess I show my age by being bored and skimming past that. However, this is another good read worth taking along on a plane ride. It's paperback and easily left behind once read.

That's the catch up on my 2009 reads so far.