Challenge: Throwing in the Towel

I'm afraid that the Books Won Challenge sponsored by So Many Precious Books, So Little Time is not going to get done. There's just no way on earth I'm going to be able to read 4 more of these things before the end of the year. Especially since I could not finish Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey. I declared myself for the Silver level (see below) but have barely scraped myself into the Honorable Mention. Mark this one down as the big FAIL.

Honorable Mention: Read 1-3 book you won.

Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won.

Silver: Read 7-9 Books you won.

Gold: Read 10 or more books you won.

I plan on going for the Silver Level (7-9 books won) and here are the intended reads and reviews:
1. The Praise Singer by Mary Renault (12/20/11)
2. Scorpions: The Battles & Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices by Noah Feldman (7/1/11)3. The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins
4. The Queen's Pawn by Christy English
5. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
6. The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
7. Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey (Did Not Finish--just couldn't)
8. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M. C. Beaton (6/28/11)

Scorpions: The Battles & Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices

Thanks to the marvelous Cheryl over at CMash Loves to Read, I won this very interesting historical book: Scorpions: The Battles & Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices by Noah Feldman. In a nutshell, this book tells the story of four great justices: their relationship with Roosevelt, with each other, and with the turbulent world of the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. It also serves as a history of the modern Constitution itself, exploring the constitutional battles of the Roosevelt era (1940s and 1950s) and their contemporary relevance. A great deal of the interest in this book is in Feldman's thesis that each of the four justices developed their own unique constitutional theory and that this fueled their battles, but also spurred them to greatness. The first section of the book gives the histories of Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, Robert Jackson, and William O. Douglas. It follows them from their home towns, through their law training, finally sees them to the bench of the Supreme Court. Frankfurter was Jewish and began as America's leading liberal, but with the changing tide in politics he ended his career with the legacy as its most famous judicial conservative. Black started out as a Klansman--primarily to gain the votes of his home state that would give him a place in Congress--and wound up as an absolutist advocate of free speech and civil rights. Jackson was a back-country lawyer who started his career trying cases about cows and became the lead prosecutor in one of the most important international trials ever. Douglas was a self-made man, a Westerner and teller of tall tales who narrowly missed the presidency but led the way to expand individual freedoms beyond what had ever been done before.

This is a densely packed book full of information. Information about the inner workings of the Supreme Court. A peek into the power struggles between the branches of government. A glance at what a soap opera political life really can be. I learned a lot about the history of some of the most famous court cases--from the internment of Japanese Americans to Brown vs. the Board of Education to the constitutionality of forcing school children to salute the flag. There is more detail and information than I could possibly gloss for you here in a review. I also learned a lot about the maneuvering that takes place to try and win swing votes. And how just a little change in language can allow the Court to appear to overturn past Supreme Court decisions without really saying, "Those guys before. They were wrong. NOW we got it right." I sort of thought that once the Supreme Court ruled on it, there it was. Final say. Can't change that. Well, actually they can--as long as they figure out the right way to say it.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in history--particularly in the years just prior to WWII through the early 70s when the last of the four passed away. But be prepared to invest some time. As I said, it's a densely packed book and to get the full benefit of all that Feldman has to offer it will eat a chunk out of your reading time. Three and a half stars.

Death of a Chimney Sweep: Review

Death of a Chimney Sweep by M. C. Beaton is a cozy little mystery that I won from Cheryl at CMash Loves to Read back in February. This particular Hamish MacBeth story is again set in the tiny villages of Drim and Lochdubh...places in the far north of Scotland where home owners still employ a village chimney sweep to care for their chimneys. Pete Ray has always been dependable--until the day that the master of the house whose chimney he's cleaning goes on a walk and never returns. Pete winds up missing as well, leaving the door to the house wide open and no clues behind. Except for that strange dripping noise that Milly Davenport hears when she returns from shopping. She investigates, is shocked to see that what is dripping is blood--from the chimney--and she calls in Constable MacBeth.

The body in the chimney is Milly's husband, Captain Henry Davenport, and it doesn't take MacBeth's superiors long to decide that the culprit must be the missing sweep. When his body is found with his crashed motorbike and a stash of stolen loot from the Davenport house, Chief Inspector Blair is ready to close the case. But MacBeth isn't. He knew Pete and he knows he wasn't a thief let alone a murderer. He arranges for more forensic testing to be done...and for a story to be leaked to the press and Blair is forced to keep the case open. MacBeth will have to follow a long trail of fraud, faulty business deals, and further murders before he finally lands the psychopathic killer behind the crimes.

I've discovered that the Hamish MacBeth stories are ones that I will have to take in small doses. They are well written, quick reads, and tell interesting stories, but there are some pretty formulaic parts that I just don't think I could stand if I read several of these in a row. For instance, this is about MacBeth's 25th murder case (just counting those that have been written about) and he's still considered "that loony Constable," still accused of jumping to conclusions by his superior (Blair), and never given credit where it's due. Yes, he's a little stubborn and he does have some flights of intuition, but the man has been right twenty-five times. Surely Blair ought to know by now that he's got a pretty sharp man holding down the beat in Drim and Lochdubh. This is only the third of the series that I've read and Blair's attitude is already getting the better of me. Othewise, a fun little mystery. A nice little diversion from my non-fiction read (which is taking for-ev-er). Three stars.

Books Won Challenge 2011

What the heck, let's sign up for another challenge! After all, I've already completed five so I'm feeling a little light in the challenge department (I only have 15 more or so to do....). Soooooo, here goes I'm diving into the Books Won Challenge sponsored by So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. Here's the Scoop:

She created this challenge last year to challenge herself and others that have won books, to read and review some of them. If you would like to join her, here are the levels:

Honorable Mention: Read 1-3 book you won.

Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won.

Silver: Read 7-9 Books you won.

Gold: Read 10 or more books you won.

The Rules:

1. You must write a review for each book that you read for it to count. If you do not have a blog you can write your reviews on a place like Amazon, Powell's, Chapters, etc.
2.Crossovers with other challenges are okay.
3. Audiobooks and ebooks count, as long as you won them.

4. You can change up levels but cannot go back down a level.

5. You don't have to make a list ahead of time for this challenge but you can if you want to.

To sign up, leave a direct link to your blog post about this challenge, using Mr. Linky on her page.

I plan on going for the Silver Level (7-9 books won) and here are the intended reads and reviews:
1. The Praise Singer by Mary Renault (12/20/11)
2. Scorpions: The Battles & Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices by Noah Feldman (7/1/11)3. The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins
4. The Queen's Pawn by Christy English
5. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
6. The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
7. Perfect Reader by Maggie Pouncey
8. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M. C. Beaton (6/28/11)