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travellingcari's reviews
872 reviews
Wander Woman: How to Reclaim Your Space, Find Your Voice, and Travel the World, Solo by Beth Santos
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
3.75
This was an interesting book for someone who sees a lot of mental, physical and emotional barriers between themselves and solo traveling. That said, it was still useful for me as an experienced solo traveler because it made me think about some things such as safety through a lens I hadn't previously, even as a woman. Good read but no major wows.
Back Roads and Better Angels: A Journey into the Heart of American Democracy by Francis S. Barry
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
I really enjoyed Barry's journey along the Lincoln Highway from September 11, 2020 through Election Day. While we all know the turmoil didn't stop after November 7, 2020, I wished the book had ended there. Barry's voice was strong through the Lincoln and date parallels as he and his wife traveled during the still thick of the COVID pandemic. They found living and concrete memorials to Lincoln on their journey and shared the history of the Lincoln Highway. While there were elements of his southern sojourn that were interesting in the context of Lincoln and the pandemic, I felt it went on too long. I wonder if I might have felt differently about reliving January 6 at a different time
What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas by Mark Seal, James Patterson
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
I saw this randomly when I was in Vegas and then that the library had it. I love these inside stories of the people: the workers, the historical figures, the gamblers. Fun, quick read about what doesn’t stay in Vegas !
Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting by Bruce Feldman
4.0
Despite not being the world's biggest Ed Orgeron fan (he's a bit too much Ryan brothers in my opinion) I really liked this inside look at his Ole Miss tenure. I had a dead tree copy some years ago that I somehow never ended up reading a few years back but this book was almost made more interesting with the hindsight of some of his "can't miss" players. While the death of TOny Fein was of course heartbreaking a few years ago, there have been some nice stories to come out of the kids he recruited including Peria Jerry, Michael Oher & Mike Wallace. It was also nice to see the look backs on his former staff and how so many reunited under Hugh Freeze when the latter returned to Ole Miss.
A nice inside view of the recruiting "game" and how much the mentality of 17 year old kids plays into it. Overall a very good read
A nice inside view of the recruiting "game" and how much the mentality of 17 year old kids plays into it. Overall a very good read
The English Spy by Daniel Silva
AKA, Daniel Silva, you make me absolutely crazy but I love every word you write. Oddly, this is the first one in a few books where I’ve read the book as soon as it came out. Usually I save Allon for my December beach reading binge, but I couldn’t wait. A lot of that came from going to Daniel Silva’s book signing last Monday and it was only being in the middle of a book for book club next week that kept me from starting it instantly. As it was, I started it Sunday and finished Wednesday-it’s not a four day read, I just had no reading time. Reading it while the Iranian nuclear talks were being held in Vienna were eerie.
From here on in there are spoilers for both The English Spy (July 2015) and The Defector (2009).
First off, I cannot believe The Defector was six years ago! Although I cannot ever recall its title I will never forget the book. It is the one time I said (and meant) that I would stop reading Allon. And I absolutely would have had he killed Chiara. In some ways I love Chiara even more than I do Gabriel because she completes him. However, I also think that Gabriel wouldn’t have survived the death of Chiara-she and Shamron are the only ones who have allowed him to survive Dani’s.
The Q&A with [a:Daniel Silva|29085|Daniel Silva|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1240154365p2/29085.jpg] at Barnes & Noble was the first I heard him speak in person about his alter ego, and it shed a lot more light not only on Keller, but also on the series and characters as a whole. He alluded to Allon possibly truly being the Arcangel & Prince of Fire-something that he brought home throughout The English Spy. However he also talked about the parallels between himself & Gabriel-including both being fathers of twins-and I truly now believe that the twins will be healthy and Silva won’t kill off Allon. Two factors that made reading this book much easier. I’m really not sure what Silva meant when he said Gabriel was 150 though since Shamron is getting on in years. Anyone have a little Bible 101 for me?
I know there has been some division online about the increased role of Keller, but I didn’t feel that it took away from Allon at all. It was a nice change up from Allon’s standard crew with which he often did operations and it was a nice background on a character we’ve seen across the last few books. It was also nice for some additional background on Graham Seymour. I’d love to see Keller with his own series, although not if it means more than a year between time with Gabriel Allon. 365 days is more than enough!
Two interesting things that this book shed light on
how little time passes between the books. Allon is sitting in the airport in Rome with Chiara to send her back to Jerusalem only 72 hours after he found the painting at Lago di Como at the end of The Heist. That explains why Chiara’s pregancy has covered so many books and why Shamron has been at death’s door for so long without actually worsening. Although it didn’t feel like it, this book seemed to cover a month per a chapter toward the end wherein Gabriel said he missed this month that he could have spent with Chiara.
Allon speaks English! That shouldn’t be surprising since he’s always worked closely with Adrian Carter and Graham Seymour, but it was never spelled out in the way German was as the language of his mother and his dreams. It only came up here in a conversation with Keller re: Allon’s ability to speak fluent English as a downside in Northern Ireland. I’d imagine he speaks Italian with Chiara and Hebrew with his team, but this was an interesting development.
Apart from the book’s narrative, which as always drew me in from page one, was that I’d just been reading about The Troubles without even realizing that it played such a huge part in The English Spy. We’ve come a long way from the days of the IRA, Sinn Fein and others being a regular part of the news and, at least in the case of US News, when an IRA is in the news its the financial instrument, not bombers. In the narrative, the counties of Northern Ireland played as vivid a role as the characters and I feel as if I should go back to do some more background reading.
“Because it’s personal,” replied Keller. “And when it’s personal, it tends to get messy.”
One of the things I love the most about Silva’s writing is that things that appear to be loose ends aren’t really. Silva continues to tell the story of Allon’s beloved Dani throughout his books. It was a nice surprise to see him do so again here. For Gabriel, it will always be personal. There were several references in this book to it being the end of Uzi’s first term as Chief of the Office and I wonder whether there being terms involved will allow Silva to write Allon out of that role.
Although I enjoyed the return of Madeline and the setting amid the Irish coast, I found myself missing Silva’s typical Italian and Israeli scenery. I love the painting he paints with words and I’m just not as interested in Ireland as I am the rest of Europe and the Middle East.
One thing I always have issue with in books and movies is feeling others’ pain-I get embarrassed when a character is embarrassed and I found myself in tears reading of some of Gabriel’s friends’ reactions to his death. I’m glad someone told Chiara and Shamron the truth and that he ultimately connected with Julian Isherwood, but I truly felt for the Pope and Monsignor Donati. This also provided Silva ** with an interesting opportunity to bring back past characters such as Sarah Bancroft and it made me wonder whether he’ll be using her again-there always seems to be a reason for what he does.
In his Q&A, Silva spoke of the Allon books he had in the works so I knew Gabriel lived to see another day, another fight. In some ways that provided a cushion as I had in the past when I was playing catch up on his books. Allon may be wounded, but there’s not another book without Gabriel. That said, every time he mentioned Moscow, I tensed up. That scene in The Defector at the edge of the pit together with the ones with Chiara in captivity had to be among the most brutal that Silva has written.
Gabriel was home when he arrived on Narkiss Street, but in a way we were home too. Israel, especially Jerusalem and Tiberias are characters as much as Allon, Chiara and Keller are; and it was a huge part of why I was so glad to visit Tiberias while in Israel. Back to where the series’ heart is and back to where he could visit with Shamron and Leah.
Dear, sweet Leah. It broke my heart when I realized she was among those who thought Gabriel dead.
“Are you real, my love? Or am I hallucinating?” “I’m real.” “Where are we?” “Jerusalem.” Her head turned and she watched the snow. “Isn’t it beautiful?” “Yes, Leah.” “The snow absolves Vienna of its sins. Snow falls on Vienna while the missiles rain on Tel Aviv.”
Leah’s pain and lapses between the past and present are so beautifully heartbreaking. His sharing the twins’ names was perfect. And I do think the names will help Gabriel heal too. In his Q&A / remarks Silva alluded to one point where Gabriel would be as healed as he would ever be. When Keller killed Quinn, when Leah blessed the twins’ names? I’m not sure. But I look forward to the next chapter.
** Throughout this post I kept typing Allon when I meant Silva and vice versa. The two really are conflated in my mind.
“It was the kind of night they used to write songs about. Eight men dead in the green hills of South Armagh, six by the gun, two by the sword. Their names were an honor roll of the IRA’s most notorious unit: Maguire, Magill, Callahan, O’Donnell, Ryan, Kelly, Collins, Fagan . . . Eight men dead in the green hills of South Armagh, six by the gun, two by the sword. It was the kind of night they used to write songs about.”
5.0
AKA, Daniel Silva, you make me absolutely crazy but I love every word you write. Oddly, this is the first one in a few books where I’ve read the book as soon as it came out. Usually I save Allon for my December beach reading binge, but I couldn’t wait. A lot of that came from going to Daniel Silva’s book signing last Monday and it was only being in the middle of a book for book club next week that kept me from starting it instantly. As it was, I started it Sunday and finished Wednesday-it’s not a four day read, I just had no reading time. Reading it while the Iranian nuclear talks were being held in Vienna were eerie.
From here on in there are spoilers for both The English Spy (July 2015) and The Defector (2009).
Spoiler
First off, I cannot believe The Defector was six years ago! Although I cannot ever recall its title I will never forget the book. It is the one time I said (and meant) that I would stop reading Allon. And I absolutely would have had he killed Chiara. In some ways I love Chiara even more than I do Gabriel because she completes him. However, I also think that Gabriel wouldn’t have survived the death of Chiara-she and Shamron are the only ones who have allowed him to survive Dani’s.
The Q&A with [a:Daniel Silva|29085|Daniel Silva|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1240154365p2/29085.jpg] at Barnes & Noble was the first I heard him speak in person about his alter ego, and it shed a lot more light not only on Keller, but also on the series and characters as a whole. He alluded to Allon possibly truly being the Arcangel & Prince of Fire-something that he brought home throughout The English Spy. However he also talked about the parallels between himself & Gabriel-including both being fathers of twins-and I truly now believe that the twins will be healthy and Silva won’t kill off Allon. Two factors that made reading this book much easier. I’m really not sure what Silva meant when he said Gabriel was 150 though since Shamron is getting on in years. Anyone have a little Bible 101 for me?
I know there has been some division online about the increased role of Keller, but I didn’t feel that it took away from Allon at all. It was a nice change up from Allon’s standard crew with which he often did operations and it was a nice background on a character we’ve seen across the last few books. It was also nice for some additional background on Graham Seymour. I’d love to see Keller with his own series, although not if it means more than a year between time with Gabriel Allon. 365 days is more than enough!
Two interesting things that this book shed light on
how little time passes between the books. Allon is sitting in the airport in Rome with Chiara to send her back to Jerusalem only 72 hours after he found the painting at Lago di Como at the end of The Heist. That explains why Chiara’s pregancy has covered so many books and why Shamron has been at death’s door for so long without actually worsening. Although it didn’t feel like it, this book seemed to cover a month per a chapter toward the end wherein Gabriel said he missed this month that he could have spent with Chiara.
Allon speaks English! That shouldn’t be surprising since he’s always worked closely with Adrian Carter and Graham Seymour, but it was never spelled out in the way German was as the language of his mother and his dreams. It only came up here in a conversation with Keller re: Allon’s ability to speak fluent English as a downside in Northern Ireland. I’d imagine he speaks Italian with Chiara and Hebrew with his team, but this was an interesting development.
Apart from the book’s narrative, which as always drew me in from page one, was that I’d just been reading about The Troubles without even realizing that it played such a huge part in The English Spy. We’ve come a long way from the days of the IRA, Sinn Fein and others being a regular part of the news and, at least in the case of US News, when an IRA is in the news its the financial instrument, not bombers. In the narrative, the counties of Northern Ireland played as vivid a role as the characters and I feel as if I should go back to do some more background reading.
“Because it’s personal,” replied Keller. “And when it’s personal, it tends to get messy.”
One of the things I love the most about Silva’s writing is that things that appear to be loose ends aren’t really. Silva continues to tell the story of Allon’s beloved Dani throughout his books. It was a nice surprise to see him do so again here. For Gabriel, it will always be personal. There were several references in this book to it being the end of Uzi’s first term as Chief of the Office and I wonder whether there being terms involved will allow Silva to write Allon out of that role.
Although I enjoyed the return of Madeline and the setting amid the Irish coast, I found myself missing Silva’s typical Italian and Israeli scenery. I love the painting he paints with words and I’m just not as interested in Ireland as I am the rest of Europe and the Middle East.
One thing I always have issue with in books and movies is feeling others’ pain-I get embarrassed when a character is embarrassed and I found myself in tears reading of some of Gabriel’s friends’ reactions to his death. I’m glad someone told Chiara and Shamron the truth and that he ultimately connected with Julian Isherwood, but I truly felt for the Pope and Monsignor Donati. This also provided Silva ** with an interesting opportunity to bring back past characters such as Sarah Bancroft and it made me wonder whether he’ll be using her again-there always seems to be a reason for what he does.
In his Q&A, Silva spoke of the Allon books he had in the works so I knew Gabriel lived to see another day, another fight. In some ways that provided a cushion as I had in the past when I was playing catch up on his books. Allon may be wounded, but there’s not another book without Gabriel. That said, every time he mentioned Moscow, I tensed up. That scene in The Defector at the edge of the pit together with the ones with Chiara in captivity had to be among the most brutal that Silva has written.
Gabriel was home when he arrived on Narkiss Street, but in a way we were home too. Israel, especially Jerusalem and Tiberias are characters as much as Allon, Chiara and Keller are; and it was a huge part of why I was so glad to visit Tiberias while in Israel. Back to where the series’ heart is and back to where he could visit with Shamron and Leah.
Dear, sweet Leah. It broke my heart when I realized she was among those who thought Gabriel dead.
“Are you real, my love? Or am I hallucinating?” “I’m real.” “Where are we?” “Jerusalem.” Her head turned and she watched the snow. “Isn’t it beautiful?” “Yes, Leah.” “The snow absolves Vienna of its sins. Snow falls on Vienna while the missiles rain on Tel Aviv.”
Leah’s pain and lapses between the past and present are so beautifully heartbreaking. His sharing the twins’ names was perfect. And I do think the names will help Gabriel heal too. In his Q&A / remarks Silva alluded to one point where Gabriel would be as healed as he would ever be. When Keller killed Quinn, when Leah blessed the twins’ names? I’m not sure. But I look forward to the next chapter.
** Throughout this post I kept typing Allon when I meant Silva and vice versa. The two really are conflated in my mind.
“It was the kind of night they used to write songs about. Eight men dead in the green hills of South Armagh, six by the gun, two by the sword. Their names were an honor roll of the IRA’s most notorious unit: Maguire, Magill, Callahan, O’Donnell, Ryan, Kelly, Collins, Fagan . . . Eight men dead in the green hills of South Armagh, six by the gun, two by the sword. It was the kind of night they used to write songs about.”
212 by Alafair Burke
4.0
A number of interesting twists and turns as Burke linked all the women & men together. Slow start but had me hooked by the first third. Look forward to reading the rest of Burke's work
All Dressed in White by Mary Higgins Clark
4.0
A little bit of a hot mess, to be honest. Having read both Burke's and Mary Higgins Clark's works, their voices really don't fuse well. And the epilogue clearly had some pieces edited out as it didn't make solid sense. That said, enough twists to keep it interesting. I'll keep on reading this series.
Dead Connection by Alafair Burke
4.0
A really good intro to Ellie & Jess. As a Michael Connelly fan, Flann reminded me a lot of Harry Bosch. Interesting case although I think the ending was put together a little too clumsily.
From Clueless to Class Act: Manners for the Modern Man by Jodi R.R. Smith
2.0
I skimmed it toward the end. The book is well meaning and has some good tips but for the most part is quite outdated for its readership. While grandma & grandpa might invite folks via a formal letter two months out, they're not reading this book. Some bits are nice though especially to see the chivalry isn't (completely) dead.