February is Black History Month and since this is a part of American history that I don’t know enough about I plan on reading nothing but Black History for the month of February.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave will be the first book I read. I am starting it tonight. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz; 2005; 334 pages; Bantam Books, New York, NY; 0-553-80416-2; 1/28-1/30

“When social forces press for the rejection of age-old Truth, then those who reject it will seek meaning in their own truth.  These truths will rarely be Truth at all; they will be only collections of personal preferences and prejudices.”

Back on June 29, 2005 I read the first book in the stories of Odd (that’s his given first name) Thomas.  Odd can see the dead and kind of communicate with them, especially in this volume with the ghost of Elvis, who has taken up residence in the small California of Pico Mundo.  Odds’ best friend is kidnapped to get Odd to conjure some spirits for a gal who is either a true believer (in what no one is quiet sure) or a total wack job.  Most of the action takes place in a ruined Native American casino, with the help of one very angry spirit, a mountain lion and some quick thinking Odd is able to rescue his friend.  RRr

Man without a Country by Edward Everett Hale; 1912; 55 pages; Ginn & Company, Boston; 1/28-1/28

This book has been one of my favorites for many years, I own 8 or 10 different editions of it from the 1912 one that I read to the Classics Illustrated comic.  However in the reading of it today I was not moved in the way that I have been in the past.  I think this is the first time I have read it since I have begun to question whether my first allegiance should be to my country or God.

Lt. Philip Nolan is a co-conspirator of Aaron Burr who at his court martial declares “Damm the United States.  I wish that I may never hear of the United States again.”  The officers of his court martial, many of whom had fought in the American Revolution, make that his sentence, that he may never hear of the United States again.  He is but aboard a series of Navy ships and the crews are instructed not to speak of the United States to Mr. Nolan.  His reading material is censored and no one is allowed to speak of the U.S. to him.  Years later as he lay dying one Navy officer finds out how much Nolan had missed the United States and never having a home.  RRr

Sword and Blossom, A British Officer’s Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman by Peter Pagnamenta & Momoke Williams; 345 pages; 2006; The Penguin Press, New York, NY; 1-59420-089-0; 1/14-1/27

A British is stationed in Japan to learn the language because of the British-Japanese Alliance signed in 1904.  While there he falls in love with a Japanese woman and lives with her and has two sons with her.  He supports her as he moves about the British empire, (India, Hong Kong) but through out their relationship, he insists that she follow him and very rarely asks about their children.  His one obvious mention of his sons is that they would restrict the couples freedom and he expresses virtually no emotion when one of the sons dies at a young age.  He fights in Europe during World War I and is gravely injured, suffering the loss of both legs and is feeling sorry for himself, he decides to forgo the woman he has been leading on for so many years and marries a woman who is a nurse and can take care of him.  Although this is billed as a love story I found it to be a story of one mans’ selfishness and his inability to look beyond himself.  Well written, but ultimately unsatisfying. RRR

The Collectors by David Baldacci; 2006; Warner Books, New York, NY; 438 pages; 0-446-53109-X; 1/12-1/14

The Rare Book Room at the Library of Congress, an Atlantic City casino, a gorgeous con artist and a Dumbledore lookalike all come together in this adventure of The Camel Club. Overseas assets in the employ of American intelligence agencies are dropping like flies, and the director of the Library of Congress’ Rare Book Room is killed and somehow you know that the author can convincingly tie them together. As Oliver Stone and his band of irregulars go up a much more highly organized foe, they pull together to bring down a dangerous enemy whom would do harm to America. I will look forward to more adventures of the Camel Club. RRRR