The Associates, Four Capitalist who Created California by Richard Rayner; 2008; $23.95; 223 pages; 978-0-393-05913-7; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Midland; 9/23-9/26 Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins and Crocker are names that are familiar to many people in California somehow.  Stanford University, Mark Hopkins Hotel, and Crocker Bank among other things.  These men were capitalists and [...]

Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett; 2010; $19.99; 327 pages; Orbit Books, New York, NY; 978-0-316-05468-3; checked out from Multnomah County Library, Woodstock; 9/22-9/23 Here is a book that crosses several genres and actually works pretty well.  A quick read.  It starts out as a revenge thriller, Conelley is seeking a scarred man who killed [...]

Matterhorn, A Novel of Vietnam by Karl Marlantes; 2010; $24.95; 600 pages; El Leon Literary Arts, Berkeley, CA; 0978-0-8021-1928-5; Checked out from Sandy Public Library through the courtesy of Amanda Banker; 9/16-9/23 To me the classic books about the Vietnam War are Vietnam, Valor and Sorrow by Thomas Boettcher, Dispatches by Michael Herr and We [...]

 Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life by Steve Almond; 2010; $23.00; 222 pages; Random House, New York, NY; 978-1-4000-6620-9; Checked out from West Linn Public Library by Amanda Banker; 9/13-9/15 A series of essays that concern rock music and mostly about the way it makes us feel.  Almond decries rock critics and their high handedness [...]

True Blue by David Baldacci; 2009; $27.99; 454 pages; Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY; 978-0-446-19551-5; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Saint Johns; 9/11-9/13 Sisters Beth and Mace Perry both started as beat cops on the Municipal Police Department in Washington, D.C..  Beth is now Chief of Police and Mace is just finishing a [...]