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If you care to try an alternate history novel, the books 1812 and 1824 by Eric Flint are set in the transitional time period. The use of state militias in the depicted military actions point up some of the difficulties for independent states operating toward common goals.

Has anyone reviewed "The Secret Lives of Bees?" I found that book to be the story of my life. I earmarked just about every page to quote, so it'll take some time to review.

After suffering from Reader's Block since early September, I eased back into reading by devouring two "mystery lite's" over the weekend.

Dick Francis as an author so far exceeds others who write in the genre that I hesitate to call his latest book "Silks," a mystery-lite. The man has had an amazing career. I'd rather review his life than his book. It seems he had little education and earned money as a jockey, at one time riding for the queen. He then began to publish books about racing horses in England. When is wife of many years died, he said he had lost his partner and would never write again. Some suspected that his wife, who had a background in academics in English and literature, may have actually been the author of his books.

Dick Francis fans were happy when he began to publish again with his son, Felix Francis. Maybe Franics spins the yarns and he needs a helper to polish them. The last books are of the same quality as his former writings.

"Silks" is the story of a an attorney who is called to represent an innocent man, but to bungle the trial so much as to find the party guilty.

It was good lite reading.

"Lie Down With The Devil" by Linda Barnes was more cut and paste mystery. There must be a mad-libs for writing mystery fiction with a female detective as the main character. Still I continue to read them. A woman with the unlikely name of Carlotta Carlyle lives in Boston and drives a taxi to make ends meet between detective clients. She has a love interest who is in the mob. She has sexual tension with her former partner. Her mob boyfriend may/may not be in trouble with the law, and she has to sort it all out. Throw in a "little sister" who is from Colombia and a group of people who are trying to establish themselves as a Native American tribe to bring in gambling into Massachusetts. Add a little binding and hitting and blood and alakazam, the hero saves the day.

Still it got me back into wanting to read so what's the harm?

I'll give the Eric Flint books a try.

Kathy, I'm glad to learn this crud affects reading.

You guys make me wish I could go back to reading... I loved the Francis books of old... I lived and worked in and around Saratoga Springs, and always felt he was walking around me. From the Track to Lake Saratoga, he was always there.

As Nike says, "Just DO it." Mr. Bama thought "Silks" was one of Francis' best books. I wouldn't go that far but it was good to get back to reading. I just couldn't concentrate for the last few months enough to read.

I stopped smoking a year and a half ago and completely lost the ability to read, no concentration and couldn't get interested in even my favorite authors. I went from a book a week to one every month or so. Still, every night I read a few pages. I think it is slowly coming back.

Greger - it does come back, but it takes awhile. I was very upset about it, as reading has been my favorite activity since I learned how to do it -- facing a life without it had me on the verge of despair.

I can read again, although I no longer have the patience to finish a book that doesn't really "grab" me - although that may be age more than anything else.

I blame it totally on the book. If it hasn't caught me in 50 pages--or sometimes 100--it's not my problem. I also only give movies 15 or 20 minutes. If it's a bad one at a theater, I'll go in the lobby and read, if whomever I'm with likes the movie. Yes, I ALWAYS have a book with me.

Martin Amis's Time's Arrow is truly weird. The narrator resides in a man's body, a man who keeps changing identities. We see the man in his love relationships, working as a doctor and bringing holocaust victims back to life. And—oh, yeah—the action takes place backwards, resulting in the parasite scheduled to be "unborn" shortly after the book ends.

There were moments of interest.

1) A phrase: "… his veronicas of apology …" (page 66) I never knew veronica was anything other than a name. In the phrase it's obviously a noun. So I looked it up. Three definitions, and I'm still not sure what the phrase is saying. My guess is it's an extension of the veronica meaning the appearance of Jesus's image on something—a handkerchief or, lately, a piece of toast. To be the phrase still isn't clear but that definition seems closer than the veronica definitions of a plant or a move in bullfighting. Does it make sense to anyone out there?

2) The narrator and his host arrive in New York in November where "(t)he people had grown their winter coats, and the high buildings trembled in the tight grip of their stress equations." (page 67) Cool. IMHO.

3) "Now and then, when the night sky is starless, I look up and form the hilarious suspicion that the world will soon start making sense." (page 106) Nah. Never happen. The narrator can stop worrying.

Aristotle wrote that the world of a novel (Okay. He was talking about plays, but the principle's the same.) must be logical within itself. Time's Arrow does that, but it saddens me to admit I enjoy stories set in worlds a little closer to our own—at least what I see as reality. Except Alice in Wonderland. I'm perfectly content to wander forever in that unreal-but-logical-to-itself world.