Connelly’s latest book is called The Scarecrow which is set in Los Angeles around the fast-dying newspaper industry. Jack McEvoy, a reporter for the LA Times, has just been laid off and learns that his final assignment will be the demeaning task of training his younger and cheaper replacement. Jack had gained fame years earlier after helping the FBI catch the notorious serial killer, The Poet, and subsequently writing a best-selling book detailing the investigation.

Now, nearing the end of his prime, he finds himself being ushered out of the only profession he’s ever known. McEvoy decides that to really stick it to the newspaper he’ll need to write the story of his life and leave on a high-note. With only two weeks until his exit, he immerses himself in the grimy details of a seemingly random murder but his investigation quickly uncovers several dark secrets. Jack may have dug too deep this time…

The basic suspense template – protagonist finds himself/herself in a tricky spot and must use either guile or brute force to correct the unbelievable situation – only works if there is a foundation of solid writing skill. This is especially true when carrying the same character through many books because the plots just get more and more unbelievable (like the show 24 – how could this many outrageous things happen to one individual?). Connelly succeeds because he is a very good writer and is able to sneak innocuous details in to help ground the story.

If you are borderline OCD like me, and need to read an author’s work in chronological order, you can start with his Edgar Award winning The Black Echo.

Reviewed by Matthew James Netland – Normandale Staff

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (May 26, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316166308
ISBN-13: 978-0316166300
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Navigating the Self Help aisle is like pausing before Frost’s yellow wood–but with a plethora of divergent roads. Most authors offer the “quick fix,” enabling readers to traverse the more heavily trodden path toward manifesting wealth, eliminating clutter, or finding lasting romance in ten days. My higher self has, however, located a less beaten down but more efficacious path to personal transformation: I recently read Dr. Wayne Dyer’s wonderful book, EXCUSES BEGONE!

The book is a departure from the “quick fix”: it’s more spiritual and gradual. We shed old habits, stop asking “What’s in it for me?” and ultimately recover our own vitality, depth and compassion. Dyer begins with the clever directive, “Don’t believe everything you think!” and concludes by having us engage the buoyant new feeling that results from the release of weighty excuses.

My recommendation to you is unfalteringly, “TRY it—you’ll LIKE it!” Dr. Wayne’s engaging style is eclectic and syncretic. EXCUSES BEGONE! is neatly organized into three parts that ask readers to: 1) identify and remove old habits of thinking; 2) apprehend key principles for aligning with the “Excuses Begone!” philosophy; and finally 3) engage a “paradigm shift” by changing lifelong, self-defeating habits of mind.

For the more skeptical among us, Dr. Dyer offers a scientific underpinning. He explains in organic terms just how it is that people trick themselves into resisting change. These thoughts are as real as the viruses that cause the flu. They’re called “memes,” and we get them from our parents, our friends, and the social milieu that our conscious mind sifts and filters to our unconscious. Memes exhibit the same properties as viruses: they tend to proliferate, infiltrate and persist. Dr. Dyer helps us uncover and transmute these limiting, counterproductive thoughts.

After hearing his lecture on public television, I ran out to purchase the book and the eight-CD audio book. The whole transaction was “meant to be”; upon my arrival at Barnes & Noble, I noticed by the second-floor railing a point-of-purchase display entitled “New from Dr. Wayne Dyer.” The store offered generous discounts on his visual and audial media. As a B&N green card holder with a marked propensity to buy books first, food and clothing second, I was in heaven.

By following Dr. Dyer’s principles, it’s possible to eradicate time-worn excuses in the subconscious mind like “I’m too old,” or “It’s too hard,” or “This will cause family drama.” Dr. Dyer holds our hands and walks us down alternative paths of thought and affirmations that, if taken to heart and applied vigilantly, opens to the reality we long to enjoy.

I can honestly attest that reading Dr. Dyer’s book will have a more far-reaching effect upon your consciousness then the usual pulp novels and gossip rags we read for comfort while on “vacation.” As part of my summer journey, I’ve been watching the PBS presentations, reading the book, and playing the audio CD’s in my car. I’ve been able to interpret and understand my dreams; change my thoughts; use my time creatively; and feel an overall sense of well being that habit and fatigue had been depleting. EXCUSES BEGONE! has afforded me a much needed vacation from negative thoughts, regrets, judgments and excuses — and going down that road has made all the difference.

Janet Michele Red Feather is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native born to educators in the Philadelphia School System. She has taught at the university, state college and community college levels. Janet earned a BA, cum laude in English from Albright College. While serving as a Lecturer in English, she earned her Master’s in English and American Literature from Case Western Reserve University. Although passed with recommendation for doctoral candidacy, she followed her heart and went to live in San Francisco, where she attended Golden Gate University School of Law, earning a Juris Doctorate. She then practiced Worker’s Compensation Law with a prestigious defense firm in the greater Los Angeles area. Following her exodus from the law, Janet resumed her teaching career with various schools of higher education in South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and currently, Minnesota. Janet has taught at Oglala Lakota College, a tribal college in South Dakota, and has met and danced with people of many tribes, including the Wichita, Wyandotte, Ponca, Lakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Cherokee, Mesquakie, and Iroquois Nations. Her interests include art, poetry, Native American dance, and Mandan culture and spirituality. Her most helpful insights have come from the Buddha, Lao Tzu, and her husband Cedric, a Mandan Waxikena (Turtle Priest).

Movie: 3/5 stars
Even if my mom hadn’t told me who the villain was in the first five minutes and even if I had re-read the book immediately before going to see the movie, I still would have been entertained by Angels and Demons. The twists and turns in the plot were an exciting romp through, arguably, the most historic city in the entire world, Rome. The exciting non-stop shots of Rome left me in such a state of wanderlust that I begged my parents to take me with them on their romantic getaway to Italy the week after. That being said, other than the stunning visuals Rome provides including the churches and Vatican City, the other aspects of the movie were left wanting, including the lackluster performances of some of the main characters. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon redeemed himself with a much better haircut, personifying the original disgust of Hanks’ laughable coif in The DaVinci Code’s, but other than that, I was still not moved by his performance. If I were to just critique the movie and not bring the book into play, I would say that Langdon’s character lacks development. The most exciting person in the movie was the revealed “bad-guy,” Assassin. The glasses-wearing, all-around nerdy-looking, cardinal-killing bad guy proves to be pretty bad-ass, even though his appearance wouldn’t give him away. I enjoy the fact that the bad guy [and SPOILER – other bad guy] doesn’t appear to be the villain which definitely emphasizes the twist in the plot that had many, and probably me as well if my mom hadn’t blurted out who was the mastermind behind the grand Illuminati plot to decimate Vatican City, sighing in relief to finally know who the Assassin’s boss was. Thinking of the movie as just a movie and not an adaptation of a novel, I would give this one 3 stars out of 5. While watching it, I was entertained and transported to a different time and place, but the actual performances weren’t anything to write home to mom about.

Book: 2.5/5 stars
Dan Brown’s historical fantasy is definitely meant to be a page turner. Too bad the writing style isn’t taken into account. Again, like the movie, the book is also weak in certain areas. Brown’s knowledge (I am not going to refute him in any way because I claim NO knowledge) of the secret cult of the Illuminati is extremely impressive and the way he weaves historical fact into the events in the plot is mind-blowing, however, the main character doesn’t develop. This tale was purely meant to be about the plot and Vittoria, Langdon’s main hottie, is the lone character who actually develops. From losing her father to accepting revenge, then ultimately, Brown denying her revenge creates a many-faceted personality and made her the most intriguing character in the novel. Brown’s descriptions of Rome were not as strong as seeing the actual city in the movie. Obviously, it was much harder to visualize the events of the book while not being able to see the city and for a reader who had never been to Rome or who doesn’t know what obscure churches Brown references creates a strange disconnect that hinders a reading of the novel. The movie’s visuals were stunning and a nice solution to the book’s shortcomings that I enjoyed whole-heartedly. Like the Angels and Demons movie versus the move version of The DaVinci Code, I enjoyed the book Angels and Demons more than I liked the book The DaVinci Code. Other critics have said the reason is because Demons is based more on action and is much more exciting than the conversation-dense Code. Overall, the book is like the movie: an exciting page-turner and action-filled romp, but still lacks density and development which take it to the next level.

The change that the title refers to is:

We will soon feature book reviews by Normandale Faculty!

Quick read.
The main character is a jerk.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books (May 5, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307341569
ISBN-13: 978-0307341563
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

I like kittens. Some times I like to dip them in barbeque sauce and tease the chickens that wander my yard at night. Night chickens are the best kind. They don’t argue.

Lady and Husband own profitable landscape nursery. Husband has an extreme enthusiasm for sex. 12 years of ‘dealing’ with this extreme enthusiasm has killed any desire for sexual relations she may have had remaining in her prudish body. Never again, she tells him.
Lady wants to be a romance writer. Her experience is drawn from watching movies based on Jane Austen books. Perfect. Eh. In order for her to indulge on her selfish silly whims, she starts email correspondence with a well-known area celebrity. It starts off as a joint project between Lady and Husband. Husband soon falls for victim of this cyber-stalk. Selfish crazy Lady’s actions turn into an Adulterous Affair between Husband and Victim. Hilarity ensues.

I despised all characters in this book, save for Husband. I met the author, she seemed to be a good lady. The book was written well enough. I just didn’t like the personalities created. Oh, the cover image is nice too.

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446538957
ISBN-13: 978-0446538954
Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces