The Increment by David Ignatius

My DH recently finished reading this book.  Here is his review:

My dear wife (DW) loves the spy novel genre.  My interest sparked after reading her beloved copy of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre.  Ignatius is a master at writing about the "nothing is as it seems" world of espionage.  In The Increment our protagonist, Harry Pappas, is head of the CIA's Iran Operations Division.  After receiving an unsolicited email from a contact, later determined to be an Iranian scientist, describing Iran's work on developing nuclear weapons, Harry must decide on the authenticity of the information.  Harry is given two weeks to determine the authenticity of the information before the United States plans to bomb the crap out of Iran.  Since the CIA has no assets on the inside, Harry must turn to the British for help. A plan is hatched to bring in the Iranian scientist with the help of a covert ops team dubbed The Increment, a group which doesn't legally exist.  Can the Iranian contact be brought in before it's too late? Is the information for real or a ploy?  I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good spy novel.

Rubicon or Most ominous use of a four-leaf clover

Has anyone been watching Rubicon?  Seems like it is just me, my DH, and a handful of geeks who like their spy stories with less gadgets and bombs, a la Three Days of the Condor and John Le Carre.  I am enjoying it, even though i have to force myself to watch it sometimes.  It's like I know they are going to cancel it, so why bother?
What I like so far:  Will, great acting.  He is subtle but you can really tell he's trying to keep his shit together.
Miles is manic, funny and sad.
What I don't like:  Arliss Howard is totally miscast as Kale, Will's boss.  Is he good or bad?  Is he on Will's side?  Is he plotting with Spengler?  Why does he walk funny?  Why does he comb his hair like that? Blah blah blah.
On the fence:  the fact they they never ever ever look at a computer.  i have never seen so much paper in a TV series (and The Office doesn't count).  is this realistic?   

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Just finished this book.  Wow.  What a great read.  The premise is this:  Little Bee, a 16-year-old Nigerian orphan, is being released from a detention facility in the English countryside for refugees.  Half of the story is told through Little Bee's eyes and the other half through the eyes of Sarah, a journalist who met Little Bee on a beach in Africa two years ago while on vacation with her husband.  Their meeting in Africa ends horribly, but their fates remain entwined.
Little Bee's voice is unique and her attempts to explain to the reader how the girls back home in her village would never understand the complexities of a globalized society are touching and bittersweet.  Refreshingly, Cleave does not make Little Bee a saint nor does he make Sarah or her journalist husband, Andrew,  typical self-righteous do-gooders.  The storytelling is suspenseful, and the more I read, the more I began to feel an overwhelming sense of dread.  Like, how could this ever end happy when reality isn't happy? How did you interpret the ending?  Do you think Little Bee lived? Did Sarah write her book?  Did Charlie ever put his Batman suit back on? 
This book made me feel insignificant, like this behavior (corrupt governments/evil corps seeking natural resources at any cost) cannot be stopped.  Like I know it happens, but since I am little-ole-me, what can i really do to make a difference?  Write a letter to my congressman?  Hardly.  It's easier to ignore things that happen half a world away.  

Switching Gears: Drop Dead Diva

Who loves this show as much as I do?  It is hilarious and, along with Arrested Development, is one of the few shows that makes me giggle.  Brooke Elliott plays Jane, a brilliant but boring attorney, who ends up in the emergency room after taking a bullet meant for her boss (way to guarantee partner).  Deb is an aspiring model who is in a fatal car accident.  Deb is accidentally reincarnated into Jane's body, hijinks ensue.  Seriously, though, if it weren't for Elliott's serious acting chops, this show wouldn't be believable.  It was a smart move to keep Jane's intellectual ability even though she is now inhabited by Deb.  As a viewer, I totally buy it when she spouts some legal mumbo jumbo then stops to hold her head and say "ow."
I know Jane will eventually tell Grayson (Deb's distraught fiance) who she really is, but I hope the show drags it out a while.
Can't wait for next season!

Franzen-bore

Guess I should say something about the brou-ha-ha over Jonathon Franzen's latest novel, Freedom.  I must admit that The Corrections, which was published seemingly forever ago, was one book I could not finish.  I mean, I didn't even get far into it.  I just knew it wasn't for me.  I was exceedingly bored with the whole thing and no matter how I hard I tried, I could not keep reading it.  On second thought, I probably didn't try that hard.  There were so many other books beckoning that it didn't seem important at the time to keep reading.  When any book is hailed as the second coming, my defenses are immediately up, as is the case with Franzen's latest novel, Freedom.  After striking out with The Corrections, I just don't think I care about Freedom, no matter what the NY Times says.  And no one can make me read it!  Ha ha.  Good thing I'm not in a book club, although with Franzen's seeming egocentric-ness, I am sure he would rather his book not be elevated to any #1 book club pick (ahem, Oprah).  Maybe, when all the madness fades away, I'll try to read it, but not a minute sooner.

Series Review: Stephanie Plum or as I like to call them "Doughnut Porn"

Recently finished reading all the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich.  Loved them.  They gave me the giggles...and it isn't often I have that reaction from books.  Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter in New Jersey.  She is mediocre at best.  She really only catches her bounty through dumb luck and help from other sources, including a bad ass bounty hunter named Ranger.  These books really shine though when they focus on Plum's family, including the random people she happens to pick up along the way.  Stephanie's circle of friends and family is like a huge keychain with normal keys, keys you can't remember where they came from, keys that you don't use much, keys you forget about, and keys you only use in emergencies.  These characters sometimes pop up in several books and they are usually a welcome addition. 
The scenes with her parents and grandmother are hilarious and I hope these translate on the big screen.  Of course, a movie starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum is in the works.  Hope they get her Jersey swagger right. 
Through a tragic event, Stephanie ends up meeting Lulu.  Lulu, former prostitute turned filing clerk/wannabe bounty hunter.  Their adventures together are one of my favorite parts of the books.
However, as much as I love these books, I do not recommend reading them back-to-back.  Sometimes reading a series in this manner, especially light/fluffy books as I call them (where you know no one you care about is going to die and the plot is usually resolved nicely), draws more attention to the flaws.  Stephanie's quirks began to grate a little by Sizzlin Sixteen, especially her indecisiveness when it came to the two men in her life.
More than anything, these books made me want to eat doughnuts all the time.  Good doughnuts, which my city is totally lacking.   

True Blah

It must say something about my general feelings towards True Blood this season when I still haven't watched the most recent episode.  True Blah indeed.