Johnny Tremaine was apprenticed to the famous silversmith, Paul Revere. Thus, he had a front row seat to watch the beginnings of the Revolutionary War.

I started reading The Thorny Rose of Texas about Ann Richards a few days ago.

I'm also reading The Politics of Truth by Joseph Wilson. I'm getting close to finishing this book and I highly recommend it. Wilson's accounts of his time working in the ambassador's offices in Africa and Iraq are extremely interesting.

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Originally posted by Jim Tirey:
Johnny Tremaine was apprenticed to the famous silversmith, Paul Revere. Thus, he had a front row seat to watch the beginnings of the Revolutionary War.

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Not to give anything away, but did he have a burn on his hand?
If so, I read it as a kid and enjoyed it very much.

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Originally posted by JMH:
Not to give anything away, but did he have a burn on his hand?
If so, I read it as a kid and enjoyed it very much.

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That's the one. He burned it near the beginning of the book, so I don't think it gives much away. (And it HAS been out for fifty years, so I think there's a statute of limitations on spoilers...)

Johnny Tremaine was apprenticed to a different silversmith, but did talk with Paul Revere in the book. I should re-read that one--a classic story.

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Originally posted by Andrea Westerfeld:

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Is that the story of a kid who comes to Texas from Tennesee or some place about the time of the Texas revolution?

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_Johnny Tremaine_ took place during the Revolutionary War. In Boston, I think.

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Correct. Johnny Tremain (spelling corrected) is a fictional coming-of-age story about a kid growing up in 1770's Boston. An accident renders him unfit for further work as a silversmith apprentice, and the next thing you know he is helping Revere, Hancock, the Adams brothers et al. foment revolution. Things don't always turn out happily for him, and the story doesn't get neatly wrapped up at the end. In that respect, it is more realistic than most such stories.

I read a lot outside of the "law". Recently I read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, a book about Vlad the Impaler i.e. Dracula. It also took you on quite a tour of Clod War Europe. The Emporer of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter was an excellent mystery based in Washington, D.C. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls which is a memoir about a child and her siblings growing up in a DEEPLY dysfunctional family. I could not put it down! Angels and Demons by Dan Brown was good. Better than the DaVinci Code, I thought. Wild Swans by Jung Change was a great book. It was about three generations of a Chinese family and covered the history of Mao's impact on China, as well. I could go on and on. Reading is another way for me to learn, grow, and be creative. As dedicated as I am to being a good prosecutor, I also believe that we should be well rounded. It is interesting to hear everyone's book choices. I'm definitely going to read Dante's Club!

VIA started running an express bus this year from near my house all the way into downtown with no stops in between. I live 20+ miles from the office, and now I don't have to drive. Before I started riding, I would spend my evenings at home mostly trying to get the kids fed, their homework done, some play time, then brusing teeth, saying prayers and into their beds. By the time I reached my bed, I could only read a few pages of what ever my latest book happend to be. Now that I ride instead of drive, I can read a lot more. I have read at least 7 books since February. I encourage folks to try: The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. It was very interesting and deals with some timely topics.

[This message was edited by kyeary on 09-15-06 at .]

[This message was edited by kyeary on 09-15-06 at .]

Yep. I believe one of my teachers in elementary school read that one to us. I was thinking of Gone to Texas.

Right now, Factory Made: Warhol in the Sixties, and Sound and Fury: The Parallel Lives and Fateful Friendship of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell.

I've just discovered Amelie Nothomb (Fear and Trembling) and Tahir Shah (The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca), so I've bought some of their other works to read next.

Just finished a whole slew of Texas true-crime (Scream at the Sky; Shield the Source; Washed in the Blood) and feel a bit sickened. I do recommend Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge-An American Parable; I like Gary Cartwright's style.

Yes, Ben. I even have a very old copy of it. The author lived not far from my parents. All that is left of the estate is the stone gateway. Trollope is good too. I agree with the poster about Angels and Demons--much better than the DaVinci Code-- but the DVC was outstanding too!

My copy of the tome contrasting Stalin and Hitler is sitting part read. It is fascinating reading but awfully depressing too. I have to take it in samll bites.

Anyone read The Fatal Shore about the developing colonies in Australia? A really great account of the early days. A book Betty Marshall lent to me. After reading it, I picked up a used copy to reread.

[This message was edited by John Stride on 09-18-06 at .]

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Originally posted by John Stride:
Yes, Ben. I even have a very old copy of it. The author lived not far from my parents. All that is left of the estate is the stone gateway.

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An interesting book. I have read the compleat angler several times. Way back then, "fyshing with an angle" was a revolutionairy concept!

I just finished David Gemmell's Drenai series.

...and books and books. I read about 40 a year. Roger Zelazny, J.R.R. Tolkein, Isaac Asimov, Louis Lamour, Steven Brust, Stephen King, Janet Evanovich, James Lee Burke, Tony Hillerman, Patricia Cornwell (wow, hours spent not finding stuff to solve cases, waiting for the next murder), Edgar Allen Poe, Harry Kemelman, Ian Fleming, J.K. Rowling, Edward Rutherfurd, both members of the Shaara family, and non-fiction from all over the place.

I kind of like reading, and frequently fail to eat or sleep while doing it. Maybe that is why I can reread books so often - I was so tired and hungry that I could not form an accurate memory (and I work for such a poor county that I can't afford to buy new ones)

Yeah Half Price Books!

Whitney, the next time you are in South Austin,
consider dropping by the monster book sale run by the city library in the old post office. Hardbacks are $2 and paperbacks are $1, and they have a good selection. They also have a "better books" room. Hours are erratic, but you can't beat the deals.

Here is the link to the monster book sale:

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/news/mbs_hours.htm

"The Colony" by John Tayman. It's about the leper colony on Molokai Island in Hawaii. You wouldn't beleive the way we treated people in our ignorance.

In the true crime area, two excellent reads are Stalking Justice by Paul Mones and Fire Lover by Joseph Wambaugh. The first, written by a criminal defense attorney, is about how Virginia detective became convinced that the wrong man had been convicted in a couple of rape/murder cases, and his subsequent investigative efforts let to the man being exonerated and the real killer found, tried, convicted, and executed. The twist on this case is that it was the first case in Virginia in which DNA evidence was used. The book by Wambaugh is about John Orr, a veteran and highly respected arson investigator, who turned out to also be a highly successful arsonist.

For light fiction--and a good laugh--I like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

Janette Ansolabehere

Jimmy Buffet's Tales from Margaritaville

Take a year off for Stephan King's Dark Tower series

Reread Dr. Suess frequently to remember how to pace a story

How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Proverbs

Thomas Wolff's Man in Full

John McDonald's Travis McGee series

Does anyone else find that they are drifting to the "big print" books?