Here’s a sampling of what
the MALS office staff has been keeping on their nightstands.
Let us know what you think of them—and send us back your
own recommendations!
Laurie’s Picks:
Skinny Dip, Carl Hiaasen
If you haven’t read one of Carl Hiaasen’s books
yet and want to lose yourself for a while in a complex, zany
story with plots, subplots, twists, turns, greed, politics,
and sweet revenge, try this book. Set in the Sunshine State,
the plot launches off to a grand start as Chaz Perrone throws
his wife overboard into the Gulf Stream to keep her from blowing
the whistle on his illegal dumping scam. She survives by grabbing
onto a bale of marijuana floating by and teams up with a former
cop to pay Chaz back in spades. Hiaasen keeps you guessing what
the next twist will be in this intricately woven story and laughing
at the author’s wacky characters and delightfully madcap
humor. A wonderfully fleshed out story—a delight to read.
The Black Echo, Michael Connelly
The first in a series of crime stories starring LAPD Detective
Harry Bosch, this novel pulls the reader in from the start with
a murder mystery that, like ripples in a pond, grows larger
and larger. For Harry, this particular murder is personal—his
fellow Vietnam tunnel-rat has been found dead. The mystery surrounding
his friend’s death seems to spin out of control, involving
millions of dollars in diamonds smuggled into the U.S. and then
stolen from a bank vault, unexplained barriers put in Harry’s
path as he investigates the murder, and law enforcement officials
who aren’t what they seem. As Harry struggles in a daily
battle with a vengeful Internal Affairs Division chief and the
two goons following his every move, he tries to solve the mystery
of his friend’s death—a mystery that spans several
decades and two continents. A wonderful twist at the end will
surprise the reader as much as it did the main character. The
LA Times likened Michael Connelly’s writing to
that of Raymond Chandler. I hope you’ll like it.
Sandy’s Pick:
The Birth of Venus, Sarah Dunant
I rarely have been so immediately captured by a book. Maybe
I was ripe for this story. I was heading to Italy for a much-anticipated
visit to Orvieto and the Umbrian hills adjacent to Tuscany.
But still, within six paragraphs I was hooked, deep into the
world of Renaissance Florence with all of its beauty and brutality,
its confidence and complicity. The novel begins at the end,
a stunning and breathtaking end, and then weaves a tapestry
of the life of Alessandra Cecchi, a heroine who embodies both
the creative vitality and the political suffocation of the time.
Sarah Dunant writes like a painter and thinks like a philosopher,
juxtaposing the humane against the animal, hope against fanaticism,
creativity against destruction. This book is one beautiful read.
Michelle’s Pick: White Noise, Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo is one of those authors who’ve resided on
my “must-read” list for more years than I care to
admit. A colleague recommended I read White Noise due
to my interest in art, literature, and popular culture. DeLillo’s
protagonist, Jack Gladney, teaches Hitler studies at a liberal
arts college, is on his fourth marriage, and is knee-deep in
grappling with his middle-aged fear of mortality. Just as Jack
asserts, “We seem to believe it is possible to ward off
death by following the rules of good grooming,” DeLillo
catalogs lists of objects throughout the book as a vehicle to
highlight the ways in which the characters find comfort and
distraction in amassing stuff, like “open cartons, crumpled
tinfoil, shiny bags of potato chips, bowls of pasty substances
covered with plastic wrap, flip-top rings and twist ties, individually
wrapped slices of orange cheese.” DeLillo cuts the novel’s
potential morbidity with humor that at times teeters precipitously
toward the farcical. While the ending left me a bit dissatisfied,
I much admired DeLillo’s ability to deftly underscore
the ways in which individuals manage the concept of death and,
subsequently, their lives.
Creative Thought Matters.
Master of Arts Program
Skidmore College ·
815 North Broadway · Saratoga Springs, NY · 12866 mals@skidmore.edu · 518-580-5480
