This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. A thrilling storyline combined with strong character development and excellent writing made this book a page-turner for me. My only complaint, a minor one, is that this was written by a British author for a British audience, so I struggled with some of the references.

An eye-opening guide to some of the nutritional information of some popular foods. My criticism is that sometimes it only gives totals for an entire meal, so you can’t tell the breakdown for each item (for example, to make swaps or leave out the unhealthiest portions of the meal), and some of the “don’t each this” recommendations are based only on fat or sodium. Still, it’s an easy-to-read (lots of photos), easy-to-understand guide to making better food choices.

As always, this book was a page-turner, but some of the plot lines seemed rather ludicrous, as if Patterson is running out of material or forcing out books faster than good ideas come to him.

Grisham is back at what he does best in this novel that highlights the need for judicial reform while spinning a tale of a jury verdict and the many people it affects.

I miss Grisham’s lawyer novels! The “hero” of this story is an immature, self-centered jerk, so it was hard to feel bad for his situation. The descriptions of Italy were wonderful, but the football scenes less so, and too many of the characters were overblown caricatures. It was a quick read, and definitely not one of Grisham’s better efforts.

Not nearly as preachy as Exile, this is a page-turner with behind-the-scenes insight into why American politics is as bad as it is today.

Parts of this movie were very good, especially Will Smith’s performance and the cinematography of the mostly-abandoned Manhattan. But there were many logic gaps and plot holes, as well as unnecessarily graphic and gory violence. And without being a spoiler, the ending was very forced and unsatisfying.

One word: disappointing. I listen to PHC from time to time and really enjoy the stories about Lake Woebegone, but none of that is here. Don’t get me started on how dumb the story line about the ghost is, or how Linda Lohan doesn’t fit in at all here.

This could have been, should have been, so much better. On the bright side, the musical numbers were good, and some of the cast (especially Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) were superb.

The story of a successful but shallow talent agent whose world is turned upside down when his journal is stolen by a writer who plans to write a tell-all expose. I found it hard to be sympathetic to his character, but the movie had a few good moments.

While the plot was good and exciting, the characterizations were bad caricatures, and he overuses some words (stab and tug, for example) when others would be far more appropriate, and he uses far too many bad metaphors and analogies for my taste.

I read the author’s first novel years ago and was turned off by the same poor writing, but I had hoped by now that his writing had improved or at least a better editor was cleaning up after him. No such luck.