Sunday, March 29, 2009

BOOK REVIEW TIME


And He's Not Even From Nebraska!!!!!

Am I the only person in the world who had no idea what a "Lincoln" lawyer was until I read this book? I thought perhaps he lived in Nebraska or else had studied the great works of that famous president Abraham. What a surprise it was for me to find out that the word "Lincoln" had to do with the car in which this lawyer was chauffered around. Not only did he get driven around in this car, it was also his office. He handled his cases out of the backseat. I guess there's not a lot of overhead for these attorneys.

It's great not only to read a good book but to also learn something along the way. I've never thought of Connelly as a teacher before but he taught me something new in The Lincoln Lawyer and kudos to him for doing so.

In this book, we're introduced to a new character, Mickey Haller, attorney at law and attorney who has a fleet of Lincolns. There's no one better at character development than Michael Connelly and the reader is immediately drawn to Haller and, not only understands his way of working, but respects it as well. I just love it when an attorney has that moment in court where he's able to corner the witness -- it reminds me of having the best hand in poker and your opponent doesn't know it yet. This seems to be Haller's forte and Connelly gives Haller ample opportunity to show his wares and reward the reader with the outcome.

This is Connelly's first foray into the defense side of the law. Fans of his Harry Bosch series are used to being on the prosecution side and credit Connelly with writing great police procedurals. This is the author's debut legal thriller and, with just one book, he has proven that he is now a master at both sides of the table.

Another thing I learned from this novel is the importance of a "franchise" case. This is a case that will bring in so much money enabling the attorney to be working in the black.....and some. Thus is the case with Mickey's newest client Louis Roulet, a real estate agent but, more importantly, a rich "Momma's boy". One of Haller's nightmares is that of having an innocent client and not being able to get him acquitted. Louis Roulet, accused of assault and rape, might just be that innocent client Mickey has dreamt about. But believe me when I say, Connelly will not allow it to be this easy. This book is masterfully intricate and the ending is the grand finale to these proceedings. If Mickey had nightmares before this case began, he clearly won't be getting any sleep when all is said and done.

When I finished this book, I was excited to hear that there was a second Connelly book featuring Mickey Haller and picking up where we left off with The Lincoln Lawyer. That was great news to me. What was even better news was the fact that Harry Bosch would team up with Mickey Haller in this next book, The Brass Verdict. As I'm typing this, I'm one hundred pages into it and am just as satisfied as I was when I started The Lincoln Lawyer. There's nothing better than being enmeshed in a great book and I'm convinced that any book, with the name Michael Connelly on the cover, is going to be a winner. He's one author who has NEVER disappointed me. Ooops....I forgot about Chasing the Dime. Oh well, only disappointed once.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I Finally Did It!!!!!


Yesterday I cashed in my first ever live poker tournament. It all happened at the WSOP Circuit Event at Caesars in Atlantic City. It was the Ladies' No Limit Hold'em Event and 263 ladies participated. Out of the 263 who entered, only 27 would get paid.....I came in 11th place which was only one place away from making the final table. My reward for this win, a whopping $631.00. The winner took home $16,000. As much as the money is always nice to get, it's just so rewarding to make it that far and to "almost" make it all the way.

I made the trip to Atlantic City all on my own as Pat had to help her son move into his new apartment. But, since I've play in a number of these tournaments already, I have come to know a number of the other women who play so I didn't feel uncomfortable at all going by myself. I remember the first few tournaments I played in and feeling so nervous and intimidated. Now I'm not nervous at all and really feel quite confident when I play. It must be all the good tutoring I get from Michael and his friends.

I've become friends with one of the girls I met while playing in the Borgata tournament so she and I were meeting for breakfast at 10:30AM before starting the tournament at noon. She (Diane Grippo) actually final tabled one of the Borgata events a year ago and cashed in the Ladies' event at the WSOP this past summer. I told her in person and in emails prior to the tournament that "I WILL CASH IN THIS EVENT" and so I did.

It was an exciting time at Caesars yesterday because not only was the Ladies' event being held but it was also the final table of the $5,000 buyin main event that had started on Thursday and was ending on Saturday. I was happy to be there because a boy I had met, while playing in the Deepstack tournament at the Borgata last year, was at the final table. His name is Chris Klodnicki and he also came in 12th place at the Main Event of the WSOP this past year so he's definitely the real deal. By the way, he won the Borgata Deepstack tournament we played in together. I always kid him that I'm his good luck charm and he agrees, so I thought for sure my being there yesterday would clearly insure his win. Unfortunately it was not to be and he came in 7th place.

I met another nice boy there, Sam Chartier, (I use the term "boy" very loosely as these boys are in their early twenties) who was from Montreal and was friends with a boy who was at the final table with Michael in Monte Carlo (Maxime Villemure). Sam ended up winning the event at Caesars for $331,000 and I was so happy for him. I just love meeting all of these young poker players and I especially love picking their brains. Since they all know I'm Michael's Mom, they are very forthcoming with advice and I so appreciate this. One must admit that I know all of the cutest (and richest) poker players!! Ha, ha.

So, all in all, it was a fun day for me....playing live poker, meeting some new friends and winning some money!!!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

A Belated Holiday Book Review

Sparkly Shoes To Make Heaven Brighter



During the past Christmas season, I had decided to read all those books on my shelves relating to the holidays. I had seen "The Christmas Shoes" as a TV movie starring Rob Lowe and thought that would be a good place to start. After reading the book, I can now report that the TV movie was much better than the book. I think had I read the book before seeing the movie, I might have felt differently. There were things that were added to the movie that weren't in the book and I kept waiting for these things to happen and, when they didn't, I found myself disappointed.


I know I shouldn't expect too much when reading these seasonal books and I make sure, when reviewing them, not to compare them to great literature. I try to compare them to similar books in that genre. With that said, this book really did not move me and, as a result, I ended up putting all of the other holiday books back on the shelves. Perhaps next December, I'll start with a better one like "A Christmas Carol".

One of my main problems with this book was the change from one point of view to another. It was not done seamlessly and sometimes I found myself having to reread paragraphs because I thought I was reading one person's thoughts only to find out it was someone else's. I'm actually writing this review a few months after finishing the book and that is not the best thing to do as there were numerous other things the author did that didn't flow well for me, which some good editing might have helped.

With all that said, I think the story, of a young boy losing his mother around the holidays and a very busy attorney almost losing his family because he doesn't have the time to give them his attention, is one that has been told before in many different ways. There's no question that the innocence of a boy, wanting to buy shoes for his mother so she will look pretty when meeting Jesus, will tug at your heart. The part of the story that affected me more was the kindness of the teacher who knew he needed a few extra hugs and much more of her time than any of her other students. It's usually the goodness of someone not attached to the family that gets to me moreso than the natural goodness that would be forthcoming from a relative. And then the defining moment, when the boy meets the attorney while Christmas shopping and the attorney offers to help pay for the shoes so that the untimate gift can be given to the boy's mother, is surely a magical one.

I think if you're looking for a read that is quick and easy and defines what the meaning of Christmas is all about, then you might enjoy this book. I'm sure I'm being a bit more critical than I should be but I sometimes can't let poor editing go unnoticed.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

This Week's Book Review



On any given day, most any author can turn out a good book. But it's the great authors who consistently turn out great books. (I'll forgive Lehane for Shutter Island).

This book was obviously a labor of love for Lehane and I believe that he grew up hearing these stories of Bostonian history at the feet of his grandfather. In doing some research on Lehane, I read that he is the son of a union man, which explains a lot about this book and his desire to tell this story. As the daughter of a union man myself, I can totally relate to this. Whether or not you believe in unions, I think Lehane put the question out there quite masterfully by relating the story of the Boston Police strike of 1919.

To call this strike a moral dilemma would be an understatement. You have a police force who was underpaid at a time when the cost of living had gone up over 70%. On top of that, many times they were forced to sleep at the station which was filthy and pest infested. Other laborers were living well post WWI, yet no one would give these civil servants the time of day. When the possibility of joining a union came to fruition, it seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally these workers would be paid equal pay for what they did. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be and a strike ensued causing civil mayhem throughout the streets of Boston. So the real question then became, "Do those in charge of the safety of the public have a right to strike"?

That is the underlying story of Lehane's novel. But the real story, behind the story, is one of the loss of innocence. We meet Danny Coughlin, a young cop in Boston's North End, who realizes that his father, a police captain, isn't as aboveboard as he always thought him to be. We're also introduced to Luther Laurence, whom we first meet on the baseball field with none other than Babe Ruth. He gets involved with some shifty people in Oklahoma and his innocent world comes to an abrupt halt. On top of that, we have a government that promises fairness and equality above all else.....that's an eye opener to all those innocents in 1919. Are the unions the only thing that can possibly bring equality to these people? This is a question Lehane asks but does not answer. You be the judge. Danny Coughlin's official age of innocence will come to an end when he believes the union is the answer and leads his men on a journey that will show them there is no innocence but only guilt in the eyes of an ungrateful and corrupt city.

This year (1918) that Lehane chooses to portray ( the year leading up to the Boston police strike) is one strife with so many bad occurrences. Lehane covers them all.....an economically destroyed country post WWI, domestic terrorism fraught with anarchists and the Spanish flu pandemic just to list a few. He threw so many events into this book that I was surprised he didn't have someone singing Irving Berlin's God Bless America which he wrote in 1918. I love reading these historical fiction novels especially when they're about events in history that I had little or no previous knowledge.

This is an epic novel about political and social upheaval and the right of the haves and the have nots. I've heard that this was meant to be part of a trilogy so it will be interesting to see if this pans out. It's not lost on the reader that there were so many parallels to today's political and social problems. It reminds me of the words in Corinne Rae Bailey's song, "Put Your Records On"...."the more things seem to change, the more things stay the same".

So once again, Lehane hits it out of the ballpark. Which reminds me....I didn't enjoy the Babe Ruth sections of the book. Like his friend George Pellecanos, he can't help writing for men and I guess this was his shout-out to all the baseball fans out there....especially the Red Sox ones.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

March Roars In Like A Lion


I don't think I can remember a month of March that didn't have a big snowfall whether I was living in New York or Pennsylvania. The saying "March roars in like a lion" couldn't be more true.

As far as sports go, March was always the month they had the school baseball tryouts and I'll never forget waiting in the car for Michael to come in out of the freezing cold after each tryout. As far as work goes, since I'm in real estate, mostly every listing I get during the month of March has pictures of the home with snow on the ground.

The year 2009 hasn't been any different as the snow arrived before I even had a chance to change the calendar on the wall from February to March. I'm happy to report that I know two individuals who love the snow. One is our beloved border collie Belle.....


And the other is our grandson Brady who witnessed his first time out in the snow yesterday in his adorable "first" snowsuit.




















So since there are no longer any baseball tryouts for Michael and I haven't yet listed anything for March, the snow became quite enjoyable.