The One with Prince Caspian

103. Title & Author: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (238 pages)
Genre: Fiction--Fantasy & Adventure
Completed: 17 July 2009

Summary & Review:
As the Pevensie children are standing on a railway platform waiting to return to school, they are magically and mysteriously transported back to Narnia. At first, they do not recognize the land or know the reason for their sudden return, but with the help of a dwarf named Trumpkin they realize they were summoned to aid the young Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the Narnian throne, defeat his despotic uncle and bring back the Narnian days of old where beasts and men lived in peace and harmony.

This book feels like it should have been the direct sequel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (#56), rather than The Horse and His Boy (#99). The story carried on the allegory of Book 2 and had the same familiar characters to hold the plot together with the introduction of some new faces. This was a return to the form that made Lion so popular and spawned the rest of the series, while Horse felt completely out of place with the original thrust of the cycle and subsequently made an odd interjection between Books 2 and 4.

Rating: 7.5

The One with Christopher Wren

102. Title & Author: Christopher Wren by Kerry Downes (188 pages)
Genre: Nonfiction--Art History
Completed: 13 July 2009

Summary & Review:
After the Great Fire in 1666, London turned to Wren to build or rebuild churches, palaces, and libraries, among other buildings, in order to give new life to the decimated city. He filled the city with dozens of "symphonies in stone" which were clearly from the English tradition, but were also filled with the newest developments of the Renaissance and the rediscoveries of Antiquity. Downes covers many of these masterpieces, including a more in-depth look at St Paul's.

While I didn't think anything about Downes' scholarship or analysis was all that remarkable, I still found the book interesting because I am really partial to Wren's architecture. He completely reshaped the London skyline with dozens of church towers and the lofty, grand mass of St Paul's dome. Additionally, he probably had a bigger influence on Early American architecture (through Gibb's sketches and plates) than any other architect of his time and buildings like the U.S. Capitol are deeply indebted to this work.

Rating: 6.5

The One with Legacies

101. Title & Author: Legacies (A Repairman Jack Novel) by F. Paul Wilson
Genre: Fiction--Mystery & Thriller
Completed: 3 July 2009

Summary & Review:
After a 14 year hiatus, Wilson brings back the character of Repairman Jack in the second installment of the series. Alicia Clayton, a young doctor at a New York City clinic for children with AIDS, sets out to learn what is hidden in the house left to her by her estranged, deceased father that would make a mysterious group do anything to get it. After her lawyer is murdered with a car bomb, she turns to Jack to help her find the mysterious technology that a Middle Eastern oil conglomerate is desperate to prevent the world from having.

I have read a lot of series following a character, like Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Clancy's Jack Ryan, or Flynn's Mitch Rapp, but Repairman Jack is the best of all of them. Wilson gives the character a good, believable balance between special-ops skills and human frailties and weaknesses that allows the reader to connect to him better than to those almost superhero-like protagonists of many other similar series. Although this book didn't have any of the touches of science fiction that The Tomb (#19) or Crisscross (#13) d0, those touches are another element that makes the Repairman Jack books unique and entertaining.

Rating: 8.5

The One with John Adams

100. Title & Author: John Adams by David McCullough (656 pages)
Genre: Nonfiction--History & Biography
Completed: 27 June 2009

Summary & Review:
Historian and author David McCullough presents the life, both public and private, of John Adams, one of America's Founding Fathers. From his days as a young student at Harvard through his ambassadorships and presidency to his final days on his New England farm, McCullough follows Adam's life with extensive research and entertaining prose.

McCullough is a great historical writer because he is able to present top-notch scholarship in a way that really brings life to the subject, so I am especially glad he used those skills to highlight one of the lesser known Founding Fathers. It seems to me that others of his age are much more famous--those like Washington and Jefferson and Hamilton--even though Adams contributed more than almost anyone else to the founding of this country. I definitely recommend this book. (And a "Thank You" to my father-in-law for getting me this book for Christmas 2008)

This was a Christmas present from my father-in-law, Tom.

Rating: 9.5

The One with The Horse and His Boy

99. Title & Author: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (241 pages)

Genre: Fiction--Fantasy & Adventure

Completed: 21 June 2009

Summary & Review:

Shasta, a young orphan raised by a fisherman in Calormene, runs away with a talking-horse who was kidnapped from Narnia long ago. Along their journey back to the North, they meet up with another refugee Narnian horse and her companion, a young noble girl named Aravis. While in the capitol of Calormene, they over hear a plot hatched by a prince of the land, Rabadash, to overthrow Archenland and Narnia. So they race across the desert and cross the vast mountains hoping to warn the people in time.

Book 3 in The Chronicles was an entertaining adventure with C.S. Lewis' typical prose and style featuring many of the same characters from Book 2, including Aslan, Edmund, and Lucy.

Rating: 7.0