Missouri Books

A Dorie Lennox mystery. The book starts, things happen, there is action and dialogue, the book ends. Nothing bad here, just not much of anything.

This book lacks any sense of urgency or passion that makes it compelling.

I normally don't like period mysteries, in part because many of them are not very well written and/or because the "let's remind you what time it is" becomes forced (little lessons about what people wore, traveled, social relations, etc.) This is the second book in this series that I've read, and because I'd read another in the series, I was more prepared for the style and enjoyed it from the beginning.

Dorrie Lennox is a tough young female private eye who lives in Kansas City around the beginning of World War II. The book begins with her tailing Thalia, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy woman who is dying of cancer. Thalia's mother fears for her daughter's well-being, given the fast life this girl is living. Dorrie begins to suspect that the choir director of the choir that this night-clubbing young woman belongs to is not on the up-and-up. She starts checking into him further.

All this is hindered by the fact that she's on parole for stabbing a man who couldn't take no for an answer, and she can no longer carry a weapon -- her trusty switchblade -- so when she runs into nasty people, she is vulnerable. Additionally, the police are giving her grief and haul her in from time to time.

This is one of those books that absorb you into another world, and without explicitly describing how it was different then, you get the feel for the time and place.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this relatively new series. I'd like to find out what happens next to Dorrie. If you like those old black & white "noir" movies (for example, The Maltese Falcon) and you like tough but likeable women detectives, I think you'll enjoy this book.

Dorie Lennox's assignment is to tail the spoiled heiress-to-be, Thalia Hines, daughter of an old acquaintance of Dorie's partner and fellow private eye. Evaline Hines is dying and desperate to be sure her beautiful but wild only child doesn't become involved with too many of the wrong kind of fortune hunting men that she seems so drawn to. So she has hired Amos Haddam and Dorie to keep an eye on Thalia. The assignment means lots of late nights in night clubs and dance halls as Thalia jumps from admirer to admirer.

The present front runner for Thalia's affections seems to be Barnaby Wake and there are rumors that Mr. Wake is involved in a lot of unsavory pastimes, when he's not directing the Hallelujah Choir at the Plaza Methodist Church. Wake is not only married; he has been linked with several other women and his politics seem to lean toward support of political troublemakers in the days just before America enters the second World War. Definitely not prime son in law material!

This book is a terrific look at 1940s Kansas City as seen through the eyes of tough but vulnerable Dorie Lennox. Many of the characters from the first book are back, along with the tight plots and fast paced action that kept the reader guessing in 'One O'Clock Jump'. Can Dorie stay out of jail and out of trouble long enough to do her client's bidding?

I hope that Lise McClendon is already working on her next Dorie Lennox book. There is still a lot I want to know about this character. I also really enjoy the early 1940s setting and the fact that the action takes place in my hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. This is a real winner of a book and a definite "5"!

New systematics (APG2) is complex and difficult to apprehend. This book provides a very helpful introduction to the topic. The pictures provided are a very good illustration of each of the families described.
I recommend the book to anyone interested in new botanical systematics.

I used this book to help with my Master's thesis. If you're a visual person, it really helps give you an idea of what the myriad angiosperm families look like, along with brief little descriptions. Also comes with a CD that has a PDF of the entire book.

This book is as close to perfection as a research reference for the upper elementary and middle school classroom as a plant book is likely to get. The hundreds of photographs are gorgeous and very well-chosen. Taking a photo of a plant is one thing, but taking one that clearly highlights a particular botanical characteristic can be a real challenge, and these photos are consistently excellent in that respect. The prose is characteristically crisp, down to earth, and always skillfully pared down to just those points that are most important to the educational audience being served. The book is structured for ease of use and includes an excellent index, glossary, and bibliography.

The production quality is high. The handsome pages are printed on heavy, glossy paper to make the photographs come alive. The paperback binding is good, although I have my doubts about durability in my upper elementary classroom, considering how much use this book is bound to get.

The book is organized according to the most recent phylogenetic (evolutionary) classification of the angiosperms, that of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group -- certainly a unique selling point. At last the classification of the angiosperms has settled down enough for such a book to be written!

Speaking as a Montessori elementary teacher, I think this book should be in every Montessori training center's model classroom and on the required reading list for Montessori elementary trainees. Although its retail price will put it at the upper limits of some families' book budgets, it would also be a nice addition to home libraries of families with budding researchers.

Do be aware that the book "only" covers the flowering plants and is intentionally biased toward species of North America, but the bibliography sends one to the right books for information about the non-flowering plants and those of other climes.

Dr. Spears, on behalf of the many thousands of children (and others) who will benefit from your labors, I thank you.

Not your typical history book. This one is full of stories about Nebraska starting in the mid 1800's and the stories show just how unlawful and savage this area could be. The pictures are wonderful. As a Nebraskan interested in history on my home state, I found this to be a very interesting book.

A great author captures the early frontier days as they were meant to be read, heard and told. In the days before Husker football (before the 1890's), Nebraska was in its infancy. Many towns popped up and law and order was not always to be found. Wayne Lee tells of these tales in the river towns, cattle drive towns and farming communities. This book is more interesting than you can imagine. Also, another great purchase is Wayne Lee's Bad Men and Bad Towns. If you buy these books, you not be unhappy.

Not your typical history book. This one is full of stories about Nebraska starting in the mid 1800's and the stories show just how unlawful and savage this area could be. The pictures are wonderful. As a Nebraskan interested in history on my home state, I found this to be a very interesting book.

When my son and his friend sat down to this book, I couldn't tear it away from them! They kept looking at the vivid pictures and reading over and over the text. They were really transfixed. I can't say how quiet the house was for about a half of an hour. They loved it!

Wow! It was interesting and exciting with lots of neat facts. Amazing to throw 5 TD passes in one game. Did not know that you could play 2 sports at a time in HighSchool.

Clinton Miller 8yrs. old Champaign, Il.

Paul M. Edwards' The Angel Acronym is an involving and original mystery, featuring the head director of church education, Toom Taggart, who suspects foul play when the church archivist is found dead in the temple complex. A dark and twisted tale of hidden motives, and the conflicting politics of bureaucracy, religious zeal, and public perception, The Angel Acronym is a fascinating page-turner to be read closely to the last page.

Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: as a murder mystery, this book wasn't all that impressive. I knew who the murderer was even before the murder had taken place.

On the other hand, if you are at all interested in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), or any other dysfunctional bureaucracy, you will find this book insightful, cynical, hilarious and so close to the truth that it is painful.

Paul Edwards is the direct descendant of the first three Presidents of the RLDS Church, including Joseph Smith, Jr., and was a long time church functionary. Toom Taggart, Edwards' fictitious Director of Church Education, bears more than a passing resemblance to Edwards. A few other church figures are also thinly disguised, including Graceland College professor William Russell, who finds himself transmogrified into "Russell Williams". Even worse, there is a (very) minor character named "Gnuoy" -- Didn't any of the editors at Signature Books notice that this is "Young" spelled backwards? Or are they laughing along with the author?

Edwards, and Toom Taggart, spend most of the book exposing the bureaucratic incompetence of the RLDS Church -- an incompetence so gross, says Edwards/Toom, that it has become the standard by which all other incompetence is measured.

As a personal note, a few years ago the RLDS Church flew me out to Independence to interview for the position of Church Archivist. I didn't get the position, which engendered no small disappointment in me. Now it turns out that I may have been better off not getting the job at all, because Edwards' fictitious Church Archivist is the unfortunate murder victim in this novel. I feel like I narrowly avoided an untimely end.

Although the book is weak as a mystery, and Toom Taggart's cynicism is so thick it is hard to take at times, this was a delightful book well worth every penny paid for it. I look forward to the further adventures of Taggart. And after some years of frustration wrestling with the Church bureaucracy, I would be happy to suggest some murder victims if Edwards gets writer's block.

This second edition is becoming increasingly harder to find, but is an essential book for any archeologist, paleontologist, biologist, ornithologist, many other "gist's", or just an amateur interested in the subject. It provides excellent plates on bird bone morphology and the taxon character keys are extremely useful. A solid buy!

This has a lot of good drawings of North American bird bones, something there aren't many books on. It can't replace a comparative collection, but will help you narrow things down. If the prices for used first editions are too high for your budget (they are for mine!), reprint editions (in paperback) are available from the publisher, Missouri Archaeological Society, for $25 as of 2005. A web search should find their site.

This should win a Pulitzer this year. The content is tremendous, full of insightful garb about the most cantankerous coach to ever pace the hardwood sideline. Plus, one writer in particular really bolsters this literary masterpiece, James D. Horne. Buy this book while supplies last.

This is a very good view of the overall career of Norm Stewart at Mizzou. It is unique in it is a compilation of articles from the Columbia Tribune starting with a game in February, 1956 through his retirement this past April, 1999. For the avid Missouri basketball fan it will bring back alot of fond memories and things long forgotten. For the newer fan, it will point out just what kind of coach Norm Stewart was and bring out a side of him alot of people don't know about. For just the rabid basketball fan, it is an interesting look at some of the great upsets by Missouri basketball teams, such as over Notre Dame in 1980 in the NCAA and Louisville in 1982, along with the battles within the Big 8. It's an easy read with alot of good pictures.

I'm primarily a Reds fan but enjoy reading about anything baseball-related, especially if you get to know players are on a much deeper basis. In fact, it's often the non-superstars that I found most interesting.

This book fit this description personally. Forsch, like other subjects in the "Tales from the Dugout" series, was a local favorite but not really known on a national scale. However, his stories include all of the big names in Cardinals history, so you get to read new stories as well as the famous ones (however, you get to hear them from a new perspective).

A storied called GQ Joe (Joe Magrane) alone was worth the price of the book.

A nice collection of stories from Bob Forsch's years with the Cardinals. Written as short anecdotes, these recollections are good for stop and start reading. Forsch remembers his years with the Redbirds [1974-1988] and talks a bit about some current players and the state of the game today. It'll stir the memories of older Cards fans, and give younger ones a look at baseball the way it used to be. Good natured, clean, with funny moments and inside looks at being a major league player, Forsch entertains baseball fans of all ages.

This book covers the first year of Chinese rule in Hong Kong, by the reporter Steve Vines, whose articles on Hong Kong for the English paper the Independant were one of the few largely fearless sources of information for Hong Kong residents like myself during the 1990's, in the increasingly paranoid world of pre-handover Hong Kong (the local papers were terrible). Vines pulls a few punches this time around (he now has business interests in Hong Kong), but there is a lot of fascinating information on the place for those of us who left with or soon after the British.

For those visiting for the first time (or simply from the armchair), this book will make a good follow up to the usual Hong Kong classics: Jan Morris' Hong Kong, Austin Coates' Myself a Mandarin, Bo Yang's The Ugly Chinaman, Timothy Mo's The Monkey King, and Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong - all great for an understanding of Hong Kong (including the bits Hong Kong doesn't like to talk about).

Stephen Vines claims that _Hong Kong: China's New Colony_ is unconventional, as "a personal account of living through" the transition. True enough, as the writing is anything but objective. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to dismiss this writing simply because of its bias, because it is also a very informative look at significant events and issues leading up to, and surrounding, the handover of Hong Kong to China.

The books claims to have a central theme of China's desire to acquire a colony (and hence the title), but I think a more accurate constant theme would be that the potential and likelihood of the Chinese Communist Party to crash the party that is Hong Kong. Throughout the book, the Chinese government is depicted in a thoroughly negative light, making it clear that Vines has little trust for the Chinese government to properly handle the SAR, and dislike for the current regime. This is fine, but it occasionally comes close to obscuring the information the book is presenting.

The flow of the book can be a little jumpy at times, with little logical progression of the chapters. The author often jumps from politics, to economy, back to politics, etc. Clearly the focus of the book is on both the politics and economics of the handover, but it may have been clearer if they were dealt with on their own terms.

Despite some drawbacks, the book deeply explores many key elements in Hong Kong and how the handover affects them. It is in these explorations that this work really shines. It effectively paints a picture of the complications and backgrounds of some of the major issues that cause concern to the people and businesses of the region.

One note of annoyance, Vines is inconsistent with the phonetic transcription of key figures and places. Mao Zedong is most early transcribed as "Mao Tse-Tung" (alongside "Lin Biao", which is transcribed in a different system, p.61) but thereafter always re-referred to as "Mao Zedong". Additionally, the PRC capital is always referred to as "Peking", which is markedly anachronistic in an age where "Beijing" is the standard transcription. For names of individuals who personally transcribe otherwise, it's acceptable, but not for more recognised entities for which another form (i.e. Pinyin) is now standard.

The book is thoroughly pessimistic, but interesting well enough. For those who have an interest in learning more about some of the issues concerning the Hong Kong handover, or even looking for an introduction to the event, _Hong Kong: China's New Colony_ is a good place to start.

CITY SMART: KANSAS CITY is a great book about the Kansas City area. It contains information on all the malls on both the Missouri and Kansas sides, as well as neighborhoods, eateries, museums, theater, and other stuff to do in the area. However, one part of the book that should be taken like the humor in AMERICAN WEDDING, SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS, HARVARD MAN, DRIVE ME CRAZY, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, 13 GOING ON 30, GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES, DATE MOVIE, or CAN'T HARDLY WAIT is the radio listings. Many of the area's major rock stations (KQRC, KCFX, KZPL, KYYS) are not listed, KXTR (classical) is now KRBZ (alternative), KCIY (smooth jazz) is now WDAF (country), and KNRX (new rock) is now KMJK (vintage soul) and is in fact located about 45 minutes away, in Lexington MO. Other than this minor quibble, though, the book deserves five stars.

We used this guide in our recent visit to Kansas City and found it to be helpful. Not as helpful as our friends in the area, who knocked themselves out showing us things, but it even gave them some ideas.