Book Talk for March 20 2024

Book Talk

booktalk for March 19, 2024

When Character was King the story of Ronald Reagan
by Peggy Noonan

Former special assistant to president Ronald Reagan asserts that his greatness lay in his character. Includes anecdotes from those who knew the president well; analyzes his career as a film star, a union representative, and a politician; and discusses the factors that influenced him. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2001.
DB53364

Rawhide Down the near assasination of Ronald Reagan
by Del Quentin Wilber

Chronicles the March 30, 1981, assassination attempt on seventy-year-old president Ronald Reagan by mentally ill gunman John Hinckley Jr. Discusses the heroism of Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr and the wounding of D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty, press secretary James Brady, and Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy. 2011.
DB73178

Keeper of the Bride
by Tess Gerritsen

After Nina Cormier is jilted at the altar the empty church explodes. Later, when she's run off the road, Nina knows that someone wants her dead. Detective Sam Navarro tries to find out who and why. Explicit descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2010.
DB74030

The 13th Juror
by John Lescroart

In the sequel to Hard Evidence (DB 38231), attorney Dismas Hardy has hung out his own shingle but he's had no bite. Then he is asked to assist lawyer David Freeman, who is handling a complex, high-profile case. Jennifer Witt is accused of killing her physician husband and her young son for the insurance money. In addition, the police have exhumed Jennifer's first husband and are accusing her of his death, too. Strong language and some violence.
DB39668

The Best american mystery stories 2009
edited by Otto Penzler and Jeffery Deaver

Features works of twenty authors, including Alice Munro, James Lee Burke, Joyce Carol Oates, and Michael Connelly. In Oates's "Dear Husband" a woman's suicide note explains why she killed their children and herself. Violence, strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2009.
DB77808

Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford's Theatre
by Thomas A Bogar
David Raker. Books 9-10
by Tim Weaver

Two novels, written in 2018-19, feature London missing-persons investigator David Raker. In You Were Gone, Raker is informed that his long-dead wife has just walked into a police station looking for him. In No One Home, four households disappear from a tiny village on Halloween. Violence and strong language. 2019.
DB96329

Born to run: a hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen
by Christopher McDougall

The author recounts his visit to the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico's Copper Canyons--noted for their ability to run extreme distances barefoot. Incorporates the history and physiology of running as he describes tracking down an American who lives there, and learning the proper, pain-free way to run. Strong language. Bestseller. 2009.
DB69472