James Patterson: His Story by Jacob Marshal

The author James Patterson needs no introduction. Anyone even distantly associated with the literary world would have heard of this renowned figure and his achievements. James Patterson grew up in Newburgh, New York. He graduated with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College and an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University. James debuted into the literary circles with The Thomas Berryman Number which won the Edgar Award for the best first mystery novel.
It would be surprising to know that one of the world's top-selling novelists, James Patterson's ambition in life was to become a professional basketball player; unfortunately, that dream of his could not materialise. His interest in writing grew only after his stint as a young copywriter with an advertising agency. In fact, in his own words, The Day of the Jackal and The Exorcist were the two books that inspired him to write.
Patterson's decision to give his life a literary course has been a very fruitful one and his fans should be grateful for it. In his long career, James has written 20 novels and many of them have found a place in the bestseller lists. His novels include his popular series featuring forensic psychologist/detective Alex Cross and the "Women's Murder Club" series. The Lake House, his latest offering, is the highly anticipated sequel to the 1998 bestselling When the Wind Blows.
Many movies have been inspired by various James Patterson' novels. Paramount Pictures' feature film adaptation of Kiss the Girls was a box office hit in 1997, and starred Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross. In 2001, Freeman reprised the Cross role in the film adaptation of the first novel in the series, Along Came a Spider. James co-wrote Miracle on the 17th Green with Peter de Jonge. This too was made into a television movie.
Currently, Patterson lives in Palm Beach County, Florida, with his wife and their young son.

Two Opposite Views by Andrew Schwartz

In the narrative "Ciudad Juarez" by Elizabeth Tallent they main themes are the love, friendship, collision situations, passion and the cruelty of the society and the surrounding people. The personage of the mother Nina always takes care of her ten month's child Willis. During the story the readers discover that his birth was quite hard and Willis was born with several health problems. Because of it he spent his first week of life in the neonatal resuscitation. During this first week his mother did not want to see her son and to think about the name for him. Than the reader understands, that she behaved in such way because she was afraid that her son would not survive. Nina just did not want to become attached to her son. It is quite usual, that a mother cares about her children in any situations. But Nina waited for her son's death. Author describes in the narrative, that her son recovered. A week after his recovery Nina decided to see her son and to touch him. In this moment Wills opened his eyes and began to react to the external factors. The authoress tries to show in such way the power of the mother's love and the warmth of the mother's hands.
After the first meeting with her sin, Nina decided to give him a name Willis. A week after Willis abandons the hospital with his parents and twin brother Griffin.
There are a lot of different thoughts related to the Nina's behavior during the first week of her son's life. Some people think that she was right and that is easier not to see the ill child. The mother could fall in love with him and become attached to him. In the case when the child dies, it is easier to survive such loss without feelings of love and attachment.
But other people can reproach Nina with her behavior. They affirm that mother could never leave her child in the trouble and let him die. The real mother will be near her child in different conditions from the first minutes on the earth.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - Book Review by Kit Marsters

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” is a novel about a single woman facing every day life in Britain. There’s the not very inspiring job (brightened a bit by an attractive boss), the benefits and occasional annoyances of friends, and the struggle with the scales. On top of all that, after all these years of marriage it looks like her parents are about to split up.
Bridget’s life starts to look a bit more exciting when some flirtations with her boss seem to pay off. That is, until things start going horribly wrong. And then there’s that annoying Mark Darcy to deal with…
This book is Bridget’s story of one year of her life. What makes it so fascinating is that it reads like a diary �" you could almost believe it’s real. There are accounts of the good days and the bad days, brief entries, lengthier entries, and all are written in an extremely entertaining and endearing manner.
I think that the real strength of the book is that the character of Bridget is very recognisable. She’s a reflection of many 30-something women. She is looking for love, critical of her looks and figure, struggles to climb the career ladder, has her hopes and dreams that sometimes seem within reach but often feel so far away… Other fictional characters sometimes feel too perfect. Bridget isn’t perfect. Bad hair days happen to her.
Because of all this, the reader wants her to do well. I wanted a happy ending and for her to find love and everything she hoped for. Throughout the book, you can’t help but journey along with her and feel involved.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It makes for a lovely read when curling up in bed, or to take along with you to the beach. If you have seen the film, you will find the book is even better. There’s something in Helen Fielding’s writing style that kept me smiling and giggling all the way. It sure made it hard to close the book before I had finished it.
According to the author’s bio, Helen Fielding was born in Yorkshire and lives in London. She worked for several years for the BBC, where she produced documentaries in Africa for Comic Relief, and now writes for various newspapers. Her first novel, Cause Celeb, was published by Picador in 1994, as was her sequel to "Bridget Jones’s Diary", "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason", in 1999.
“Bridget Jones’s Diary” was first published by Picador in 1996. The ISBN is 0-330-33277-5.

Book Review: War Among The Ruins by Scott Washburn by Barb Carges

The long war with Darj'Nang Empire is almost over. While newer and larger ships fought the war the old Star League cruiser Gilgamesh patrolled the border far from the action. Now with the war ending Gilgamesh is due to be decommissioned. Newer ships built for the war will be free to take over pirate duty in the backwater areas of the League.
For Captain Lu-Chin the end of the war means retirement, for Commander Jaqueline Ellsworth command of a new destroyer. As they approach the naval base at Leavitte IV the final attack by the dying Darj'Nang changes everything. In the blink of an eye the station and all of the orbiting ships loose power. Only Gilgamesh retains any power. Thanks to a supply officer who never threw anything away Gilgamesh has a supply of thirty year old power cells that still work. It's not much but enough to run the air scrubbers on the base and rescue some of the crews of ships in orbit. The old cells also hold the answer to what is causing the power failures, not only at Leavitte IV but all over the entire Star League.
There are over a trillion people in the Star League, all of them dependent on technology that no longer works. As the League falls apart and the wolves begin to gather Gilgamesh and her crew set out for a forgotten world in search of a solution that will save the League. It will be a long, treacherous, and heartbreaking trip with more trouble at the end. But the survival of the League is dependent on them and they will do their duty or die trying.
This is science fiction at it's best. The characters are real and the action is non-stop. The story is well plotted and tightly written, focusing on a small part of a large picture. The heroes are heroes because of the situation, not because they are braver, smarter, or stronger then the rest of the human race. The villains are villains, not just enemies. All in all a very good read.
Mr. Washburn is a new author who has self published this book through Stellar Phoenix. It can be bought through Amazon. Hopefully we will be seeing more of his work in the future.