Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History

Did you see the movie Argo?  So did I, and I think it deserves every one of its maximum stars  ratings.  That's also why I was so interested to see that my library had Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio's non-fiction book Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History (#251) on order.  I wanted to read more about how this incredible caper was pulled off.

Both my husband and I raced through Mr. Mendez's recounting of the process leading up to the CIA's decision to approve a Hollywood location scout group becoming the cover to exfiltrate the six Americans who made it out of the American Embassy and into hiding in Tehran that fateful November day in 1979.  Although the book and the movie complement each other in telling this amazing story, the book provides the background information that can't possibly be covered in a two hour film.  Although the movie took some dramatic license to make it the nail-biter that it is, the essentials are correct, and without question lives were on the line.  And not just American lives, but those of the Canadian Embassy staff who hid their American houseguests until they were rescued.

Not only did Mendez and his colleagues succeed in their mission to extricate the Embassy staffers in time, but the other astonishing part of the story is how the CIA kept their role secret.  It wasn't until the heads of the CIA decided to make the story of the rescue public in 1997 as part of their 50th year celebration that the story came to light, and Mendez felt free to tell his own story after multiple interviews.  The six American houseguests and their Canadian hosts all kept faith with their promise to keep silence to protect those who might still come to harm at the hands of the Iranians.

This is a case of the truth being even stranger than fiction.  It's an enthralling tale of true American heroes.  Mr. Mendez, thank you for your service, and I'm glad your Intelligence Star can be acknowledged in public.  I wish "Jerome Calloway's" role could be similarly revealed.  If you've seen the movie, you owe it to yourself to read this book.  And if you haven't, you'll want to visit the closest theater where this is playing after you read it!  Highly recommended.

Calling Invisible Women

I just loved Jeanne Ray's novel Calling Invisible Women (#250).  I guess you have to be a woman of a "certain age" to truly appreciate this fantasy, but I'm sure all of us have had experiences which have made us feel like we're invisible, or to sincerely wish we could be!

Clover Hobart is shocked one evening as she is preparing for bed to find that she can't see herself in the mirror.  She soon regains visibility, but the next morning, she's gone again.  The worst of it is that neither her husband, a busy pediatrician, nor her returned-to-the-nest unemployed son never even notice.  How is this possible?  Her friend Gilda confirms her worst fears: Gilda can't see her, either, but it's not because she simply doesn't notice.  The longer this goes on, the more agitated Clover gets until the day she spots a small personal ad in the local paper: Calling Invisible Women.  Maybe she's not alone...

She's definitely not alone, and together the invisible women have figured out who and what is causing their invisibility.  But what can they do to get the giant corporation responsible to correct their situation unless they can get their families, friends and former employers to acknowledge it first?

A delightful read with a far better ending for Clover than for Claude Rains in The Invisible Man!

A Royal Pain

For me, the title A Royal Pain (#249) describes the heroine of this book, Bronte Talbot, perfectly, and 338 pages is way too much time to spend with such an unpleasant, self-absorbed, potty-mouthed bitch.  The nineteenth Duke of Northrup is totally wasted on her, but by the end of this book, I was so tired of him putting up with her that I lost all interest in him, too.  The real fairy tale in this book is the unending and (always mind-blowingly incredible!) sex.

Bronte is such an emotional mess it's a wonder that she has any relationships at all, but that's the rather heavy-handed point made at the end of this story.  She's in a relationship with a Texan whom she gives up her fabulous New York City apartment and dream job to follow to Chicago, where she soon discovers she has always been simply the weekend diversion who has to pay to keep up with his spend-or-bust stockbroker's life style.  Everyone has tried to warn her... 

When she literally stumbles over Maxwell Heyward in a Chicago second hand bookstore, she thinks she's found her perfect Transitional Man to help her get over the Texas debacle.  Well, of course they fall madly in lust with each other, but he's returning to England in eight weeks, so no commitments, right?  Of course not!  When his father has a heart attack and Max asks her to go back to England with him, she refuses.  Agony, agony, agony on both sides.  And the nerve of him not telling her he was a duke related to the royal family!  She puts so many obstacles in Max's way and is stunned every time when he is impatient with her attitude.  It's all quite ridiculous.  Either commit or cut him loose.  There just doesn't seem to be any way to make Bronte happy until the author ties up her dysfunctional family relationships in one neat little bow at the very end, and we're now supposed to believe  that a wedding will proceed, she'll be an ideal mother and everything will be hunky dory.  I don't buy that for a moment.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, since, like Bronte herself supposedly, I've always been an Anglophile.  (But here's another thing that annoyed me about this book: Megan Mulry makes such a big deal about Bronte's obsession as an adolescent with British society gossip magazines -Hello!, British Vogue, etc. - that it struck me as ludicrous that Bronte wouldn't have known instantly who Maxwell Heyward was - the heir to the Duke of Northrup, and a frequently pictured royal connection in said publications.)  I guess I expected something along the lines of an updated Regency romance, but with Bronte having a job and a contemporary wardrobe.  Far from it.  I thought it was tedious and unsatisfying.  I kept hoping Bronte would grow up emotionally and that it would get better.   In my opinion it didn't.  I should have known when I saw the cover art.  The book jacket says "It's not easy being common", but the photo they used certainly succeeds - ugh!  My recommendation?  Find something more entertaining to read and don't waste your time on this one.  (Unless, of course, you just want to check  it out for the myriad sex scenes...)

The Gift

The Gift (#248) made it to the top of my holiday reading pile.  This Christmas fantasy was written by Cecelia Ahern, the daughter of Ireland's former prime minister.

Lou Suffern is a young Irish executive who's made it to the top of the corporate heap - almost.  There's a promotion he wants more than anything; more than his wife, his children or his family.  But things change the day that Lou meets Gabe, the homeless man camped out by his office building's door.  Although he's walked by him many mornings, one day he stops and offers Gabe a coffee and a job to his own surprise.  Soon Gabe is popping up everywhere in Lou's life and causing him to confront his choices uncomfortably.  When things begin to go very wrong for him, Lou wonders if Gabe is out to replace him.  Things don't work out for Lou the way he expected, yet he receives a most precious gift from Gabe.

I must admit, I did need a Kleenex as I sniffed my way through the ending of this one.  A good cry can by cathartic, though!  It's something a little different, and the lesson learned is definitely not sugar-coated!

The Christmas Shoppe

The new shop in Parrish Springs is causing a lot of controversy.  Matilda Honeycutt, an aging hippy, has appeared in town out of nowhere and bought the Barton Building on Main Street right from under the nose of the an influential Town Councilman.  But it's the merchandise that's creating the uproar: the store isn't zoned for selling the second hand goods on her shelves.  The new City Manager and the owner of the town's newspaper, The Spout, are determined to support Matilda - if she'll let them - in Melody Carlson's new Christmas novella The Christmas Shoppe (#247).

It's a light read that highlights the meaning of the season as a number of the town's citizens find just the thing they need in Matilda's mysterious shop.  It's worth a night on the town for this one.

Angels At The Table

In Angels at the Table (#246) Debbie Macomber brings back her popular angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy with the addition of an apprentice angel, Will.  As in her previous book, the angels are full of good will towards men (and women!), but in their desire to help, things always seem to go amiss.  The more they try to fix a problem, the worse it seems to get...

In this sweet holiday romance, it's a lonely chef trying to get her long-dreamed of restaurant off the ground.  Since her widowed mother has invested in life savings in the project, it's not just Lucie's financial future hanging in the balance.  Will accidentally on purpose manages to nudge Aren, new to town and on the rebound from a painful divorce into her path in crowded Times Square on New Year's Eve.  I'm sure you can figure out the ending on your own, but it's just the kind of short read to cozy up with after you've finished wrapping all those presents.  Ms. Macomber has included a gift for the reader as well, with a recipe and a set of gift tags, too! 

The Incense Game

Edo, Japan has just been rocked by a devastating earthquake and tsunami which has killed thousands and destroyed most of the cities in the region.  Sano Ichiro is responsible for heading up the recovery efforts and finding housing, food and building materials in the few remaining unburned city ruins.  It seems an impossible task, and Sano is exhausted from the constant efforts to keep up with the demands of the shogun, but he and his bodyguards feel compelled to help a group of townspeople they come across searching for bodies of their neighbors.  They find three women, but it is soon evident that these three are not victims of the earthquake, but of foul play in Laura Joh Rowland's latest Sano Ichiro mystery The Incense Game (#245).  Did I mention that this all takes place in 1703?

This grim discovery draws Chamberlain Sano deeper and deeper into a nightmare as he struggles to conduct an investigation in which failure could mean death for him and his family from one of the feudal lords he had always thought an ally, while displeasing the shogun could bring the same results.

This is a crackerjack mystery, and number 19 in this atmospheric series set in the feudal Japan of shoguns and samurais featuring Sano Ichiro and his indomitable and resourceful wife Reiko.  Twist after twist will keep you guessing until the very last page.  This murder mystery is solved, but there are political consequences for the future that you know will have to be dealt with.  Sano is grateful he and his family have survived this crisis, but with a shift in alliances, the future is looking very uncertain...