Jeffrey Penn May

The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs by Tyler Hamilton My rating: 5 of 5 stars Watching the Tour de France was great fun when Lance Armstrong was zooming past all his European competitors. I remember him bursting away from the pack, slogging up steep mountain roads that seemingly went on forever. I remember him riding too close to the crowd, contacting a … Continue reading →

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Stay Close by Harlan Coben My rating: 3 of 5 stars Around 2002, I read Harlan Coben’s tight, well-written suspense Tell No One and immediately became a fan. I was excited to read his Myron Bolitar series, not quite as tight but full of colorful characters and fun. His subsequent books at some point began to meander and get sloppy, so I quit reading them. Until now. My wife bought Stay Close for my kindle, … Continue reading →

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Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger My rating: 4 of 5 stars “3 Nights in August” by Buzz Bissinger was a pleasant surprise, a fast read, great for baseball fans, and a must read for St. Louis Cardinal fans. It suffered from an overabundance of slippery metaphors, gushy prose, and the diversions into other baseball games that sometimes leaves the reader wondering about the … Continue reading →

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Mixed Emotions, Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child by Greg Child My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mixed Emotions, Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child was published in 1993 and includes previously published stories from the 70s and 80s. However, mountain adventures are timeless and always fun, especially for climbers. I was fascinated by complaints about “crowds” on Himalayan peaks more fifteen years before the ill-fated 1996 Everest expedition and Jon Krakauer’s gripping account of the tragedy, … Continue reading →

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While I rarely read erotica, if it’s good writing, I enjoy it and have written favorable reviews. But let’s not elevate erotica beyond it’s due. Generally, it has no redeeming social message. It does not contribute to solving our enormous social, economic, and political challenges. It appeals to our basic animal instincts for the main purpose of making money. Granted, we all strive to make money by doing what we love. Nothing wrong with that. … Continue reading →

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Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand My rating: 5 of 5 stars The narrative in Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is so immediate, fast-paced and emotionally charged that it reads like fiction and unfortunately at several points I found myself doubting it’s veracity. How could Laura Hillenbrand know what the Japanese War Criminal was thinking and feeling when he was alone … Continue reading →

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Brutal Journey: The Epic Story of the First Crossing of North America (John MacRae Books by Paul Schneider My rating: 4 of 5 stars Aside from the first few chapters, Brutal Journey by Paul Schneider was a compelling narrative that occasionally reminded me of reading science fiction, made fantastically remarkable because it is an actual account of the Spanish “conquistadors” adventure exploring from present day Florida to the Pacific coast between 1528 and 1536. Encounters … Continue reading →

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