Football and War

Ivan Doig

Going down the list of books written by authors whose last names start with D, I'm in the middle of a book called The Eleventh Man, a novel set in WWII about members of a Montana college football team who volunteered for the service.  The eleventh man is the chronicler of their adventures, Ben Reinking, one of the team who happens to be a journalist.  The story was inspired by real events, a Montana State College team that suffered the loss of 14 football players during the war.  Here is a link to that story: Everybody's All-Americans.

So far I'm enjoying the book, although it is a little too detailed at some times and a little slow at others. The author seems to write in the "western romance" tradition--think Louis L'Amour. But the premise is interesting, and I'm eager to see what happens to the players.

The author, Ivan Doig, has written many books, but unfortunately, died April 9th of this year from multiple myeloma.

Spices and Suspense

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, is a fabulous book! It was riveting from beginning to end. It's a story about a witch/healer from India who is learning to cope with modern life in San Francisco and with the restrictions that come with her powers. One of those is that she must not mingle with the mortals she is trying to help.  But mingle she does when she falls in love with a customer, with interesting consequences. It's very complex, but compelling. I recommend it highly. It's also a movie, apparently, that came out in 2006. I may have to check that out!