Probably the only good thing, other than eliminating the pain, about having my right knee replaced is that I got back to reading and as usual the range is a little eclectic. One of my favorite authors, Dan Silva, just released the latest Gabriel Allon work, The Fallen Angel, and it did not disappoint. For those of you not familiar with this series, Allon is a Mossad operative that moonlights as an art restorer or is he an art restorer that moonlights as a Mossad operative.  In this story, like one before, Allon becomes involved with the Vatican in what appears to be totally unrelated to Israel but leads to a plot to destroy Israel. The character development as always is solid and those familiar with the series will recognize them. Highly recommended!

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet On Everything by Kevin Cook, is the true story of an iconic character who passed away in 1974.  He started life as a card shark but progressed through just about anything that he could bet on. He would practice a new gig until he was perfect.  He picked up golf and could play both right and left handed. He played with many of the greats, including Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan, but did not play the nacent PGA Tour despite the fact he could beat the best at the time. His reason was that he could not afford the pay cut. The swath he cut through life included five wives and and killing five men among other things. Thompson was the ultimate hustler and the story of his life is entertaining and worth the read.

One of my favorite authors, Robert Parker, passed away in January 2010 and I am generally apprensive about reading books written about any author’s characters by another. So it took me a bit to download the latest Spenser novel, Lullaby, written by Ace Atkins. It did not take long for me to get comfortable with the work. Atkins was hand picked by Parker’s estate to carry on with the Spenser series and he does an amazing job of sounding like Parker.  Spenser, a private detective, takes on a case brought to him by a 14 year old girl and it winds through the Boston projects on to death row. Parker fans will be glad to know that Hawk is alive and well. A solid read especially for Parker fans.

Reading Devices or The Kindle Phenomenon 

I have the Kindle reading app on four devices – The Kindle, an iPad, a MacBook Air and my iPhone and over time use all four.  If I am home I generally prefer reading on the Kindle.  It is light, easy to read and the navigation is straight forward.  Having said that, if I am traveling I generally use the iPad for a couple of reasons.  One, I will take the iPad anyway and see little reason to carry two devices and second the Kindle app on the iPad is great and reading is easy.  Here, as with the Kindle navigation is straight forward.  Reading on my iPhone is one of those almost accidental things. It happens when I am waiting for an appointment – mostly at a doctors office – or waiting for my wife and it is the device that I have with me. Not the best option but reading on the iPhone is actually quite good.  While I could read on my MacBook Air, I rarely do as I generally have one of the other devices available.. The beauty of the Kindle app is that it keeps track of where you are in a book and when you bring the book up on another device it asks if you want to go to the furthest point you have read. As you have probably surmised I am sold on using one of these devices rather than a hardcopy book. As a matter of fact, I do not think I have purchased a hardcopy book since I acquired my Kindle. By the way, the Kindle app is available for virtually any device.