About Netsurfer Books

Netsurfer Books is a bi-monthly e-zine offering short reviews of books and related items. We include listings based on recommendations from our staff and reviews from other individuals. Are we bribed to include any of these items? No. Do we receive a commission if you purchase an item through one of the links included here? Yes. Are we waiting to hear from you about what you'd like to see reviewed? Definitely.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Secret Family

Secret Family
David Bodanis
Simon & Schuster (Paper); ISBN: 0684845938

Follow the typical day of a typical family - but with the slightly warped view of a man fascinated by the invisible. The book is a treasure trove of endlessly fascinating - and sometimes gross - trivia about the invisible world on, in, and around us. Consider the contents of baby food (pigs feet), the tiny inhabitants of your bedding (40,000 pillow mites, on average), the painstaking anatomy of a kiss, microbe swapping, even the insidious influence of Muzak and the raging hormonal storms of adolescence. Great fun, but you'll probably never look at your family in quite the same way.

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling, Mary Grandpre (Illustrator)
Arthur A. Levine Books; ISBN: 0590353403

A witty fable about a downtrodden youth who discovers he's a wizard. After being accepted to the "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" young Harry Potter packs up his owl Hedwig and enters the world of action packed magical education. Fun snappy book, and not only for 11 year old boys.

Vittorio the Vampire: New Tales of the Vampires

Vittorio the Vampire: New Tales of the Vampires
Anne Rice
Knopf; ISBN: 0375401601

Anne Rice takes on vampires during the Golden Age of Renaissance Florence. Ursula the vampire seduces Vittorio, the rich young rake of 15the Century Italy. Sex, intrigue, war, politics and general decadence follow. Amazon.com says "probably the best of her last half-dozen books", the reader reviews are somewhat mixed, but generally favorable.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Terry Brooks
Ballantine Books; ISBN: 1580601316

Well, we had to include this one, didn't we? No point in writing anything, if you don't know about The Phantom Menace already then we can only envy you your hype-free existence.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets: The Search for the Million Megaton Menace That Threatens Life on Earth

Rogue Asteroids and Doomsday Comets: The Search for the Million Megaton Menace That Threatens Life on Earth
Duncan Steel
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471193380

In his foreword, Arthur C. Clarke asks you to take this guy seriously. And Duncan Steel does succeed in scaring us about the menace to lives and civilization from asteroids and comets. Kinetic energy's the culprit here, transforming rocks into superbombs. What to do other than putting Bruce Willis on retainer? Find and plot those meteoroids and study ways of diverting them, Steel suggests. A harrowing but important book.

Mr. Bunny's Guide to ActiveX

Mr. Bunny's Guide to ActiveX
Carlton, III Egremont
Addison-Wesley Pub Co; ISBN: 0201485362

Mr. Bunny and Farmer Jake wander through some of the delights of Microsoftdom where the arcana of the windows registry is summarized in 3 bullet points and an analogy to sorting Farmer Jake's compost heap. How can you not like a book with an illustration of a pixel and additional readings that include the Hong Kong Yellow Pages and The Velveteen Rabbit?

Holding on to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium

Holding on to Reality: The Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium
Albert Borgmann
Univ of Chicago Pr (Trd); ISBN: 0226066258

This book wrestles with the question of how we should deal with the abundance of information in today's world and its impact on our culture. Borgmann describes three kinds of information, traces their history, and points out that technological information is like a flood or "deluge that threatens to erode, suspend, and dissolve its predecessors". The book is an important contribution to an important topic, and the writing is clear and stimulating.

BUSINESS

The Warren Buffett Portfolio

The Warren Buffett Portfolio
Robert G. Hagstrom
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471247669

Diversification and is the mantra of financial planners, and the basis by which a Nobel prize was won. Yet Warren Buffett, arguably the most successful investor of all time, goes against this so-called wisdom with a highly concentrated portfolio. Hagstrom, a successful fund manager in his own right, describes how to use the "Focus Investing" style to build a portfolio.

Black and White on Wall Street

Black and White on Wall Street
Joseph Jett
William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 0688161367

In one of the largest Wall Street scandals that ultimately brought down the venerable firm of Kidder, Peabody & Co., Joseph Jett was accused of masterminding a scam that included $350 million in phony profits. This is Jett's side of the story, including his vindication by the NASD, his experience as a highly successful black man on The Street, and the blow-by-blow excitement of a game where millions of dollars whiz by in the blink of an eye.

NONFICTION

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
Bill Bryson
Broadway Books; ISBN: 0767903811

Bill Bryson came back to America after living for 20 years in England. These are his stories. These are his very funny stories. In this sharp and witty collection of essays written for an English magazine Bryson casts a jaundiced eye on modern Americana and entertains us with his almost-an-outsider observations. A fun light read.

A Thousand Suns: Witness to History

A Thousand Suns: Witness to History
Dominique Lapierre
Warner Books; ISBN: 0446525359

A thousand suns, a thousand true stories! Dip into journalist Dominique Lapierre's book where you will and you will have difficulty extricating yourself, as he makes the ordinary interesting and the interesting extraordinary. Who else would have Mother Teresa write to him before his prostate operation. It's all about people - bullfighters and doctors, politicians and a man on death row - and all movingly told.

My Old Man and the Sea: A Father and Son Sail Around Cape Horn

My Old Man and the Sea: A Father and Son Sail Around Cape Horn
David Hays, Daniel Hays
HarperCollins (paper); ISBN: 0060976969

"Day 175. Dawn, three hundred miles west of Cape Horn. Full moon and angry ocean." So it goes in this tale of a father and son team who took a year off to sail 17000 miles around Cape Horn, the first Americans to do so in a boat under 30 feet. They alternate in describing their adventure and their thoughts - about life, the sea, and each other. This is an interesting adventure and a great relationship story.

Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire

Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire
Jason Goodwin
Henry Holt & Company, Inc.; ISBN: 0805040811

The Ottoman Empire lasted for 600 years, unusual for a state which is generally taken as an archetype for opulent wealth and magnificent corruption. In this very readable book Goodwin gives us plenty of amusing anecdotes, eccentric personalities, and a travelogue-like appreciation of Ottoman history. Well written though perhaps a bit light on the darker side of the Empire's history.

Within Reach: My Everest Story

Within Reach: My Everest Story
Mark Pfetzer, Jack Galvin
E P Dutton; ISBN: 0525460896

From an early age, Mark Pfetzer wanted to climb mountains, and from an early age he has, achieving a long list of climbing firsts. In May, 1996, at the age of 16, he was the youngest climber on the mountain, just a thousand feet beneath the summit of Everest, close to the tragic events so hauntingly described in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Mark didn't make it to the top that time but vows to return this year to lead an expedition to the summit. This little book is Mark's story.

She Shoots..She Scores!: Complete Guide to Girls' and Women's Hockey

She Shoots..She Scores!: Complete Guide to Girls' and Women's Hockey
Barbara Stewart
Firefly Books; ISBN: 1552092887

All over rinks in North America, woman's hockey is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. This topical book contains exciting stories about the sport, as well as rules, techniques, checklists and reference information about hockey organizations in the U.S. and Canada. A must for every female hockey fan or player.

BIOGRAPHY

The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro

The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro
Joe McGinniss
Little Brown & Company; ISBN: 0316557366

Joe McGinniss, the author of bestselling thriller Fatal Vision, goes gonzo in this very funny account of his travels in Italy in pursuit of his obsession with soccer. The unknown team from the poor small town of Castel Di Sangro makes to the national competition against all odds, and McGinniss is there to follow them every step of the way. Not only a good biographical story, but a very funny travelogue.

My Year Off

My Year Off
Robert McCrum
W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393046567

At the age of 42, Robert McCrum, novelist, editor and co-author of The Story of English, woke up to find the left side of his body paralyzed from a stroke. McCrum writes movingly, honestly, and well of his unanticipated "year off". He describes visits from famous writers including Michael Ondaatje and Salmon Rushdie, the emotional and physical struggles he and his bride of ten weeks survived, and in a happy final note, the birth two years later of their baby, Alice.

FICTION

H.M.S. Unseen

H.M.S. Unseen
Patrick Robinson
Harpercollins; ISBN: 0060193158

In previous techno-thrillers, Kilo Class and Nimitz Class, British writer Patrick Robinson brought us pulse pounding combat action coupled with political intrigue and superb mastery of the details of high-tech naval warfare. His latest features the disappearance of a super secret British submarine, the reappearance of Iraqi terrorist Benjamin Adnam, and the furious hunt for the missing vessel, which may be behind a series of mysterious aircraft shootdowns. The plot is engaging, and Robinson's writing draws you in helplessly.

Candy

Candy
Luke Davies
Ballantine Books (Trd Pap); ISBN: 0345423879

'Candy' tells the agonizing tale of decline into a heroin hell amid the madness of prostitution, scamming, drug labs and love. This enlightening novel rockets along, pulling no punches as it peels back the covers on a fetid bed of co-dependence, passion and personal agonies. The narrator is startlingly objective despite the obvious descent into moral corruption as lives are destroyed and personal grief is just another emotion to be blocked out on the road to oblivion. A must read book destined to be a classic of the drug culture genre.

About a Boy

About a Boy
Nick Hornby
Riverhead Books; ISBN: 1573227331

A wonderful story about a drifting independently wealthy bachelor desperate enough to meet women that he would pretend to have a son and join a single parents group. This groping, unaffected story of Will Freeman and his curiously absent child does wonders for the smile muscles as the son of a depressed single mother forces his way into his life. As he learns about real life from Marcus, whose treatment at school is primarily accounted for by his mother's appalling taste in clothes, Will begins to see that football and music might not be everything in life.

The Big Picture

The Big Picture
Douglas Kennedy
Hyperion Press; ISBN: 0786889373

An easily re-readable book about a man trapped in a well paying but boring job in a law firm with an unhappy marriage and a loathed house in the suburbs who, through extraordinary circumstances of his own making, finds himself living someone else's life, which ultimately becomes his dream existence. Disaster strikes when his new life involves meddling in freelance photography and his attempts within the field lead to recognition and celebrity. Obviously his new life is threatened by this turn of events and the pace and delivery of the ensuring drama is commendable. The Big Picture is a wonderfully intriguing movie style novel marred only slightly by the wooden and rather twee romance.

A Ladder of Years

A Ladder of Years
Anne Tyler
Ivy Books; ISBN: 0804113475

When wife and mother Cordelia Grinstead almost unconsciously realizes her life is unsatisfying, she finds herself hitching a lift from a family holiday at the beach and sleepwalking her way into a new home and career in a small country town. While her family fret, she discovers what it is to be independent and again Ms Tyler shows rather than tells in this extraordinary story of how life can be a series of other people's decisions moving you along. With her characteristic empathy and wonderfully descriptive prose, Tyler draws you into a world of self discovery and adventure, full of warm and endearingly quirky characters, intriguing day to day anecdotes and a story that takes you on a domestic level quest for meaning.

The Accidental Tourist

The Accidental Tourist
Anne Tyler
Berkley Pub Group; ISBN: 0425092917

Macon Leary is a writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's particularly creative or adventurous. In this sometimes coolly removed book, the peculiarities of the Leary family is easily the most wonderful and endearing element, although the character of Muriel, Macon's dog trainer and sometimes companion, competes for brilliance. Macon's stoic conventionality is beautifully portrayed, as is his hunt for sameness - as his books seek to present the traveler with things from home even in foreign countries. His marriage is breaking up and his attempts to deal with it are described purely physically, a clever tool to show his inability to deal with emotional issues, such as the recent death of his young son. A beautiful book of biting lines and memorable scenes.

A Perfect Crime

A Perfect Crime
Peter Abrahams
Ballantine Books (Trd); ISBN: 0345423844

Peter Abrahams gets his hooks into the reader early and won't let go, the tension palpable right from the opening pages. Adding to the entertainment are sure fire ingredients: unfaithful wife, cheating lover, loyal friend, jealous husband, ultimate act of revenge. Hmmmm. Sounds interesting! Fans of this author won't be disappointed here.

Blood Trail

Blood Trail
Michael Sullivan
Jameson Books; ISBN: 0915463849

The contaminated blood scandal in Canada has spawned this novel that weaves fact and fiction into an intriguing tale. The fantastic plot moves from Canada to Arkansas, Dublin to the jungles of Vietnam, and mixes in an incredible connection to a man who will be President. The plot is engaging, the action fast paced.