The Importance of Reading...

I recently discovered a blog called Texas Liberal, which makes for interesting reading.

One of the posts was about the Houston Chronicle publishing the answer to a question Texas Liberal had sent in - what were the last three books the presidential hopefuls had read?

The answers were quite interesting.

"Republican Mike Huckabee didn’t respond when asked by a newspaper reader, Neil Aquino of Houston, to list the last three books he has read."

Quelle surprise... It's such a bad cliché that evangelicals don't read (or, if they do, they limit themselves to books related to scriptural topics.) But by furthering that stereotype, I think it's a pretty poor showing for Mike Huckabee. He couldn't think of a single book he'd read recently? Jeeze, the guy could have at least thrown The Bible in there!

"But Republican John McCain said he had recently reread A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and read, presumably for the first time, The Age of Turbulence by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and the Spirit of Churchill by Deborah Davis Brezina."

A Hemingway book? And a book about Winston Churchill? And then Greenspan's new book? If you ask me, these are clearly well rehearsed answers. Hemingway was the rough, tough, man's man. Churchill was the legendary warrior statesman. Greenspan is a legendary Republican policyman. If you were trying to reach out to a cynically targeted audience, I can think of no better answers than the ones John McCain gave!

But then again, McCain's only a little older than my father and he enjoys a good historical biography every now and then (I think he recently completed one about Horatio Nelson.)



"Clinton listed Ike: An American Hero by Michael Korda, The Bourne Betrayal by Robert Ludlum and The Appeal by John Grisham."

Even though Clinton comes across as a devious and cold political Machiavelli, I found her answer surprisingly earnest. Two of the three books she mentioned are populist and sniffed at by the literati, but would make very entertaining reading.

Even more so than John McCain, Hillary appears to actually be a reader and although snobs might disapprove of her choice of 'best selling schlock' it appeals to me because they're the kind of books I enjoy myself (nobody writes a courtroom drama like Grisham.)

"My 9-year-old, Malia, and I read all the Harry Potter books together,” Obama said.

Obama's answer was a bit too twee for me. Obama is a charming statesman, but even he can lay it on a bit thick. This seems like another answer specifically designed to appeal to his audience.

"Aww!" the potential voters gush. "He reads with his little girl! And he reads Harry Potter, just like me! Awww!"

And, besides, the billion-dollar bestsellers of JK Rowling hardly need a potential-presidential endorsement to sell more copies!

Reading Rocks

The importance of what presidents read can't be underestimated. Even back in the sixties, people were peering into the White House bookcases with surprising curiosity. The fact that John F. Kennedy listed From Russia With Love as one of his favourite paperbacks helped significantly boost author Ian Fleming's career - and made Kennedy seem that much cooler.

The books a president reads are important for various reasons.

Firstly, it's just important that a president does read. Somebody who enjoys reading will generally have a broader base of knowledge than somebody who doesn't. That's why Mike Huckabee ducking the question gave me another reason to distrust him.

Secondly, people express a lot of their own personality in the choice of books they enjoy. John F. Kennedy appealed to the original Playboy generation with his choice of a James Bond book. Clinton's choice of a Grisham novel suggests she enjoys taut pacing, a well detailed and beautifully researched 'real world' setting and difficult, thought provoking moral questions to ponder. McCain's choices indicate a man who's interested in history and economics and not too arrogant to pick up a book and learn more about them.

The Texas Liberal's question was brilliant because it stripped away a lot of the media hype and gave us a genuine peek into these politician's lives.

It also made me think about what the books I've been reading say about me.

Because Tina gets Advanced Reading Copies of upcoming books, I tend to read them as and when they arrive (making my choice of reading material rather random.)

The last three books I read were The Justice Riders by Chuck Norris (who endorsed Huckabee... The least Mike could have done in return was read Chuck's book.) Simplexity by Jeffrey Kluger (the book that's simply too complex to describe in one sentence) and Loose Girl by Kerry Cohen.

They don't really say much about my personality (my preferred diet of adventure stories and thrillers probably does) but I certainly feel reading those three books broadened my horizons.

What were the last three books you read? ...and if you were standing for President, what do you think they'd say about you?

Justice Riders by Chuck Norris (and others...)

I’m in two minds about movie star Chuck Norris’ first western novel, the stirring Civil War adventure Justice Riders.

On one hand, the book is clearly a cynical ploy to cash in on Chuck Norris’ enormous popularity. It’s an easy-to-read western featuring a main character clearly modeled on Norris himself (so much so that he performs Norris’ signature ‘roundhouse kick’ as early as page twelve.)

For that reason, it’s easy to dismiss Justice Riders as being designed to attract sales through celebrity rather than quality.

But on the other hand, Justice Riders is an efficiently produced product that will prove very satisfying to a specific target audience. If you like Chuck Norris, you’re interested in the history of the Old West and you’re not expecting great art or literature, Justice Riders delivers everything you expect. Perhaps even more. Book snob or not, you can’t really argue with a novel that accomplishes everything it sets out to do.

Riders. For Justice.

Although the cover credits Norris most prominently, four authors contributed to Justice Riders, including Chuck Norris’ brother, Aaron. This probably explains the ‘set up’ of the book, which reads like it was decided by committee.

The titular ‘Chuck Norris’ character, Captain Ezra Justice, is a celebrated war hero given a top-secret mission by the Union Army during the last year of the American Civil War.

He recruits an elite team to sabotage Confederate efforts behind enemy lines. His politically-correct smorgus board of recruits include a lovable Irish rogue, a cunning British sniper, twin gypsy explosive experts, a noble Native American and, of course, Ezra’s childhood friend – a slave freed from his parent’s plantation.

Their adventures take them across the clearly well-researched backdrop of the post Civil-War south – interacting with real historical figures and experiencing notable events, culminating with Captain Ezra Justice and his ‘Justice Riders’ getting themselves mixed up in the real-life sinking of the steamship Sultana – a tragic riverboat disaster that claimed the lives of 1,700 passengers.

Their adventure climaxes with a classic western showdown, as Justice and his men face off against the moustache-twirling Mordacai Slate and his rebel Confederate platoon The Death Raiders.

It’s entertaining stuff, although the writing is pretty unpolished. One fault that really jars is a complete lack of contractions, even in the dialogue. “I do not like him” characters would say, instead of “I don’t like him.” It makes some of the writing seem very stilted and the dialogue pretty unrealistic.

Also, most of the characters are given interesting back stories, but they’re quite roughly shoehorned in between paragraphs of the current action, making it all a bit disjointed.

The plot, characterization and description are all satisfactory, but it’s pretty clear that the publishers printed a very early draft of the story instead of polishing and tightening the manuscript. A celebrity name on the cover was apparently more important than editing.

What shines is the research. The war-torn south our heroes trek through is utterly believable and while Ezra Justice is merely an observer and victim of the tragic Sultana disaster, it’s fascinating to learn about the greed, graft and dishonesty that led to so many people tragically loosing their lives.

All in all, I’m left with the impression that Justice Riders is an unfinished book. The authors are perfectly competent and able writers – but it’s clear that any author lacking the celebrity clout of Chuck Norris would have received a rejection letter for submitting this rough-and-ready manuscript, instead of a publishing contract.

However, all the raw ingredients needed for a solid novel are there and if you’re willing to overlook the finer details, Justice Riders proves to be an enjoyable and educational page-turner.

Justice Riders by Chuck Norris, Ken Abraham, Aaron Norris and Tim Grayem is published by Broadman and Holman Publishers and retails for $15.99.