The Girl With the Blue Umbrella by Heather Beck (Awad)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished reading The Girl With The Blue Umbrella, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author is very honest and real in her poems, giving them an intimate feel. She has a fluid, steady flow to her words, where one line carries seamlessly into the next. There is an abundance of rich imagery which lifts off the page. Just lovely. There is also some pieces that will put a smile on your face, which I found to be just the right complement to the more sentimental pieces. I would definitely recommend this collection as a must read for anyone who loves poetry.

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The 231 Club: My Ten Year Journey From Therapist to CIA Courier and Sanctioned Kills - A True Story by J. Bartell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 231 Club is well written and I certainly appreciated the author’s voice and the casual style. It also made me think what I would have done if I were in his shoes. Take the safe road and stay in my day job of therapist or take the one going left to the big unknown with plenty of risks along the way?

Fortunately I was in my armchair enjoying the dilemma. All in all, the book is very interesting, both in the author’s background as well as in the various stories he tells of life in the fast lane. The author’s adventures make for very good reading especially when you know they are true tales of CIA exploits. What may have started as high level thinking about the jobs that needed to be done in South America or Latin America during this time period was soon relegated to the people who actually had to carry them out and they often did so with very little resources or help from the upper level “suits”.

This was a very interesting read and I would highly recommend it.


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