Pennyworth Books

I was at my local library recently, trying to choose my next book. Reading the jacket of “Velocity” made me pick it immediately. The premise: a bartender named Billy Wiles finds a note on his car one night after work. The note contains an ultimatum: If he turns the note over to the police, “an elderly woman active in charity work” will be killed. If he doesn’t involve the police, “a lovely blonde schoolteacher from the Napa Valley” will be killed instead. Though Billy may not take the note seriously at first, he soon finds out that the person who left the note is quite serious with the threat, and then another note shows up. What follows is a very intense, suspenseful struggle between Billy (a former struggling writer) and the unknown killer. Everyone becomes a suspect and there are multiple surprises until the final conclusion, a showdown between the…

Antiques to Die For, A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery by Jane K. Cleland.

What makes the author’s main character, Josie Prescott, interesting is that she’s a multi-talented, strong woman who knows how to get the most out of her own personality-much like the author. In fact, many of Josie’s personality traits seem to be autobiographical.

Once a highly paid New York executive, Josie became a “whistle blower”. Out of necessity she re-invents herself as a top notch antiques appraiser and shop owner in a small town in New Hampshire.

Life is going well-her business is booming, she’s made many friends and she’s in love with the town’s police chief. The only snag seems to be is that Josie attracts dead bodies!

Antiques to Die For is the third novel using this set of main characters, which are so intriguing that once you begin reading the book, you won’t want to put it down until…

In reviewing the book The Culturally Customized Web Site, by Nitish Singh and Arun Pereira there are three things that must be said:

• If you have an online business and truly want to market to international audience through your website, get this book.
• If you have an international profile and want to broaden your international outlook, get this book.
• If you are interested in different cultures and happen to own a computer, get this book

This is really the book that got me excited about international internet marketing. It was also the first book I read by non-European authors who were very obviously cultural experts. Since reading The Culturally Customized Web Site I have read many more books by non-European cultural experts. And have come to this conclusion; the time when Europeans held the lead in cultural understanding is passing.

The Culturally Customized Web Site uses the Geert Hofstede cultural classifications to show and explain what works…

Travelling is regarded as one of the preferred options by most of the people to stimulate their tiring souls. Exploring unknown places can be very exciting as it helps the people undertake adventurous tasks to overcome the hurdles of daily life. However, it is also very absurd to start travelling without having any prior knowledge of the concerned place or locality.

A particular place incites our curiosity only when it is very popular or has some unique feature. This kind of activity is basically undertaken by a person when he or she wants to take a break from the daily hectic schedules. As such a person should careful plan to enjoy his whole trip. It would be very irritating if the travellers get lost in the midst of their journey. As such the travel books are carefully written to guide the readers to the right path.

The Travel Books perfectly depict the…

It seems kinda silly to read a couple of hundred pages about something as simple as food. But I did! And Michael Pollan made it worthwhile.

In Defense of Food is an engaging look at food and the food industry. Pollan is a good writer and I was captivated within minutes. For the record, I never intended to do anything more than skim, but I ended up engrossed and read every single word. It was a journey that alternatively amused and enraged me.

Pollan takes on the modern idea of diet with a full scale attack on what we call food and put in our mouths. He exposes Agri-business, pseudo-science and “Big Food.” He doesn’t spare anyone starting with the USDA and General Mills and ending with the consumer who would rather grab an attractive package of prepared “healthy” food than cook.

Pollan effectively argues that

• Over the last 25 years food as been…

I have listened to Tom Brokaw’s audio book ‘Boom’ a couple of times. It is an interesting recap of major events of the 1960′s in the context of his personal perspective as a journalist, father, husband, friend and American citizen.

The book includes interviews with such famous faces as Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Michelle Phillips, James Taylor and Rafer Johnson, the 1960 Olympic decathlon champion. Johnson tells how he gave up a promising career as a sportscaster to work on the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. On June 5, 1968, Johnson helped to wrestle Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan to the ground. In the struggle, Rafer grabbed the gun and put it in his suit pocket. When he woke up the next morning, Johnson discovered that the gun was still in his suit pocket.

Guthrie, now 60 years old, performs a rendition of his signature song ‘Alice’s Restaurant’. He then tells Brokaw…

In his novel ‘Foe’, J.M.Coetzee has reconsidered the events of ‘Robinson Crusoe’ from a new point of view. Almost everybody in the field of literature is acquainted with the hardships which Robinson Crusoe had to bear in his adventurous journeys. Crusoe had spent 28 years, 2 months and 19 days on the island. In Crusoe’s story, the author, Daniel Defoe, presents his hero who lives in a man’s world. Women appear as minor characters, for short durations. It is clear in the story that Robinson Crusoe goes well without women for all those years. However, in the end he marries. Finally he goes back to the island and from there to Brazil. In all respects, it appears that Crusoe has to face the severities for all those years.

J.M.Coetzee, in his story, ‘Foe” makes up for these severities, and the writer presents a woman’s story. The story moves as she demands.…