2011 Booking It January Reading List

I am part of the 2011 Booking It at Life As Mom reading club. I am challenging myself to read two books a month.

During the month of January I read a great mystery/thriller by Vince Flynn " Protect and Defend"

Vince Flynn is one of my favorite mystery writers I love his characters.
New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn returns with his most explosive political thriller yet. A tour de force of action-packed suspense, Protect and Defend delivers an all-too-realistic and utterly compelling vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue. A true heavyweight in the political thriller arena (Minneapolis Star Tribune), Vince Flynn has created a flesh-and-blood hero that readers can cheer for and a finger-blistering page-turner they won t dare put down.

In Protect and Defend, the action begins in the heart of Iran, where billions of dollars are being spent on the development of a nuclear program. No longer willing to wait for the international community to stop its neighboring enemy, Israel launches one of the most creative and daring espionage operations ever conceived. The attack leaves a radioactive tomb and environmental disaster in the middle of Iran s second largest city. An outraged Iranian government publicly blames both Israel and the United States for the attack and demands retribution. Privately, Iran s bombastic president wants much more. He wants America and Israel to pay for their aggression with blood.

Enter Mitch Rapp, America s top counter terrorism operative. Used to employing deception, Rapp sees an opportunity where others see only Iranian reprisals that could leave thousands of Americans dead. Rapp convinces President Josh Alexander to sign off on a risky operation that will further embarrass the Iranian government and push their country to the brink of revolution. As part of the plan, CIA director Irene Kennedy is dispatched to the region for a clandestine meeting with Azad Ashani, her Iranian counterpart.

But Rapp isn t the only one hatching plans. Iranian President Amatullah, has recruited Hezbollah master terrorist Imad Mukhtar to do his dirty work. For decades Mukhtar has acted as a surrogate for Iran, blazing a trail of death and destruction across the Middle East and beyond. When Kennedy s meeting with Ashani goes disastrously wrong, Rapp and Mukhtar are set on a collision course that threatens to engulf the entire region in war. With the clock ticking, Rapp is given twenty-four hours, no questions asked, to do whatever it takes to stop Mukhtar, and avert an unthinkable catastrophe.

If you have not read Vince Flynn and love thrillers start out with his first book Term Limits and read them in order if possible. Mitch Rapp does not become his main character till the second book by Flynn but Term Limits is his first book and is a fantastic thriller.

My second book was a non fiction book to help me understand my Irish family and what they went through to come to the US. Most of my ancestors came before the revolutionary war but my Irish family came in 1852. I enjoyed this book and it will remain on my bookshelf for me to go back to over and over.




" The Irish American Family Album " by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

The Irish American Family Album is a remarkable history and memoir. In their own words--from diary entries, letters, interviews, and personal reflections--and with photographs and clippings pulled from family archives and the press of the day, the rich and colorful history of the Irish immigration to this country is told with a passion and wit that is uniquely Irish. Life on the "ould sod" and the hardships of the great potato famine and British rule, the decision to leave, the arduous Atlantic journey, first impressions of their new home, settling in and building a new life--all are made immediate and real through the words and snapshots of the participants. But not all are happy memories. Most of the immigrants were young people and left Ireland with a heavy heart, believing that they would never again see those they left behind. They faced prejudice in this country--"No Irish Need Apply" was a familiar sign in shop windows and in newspaper advertisements--and living conditions in the tenements they could afford were a far cry from life on the farm back home.

Many immigrants found their first jobs here as laborers. They were among the workers who built the Erie Canal, the transcontinental railroad, and the Statue of Liberty. In the west, Irish laborers found work as miners during the gold rush. Irish women often worked as servants in the houses of the upper class, or worked in the cloth mills of New England. Though prejudice tried to keep the majority at the bottom of society, the very size of the Irish American community made them a powerful political force, and in cities such as Boston, New York, and Chicago, the Irish took control of local political organizations and were soon a force to be reckoned with.

It is now February and I am reading another mystery / thriller. This one is by

John Sandford and I am really enjoying it. Will review later.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together .. Grace