THE STORM -- Frederick Buechner

Harper SanFrancisco -- hc
New York -- ©1998 -- 199pp
ISBN: 0-06-061144-8

Shakespeare's The Tempest in a modern setting.

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I have enjoyed the works of Frederick Buechner, and looked forward to this retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, but actually found it to be rather dull and bland.

The set-up and history of Kenzie and Kia was interesting, and the characters throughout were interesting. Buechner writes his characters' idiosyncracies so well!

But the plot failed to interest me. Is it because I already knew what would happen? Or was it because he was trying so hard to stay true to the Shakespearean story? hard to say. Only that this didn't grab me at this time.

MONOPOLY: THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS GAME-AND HOW IT GOT THAT WAY -- Philip E. Orbanes

Da Capo Press -- hc
Cambridge, MA -- ©2006 -- 262pp
ISBN-10: 0-306-81489-7

As described in the title, a history of the famous Monopoly® game.

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This was a fantastic book! Part history, part economics, part business, part game-playing. There was just the right amount of all of this that I felt I understood how the game developed and why it thrived.

The depth of research was incredible. And like so many things that have withstood the test of time, it is interesting to note that this game was rejected a number of times before it was finally given the opportunity to sit of the store shelves. It speaks to the creators' perseverence that it didn't fade away.

I found the history of the game during the way years to be quite fascinating.

Really a book worth reading!