Premier Book Review

Two books I recently read and that I would highly recommend are Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and City of Falling Angels, both by John Berendt. Midnight is his first and the first one I read. They both investigate the atmophere of beatiful cities and the personalities and characters of the the cities' residents. The approach is straightforward, but Berendt is a master at describing the cities in vivid detail, gaining access to the cities' most colorful characters, and convincing them to open up and tell their stories. The flow of the writing makes them both pleasures to read-- they don't leave you feeling quite as cheap as The Divinci Code, but require no where near the effort of, say, the Russians. How many times have I started those!?

Midnight is set in Savannah, Georgia and centers around a murder mystery. The mystery is the vehicle for enlightening us about the city and its residents. Falling Angels is set in Venice. A fire that destroys an architectural treasure is Berendt's opening to explore and understand the residents of Venice. They are so evocative and fascinating that I wanted to move to Savannah after reading the first, then to Venice after reading the second! Summer is coming and I strongly encourage you to pick one or both up for some easy and enjoyable beach reading. I was sad to finish both of these and they left me wishing Berendt had written other books. I'll certainly snap up his next one quickly!