A productive (long) weekend of reading

Good morning everyone, it has been a while since my last post. Because of the long weekend, I was able to get some serious reading done; so, here they are:

1) Last week I finished one of Thomas McGeoghan's books on how the Republican's deregulation tactics increased civil litigation. He makes some interesting points; one part that was particularly funny was he notes Elliot Spitzer as a fighter of deregulation and a champion of litigation. I'm sure current readers (as well as myself) got a good chuckle out of that.

2) Friday, into Sat. AM I read my first novel by Zora Neal Hurson "Their Eyes Were Watching God"; this is a real interesting book about growing up in the south during the mid 20th century. One of the main character's names is Tea Cake, with a name like that, how can you resist? It is however, in all fairness a nickname. Hurston's background as an anthropologist gives interesting insight during the 20th century on how relationships are formed/kept (or not) as the case might be. The next book I will be reading by her is "Moses, Man of the Mountain". I know she has a number of other published novels which I will look forward to reading as well.

3) Saturday and Sunday I completed by third book by Tim O'Brien, "Tomcat in Love"; another fantastic read, he doesn't dissapoint. The protagonist is a professor of linguistics at the U. of Minnesotta. He marries his high school sweetheart, after a number of years of marriage she leaves him to go to Florida to marry a rich financeer who is called "the Tycoon". He makes numerous plots to try and get back at her, however as the story unfolds, we learn that he's a womanizer himself. The book has an unexpected ending, one that I certainly did not expect. This is a fantastic read, I absolutely reccommend it. My next book by him is at home waiting to be read, "July, July".

3) Monday morning (I am also still reading this) I begain Alan Dershowitz's "Is There a Right to Remain Silent? Coercive Interrogation and the Fifth Amendment after 9/11." As usual, Dershowitz gives a scholarly history of the fifth amendment and cites numerous Supreme Court cases over the years as to how it has been interpreted. One case in particular he sights is Chavez vs Martinez in which a police officer (Martinez) interrogates a suspect (Chavez) while he's in the hospital awaiting treatment. The suspect speaks broken English and at numerous instances states I do not want to speak to you anymore. This and the other cases cited are interesting; for those of you interested in these particular issues, I would definitely suggest it. I should finish this today as I am on the final chapter.

3) Last night, just to take a break from 'serious' reading I read about Manayunk (a notable Philadelphia neighborhood about 6 miles west of Center City) as part of the 'Images of America' series. For those of you familiar with Washington DC, it is similar to Adam's Morgan in it's vibrant nightlife, interesting shops, overall crowdedness and noisy nature. I was hoping for more information on the second half of the 20th century. The book, however, mostly noted the turn of the century through the 1930's. Those of you interested in Philadelphia and/or history of Manayunk, it's still pretty interesting; the pictures are fantastic.