Between you and me: a memoir, by Mike Wallace

 

I enjoyed this memoir by 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, although it's less a memoir about his life and career and more a collection of favorite interviews. While he does mention his career steps, they're more as background to his interviews, and not presented in chronological order. Rather, he organizes the book into types of interview subjects or themes, such as presidents, race, the Middle East, and celebrities. In his decades-long career, Wallace has interviewed a wide spectrum of people from Eleanor Roosevelt to Tina Turner, and has turned his style of gotcha journalism on all of them. He was 87 when this book was published but nearing the end of his career; he retired just a year later. His writing is clear and concise and includes snippets from his interviews. This was a fun and interesting memoir that dips into the political, historical, and cultural world from the 1940s on.

The best man to die, by Ruth Rendell

This is the 4th book in Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series, and it's the best-written book yet. Charlie Hatton is murdered the night before he is set to serve as best man at a wedding, and it turns out that there is more than one person who had motive and opportunity to kill him. Rendell does a good job leading the reader down one path after another before finally revealing the killer (surprise) in the final pages, although I have to admit, the clues were there for us to see. She also expands on Wexford's personality more than in earlier book so we get to know him a little better. The writing and pacing are excellent.
 

Hercule Poirot's Christmas, by Agatha Christie

 

This is another satisfying mystery featuring detective Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie. Poirot is brought in to help identify the killer of Simeon Lee, the patriarch of a family who has mostly come to fear and loathe him. Found inside a locked room after a violent struggle, Poirot struggles to figure out how he could have been killed and who could have done it. As usual, he prevails!

Damascus Station, by David McCloskey

 

I really enjoyed this spy thriller by author David McCloskey. Primarily based in Syria during the civil war, it features a CIA agent who recruits a Syrian woman who works for the government to identify who is responsible for the killing of another CIA agent. Their mutual spying eventually encompasses a much larger aim: to prevent Syria from deploying chemical weapons against its own citizenry. The writing is very good, and the plotting meticulous. The book also demonstrates how difficult it was for any Syrian citizen to take a stand against a government and leaders who wouldn't hesitate to torture and kill relatives as punishment for anyone who doesn't obey.

Uncivilized beasts and shameless hellions: travels with an NPR correspondent, by John F. Burnett

 

This is a fascinating collection of essays by NPR correspondent John Burnett about his experiences reporting some of the biggest stories of the previous decades (this book was published in 2006). Chapters cover his time spent in the Middle East (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan), Guatemala, Kosovo, and Mexico. Other chapters cover dramatic episodes in U.S. history such as Hurricane Katrina and the Waco siege. I always find it fascinating getting the inside scoop on important stories, often including details and anecdotes that don't make it into the daily reporting, and this book doesn't disappoint.