By Alan Caruba
My Picks of the Month
Economists spend lots of time debating each other about the outcomes of the predictions they make and solutions they offer. As we have seen, the leading economic advisors to both President Bush and President Obama were not able to foresee the collapse of the housing market “bubble” even though many others warned against reducing interest rates to virtually zero and former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, was perplexed by “irrational exuberance” as the government distorted the entire banking system by requiring banks and mortgage firms to make loans to people who clearly were unable to repay them. Now the debate has focused on the attempted takeover of one sixth of the nation’s economy, its healthcare system. Thus, The Cartoon Introduction to Economics – volume one: Microeconomics ($17.95, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, softcover) arrives just in time this month to help anyone to better understand what is occurring in the nation’s economy. Written by Yoram Bauman, a PhD in economics who teamed with cartoonist Grady Klein, this book actually makes the topic fun!
The one thing I have learned over a lifetime of reading the work of intellectuals is that these folks are often so impressed with their own intellect, verified by the issuance of higher degrees of learning, that they cannot see the forest for the trees. They are often dangerously wrong. This is the case of Leland G. Stauber’s astonishingly stupid new book, The American Revolution: A Grand Mistake ($27.00, Prometheus Books). A political scientist, Stauber offers his own interpretation of the birth and subsequent development of the United States. He argues that the U.S. independence from Great Britain was “premature” and that Canada offers a “preferable” alternative to our history. No one would argue that the American experience has not been flawed and the Civil War is testimony to the fact that the Founding Fathers dodged the huge moral issue of slavery. Stauber criticizes the American system of government, “based on checks and balances (as) often cumbersome in dealing with contemporary challenges, which are often no so difficult for parliamentary governments.” He worries that Americans have “a deep-seated suspicion of a strong central government, which dates back to our war against British tyranny,” arguing that “this reluctance to use the central government to tackle major social problems cripples the United States from building a more decent society.” I would argue we have the most decent society of all those currently in existence and, as such, are a beacon of liberty to the oppressed around the world whose central governments are intrusive and oppressive. If you want to know what is wrong with the current administration, read this awful book.
For those who pursue foreign affairs issues, there’s an interesting book by Peter Baldwin, The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How America and Europe Are Alike ($24.95, Oxford University Press). The author is a history professor at the University of California—Los Angeles and he believes that the U.S. and Europe are more alike than different. He makes a good case for the similarities. Comparing the latest statistics on the economy, crime, health care, education, religion, and culture he lays out his theme, but I think he misses the big questions in the midst of the details and that is Europe fought and lost two wars in the last century. It is extremely gunshy as opposed to an America that has won most of its wars and is pretty much alone in the role of global policeman. Europe has gone far to the left, embracing environmentalism far more than the U.S. and paying a price for it already in its need for new energy plants, etc. In the end, there is no denying how closely tied we are to one another, particularly so far as our economies are concerned. The rise of Asia, i.e. China and India, are going to make us even more co-dependent. A short, hard-hitting softcover, Saving America from the Right Perspective, ($14.99, Xulon Press) makes a case for why political correctness will get a lot of Americans killed by Islamist terrorists. E.J. Courtney, a security and counterterrorism expert, has written a clarion call for common sense and real action to protect Americans. The recent Christmas day attempted bombing of an airliner and the lame response to the incident suggests this book should be read by everyone working for the Department of Homeland Security. Courtney bluntly asserts that “Liberal thinking simply can’t keep us safe anymore.” His view, borne out by the previous administration’s eight years after 9/11, is that “Conservatives are better at keeping us safer.” Judging by the polls, Americans increasingly agree with the author, making this a book well worth reading for its recommendations.
I liked Onramps and Overpasses: A Cultural History of Interstate Travel by Dianne Perrier ($29.95, University Press of Florida) for the way it reminds us how the vast interstate highway system, completed in the 1950s, transformed life in the nation. It was an initiative of the Eisenhower administration, largely because Ike, a former general, understood the need for moving troops around swiftly, a lesson learned from Nazi Germany’s famed Autobahn. I can well recall the long, laborious trip from northern New Jersey to the Shore before the Parkway and Turnpike were built, so the book resonated for me as history, but also because it demonstrates the great power that ease of transportation has had on the economy for the movement of goods and on Americans who got in their cars and began to travel for new employment opportunities and for recreation on a scale never seen before. Another book that I found intriguing is Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in Historyby Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Cambell ($24.95, Union Square Press). It is the story of how, on Valentine’s Day weekend in 2003, a group of thieves broke into an allegedly airtight vault in the international diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium. It is estimated they got away with nearly half a billion dollars in diamonds, gold, gems, and other valuables. To date, none of the loot has ever been recovered. Better than any Hollywood movie, this story tells of a perfect crime, but an imperfect getaway because police narrowed their focus to Leonardo Notarbartolo, an Italian who took two years to case the vault. The rest of the cast was made up of interesting characters who executed an intricate plot, and of course had an extraordinary payday.
I can recall a time when race was the great debate of our times and that Americans resolved the issues involved by passing laws that ensured equality before the law while eliminating the written and unspoken codification of race-based inequality. Guy P. Harrison has written Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know About Our Biological Diversity ($20.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) in which he examines the powerful impact the concept of race has had on history and which continues to shape our present world. Drawing on research from many sources, he raises questions such as, if analysis of the human genome reveals that all humans are 99.9% alike, how meaningful are racial differences? He asks, are we all in one way or another, racists? And how does race influence intelligence, athletic ability, and love interests? It is a provocative, interesting book. Last month I took note of a book that revealed how boys are being failed by today’s educational system. This month I want to recommend Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualization of Girls (www.spinifexpress.com.au), edited by Melinda Tankard Reist. As the web address indicates, the book originates in Australia, but it is essential reading for parents, educators, and anyone else who is concerned about the way girls, at younger and younger ages, are being portrayed as sexual objects, pressured to conform to a “thin, hot, sexy” norm, and subject to inappropriate fashions. The results are girls engaging in sexual behavior at ever younger ages or being subject to predation in societies that celebrate this sexualization. The contributors to this book make a strong case for changes in our society. By any measure, we are damaging a new generation of children.
For people who love numbers, I have two books that will interest them. The first is Economic Freedom of the World 2009 Annual Report ($29.95, Cato Institute, large format softcover) an index of nations that measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of the nations profiled are supportive of economic freedom. It is based on 43 data points that look at the size of government expenditures, taxes and enterprises, legal structure, freedom to trade internationally, access to sound money, and the regulation of credit, labor and business. The good news is that, of 103 nations, 92 improved their scores over the previous year, but 11 saw a decrease. Highest ranked for the best place to do business include Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Chile, the United States, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. If you see a British link among these nations, you’re right. At the bottom, African nations. Two other bottom dwellers, Venezuela, a communist dictatorship, and Myanmar, run by a military junta. The Humongous Book of Statistics Problems ($19.95, Alpha Books, large format softcover) will provide hours of fun with its nearly 900 statistics problems and comprehensive solutions. Trust me, there are people who will love this book!
As an old journalist who used to do a daily column, rounding up the local news of the day that did not fit anywhere else in the newspaper, I have a particular fondness for a vanishing breed of columnists who write about the people in their area who are often far more interesting than the celebrities and others in the news. Garret Mathews writes for The Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press. In 2000 he was named Columnist of the Year for Scripps-Howard Newspapers and he has a number of books to his credit. His latest is a collection of some of his columns called Favorites ($14.95 available at www.newspaperwriter.com.) that are great reading. There’s an exotic dancer who wants to be a herpetologist, a survivor of the A-bomb on Nagasaki, and Birdie Lee, a 91-year-old who won’t stop bootlegging beer and whisky. These and others are a reminder that people are the most interesting critters on Earth.
Making Sense of the Financial Mess
For anyone trying to make sense of the nation’s current financial mess, there are two books that will prove very helpful.
From Bloomberg Press, there’s Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable by Mark Gilbert ($24.95). Gilbert, Bloomberg’s London Bureau Chief, spent eighteen months warning of the credit crisis which has since affected every investor and consumer, along with every industry and government program. It remains a mystery to many, so this book goes behind the scenes to explain how the sub-prime mortgage loans finally imploded. Gilbert argues that everyone with “skin in the money game” had an interest in pretending that housing prices could never turn into the “bubble” that ultimately occurred. He explains, too, how the crisis was truly international in scope.
Financial Fiasco: How America’s Infatuation with Home Ownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis by Johnan Norberg ($21.95, Cato Institute) is a general indictment of the crucial role the federal government played in the buildup and meltdown of the housing market, as well as how monetary policy, housing policy, and financial innovations combined to create the catastrophe. The final chapters examine how the government’s mismanagement of the crisis has only led to a potential repeat of the factors that created it. It is written with great clarity and insight.
Also from Cato Institute, The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom by Robert A. Levy and William Mellor ($9.95, softcover) will prove a revelation to those who trying to understand how a republic based on a limited federal government and state’s rights became the goliath that now intrudes into all aspect of citizen’s lives and centralizes power in Washington, D.C. in direct contravention of the intent of the U.S. Constitution. In his foreword to the book, Richard A. Epstein, says, “Regrettably, the Court has too often taken the plain wording of the Constitution and interpreted it to mean exactly the opposite of what the Founding Fathers intended. By that process the Court profoundly altered the American legal, political, and economic landscape.” This is an exceptionally important books.
Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs
Since our own lives are retricted by our personal experiences, reading the lives of others broadens our understanding of the world beyond our own space.
Three generations of Leakeys have scratched the baked, unfriendly soil of East Africa to unearth fossil evidence of the earliest humans and their ancient ancestors. They have defined the field of paleoanthropology. The Leakeys: A Biography by Mary Bowman-Kruhm ($17.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) is an engrossing biography that tells their story, beginning with patriarch Louis Leakey, a native of Kenya, who would garner international recognition after years of early struggle, often barely able to making a living. At the end of World War Two, thanks to funds from a benefactor, Leakey found Proconsul africanus, an 18-million-year-old skull that was the precursor to both evolving apes and humans, that led to funding from the National Geographic Society. He and his wife, Mary, then discovered Paranthropus boisei who lived about 1.75 million years ago. It was Leakey who encouraged protoges, Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey of chimp and gorilla studies fame. Then, following Louis’s death in 1972, Mary and their son Richard discovered a rich cache of fossils in northern Kenya. This is an engrossing story that is well worth reading.
Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star’s Revolution for Peace by Salman Ahmad ($24.99, Free Press) presents a far different picture than the daily headlines about suicide bombers and jihadists bent on killing in the name of Islam. Born in Pakistan in 1963, Ahmad would immigrate to the United States in the 1970s where he attended junior high and high school. He found solace in music and joined a garage band in New York with friends that included an Irish Catholic guitarist and Jewish bass player. He returned to Pakistan to study medicine and, though the nation had turned fundamentalist by then, he led a movement of clandestine rock and roll bands. In time he gained renown within and beyond Pakistan, eventually selling more than 25 million albums worldwide. He has dedicated himself to waging a cultural jihad and effort to advance Islam’s Sufi values of coexistence and mutual acceptance. Fans of rock and rolls in particular will enjoy this entertaining and enlightening autobiography. They are also likely to enjoy I Am Ozzy ($24.98, Hachette Audio, 3 CDs) as read by Frank Skinner. It is a memoir of sorts by Ozzy Osbourne who, for reasons beyond my understanding, has become a television reality show celebrity after having been an entertainer, famed for bizarre behavior. The audio book contains an interview with him as well.
Letters to Zerky by Bill Raney and JoAnne Walker Raney ($27.00, Nickelodeon Press) is subtitled “A father’s legacy to a lost son and a road trip around the world.” Pakistan and Afghanistan are in today’s headlines, but in November and December of 1967, they were just two remote nations visited by a young American family that had embarked on an around the world journey. Along with their 18-month-old son, Zerky (Eric Xerxes Rainey) and their miniature dachshund Tarzan, they spent three weeks in those nations, driving around in a Volkswagen camper. They traveled also across Europe as well as Turkey and Iran, then flew onto Thailand and Hong Kong. Along the way, Bill wrote his infant son a series of letters so that he could later recapture the family adventure. Tragically, following the adoption of a second child, JoAnne died from an undiagnosed cerebral aneurism. A year later Zerky was killed by a truck at age four. Armchair travelers will enjoy this memoir of the trip in a very different era than our own.
The Cloak and Dagger Cook: A CIA Memoir by Kay Shaw Nelson is an absolutely delightful account of a woman who, in 1948, joined the newly created Central Intelligence Agency out of a yen for international travel and a life with a bit more excitement than those times offered. She got the travel and a husband with whom to travel. Together they worked in places such as Turkey and Cyprus, Syria, Libya, France, Greece, and other ports. She combined her love of travel with food and, often using her cover as a “foodie” learned, not only secrets, but recipes from kebabs in Turkey to kimchi in Korea, eels in Spain and Rumbledethumps in Scotland. The result is a book that will provide a great deal of entertaining reading as she recalls her life spent in the course of major events, extraordinary corners of the world, and the pursuit of everything that tastes really good. The common interest in food that she found wherever she and her husband were assigned opened doors and yielded some great dining and some very useful intelligence. A Brilliant Darkness by Joao Magueijo is the story of Ettore Majorano, a troubled genius of the nuclear age ($27.50, Basic Books). Majorana was a nuclear physicist in Enrico Fermi’s research group known as the “Via Panisperna Boys.” Unfortunately he is best known for having mysteriously disappeared in 1938 after discovering a key element of atomic fission. This odd biography is really the story of the mystery around the man, but it does keep you turning the pages much in the way of a good spy novel. Scattershot: A Memoir by David Lovelace tells of what it is to live in a family with a member who suffers from a bipolar disorder ($15.00, Plume, softcover). These people are “up” some of the time and “down” others. The author’s relationship with the disease began as a young boy in the 1960s when both his preacher father and artist mother was diagnosed as manic depressive. The result in part was that he spend much of his childhood in church camps and parish residences where he witnessed the intersection between fundamentalism and mental illness. When the symptoms manifested themselves in his own life it slid into drugs. In 1986, his father, his brother and himself were committed to mental institutions in quick succession. He eventually learned to accept the disorder and lead a more stable life. This is often a devastating look into the world of the mentally ill.
Combining history with biography, Jure Fiorillo has written Great Bastards of History ($19.99, Fair Winds Press, softcover). Being born out of wedlock has long been a burden to those whose birth was no fault of their own. Throughout history illegitimacy often involved neglect, abandonment, disinheritance, and social exclusion. The usual routes to education, wealth and status were often blocked. Thus, it is come as a surprise to readers that many famous and accomplished persons were, in fact, bastards. They included our own Alexander Hamilton, one of the most brilliant of the Founding Fathers, and Leonardo Da Vinci, one of the greatest men of his age. In America we owe the Smithsonian museum to James Smithson, the disinherited son of an English Duke. In chapter after chapter, history emerges in an entirely new way in this quite interesting book.
A really terrific audio book is Martin Luther King, Jr: The Essential Boxed Set ($49.98, Hachette Audio, 15 CDs) which contains the landmark speeches and sermons of the great civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. As someone who heard him speak in life and met him briefly, this collection is as inspiring now as it was then. African Americans in particular should have this as part of their family library and share it with new generations fortunate to grow up in an America that has shed its restrictive laws. If you would prefer a shorter collection, there’s The Concise King ($19.98, Hachette Audio, 2 CDs). It is an ideal introduction to the man.
Advice on Everything
If there is one thing a reviewer learns over time, it is that there is no end of books offering advice on everything. This is, I think, a good thing, because each new generation faces the same general problems as well as new ones brought on by new technologies, attitudes, and influences.
Such is the case of The Digital Pandemic: Reestablishing Face-to-Face Contact in the Digital Age by Dr. Mack R. Hicks. PhD; a psychologist for three decades ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover). The subject is the way so many people have become addicted to electronic devices and why, too often, people no longer talk with one another or relate well on a personal basis. According to Nielson Online, more than 45 billion minutes are spent each year on social networking and blogging sites globally. As someone who has a daily blog with nearly 250 “followers” as well as others who read my posts on other websites and blog, I know the feeling of how strange it is for people to form a friendship or relationship with me based solely on my writings. In one way these people come to “know” me, but in others they would not recognize me in the same room with them. And, yes, I have a Facebook page. Dr. Hicks believes that those who are particularly addicted need to unplug themselves from their computers and cell phones, and begin to reconnect in more personal ways. Due for publication in May from the same publisher comes The Widower’s Toolbox: Repairing Your Life After Losing Your Spouse by Gerald J. Schaefer with Tom Bekkers, MSW, APSW ($14.95, softcover), filled with advice for men who have lost their wives and need help to heal from the pain of losing a life partner. There are an estimated 465,000 widowers annually and the book offers constructive tasks and tools with which to make the necessary transition, often only belatedly realizing the many things their partner did to make their lives function smoothly, from cleaning and cooking to managing children’s activities. There is a lot of very fundamental wisdom in this book and it will prove very helpful.
Talk to Me Like I’m Someone You Love: Relationship Repair in a Flash ($16.95, Tarcher/Penguin, softcover) by Nancy Dreyfus, Psy.D, is a very clever way for two people who presumably love one another to communicate without the problems that often lead to arguments and misunderstandings. It features more than one hundred of what Dreyfus calls “flashcards for real life”. They are straightforward, brief, and sometimes funny as they range from an accusation of bullying to an admission of personal confusion. Any couple having these common problems talking with one another will benefit from this unique book.
Beyond Blue: Surviving Depression & Anxiety and Making the Most of Bad Genes may not be the longest title of the new year, but it will give others a run for their money. Written by Therese J. Borchard, a popular Beliefnet.com blogger ($21.99, Center Street), the author offers practical advice, support and encouragement for those living with severe mood disorders as well as those with fleeting anxiety or sadness. The National Institute of Mental health estimates that about one in four American adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Borchard wants people to know it’s often natural to be depressed or sad or anxious. It’s called life, but when it becomes one’s entire life, treatment exists because, as she points out, depression can be an organic brain disorder, not just a passing emotion in response to events. She calls on her own life that included severe depression. If you or someone you know is beyond that normal aspects of sadness or anxiety, pick up a copy of this book TODAY. Coming in April is a book by Barry T. Schnell, MA, Helping a Mentally ill Loved one in a County Jail ($23.95, Social Sciences Publishing, Bear, DE). A family with a mentally ill member or friend behind bars in a county jail or juvenile detention center has a serious crisis on its hands. An estimated million families a year face this problem. As the author says, the criminal justice system is often “a meat grinder” for the mentally ill and the jails a dumping ground to replace mental hospitals and community mental health resources. The advance copy of this book has received much praise. Here again, if you know of someone trying to cope with this situation, this book will prove very helpful.
Three softcover books from Revell, a Christian book publisher, offer advice on a variety of relational topics. Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Your Anger by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD with Ann McMurray ($12.99). He says that anger doesn’t have to be ugly. “It can be motivational and empowering” if channeled into healthy avenues, but having said that, he also says anger can be especially unhealthy and destructive for women. With a compassionate and encouraging text, Jantz reviews the most common catalysts for women’s anger and reveals how best to cope. In the course of doing so, he draws heavily on scripture and biblical wisdom. Becoming Your Spouse’s Better Half: Why Differences Make a Marriage Great by Rick Johnson ($13.99) examines the differences between men and women, noting that many are disappointed with their spouse does not react as they expect or hoped, becoming frustrated or discouraged as a result. This is just good, old-fashioned marriage advice for the modern couple, exploring seven major areas of difference to spark strife and how to identify and cope with them. Finally, there’s 50 Ways to Feel Great Today by David B. Biebel, DMin, James E. Dill, MD, and Bobbie Dill, RN ($12.99). You simply cannot go wrong with a book that has a title like that and, in fact, it is filled with wonderful advice on the countless things anyonecan do to boost your good moods and keep them going. It is advice that may seem obvious to some, but to others it grants permission to explore life a bit more.
There is no end to advice on investing and the management of businesses. Since the nature of both these activities changes, here are two books and an audiobook that will prove helpful. The first is Obstacles Welcome: Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life by Ralph de la Vega ($24.99, Thomas Nelson) begins with a few pages of praise by some of the leading businessmen of our times and others. The author arrived in America at the age of ten from Cuba. He had been separated from his parents by Cuban authorities and it would be four years before they were reunited. In time, de la Vega would become the president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility. In that job he faced many obstacles in merging the largest wireless operations in the U.S., Cingular and AT&T, but as he notes in his book, the right attitude and determination to succeed can and does make all the difference. The book is filled with excellent advice. Sean Brodrick of Weiss Research has written The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis ($27.95, Wiley) in which he encourages fellow suburbanites to become more independent, showing how to prepare for uncertain times without giving up a 21st century lifestyle and without spending a fortune. As is often said, the time to prepare for a crisis is before it happens and Brodrick provides a roadmap to dealing with events like a stock market shake-up, oil and currency crisis, to floods and fires. This is a step-by-step guide to regaining control over an increasingly automated society that, should it break down even temporarily will cause panic for the unprepared. I highly recommend this book. And, an audiobook by Burton G. Malkiel, The Elements of Investing, ($24.98, Hachette Audio) offers straight forward talk about the fundamentals of financial success, from the need to diversify over different forms of investment, having long-term goals, using employer-sponsored plans, and much more. This one could be a game-changer for the uninitiated.
Kids, Teens, Young Adult Books
One of my favorite publishers of books for younger readers is Charlesbridge Publishing of Watertown, Massachusetts. Spring is just around the corner and they have a number of new books worth considering. We begin with books for those aged 2 through 5. Teaching a child to count and recognize colors and shapes will be easy with Teddy Bear Counting ($7.75), a real treat for any beginning learner as its illustrations make it fun and quick to learn them all. Animals of every description interest the pre-school and early readers. Meet the Howlers by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Woody Miller ($7.95) is, of course, about howler monkeys. It full of facts and the fun of a little howling along with the text. The culture of Korea comes alive in What Will You Be, Sara Mee? Written by Kate Aver Avraham and illustrated by Anne Sibly O’Brien ($7.95) it is the story of Sara Mee’s first birthday and the unique way it is celebrated by Koreans. Many have made America their new home.
Staying with the youngest readers, ages 2-5, let’s have more fun with new books from Kane Miller, another favorite of mine. The artwork by Nina Rycroft in Boom Bah by Phil Cummings ($15.99) is just fabulous as a menagerie of animals, cats, pigs, chickens, goats, bulls and horses come together in a parade filled with sounds. It’s great fun from beginning to end (and then you can start over!) One Night in the Zoo by Judith Kerr ($15.99) is a flight of fantasy as elephants fly and flamingos turn from pink to blue. Who knew what astonishing things could happen in a zoo? Well, now you do! The Best Family in the World ($15.99) written by Susana Lopez and illustrated by Ulises Wensall is a delightful story of Carlota, a little girl in an orphanage who learns she has been adopted and spends the night wondering what her new family will be like. Could they be pastry chefs, pirates, astronauts, perhaps? Turns out they are less dramatic, but, as Carlota discovers, they are the best family in the world. For the older set, ages 10-14, Kane Miller has a unique series, Conspiracy 365, by Gabrielle Lord that consists of a dozen books to be published between January and December. It is a thriller that begins when Callum Ormond, a 15-year-old who faces a year of daily dangers and challengers after he is chased by a staggering, sick man with a deadly warning, “They killed your father. They will kill you. You must survive the next 365 days!” It’s like a combination of the TV show “24” and the “Da Vinci Code” as the mystery unfolds amidst constant danger.
Thanks (or no thanks) to television, young people are privy to some of the uglier aspects of life and sometimes fall prey to them, For example, the statistics on runaways reveal that as many as one in seven kids between the ages of 10-15 will run away at some point and the older there are, the more they think they can ignore adults and make it on their own. Runaway Storm by D.E. Knobbe ($16.95, Emerald Book Company) is a cautionary tale of how young Nate learns that running away is no answer to his problems. Frustrated by his parent’s divorce, he takes off from New York to the Gulf Islands near Vancouver. What starts as an adventure soon enough turns dangerous and this young adult novel will discourage any such thoughts for any reader. A happier theme is embraced in Stephen V. Masse’s Short Circus ($20.00, Good Harbor Press, Boston) that centers on 12-year-old Jem Lockwood who relates his adventures with his Big Bother Jesse Standish, along with a host of neighbors and friends. When Jem discovers that Jesse’s rented house is about to be sold, he does everything he can think of to make it unmarketable. This leads to the “circus” that ensues and includes a search for the evil person who sabotaged the city’s swimming pool. The Big Brothers of America perform a valuable service as friends and mentors to young men who need a role model.
From Edge Books, an imprint of Gauntlet Press, Colorado Springs, CO, comes The Curse of the Shamra: Book One by Barry Hoffman ($12.25, softcover) that is classic fantasy for younger readers. When the peaceful and isolated land of the Shamra is invaded and its people enslaved, a young Shamra girl named Dara must lead the resistance and defeat their conquerors. She must also overcome the Shamra opposition to women in a leadership role, plus her own self-doubts, and those of her followers. Two shorter, related stories are told in Crystal Cave Stories ($5.99) and Life Lesson Stories ($4.99). To learn more visit www.ShamraChronicles.com.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
It didn’t hurt Anthony Pour’s new book, The Undercover Gentleman, ($13.95, Marlborough Books, softcover) to put a quote of mine on its back cover and introductory page because nothing pleases a reviewer more than to be quoted. That said, Pour continues to demonstrate why he needs even more recognition than I can provide because he is a master storyteller. As hard as you many try to second-guess where the plot is going, he is always full of surprises and this new novel featuring a reluctant spy combines the elements of a thriller with two plot lines involving an intriguing and entertaining cast of characters swept up in events over which they have no control. When you put this novel down at the end, you will want to see what the next one will be like.
I also had kind words for Mike Brogan’s previous novel “Business to Kill For”, an advertising mystery that went on to win a Writers Digest award for mainstream fiction. Mike’s second novel, “Dead Air”, is doing well too. Happily he’s back with Madison’s Avenue ($19.95, Lighthouse Publishing), officially due out in March. Drawing on his years as an advertising executive and his talent for writing suspenseful fiction, Brogan’s new novel is a thriller that begins with a frightening call from Madison’s father, followed by news a few hours later that he has committed suicide. She inherits his firm and his enemies, suspecting that his death was a murder and that she is in the crosshairs of a global ad agency that wants to take over the Manhattan agency. This is a look inside the dog-eat-dog corporate boardrooms that will also take you to the beaches of the Caribbean and to the Cannes Ad Festival in southern France. It will be available in leading bookstores and at www.Atlasbooks.com. This one is Mike’s next big winner!
It helps to be born into the right family in the right place. The opposite is the case in Forest Gate ($14.00, Free Press, softcover) by Peter Akinti. Born of Nigerian ancestry, raised in Forest Gate, one of the “council estates”, projects in London, Akinti lifted himself out of a neighborhood of suffering, violence, and failure. He became an attorney and publishes his own magazine for British black men. He now lives in Brooklyn. This is his first novel and it begins with a double suicide and ends with a rebirth as it explores the feeling and vitality of the immigrant experience, and the grievous racial tensions that attend it. This is a very gritty reading experience, but one that will take most readers to a place they have never been, providing insights they can gain no where else.
Everybody wants to write a novel, including Dr. John Bell, a surgical podiatrist and a professor at Strayer University in Memphis. The story focuses on what happens when a young, unwed girl has a child with a man, particularly one she does not want to marry. That man, however, the subject of Invasion of the Baby Daddy ($18.00, Jamar House Publishers, softcover) has rights and responsibilities to the child. In the process, this can wreak havoc for the families involved. Dr. Bell is particularly concerned about the more than 70% of African-American families that face these challenges and his story examines what happens when a doctor building a medical practice meets a woman at a church he visits in Charlotte, NC, is deeply attracted to her, only to discover she is pregnant. He proposes but there is the issue and the problem of the “baby daddy.”
Matt Beaumont is back with e2 ($15.00, Plume, softcover) featuring a wacky cast of characters from his former novel, a motley crew from the Miller Shanks Ad Agency that has now moved on to join Meerkat360, a sleek new boutique agency with its own cast of nut jobs. The mad world of advertising gets a workout as they employ all the newest technologies to sell the most ghastly succession of products and services. I guarantee that you will laugh…a lot. By contrast, if you want to slip into a somewhat melancholy world, then pick up This Time Tomorrow by Michael Jaime-Decerra ($24.00, Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press) to spend time with Gilbert Gaeta, a forklift operator in a dairy, with a daughter, Ana, and a girlfriend Joyce, whom he wants to marry. Written from their three points of view, we watch as their competing interests and hopes commingle to produce a novel of hope and love. Set in southern California, this is an impressive debut novel. The American Girl by Scandinavian novelist, Monika Fagerholm, has been a bestseller in Sweden and Finland, selling more than 200,000 copies in 13 nations. It is now available in America ($15.95, Other Press, softcover) with its intricate story of a young American girl who drowns in a Finland marsh and whose premature death becomes part of the local folklore. It sparks the imaginations of two young friends, Sandra and Doris, who search for a hidden meaning in the girl’s death. Suffice it to say they go to extremes, both playing adult games that have adult consequences. The story moves from the swinging 60s to the mod early 70s. This book will appeal to the female psyche.
For some listening pleasure, Hachette Audio continues to offer the works of James Patterson, Worst Case, and David Baldacci, Absolute Power, two thrillers that will have you on the edge of your seat. A longer listening experience can be had in Elizabeth Kostova’s The Swan Thieves (17 CDs, 18 hours) about an artist who attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art. It is a mystery that unravels the mind of a troubled artist and for those whom art is of great interest, this novel will provide a great deal of entertainment. Another kind of mystery, why a man would simply get up from his job and walk away from everything, including his family, is explored in The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris (7 CDs). It is a heartbreaking story of a man who has been taken for granted.
That’s it for February! Tell all your friends about this blog so they, too, can learn about the many books that will not get the bestseller treatment in the mainstream press, but deserve an audience of enthusiastic readers. And do come back in March for a host of new fiction and non-fiction that will enhance your life and expand your understand of the world and yourself.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Bookviews - January 2010
By Alan Caruba
My Picks of the Month
Something quite unusual occurred in December. After some fifty years of reviewing, I have long been accustomed to receiving three to five books a day, but last month there were often days that passed without a single new book arriving. It well could be that the economy has convinced publishers that sending review copies is a financial burden that required some reductions. I hope that is not so because I am looking forward to the seasonal springtime publication of new books. For this month, however, there are fewer books in the hopper for consideration.
It’s a bit of a tradition here at Bookviews, but I always welcome the opportunity to recommend readers pick up a copy of the new edition of The World Almanac® and Book of Facts whose 2010 edition is now available (12.99, softcover). In the era of Google, it might seem an anachronism to recommend this compendium of facts, but there is perhaps no better way to find the most essential information you need than in this annual book that contains so much information on national and international topics. Its statistics, concise data, and maps put it at your fingertips and for any student, writer, or just someone wanting to know more about what is occurring around the world, the Almanac is a quick, easy and informative source. I’m biased, but I think it should be in everyone’s home or office.
Americans have been taking to the town halls and the streets of Washington to protest changes to Medicare that would give the government control over one sixth of the nation’s economy. For even longer, they have resented being taxed and, indeed, the American Revolution was based on “taxation without representation.” Today’s Americans have very little idea how the government conspires to take away their income (as often as not to give it to others who do not work for it.) Bankrupting Joe the Taxpayer With No One to Bail Him Out by D. J. Golio ($24.95/$16.95, Authorhouse, hard and softcover) is a book I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone and everyone because, even if you think you’re making too little to pay income taxes, you are being taxed in countless other ways. Just check your telephone or utility bills and you will discover the truth of this. My December monthly telephone bill included $14.00 in federal excise and other taxes, as well as a state tax! Every time you fill up your car’s tank, you are paying taxes. The proposed Healthcare “reform” ignores the fact that no one by federal law can be denied medical care at any hospital. Many younger, healthier Americans do not want to purchase health care insurance. Many real reforms such as tort reform to avoid billions in court judgments are ignored. The costs of illegal aliens in America are huge and astonishing. And the appalling waste of many federal and state government programs, in addition to huge pension payouts, must be curbed. The author is a Certified Public Accountant who has an undergraduate degree in accounting and a MBA in taxation. He has been an adjunct assistant professor in the Pace University Department of Accounting and Finance for a decade. He has written a brilliant, easily understood book on why you are being bankrupted by government at every level and with every purchase.
I am frank to say I was unaware of the problem, but Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That’s Leaving Them Behind by Richard Whitmire ($24.95, Amacom) should inspire a nationwide discussion of a trend that must be reversed. The author documents how, at every grade level, in communities of every income level from Tennessee to Alaska, boys are falling behind girls in schools. He asks and answers how this happened and what the long-term economic, social and personal implications are. Importantly, he spells out what parents, teachers, principals, and policymakers must do to change what appears to be a dire situation. At the heart of the problem, says Whitmire, is a tougher curriculum that pushes boys to rise to literary challenges before they are ready. “The world has gotten more verbal; boys haven’t.” Moreover, men are fast becoming the minority in America’s colleges and universities. It is well known that the American educational system has been failing both genders, but this book which focuses on boys portends some very bad trends and outcomes unless this process is reversed.
I doubt that enough people will read Joris Luyendijk’s book, People Like Us: Misrepresenting the Middle East, ($14.95, Soft Skull Press, an imprint of Counterpoint Press, softcover). That's a shame because it does an excellent job of exposing why we in the West can never get an accurate picture of what is occurring in the Middle East because (a) they are all dictatorships with the exception of Turkey and Israel, and (b) because it is virtually impossible for foreign correspondents to get anything other than what the dictatorships say or report anything other than what western news agencies filter for their readers and viewers. The truth swiftly gets lost under such circumstances. After spending a year as a student of Arabic at Cairo University, the young Dutchman was offered a job as a correspondent for a Dutch news agency. He had no experience as a journalist, but what he would experience between 1998 and 2003 was an education in itself and one he shares in a book that reveals how impossible it is for news reporters or news consumers to ever know the truth about the Middle East. No one comes away with clean hands, but the reader comes away with a far better understanding of the complete oppression that those who live there must endure and survive.
I have a special fondness for large “coffee table” books on any subject and their counterpart, smaller, compact books that offer tons of information and/or entertainment. Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops: The Origins of Objects in Our Everyday Lives by Harry Oliver ($12.95, Perigee, an imprint of Penguin Books, softcover) falls into the latter category. This history wrapped in humor and lots of fascinating facts. Its twelve chapters address topics such as leisure and fun, objects around the home, food and drink, medicine, and others that make for some surprises and an appreciation for those things we tend to take for granted. For those who have a twisted sense of humor (and you know who you are!) Grimmer Tales: A Wicked Collection of Happily Never After Stories by Erik Bergstrom (16.00, Plume) offers a different take on favorite children’s fairy tales but this time things go terribly wrong. The illustrations are the key and I guarantee you will never think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the same again after you see how they end up. It will be a fun gift for certain friends and relatives. Fans of Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” will enjoy Decoding The Lost Symbol by Simon Cox ($14.99, Touchstone, softcover) that provides an A-to-Z guide to the real people, organizations, and themes featured in Brown’s latest novel. It is a most unusual guide to Washington, DC’s monuments and other related places.
There is no end to cookbooks, but occasionally an unusual one comes along that deserves more attention than the standard fare. In a Cheesemaker’s Kitchen by Allison Hooper celebrates “25 years of artisanal cheesemaking and cooking from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company ($19.95, The Countryman Press, softcover). Allison, along with Bob Reese, founded the company based on her passion for cheese and butter made from milk of the highest quality. She learned her trade on a family farm in France before bringing it to Vermont. Artisanal refers to a particularly European way of making cheese. Their business has enjoyed great success, bootstrapping from a small one into one tapping the milk of twenty local farms and dairies. Anyone who loves cheeses will find this book of particular interest as it discusses all manner of them and offers some tempting recipes that feature them.
I am trying to lose weight. It’s not easy. I have friends who are diabetic and I can just imagine what they must go through to live a normal life. The good news is a new book, The Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes by Frederic J. Vagini, M.D., FACS, and Lawrence D. Chilnick ($21.95, Fair Winds Press, softcover). Published in October, I suspect word of mouth will turn this book into a bestseller for the more than 1.6 million new cases of diabetes that are diagnoses, adding to the 57 million people faced with pre-diabetes and its complications. This book teaches how to remove all of the metabolic roadblocks that diabetes creates and provides specific recommendations for overcoming weight loss problems and managing diabetes based on a patient’s medical history and risk factors. The plan features a combination of low-glycemic foods, reduced carbohydrates, and a modified Mediterranean diet. There are lists of menus and meal options, plus recommendations for vitamins and supplements. This book is really good! And how about a really swell hallucinogenic drink called “Ayahuasca”? Okay, I am not recommending it, but I am suggesting a very interesting, albeit offbeat book by Stephan B. Beyer, Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon ($45.00, University of New Mexico Press). By almost any standard, from its price to its subject, this is clearly a very unique book. Its author went from being an attorney, a corporate litigator, to becoming one of the world’s foremost experts on sacred plant medicine and, in the process, provides a fascinating first-hand account of life among the Mestizos, Spanish-speaking descendents of Hispanic colonizers and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon jungle. Ayahuasca has been gaining fame thanks to various entertainers, artists, and even a tourism business that has developed around it. If your interest has been piqued about shamanism, this book will satisfy it.
Since readers often harbor a desire to be writers or already are, Now Write Nonfiction! edited by Sherry Ellis ($14.95, Tarcher/Penguin softcover) offers a quick course from some of the most famed writers around such as Gay Talese Madeleine Blaise, and Tilar Mazzeo, and other top ranked memoirists, journalists, and teachers of creative non-fiction. The book is filled with the kind of advice you would pay big bucks for if you were attending college, a summer’s writer’s clinic, or just spending time learning through experience. Learn how to organize information, why you recall certain things and not others, and how a simple highlighter can tell you whether you are driving the story along successfully or just telling it in a prosaic fashion. This one is worth many times more than its price.
Motivation, Inspiration, and Good Advice
These are times in which we could all use a bit of motivation and inspiration. Some good advice of any kind is always welcome. Here some books that offer advice.
The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change by Jon Gordon ($16.95, John Wiley and Sons) that points out that many successful people and businesses have grown to prominence during even the worst recessions and economic downturns. Gordon has fashioned a fable about a goldfish who has always been fed and a nice shark who teaches him to find food. Do not dismiss this book because of its approach to the subject of surviving hard times because it has a very good message to share. In a similar fashion What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life by James Hollis, PhD ($16.00, Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin, softcover) suggest that you must first ask yourself “What truly matters most?” when you make those New Years resolutions. In short, what are the values, relationships, and beliefs that, when fully embraced, make us the most content? The book provides advice on how to begin an internal exploration of self and how one can uncover a personal path to fulfillment. A lot of people have, for one reason or another, made this inner journey and this book will provide a map.
In these uncertain times, along comes Larry Myler’s Indispensable by Monday ($24.95, John Wiley & Sons) which is, in fact, not officially published until next month, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Based on decades of consulting and business ownership, this book answers critical question such as “How do I protect me job” and “If the company goes under, how will I find a new job?” And it’s not just about jobs. It’s filled with priceless, nitty-gritty recommendations on how to get and keep customers and much more. I have seen many business books and can spot a winner. This is one. Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) is now out in paperback for the first time and it is testimony to the fact that it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Learn the hidden rules of persuasion and get more out of life. Whether you’re a salesperson, an educator, manager, parent or any other category of life, this book can and will put you on the path to being more persuasive. Have I convinced you? Then go get it!
For those contemplating marriage or a “committed relationship” that’s a bit shaky, there’s A Little Bit Married: How to Know When It’s Time to Walk Down the Aisle or Out the Door by Hannah Seligson ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover). The author takes a look at a major trend in dating these days, the long-term unmarried relationship. She provides the context for why young people are delaying marriage. A quarter of unmarried Americans, an estimated 23 million adults, say they are in committed romantic relationships. This is a kind of modern day marriage advice manual, but without interpreting marriage in purely legal terms and it is full of very good advice. Another book that will prove helpful is Michelle LaRowe’s A Mom’s Ultimate Book of Lists ($13.99, Revell, softcover). Honored as Nanny of the Year in 2004 and by the White House, the author who is now also a mom in her own right has compiled 112 of the most practical lists for moms to live by, sorting through the most reliable sources and tried-and-true recommendations for raising healthy and happy children. Organized in an easy-to-find format, it covers preparing for baby, the first year, the toddler years, pre-school, family life, health and safety information, and saving time, money and sanity. It will prove a terrific gift for the mother-to-be and for moms seeking solid gold advice.
Murder and Sex Crimes
There are a number of books devoted to murder, a crime that never ceases to cause a frisson of fear to run through our bodies.
I spent many years in Florida as a young man and while Florida is known for its beautiful beaches, warm weather, retirement communities and such, it is also been a breeding ground for some of the most savage criminals in the nation. Among its serial killers have been Bobbie Joe Long, Gerard Schaefer, and was the final killing round for murderers Ted Bundy, Aileen Wournos, and Andrew Cunanan. You can read all about it in Sun Struck: 16 Infamous Murders in the Sunshine State by Robert A. Waters and John T. Waters, Jr. ($ 24.95, New Horizon Press). Among them are the victim’s names that have entered into the nation’s cultural history such as Adam Walsh, Carlie Brucia, Jessica Lunsford, and Caylee Marie Anthony, all of which garnered national attention. The authors discuss the factors which make Florida more vulnerable to killers, not the least of which is the way much of the population are transients. The author’s empathy for the victims is evident, but the book is also a vivid reminder that there are some seriously evil people in the world.
Stacy Dittrich has written Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill ($25.00, Prometheus Books) and it is an interesting look at the toll the job takes on some police officers, most of whom join with a wish to serve their community. This true crime narrative tells the stories of eighteen cops who killed in ways that range from the brutal to the bizarre, the senseless to the extreme, but all men and women who took a life and, with one exception, are paying the consequences. Some killed for love, others for money, and others for what appear to be trivial personality conflicts. The author is a veteran police officer with 17 years of experience so she brings to the text insights that others would not have. She is also the author of the CeeCee Gallagher thriller series about a female detective.
Betrayal, Murder and Greed: The True Story of a Bounty Hunter and a Bail Bond Agent by Pam Phree and Mike ‘Darkside’ Beakley ($24.95, New Horizon Press) is the story of their twenty-year partnership in the bail bond industry. It is a story of brutal hired hit men, vicious gang murders, terrifying shoot outs, dangerous drug deals, and even corrupt bail enforcement agents. It is also, of course, the story of how one catches a criminal and in addition to patience and smarts, it requires nerves of steel. This is a candid look at the dark underbelly of society and the book is an exciting, pulse-pounding journey. Phree is a bail bond agent and Beakley a bounty hunter who has spent twenty years tracking criminals in an industry that hovers between crime and justice. Over the past decade, bounty hunters have apprehended about 25,000 fugitives in the United States every year. They return to custody some 99% of the criminal defendants who skip bail.
It both repels and fascinates; the sex crime. Robin Sax is a former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney who specialized in prosecuting sex crimes against children and she has written It Happens Every Day: Inside the World of a Sex Crimes DA ($26.00, Prometheus Books). According to crime statistics from the Department of Justice, 67% of sexual assault victims in 2008 were juveniles and an astonishing 93% of these victims knew they attackers. Her book reveals what happens when law enforcement decides to prosecute a child sexual assault case and it does so in terms you will not read or hear about in the news. She discusses the strengths and weaknesses of our current judicial system, dividing her book into two parts, the investigation and the court process. Anyone interested in how the law deals with these most detested of crimes will find this book excellent reading.
Even a casual reading of history reveals that the past 5,000 years of human “civilization” have been filled with the most horrific cruelty and The World’s Bloodiest History by Joseph Cummins ($19.99, Fair Winds, Quayside Publishing Group, softcover) is testimony to that. Suffice it to say this is not light reading, but it does address questions such as why mobs become killing machines, the Nazis could craft a deliberate genocide, political ideologies become killing grounds, and all the worst aspects of human behavior, zealotry, prejudices, and animosities fuel the never-ending scars on civilization as it progresses from one event to another.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
As a non-fiction writer my whole life, I have always admired how others can write either short stories or an entire novel out of their imagination.
Elliot Pattison received raves for his last novel, “Bone Rattler” and he returns this month with Eye of the Raven ($26.00, Counterpoint Press), a sequel in which Duncan McCallum has begun to heal from the massacre of his Highland clan by the British with the aid of the Native American shaman, Conawago. The year is 1790 and tragedy stalks him when he and Conawago discover a dying Virginian officer nailed to an Indian shrine tree. To his horror, authorities arrest Conawago and schedule his hanging. McCallum begins a desperate search for the truth and finds himself in a maelstrom of deception and violence. This book will particularly please those familiar with early American history, but its pacing will keep any reader turning the pages as colonial Philadelphia comes alive with its mix of Quakers, Christian Indians, and a scientist obsessed with the electrical experiments of Benjamin Franklin. From the same publisher come the selected stories of the late Janet Frame in Prizes ($26.00, Counterpoint Press). This New Zealand novelist is perhaps best known for her memoir, “An Angel at My Table” that was adapted into a film. This is a comprehensive collection of her stories, chosen from four different volumes during her lifetime plus five more not published in her lifetime. They are an exploration of madness, isolation, and identity.
The winner of the Le Prix Concourt in 2008, The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi has been translated into English and has an introduction bo Khaled Hosseini ($16.95, Other Press LLC). You may likely learn more about life in Afghanistan from this heart-wrenching novel than all the scholarly studies, though the country is not specifically named. A man lies in a bed, brain-dead from a bullet in his neck. His wife sits beside him while outside the streets are filled with rival factions clashing and soldiers are looting and killing. The woman speaks of her life, of her fury at him for not resisting the call to arms, for sacrificing their marriage and their family to war. She speaks of how he ignored her desires for years and of a place where women are treated like animals. In Persian folklore, Sang-e Saboor is the name of a magical black stone, a patience stone that absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. This is the fate of women under Islam.
Another translation takes us into the world of strange, haunting tales as deep as the Danish winter night. Come Raw by Lars Rasmussen is a collection of twenty haunting tales by a Danish bookseller who has also written about South African jazz, golf, and other topics, among his several books ($10.00, Serving House Books, softcover). They will prove an entertaining way to pass a commute or an afternoon.
Closer to home, there’s further proof that the American South has gifted our nation’s body of literature with many excellent works by native authors. One such author is Nicole Seitz whose Saving Cicadas ($14.99, Thomas Nelson, softcover) is a story of redemption that is filled with unforgettable characters and is part road trip, part mystery, and thoroughly charming. When her mother learns she’s having another child, eight-year-old Janie and Rainey Dae, her seventeen-year-old sister with special needs are packed into the back seat of the family car on what seems the last vacation they will ever take with Poppy and Grandma Mona. The trip seems aimless, but Janie realizes that they are searching for the father who left them years before. When they cannot find him, they head for Forest Pines, the South Carolina home her mother hasn’t visited in years. It becomes a mixed blessing of hope, buried secrets, and family ghosts. The story is an awakening from innocence into the hard realities of life and the sometimes impossible decisions people are forced to make. Old-fashioned romance is well served in Jenna’s Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater’s new novel. Set in West Texas where she grew up and where she created the Callahans of Texas series. In this story, Jenna Callahan notices that Nate Langley is back, the first guy she ever noticed and the one her father sent away many years earlier. After two tours of duty in the armed forces, Nate has some healing to do and with the help of friends, his strong faith, and a loving family, he will become the man Jenna deserves.
In The Brightest Star in the Sky, author Marian Keyes ($26.95, Viking) delivers a wry and life-affirming story involving a disparate group of neighbors who are forced by unusual circumstance to depend on each other in order to transform their lives. They are the occupants of 66 Star Street that have attracted the undivided attention of a sharp-witted and intuitive otherworldly spirit. They include newlyweds, a public relations manager for a struggling music label, an update on Bridget Jones, just turned 40, a snarky female taxi driver and two Polish roommates who alternately fear and lust after her. This book will be most appreciated by female readers and is a delightful page-turner. In sharp contrast is Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste ($24.95, W.W. Norton) that is set in Ethiopia, an ancient land and during its 1974 revolution. Taking place in Addis Ababa, it tells the epic and heartbreaking story of one family’s struggle to remain united in the face of stark upheaval. The main character is a prominent, but unassuming physician, his wife who is dying of heart failure, and their two sons. This is the face and reality of revolution. The author was born in Addis Ababa and was four years old when her family fled to eventually settle in America. It is a powerful story about the lengths ordinary people will go to in pursuit of freedom and the price many pay during a revolution.
For some listening pleasure, Hachette Audio has released another James Patterson thriller, Witch & Wizard ($22.98, 5 CDs) about a brother and sister thrown into prison and being accused by being a witch and a wizard by a ruling regime that will stop at nothing to suppress life and liberty, music, art and books, and just being a normal teenager. If this reminds you have some of awful things happening today, you will gain a better understanding of the forces of evil in the world. Nicholas Sparks, famed romance writer, is available with Dear John ($17.98, 8 CDs) in which a couple are torn apart by the events of 9.11. John, who has joined the Army, must choose between love and country. When he returns to North Carolina after a tour of duty, he discovers how love can transform us in ways we could never imagine. From the world of non-fiction comes Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julia Powell, ($29.98, 9 CDs) the author of “Julie & Julia”, now a film that generated raves. Her latest book is a story of camaraderie from a butcher shop in the Catskills to a world tour that reveals an international brotherhood of butchers. This is a lot of fun!
That’s it for January 2010! Don’t forget to tell your friends about Bookviews. The coming spring holds the usual avalanche of new fiction and non-fiction, so you will want to stick around to get the inside track on many excellent books you may not read about anywhere else.
My Picks of the Month
Something quite unusual occurred in December. After some fifty years of reviewing, I have long been accustomed to receiving three to five books a day, but last month there were often days that passed without a single new book arriving. It well could be that the economy has convinced publishers that sending review copies is a financial burden that required some reductions. I hope that is not so because I am looking forward to the seasonal springtime publication of new books. For this month, however, there are fewer books in the hopper for consideration.
It’s a bit of a tradition here at Bookviews, but I always welcome the opportunity to recommend readers pick up a copy of the new edition of The World Almanac® and Book of Facts whose 2010 edition is now available (12.99, softcover). In the era of Google, it might seem an anachronism to recommend this compendium of facts, but there is perhaps no better way to find the most essential information you need than in this annual book that contains so much information on national and international topics. Its statistics, concise data, and maps put it at your fingertips and for any student, writer, or just someone wanting to know more about what is occurring around the world, the Almanac is a quick, easy and informative source. I’m biased, but I think it should be in everyone’s home or office.
Americans have been taking to the town halls and the streets of Washington to protest changes to Medicare that would give the government control over one sixth of the nation’s economy. For even longer, they have resented being taxed and, indeed, the American Revolution was based on “taxation without representation.” Today’s Americans have very little idea how the government conspires to take away their income (as often as not to give it to others who do not work for it.) Bankrupting Joe the Taxpayer With No One to Bail Him Out by D. J. Golio ($24.95/$16.95, Authorhouse, hard and softcover) is a book I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone and everyone because, even if you think you’re making too little to pay income taxes, you are being taxed in countless other ways. Just check your telephone or utility bills and you will discover the truth of this. My December monthly telephone bill included $14.00 in federal excise and other taxes, as well as a state tax! Every time you fill up your car’s tank, you are paying taxes. The proposed Healthcare “reform” ignores the fact that no one by federal law can be denied medical care at any hospital. Many younger, healthier Americans do not want to purchase health care insurance. Many real reforms such as tort reform to avoid billions in court judgments are ignored. The costs of illegal aliens in America are huge and astonishing. And the appalling waste of many federal and state government programs, in addition to huge pension payouts, must be curbed. The author is a Certified Public Accountant who has an undergraduate degree in accounting and a MBA in taxation. He has been an adjunct assistant professor in the Pace University Department of Accounting and Finance for a decade. He has written a brilliant, easily understood book on why you are being bankrupted by government at every level and with every purchase.
I am frank to say I was unaware of the problem, but Why Boys Fail: Saving Our Sons from an Educational System That’s Leaving Them Behind by Richard Whitmire ($24.95, Amacom) should inspire a nationwide discussion of a trend that must be reversed. The author documents how, at every grade level, in communities of every income level from Tennessee to Alaska, boys are falling behind girls in schools. He asks and answers how this happened and what the long-term economic, social and personal implications are. Importantly, he spells out what parents, teachers, principals, and policymakers must do to change what appears to be a dire situation. At the heart of the problem, says Whitmire, is a tougher curriculum that pushes boys to rise to literary challenges before they are ready. “The world has gotten more verbal; boys haven’t.” Moreover, men are fast becoming the minority in America’s colleges and universities. It is well known that the American educational system has been failing both genders, but this book which focuses on boys portends some very bad trends and outcomes unless this process is reversed.
I doubt that enough people will read Joris Luyendijk’s book, People Like Us: Misrepresenting the Middle East, ($14.95, Soft Skull Press, an imprint of Counterpoint Press, softcover). That's a shame because it does an excellent job of exposing why we in the West can never get an accurate picture of what is occurring in the Middle East because (a) they are all dictatorships with the exception of Turkey and Israel, and (b) because it is virtually impossible for foreign correspondents to get anything other than what the dictatorships say or report anything other than what western news agencies filter for their readers and viewers. The truth swiftly gets lost under such circumstances. After spending a year as a student of Arabic at Cairo University, the young Dutchman was offered a job as a correspondent for a Dutch news agency. He had no experience as a journalist, but what he would experience between 1998 and 2003 was an education in itself and one he shares in a book that reveals how impossible it is for news reporters or news consumers to ever know the truth about the Middle East. No one comes away with clean hands, but the reader comes away with a far better understanding of the complete oppression that those who live there must endure and survive.
I have a special fondness for large “coffee table” books on any subject and their counterpart, smaller, compact books that offer tons of information and/or entertainment. Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops: The Origins of Objects in Our Everyday Lives by Harry Oliver ($12.95, Perigee, an imprint of Penguin Books, softcover) falls into the latter category. This history wrapped in humor and lots of fascinating facts. Its twelve chapters address topics such as leisure and fun, objects around the home, food and drink, medicine, and others that make for some surprises and an appreciation for those things we tend to take for granted. For those who have a twisted sense of humor (and you know who you are!) Grimmer Tales: A Wicked Collection of Happily Never After Stories by Erik Bergstrom (16.00, Plume) offers a different take on favorite children’s fairy tales but this time things go terribly wrong. The illustrations are the key and I guarantee you will never think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the same again after you see how they end up. It will be a fun gift for certain friends and relatives. Fans of Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” will enjoy Decoding The Lost Symbol by Simon Cox ($14.99, Touchstone, softcover) that provides an A-to-Z guide to the real people, organizations, and themes featured in Brown’s latest novel. It is a most unusual guide to Washington, DC’s monuments and other related places.
There is no end to cookbooks, but occasionally an unusual one comes along that deserves more attention than the standard fare. In a Cheesemaker’s Kitchen by Allison Hooper celebrates “25 years of artisanal cheesemaking and cooking from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company ($19.95, The Countryman Press, softcover). Allison, along with Bob Reese, founded the company based on her passion for cheese and butter made from milk of the highest quality. She learned her trade on a family farm in France before bringing it to Vermont. Artisanal refers to a particularly European way of making cheese. Their business has enjoyed great success, bootstrapping from a small one into one tapping the milk of twenty local farms and dairies. Anyone who loves cheeses will find this book of particular interest as it discusses all manner of them and offers some tempting recipes that feature them.
I am trying to lose weight. It’s not easy. I have friends who are diabetic and I can just imagine what they must go through to live a normal life. The good news is a new book, The Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes by Frederic J. Vagini, M.D., FACS, and Lawrence D. Chilnick ($21.95, Fair Winds Press, softcover). Published in October, I suspect word of mouth will turn this book into a bestseller for the more than 1.6 million new cases of diabetes that are diagnoses, adding to the 57 million people faced with pre-diabetes and its complications. This book teaches how to remove all of the metabolic roadblocks that diabetes creates and provides specific recommendations for overcoming weight loss problems and managing diabetes based on a patient’s medical history and risk factors. The plan features a combination of low-glycemic foods, reduced carbohydrates, and a modified Mediterranean diet. There are lists of menus and meal options, plus recommendations for vitamins and supplements. This book is really good! And how about a really swell hallucinogenic drink called “Ayahuasca”? Okay, I am not recommending it, but I am suggesting a very interesting, albeit offbeat book by Stephan B. Beyer, Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon ($45.00, University of New Mexico Press). By almost any standard, from its price to its subject, this is clearly a very unique book. Its author went from being an attorney, a corporate litigator, to becoming one of the world’s foremost experts on sacred plant medicine and, in the process, provides a fascinating first-hand account of life among the Mestizos, Spanish-speaking descendents of Hispanic colonizers and the indigenous peoples of the Amazon jungle. Ayahuasca has been gaining fame thanks to various entertainers, artists, and even a tourism business that has developed around it. If your interest has been piqued about shamanism, this book will satisfy it.
Since readers often harbor a desire to be writers or already are, Now Write Nonfiction! edited by Sherry Ellis ($14.95, Tarcher/Penguin softcover) offers a quick course from some of the most famed writers around such as Gay Talese Madeleine Blaise, and Tilar Mazzeo, and other top ranked memoirists, journalists, and teachers of creative non-fiction. The book is filled with the kind of advice you would pay big bucks for if you were attending college, a summer’s writer’s clinic, or just spending time learning through experience. Learn how to organize information, why you recall certain things and not others, and how a simple highlighter can tell you whether you are driving the story along successfully or just telling it in a prosaic fashion. This one is worth many times more than its price.
Motivation, Inspiration, and Good Advice
These are times in which we could all use a bit of motivation and inspiration. Some good advice of any kind is always welcome. Here some books that offer advice.
The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change by Jon Gordon ($16.95, John Wiley and Sons) that points out that many successful people and businesses have grown to prominence during even the worst recessions and economic downturns. Gordon has fashioned a fable about a goldfish who has always been fed and a nice shark who teaches him to find food. Do not dismiss this book because of its approach to the subject of surviving hard times because it has a very good message to share. In a similar fashion What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life by James Hollis, PhD ($16.00, Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin, softcover) suggest that you must first ask yourself “What truly matters most?” when you make those New Years resolutions. In short, what are the values, relationships, and beliefs that, when fully embraced, make us the most content? The book provides advice on how to begin an internal exploration of self and how one can uncover a personal path to fulfillment. A lot of people have, for one reason or another, made this inner journey and this book will provide a map.
In these uncertain times, along comes Larry Myler’s Indispensable by Monday ($24.95, John Wiley & Sons) which is, in fact, not officially published until next month, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Based on decades of consulting and business ownership, this book answers critical question such as “How do I protect me job” and “If the company goes under, how will I find a new job?” And it’s not just about jobs. It’s filled with priceless, nitty-gritty recommendations on how to get and keep customers and much more. I have seen many business books and can spot a winner. This is one. Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) is now out in paperback for the first time and it is testimony to the fact that it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Learn the hidden rules of persuasion and get more out of life. Whether you’re a salesperson, an educator, manager, parent or any other category of life, this book can and will put you on the path to being more persuasive. Have I convinced you? Then go get it!
For those contemplating marriage or a “committed relationship” that’s a bit shaky, there’s A Little Bit Married: How to Know When It’s Time to Walk Down the Aisle or Out the Door by Hannah Seligson ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover). The author takes a look at a major trend in dating these days, the long-term unmarried relationship. She provides the context for why young people are delaying marriage. A quarter of unmarried Americans, an estimated 23 million adults, say they are in committed romantic relationships. This is a kind of modern day marriage advice manual, but without interpreting marriage in purely legal terms and it is full of very good advice. Another book that will prove helpful is Michelle LaRowe’s A Mom’s Ultimate Book of Lists ($13.99, Revell, softcover). Honored as Nanny of the Year in 2004 and by the White House, the author who is now also a mom in her own right has compiled 112 of the most practical lists for moms to live by, sorting through the most reliable sources and tried-and-true recommendations for raising healthy and happy children. Organized in an easy-to-find format, it covers preparing for baby, the first year, the toddler years, pre-school, family life, health and safety information, and saving time, money and sanity. It will prove a terrific gift for the mother-to-be and for moms seeking solid gold advice.
Murder and Sex Crimes
There are a number of books devoted to murder, a crime that never ceases to cause a frisson of fear to run through our bodies.
I spent many years in Florida as a young man and while Florida is known for its beautiful beaches, warm weather, retirement communities and such, it is also been a breeding ground for some of the most savage criminals in the nation. Among its serial killers have been Bobbie Joe Long, Gerard Schaefer, and was the final killing round for murderers Ted Bundy, Aileen Wournos, and Andrew Cunanan. You can read all about it in Sun Struck: 16 Infamous Murders in the Sunshine State by Robert A. Waters and John T. Waters, Jr. ($ 24.95, New Horizon Press). Among them are the victim’s names that have entered into the nation’s cultural history such as Adam Walsh, Carlie Brucia, Jessica Lunsford, and Caylee Marie Anthony, all of which garnered national attention. The authors discuss the factors which make Florida more vulnerable to killers, not the least of which is the way much of the population are transients. The author’s empathy for the victims is evident, but the book is also a vivid reminder that there are some seriously evil people in the world.
Stacy Dittrich has written Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill ($25.00, Prometheus Books) and it is an interesting look at the toll the job takes on some police officers, most of whom join with a wish to serve their community. This true crime narrative tells the stories of eighteen cops who killed in ways that range from the brutal to the bizarre, the senseless to the extreme, but all men and women who took a life and, with one exception, are paying the consequences. Some killed for love, others for money, and others for what appear to be trivial personality conflicts. The author is a veteran police officer with 17 years of experience so she brings to the text insights that others would not have. She is also the author of the CeeCee Gallagher thriller series about a female detective.
Betrayal, Murder and Greed: The True Story of a Bounty Hunter and a Bail Bond Agent by Pam Phree and Mike ‘Darkside’ Beakley ($24.95, New Horizon Press) is the story of their twenty-year partnership in the bail bond industry. It is a story of brutal hired hit men, vicious gang murders, terrifying shoot outs, dangerous drug deals, and even corrupt bail enforcement agents. It is also, of course, the story of how one catches a criminal and in addition to patience and smarts, it requires nerves of steel. This is a candid look at the dark underbelly of society and the book is an exciting, pulse-pounding journey. Phree is a bail bond agent and Beakley a bounty hunter who has spent twenty years tracking criminals in an industry that hovers between crime and justice. Over the past decade, bounty hunters have apprehended about 25,000 fugitives in the United States every year. They return to custody some 99% of the criminal defendants who skip bail.
It both repels and fascinates; the sex crime. Robin Sax is a former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney who specialized in prosecuting sex crimes against children and she has written It Happens Every Day: Inside the World of a Sex Crimes DA ($26.00, Prometheus Books). According to crime statistics from the Department of Justice, 67% of sexual assault victims in 2008 were juveniles and an astonishing 93% of these victims knew they attackers. Her book reveals what happens when law enforcement decides to prosecute a child sexual assault case and it does so in terms you will not read or hear about in the news. She discusses the strengths and weaknesses of our current judicial system, dividing her book into two parts, the investigation and the court process. Anyone interested in how the law deals with these most detested of crimes will find this book excellent reading.
Even a casual reading of history reveals that the past 5,000 years of human “civilization” have been filled with the most horrific cruelty and The World’s Bloodiest History by Joseph Cummins ($19.99, Fair Winds, Quayside Publishing Group, softcover) is testimony to that. Suffice it to say this is not light reading, but it does address questions such as why mobs become killing machines, the Nazis could craft a deliberate genocide, political ideologies become killing grounds, and all the worst aspects of human behavior, zealotry, prejudices, and animosities fuel the never-ending scars on civilization as it progresses from one event to another.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
As a non-fiction writer my whole life, I have always admired how others can write either short stories or an entire novel out of their imagination.
Elliot Pattison received raves for his last novel, “Bone Rattler” and he returns this month with Eye of the Raven ($26.00, Counterpoint Press), a sequel in which Duncan McCallum has begun to heal from the massacre of his Highland clan by the British with the aid of the Native American shaman, Conawago. The year is 1790 and tragedy stalks him when he and Conawago discover a dying Virginian officer nailed to an Indian shrine tree. To his horror, authorities arrest Conawago and schedule his hanging. McCallum begins a desperate search for the truth and finds himself in a maelstrom of deception and violence. This book will particularly please those familiar with early American history, but its pacing will keep any reader turning the pages as colonial Philadelphia comes alive with its mix of Quakers, Christian Indians, and a scientist obsessed with the electrical experiments of Benjamin Franklin. From the same publisher come the selected stories of the late Janet Frame in Prizes ($26.00, Counterpoint Press). This New Zealand novelist is perhaps best known for her memoir, “An Angel at My Table” that was adapted into a film. This is a comprehensive collection of her stories, chosen from four different volumes during her lifetime plus five more not published in her lifetime. They are an exploration of madness, isolation, and identity.
The winner of the Le Prix Concourt in 2008, The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi has been translated into English and has an introduction bo Khaled Hosseini ($16.95, Other Press LLC). You may likely learn more about life in Afghanistan from this heart-wrenching novel than all the scholarly studies, though the country is not specifically named. A man lies in a bed, brain-dead from a bullet in his neck. His wife sits beside him while outside the streets are filled with rival factions clashing and soldiers are looting and killing. The woman speaks of her life, of her fury at him for not resisting the call to arms, for sacrificing their marriage and their family to war. She speaks of how he ignored her desires for years and of a place where women are treated like animals. In Persian folklore, Sang-e Saboor is the name of a magical black stone, a patience stone that absorbs the plight of those who confide in it. This is the fate of women under Islam.
Another translation takes us into the world of strange, haunting tales as deep as the Danish winter night. Come Raw by Lars Rasmussen is a collection of twenty haunting tales by a Danish bookseller who has also written about South African jazz, golf, and other topics, among his several books ($10.00, Serving House Books, softcover). They will prove an entertaining way to pass a commute or an afternoon.
Closer to home, there’s further proof that the American South has gifted our nation’s body of literature with many excellent works by native authors. One such author is Nicole Seitz whose Saving Cicadas ($14.99, Thomas Nelson, softcover) is a story of redemption that is filled with unforgettable characters and is part road trip, part mystery, and thoroughly charming. When her mother learns she’s having another child, eight-year-old Janie and Rainey Dae, her seventeen-year-old sister with special needs are packed into the back seat of the family car on what seems the last vacation they will ever take with Poppy and Grandma Mona. The trip seems aimless, but Janie realizes that they are searching for the father who left them years before. When they cannot find him, they head for Forest Pines, the South Carolina home her mother hasn’t visited in years. It becomes a mixed blessing of hope, buried secrets, and family ghosts. The story is an awakening from innocence into the hard realities of life and the sometimes impossible decisions people are forced to make. Old-fashioned romance is well served in Jenna’s Cowboy by Sharon Gillenwater’s new novel. Set in West Texas where she grew up and where she created the Callahans of Texas series. In this story, Jenna Callahan notices that Nate Langley is back, the first guy she ever noticed and the one her father sent away many years earlier. After two tours of duty in the armed forces, Nate has some healing to do and with the help of friends, his strong faith, and a loving family, he will become the man Jenna deserves.
In The Brightest Star in the Sky, author Marian Keyes ($26.95, Viking) delivers a wry and life-affirming story involving a disparate group of neighbors who are forced by unusual circumstance to depend on each other in order to transform their lives. They are the occupants of 66 Star Street that have attracted the undivided attention of a sharp-witted and intuitive otherworldly spirit. They include newlyweds, a public relations manager for a struggling music label, an update on Bridget Jones, just turned 40, a snarky female taxi driver and two Polish roommates who alternately fear and lust after her. This book will be most appreciated by female readers and is a delightful page-turner. In sharp contrast is Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste ($24.95, W.W. Norton) that is set in Ethiopia, an ancient land and during its 1974 revolution. Taking place in Addis Ababa, it tells the epic and heartbreaking story of one family’s struggle to remain united in the face of stark upheaval. The main character is a prominent, but unassuming physician, his wife who is dying of heart failure, and their two sons. This is the face and reality of revolution. The author was born in Addis Ababa and was four years old when her family fled to eventually settle in America. It is a powerful story about the lengths ordinary people will go to in pursuit of freedom and the price many pay during a revolution.
For some listening pleasure, Hachette Audio has released another James Patterson thriller, Witch & Wizard ($22.98, 5 CDs) about a brother and sister thrown into prison and being accused by being a witch and a wizard by a ruling regime that will stop at nothing to suppress life and liberty, music, art and books, and just being a normal teenager. If this reminds you have some of awful things happening today, you will gain a better understanding of the forces of evil in the world. Nicholas Sparks, famed romance writer, is available with Dear John ($17.98, 8 CDs) in which a couple are torn apart by the events of 9.11. John, who has joined the Army, must choose between love and country. When he returns to North Carolina after a tour of duty, he discovers how love can transform us in ways we could never imagine. From the world of non-fiction comes Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julia Powell, ($29.98, 9 CDs) the author of “Julie & Julia”, now a film that generated raves. Her latest book is a story of camaraderie from a butcher shop in the Catskills to a world tour that reveals an international brotherhood of butchers. This is a lot of fun!
That’s it for January 2010! Don’t forget to tell your friends about Bookviews. The coming spring holds the usual avalanche of new fiction and non-fiction, so you will want to stick around to get the inside track on many excellent books you may not read about anywhere else.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Bookviews by Alan Caruba
December 2009
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy New Year!
My Picks of the Month
It’s the time of year we think about gifts for loved ones, friends, and colleagues. I have always thought of books as ideal, particularly if you know the particular interests of the person to receive one.
For the man in your life, The Immortals: History’s Fighting Elites by Nigel Cawthorne ($30.00, Zenith Press) is a large format book with 130 color photos, artwork and photos that reviews the history of warfare and the men who composed the force from which the book draws its title, the Persian Immortals, as well as the Spartans, the Roman Praetorian Guard, as well as famed elite fighting forces such as Japan’s ninjas, the Mongol hordes, the Prussian Guard, and the Stonewall Brigade, right up to the Green Berets and U.S. Navy Seals. The book spans centuries to shine a light on the most skilled, deadly, and respected warriors throughout history. With a great text and great illustrations on every page, this is sure to please the warrior spirit in any man. For those of you who, like myself, wonder why the U.S. has not decisively won a war since World War Two, despite having arguably the best fighting machine in the history of warfare, I recommend you read The Clausewitz Delusion: How the American Army Screwed Up the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by Stephen L. Melton ($30.00, Zenith Press). Following more than twenty years of active duty as an army officer, the author is a member of the faculty at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. His book won’t win him any popularity contests at the Pentagon, but it is a brilliant, history-based analysis of why we only managed a stalemate in Korea in the 1950s, lost the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s, and have found ourselves mired in the Middle East in this decade. In essence, the knowledge and experience that led to victories in the past has been jettisoned by the military in favor of a love affair with the writings of a Prussian general from Napoleon’s time. We have an entire cadre of officers right up to the top ranks who have no memory or knowledge of how the U.S. formerly waged and won wars. They need to read this book which is written for them as opposed to the layman, but it will prove just as interesting to those outside the military for its review of the American fighting machine and its current inability to address the necessity of governance following swift military victory. We did this well in the past, but no longer.
President Obama’s Asian tour focused attention once again on China and my friend, Michael J. Economides, along with Xina Xie, has just published Energy: China’s Choke Point ($29.99, Energy Tribune Publishing, Houston, TX), a book that should be required reading for every member of Congress, the White House, and the entire corps of journalists because it not only provides an excellent, brief history of China that adopted Mao Zedong’s communism, suffering the loss of millions in the wake of its failures, but then cast it aside to become America’s rival and partner as both nations take different approaches to energy, the master resource that determines success or failure, prosperity or poverty. Economides is one of the world’s leading authorities on energy and this book will prove a revelation concerning China’s quest for it as it strives to make up for lost time and the creation of jobs and a better life for its 1.3 billion citizens. Another book worth reading on this critical subject is Who Turned Out the Lights? Authors Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson offer a “guided tour to the energy crisis” America is facing as the result of decades of refusing access to its own vast reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas. Bittle is executive editor of PublicAgenda.org and Johnson is a co-founder. Their book is filled with good, solid information on the options facing Americans for whom securing abundant, affordable energy will require some tough, realistic decisions to be made. At this point, American has lost decades, failing to build a single new oil refinery or any new nuclear plants since the 1970s. At the same time, access to offshore oil remains under a de facto ban and the present administration is waging a war on coal. That makes the title particular apt given the fact that fifty percent of all the electricity generated in America comes from burning coal.
I know that The Law of Forgiveness works because I have applied it to my own life for a long time. The author, Connie Domino, MPH, RN ($12.00, Berkley, softcover) reveals the transformative power of forgiveness that includes not just others, but oneself as well. Regrets and anger over lost opportunities, hardened emotions over relationships with loved ones, friends, or workplace colleagues, all serve to hold one back because that’s what you’re doing, looking back instead of forward. The author provides clearly written guidelines and simple affirmation-based techniques that will free you up to move on with your life. Do you want to tackle The Big Questions? That’s the title of Steven E. Landsburg’s intriguing new book, subtitled, “Tackling the Programs of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics and Physics” ($26.00, Free Press). This economist has already made a name for himself with “The Armchair Economist” and “More Sex is Safer Sex.” Anyone who enjoys the mental exercise of philosophical questions will enjoy this virtual gymnasium of questions about moral choices and other conundrums. Perhaps the best part is the way he sets your mind to working in language and style that does not intimidate the reader.
On a lighter side, there’s Ultimate Catholic Trivia: 1001 Fun and Fascinating Facts by Scott Paul Frush, ($9.95, Marshall Rand Publishing, Royal Oak, MI, softcover) a history buff whose “Ultimate Italian Trivia” caught my attention because I am descended on my father’s side from Italians who had the good sense to get on the boat and come to America. Frush does not treat the subject in a trivial fashion. Instead he provides more insight into the history, traditions, and belief system of the Church than far more scholarly tomes. Catholics will thoroughly enjoy this book (the author is Catholic with a Masters degree from Notre Dame University) and even non-Catholics will find it both interesting and entertaining. It is filled with facts about Jesus, the Bible, saints, popes, the Vatican, the Mass, sacraments, organizations and clergy. For the believers in nothing at all there’s You Don’t Have to be Buddhist to Know Nothing: An Illustrious Collection of Thoughts of Naught by Joan Konner ($17.00, Prometheus Books) the author of “The Atheist’s Bible.” If there is such a thing as a happy atheist, I have yet to have met one, but it is amazing how many diverse people from ancient times to the present that have expressed themselves on the subject of nothing. Philosophers, mystics, artists, musicians, poets, geniuses and jokers have opined on nothingness and it must be said this collection of quotes is genuinely interesting. Page after page will tickle your brain. From the Free Press come two books, combined in one, suited to whatever your outlook on life may be, The Pessimist’s Handbook: A Companion to Despair and, between the same covers, The Optimist’s Handbook: A Companion to Hope ($9.99, softcover), both are identified as humor and well they should be because, read front to back or vice versa, it will have you laughing from beginning to end. I loved it! One of my favorite quotes is by Ben Hecht, a playwright and screen writer, who said, “Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.”
Milefi Kete Asante is a professor of African American Studies at Temple University and has authored 65 books. One of them, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation has been revised and expanded ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) and for anyone for whom this is a concern, this book offers some provocative ideas, not the least of which is his belief that America cannot continue as a cohesive society so long as racial injustice, in less obvious ways, continues. I am not in agreement with much of his thesis because African-Americans have had four decades since then to remedy cultural and other problems within their own community. There has been progress, but not enough. Simple, Not Easy: Reflections on Community, Social Responsibility, and Tolerance by Terrence Roberts ($24.95, Parkhurst Brothers Inc., Little Rock, AR) offers the viewpoint of one of the nine black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School some forty years ago. President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to protect them. Roberts grew up to be a psychologist and brings a unique perspective to events since then. His book will be released next month and for anyone interested in the American Civil Rights movement, as well as themes that include education, leadership, integration, race and racism, this book is well worth reading. If you want to see what racism was like in its worst possible way, read Dominique Lapierre’s A Rainbow in the Night: The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa ($26.00, Da Capo Press). It is one of the most profoundly disturbing books I’ve seen in a long time. The sheer horror of apartheid, the brutal and deliberate effort to separate and subjugate native Africans and colored races from the descendents of the white Dutch colonizers was a nightmare. When it gave way to the movement to reclaim South Africa, the world felt better about itself, but under new, native leadership that nation is encountering its own problems.
Given the revelations that prominent climate scientists, members of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, engaged in rigging the data to support bogus global warming claims, two books stand out as the most idiotic of the year. I start with James Hoggan’s Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming ($20.00, Greystone Books). Written with Richard Littlemore, the author is the co-founder of DeSmogBlog.com and a public relations practitioner by trade. Among those providing a blurb for its back cover is actor Leonard DiCaprio who, unknown to us, apparently knows more about meteorology than real meteorologists. Suffice it to say, the Earth has been in a cooling cycle since 1998 and that cycle is likely to last for several decades. Writing a book castigating the “deniers” of global warming is truly ironic in the wake of the IPCC revelations. The book neglects to mention that the computer models put forth as “proof” have now been demonstrated to have been found not just flawed but, in some cases, deliberately false. Only the “true believers” of the Green religion will take comfort in this book, but those wise enough to ignore it will be paying far more attention to the nation’s economy in the 2010 midterm elections. Joining in the sillyness is Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate by Stephen H. Schneider ($28.00, National Geographic Books). The author argues the usual end-of-the-world global warming scenarios, but does so at a time when all the “facts” put forth by people like Al Gore and others simply do not reflect what the general public has begun to understand; the Earth has been cooling since 1998. This is classic “junk science” and it comes at a time when a UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, December 7 to 18, will try to foist a treaty that few will want to sign. Global warming will be remembered as the greatest fraud of the modern era. It will damage the public faith in scientists for some time to come.
People, People, People
It sometimes seemed to me that the comedian George Carlin had been around forever. His life and mine were lived in parallel tracks, so as he appeared on the Merv Griffin Show in the 1960s, I saw him there. As he progressed to the Ed Sullivan Show, I saw him there, and over the decades we shared, Carlin evolved into one of the most remarkable observers of life in America that his later HBO specials reflected his unique and very funny take, one that was often quite brash and occasionally profane. He was a very funny man and his fans will enjoy Last Words by George Carlin, written with his longtime friend, Tony Hendra ($26.99, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). This is Carlin’s autobiography from growing up on the multicultural streets of New York to a stint in the Air Force, his discovery of radio as a DJ, his transition to stand-up comic, marriage, his addictions, the whole ball of wax as they say. I’d say that I miss him, but Carlin left such a body of work behind, including books, that it is really hard to think of him as dead. Happily, Leslie Caron is very much alive and has written a delightful memoir of her life as a movie star and thereafter. Thank Heaven ($25.95, Viking) tells what it was like to costar with some of the greatest dancers captured on film, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, but she also paired with Cary Grant and, off-screen, dated Warren Beatty. From “An American in Paris”, “Gigi”, and “Lili” to “The L-Shaped Room”, she demonstrated the talent that gained her a permanent place in Hollywood’s firmament of stars. She is honest about the painful insecurity with which she coped much of her life and about her triumphs and heartbreaks; married three times, mother of two, she lives in Paris. Her fans will love this memoir.
In a celebrity-obsessed society, I have no doubt that The Michael Jackson Tapes by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach ($25.95, Vanguard Press) will do quite well. In 2000-2001, Jackson sat down with his close friend and spiritual guide to record what the publisher says is the most intimate and revealing conversations of his life. He was, we’re told, his wish to bare his soul and unburden himself to a public that he knew was deeply suspicious of him (and with good reason). The result are revelations about his profound loneliness, his longing to be loved, and the emptiness of fame. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the book is how he bonded with a rabbi. From that same celebrity world comes the memoir of Mary Forsberg Weiland, a model and groupie of the Stone Temple Pilots and how she met Scott Weiland, then an aspiring musician, when he showed up to drive her to and from modeling gigs for $8 an hour. Falling to Pieces is subtitled “A Memoir of Drugs, Rock’n Roll, and Mental Illness” ($25.99, William Morrow) and it is a tale of extreme highs and lows that says a lot about drug and alcohol addictions that could have killed her, as well as her bipolar personality disorder. She now lives with her two children in Los Angeles where she is studying to secure certification as a drug and alcohol counselor.
I am betting you never heard of Frank Julian Sprague (1857-1934), but don’t feel bad, only a few probably have. Sprague, however, played a role in transforming urban transportation in America and, as such, deserves a biography, Frank Julian Sprague: Electrical Inventor and Engineer ($39.95, Indiana University Press) by William D. Middleton and William D. Middleton III, with a foreword by John O. Sprague has just been published. It was Sprague who invented a system for distributing electricity to streetcars from overhead wires. While we see photos and films of the era when electric streetcars changed the way Americans got around cities, replacing horse drawn vehicles, the inventor remained largely unknown. For modern Americans, it is impossible to imagine the tons of horse droppings (and the smell) that were a part of early urban life. His invention helped cities to grow, transforming the landscape of the 20th century. Anyone interested in American history, urban affairs, and related topics will find this book very interesting. Glen Scott Allen has penned a very entertaining book, Master Mechanics & Wicked Wizards: Images of the American Scientist as Hero and Villain from Colonial Times to the Present ($29.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). From the fame of Benjamin Franklin to today’s films and other media that reprocess the mad scientist theme, there is a consistent thread that runs from early novels to Dr. Strangelove. We still do celebrate scientists in America, but not as in former times when Thomas Edison was revered. This is an insight-filled look at a part of our cultural history.
Managing Your Finances, Business
As the economy worsens a lot of people are looking for answers to managing their business better and planning for retirement. There are always books on these subjects worth reading. Then, as always, it’s a matter of applying your own best judgment.
For those with retirement in mind, there’s Fasten Your Financial Seatbelt: What Surviving an Airline Crash Taught Me about Retirement Planning by Thomas C. Scott ($14.95, Platform Press). An investment advisor and Forbes.com contributor, the author survived the world’s first crash of a Boeing 747 in Nairobi, Kenya some 35 years ago as a crew member. He’s made a career out of rescuing people from financial disasters and his short, readable book in which he says that “money is the root of all anxiety when it could be the root of all happiness.” He describes the ten most common mistakes people make, the high cost of procrastination, and, interestingly, why successful people often fail when it comes to money management. When I’m 64: Planning for the Best of Your Life by Marvin Tolkin and Howard Massey ($14.95, Tributary Press, softcover) starts with the fact that at precisely January 1, 2010, America’s first baby boomer will turn 64 with some eighty million more to follow. Sixty-four used to be considered “old” but boomers can expect to live at least another two decades, a full quarter of their lives. The book’s central theme is that most boomers will need to engage in a least a little bit of planning or face the prospect of outliving their money. Both books emphasize planning your life, setting goals so you can control your destiny in retirement. Filled with stories and an outside-the-box investment plan, anyone approaching retirement in ten or fifteen years should surely read one or both of these books.
For those looking for a job these days, 201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions by Linda Matias ($13.95, Amacom, softcover) provides lots of good advice beginning with not expecting broad, open-ended questions because today’s employers aren’t interest in hearing job candidates describe themselves in general terms. They are looking to hire people with competence who can demonstrate their strengths and whatever achievements they have in the workplace. You don’t have to be great, just good at what you do. This book provides good preparation for that all-important interview. It is estimated that half of U.S. employees are dissatisfied with their jobs. Business strategist, Vaughan Evans has written Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success ($14.95, Business and Careers Press, softcover) that offers a systematic approach to finding and landing your dream job. It’s an easy read that tells you how to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and to identify where you want to go and how to get there. It’s the kind of pep talk we all need and frequently don’t get.
Running any kind of business these days is a real challenge. Creating Demand: Generate Cool, Custom Marketing Ideas by Geraldo V. Tabio and Sally Beamer ($19.00, Prometheus Books) is based on forty years of combined marketing experience that will teach you a solid marketing strategy with which to develop innovative ideas targeted to both large corporations and small, locally owned businesses. As one professor of mine once said, everything begins when one person sells something to someone else. Instead of spending years mastering marketing skills, why not read a book by two experts who share their knowledge with you? The Janus Principle: Focusing Your Company on Selling to Small Business ($14.95, Brick Tower Press, softcover) by Joann Mills Laing and Don Mazzella takes note of the fact that there are an estimated 27.2 million small businesses in the United States and if you are interested in reaching this market, there are things you have to know in order to effectively sell to the small business buyer. The authors have thirty years of combined experience, so you’re being offered a lot of insight and information that would otherwise take a long time to acquire.
When it was first published, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun became a managerial cult classic. Authored by Dr. Wess Roberts, PhD, its 20th anniversary is being celebrated with an audio edition from Hachette Audio ($19.98) in an unabridged edition on three CDs for a total playing time of about three hours. Forget about the stereotypes about Attila and learn how he conquered a big chunk of the ancient world and held it all together with some remarkable negotiating skills.
Marriage and Parenting Skills
The other day I had to ask a young person what was the device she was holding. It was an iPod and she looked at me like I was very old and she was right. The technologies with which younger grow up are having a profound effect on how they relate to each other, their parents, and the world. They impact the process of parenting. More books on parenting reflect this, along with timeless tips. Let’s look at a few.
Racing to Keep Up by Doug Fodemen and Marje Monroe ($14.95, Dog Ear Publishing, softcover) say that the Internet is nothing to LOL (laugh out loud) about. For parents who have no clue what acronyms like IPN, BEG, WTOP, and LMIRL mean, it’s time to play catch up. The authors believe that the rise of the Internet and its communication offshoots, Instant Messaging, File Sharing, Spam, Phishing, and the like have upped the anti when it comes to protecting your child. Their book offers strategies for parents to talk to their kids about technology and ways to keep the home computer safe. In a world where children are exposed to fraudulent advertising, scams, and sexual invitations, it is increasingly necessary to know the fundamentals. Fortunately, this book doesn’t bog you down with a lot of technical jargon. Instead if offers options to apply in a world where kids are increasingly targeted to generate sales and by far worst predators. Enjoy the Ride by Suzy Martyn ($12.95, Mother’s Friend Publishing, softcover) offers “tools, tips, and inspiration for the most common parenting challenges.” The author has three children of her own, plus a Masters in education and lots of other credentials. It’s a handy guide to the common problems such as sleep issues, feeding questions, potty training, handling anger, providing quick answers and practical advice. Partnership Parenting: How Men and Women Parent Differently by Dr. Kyle Pruett, MD, and Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) say that all parents want to raise happy and healthy children, but that all parents have opinions on the best way to do so. What happens when two parents have opposing views? As fathers play an increasingly active role in child-rearing, it is clear that the opposite sexes often have different views and this shows up early when dad is expected to take on half the parenting duties that earlier generations ceded to mom. How to recognize and work out the differences is the subject of this book.
Two other Da Capo Press books examine child-rearing questions. Making Friends: What You Need to Know About Your Child’s Friendships by Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer ($13.00, softcover) is filled with advice such as not to be alarmed during the back-to-school months if your child is bad-tempered or exhausted because he or she is facing heightened anxieties about friendships and social acceptance. Dozens of questions from what to do if you don’t like one of your child’s friends or how to deal with bullying and taunting are addressed. Schools are a hothouse of social problems, not to mention boredom. This is a very helpful book that is worth reading. The We Generations: Raising Socially Responsible Kids by Michael Ungar, PhD ($15.95, softcover) is about “nurturing the compassion and community interest that could next generation of adults” and, frankly, I think the author “over thinks” these questions with too much emphasis on indoctrination (they get enough of that in school) and too little thought to teaching good attitudes through one’s own actions and communication. The center of a young person’s universe is and should be his family. After that, he or she will learn, for good or ill, what the rest of the world is like from television and other inputs. Training a little world citizen is far less important than teaching the reality that other cultures do, in fact, differ and not always for the best.
The traditional stereotype is the wicked stepmother, but for real stepmothers, the process can be a difficult one. Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin, PhD, ($15.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) takes a look at the fact that one in two women in America will marry or live with a man with children if the projections of those who study divorce and remarriage are correct. The author says it is harder for women to be a stepparent than for men. This is an empowering, original, and realistic book that provides a completely new way of look at women in such relationships. It is a difficult road to navigate no matter the age of the children, whether five or fifty-five. Many women enter marriage with the notion to change the man, not realizing that it can lead to a lot of friction and unhappiness. So, a book like Have a New Husband by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman ($17.99, Revell), is fraught with potholes or even sinkholes for those who aren’t willing to change themselves as well. In fairness to the author, a psychologist, he is making an effort to help frustrated, disappointed wives by showing them a better way to achieve the change they want, as opposed to nagging, complaining, and demands. Dr. Leman says such men really want to please their wives, but do not know how. This is also a book about how wives can transition to a smoother, happier marriage. I Don’t Want a Divorce: A 90-Day Guide to Saving Your Marriage by Dr. David Clarke with William G. Clarke ($14.99, Revell, softcover) reflects the fact that half the marriages in America fail. The authors propose ways that couples can reclaim their marriage with a plan that has been used for the past twenty years to counsel hundreds of couples. It is a week-to-week plan comprised of clear steps and detailed, attainable goals. Divorce Sucks by Mary Jo Eustace ($19.95, Adams Media) who was married to Dean McDermott for thirteen years who divorced her after meeting actress Tori Spelling! He left Mary Jo with their newly adopted infant baby girl and a young son. This is not a self-help book like those above, but a voyeuristic glimpse into one of Hollywood’s most notorious divorces. For those who follow the tabloids and celebrity scene, this will prove diverting and shows that there is life after divorce.
Books for Kids and Teens
The books being created for the youngest readers these days are often just miracles of artwork and technology. An example can be found in Silver Dolphin Books, an imprint of Advantage Publishers Group of San Diego. California. With Christmas around the corner, visit www.silverdolphinbooks.com and consider, for example, Bugs & Spiders from their series, The Wonders Inside (19.95). I start off with that title because I know the first instinct is to say “eeeuuuu”, but kids are fascinated by such creatures and this book has extraordinary artwork and an informative text that brings to life the world of butterflies and moths, dragonflies, bees, ants and other insect species. This is just a knock-your-socks-off delight and a wonderful introduction to the science of entomology. In a similar fashion, their Sounds of the Wild series includes Safari by Maurice Pledger ($16.95) and, as the reader turns the pages, there are pop-ups and, amazingly, the actual sounds of the creatures of Africa from the Masai Mara to the Ngorongoro Crate to the Serengeti. It is a gorgeous book filled with animal pictures and one that is sure to delight the pre-schooler being read to and the early reader discovering African wildlife. This one is an amazing gift. For the youngster who likes putting things together, from the Action Files series comes Gladiators ($15.95) that includes a fact book, a foldout poster, stickers, a 3-D helmet, and info cards with their own box, plus a story book! This is just plain hands-on fun.
Also for the early reader, age 7 and up, there’s a basketball enthusiast’s story, Larry Bird: The Boy from French Lick ($17.95, Blue Martin Publications), written by Francine Poppo Rich and illustrated by Robert Casilla. This book focuses on his early years before he became the star of the Boston Celtics and emphasizes how practices, persistence, and a belief in himself led to his success in the game. For the older set called Young Adults, age 14 and up, there’s an award winning story, Rebound, by Bob Krech ($6.95, Marshal Cavendish Corp., softcover), lauded by the American Library Association, about Ray, a white boy with a passion for basketball, at Franklin High School where it is an unwritten rule that black kids play basketball and white kids wrestle. When Ray makes the basketball team, no one is happy for him and tensions build. This is a frank discussion of racial issues today. The sport of boxing is the background to The Ring by Bobbie Pryon ($15.95, WestSide Books, Lodi, NJ, softcover) in which it is a girl who reclaims her life as the lessons she learns at a girl’s boxing club in a nearby gym begin to be applied to school and at home. There’s plenty of action is this intriguing story of self-discovery and fulfillment. Though billed as being for boys and girls, I think the latter will like Ballerina Detective and the Missing Jeweled Tiara by Karen Rita Rautenberg ($9.95, DNA Press, softcover) for ages 8 to 13. When Amber’s tiara is stolen, 12-year-old Kayla and her friend Vicky decide to solve the mystery. It’s a hoot as she decides whether to take toe-dancing lessons to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina while also developing a crush on Jason, and engaging in a variety of adventures typical of a contemporary American girl. Filled with humor, this will provide plenty of entertainment for a young reader.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
Lawyers offer an abundance of literary opportunities and John Grisham, a lawyer himself, is proof of that, but now comes David Schmahmann’s Nibble & Kuhn ($24.95, Academy Chicago Publishers), also a practicing lawyer and also an accomplished writer of fiction. For pure entertainment, this novel tells the story of an unraveling law firm, an unwinnable case, and an unworkable love. At the center is Derek Dover who is up for partner at Nibble & Kuhn at precisely the time the Boston law firm decides to “rebrand” itself for the Google era. The partners, pompous and arbitrary, hand him a high visibility case just weeks before trial and, Derek, who has fallen hard for Maria Parma, a new associate, must work with her and the handicap that she’s engaged to someone else. Therein are all the elements of disaster and the fun is watching everything unravel.
A good mystery is a great way to pass the time and Brad Parks serves up Faces of the Gone ($24.99, Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin Press.) I admit to being a tad biased because the novel is set in Newark, NJ where I once worked and near where I still live in a suburb. Then, too, its main character is an investigative reporter and I began my several careers long ago as a reporter. Parks was a staff writer for the Washington Post before joining the Newark Star-Ledger in 1998 where he would cover major sports events in America. In 2004 he switched to writing news, covering everything from Hurricane Katrina to small-town pizza wars. The novel revolves around a multiple homicide that leaves even jaded Newarkers shaken. Carter and the police want to find out who killed four alleged drug dealers and that means he must tread the city’s gang turf and take risks to earn their trust, and avoid becoming a victim himself as the killer catches wind of his pursuit. This is a very entertaining story and one that will prove hard to put down until you reach the last page.
Catholics in particular and anyone who finds the role of spirituality in one’s life will find Stealing Fatima ($15.95, Counterpoint Press) a real treat. Frank X. Gaspar has won many literary prizes and this intriguing novel is proof of his skills as he tells the story of Father Manuel Furtado, a Cape Cod pastor, whose nightly ritual includes gin, pills, and prayer, followed by hours writing in his journal. On one night, however, he hears a crash in the church, causing him to leave the rectory of Our Lady of Fatima. He finds a man who was a childhood friend whom he has not seen in decades who tells him of recurring visits from the Virgin Mary and, although he has doubts, Father Furtado takes him in, thereby setting off a series of events that challenge the faith of the fishing village, the parish, and his own.
I confess I find a new series based on the classic Jane Austin novels such as Pride and Prejudice, an enigma. More to the point, it is bizarre. The first in the series was “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” Though she died in 1817, Jane Austin is listed as a co-author, but it is Ben H. Winters who has incorporated the original novel into that one and now Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters ($12.95, Quirk, softcover). For those who love fantasy stories, this one begins as the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. Suffice it to say that the first Jane Austin knock-off was an enormous success and has been optioned to become a motion picture. No doubt this one will as well.
For those who enjoy short stories, you’re in for a treat with The Mammoth Book of the World’s Best Crime Stories, edited by Maxim Jakubowski ($13.95, Running Press, softcover) that includes 36 stories by authors from around the world, translations from Cuba, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, India, and other nations whose authors have been brought together in a fact collection that will provide hours of reading pleasure. Crime is the subject of two excellent audio books by top-notch authors, Joseph Wambaugh and James Patterson. In Hollywood Moon ($39.98, Hachette Audio, 10 CDs, approximately 12 hours listening time) Wambaugh, a former Los Angeles Police Department detective sergeant, puts the reader in the Hollywood Station where a full moon brings out the beast in the precinct’s hustlers, drug pushers, and troubled folk. A prowler has been violently attacking women and the team of Nate Weiss and Dana Vaughn are in hot pursuit. The author is in top form. James Patterson serves up I, Alex Cross ($24.98, Hachette Audio, 4 CDs, approximately 5 hours listening time) in which the detective is pulled from a family celebration and given the news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. He vows to find her killer and soon learns she was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes and that she was not the killer’s only victim. I don’t want to give away too much except to say the story takes one into the world of very powerful people and delivers the kind of suspense that Patterson is famous for.
That’s it for December 2009!
Do tell all your book-loving friends and colleagues to come visit Bookviews to learn about some of the best, if sometimes overlooked, non-fiction and fiction. Bookmark Bookviews to ensure you get the inside track for 2010!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and Happy New Year!
My Picks of the Month
It’s the time of year we think about gifts for loved ones, friends, and colleagues. I have always thought of books as ideal, particularly if you know the particular interests of the person to receive one.
For the man in your life, The Immortals: History’s Fighting Elites by Nigel Cawthorne ($30.00, Zenith Press) is a large format book with 130 color photos, artwork and photos that reviews the history of warfare and the men who composed the force from which the book draws its title, the Persian Immortals, as well as the Spartans, the Roman Praetorian Guard, as well as famed elite fighting forces such as Japan’s ninjas, the Mongol hordes, the Prussian Guard, and the Stonewall Brigade, right up to the Green Berets and U.S. Navy Seals. The book spans centuries to shine a light on the most skilled, deadly, and respected warriors throughout history. With a great text and great illustrations on every page, this is sure to please the warrior spirit in any man. For those of you who, like myself, wonder why the U.S. has not decisively won a war since World War Two, despite having arguably the best fighting machine in the history of warfare, I recommend you read The Clausewitz Delusion: How the American Army Screwed Up the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by Stephen L. Melton ($30.00, Zenith Press). Following more than twenty years of active duty as an army officer, the author is a member of the faculty at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. His book won’t win him any popularity contests at the Pentagon, but it is a brilliant, history-based analysis of why we only managed a stalemate in Korea in the 1950s, lost the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s, and have found ourselves mired in the Middle East in this decade. In essence, the knowledge and experience that led to victories in the past has been jettisoned by the military in favor of a love affair with the writings of a Prussian general from Napoleon’s time. We have an entire cadre of officers right up to the top ranks who have no memory or knowledge of how the U.S. formerly waged and won wars. They need to read this book which is written for them as opposed to the layman, but it will prove just as interesting to those outside the military for its review of the American fighting machine and its current inability to address the necessity of governance following swift military victory. We did this well in the past, but no longer.
President Obama’s Asian tour focused attention once again on China and my friend, Michael J. Economides, along with Xina Xie, has just published Energy: China’s Choke Point ($29.99, Energy Tribune Publishing, Houston, TX), a book that should be required reading for every member of Congress, the White House, and the entire corps of journalists because it not only provides an excellent, brief history of China that adopted Mao Zedong’s communism, suffering the loss of millions in the wake of its failures, but then cast it aside to become America’s rival and partner as both nations take different approaches to energy, the master resource that determines success or failure, prosperity or poverty. Economides is one of the world’s leading authorities on energy and this book will prove a revelation concerning China’s quest for it as it strives to make up for lost time and the creation of jobs and a better life for its 1.3 billion citizens. Another book worth reading on this critical subject is Who Turned Out the Lights? Authors Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson offer a “guided tour to the energy crisis” America is facing as the result of decades of refusing access to its own vast reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas. Bittle is executive editor of PublicAgenda.org and Johnson is a co-founder. Their book is filled with good, solid information on the options facing Americans for whom securing abundant, affordable energy will require some tough, realistic decisions to be made. At this point, American has lost decades, failing to build a single new oil refinery or any new nuclear plants since the 1970s. At the same time, access to offshore oil remains under a de facto ban and the present administration is waging a war on coal. That makes the title particular apt given the fact that fifty percent of all the electricity generated in America comes from burning coal.
I know that The Law of Forgiveness works because I have applied it to my own life for a long time. The author, Connie Domino, MPH, RN ($12.00, Berkley, softcover) reveals the transformative power of forgiveness that includes not just others, but oneself as well. Regrets and anger over lost opportunities, hardened emotions over relationships with loved ones, friends, or workplace colleagues, all serve to hold one back because that’s what you’re doing, looking back instead of forward. The author provides clearly written guidelines and simple affirmation-based techniques that will free you up to move on with your life. Do you want to tackle The Big Questions? That’s the title of Steven E. Landsburg’s intriguing new book, subtitled, “Tackling the Programs of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics and Physics” ($26.00, Free Press). This economist has already made a name for himself with “The Armchair Economist” and “More Sex is Safer Sex.” Anyone who enjoys the mental exercise of philosophical questions will enjoy this virtual gymnasium of questions about moral choices and other conundrums. Perhaps the best part is the way he sets your mind to working in language and style that does not intimidate the reader.
On a lighter side, there’s Ultimate Catholic Trivia: 1001 Fun and Fascinating Facts by Scott Paul Frush, ($9.95, Marshall Rand Publishing, Royal Oak, MI, softcover) a history buff whose “Ultimate Italian Trivia” caught my attention because I am descended on my father’s side from Italians who had the good sense to get on the boat and come to America. Frush does not treat the subject in a trivial fashion. Instead he provides more insight into the history, traditions, and belief system of the Church than far more scholarly tomes. Catholics will thoroughly enjoy this book (the author is Catholic with a Masters degree from Notre Dame University) and even non-Catholics will find it both interesting and entertaining. It is filled with facts about Jesus, the Bible, saints, popes, the Vatican, the Mass, sacraments, organizations and clergy. For the believers in nothing at all there’s You Don’t Have to be Buddhist to Know Nothing: An Illustrious Collection of Thoughts of Naught by Joan Konner ($17.00, Prometheus Books) the author of “The Atheist’s Bible.” If there is such a thing as a happy atheist, I have yet to have met one, but it is amazing how many diverse people from ancient times to the present that have expressed themselves on the subject of nothing. Philosophers, mystics, artists, musicians, poets, geniuses and jokers have opined on nothingness and it must be said this collection of quotes is genuinely interesting. Page after page will tickle your brain. From the Free Press come two books, combined in one, suited to whatever your outlook on life may be, The Pessimist’s Handbook: A Companion to Despair and, between the same covers, The Optimist’s Handbook: A Companion to Hope ($9.99, softcover), both are identified as humor and well they should be because, read front to back or vice versa, it will have you laughing from beginning to end. I loved it! One of my favorite quotes is by Ben Hecht, a playwright and screen writer, who said, “Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.”
Milefi Kete Asante is a professor of African American Studies at Temple University and has authored 65 books. One of them, Erasing Racism: The Survival of the American Nation has been revised and expanded ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) and for anyone for whom this is a concern, this book offers some provocative ideas, not the least of which is his belief that America cannot continue as a cohesive society so long as racial injustice, in less obvious ways, continues. I am not in agreement with much of his thesis because African-Americans have had four decades since then to remedy cultural and other problems within their own community. There has been progress, but not enough. Simple, Not Easy: Reflections on Community, Social Responsibility, and Tolerance by Terrence Roberts ($24.95, Parkhurst Brothers Inc., Little Rock, AR) offers the viewpoint of one of the nine black students who integrated Little Rock Central High School some forty years ago. President Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to protect them. Roberts grew up to be a psychologist and brings a unique perspective to events since then. His book will be released next month and for anyone interested in the American Civil Rights movement, as well as themes that include education, leadership, integration, race and racism, this book is well worth reading. If you want to see what racism was like in its worst possible way, read Dominique Lapierre’s A Rainbow in the Night: The Tumultuous Birth of South Africa ($26.00, Da Capo Press). It is one of the most profoundly disturbing books I’ve seen in a long time. The sheer horror of apartheid, the brutal and deliberate effort to separate and subjugate native Africans and colored races from the descendents of the white Dutch colonizers was a nightmare. When it gave way to the movement to reclaim South Africa, the world felt better about itself, but under new, native leadership that nation is encountering its own problems.
Given the revelations that prominent climate scientists, members of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, engaged in rigging the data to support bogus global warming claims, two books stand out as the most idiotic of the year. I start with James Hoggan’s Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming ($20.00, Greystone Books). Written with Richard Littlemore, the author is the co-founder of DeSmogBlog.com and a public relations practitioner by trade. Among those providing a blurb for its back cover is actor Leonard DiCaprio who, unknown to us, apparently knows more about meteorology than real meteorologists. Suffice it to say, the Earth has been in a cooling cycle since 1998 and that cycle is likely to last for several decades. Writing a book castigating the “deniers” of global warming is truly ironic in the wake of the IPCC revelations. The book neglects to mention that the computer models put forth as “proof” have now been demonstrated to have been found not just flawed but, in some cases, deliberately false. Only the “true believers” of the Green religion will take comfort in this book, but those wise enough to ignore it will be paying far more attention to the nation’s economy in the 2010 midterm elections. Joining in the sillyness is Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate by Stephen H. Schneider ($28.00, National Geographic Books). The author argues the usual end-of-the-world global warming scenarios, but does so at a time when all the “facts” put forth by people like Al Gore and others simply do not reflect what the general public has begun to understand; the Earth has been cooling since 1998. This is classic “junk science” and it comes at a time when a UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, December 7 to 18, will try to foist a treaty that few will want to sign. Global warming will be remembered as the greatest fraud of the modern era. It will damage the public faith in scientists for some time to come.
People, People, People
It sometimes seemed to me that the comedian George Carlin had been around forever. His life and mine were lived in parallel tracks, so as he appeared on the Merv Griffin Show in the 1960s, I saw him there. As he progressed to the Ed Sullivan Show, I saw him there, and over the decades we shared, Carlin evolved into one of the most remarkable observers of life in America that his later HBO specials reflected his unique and very funny take, one that was often quite brash and occasionally profane. He was a very funny man and his fans will enjoy Last Words by George Carlin, written with his longtime friend, Tony Hendra ($26.99, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). This is Carlin’s autobiography from growing up on the multicultural streets of New York to a stint in the Air Force, his discovery of radio as a DJ, his transition to stand-up comic, marriage, his addictions, the whole ball of wax as they say. I’d say that I miss him, but Carlin left such a body of work behind, including books, that it is really hard to think of him as dead. Happily, Leslie Caron is very much alive and has written a delightful memoir of her life as a movie star and thereafter. Thank Heaven ($25.95, Viking) tells what it was like to costar with some of the greatest dancers captured on film, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, but she also paired with Cary Grant and, off-screen, dated Warren Beatty. From “An American in Paris”, “Gigi”, and “Lili” to “The L-Shaped Room”, she demonstrated the talent that gained her a permanent place in Hollywood’s firmament of stars. She is honest about the painful insecurity with which she coped much of her life and about her triumphs and heartbreaks; married three times, mother of two, she lives in Paris. Her fans will love this memoir.
In a celebrity-obsessed society, I have no doubt that The Michael Jackson Tapes by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach ($25.95, Vanguard Press) will do quite well. In 2000-2001, Jackson sat down with his close friend and spiritual guide to record what the publisher says is the most intimate and revealing conversations of his life. He was, we’re told, his wish to bare his soul and unburden himself to a public that he knew was deeply suspicious of him (and with good reason). The result are revelations about his profound loneliness, his longing to be loved, and the emptiness of fame. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the book is how he bonded with a rabbi. From that same celebrity world comes the memoir of Mary Forsberg Weiland, a model and groupie of the Stone Temple Pilots and how she met Scott Weiland, then an aspiring musician, when he showed up to drive her to and from modeling gigs for $8 an hour. Falling to Pieces is subtitled “A Memoir of Drugs, Rock’n Roll, and Mental Illness” ($25.99, William Morrow) and it is a tale of extreme highs and lows that says a lot about drug and alcohol addictions that could have killed her, as well as her bipolar personality disorder. She now lives with her two children in Los Angeles where she is studying to secure certification as a drug and alcohol counselor.
I am betting you never heard of Frank Julian Sprague (1857-1934), but don’t feel bad, only a few probably have. Sprague, however, played a role in transforming urban transportation in America and, as such, deserves a biography, Frank Julian Sprague: Electrical Inventor and Engineer ($39.95, Indiana University Press) by William D. Middleton and William D. Middleton III, with a foreword by John O. Sprague has just been published. It was Sprague who invented a system for distributing electricity to streetcars from overhead wires. While we see photos and films of the era when electric streetcars changed the way Americans got around cities, replacing horse drawn vehicles, the inventor remained largely unknown. For modern Americans, it is impossible to imagine the tons of horse droppings (and the smell) that were a part of early urban life. His invention helped cities to grow, transforming the landscape of the 20th century. Anyone interested in American history, urban affairs, and related topics will find this book very interesting. Glen Scott Allen has penned a very entertaining book, Master Mechanics & Wicked Wizards: Images of the American Scientist as Hero and Villain from Colonial Times to the Present ($29.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). From the fame of Benjamin Franklin to today’s films and other media that reprocess the mad scientist theme, there is a consistent thread that runs from early novels to Dr. Strangelove. We still do celebrate scientists in America, but not as in former times when Thomas Edison was revered. This is an insight-filled look at a part of our cultural history.
Managing Your Finances, Business
As the economy worsens a lot of people are looking for answers to managing their business better and planning for retirement. There are always books on these subjects worth reading. Then, as always, it’s a matter of applying your own best judgment.
For those with retirement in mind, there’s Fasten Your Financial Seatbelt: What Surviving an Airline Crash Taught Me about Retirement Planning by Thomas C. Scott ($14.95, Platform Press). An investment advisor and Forbes.com contributor, the author survived the world’s first crash of a Boeing 747 in Nairobi, Kenya some 35 years ago as a crew member. He’s made a career out of rescuing people from financial disasters and his short, readable book in which he says that “money is the root of all anxiety when it could be the root of all happiness.” He describes the ten most common mistakes people make, the high cost of procrastination, and, interestingly, why successful people often fail when it comes to money management. When I’m 64: Planning for the Best of Your Life by Marvin Tolkin and Howard Massey ($14.95, Tributary Press, softcover) starts with the fact that at precisely January 1, 2010, America’s first baby boomer will turn 64 with some eighty million more to follow. Sixty-four used to be considered “old” but boomers can expect to live at least another two decades, a full quarter of their lives. The book’s central theme is that most boomers will need to engage in a least a little bit of planning or face the prospect of outliving their money. Both books emphasize planning your life, setting goals so you can control your destiny in retirement. Filled with stories and an outside-the-box investment plan, anyone approaching retirement in ten or fifteen years should surely read one or both of these books.
For those looking for a job these days, 201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions by Linda Matias ($13.95, Amacom, softcover) provides lots of good advice beginning with not expecting broad, open-ended questions because today’s employers aren’t interest in hearing job candidates describe themselves in general terms. They are looking to hire people with competence who can demonstrate their strengths and whatever achievements they have in the workplace. You don’t have to be great, just good at what you do. This book provides good preparation for that all-important interview. It is estimated that half of U.S. employees are dissatisfied with their jobs. Business strategist, Vaughan Evans has written Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success ($14.95, Business and Careers Press, softcover) that offers a systematic approach to finding and landing your dream job. It’s an easy read that tells you how to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and to identify where you want to go and how to get there. It’s the kind of pep talk we all need and frequently don’t get.
Running any kind of business these days is a real challenge. Creating Demand: Generate Cool, Custom Marketing Ideas by Geraldo V. Tabio and Sally Beamer ($19.00, Prometheus Books) is based on forty years of combined marketing experience that will teach you a solid marketing strategy with which to develop innovative ideas targeted to both large corporations and small, locally owned businesses. As one professor of mine once said, everything begins when one person sells something to someone else. Instead of spending years mastering marketing skills, why not read a book by two experts who share their knowledge with you? The Janus Principle: Focusing Your Company on Selling to Small Business ($14.95, Brick Tower Press, softcover) by Joann Mills Laing and Don Mazzella takes note of the fact that there are an estimated 27.2 million small businesses in the United States and if you are interested in reaching this market, there are things you have to know in order to effectively sell to the small business buyer. The authors have thirty years of combined experience, so you’re being offered a lot of insight and information that would otherwise take a long time to acquire.
When it was first published, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun became a managerial cult classic. Authored by Dr. Wess Roberts, PhD, its 20th anniversary is being celebrated with an audio edition from Hachette Audio ($19.98) in an unabridged edition on three CDs for a total playing time of about three hours. Forget about the stereotypes about Attila and learn how he conquered a big chunk of the ancient world and held it all together with some remarkable negotiating skills.
Marriage and Parenting Skills
The other day I had to ask a young person what was the device she was holding. It was an iPod and she looked at me like I was very old and she was right. The technologies with which younger grow up are having a profound effect on how they relate to each other, their parents, and the world. They impact the process of parenting. More books on parenting reflect this, along with timeless tips. Let’s look at a few.
Racing to Keep Up by Doug Fodemen and Marje Monroe ($14.95, Dog Ear Publishing, softcover) say that the Internet is nothing to LOL (laugh out loud) about. For parents who have no clue what acronyms like IPN, BEG, WTOP, and LMIRL mean, it’s time to play catch up. The authors believe that the rise of the Internet and its communication offshoots, Instant Messaging, File Sharing, Spam, Phishing, and the like have upped the anti when it comes to protecting your child. Their book offers strategies for parents to talk to their kids about technology and ways to keep the home computer safe. In a world where children are exposed to fraudulent advertising, scams, and sexual invitations, it is increasingly necessary to know the fundamentals. Fortunately, this book doesn’t bog you down with a lot of technical jargon. Instead if offers options to apply in a world where kids are increasingly targeted to generate sales and by far worst predators. Enjoy the Ride by Suzy Martyn ($12.95, Mother’s Friend Publishing, softcover) offers “tools, tips, and inspiration for the most common parenting challenges.” The author has three children of her own, plus a Masters in education and lots of other credentials. It’s a handy guide to the common problems such as sleep issues, feeding questions, potty training, handling anger, providing quick answers and practical advice. Partnership Parenting: How Men and Women Parent Differently by Dr. Kyle Pruett, MD, and Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD, ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) say that all parents want to raise happy and healthy children, but that all parents have opinions on the best way to do so. What happens when two parents have opposing views? As fathers play an increasingly active role in child-rearing, it is clear that the opposite sexes often have different views and this shows up early when dad is expected to take on half the parenting duties that earlier generations ceded to mom. How to recognize and work out the differences is the subject of this book.
Two other Da Capo Press books examine child-rearing questions. Making Friends: What You Need to Know About Your Child’s Friendships by Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer ($13.00, softcover) is filled with advice such as not to be alarmed during the back-to-school months if your child is bad-tempered or exhausted because he or she is facing heightened anxieties about friendships and social acceptance. Dozens of questions from what to do if you don’t like one of your child’s friends or how to deal with bullying and taunting are addressed. Schools are a hothouse of social problems, not to mention boredom. This is a very helpful book that is worth reading. The We Generations: Raising Socially Responsible Kids by Michael Ungar, PhD ($15.95, softcover) is about “nurturing the compassion and community interest that could next generation of adults” and, frankly, I think the author “over thinks” these questions with too much emphasis on indoctrination (they get enough of that in school) and too little thought to teaching good attitudes through one’s own actions and communication. The center of a young person’s universe is and should be his family. After that, he or she will learn, for good or ill, what the rest of the world is like from television and other inputs. Training a little world citizen is far less important than teaching the reality that other cultures do, in fact, differ and not always for the best.
The traditional stereotype is the wicked stepmother, but for real stepmothers, the process can be a difficult one. Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin, PhD, ($15.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) takes a look at the fact that one in two women in America will marry or live with a man with children if the projections of those who study divorce and remarriage are correct. The author says it is harder for women to be a stepparent than for men. This is an empowering, original, and realistic book that provides a completely new way of look at women in such relationships. It is a difficult road to navigate no matter the age of the children, whether five or fifty-five. Many women enter marriage with the notion to change the man, not realizing that it can lead to a lot of friction and unhappiness. So, a book like Have a New Husband by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman ($17.99, Revell), is fraught with potholes or even sinkholes for those who aren’t willing to change themselves as well. In fairness to the author, a psychologist, he is making an effort to help frustrated, disappointed wives by showing them a better way to achieve the change they want, as opposed to nagging, complaining, and demands. Dr. Leman says such men really want to please their wives, but do not know how. This is also a book about how wives can transition to a smoother, happier marriage. I Don’t Want a Divorce: A 90-Day Guide to Saving Your Marriage by Dr. David Clarke with William G. Clarke ($14.99, Revell, softcover) reflects the fact that half the marriages in America fail. The authors propose ways that couples can reclaim their marriage with a plan that has been used for the past twenty years to counsel hundreds of couples. It is a week-to-week plan comprised of clear steps and detailed, attainable goals. Divorce Sucks by Mary Jo Eustace ($19.95, Adams Media) who was married to Dean McDermott for thirteen years who divorced her after meeting actress Tori Spelling! He left Mary Jo with their newly adopted infant baby girl and a young son. This is not a self-help book like those above, but a voyeuristic glimpse into one of Hollywood’s most notorious divorces. For those who follow the tabloids and celebrity scene, this will prove diverting and shows that there is life after divorce.
Books for Kids and Teens
The books being created for the youngest readers these days are often just miracles of artwork and technology. An example can be found in Silver Dolphin Books, an imprint of Advantage Publishers Group of San Diego. California. With Christmas around the corner, visit www.silverdolphinbooks.com and consider, for example, Bugs & Spiders from their series, The Wonders Inside (19.95). I start off with that title because I know the first instinct is to say “eeeuuuu”, but kids are fascinated by such creatures and this book has extraordinary artwork and an informative text that brings to life the world of butterflies and moths, dragonflies, bees, ants and other insect species. This is just a knock-your-socks-off delight and a wonderful introduction to the science of entomology. In a similar fashion, their Sounds of the Wild series includes Safari by Maurice Pledger ($16.95) and, as the reader turns the pages, there are pop-ups and, amazingly, the actual sounds of the creatures of Africa from the Masai Mara to the Ngorongoro Crate to the Serengeti. It is a gorgeous book filled with animal pictures and one that is sure to delight the pre-schooler being read to and the early reader discovering African wildlife. This one is an amazing gift. For the youngster who likes putting things together, from the Action Files series comes Gladiators ($15.95) that includes a fact book, a foldout poster, stickers, a 3-D helmet, and info cards with their own box, plus a story book! This is just plain hands-on fun.
Also for the early reader, age 7 and up, there’s a basketball enthusiast’s story, Larry Bird: The Boy from French Lick ($17.95, Blue Martin Publications), written by Francine Poppo Rich and illustrated by Robert Casilla. This book focuses on his early years before he became the star of the Boston Celtics and emphasizes how practices, persistence, and a belief in himself led to his success in the game. For the older set called Young Adults, age 14 and up, there’s an award winning story, Rebound, by Bob Krech ($6.95, Marshal Cavendish Corp., softcover), lauded by the American Library Association, about Ray, a white boy with a passion for basketball, at Franklin High School where it is an unwritten rule that black kids play basketball and white kids wrestle. When Ray makes the basketball team, no one is happy for him and tensions build. This is a frank discussion of racial issues today. The sport of boxing is the background to The Ring by Bobbie Pryon ($15.95, WestSide Books, Lodi, NJ, softcover) in which it is a girl who reclaims her life as the lessons she learns at a girl’s boxing club in a nearby gym begin to be applied to school and at home. There’s plenty of action is this intriguing story of self-discovery and fulfillment. Though billed as being for boys and girls, I think the latter will like Ballerina Detective and the Missing Jeweled Tiara by Karen Rita Rautenberg ($9.95, DNA Press, softcover) for ages 8 to 13. When Amber’s tiara is stolen, 12-year-old Kayla and her friend Vicky decide to solve the mystery. It’s a hoot as she decides whether to take toe-dancing lessons to pursue her dream of becoming a ballerina while also developing a crush on Jason, and engaging in a variety of adventures typical of a contemporary American girl. Filled with humor, this will provide plenty of entertainment for a young reader.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
Lawyers offer an abundance of literary opportunities and John Grisham, a lawyer himself, is proof of that, but now comes David Schmahmann’s Nibble & Kuhn ($24.95, Academy Chicago Publishers), also a practicing lawyer and also an accomplished writer of fiction. For pure entertainment, this novel tells the story of an unraveling law firm, an unwinnable case, and an unworkable love. At the center is Derek Dover who is up for partner at Nibble & Kuhn at precisely the time the Boston law firm decides to “rebrand” itself for the Google era. The partners, pompous and arbitrary, hand him a high visibility case just weeks before trial and, Derek, who has fallen hard for Maria Parma, a new associate, must work with her and the handicap that she’s engaged to someone else. Therein are all the elements of disaster and the fun is watching everything unravel.
A good mystery is a great way to pass the time and Brad Parks serves up Faces of the Gone ($24.99, Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin Press.) I admit to being a tad biased because the novel is set in Newark, NJ where I once worked and near where I still live in a suburb. Then, too, its main character is an investigative reporter and I began my several careers long ago as a reporter. Parks was a staff writer for the Washington Post before joining the Newark Star-Ledger in 1998 where he would cover major sports events in America. In 2004 he switched to writing news, covering everything from Hurricane Katrina to small-town pizza wars. The novel revolves around a multiple homicide that leaves even jaded Newarkers shaken. Carter and the police want to find out who killed four alleged drug dealers and that means he must tread the city’s gang turf and take risks to earn their trust, and avoid becoming a victim himself as the killer catches wind of his pursuit. This is a very entertaining story and one that will prove hard to put down until you reach the last page.
Catholics in particular and anyone who finds the role of spirituality in one’s life will find Stealing Fatima ($15.95, Counterpoint Press) a real treat. Frank X. Gaspar has won many literary prizes and this intriguing novel is proof of his skills as he tells the story of Father Manuel Furtado, a Cape Cod pastor, whose nightly ritual includes gin, pills, and prayer, followed by hours writing in his journal. On one night, however, he hears a crash in the church, causing him to leave the rectory of Our Lady of Fatima. He finds a man who was a childhood friend whom he has not seen in decades who tells him of recurring visits from the Virgin Mary and, although he has doubts, Father Furtado takes him in, thereby setting off a series of events that challenge the faith of the fishing village, the parish, and his own.
I confess I find a new series based on the classic Jane Austin novels such as Pride and Prejudice, an enigma. More to the point, it is bizarre. The first in the series was “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” Though she died in 1817, Jane Austin is listed as a co-author, but it is Ben H. Winters who has incorporated the original novel into that one and now Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters ($12.95, Quirk, softcover). For those who love fantasy stories, this one begins as the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. Suffice it to say that the first Jane Austin knock-off was an enormous success and has been optioned to become a motion picture. No doubt this one will as well.
For those who enjoy short stories, you’re in for a treat with The Mammoth Book of the World’s Best Crime Stories, edited by Maxim Jakubowski ($13.95, Running Press, softcover) that includes 36 stories by authors from around the world, translations from Cuba, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, India, and other nations whose authors have been brought together in a fact collection that will provide hours of reading pleasure. Crime is the subject of two excellent audio books by top-notch authors, Joseph Wambaugh and James Patterson. In Hollywood Moon ($39.98, Hachette Audio, 10 CDs, approximately 12 hours listening time) Wambaugh, a former Los Angeles Police Department detective sergeant, puts the reader in the Hollywood Station where a full moon brings out the beast in the precinct’s hustlers, drug pushers, and troubled folk. A prowler has been violently attacking women and the team of Nate Weiss and Dana Vaughn are in hot pursuit. The author is in top form. James Patterson serves up I, Alex Cross ($24.98, Hachette Audio, 4 CDs, approximately 5 hours listening time) in which the detective is pulled from a family celebration and given the news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. He vows to find her killer and soon learns she was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes and that she was not the killer’s only victim. I don’t want to give away too much except to say the story takes one into the world of very powerful people and delivers the kind of suspense that Patterson is famous for.
That’s it for December 2009!
Do tell all your book-loving friends and colleagues to come visit Bookviews to learn about some of the best, if sometimes overlooked, non-fiction and fiction. Bookmark Bookviews to ensure you get the inside track for 2010!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Bookviews by Alan Caruba
November 2009
My Picks of the Month, Reading History, People (Biographies and Autobiographies), Health, Military Matters, Kids and Teen Books, Novels
My Picks of the Month
Here’s a book to put on your Christmas list. It’s Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years ($75.00, Andrews McMeel Publishing) and it comes in a deluxe, slip cased edition. It is filled with all the many things a generation of Americans came to love about this wonderful comic strip creation by the late Charles Schultz. Peanuts fans will find quotes from Schultz that shed light on how his mind worked, how his life shaped the strip, and how in turn it shaped his life. There are more than 500 pages of classic Peanuts strips, including many full color Sundays. It doesn’t get much better than this. Another large format book that will please fans of the late actress Betty Davis is a tribute written by two noted film critics, Richard Schickel and George Perry. Betty Davis: Larger than Life ($35.00, Running Press) captures the life of a quite extraordinary woman, outspoken and unapologetic. Her career spanned six decades and more than 100 films and few actresses rival her for longevity and appeal. As she put it, “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star” and she was the epitome of a star. “Of Human Bondage”, “Jezebel”, and “All About Eve” became classic films in part from her performances. She broke ground for actresses who followed her, but she left an indelible imprint on an era we sometimes call the golden age of Hollywood.
If you know someone who loves to travel or someone who prefers to do so from an armchair (that’s me), then one of the most fabulous gifts to give this year is Visions of Europe ($99.99, a boxed set of 12 programs on ten discs, Acorn Media), good for over 15 hours of some of the most extraordinary views of Europe, all shot in high definition video from a helicopter-mounted camera. Seen frequently on PBS, in this great set, you will find “Visions” of Italy, France, Greece, Germany and Austria. There’s also the “Great Cities of Europe”. Either for yourself or as a gift, you will float above places whose names reflect the history of Western civilization. The music and the narration is never intrusive. It’s a trip of a lifetime without every leaving home.
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America is an intriguing book by Rich Benjamin ($24.99, Hyperion). He begins by pointing out that, by 2042, whites will no longer be the majority population in America. As people of color driven by the massive illegal immigration across our southern border increase, more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominantly, even extremely white. It goes way beyond prejudice and it goes straight to the heart of American values of “individual liberty, shared civic responsibility, and equal opportunity.” Benjamin writes, “Insecure over the strength and prospects of American values, many white Americans fear for the nation’s ability to absorb newcomers.” This is especially true when they arrive poorly educated and with cultural dispositions to neglect wherever they live. It is hard to claim prejudice given the fact that Americans elected the first black president in its history, though the election, says Benjamin, obscures the racial and economic segregation still vexing America. Benjamin advocates “diversity” even though it looks more and more to me like termites eating the foundations of American society. At the book’s conclusion, the author opts for a more liberal approach to the demographic changes occurring, something that struck me as the antithesis of the theme of his book.
For an administration that has promised greater “transparency”, it is increasingly clear that much of the information on which decisions are based is kept from public view. Over the years, the Freedom of Information Act has been utilized by journalists and those dealing with public affairs issues to learn more about what the government is doing and why. Jacqueline Klosek has written The Right to Know: Your Guide to Using and Defending Freedom of Information Law in the United States ($44.95, Praeger). An attorney practicing law in New York City, it need be said this book will be of greatest use to those engaged in these battles to pry open the doors of government agencies. There are, she notes, many exemptions to the law that prevent access, but she does provide practical methods for citizens to use the act to protect themselves and their communities. The most dangerous aspect of what is occurring is the increasing effort to deny Americans access to government generated information with which to make an informed analysis of what is really occurring. Tom Fenton is a four-time Emmy winner from his years with CBS News, so one might expect his analysis, Junk News: The Failure of the Media in the 21st Century ($14.95, Fulcrum Publishing) to be more incisive. However, his association with CBS News reminds us of the expose of Dan Rather’s appalling bias (a court recently dismissed his case against CBS) and it similarly infects Fenton’s examination of trends. He now works as a freelance commentator for the BBC. This little book rather swiftly loses much of its credibility when he veers into political opinion, but is worth reading when Fenton addresses the actual mechanics and costs of news gathering. His lament about the closing of foreign bureaus by U.S. media rings true, along with some other complaints. He devotes too much time blaming the former Bush administration for all the ills of the world, much as the present administration does. Those of a liberal persuasion will enjoy this book.
Cornelia Dean has written Am I Making Myself Clear?: a Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public ($19.95, Harvard University Press). This is a book for scientists who want to share their expertise, analysis and opinions with the general public and I recommend it because I see lots of scientific information that often defies the understanding of even a seasoned science writer like myself. A distinguished science editor and reporter, Dean makes a case for the importance of scientists taking an active role in making their work accessible to the media and, through them, to the general public. This book is especially timely given the decades of junk science regarding a “global warming” that was a natural climate cycle, barely one degree Fahrenheit, to a previous “little ice age.” And the kicker is that the Earth has been in a new cooling cycle for at least ten years. It’s not likely you’ve heard about that!
One cannot help being impressed by The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries by Michele Borba, Ed.D. ($19.95, Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley, softcover). The initial reason being its sheer size. It’s truly a big book at nearly 700 pages as it addresses common parenting challenges for kids from age 3 to 13. The answers to bedtime battles, chores wars, tantrums, bad friends, sibling rivalry, cheating, growing up too fast, eating disorders, selfishness, anger and countless other common problems are addressed, along with Internet safety, stress and much more. The solutions are time-tested and, for today’s time-challenged parent, the ability to go to specific chapters on problems they are encountering is invaluable.
For the sports nut in your life, a great Christmas stocking-stuffer would be No Dribbling the Squid: Octopush, Shin Kicking, Elephant Polo, and other Oddball Sports are the subject of a book by Michael J. Rosen with Ben Kassoy ($12.99, Andrews McMeel, softcover. It would appear that just about anything humans do can be and has been turned into some kind of sporting activity as it takes a look at those from around the globe that are weird and entertaining, from Wife-Carrying races to professional Rock-Paper-Scissors competitions and Extreme Ironing. This book is just plain fun.
Reading History
There is no understanding of the present or hint of predicting the future if you have not read history.
The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America its Name by Toby Lester ($30.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster) tells of the way Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts, Europe, Africa and Asia. These parts of the world had been visited by traders and seafarers to an extent that they were known to exist. For the Europeans, they existed to be exploited, a noted trait. The “fourth part of the world”, however, was largely a land of myth until, in 1507, Martin Waldseemulller and Mathias Ringmann, two obscure scholars working in the mountains of eastern France created a map. It depicted a new world beyond the vast Atlantic Ocean. It would draw on the explorations of Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. It would set Nicholas Copernicus to thinking that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Thus was life in 16th century Europe. Eventually, in 2003, the Library of Congress paid $10 million to add it to its treasures. The story of the map is one of the great stories of discovery and it is fascinating.
From the earliest civilizations to our own there have always been people ready to predict the end of the world and people ready to believe them. As we draw closer to 2012, the ancient Mayan calendar, said to predict this is gaining renewed attention. Simply put, it does not make such a prediction, but the long, more complex story is told by John Major Jenkins in The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History ($25.95, Tarcher/Penguin). There have been some 200 books written concerning December 21, 2012 and some movies based on the myth. Jenkins is an expert on the Mayan civilization and that is the crux of his book and, if that interests you than you will not be disappointed by this portrait of the cultural and scientific roots of what, in fact, was a Mayan belief in transformation and renewal. (See the Novels section for one based on the end of the world theme.)
If you have been trying to figure out why the Middle East is such a mess, a good place to start is the Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East by Karl E. Mayer and Shareen Blair Brysac ($18.95, W.W. Norton, softcover) which looks at the Middle East as the geographic, geostrategic, and religious center of the world; one that Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon tried to control long before oil was discovered and in which, at varying times France, Britain, Germany, and the United States have all sought to extend their hegemony. The modern Middle East is the result of a secret treaty between England and France that divided it between them following World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. For anyone who loves to read history, this book is high adventure full of folly and a cast of characters Hollywood could not have invented. Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East by Stephen P. Cohen ($27.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) rapidly turns out to be a disappointment and the tip-off is the first sentence of its preface. “Right after the 1967 Six-Day War, I set out to educate myself about the Zionist conflict with the Arabs in Palestine.” The “Zionists”, not the Israelis. Because, despite the wars waged against it, the sovereign nation of Israel has demonstrated that Jews have a right to their ancient homeland. And, largely ignored or unmentioned is the fact that Israel has a million Arab citizens! Cohen, a Harvard-trained social psychologist is the founder and president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development. He is a dreamer who, while he has a grasp of the basics of Middle East history, views it through the gauzy hope for a peace that has always been beyond reach in a region whose dominant faith and culture makes it impossible
People, People, People
The favorite subject for people to write about is, well, people. And, of course, there is often much to be learned by reading about people since one can hardly cram that much experience into a single life.
I will begin, for no particular reason, with a memoir by a wonderful singer and entertainer, Moon River and Me by Andy Williams ($25.95, Viking). I was surprised to learn that he is 82, but only because, being ten years younger, he has been a part of my life before and since he became a superstar on television by the 1960s. There are few achievements in show business he has not garnered, but it was his warm tenor voice and seemingly effortless delivery that earned him his position. The book tells of a humble beginning in Iowa, an ambitious father who encouraged his sons to form a singing group, a move to Los Angeles, and the gradual climb to a place in the hearts of Americans who embraced him. Along the way he became friends with other famous folk like Bobby Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and others. He relates stories about them and his success on television, in Las Vegas, and with his theatre in Branson, Missouri. This is a memoir worth waiting for.
William Rehnquist was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for a third of a century and served contiguously with four presidents and yet I cannot help but think that most Americans were and are largely unaware of him because of his modest demeanor. He did not seek the limelight, but now those for whom the Supreme Court, its decisions, and the men and women that made them in modern times are of interest, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States meets the need for a greater insight and understanding of the man ($27.00, Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). Herman J. Obermayer provides a candid look at one of the most influential men to hold the job. He takes the reader on an interesting journey from his dissenting opinion in Roe v. Wade to his strongly stated positions on issues as various as freedom of the press, school prayer, and civil rights. It was Rehnquist who played a visible role in two very contentious events, the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999 and the decision that made George W. Bush the winner in the presidential election of 2000. Obermayer, a journalist, was friends with him for nineteen years and the result is a book well worth reading for a better understanding of the man and times he influenced
From an earlier era, the 1920s and 30s, a name synonymous with those times is Amelia Earhart, one of the first women pilots and, in many ways, a woman who demonstrated that her sex could equal the exploits of men. Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It by Susan Wels ($35.00, Running Press) is a large format book to match her personality and exploits which famously ended with her mysterious disappearance somewhere in the Pacific in 1937. Well written and extensively illustrated, the woman that emerges from its pages does much more than fly planes. She was a polymath, a poet, photographer, fashion designer, wife, friend and lover. She was, above all, someone who lived for adventure. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace,” she wrote. She lived life on her own terms and broke the glass ceiling long before the term existed.
The Holocaust, the deliberate killing of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War Two has generated hundreds, if not thousands of books, but it remains essential that later generations and humanity in general not forget it. Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri ($15.95, Tanglewood Press) is actually written for younger readers, aged twelve and up. One of the worst chapters of the Holocaust was the selection of some 300 twins for Dr. Josef Mengele’s cruel medical experiments. Only about 200 survived. The author and her sister were only ten years old at the time. A lesser known story from that period is told in They Dared Return: The Untold Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick K. O’Donnell ($26.00, Da Capo Press). Some Jewish refugees, by 1942, had found safe haven in America, but with courage that is hard to imagine, were eager to serve in the armed forces to stop the persecution of their overseas families and friends, some of whom languished in concentration camps. The book focuses on “the Jewish five” who joined the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of today’s CIA, to become spies, parachuting into enemy territory to gather information for the Allied forces. O’Donnell, a military historian, has done a great service in writing this intriguing book. (See History section below for more on this topic)
Writers often find their own lives more interesting than anything they could invent or report, so it is not surprising that two books reflect that trait. The Face in the Mirror edited by Victoria Zackheim ($25.00, Prometheus Books) brings together recollections by writers such as Malachy McCourt, Joyce Maynard, among some twenty writers of fiction and non-fiction who relate the choices they made, their achievements, and their disappointments. Their stories are a cautionary tale for all would-be writers, but they answer the question of who it is they see when they look in the mirror. Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives ($24.99, Free Press) collects essays by writers ranging from Joyce Carol Oates to Edmund White, at least two are Pulitzer Prize winners, six won National Book Awards, and others who saw their work become bestsellers but who recall how either encouragement or criticism shaped their careers, each thriving or surviving to make a name for themselves.
After decades of reviewing, I have seen my share of memoirs. Most lives fit into comfortable patterns, but occasionally someone comes along with a truly nutty notion, divorced from reality, and a path to a life that strays from the ordinary. Such is the case of Jerramy Fine who was born in 1977 in western Colorado, but possessed of the idea that she was switched at birth and her “real” parents must surely be English aristocrats. Ms. Fine was convinced that she was born to marry into the British Royal Family. She is what is called an Anglophile, in love with things and men who are British. She writes about it in Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess (15.00, Gotham Books/Penguin Group, softcover) While attending the University of Rochester, she spent a semester working in the House of Commons and later completed her master’s at the London School of Economics. She did not marry an English prince, but she lives in London with an English boyfriend and she forgives him for being a commoner. The result of this is a whimsical real life story of a girl who began writing to Buckingham Palace around age six, gets to London, dives into the party scene and discovers life is not the fairy tale she imagined. Turns out that London is very expensive and too many British boys are a real pain. This one is strictly for the girls, but it will resonate with any one of them who wanted to be a princess.
The Topic is Health
Americans are taking a greater interest in maintaining their personal health these days, perhaps in response to the national debate on proposed, controversial revisions to Medicare, arguably the most popular government program other than Social Security. It also reflects the endless coverage of health-related topics in the nation’s media. An excellent place to start is The Intellectual Devotional: Health ($24.00, Rodale) with 365 daily entries on all aspects of health that cover seven categories on health and wellness such as drugs and alternative treatments, the men, sexuality and reproduction, children and adolescents, diseases and ailments. It is endlessly fascinating for its facts.
Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit by Muriel L. Crawford ($19.95, plus $5.50 shipping and handling, from Dillion & Parker Publishing, softcover), is addressed to people like me and the thirty million other Americans who say they want to quit. It is one scary book, listing more than a hundred ways tobacco harms smoker’s health, often leading to prolonged disability and early death. It offers methods to quit smoking, and discusses all the other aspects of smoking such as social and relationship problems. I would hazard that this is the most comprehensive review of this problem and, who knows, it might just get me to quit, too. Visit www.ReasonsNotToSmoke.com.
I loved The Art of Overeating by Leslie Landis ($9.95, Sterling) and give it a big thumbs up! Written by a practicing clinical psychologist, the author has practical experience helping people who eat, spend, avoid, deny, and defy their way through life. As Americans continue to be hit over the head with endless discussion and even proposed legislation about what and how much we can eat, this book approaches the subject with lots of laughter. Peppered with fascinating food facts, plus the author’s natural wry style of making her case about food phobias, she exposing the uselessness of trying to shame over-eaters. Using humor, though, helps a lot. If you’re tired of the endless stream of diet books and advice, this is probably the book for you!
It seems like hardly a day or week goes by without the public being informed that some health threat is going to kill millions and now Dr. Brad Spellberg has written about the latest in Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them ($26.00, Prometheus Books). The focus of his book is on antibiotic-resistant microbes that are said to infect two million Americans and kill more than 100,000 every year. What makes this an even worse threat, according to the author, is that research and development of new antibiotics has “ground to a screeching halt.” This book is a major warning against the collapse of antibiotic R&D and for anyone with an interest in health issues, this is “must” reading.
A new memoir is The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes by Zippora Karz ($22.95, Harlequin) in which she tells how, by the age of 20 she had fulfilled her life’s dream. Having left home at the age of 15 to pursue her career, Karz became a rising star with the New York City Ballet. A year later, however, her body began to exhibit symptoms that were originally misdiagnosed as Type-2 diabetes when it was Type-1. This is an inspiring story for any woman facing this disease and it is enhanced as she writes about the behind-the-scenes life of a ballerina, a fantasy for little girls around the world.
Military Matters
I have long believed that history largely consists of the many wars of mankind and this is confirmed in an excellent new book, Little-Known Wars of Great and Lasting Impact: Turning Points in Our History We should Know More About by Alan Axelrod, PhD ($24.99, Fair Winds Press). That may qualify as one of the longest titles of any new book this year! The author has had a long, distinguished career in and out of publishing and a consultant to television documentaries. He takes the reader on a fascinating tour that include what he calls the “first Holocaust”, the battle when Simon bar Kokhba initiated a rebellion against Rome, triggering a response that cost the lives of many Jews living in Israel from 132-135 BC. Other wars cited include the first wars of terror, the Barbary pirates versus the United States, and the Meji Rebellion in Japan. There are many interesting chapters that recount wars that often are not taught in schools and colleges, but which shaped history, ancient and modern.
Zenith Press specializes in books about military affairs and among their latest releases are War Stories of D-Day: Operation Overlord—June 6, 1944 ($28.00) by Michael Green and James D. Brown. That titanic landing on the shores of France was a major turning point in World War Two. It put 150,000 troops in play against the Nazis and this book humanizes the event with first-person stories of those who took part in the invasion, including the paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines. The book includes those from the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force who provided critical support. A little known story of WWII was the role of German Jews and it is told in The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II ($28.00) by Steven Karras. Though the Nazis rounded up and killed six million Jews, some German and Austrian Jews who had fled the Nazis were inducted into the Allied forces. The stories of 27 of them, including gripping recollections from Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, are documented. They displayed incredible courage. Courage, too, was displayed by McCoy’s Marines ($17.99) subtitled the “Darkside to Baghdad.” John Koopman tells the story of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col Byran P. McCoy whose radio call sign was “Darkside.” These were the men who pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein. As a reporter embedded with the unit, Koopman saw and lived it all. A former Marine himself, the author provides an insight-filled story of what it was like to battle into the center of Iraq’s capital and the aftermath.
At the forefront of American concerns is whether to continue the war in Afghanistan, now in its eighth year. For a powerful and disturbing insight, I recommend you read Hunting al Qaeda ($17.99, Zenith Press, softcover). It is the story of a National Guard Special Forces unit, Beast 85, a tight-knit group of ten men, green berets, sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to capture or kill al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is a story of disillusionment because of the top-heavy, risk-averse command structure of today’s army and how it became the second front for men who actually captured a Taliban leader only to be told to release him! The war has drawn on without victory because “victory” is not attainable when it is a political issue, not a military objective.
Today we speak of Special Operations and think in terms of Green Berets and Navy SEALs, but preceding them were WWII Allied spies and they needed to be trained to operate behind enemy lines. The arts and skills of disrupting an enemy were described in Special Ops, 1939-1945: A Manuel of Covert Warfare and Training ($17.00, Zenith Press) put together by the British Special Operations Executive and American Office of Strategic Services. It is reproduced for today’s reader and the techniques described and illustrated mirror some that have been incorporated by today’s terrorist organizations.
Not all casualties of war occur on the battlefield. Healing Suicidal Veterans: Recognizing, Supporting and Answering Their Pleas for Help by Victor Montgomery II, CMAC, RAS, a former crisis intervention therapist for the National Veterans Suicide Crisis Hotline ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) could save lives, particularly if read by the friends and relatives of returning veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. It is filled with advice on effective strategies for veterans to cope and heal, checklists to identify symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. It provides information about resources for veterans seeking help.
Books for kids and Teens
For the very young who can be read to or those age 7-9, there’s a story first published in 1997 by Jane Yolen, the author of some 300 books for younger readers. The Seeing Stick ($16.95, Running Press) is the story of a Chinese emperor whose only daughter was born blind and who seeks a cure. One day a wise old man with a mysterious Seeing Stick visits the princess. It reveals that one can “see” the world in more ways than just her eyes. This book is particularly special for the illustrations of Daniela Jaglenko Terrazzini that are just dazzling. It is an inspiring story in many ways and likely to remain a treasure in any child’s library.
From Kids Can Press comes How to Build Your Own Country ($18.95), part of a series to teach kids about the world, but I am less thrilled about its intent “to be better global citizens.” That kind of One World outlook puts allegiance to one’s own nation down the list of priorities. That said, however, Valerie Wyatt, the author, and Fred Rix, the illustrator, have come up with a clever way to each what being a nation involves, including setting up a government, holding elections, writing a constitution, and other attributes of nations that function under the rule of law. Hoaxed! Fakes & Mistakes in the World of Science ($16.95) by the editors of Yes Magazine is another good book for younger readers, up to age ten or so. It explores a number of famous hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and provides advice on how to spot a hoax based often on dubious or spurious science. It neglects to include the greatest hoax of the modern era, “global warming”, still be talked about as real despite the fact the Earth has been cooling for a decade.
For the older, pre-teen and teenage set, there are a number of books worth reading. I am Jack by Susanne Gervay ($14.99, Tricycle Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing) deals with the topic of school bullying and how it hurts the victim and the bully and is frightening for witnesses who don’t know what to do. Jack is an eleven-year-old who has to learn what to do. This book should probably be in every school in America. A young adult novel, Saved by the Music ($16.95, West Side Books) is generating a lot of buzz. Selene Castrovilla tells the story of 15-year-old Willow who moves in with her aunt for the summer after her unstable mother kicks her out. Aunt Agatha is trying to turn a dilapidated barge into a classic music performance space. Willow must fend off the advances of a construction worker, but is befriended by an older teen who lives on a sailboat nearby. Together they meet some harrowing challenges together. It’s the kind of story that is impossible to put down once passed the first page. Music is at the core of another West Side Book, a young adult novel, Shattered by Kathi Baron ($16.95). In this story a teen violin prodigy, Cassie, runs away after her moody father destroys her violin, seeking refuge in a homeless shelter. From her shattered family, Cassie finds out why her father acted as he did and how she heals herself by helping others.
The author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, Jeff Kinney, sold over 23 million copies with this series and is back with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days ($13.95, Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams) in which Greg, Rowley, Rodrick, Manny, Mom and Dad, and an entire cast of characters return along with an unexpected addition to the family that not only takes Greg’s attention, but his bed too. Just about everything he does involves some kind of turmoil, particularly anything that occurs outside when Greg would prefer to be in his room, the blinds closed, and playing video games. This is just plain fun!
For the older teen and some adults, there’s The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey ($17.99, Simon and Schuster), a very entertaining story that begins with the journal of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man whose specialty is the study of monsters. When a grave robber comes calling with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet. This is classic gothic literature and asks the question, when does a man become the very thing he hunts?
Two DVDs offer lots of entertainment for the toddler set. Gigi and the Royal Pink Circus by Sheila Walsh ($14.00, Thomas Nelson, kid’s division) is part of a popular series about Gigi and for those of the Christian faith, this comes with some valuable lessons, namely that it is not easy to be God’s little princess these days, but His message comes with much comfort. Also from the same publisher, part of the Max Lucado’s Hermie and Friends series, The Flo Show Creates a Buzz. It’s About Saying You’re Sorry($14.99) features the voices of Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence of the Carol Burnett Show fame. It is a rollicking story with a useful theme of forgiveness. Also in the arena of juvenile fiction, there’s School of Fear, an audio book from Hachette Audio ($19.98) by Gitty Daneshvari. For the younger set, it will prove fun to listen to as they follow the adventures of Madeleine Masterson who is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders, Theodore Bartholomew who is petrified of dying, Lulu Punchalower who is scared of confined spaces, and Garrison Feldman who is terrified of deep water. They are sent off to the School of Fear to learn how to conquer their fears. Very scary and very funny.
Novels, Novels, Novels
I have become a fan of Don Bruns “stuff” series that chronicles the lives of James and Skip, two loveable, bumbling best friends who are still stuck in dead-end jobs, still living in their ratty apartment in Carol City, Florida, and still dreaming and scheming to hit the big time. In Stuff to Spy For ($25.95, Oceanview Publishing), Skip lands a job to install a state-of-the-art security system for Synco Systems, but it comes with strings. To collect the cash, he will have to pretend to be the boyfriend of Sarah Crumbly, an employee who’s having an affair with Synco’s married president. When he is offered a tidy sum by the boss’ wife for the details of what’s going on at Synco, the friends decide to go into the business of being spies. What they discover is at the heart of this funny, fast-paced thriller. A very different kind of thriller is Crossings by Leonard Chang ($24.95, Black Heron Press), an unflinching look at the lives of Korean immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area. It centers on Sam, a widower who finds himself deeply in debt to a local gangsters and Unha, an illegal immigrant working at a nightclub. Their stories intertwine with other family members, other immigrants, all forming to portray a community trying to make a better life for themselves. One can learn a lot from such fiction, delving into the worlds of other people we might now otherwise know or, to be candid, care about, but in a very real way, they are classic American stories in a nation of immigrants. Korea is the backdrop for a new addition to “A Sergeants Sueno & Bascom Mystery” by Martin Limon. G.I. Bones unites the Military Police sergeants when they travel to Itawwon, Seoul’s red-light district in order to find out who killed a G.I. who had the unusual habit of stalking fortune tellers. Meanwhile, an officer’s daughter has gone missing and the murder of a wine-mongering gang lord remains unsolved. The time is the 1970s and the twists and turns of this novel will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can read them.
Anyone who is old enough to have gone through the Draft in the 1950s until it was discontinued, will find The Furax Connection a trip back to the days of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood ($16.95, Fireside Publications, Lady Lake, FL, softcover). Stephen L. Kanne makes his debut with a terrific novel that is evocative of that era and, at the same time, an old fashioned thriller about a shadowy organization within the military, a network of bribery and extortion emanating from Furax Unlimited. At the heart of the novel is Billy Rosen, a Harvard graduate who has volunteered for the Draft to get a taste of life beyond his privileged surroundings. Identified as a recruit for a secret society within the military affiliated with Furax, the story concludes with the North Korean invasion of the South and we suspect Billy will see action there. Indeed, we expect Kanne’s next novel will continue the thread begun in this very satisfying story.
I am not surprised to see novels arrive that are based on the end-of-the-world theme of December 21, 2012. The Twelve by William Gladstone ($19.95, Vanguard Press) tells the story of Max Doff. Not speaking until age six, his world filled with numbers of colors (Editor’s note: signs associated with autism), at age fifteen he has a near death experience during which he sees twelve names that he cannot remember when he awakes. Eight years later while on location in Peru for a film production company, Max meets Maria Magdelena Ramirez and he suddenly realizes, Maria’s name was one of the twelve he saw in his vision. Anyone drawn to the mysteries of myths while find this novel every entertaining as we follow Max’s life to the date alleged to mark the world’s end.
Among the softcover novels, there’s The Rules of Play Jennie Walker ($20.00, Soho). Actually it is a novella, a short novel that follows the story of a woman in the throes of an extra-marital affair. Told over the course of five days, the narrator seeks to navigate the rules of her affair at the same time she tried to understand the rules of a cricket match between England and India taking place. We’re told that Mick Jagger loved it, but he’s one up on Americans unfamiliar with cricket. Coming in January from Soho Press, there’s Leighton Gage’s Dying Gasp ($24.00) the third in a series starring Chief Inspector Mario Silva. Set in Brazil, the granddaughter of a prominent politician is missing and Silva and his team find her in Manaus, a jungle hellhole on the Amazon where a female doctor is making snuff films. Silva must overcome his own department’s indifference and corrupt local cops to bring some justice to the victims.
A Drunkard’s Path by Clare O’Donahue, ($13.00, Plume) is part of “A Someday Quilts Mystery” series featuring Nell Fitzgerald. As Nell is finishing her first quilt and recovering from a broken engagement, her new boyfriend, Police Chief Jesse Dewalt stands her up, he has a good reason. The body of a young woman has been discovered nearby. Nell’s taste for sleuthing gets the best of her and she enlists the aid of her quilting circle to help patch together the clues. Civil War history, the Reconstruction period, is the backdrop for Jarrettsville by Cornelia Nixon ($15.95, Counterpoint). Based on a true story, it is the account of a love affair and murder in a small Maryland town that is rebuilding. It is the days following President Lincoln’s assassination and the Confederate surrender. The various allegiances are told through the eyes of a dozen different perspectives, but the story is in many ways a timeless one.
If you love a good love story, pick up Giving Up on Ordinary by Isla Dewar ($14.99, St, Martin’s Griffin/Thomas Dunne Books), a beloved and prolific British writer. Meg is a woman at the end of her rope. A single mother of three, she has more bounced checks than reasons to be hopeful. After retiring her dream of making it big in a band, she’s bounced from job to job, and now she’s cleaning houses to make ends meet. When she is asked to work for Gilbert Christy, an educated, wealthy, lonely art historian, her life gets a shot of passion. Complete opposites, they fascinate each other and their affair is as much about curiosity as about love. You will be rooting for Megs from the very first page.
Finally, for some good listening, there are three Hachette Audio novels, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (19.98) in the voice of a murdered girl watching from heaven as friends and family, along with her murderer, try to fathom what happened. David Balacci never disappoints with his police thrillers and True Blue ($44.98, unabridged/$31.98 abridged) is read by actor Ron McLarty. It is a story of a cop seeking redemption. Michael Connelly’s Dragon’s ($39.98 unabridged/$29.98 abridged) is read by actor Len Cariou tells the story of the murder of the owner of a South LA small shop, Fortune Liquors, and Detective Harry Bosch has promised his family he will find the killer. It is a gripping tale.
That’s it for November! Tell your friends about Bookviews and bookmark it to return each month for news of the best in new fiction and non-fiction. You will often find books here that are not getting sufficient attention elsewhere.
My Picks of the Month, Reading History, People (Biographies and Autobiographies), Health, Military Matters, Kids and Teen Books, Novels
My Picks of the Month
Here’s a book to put on your Christmas list. It’s Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years ($75.00, Andrews McMeel Publishing) and it comes in a deluxe, slip cased edition. It is filled with all the many things a generation of Americans came to love about this wonderful comic strip creation by the late Charles Schultz. Peanuts fans will find quotes from Schultz that shed light on how his mind worked, how his life shaped the strip, and how in turn it shaped his life. There are more than 500 pages of classic Peanuts strips, including many full color Sundays. It doesn’t get much better than this. Another large format book that will please fans of the late actress Betty Davis is a tribute written by two noted film critics, Richard Schickel and George Perry. Betty Davis: Larger than Life ($35.00, Running Press) captures the life of a quite extraordinary woman, outspoken and unapologetic. Her career spanned six decades and more than 100 films and few actresses rival her for longevity and appeal. As she put it, “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star” and she was the epitome of a star. “Of Human Bondage”, “Jezebel”, and “All About Eve” became classic films in part from her performances. She broke ground for actresses who followed her, but she left an indelible imprint on an era we sometimes call the golden age of Hollywood.
If you know someone who loves to travel or someone who prefers to do so from an armchair (that’s me), then one of the most fabulous gifts to give this year is Visions of Europe ($99.99, a boxed set of 12 programs on ten discs, Acorn Media), good for over 15 hours of some of the most extraordinary views of Europe, all shot in high definition video from a helicopter-mounted camera. Seen frequently on PBS, in this great set, you will find “Visions” of Italy, France, Greece, Germany and Austria. There’s also the “Great Cities of Europe”. Either for yourself or as a gift, you will float above places whose names reflect the history of Western civilization. The music and the narration is never intrusive. It’s a trip of a lifetime without every leaving home.
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America is an intriguing book by Rich Benjamin ($24.99, Hyperion). He begins by pointing out that, by 2042, whites will no longer be the majority population in America. As people of color driven by the massive illegal immigration across our southern border increase, more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominantly, even extremely white. It goes way beyond prejudice and it goes straight to the heart of American values of “individual liberty, shared civic responsibility, and equal opportunity.” Benjamin writes, “Insecure over the strength and prospects of American values, many white Americans fear for the nation’s ability to absorb newcomers.” This is especially true when they arrive poorly educated and with cultural dispositions to neglect wherever they live. It is hard to claim prejudice given the fact that Americans elected the first black president in its history, though the election, says Benjamin, obscures the racial and economic segregation still vexing America. Benjamin advocates “diversity” even though it looks more and more to me like termites eating the foundations of American society. At the book’s conclusion, the author opts for a more liberal approach to the demographic changes occurring, something that struck me as the antithesis of the theme of his book.
For an administration that has promised greater “transparency”, it is increasingly clear that much of the information on which decisions are based is kept from public view. Over the years, the Freedom of Information Act has been utilized by journalists and those dealing with public affairs issues to learn more about what the government is doing and why. Jacqueline Klosek has written The Right to Know: Your Guide to Using and Defending Freedom of Information Law in the United States ($44.95, Praeger). An attorney practicing law in New York City, it need be said this book will be of greatest use to those engaged in these battles to pry open the doors of government agencies. There are, she notes, many exemptions to the law that prevent access, but she does provide practical methods for citizens to use the act to protect themselves and their communities. The most dangerous aspect of what is occurring is the increasing effort to deny Americans access to government generated information with which to make an informed analysis of what is really occurring. Tom Fenton is a four-time Emmy winner from his years with CBS News, so one might expect his analysis, Junk News: The Failure of the Media in the 21st Century ($14.95, Fulcrum Publishing) to be more incisive. However, his association with CBS News reminds us of the expose of Dan Rather’s appalling bias (a court recently dismissed his case against CBS) and it similarly infects Fenton’s examination of trends. He now works as a freelance commentator for the BBC. This little book rather swiftly loses much of its credibility when he veers into political opinion, but is worth reading when Fenton addresses the actual mechanics and costs of news gathering. His lament about the closing of foreign bureaus by U.S. media rings true, along with some other complaints. He devotes too much time blaming the former Bush administration for all the ills of the world, much as the present administration does. Those of a liberal persuasion will enjoy this book.
Cornelia Dean has written Am I Making Myself Clear?: a Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public ($19.95, Harvard University Press). This is a book for scientists who want to share their expertise, analysis and opinions with the general public and I recommend it because I see lots of scientific information that often defies the understanding of even a seasoned science writer like myself. A distinguished science editor and reporter, Dean makes a case for the importance of scientists taking an active role in making their work accessible to the media and, through them, to the general public. This book is especially timely given the decades of junk science regarding a “global warming” that was a natural climate cycle, barely one degree Fahrenheit, to a previous “little ice age.” And the kicker is that the Earth has been in a new cooling cycle for at least ten years. It’s not likely you’ve heard about that!
One cannot help being impressed by The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries by Michele Borba, Ed.D. ($19.95, Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley, softcover). The initial reason being its sheer size. It’s truly a big book at nearly 700 pages as it addresses common parenting challenges for kids from age 3 to 13. The answers to bedtime battles, chores wars, tantrums, bad friends, sibling rivalry, cheating, growing up too fast, eating disorders, selfishness, anger and countless other common problems are addressed, along with Internet safety, stress and much more. The solutions are time-tested and, for today’s time-challenged parent, the ability to go to specific chapters on problems they are encountering is invaluable.
For the sports nut in your life, a great Christmas stocking-stuffer would be No Dribbling the Squid: Octopush, Shin Kicking, Elephant Polo, and other Oddball Sports are the subject of a book by Michael J. Rosen with Ben Kassoy ($12.99, Andrews McMeel, softcover. It would appear that just about anything humans do can be and has been turned into some kind of sporting activity as it takes a look at those from around the globe that are weird and entertaining, from Wife-Carrying races to professional Rock-Paper-Scissors competitions and Extreme Ironing. This book is just plain fun.
Reading History
There is no understanding of the present or hint of predicting the future if you have not read history.
The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America its Name by Toby Lester ($30.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster) tells of the way Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts, Europe, Africa and Asia. These parts of the world had been visited by traders and seafarers to an extent that they were known to exist. For the Europeans, they existed to be exploited, a noted trait. The “fourth part of the world”, however, was largely a land of myth until, in 1507, Martin Waldseemulller and Mathias Ringmann, two obscure scholars working in the mountains of eastern France created a map. It depicted a new world beyond the vast Atlantic Ocean. It would draw on the explorations of Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. It would set Nicholas Copernicus to thinking that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Thus was life in 16th century Europe. Eventually, in 2003, the Library of Congress paid $10 million to add it to its treasures. The story of the map is one of the great stories of discovery and it is fascinating.
From the earliest civilizations to our own there have always been people ready to predict the end of the world and people ready to believe them. As we draw closer to 2012, the ancient Mayan calendar, said to predict this is gaining renewed attention. Simply put, it does not make such a prediction, but the long, more complex story is told by John Major Jenkins in The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History ($25.95, Tarcher/Penguin). There have been some 200 books written concerning December 21, 2012 and some movies based on the myth. Jenkins is an expert on the Mayan civilization and that is the crux of his book and, if that interests you than you will not be disappointed by this portrait of the cultural and scientific roots of what, in fact, was a Mayan belief in transformation and renewal. (See the Novels section for one based on the end of the world theme.)
If you have been trying to figure out why the Middle East is such a mess, a good place to start is the Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East by Karl E. Mayer and Shareen Blair Brysac ($18.95, W.W. Norton, softcover) which looks at the Middle East as the geographic, geostrategic, and religious center of the world; one that Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon tried to control long before oil was discovered and in which, at varying times France, Britain, Germany, and the United States have all sought to extend their hegemony. The modern Middle East is the result of a secret treaty between England and France that divided it between them following World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. For anyone who loves to read history, this book is high adventure full of folly and a cast of characters Hollywood could not have invented. Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East by Stephen P. Cohen ($27.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) rapidly turns out to be a disappointment and the tip-off is the first sentence of its preface. “Right after the 1967 Six-Day War, I set out to educate myself about the Zionist conflict with the Arabs in Palestine.” The “Zionists”, not the Israelis. Because, despite the wars waged against it, the sovereign nation of Israel has demonstrated that Jews have a right to their ancient homeland. And, largely ignored or unmentioned is the fact that Israel has a million Arab citizens! Cohen, a Harvard-trained social psychologist is the founder and president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development. He is a dreamer who, while he has a grasp of the basics of Middle East history, views it through the gauzy hope for a peace that has always been beyond reach in a region whose dominant faith and culture makes it impossible
People, People, People
The favorite subject for people to write about is, well, people. And, of course, there is often much to be learned by reading about people since one can hardly cram that much experience into a single life.
I will begin, for no particular reason, with a memoir by a wonderful singer and entertainer, Moon River and Me by Andy Williams ($25.95, Viking). I was surprised to learn that he is 82, but only because, being ten years younger, he has been a part of my life before and since he became a superstar on television by the 1960s. There are few achievements in show business he has not garnered, but it was his warm tenor voice and seemingly effortless delivery that earned him his position. The book tells of a humble beginning in Iowa, an ambitious father who encouraged his sons to form a singing group, a move to Los Angeles, and the gradual climb to a place in the hearts of Americans who embraced him. Along the way he became friends with other famous folk like Bobby Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and others. He relates stories about them and his success on television, in Las Vegas, and with his theatre in Branson, Missouri. This is a memoir worth waiting for.
William Rehnquist was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for a third of a century and served contiguously with four presidents and yet I cannot help but think that most Americans were and are largely unaware of him because of his modest demeanor. He did not seek the limelight, but now those for whom the Supreme Court, its decisions, and the men and women that made them in modern times are of interest, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States meets the need for a greater insight and understanding of the man ($27.00, Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). Herman J. Obermayer provides a candid look at one of the most influential men to hold the job. He takes the reader on an interesting journey from his dissenting opinion in Roe v. Wade to his strongly stated positions on issues as various as freedom of the press, school prayer, and civil rights. It was Rehnquist who played a visible role in two very contentious events, the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999 and the decision that made George W. Bush the winner in the presidential election of 2000. Obermayer, a journalist, was friends with him for nineteen years and the result is a book well worth reading for a better understanding of the man and times he influenced
From an earlier era, the 1920s and 30s, a name synonymous with those times is Amelia Earhart, one of the first women pilots and, in many ways, a woman who demonstrated that her sex could equal the exploits of men. Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It by Susan Wels ($35.00, Running Press) is a large format book to match her personality and exploits which famously ended with her mysterious disappearance somewhere in the Pacific in 1937. Well written and extensively illustrated, the woman that emerges from its pages does much more than fly planes. She was a polymath, a poet, photographer, fashion designer, wife, friend and lover. She was, above all, someone who lived for adventure. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace,” she wrote. She lived life on her own terms and broke the glass ceiling long before the term existed.
The Holocaust, the deliberate killing of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War Two has generated hundreds, if not thousands of books, but it remains essential that later generations and humanity in general not forget it. Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri ($15.95, Tanglewood Press) is actually written for younger readers, aged twelve and up. One of the worst chapters of the Holocaust was the selection of some 300 twins for Dr. Josef Mengele’s cruel medical experiments. Only about 200 survived. The author and her sister were only ten years old at the time. A lesser known story from that period is told in They Dared Return: The Untold Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick K. O’Donnell ($26.00, Da Capo Press). Some Jewish refugees, by 1942, had found safe haven in America, but with courage that is hard to imagine, were eager to serve in the armed forces to stop the persecution of their overseas families and friends, some of whom languished in concentration camps. The book focuses on “the Jewish five” who joined the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of today’s CIA, to become spies, parachuting into enemy territory to gather information for the Allied forces. O’Donnell, a military historian, has done a great service in writing this intriguing book. (See History section below for more on this topic)
Writers often find their own lives more interesting than anything they could invent or report, so it is not surprising that two books reflect that trait. The Face in the Mirror edited by Victoria Zackheim ($25.00, Prometheus Books) brings together recollections by writers such as Malachy McCourt, Joyce Maynard, among some twenty writers of fiction and non-fiction who relate the choices they made, their achievements, and their disappointments. Their stories are a cautionary tale for all would-be writers, but they answer the question of who it is they see when they look in the mirror. Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives ($24.99, Free Press) collects essays by writers ranging from Joyce Carol Oates to Edmund White, at least two are Pulitzer Prize winners, six won National Book Awards, and others who saw their work become bestsellers but who recall how either encouragement or criticism shaped their careers, each thriving or surviving to make a name for themselves.
After decades of reviewing, I have seen my share of memoirs. Most lives fit into comfortable patterns, but occasionally someone comes along with a truly nutty notion, divorced from reality, and a path to a life that strays from the ordinary. Such is the case of Jerramy Fine who was born in 1977 in western Colorado, but possessed of the idea that she was switched at birth and her “real” parents must surely be English aristocrats. Ms. Fine was convinced that she was born to marry into the British Royal Family. She is what is called an Anglophile, in love with things and men who are British. She writes about it in Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess (15.00, Gotham Books/Penguin Group, softcover) While attending the University of Rochester, she spent a semester working in the House of Commons and later completed her master’s at the London School of Economics. She did not marry an English prince, but she lives in London with an English boyfriend and she forgives him for being a commoner. The result of this is a whimsical real life story of a girl who began writing to Buckingham Palace around age six, gets to London, dives into the party scene and discovers life is not the fairy tale she imagined. Turns out that London is very expensive and too many British boys are a real pain. This one is strictly for the girls, but it will resonate with any one of them who wanted to be a princess.
The Topic is Health
Americans are taking a greater interest in maintaining their personal health these days, perhaps in response to the national debate on proposed, controversial revisions to Medicare, arguably the most popular government program other than Social Security. It also reflects the endless coverage of health-related topics in the nation’s media. An excellent place to start is The Intellectual Devotional: Health ($24.00, Rodale) with 365 daily entries on all aspects of health that cover seven categories on health and wellness such as drugs and alternative treatments, the men, sexuality and reproduction, children and adolescents, diseases and ailments. It is endlessly fascinating for its facts.
Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit by Muriel L. Crawford ($19.95, plus $5.50 shipping and handling, from Dillion & Parker Publishing, softcover), is addressed to people like me and the thirty million other Americans who say they want to quit. It is one scary book, listing more than a hundred ways tobacco harms smoker’s health, often leading to prolonged disability and early death. It offers methods to quit smoking, and discusses all the other aspects of smoking such as social and relationship problems. I would hazard that this is the most comprehensive review of this problem and, who knows, it might just get me to quit, too. Visit www.ReasonsNotToSmoke.com.
I loved The Art of Overeating by Leslie Landis ($9.95, Sterling) and give it a big thumbs up! Written by a practicing clinical psychologist, the author has practical experience helping people who eat, spend, avoid, deny, and defy their way through life. As Americans continue to be hit over the head with endless discussion and even proposed legislation about what and how much we can eat, this book approaches the subject with lots of laughter. Peppered with fascinating food facts, plus the author’s natural wry style of making her case about food phobias, she exposing the uselessness of trying to shame over-eaters. Using humor, though, helps a lot. If you’re tired of the endless stream of diet books and advice, this is probably the book for you!
It seems like hardly a day or week goes by without the public being informed that some health threat is going to kill millions and now Dr. Brad Spellberg has written about the latest in Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them ($26.00, Prometheus Books). The focus of his book is on antibiotic-resistant microbes that are said to infect two million Americans and kill more than 100,000 every year. What makes this an even worse threat, according to the author, is that research and development of new antibiotics has “ground to a screeching halt.” This book is a major warning against the collapse of antibiotic R&D and for anyone with an interest in health issues, this is “must” reading.
A new memoir is The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes by Zippora Karz ($22.95, Harlequin) in which she tells how, by the age of 20 she had fulfilled her life’s dream. Having left home at the age of 15 to pursue her career, Karz became a rising star with the New York City Ballet. A year later, however, her body began to exhibit symptoms that were originally misdiagnosed as Type-2 diabetes when it was Type-1. This is an inspiring story for any woman facing this disease and it is enhanced as she writes about the behind-the-scenes life of a ballerina, a fantasy for little girls around the world.
Military Matters
I have long believed that history largely consists of the many wars of mankind and this is confirmed in an excellent new book, Little-Known Wars of Great and Lasting Impact: Turning Points in Our History We should Know More About by Alan Axelrod, PhD ($24.99, Fair Winds Press). That may qualify as one of the longest titles of any new book this year! The author has had a long, distinguished career in and out of publishing and a consultant to television documentaries. He takes the reader on a fascinating tour that include what he calls the “first Holocaust”, the battle when Simon bar Kokhba initiated a rebellion against Rome, triggering a response that cost the lives of many Jews living in Israel from 132-135 BC. Other wars cited include the first wars of terror, the Barbary pirates versus the United States, and the Meji Rebellion in Japan. There are many interesting chapters that recount wars that often are not taught in schools and colleges, but which shaped history, ancient and modern.
Zenith Press specializes in books about military affairs and among their latest releases are War Stories of D-Day: Operation Overlord—June 6, 1944 ($28.00) by Michael Green and James D. Brown. That titanic landing on the shores of France was a major turning point in World War Two. It put 150,000 troops in play against the Nazis and this book humanizes the event with first-person stories of those who took part in the invasion, including the paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines. The book includes those from the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force who provided critical support. A little known story of WWII was the role of German Jews and it is told in The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II ($28.00) by Steven Karras. Though the Nazis rounded up and killed six million Jews, some German and Austrian Jews who had fled the Nazis were inducted into the Allied forces. The stories of 27 of them, including gripping recollections from Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, are documented. They displayed incredible courage. Courage, too, was displayed by McCoy’s Marines ($17.99) subtitled the “Darkside to Baghdad.” John Koopman tells the story of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col Byran P. McCoy whose radio call sign was “Darkside.” These were the men who pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein. As a reporter embedded with the unit, Koopman saw and lived it all. A former Marine himself, the author provides an insight-filled story of what it was like to battle into the center of Iraq’s capital and the aftermath.
At the forefront of American concerns is whether to continue the war in Afghanistan, now in its eighth year. For a powerful and disturbing insight, I recommend you read Hunting al Qaeda ($17.99, Zenith Press, softcover). It is the story of a National Guard Special Forces unit, Beast 85, a tight-knit group of ten men, green berets, sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to capture or kill al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is a story of disillusionment because of the top-heavy, risk-averse command structure of today’s army and how it became the second front for men who actually captured a Taliban leader only to be told to release him! The war has drawn on without victory because “victory” is not attainable when it is a political issue, not a military objective.
Today we speak of Special Operations and think in terms of Green Berets and Navy SEALs, but preceding them were WWII Allied spies and they needed to be trained to operate behind enemy lines. The arts and skills of disrupting an enemy were described in Special Ops, 1939-1945: A Manuel of Covert Warfare and Training ($17.00, Zenith Press) put together by the British Special Operations Executive and American Office of Strategic Services. It is reproduced for today’s reader and the techniques described and illustrated mirror some that have been incorporated by today’s terrorist organizations.
Not all casualties of war occur on the battlefield. Healing Suicidal Veterans: Recognizing, Supporting and Answering Their Pleas for Help by Victor Montgomery II, CMAC, RAS, a former crisis intervention therapist for the National Veterans Suicide Crisis Hotline ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) could save lives, particularly if read by the friends and relatives of returning veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. It is filled with advice on effective strategies for veterans to cope and heal, checklists to identify symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. It provides information about resources for veterans seeking help.
Books for kids and Teens
For the very young who can be read to or those age 7-9, there’s a story first published in 1997 by Jane Yolen, the author of some 300 books for younger readers. The Seeing Stick ($16.95, Running Press) is the story of a Chinese emperor whose only daughter was born blind and who seeks a cure. One day a wise old man with a mysterious Seeing Stick visits the princess. It reveals that one can “see” the world in more ways than just her eyes. This book is particularly special for the illustrations of Daniela Jaglenko Terrazzini that are just dazzling. It is an inspiring story in many ways and likely to remain a treasure in any child’s library.
From Kids Can Press comes How to Build Your Own Country ($18.95), part of a series to teach kids about the world, but I am less thrilled about its intent “to be better global citizens.” That kind of One World outlook puts allegiance to one’s own nation down the list of priorities. That said, however, Valerie Wyatt, the author, and Fred Rix, the illustrator, have come up with a clever way to each what being a nation involves, including setting up a government, holding elections, writing a constitution, and other attributes of nations that function under the rule of law. Hoaxed! Fakes & Mistakes in the World of Science ($16.95) by the editors of Yes Magazine is another good book for younger readers, up to age ten or so. It explores a number of famous hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and provides advice on how to spot a hoax based often on dubious or spurious science. It neglects to include the greatest hoax of the modern era, “global warming”, still be talked about as real despite the fact the Earth has been cooling for a decade.
For the older, pre-teen and teenage set, there are a number of books worth reading. I am Jack by Susanne Gervay ($14.99, Tricycle Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing) deals with the topic of school bullying and how it hurts the victim and the bully and is frightening for witnesses who don’t know what to do. Jack is an eleven-year-old who has to learn what to do. This book should probably be in every school in America. A young adult novel, Saved by the Music ($16.95, West Side Books) is generating a lot of buzz. Selene Castrovilla tells the story of 15-year-old Willow who moves in with her aunt for the summer after her unstable mother kicks her out. Aunt Agatha is trying to turn a dilapidated barge into a classic music performance space. Willow must fend off the advances of a construction worker, but is befriended by an older teen who lives on a sailboat nearby. Together they meet some harrowing challenges together. It’s the kind of story that is impossible to put down once passed the first page. Music is at the core of another West Side Book, a young adult novel, Shattered by Kathi Baron ($16.95). In this story a teen violin prodigy, Cassie, runs away after her moody father destroys her violin, seeking refuge in a homeless shelter. From her shattered family, Cassie finds out why her father acted as he did and how she heals herself by helping others.
The author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, Jeff Kinney, sold over 23 million copies with this series and is back with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days ($13.95, Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams) in which Greg, Rowley, Rodrick, Manny, Mom and Dad, and an entire cast of characters return along with an unexpected addition to the family that not only takes Greg’s attention, but his bed too. Just about everything he does involves some kind of turmoil, particularly anything that occurs outside when Greg would prefer to be in his room, the blinds closed, and playing video games. This is just plain fun!
For the older teen and some adults, there’s The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey ($17.99, Simon and Schuster), a very entertaining story that begins with the journal of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man whose specialty is the study of monsters. When a grave robber comes calling with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet. This is classic gothic literature and asks the question, when does a man become the very thing he hunts?
Two DVDs offer lots of entertainment for the toddler set. Gigi and the Royal Pink Circus by Sheila Walsh ($14.00, Thomas Nelson, kid’s division) is part of a popular series about Gigi and for those of the Christian faith, this comes with some valuable lessons, namely that it is not easy to be God’s little princess these days, but His message comes with much comfort. Also from the same publisher, part of the Max Lucado’s Hermie and Friends series, The Flo Show Creates a Buzz. It’s About Saying You’re Sorry($14.99) features the voices of Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence of the Carol Burnett Show fame. It is a rollicking story with a useful theme of forgiveness. Also in the arena of juvenile fiction, there’s School of Fear, an audio book from Hachette Audio ($19.98) by Gitty Daneshvari. For the younger set, it will prove fun to listen to as they follow the adventures of Madeleine Masterson who is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders, Theodore Bartholomew who is petrified of dying, Lulu Punchalower who is scared of confined spaces, and Garrison Feldman who is terrified of deep water. They are sent off to the School of Fear to learn how to conquer their fears. Very scary and very funny.
Novels, Novels, Novels
I have become a fan of Don Bruns “stuff” series that chronicles the lives of James and Skip, two loveable, bumbling best friends who are still stuck in dead-end jobs, still living in their ratty apartment in Carol City, Florida, and still dreaming and scheming to hit the big time. In Stuff to Spy For ($25.95, Oceanview Publishing), Skip lands a job to install a state-of-the-art security system for Synco Systems, but it comes with strings. To collect the cash, he will have to pretend to be the boyfriend of Sarah Crumbly, an employee who’s having an affair with Synco’s married president. When he is offered a tidy sum by the boss’ wife for the details of what’s going on at Synco, the friends decide to go into the business of being spies. What they discover is at the heart of this funny, fast-paced thriller. A very different kind of thriller is Crossings by Leonard Chang ($24.95, Black Heron Press), an unflinching look at the lives of Korean immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area. It centers on Sam, a widower who finds himself deeply in debt to a local gangsters and Unha, an illegal immigrant working at a nightclub. Their stories intertwine with other family members, other immigrants, all forming to portray a community trying to make a better life for themselves. One can learn a lot from such fiction, delving into the worlds of other people we might now otherwise know or, to be candid, care about, but in a very real way, they are classic American stories in a nation of immigrants. Korea is the backdrop for a new addition to “A Sergeants Sueno & Bascom Mystery” by Martin Limon. G.I. Bones unites the Military Police sergeants when they travel to Itawwon, Seoul’s red-light district in order to find out who killed a G.I. who had the unusual habit of stalking fortune tellers. Meanwhile, an officer’s daughter has gone missing and the murder of a wine-mongering gang lord remains unsolved. The time is the 1970s and the twists and turns of this novel will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can read them.
Anyone who is old enough to have gone through the Draft in the 1950s until it was discontinued, will find The Furax Connection a trip back to the days of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood ($16.95, Fireside Publications, Lady Lake, FL, softcover). Stephen L. Kanne makes his debut with a terrific novel that is evocative of that era and, at the same time, an old fashioned thriller about a shadowy organization within the military, a network of bribery and extortion emanating from Furax Unlimited. At the heart of the novel is Billy Rosen, a Harvard graduate who has volunteered for the Draft to get a taste of life beyond his privileged surroundings. Identified as a recruit for a secret society within the military affiliated with Furax, the story concludes with the North Korean invasion of the South and we suspect Billy will see action there. Indeed, we expect Kanne’s next novel will continue the thread begun in this very satisfying story.
I am not surprised to see novels arrive that are based on the end-of-the-world theme of December 21, 2012. The Twelve by William Gladstone ($19.95, Vanguard Press) tells the story of Max Doff. Not speaking until age six, his world filled with numbers of colors (Editor’s note: signs associated with autism), at age fifteen he has a near death experience during which he sees twelve names that he cannot remember when he awakes. Eight years later while on location in Peru for a film production company, Max meets Maria Magdelena Ramirez and he suddenly realizes, Maria’s name was one of the twelve he saw in his vision. Anyone drawn to the mysteries of myths while find this novel every entertaining as we follow Max’s life to the date alleged to mark the world’s end.
Among the softcover novels, there’s The Rules of Play Jennie Walker ($20.00, Soho). Actually it is a novella, a short novel that follows the story of a woman in the throes of an extra-marital affair. Told over the course of five days, the narrator seeks to navigate the rules of her affair at the same time she tried to understand the rules of a cricket match between England and India taking place. We’re told that Mick Jagger loved it, but he’s one up on Americans unfamiliar with cricket. Coming in January from Soho Press, there’s Leighton Gage’s Dying Gasp ($24.00) the third in a series starring Chief Inspector Mario Silva. Set in Brazil, the granddaughter of a prominent politician is missing and Silva and his team find her in Manaus, a jungle hellhole on the Amazon where a female doctor is making snuff films. Silva must overcome his own department’s indifference and corrupt local cops to bring some justice to the victims.
A Drunkard’s Path by Clare O’Donahue, ($13.00, Plume) is part of “A Someday Quilts Mystery” series featuring Nell Fitzgerald. As Nell is finishing her first quilt and recovering from a broken engagement, her new boyfriend, Police Chief Jesse Dewalt stands her up, he has a good reason. The body of a young woman has been discovered nearby. Nell’s taste for sleuthing gets the best of her and she enlists the aid of her quilting circle to help patch together the clues. Civil War history, the Reconstruction period, is the backdrop for Jarrettsville by Cornelia Nixon ($15.95, Counterpoint). Based on a true story, it is the account of a love affair and murder in a small Maryland town that is rebuilding. It is the days following President Lincoln’s assassination and the Confederate surrender. The various allegiances are told through the eyes of a dozen different perspectives, but the story is in many ways a timeless one.
If you love a good love story, pick up Giving Up on Ordinary by Isla Dewar ($14.99, St, Martin’s Griffin/Thomas Dunne Books), a beloved and prolific British writer. Meg is a woman at the end of her rope. A single mother of three, she has more bounced checks than reasons to be hopeful. After retiring her dream of making it big in a band, she’s bounced from job to job, and now she’s cleaning houses to make ends meet. When she is asked to work for Gilbert Christy, an educated, wealthy, lonely art historian, her life gets a shot of passion. Complete opposites, they fascinate each other and their affair is as much about curiosity as about love. You will be rooting for Megs from the very first page.
Finally, for some good listening, there are three Hachette Audio novels, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (19.98) in the voice of a murdered girl watching from heaven as friends and family, along with her murderer, try to fathom what happened. David Balacci never disappoints with his police thrillers and True Blue ($44.98, unabridged/$31.98 abridged) is read by actor Ron McLarty. It is a story of a cop seeking redemption. Michael Connelly’s Dragon’s ($39.98 unabridged/$29.98 abridged) is read by actor Len Cariou tells the story of the murder of the owner of a South LA small shop, Fortune Liquors, and Detective Harry Bosch has promised his family he will find the killer. It is a gripping tale.
That’s it for November! Tell your friends about Bookviews and bookmark it to return each month for news of the best in new fiction and non-fiction. You will often find books here that are not getting sufficient attention elsewhere.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Bookviews - October 2009
Bookviews – October 2009
By Alan Caruba
My Picks, Cookbooks, Business, Health, Science, History, Children’s, Novels
My Picks of the Month
It may be the most important book published this year. It’s Dore Gold’s The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West ($27.95, Regnery Publishing) and if the idea of an Iran with atomic bombs and nuclear tipped missiles bothers you, then you must read this careful examination of what that means. Dr. Gold is a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and he says that time is running out to stop the Iranians from extending a nuclear umbrella to protect a host of terrorist groups that threat Israel, the United States, Europe and everywhere else in the world. He documents how Iran is the main state-sponsor of terrorism and subversion in the Middle East. If they have a nuclear weapon capability it will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the West to take any action for fear of devastating retaliation. And there is what I call “the crazy element” because the Iranian leadership today believes it must bring about the return of a mythical Shiite figure, the Twelfth Imam, and that can only be done with massive death and destruction. Appeasement is the current administration’s approach to this threat and history teaches what that produces. Read this book!
I am a great fan of what are often called “coffee table” books. They are the large size books, usually extensively illustrated, on any topic. I like the heft and look of them. Two have arrived recently. Great Discoveries: Explorations that Changed History ($29.95, Time Inc) is a great gift for all ages. Its title tells the story of its contents that discuss such things as the great discoveries of archaeology such as China’s clay army that lay hidden below ground for ages or explores the Pueblo exodus in the four corners area of America where four Western States meet. Once a thriving society and then abandoned. Planet Earth has provided plenty to explore such as the source of the river Nile, our extraordinary Yellowstone Park, and the Polar Regions. From life on Earth to the solar system, exploration will ignite the imagination of the young and satisfy the quest for knowledge among older readers. The seminal event of the last century was World War Two. Hitler’s Army: The Men, Machines and Organization 1939-1945 by David Stone ($40.00, Zenith Press) will prove to be an extraordinary gift for anyone interested in the military history of that event as it examines how the German war machine was beginning to take shape in the early 1930s and how Hitler and the Nazi party transformed it and a nation still angry over its loss of WWI into a powerful instrument of revenge. Filled with more than 300 photos, as well as multiple maps and diagrams, the author present a complete picture of this intimidating force, while examining its conduct in battle as well as its strengths and weaknesses. How did this apparently unbeatable army go off to war in 1939 and, five years later, experience total military defeat and unconditional surrender? This book explains why. Part of the story of World War Two was the Battle of the Bulge, fought 65 years ago this December. In another large-size book, "The photographic history of an American triumph" ($28.00, Zenith Press) is told in more than 400 photographs and 12 maps. John R. Bruning has done a superb job of bringing the titanic battle to life. Thirty-one American divisions, fully a third of the U.S. Army saw action in this battle and it was an unlikely group of American men who met the challenge, seemingly against the odds of a seasoned German army. Anyone with a love of military history would be thrilled to find these two Zenith titles under the Christmas tree.
With American’s economy in turmoil, many people are trying to figure out what went wrong. In an audiobook, End the Fed, Rep. Ron Paul makes a case ($32.98, Hachette Audio, 6 CDs) that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the current recession, the worst since the 1930s. The author is well known as a strong advocate for the Constitution, for sound money, personal liberty and free markets. He is an anomaly in Congress where he represents a Texas District. Another mystery to most Americans is the World Bank and David Ian Shaman has written The World Bank Unveiled: Inside the Revolutionary Struggle for Transparency ($38.95, Parkhurst Brothers, Little Rock, Arkansas). The bank is supposed to alleviate poverty worldwide, but the global impact of America’s financial crisis will push more people into poverty. Written by a former World Bank insider, this book examines the inner workers of the organization which he says has been marginalized since 9/11. He discusses needed reforms, but at the heart of this extensive analysis is the widespread belief that the lending institution has been largely ineffective and donor countries are displeased that its accountability is at “an all-time low.” This is not light reading, but it is most certainly an important book. Toby Westerman, the author of Lies, Terror, and the Rise of the Neo-Communist Empire: Origins and Direction ($24.95 @ www.inatoday.com, softcover) is an analyst of international news and, as such, provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the long struggle between communism where it is practiced in the world and capitalism which creates wealth and rewards risk. Enter the Islamic revolution into this struggle and you have a world in turmoil. This book will help clarify many of the major trends occurring worldwide and is well worth reading.
If you are just looking for a bit of personal peace of mind, there’s a delightful little book by June Cotner called Serenity Prayers ($12.95, Andrews McMeel) that is a collection of prayers, poems, and prose to sooth your soul. It is small enough to carry in your pocket and draws on writers from Walt Whitman to Mitch Albom to provide moments of relaxation and reflection that will get you through the day. A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland ($25.00, Counterpoint Press) tells of her decision in her late forties, after an upbringing as one of six children, as a feminist and a mother, to get away from all the noise in her life, spending periods of silence in places such as the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills, and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. She found her experiences both euphoric and dark, mirrored in the stories of others who encountered silence, explorers, mystics, long distance sailors. Ultimately, she found a deepening happiness and her book is a tribute to tranquility that may inspire readers to discover this for themselves.
Years ago I created and ran a media spoof called The Boring Institute® that issued annual lists of the most boring celebrities, films, et cetera. A fan of my satire was Angus Lind, one of New Orleans’ treasures as a columnist for The Times-Picayune. In New Orleans, people began their day with coffee, a beignet, and Lind’s column. He retired, but people kept asking him to put together a book that would collect his best ones. A native son of the fabled city, a graduate of Tulane University, Lind had captured the eccentricities and human comedy in a city affectionately called the Big Easy for some 32 years. I recommend this book, not just out of friendship but because good writing, wonderful, entertaining, storytelling writing just announces itself. It’s rare and it’s always a joy to read. Culled from almost 6,000 columns, Prime Angus ($19.95, Arthur Hardy Enterprises, softcover) is just pure reading pleasure. The book will appeal to anyone who has ever called New Orleans home, but also to those like myself who loved visiting on a regular basis. Many of the city’s unique characters are captured in its pages and it is a reminder of why, after Hurricane Katrina, we all want the city to return to its former glory. Treat yourself to a copy. Another treat to read is Richard Polsky's i sold Andy Warhol. (too soon) ($23.95, Other Press), a droll and revealing look inside the world of the art market where paintings often sell for amounts that are incredible. Polsky knows that world from the 1980s to now and has previously written about it. In 1987 he bought an Andy Warhol painting for $100,00o and his 2003 memoir tells how he spent twelve years in his quest to acquire the painting of his dreams. When he sold it, he thought he had made a tidy profit only to see its price quadruple in value! He laments that the world has gone from art appreciation to monetary appreciation. If you have ever wondered what it's like inside the art world, this private dealer who has represented some of the most famous postwar artists, particularly the "Pop" artists, has written the book to read. It is never boring!
By Alan Caruba
My Picks, Cookbooks, Business, Health, Science, History, Children’s, Novels
My Picks of the Month
It may be the most important book published this year. It’s Dore Gold’s The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West ($27.95, Regnery Publishing) and if the idea of an Iran with atomic bombs and nuclear tipped missiles bothers you, then you must read this careful examination of what that means. Dr. Gold is a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, and he says that time is running out to stop the Iranians from extending a nuclear umbrella to protect a host of terrorist groups that threat Israel, the United States, Europe and everywhere else in the world. He documents how Iran is the main state-sponsor of terrorism and subversion in the Middle East. If they have a nuclear weapon capability it will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the West to take any action for fear of devastating retaliation. And there is what I call “the crazy element” because the Iranian leadership today believes it must bring about the return of a mythical Shiite figure, the Twelfth Imam, and that can only be done with massive death and destruction. Appeasement is the current administration’s approach to this threat and history teaches what that produces. Read this book!
I am a great fan of what are often called “coffee table” books. They are the large size books, usually extensively illustrated, on any topic. I like the heft and look of them. Two have arrived recently. Great Discoveries: Explorations that Changed History ($29.95, Time Inc) is a great gift for all ages. Its title tells the story of its contents that discuss such things as the great discoveries of archaeology such as China’s clay army that lay hidden below ground for ages or explores the Pueblo exodus in the four corners area of America where four Western States meet. Once a thriving society and then abandoned. Planet Earth has provided plenty to explore such as the source of the river Nile, our extraordinary Yellowstone Park, and the Polar Regions. From life on Earth to the solar system, exploration will ignite the imagination of the young and satisfy the quest for knowledge among older readers. The seminal event of the last century was World War Two. Hitler’s Army: The Men, Machines and Organization 1939-1945 by David Stone ($40.00, Zenith Press) will prove to be an extraordinary gift for anyone interested in the military history of that event as it examines how the German war machine was beginning to take shape in the early 1930s and how Hitler and the Nazi party transformed it and a nation still angry over its loss of WWI into a powerful instrument of revenge. Filled with more than 300 photos, as well as multiple maps and diagrams, the author present a complete picture of this intimidating force, while examining its conduct in battle as well as its strengths and weaknesses. How did this apparently unbeatable army go off to war in 1939 and, five years later, experience total military defeat and unconditional surrender? This book explains why. Part of the story of World War Two was the Battle of the Bulge, fought 65 years ago this December. In another large-size book, "The photographic history of an American triumph" ($28.00, Zenith Press) is told in more than 400 photographs and 12 maps. John R. Bruning has done a superb job of bringing the titanic battle to life. Thirty-one American divisions, fully a third of the U.S. Army saw action in this battle and it was an unlikely group of American men who met the challenge, seemingly against the odds of a seasoned German army. Anyone with a love of military history would be thrilled to find these two Zenith titles under the Christmas tree.
With American’s economy in turmoil, many people are trying to figure out what went wrong. In an audiobook, End the Fed, Rep. Ron Paul makes a case ($32.98, Hachette Audio, 6 CDs) that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the current recession, the worst since the 1930s. The author is well known as a strong advocate for the Constitution, for sound money, personal liberty and free markets. He is an anomaly in Congress where he represents a Texas District. Another mystery to most Americans is the World Bank and David Ian Shaman has written The World Bank Unveiled: Inside the Revolutionary Struggle for Transparency ($38.95, Parkhurst Brothers, Little Rock, Arkansas). The bank is supposed to alleviate poverty worldwide, but the global impact of America’s financial crisis will push more people into poverty. Written by a former World Bank insider, this book examines the inner workers of the organization which he says has been marginalized since 9/11. He discusses needed reforms, but at the heart of this extensive analysis is the widespread belief that the lending institution has been largely ineffective and donor countries are displeased that its accountability is at “an all-time low.” This is not light reading, but it is most certainly an important book. Toby Westerman, the author of Lies, Terror, and the Rise of the Neo-Communist Empire: Origins and Direction ($24.95 @ www.inatoday.com, softcover) is an analyst of international news and, as such, provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the long struggle between communism where it is practiced in the world and capitalism which creates wealth and rewards risk. Enter the Islamic revolution into this struggle and you have a world in turmoil. This book will help clarify many of the major trends occurring worldwide and is well worth reading.
If you are just looking for a bit of personal peace of mind, there’s a delightful little book by June Cotner called Serenity Prayers ($12.95, Andrews McMeel) that is a collection of prayers, poems, and prose to sooth your soul. It is small enough to carry in your pocket and draws on writers from Walt Whitman to Mitch Albom to provide moments of relaxation and reflection that will get you through the day. A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland ($25.00, Counterpoint Press) tells of her decision in her late forties, after an upbringing as one of six children, as a feminist and a mother, to get away from all the noise in her life, spending periods of silence in places such as the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills, and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. She found her experiences both euphoric and dark, mirrored in the stories of others who encountered silence, explorers, mystics, long distance sailors. Ultimately, she found a deepening happiness and her book is a tribute to tranquility that may inspire readers to discover this for themselves.
Years ago I created and ran a media spoof called The Boring Institute® that issued annual lists of the most boring celebrities, films, et cetera. A fan of my satire was Angus Lind, one of New Orleans’ treasures as a columnist for The Times-Picayune. In New Orleans, people began their day with coffee, a beignet, and Lind’s column. He retired, but people kept asking him to put together a book that would collect his best ones. A native son of the fabled city, a graduate of Tulane University, Lind had captured the eccentricities and human comedy in a city affectionately called the Big Easy for some 32 years. I recommend this book, not just out of friendship but because good writing, wonderful, entertaining, storytelling writing just announces itself. It’s rare and it’s always a joy to read. Culled from almost 6,000 columns, Prime Angus ($19.95, Arthur Hardy Enterprises, softcover) is just pure reading pleasure. The book will appeal to anyone who has ever called New Orleans home, but also to those like myself who loved visiting on a regular basis. Many of the city’s unique characters are captured in its pages and it is a reminder of why, after Hurricane Katrina, we all want the city to return to its former glory. Treat yourself to a copy. Another treat to read is Richard Polsky's i sold Andy Warhol. (too soon) ($23.95, Other Press), a droll and revealing look inside the world of the art market where paintings often sell for amounts that are incredible. Polsky knows that world from the 1980s to now and has previously written about it. In 1987 he bought an Andy Warhol painting for $100,00o and his 2003 memoir tells how he spent twelve years in his quest to acquire the painting of his dreams. When he sold it, he thought he had made a tidy profit only to see its price quadruple in value! He laments that the world has gone from art appreciation to monetary appreciation. If you have ever wondered what it's like inside the art world, this private dealer who has represented some of the most famous postwar artists, particularly the "Pop" artists, has written the book to read. It is never boring!
After more than 40 years of reviewing I receive A LOT of requests from authors and publishers (often one and the same these days) requesting that I review their books. As often as not I have to write back and tell them the topic does not fit the general format and interest of Bookviews (me!). Which was I did when Don Langevin wrote to tell me of his book—are you ready? How-to-Grow World Class Giant Pumpkins the All-Organic Way ($19.95, http://www.giantpumpkin.com/). I told him “no thanks” and he sent it to me anyway! And this is the fourth book Don has written on giant pumpkins! It is extensively illustrated with full color photos and professional in every respect. So, if this topic interests you, this is the book for you! Hey, it’s Halloween at the end of the month and the book has a picture of the biggest carved Jack O’Lantern you will ever see. Good luck, Don.
Now We’re Cooking!
My late Mother, Rebecca Caruba, authored two cookbooks and taught the fine art of haute cuisine for three decades in adult schools throughout northern New Jersey. She was an internationally recognized authority of wines and she had a great collection of cookbooks and I have always kept an eye open for new ones.
In our fast-paced society, people want to eat well, but often feel pinched for time. Food & Wine is a trend-spotting epicurean magazine published by American Express Publishing. Its new book, Food & Wine Quick from Scratch Italian Cookbook ($24.95, Food & Wine Books) tackles traditional favorites and introduces new recipes with more than 150 mouthwatering recipes such as grilled zucchini and mozzarella, minestrone, clam risotto with bacon and chives, sautéed chicken breasts, and zabaglione with strawberries, as it runs the gamut of great recipes, each with a full-page photo to tease your appetite. The instructions are easy-to-follow, and there are even recommendations for wines to enhance each dish. This one is a winner!
The Potluck Club Cookbook by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson ($14.99, Revell, softcover) lives up to its title as the authors noted that “Eating in is the new eating out.” Potluck dinners are easy on the budget because no one carries the full cost of a table full of food. Guests each bring their own favorite dish which is great for people who like to sample new dishes and share recipes. Instead of lots of photos, this book focuses on the recipes on topics from appetizers to breads, cakes and cookies, crock-pot meals, fish, chicken, and meat dishes to liven up any luncheon or dinner party.
Sam Sidawi’s new book, My Rustic Sandwiches: Great Recipes to Savor Artisan Bread ($18.95, Daniel’s Rustic Bread, Montreal) had me practically drooling as I went from page to page with gorgeous full color photos and great sandwiches such as rib eye roast in red wine sauce with shallots and mushrooms on a baguette, a burger au Poivre with porteenie mushroom on a sesame Kaiser bun, or lamb kebab with grilled white onion, hummus and pickled cucumber. This is exotic dining, but the ingredients are all available. The Bible speaks of the bread of life and asks “give us our daily bread.” This book will change your life with its extraordinary approach to the sandwiches. You can check it out at www.danielsrusticbread.com.
The Topic is Health
Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and Our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them by Dr. Brad Spellberg, MD, has an important message ($26.00, Prometheus Books). The author makes a strong case, noting that antibiotic-resistant microbes infect more than two million Americans and kill more than 100,000 each year. The current scare of H1N1 flu is a good example of the way viruses mutate every year and, yes, they do kill a lot of people. The really bad news is that as resistant infections increase, research and development of new antibiotics has ground to a screeching halt according to the author. Dr. Spellberg should know. He is an infectious diseases specialist. There is a lot at stake if this trend is not reversed, especially if infectious diseases return to a point where many medical breakthroughs we take for granted like routine surgery, organ transplants, and battlefield medicine are involved.
There is no end of health risks to worry about and the media is constantly telling us of new ones. Dr. Cara Natterson, MD has written Dangerous or Safe? Which Foods, Medicines and Chemicals Really Put Your Kids at Risk ($25.95, Hudson Street Press) covers the top 25 issues that the parents of her patients were most worried about. Among the risks she warns of are cell phones because she is concerned about the electromagnetic waves and their affect on the brain. She is concerned as well about genetically modified foods. From my reading, the testing of cell phones (like transmission wires for electricity) has revealed no health threat and this is true as well of GM foods. The doctor, however, says childhood vaccines are fine because no links between them and autism have been found—to date. I think you need to read this book at your own risk.
How many books has Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. written? By my count, Why Our Health Matters makes it an even dozen! In the midst of a national debate over whether the government should nationalize and take over one sixth of the nation’s economy and let bureaucrats make medical decision, Dr. Weil’s new book ($25.95, Hudson Street Press) says that the U.S. health care system is in a terrible crisis because “every thirty seconds someone in America files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a personal health illness.” I don’t know if it’s that bad, but if it is, some kind of change is needed. Dr. Weil spares none of the parties involved from insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies to medical schools as well as what we ourselves can do to maintain good health. Power Up by Dr. Woodson Merrell, M.D., with Kathleen Merrell ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) is subtitled “Unleash your natural energy, revitalize your health, and feel ten years younger.” Dr. Merrill employs an approach to health and healing that emphasizes a partnership between doctor and patient, but I am inclined to believe that is what all physicians try to do. His focus is on our bad health habits and behaviors, particularly as it affects our inner energy sources. In the end, the book offers a lot of common sense recommendations regarding reducing stress, exercise, and getting a good night’s sleep. I have seen a lot of books on this topic and this one is okay and worth reading.
Stand by Her: A Breast Cancer Guide for Men by John W. Anderson ($18.95, Amacom, softcover) reflects that fact that 184,000 women in America in 2008 encountered breast cancer. The author had his wife, his mother, his sister, and his mother’s best friend dealing with this disease and the result is a group of strategies and support techniques that will help the men in the lives of other women address the problem effectively. The book tells men what they can expect to go through with a loved one before, during, and after treatment, and provides advice on medical, psychological, family relationship, sexual and financial issues. Hands Off My Belly!: The Pregnant Woman’s Survival Guide to Myths, Mothers, and Moods by Dr. Shawn A. Tassone, MD and Dr. Kathryn M. Landherr, MD ($18.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) points out that expectant mothers are virtual magnets for unsolicited advice. All the female members of the family and friends tend to offer an endless supply of opinions. In an engaging, humorous, and very informative book, the authors, a husband and wife team, explore the common superstitions and myths surrounding pregnancy, reflecting their twenty years of experience. I would recommend this book very highly to any woman who is or will become pregnant. The New Arthritis Cure: Eliminate Arthritis and Fibromyalgia Pain Permanently ($15.95, Piccadilly Books, Ltd., softcover) takes note of the fact that the most common cause of disability in the U.S. now affects some 46 million Americans or 21 percent of the population. Dr. Bruce Fife further notes that more than 60 percent of those with arthritis are women. Conventional treatment relies on pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs, therapies that treat the symptoms, but not the underlying cause. Dr. Fife offers a natural, drugless approach to prevention and the potential, as the title suggests, of a complete cure. What you think you know about arthritis, says the author, is probably wrong. Based on research, this nutritionist and naturopathic physician offers an alternative to present treatment methods. Since I do not know enough to judge the accuracy of his views, the reader must make their own conclusions.
Getting Down to Business (Books)
Business Week magazine called George Cloutier the “turnaround ace.” He’s been called other things less pleasant, but Cloutier has some very good advice for small and medium-sized owners in his new book, Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing ($24.99, Harper Business) subtitled “No-nonsense rules from the ultimate contrarian and small business guru.” For example, he advises that you fire every family member but yourself; that weekends are for working, not seeing your children; to never pay your venders on time; and to wear your control freak badge with pride. Some might argue that these and other similar precepts will leave without customers, venders, friends and family, but Cloutier has 30 years as the president of American Management Services, guiding business owners through tough choices to achieve profitability. It’s a $20 million business he built from scratch, so maybe you might want to pick up a copy of his book, eh? A more traditional approach is found in Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison by Joe Calloway ($19.95, Wiley, softcover). Packed with real case studies, plus personal reflections from successful business leaders, the book will help you apply the best practices of the best companies to set yourself apart from your competitors and become a market leader. Most certainly easier said, than done, but that’s why business is a challenge whether you run a multinational corporation or are part of a two-person startup. There is one thing no one will dispute and that is that our nation and our economy is in a process of transition as we recover from the mortgage meltdown mess, credit freeze, and now an administration that tilts strongly toward unions. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change by William Bridges is now in its third edition ($16.96, Da Capo Press, softcover) and filled with excellent advice for those in leadership positions who need a clear understanding of what changes does to employees and what employees in transition can do to an organization. With chapters on “How to Get People to let Go” and “How to Deal with Nonstop Change”, if this sounds like something you need to know, then this is the book to read.
The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing by Eric Groves ($24.95, Wiley) will prove useful to anyone who relies on emailing as a marketing instrument. Groves is Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Development for Constant Contact, a company that many depend upon for technology, support, and education to promote their products and services. Whether you’ve been doing this a while or are new to it, Groves addresses such things as the ten email pitfalls that will get your business into trouble, the ten things your customers expect you to do, how to use email in combination with other types of marketing, building email lists, and much, much more. Anyone who gets email knows that the sender has mere seconds in which to avoid a “delete” decision and seconds more to get the recipient to read and respond. With that in mind, this is a book worth reading. Planet Google by Randall Stross ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) is subtitled “One company’s audacious plan to organize everything we know.” Like Microsoft before it, Google has become such a giant that it verges on antitrust charges and Stross takes a look behind the “image of a cuddly, anti-corporate company whose mantra is “Don’t be evil.” The author reveals the astonishing scope of Google’s vision for the future and how the company has acquired the power to realize its huge ambitions. He was given unprecedented access to Google’s headquarters and its top management, as well as to its company meetings that have not previously been open to an outsider. As a result, he has written a very interesting book about a company whose impact is reshaping how we engage the world.
Science Stuff
I confess I was a latecomer to science in that I rarely took any interest in it in school or college. My focus was literature, but life has a way of steering you in new directions so, when I began to work for clients whose businesses involved some aspect of science, I began to take an interest. There are many interesting books being published on different aspects of science these days.
The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars by Christopher Cokinos ($27.95, Tarcher/Penguin). The ancients regarded shooting stars as omens and Cokinos takes the reader on a journey through time and space as he profiles the maverick scientists, mad dreams, and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites. In time it became a legitimate science and its story takes you from Greenland to Kansas, Australia to the South Pole. Scientists know now how to predict when the Earth is going to experience meteor showers and, on October 21, the Orionids can be seen from the Southeast, one to two hours before dawn. November 17-18 will be the time of the Leonids, best viewed from the East. They have produced some of the greatest meteor storms in history with thousands per hour. The very dust in your home contains particles from the cosmos!
Those for whom the cosmos remains a constant fascination will enjoy Cosmic Conversations by Stephan Martin ($16.99, New Page Books, a division of Career Press, softcover), a collection of interviews with some of the world’s famed scientists, mystics, indigenous elders, and cultural icons, who share their insights on the nature of reality, the interplay of science and religions, the future of humanity, and the role of humans in the evolving universe. Clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are one of those who thinks about how vast the universe is, filled with thousands, if not millions of galaxies, you will enjoy this mind-tickling book. From the earliest days of modern man, pondering these mysteries has been an element of many civilizations. I recall that when news of the Large Hadron Collider, a gigantic scientific instrument near Geneva, reached the public, the first reaction was to worry whether it would create a black hole that would suck the Earth into oblivion. Collider: The Search for the World’s Smallest Particles by Paul Halpern, Ph.D ($27.95, Wiley) puts those fears to rest while telling the story of this extraordinary scientific quest. Right now the collider has been shut down after a coolant leak and magnet failure, but it is projected to begin collecting data this month. Should the first experiments be successful, it could give scientists new insight into the birth of the universe, how it evolved, what it’s made of, and what governs its behavior. The author does a great job of explaining the science and mysteries of quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theories to provide the reader with an understanding of what we do know and the new knowledge that the collider is likely to provide. Unfortunately what seemed to me to be an interesting topic, the cyclical nature of the universe and everything else was rendered far less so in Samuel A. Schreiner, Jr’s The World According to Cycles ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing) because the author swiftly got bogged down in the stories of the people who initiated the study of cycles and only belatedly gets around to explaining why cycles matter, how to recognize a cycle when you’re in one, and other topics like how cycles can be used to profit financially in the stock market, among other things that the average Joe would find of interest. It is a good effort, but the author, a veteran journalist, is just too interested in the details of who and where, as opposed to why. By contrast, anyone with an interest in mathematics will thoroughly enjoy How Many Licks! Or How to Estimate Damn Near Anything by Aaron Santos, Ph.D. ($14.95, Running Press, softcover). If you have ever wondered how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop or how long it would take to dig one’s way out of prison using just a spoon, this book will prove immensely entertaining as the author applies the user-friendly Fermi method of approximations. No degree in quantum physics is necessary.
Medicine, of course, is a science and Prometheus Books, a favorite of mine, has two books to satisfy the interest and curiosity of those regarding the topic. Gifted Hands: America’s Most Significant Contributions to Surgery by Dr. Seymour I. Schwartz, MD, ($27.95) tells the story of how and why the United States is the established and essentially unchallenged leader in the field of surgery. He provides a sweeping history of American surgical practice and how it advanced from comparatively crude practices to the preeminence of scientific surgery today. This book will interest both layperson and professional alike and is filled with interest examples, the internal squabbles over who developed anesthesia, and the “firsts” such as a gallbladder operation. In the twentieth century, there were great developments in vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and organ transplants. The Real World of a Forensic Scientist: Renowned Experts Reveal What It Takes to Solve Crimes has three authors, Dr. Henry C. Lee, Elaine M. Pagliaro, and Katherine Ramsland ($25.98). Television has greatly increased the public’s interest in this field of science. The story begins with Dr. Lee’s personal story, filled with interesting examples of how science and law enforcement came together, and then goes on to explain how many different disciplines combine to point the finger at criminals in ways that have become standard practice these days.
History, History, History
The only way to understand the present and have a glimpse of what the future may hold is to know history. It is filled with the stories of people who made a difference for good or ill and the way decisions in high places influence events, often dragging people into wars or causing financial ruin over which they have no control.
When Americans talk of the Founding Fathers, they almost always mention George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison. Rarely do they think of James Monroe. He is remembered primarily and almost solely for the Monroe Doctrine letting other nations know that colonization and European interference in America’s affairs and interests was over. Overlooked for too long, Harlow Giles Unger fills the gap with his new book, The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness ($26.00, Da Capo Press). Monroe was America’s fifth president and was largely responsible for expanding the nation’s borders with westward expansion, the construction of roads and canals, and other steps. Despite the fame of the presidents that preceded him, Monroe inherited a nation suffering from political factions, foreign enemies, and bankruptcy. He arrived at the job with a superb resume that included have been a state legislator, a U.S. congressman and senator, ambassador to France and Britain, governor of Virginia, and having served as both U.S. Secretary of State and Secretary of War. America was fortunate to have him as president during a critical time of growth and readers are fortunate to have this extraordinary biography.
Before They Changed the World by Edwin Kiester, Jr. ($19.95, Fair Winds, an imprint of Quayside Publishing Group, softcover) is an interesting book because it looks at the “pivotal moments that shaped the lives of great leaders before they became famous.” As such, it provides an insight that most other history books do not. Here you will learn about such moments for people as diverse as George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte, Simon Bolivar and Ho Chi Minh, John F. Kennedy to Mohandas Gandhi. Were they born to greatness, had it thrust upon them, or just subject to circumstances that placed them at a certain place at a certain time? Each is unique and, especially for the younger reader, this book is well worth reading. As we all struggle to cope with a new recession that has threatened to grow deeper, Morris Dickstein has authored a timely and entertaining book, Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression ($29.95, W.W. Norton & Company). This is narrative history at its best and a great look back at a very bad time that afflicted an earlier generation of Americans. At the same time, however, it was the time when the Empire State Building as built, when “The Wizard of Oz” was filmed, and the high-stepping Rockettes became a part of American life. It was a time of creativity in film, literature, music and theatre that imprinted the 1930s on our lives. Anyone who loves to read history will find this book a totally satisfying experience.
World War Two continues to generate new books. Zenith Press focuses on it (note “Hitler’s Army” above) and has published a history of the famed 82nd Airborne Division, the first to see combat and the only parachute division still active today. Phil Nordyke captures their story in All American, All the Way: From Sicily to Normandy ($22.99) recalls the role they played as they engaged the enemy in some of the deadliest combat across Italy and at Normandy during the D-Day invasion of Europe. Black Flag: The Surrender of Germany’s U-Boat Forces by Lawrence Paterson ($30.00) tells the story of what followed the May 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany whose Kriegsmarine, its U-boat forces that had waged war in four oceans and five seas, wreaking havoc on Allied and civilian vessels. Stepping back further in history to World War One, Dennis Giangreco has penned The Soldier from Independence: A Military Biography of Harry Truman ($28.00) an often overlooked element of Truman’s life who came of age on the battlefields of France, displaying the leadership that would take the nation through the years following WW2.
To War in a Red Subaru: A Memoir is a thoroughly engaging story by Adolfo Neufeld ($22.95, Jorge Pinto Books, softcover), a nice Jewish boy from Argentina who, when Israel was barely three years old, decided to see for himself what the new Jewish homeland was all about. Twenty years later, at the start of the Yom Kippur War, he returned to give aid to the nation under siege. It is an interesting story as he moves between his youth in Peronist Argentina to the raining shrapnel of the fight for the Golan Heights. Neufeld has had many adventures, but he does not sugar coat the horrors of war and the imperatives of the Israeli commitment, “Never again”, to survival in the hostile Middle East. It is an exciting, provocative, and inspirational reading experience.
In a similar fashion, Greg Dobbs, a veteran news correspondent for some four decades, tells of covering major news events, spanning 80 nations around the world. Life in the Wrong Lane: Why Journalists Go In When Everyone Else Wants Out ($13.95, Rising Star, iUniverse) provides a look inside the world of journalists who thrive on adrenaline as they struggle to tell the unfolding story of major events. It is a hard life, though often exciting and frequently dangerous. As news media lose their credibility these days, it is worth recalling that some of their members put their lives on the line to tell the truth about what they were seeing. A memoir of life in the Federal Bureau of Investigation is told by Jack Owens in Don’t Shoot! We’re Republicans! ($16.95, Chronology Books, an imprint of History Publishing Company, softcover). Owens never wanted to be anything other than an FBI Special Agent and he lived that ambition, working mostly out of the Birmingham, Alabama, office. His life, working in counterintelligence in Washington, D.C., as part of the FBI Swat Team, and encountering the various directors from Hoover to those who served in the Clinton administration, provides a frequently lighthearted insider look at the agency.
Kid Stuff: Children’s and Younger Reader’s Books
I love the new books for babies to two year olds being published by Begin Smart’s Read-and-Play Program! If you or someone you know has an infant to a toddler, let them know about http://www.beginsmartbooks.com/ because they have some of the most clever creations to get the very young off to a good start with language and other skills. Moreover, the books are sturdy, filled with easily recognizable illustrations, and geared to specific age groups from newborn to six months building early visual activity; from six to twelve months, when babies begin to respond to words and actions; twelve to eighteen months building language development and general concepts; and eighteen months to two years when they make the big leap to following verbal directions and begin to speak. Begin Smart has more than just books; they have tactile learning devices that are fun. Some of the books for the eighteen to two year olds include noise-making devices, big buttons a child can push while mother or dad reads the text. The entire line of items is very impressive.
I am particularly fond of picture books for those who have mastered the fundamentals of reading and, by age 8 and up are taking an interest in good stories and the world around them. Some arrive that are instantly recognizable as unique and special. That’s the case of Lights on Broadway: A Theatrical Tour from A to Z by Harriet Ziefer and wonderfully illustrated by Elliot Kreloff ($19.99, Blue Apple Books, Maplewood, NJ). Never mind that I spent 62 years growing up and living in Maplewood and now live one town over. And never mind that my late Mother took me to countless Broadway matinees as I was growing up. And never mind that the book comes with a CD with a song performed by Tony Award winner, Brian Stokes Mitchell. For those reasons and many more, this is a great introduction to heart of American theatre. Officially due out in November, this book will delight any young boy or girl with thoughts of a career in show business someday. It is truly a complete course about the theatre. You can check out this book at www.blueapplebooks.com. I believe children should be introduced to the arts early on so as to tap into their own creativity and apparently so do MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga who have authored Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters ($18.95, Bright Ring Publishing, Bellingham, WA). I have long been a judge for the annual Benjamin Franklin Awards and was happy to see this book had earned a Silver Award for Excellence in its category. From age 4 up through 12, this book introduces 79 American artists through open-ended art activities that encourage the reader to explore different art styles. Along the way, they read biographies, and learn about painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, architecture, and more. It’s a complete hands-on experience. This publisher specializes in bringing the world of art to kids. Visit www.brightring.com to learn about its other books.
Among the picture books for young readers (or those to whom a book can be read), there’s the Pumpkin Baby by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Susan Mitchell ($19.95, Key Porter Kids Ltd., Ontario) about the remarks between two sisters, one the mother of a girl who starts out at age 3, in which the sisters tease each other about having babies. As she gets older, she tries to figure out what the banter means about pumpkins, cabbages, and storks bringing babies, while discovering what it means when she becomes an older sister to one. It’s a comforting story for children who might fear they will play second fiddle to a new child. Yolen is one of the most prolific writers of children’s books today and a winner of the coveted Caldecott Award. In The Scarecrow’s Dance, beautifully illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, ($21.99, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), she spins the sale of a scarecrow who gets loose from the pole to which he’s fastened and has an adventure, dancing in the corn field and finding his way to the farmhouse where he hears a boy’s prayer for his well-being as he guards the fields from crows. He returns to the field, knowing that’s his job and is proud to serve. Yolan tells a Christmas tale in Under the Star: A Christmas Counting Story illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen ($19.95, Key Porter Kids), retelling the story of the birth of Jesus, using numbers from a single angel up to ten children who, along with shepherds and animals, come to visit the new child.
Chester Raccoon and the Acorn Full of Memories by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ($16.95, Tanglewood Press) that subtly teaches children age 3 to 8 how to deal with the loss of a loved one or friend or the need to attend a funeral when Chester learns that his friend, Skiddel Squirrel has had an accident and will not be returning. His mother teaches him how to retain his memories of his friend and how to memorialize him. This may sound like a dark subject, but it is handled so well and with such beautiful artwork that it provides a cushion of comfort. Ms. Penn is the author of several bestselling children’s books. You can visit www.audreypenn.com to learn more.
For teens, 14 and up, there’s a wonderful and scary book, The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey ($17.99, Simon and Schuster) that begins in 1888. An orphan, Will Henry, is apprentice to a monster-hunting doctor. When a grave robber knocks on the door, he brings their most dangerous case; a corpse entwined with the body of an Anthropophagus—a monster that feeds through a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth in its belly. They are supposed by be extinct! The story is chock-full of gruesome graveside encounters and thrilling pursuits. Yancey has a track record as the author of the award-winning Alfred Kropp series, as well as several novels for adults. This novel is the first in a new gothic series.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
There is hardly a day that goes by when I do not receive an email from self-published novelists. That’s because modern technology has made it affordable to have one’s book produced, literally with as many or few copies “on demand” as the author may require. Promoting one’s book via blogs and websites is becoming a way to create “buzz” and sales. Most, however, do not prosper because most have not gone from through the vetting process that occurs when a fulltime publishing firm, large or small, gives thought to the literary merit, the quality of the writing, and takes on the financial risk of publication, promotion, and distribution.
That is why Bookviews tends to favor full time publishers and their authors because, for the former, their livelihood depends upon the success of the books that select and offer. Just out this month is The Test by Patricia Gussin ($24.95, Oceanview Publishing), a suspenseful and complex plot that introduces the Parnell family, a complicated one, quite wealthy, and in modern terms, extraordinarily dysfunctional. Determined to leave something more value that money to his six children, the patriarch, Paul Parnell, has left a will that stipulates that the lion’s share of a two billion dollar fortune will be divided among the heirs who pass “the test.” The six children have only a year and it is one the reader will not forget as the test becomes one of life or death. A historical novel about the son of Sacagawea, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, is found in Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart ($26.95, Doubleday). The real Jean-Bastiste was born in 1805 during the Lewis and Clark expedition, the son of the translators. The novel evokes the formative years of this mixed-blood child of the frontier in Missouri as he is raised by his parents among the villages of the Mandan tribe and as William Clark’s war in St. Louis. In 1823, the 18-year-old is invited to cross the Atlantic. He encounters a world he could barely imagine and he encounters love with the daughter of a French-Irish wine merchant. He must make a choice whether to stay in Europe or return to the wilds of North America. This is an excellent story, well told. The early years of America are captured in Gloryland by Shelton Johnson ($25.00, Sierra Club Books/Counterpoint). Born on Emancipation Day, 1863, to a sharecropping family of African and Indian blood, Elijah Yancy never lived as a slave, but his self-image as a free person is at war with his surroundings, Spartanburg, South Carolina, during Reconstruction. For his own survival, he is sent West to the Nebraska plains and joins the U.S. Cavalry. Through his life the reader experiences the expansion of the nation. This is a powerful story that will prove very satisfying for its unique characters and setting in time.
For those who love heart-pounding action, there’s Roy Hayes’ new novel, The Last Days of Las Vegas ($14.95, Solothurnli Corporation, softcover) which takes the espionage genre to a higher level, involving thirty significant characters, 45 secondary ones, and a story that takes place in 25 different places, large and small, including London, Lisbon, Maastricht, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, to name just a few. There are 50 chapters and you will feel like you have visited these places by the time you are through. Hayes knows how to set a plot in motion and his previous novels have all drawn high praise from critics. His main character is described as a reluctant spy, a tad burned out and more cynical than ever. He’s no James Bond. He’s real. Ask yourself what it would be like if someone wanted to nuke Las Vegas? You need to jump into this book with plenty of time to read so you can follow its intricacies. To learn more, click on www.thelastdaysoflasvegas.com.
In softcover editions, there are a number of entertaining novels. Dragon House is a new novel by John Shors ($15.00, New American Library). Set in modern-day Vietnam, it tells the tale of Iris and Noah, two Americans who, as a way to heal their own painful pasts, open a center to house and education Vietnamese street children. The novel’s themes are that of suffering, sacrifice, friendship and love. It brings together East and West, war and peace, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Check this novel out at www.dragonhousebook.com and then read it. If suspense is your literary choice, you will find plenty in Sophie Hannah’s The Wrong Mother ($15.00, Penguin Books) that tells the story of a brief affair during a trip away from the duties of wife and mother. That might have been the end of it had she not come upon the gentleman’s name. All the details are the same as to where he lives, his wife and daughter, but both of them have been murdered and the photo is not the man with whom she had the affair. She realizes her own family is in peril. Tracy Price-Thompson offers up a sexy novel, 1-900-A-N-Y-T-I-M-E ($15.00, Atria Books) whose central character was born crippled and severely deformed, but she has the voice of an angel and the actor’s ability to be anyone her caller’s imagine and want. Now in her 20s, she makes a living with her service, but she is inevitably drawn into her caller’s life and must make peace with her own disabilities. By contrast, A Taste of Fame by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson ($13.99, Revell) is part of the “Potluck Catering Club” series and this time the Summit View, Colorado ladies find themselves invited to participate in a television reality show where the top prize is a million dollars! How they navigate New York, cutthroat contestants, and maintaining their close friendship in a surreal world makes for a lot of fun reading.
If you prefer to listen to a good novel, you can never go wrong with Hachette Audio editions. Among the new titles available are Michael Connelly’s Void Moon; Josh Bazell’s Beat the Reaper; Elizabeth Kostove’s The Historian, and Anita Shreve’s A Change in Altitude. These and many other books, non-fiction as well as fiction, offer hours of enjoyment and a recommend that you check them out at www.hachetteaudio.com.
That’s it for October! I turned 72 this month and for more than half that time, I have been reviewing and recommending books. The National Book Critics Circle celebrated its 35th anniversary last month and I was there among the founding members. Time flies when you’re having fun!
Tell your friends about Bookviews by Alan Caruba; now a blog after many years as a website. And come back in November. Time to start making your Christmas lists of gift and books are some of the best gifts ever.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Bookviews - September 2009
Picks of the Month - Matters ‘Literary’ – Biographies/Memoirs – Business - Health Books for Younger Readers – New Novels
My Picks of the Month
One of the abiding aspects of being an American is the dream of becoming rich. Larry Samuel has written Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture ($24.95, Amacom) in which he reminds us that no matter what the state of the economy, there has always been a class of people who remain at the top of the financial stratosphere. The author has been called “the anthropologist of plutocrats”, having researched the American wealth culture and revealed the inner workings of America’s financial elite. In doing so, he has put the American obsession with all things money into a much needed perspective and context. He traces the history of an age of philanthropy that began to erode as an era of wealth exploded after WWII. There are currently nine million millionaires in America and more than 370 billionaires. The author provides a look into the lives of the Carnegies, Astors, and Rockefellers, as well as the Gates, Bransons, Trumps, and Hiltons. You can now also read Empires of Trust: How Rome Built—and America is Building—a New World in paperback ($17.00, Plume). Written by Thomas F. Madden, a professor of history at St. Louis University, the author explores how an unusual set of circumstances led these two republics to attain unprecedented levels of power. In the process, he dispels many of the myths about the Roman Empire which he calls an Empire of Trust because the Romans were asked to extend their protection further and further from Rome as it became clear they could be trusted to exercise power reliably. In a similar fashion, America, after defeating totalitarian regimes in the mid-twentieth century, kept troops in place to fend off the Soviet Empire, to ensure Japan could restructure into a democracy and to extend protection to Korea and other points of conflict. Today, America is an empire of trust. Will it follow the way of Rome? Madden says all empires eventually pass from the scene, but suspects that, like Rome, America’s hegemony will be around a very long time. I heartily recommend reading this excellent book. One of the best books I read in recent years, pointing to why America was heading for a financial meltdown was Empire of Debt by Addison Wiggin. Six years ago he teamed with Bill Bonner to write Financial Reckoning Day Fallout: Surviving Today’s Global Depression ($27.95, John Wiley & Sons). The updated 10th edition is now available and explains the idiocy of spending money to get out of debt. The authors predicted just what eventually happened as the housing, credit and consumption bubble finally burst. If you want to know why and what is happening now, as well as how to protect your assets, this is the book to read. You don’t have to have a college degree, just common sense and an open mind to understand the economics they explain.
A surefire way to get a dozen different opinions going at the same time is to mention Israel during a conversation. The absolutely best book I have read on this subject is Israel is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History by Rich Cohen ($26.00, Farrar, Straus & Giroux). I liked this book for its combination of an excellent knowledge of the history of Israel stretching back to its founding some three thousand years ago to the light touch the author brings to the subject. Although Jewish and a Zionist, Cohen who is an American has a clear, unsentimental view of history and, in particular, the Zionist movement that brought about the reestablishment of Israel in 1947 after two millennia of life in the Diaspora. He provides some wonderful portraits of the men and women that devoted their lives to creating the new nation and to the way its wars for survival and present deadlock with the so-called Palestinians shaped the lives of Israelis and altered how the modern world has come to see these “muscular” Jews who have no intension of being annihilated as were six million in the last century by the Nazi Holocaust. Mostly, though, this is just a wonderful reading experience thanks to the talent of its author.
Another interesting book about the Middle East is Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices against Oppression by Ida Lichter ($27.98, Prometheus Books). What too many Americans do not know is that the Middle East continues to slip behind the rest of the world because all of its nations, with the exception of Israel and Turkey, are ruled by monarchs or despots. This explains why it has made so little progress providing education, improving their economies or at least sharing the great oil wealth with citizens. In a world where the strident demands of Islamic extremists capture the media’s attention there are courageous protests of Muslim reformers that barely receive any notice. It took huge riots in the streets of Tehran for people to be aware of the seething discontent of much of its younger population. While many of the women cited in this book want reform to occur within Islam, the reform they demand stands in opposition to many of the fundamental elements of Islam, a religion firmly determined by men with few real rights for women. Change is coming, but it is coming very slowly.
Still wondering if “global warming” is real? Hint: The Earth has been cooling for a decade! Ralph B. Alexander, who picked up a Ph.D. in physics from Oxford University and been a researcher at laboratories in Europe and Australia, a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, and the co-founder of a small high-tech materials company, just made it easier to understand all the claims with his book, Global Warming False Alarm: The Bad Science Behind the United Nation’s Assertion that Man-Made CO2 Causes Global Warming ($18.95, Canterbury Publishing, Box 1731, Royal Oak, MI, 48068, softcover). In language that a laymen can understand, Alexander explains how the whole “global warming” claim got started, who started it, and how it has been maintained by too many scientists (and others) using deliberately false or distorted “science”. Insofar as the biggest tax in the history of the nation is contained in the “Cap-and-Trade” act that Congress is contemplating, it’s a good idea to know how to refute it because it is based on a claim that “global warming” is real.
Folks who love the history of seafaring will thoroughly enjoy The Last Century of Sea Power: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894-1922, Volume 1 by H.P. Willmott ($34.95, University of Indiana Press). It is truly a magisterial study of naval power in the 20th century, examining the transition to modern war at sea during the period of the Sion-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Spanish-American War (1898) that advanced the advent of the dreadnought (battleship) and the nearly continuous state of war that culminated in World War I. By 1922, most of the elements that would define sea power in the 20th century were in place. This is an extraordinary work of history writing and an invaluable book for today’s seaman and officer’s corps. Historian Peter C. Mancall has written Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson ($33.95, Basic Books) and, considering that the Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay were named for him, this 17th century explorer of the North Atlantic was crucial to England’s efforts to lay claim to Canada. This is a truly wonderful work of history and, on the 400th anniversary of his voyage to New York and the river that bears his name pays tribute to the man who searched for a Northwest Passage and tells the story of the mutiny on his final voyage that set him, his son, and others adrift in June 1611. On their return, the mutineers were charged with murder. For anyone who loves reading history, this one is a keeper.
Sigmund Freud got everybody analyzing their dreams for clues to their unconscious mind. Now The Dream Encyclopedia ($24.95, Visible Ink Press, softcover) is in its second edition. James R. Lewis and Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, its authors, examine 276 dream topics and provide some explanation to their meaning. From ancient times, dreams have had attributed to them the ability to predict the future or explain events in one’s life. I am not terribly sure that they do much more than randomly connect synapses in the brain providing some kind of a maze or map to one’s emotional state. That said, if your dreams interest you, this book will too.
Matters Literary
It should come as no surprise that people who love to read books often want to write of their own. As a published author and longtime professional writer, I can tell you that getting published can be quite an ordeal. Many now famed authors were rejected repeatedly until someone took a chance on them. Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us ($16.95, Tarcher/Penguin, softcover) is subtitled “A (sort of) compassionate guide to why your writing is being rejected.” Written by Jessica Page Morrell, an author who has been in the writing trenches, she points out that editors keep stock rejection letters on hand because less than one percent of manuscript submissions are actually accepted. This is bad news for aspiring writers. Her book is a blunt, but well-meaning wake-up call to what’s working within the story and what adjustments are needed to save it from life in the slush pile. Her book teaches how to juggle an intricate plot, avoid confusing the reader, and keep it moving to a thrilling climax. How to create a compelling cast of characters. Why you should avoid clichés and creepy sex scenes and the secrets of good dialogue. Et cetera.
Coming in November, keep an eye out for Literary Hoaxes by Melissa Katsoulis ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing). It is an entertaining look at its topic and there have been quite a few in recent years. You may recall Oprah Winfrey taking James Frey to task for a largely fake autobiography that had inspired many readers before it was revealed he had played fast and loose with the facts. Perhaps the most famous recent fake was the Howard Hughes “autobiography”, along with the fake diaries of Adolf Hitler. Katsouli takes us on a tour of the authors who betrayed the trust of readers for fame, money, political power, or just for their own amusement. There’s an interesting series of books from Whereabouts Press of Berkeley, CA. They are devoted to the interests of people who love books and love to travel. They are “A Traveler’s Literary Companion” and the three I’ve seen cover France, South Africa and Vienna ($14.95 each). Each is written by someone with a thorough knowledge of the particular nation or city that is featured and, as a result, one can arrive with knowledge of its authors, their books, and history. The guides capture a sense of place and bring it alive in terms of the authors who lived and worked there. They are very good and I recommend you visit www.whereaboutspress.com to learn more and to get one for your next trip.
People, People, People
What do Colonial explorer John Smith, millionaire Cecil Rhodes, and former president Bill Clinton have in common? They were all influenced by the Meditations and considered its advice of great value. So have others over the centuries. It is the writings of Marcus Aurelius, who is the subject of a biography by Frank McLynn ($30.00, Da Capo Press) just out this month. They was penned by Aurelius during the northern campaigns from 170 until his death in 180 AD as a guide to how we should live and deemed one of the great works of classic literature. Aurelius was emperor of Rome for nineteen years, a man of considerable political and military ability, and considered one of the “five good emperors” to have held that position. The author has done biographies of Napoleon and others. His skill is evident and the subject is worth visiting and knowing.
Three very different women are the subject or author of biographies or memoirs. The brief and meteoric career of a modern poet is captured in Connie Ann Kirk’s biography of Sylvia Plath ($16.98, Prometheus Books, softcover). Much controversy has surrounded her since she took her life in 1963 at age thirty. She had battled depression for much of her life, had a difficult relationship with her parents, was married to a respected poet, Ted Hughes, who was unfaithful, and all the time she was trying to balance a literary career with her roles as wife and mother. Kirk has written biographies of Emily Dickinson and J.K. Rawling, so she brings a seasoned hand to the task of telling Plath’s story. Cici McNair is a very different kind of lady from Plath and she tells her story most entertainingly. Detectives Don’t Wear Seat Belts: True Adventures of a Female P.I. ($22.99, Center Street, an imprint of Hachette). Raised as a southern belle, Cici longed to escape her suffocating, strict upbringing to travel the world. From working at the Vatican to dining with a Haitian gunrunner, she has lived a very colorful life, but eventually she found herself divorced, unemployed, and very hungry in a Madison Avenue apartment. At that point, she decided to fulfill a childhood dream and become a private investigator. It wasn’t easy and it initially took her back to her Mississippi hometown. After starting her own firm, Green Star Investigations, she established herself and was in demand. This book is never dull! In a reflection of one of the great catastrophes of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, Phyllis Montana-Leblanc tells what it was like to be in New Orleans, before, during and after in Not Just the Levees Broke ($14.00, Atria Books, softcover) which has a foreword by filmmaker Spike Lee. August marked three years since the hurricane and the author takes you there as a former resident of the Ninth Ward. She spares no one as she reveals just how pathetic the response was from Mayor Ray Nagin who issues an evacuation order too late to the failure of emergency services, and the horror of a devastated city and area stripped of everything we count on each day from power to food.
Carl Sagan probably did more to turn Americans onto the wonders of astronomy and the universe as any single figure in modern times. I still recall his wonderful television series, “Cosmos”. An astronomer, planetary scientist, astrophysicist, exobiologist, skeptic and public figure, he made science interesting to a broad public. Ray Spanenburg and Kit Moser have written Carl Sagan: A Biography ($16.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) that is mercifully brief as opposed to the massive tomes that tend to get the most attention. It is a concise, lively biography of a remarkably talented man. I suspect he would have been on the front lines opposing the dubious, junk science “global warming” theory had he lived. I recommend reading this lively story of a remarkable man. The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac: Mystic of the Atom ($29.95, Basic Books) by Graham Farmelo is a biography about a man few outside the world of physics have ever heard. Stephen Hawking once called him the greatest British Theoretical physicist since Newton. In 1933 Dirac was the youngest theoretician to win the Nobel Prize for Physics. He predicted the existence of anti-matter before it was detected and co-discovered quantum mechanics, a feat second only to Einstein’s theory. The author was inspired by him to become a theoretical physicist and has spent the last six years research this man who fervently avoided the spotlight, but his theories opened the doors for later scientists to develop the modern string theory and other breakthroughs. What emerges in this biography is a man of astonishing intellect, matched only by his passion for both science and anonymity.
Indiana University Press has published three biographies of interest. A new Johnny Depp movie is out and he plays John Dillinger, a criminal who captured the nation’s imagination during the days of the Depression in the 1930s. To read the real story, pick up a copy of Dillinger: The Untold Story by G. Russell Girardin and William J. Helmer, with assistance from Rick Mattix ($21.95, softcover). I suspect the real Dillinger would be pleased by all the attention, but the fact remains he was a notorious and ruthless outlaw who killed quite a few people while robbing banks. Along the way, he staged three successful jail breaks. This book was originally written in the 1930s by Giradin, but never published. It was discovered by Helmer while researching Dillinger. Giradin got a lot of his information from Dillinger’s lawyer, Louis Piquett, after the gunman had been killed by FBI agents in a famous scene outside a movie house. It makes for some very interesting reading. For music lovers, there’s two books, the first of which is The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music ($55.00/$21.95, hard and softcover) where are familiar to many people even if they don’t know the composer. Jocelyn R. Neal traces three of his most influential songs and offers a new perspective on him. Ignaz Friedman by Allan Evans, ($39.95) is about a Polish-born composer and master pianist whose recordings in the 1920s and 1930s rank him among the greats. Little has been written about him, however, and this book makes up for that and, for those who love classical music, this book reveals a rich life of an extraordinary artist that was filled with achievement.
I am one of those people who enjoys starting up a conversation with strangers and, invariably, I find people of good humor and good will for a brief chat. I Am Everyone I Meet by James P. White ($12.95, Tabloid Books, softcover) is a collection of brief encounters with strangers on the streets of Los Angeles. They come from all over the world. It is a testimony to our common humanity and is very entertaining. I’m guessing you need to go to www.tabloidbooks.com in order to purchase it.
Lastly, there’s J. Randy Taraborrelli’s portrait of The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, available as an audio book ($29.98, Hachette, 7 CDs). Taraborrelli is a bestselling author of books about Elizabeth Taylor, Sinatra, and other show business personalities. He tells the heartbreaking story of a world-famous woman, her mother, a paranoid schizophrenic, her foster mother, and the details that continue of hold the public’s attention such as who her real father was, her relationship with the Kennedy’s, and her friendships with those who did their best to either exploit her or help her cope. She was an icon of my youth and, though few mention it, a very accomplished actress who could also sing.
To Your Health!
You may have noticed that Americans are living longer and longer these days. It is no longer uncommon for four generations of a family to be alive at the same time these days and the shift in demographics is having a significant impact on political issues, i.e., the debate over the proposed healthcare “reforms” and universal coverage. As it is, Medicare is running out of money and Social Security is not far behind. A timely book is The Longevity Revolution: The Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life by Dr. Robert N. Butler, MD ($30.00, Public Affairs). Worldwide people are living long and by 2025, at least 25% of the industrialized nations will be 65 and old. This book takes a long look at the way an aging population will transform our society. That’s why, if you are a senior citizen or have a parent who’s getting older, you might want to pick up a copy of The Real Truth about Aging: A Survival Guide for Older Adults and Caregivers by a trio of physicians ($21.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) that is filled with news of the latest research about the aging process, chapters on preventative medical testing, a look at so-called anti-aging therapies, vitamins and herbal supplement, and much more. The chapters on caring for an aging parent, particularly one that’s frail, are worth the price of the book. Having been through that for a mother who died at age 98, I wish I had been able to read this book during a long care giving period.
Overcoming ADHD by Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD with Jacob Greenspan ($25.00, Da Capo Press) addresses the fact that schools have been pushing the ADHD diagnosis (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) now for years and pressuring parents into drugging their children with Ritalin. The author brings 35 years of clinical practice as a child psychologist to bear on the topic. The problem is that his profession depends on identifying attitudes and problem behaviors that previous generations of parents dealt with in ways that did not include drugs or tons of counseling. Inattention is school, as often as not, is because school is a very boring place in which to be forced to spend most of the day for a lively young mind. It is a normal response. Hyper-activity is just the normal energy that most children have. I am loath to dispute the author, but if I were a parent these days of a school-age child, I would approach this book with caution.
Assuming that one’s mental health is highly dependent on whom one marries or surviving the now commonplace ordeal of divorce, there are two books offering cautionary and other skills. How to Marry the Wrong Guy: A Guide for Avoiding the Biggest Mistake of Your life by Anne Milford and Jennifer Gauvin, MSW, LCSW ($14.95, Coldfeet Press, softcover) should be mandatory reading for any woman contemplating marriage. Ms. Gauvin is a practicing marriage and family therapist and Ms. Milford cancelled her wedding exactly five months before the day. What both know is that many women, caught up in the demands and anxiety of planning a perfect wedding often push to the background the nagging fear that they are marrying the wrong guy. The book is filled with stories of women who walked down the aisle knowing they were making a mistake. This book is filled with excellent advice. You can learn more about it and purchase a copy at www.coldfeetpress.com. Another book deals with the heartbreak of divorce, noting that two-thirds of American families are “blended”, which means they are made up of remarried adults and often stepchildren. Many divorced people carry the animosities and negative behavior patterns of their former heartbreaks into their new marriage. Your Ex-Factor: Overcome Heartbreak and Build a Better Life by Stephen B. Poulter, Ph.D. addresses the problems ($18.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) and takes the reader through the three phases of divorce to the security of a stronger and more fulfilling future attachment. If you or someone you know is trying to move forward beyond the pain of emotional loss and attempting to achieve a new loving relationship, this would be a very good book to read.
Getting Down to Business
Labor Day marks a return to greater activity in the world of business after the traditional time for vacations. As always, there is a flurry of new books published to help everyone from the new graduate to managers succeed in their careers, invest wisely, and do well in the world of business.
Let’s start with recent graduates and J.R. Parrish’s You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way: Making it in the Real World ($19.95, BenBella Books, Dallas, TX). It is filled with proven advice on how to develop crucial people skills, avoid relationships that can derail one’s goals, establish one’s financial health, find mentors who can be dependable guides, and create good habits to further one’s success. The author went from being a milkman to being a multimillionaire after he established a commercial real estate company in the Silicon Valley based on treating people with fairness and respect. In a similar vein, Why Loyalty Matters by Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy ($24.95, Benbella Books) explores this vital aspect of running a business and why failing to exercise loyalty can destroy a company when workers are seen as expendable, employees job hop, and consumers buy what’s cheapest. It affects one’s personal life, too, leading to divorce and children don’t learn the value of service and citizenship. It is well worth reading. For those starting out in the world or those concerned about making wise investments, there’s Peter Passell’s Where to Put Your Money Now: How to Make Super-Safe Investments and Secure Your Future ($12.00, Pocket Books, softcover). Passell is a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, a non-partisan policy think tank in California. He has taught economics at the graduate school at Columbia University and has been widely published. In these uncertain times, everyone is wondering if their savings will last. The author offers lists of funds and accounts you can trust, reliable websites where you can learn more, and the kind of advice that can get you through tough times.
For those in managerial positions, there’s Organizing Your Day: Time Management Techniques That Will Work for You by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims ($13.99, Revell, softcover) that is filled with advice setting goals, project management, daily scheduling, and setting new habits to make your life more productive. If this is a problem for you, this is the book for you. The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done by Mike Song, Vicki Halsey and Tim Burress ($19.95, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco) looks at the ways meetings have changed, becoming more frequent, informal, and virtual. That said, the authors believe that most managers and professionals need to upgrade their meeting skills and offer a host of excellent advice they say can save you the equivalent of 15 days a year in wasted time. From tech tips to time-saving tricks, the authors offer an easy-to-read regimen to help you make the best of meetings. If you are a woman, have a product or service for women or just want to sell more to women, pick up The Female Brand: Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business by Catherine Kaputa ($24.95, Davies-Black) by the personal branding guru who says that a woman in business doesn’t have to think like a man to succeed. Women, it turns out, are “wired” for certain skills that are highly valued in today’s global marketplace and, she says, have superior verbal and communications skills. Making the most of one’s skills is the essence of this book.
The Internet continues to offer all manner of new opportunities and to generate books about them. Scott Fox has written e-Riches 2.0 ($25.00, Amacom) on how to go about building a online business by using the wealth of low-cost, state-of-the-art tools and vehicles for connecting with customers. The problem for most, however, is that trying to get the handle on all the new opportunities for marketing online can be daunting. As Fox says, “The good news is that you don’t need to figure them all out.” This book builds on his first, Internet Riches and his popular blog. He keeps the focus on using today’s latest Web technologies for the purpose of making money. Others may still be wondering if they can make money on eBay and, for them, there’s The eBay Marketing Bible by Cliff Ennico and Cindy L. Shebley, eBay Certified Instructors ($22.00, Amacom, softcover). Incredible as it may seem, across the USA, nearly 900,000 small business retailers are making a living, either full-time or part-time, on eBay. With more than 80 million registered users worldwide, eBay has a real buyer for virtually every collectible and commodity imaginable. The book is full of good advice for the serious seller, particularly if you want to stand out from the crowd. For Internet addicts (and I am one of them), there’s an interesting and important book, Google Bomb which is “the untold story of the $11.3 verdict that changed the way we use the Internet.” Written by John W. Dozier, Jr. and Sue Scheff, ($14.94, HCI Books, softcover) it makes abundantly clear that it can take twenty years to build a sound reputable business and about twenty minutes “of vicious keystrokes to destroy it all.” This book explains how the Internet can be used against you, from job seekers and small business owners, to parents and students, and explains the things people can do today to protect themselves against those who bare them ill will or are simply malicious. Here’s how to be safe online, defensive tactics, and how to spot an Internet predator. Dozier is an attorney and Scheff is the founder of Parents’ Universal Resources Experts, Inc., a child and parenting advocacy organization. She is an expert on Internet defamation.
I recently received New Neighborhoods: The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-op, and HOA Living by Gary A. Poliakoff and Ryan Poliakoff ($16.95, Emerald Book Co., Austin, TX, softcover). For anyone contemplating moving to any of these housing options, I would heartily recommend reading this book first. A man’s home used to be his castle, but for millions of Americans, that could not be further from the truth. More than sixty million people live in shared ownership communities and some two million volunteers serve on association boards and committees. The degree of intrusion and control that these communities can exert is sometimes astonishing and many who have chosen to live in them have discovered this truth the hard way. To learn about the rights and responsibilities of shared ownership, pick up a copy of this excellent guide.
Books Kids Will Love
I am a strong advocate of getting youngsters to read at as early an age as possible. Books unlock the world and energize the brain. The reading habit can last a lifetime and provide endless hours of entertainment and knowledge.
Have I Got a Book for You by Melanie Watt ($16.95, Kids Can Press) is ideal for the very young, either pre-school or early readers because it slyly reveals how all manner of products are pitched by smooth talkers. Starring a fox, it takes the reader through all the usual ways salesmen get people to buy anything; in this case her book. Watts is an accomplished and established writer of books for youngsters and this one is pure fun. From the same publisher and for the same age group comes The Delicious Bug by Janet Perlman ($16.95) about two chameleons who get into a big fight over a delicious buy each wants to eat, resulting in they’re almost becoming dinner for two crocodiles! The message is a good one; don’t fight over things that can be shared. It is a very funny story with excellent artwork. Snowy Sports: Ready, Set, Play by Per-Henrick Gurth ($14.95), also for early readers, explores hockey, ice skating, and other favorite winter pastimes. For those who live where the snow falls along with the thermometer, this is a good one for youngsters in those climes. For readers age 7 to 10, there’s Out of This World: The Amazing Search for an Alien Earth by Jacob Berkowitz ($17.95) that combines science with an imaginative text and illustrations to describe how life on Earth began and the exploration for it elsewhere in our galaxy. A visit to www.kidscanpress.com will provide a look at its new and earlier texts.
Pre-teens in particular will benefit from the history lessons in two books from Calkins Creek, a Honesdale, PA publisher. Both are by Selene Castrovilla. By the Sword ($17.95) is about the Revolutionary War and the adventures of a young teacher who sacrifices his career to join George Washington’s army, engaging in the Battle of Long Island. Beautifully illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, it is a great way for a young reader, aged 7-10, to learn about the Revolution while being entertained by a first class story. Her other book, Upon Secrecy ($17.95) deals with the end of the Revolutionary War as the French fleet is soon to arrive and bottle up the British at Yorktown. Keeping it a secret, yet knowing of their arrival is essential to Washington and trusted spies aid him. Illustrated by Jeff Crosby and Shelley Ann Jackson, this too is history at its best for the younger reader.
Who doesn’t love girls? Well, their parents and friends do and American Girl is a publisher devoted to their interests. Pre-teens and teens will enjoy some of their new titles. All About You Quiz Book ($9.95) permits readers to do some early self-evaluation regarding their attitudes and behavior. Always a good idea at any time! Similarly, A Smart Girl’s Guide to Understanding Her Family ($9.95) helps the reader sort out the many questions about relationships with parents and siblings. Learning to understand one’s feelings is always a good idea. A Smart Girl’s Guide to The Internet ($9.95) explains how to connect with friends, find what you need, and to stay safe online. It is full of great ideas and good advice. A really girly-girl book is Spa Fun: Pampering Tips and Treatments for Girls is full of health and beauty tips that any young lady will want to learn about. Visit www.americangirl.com for a world of excellent books.
Mirrorstone is the younger reader’s division of Wizards of the Coast, one of the best publishers of fantasy books. It has a series featuring dragons and the latest is the Green Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham ($9.95) that spins a spellbinding story about a particular kind of dragon. There are the good ones, metallic, and the evil ones, chromantic. Coming soon, too, is the Silver Dragon Codex. Green dragons, as everyone knows, have 80-foot wingspans and breath jets of chlorine gas. The previous books in this series include the Red and Bronze dragons. These are fantastical tales It’s always nice to see new talent emerge and this is the case of Melissa Burmester who has been writing about vampires and supernatural creatures and events since the age of 12. Presently in high school, she has penned Ginger High, ($14.95, Infinity Publishing) a school for students with special powers, the descendents of a parallel universe, but the school is encountering some unexplained deaths and it is up to Daisy Fisher to solve the mystery. This is an impressive debut. Check it out at www.gingerhigh.com.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
One day last month I received seven books. Of the seven, four were adult novels and one was written for young adults. That’s too many novels on one day. And that is what it is like to be a book reviewer these days. In the fall, catalogs arrive from publishers large and small. They all seem to have endless novels and just a few non-fiction books. I don’t know who is buying all these novels, if in fact they do sell. One assumes they do or the publishers would not be publishing them. So, with that lament, let’s look as some of the better ones that have arrived of late.
Combining today’s headlines with a fast-paced thriller, Gray Garland has written Top Secret: Escape from Iran ($16.60/$11.60, Authorhouse, hard and softcover editions). In this novel, the President and the CIA work together to send an American businessman to Iran on a top secret mission. The object is to bring home an old college friend and to persuade an Iranian scientist to defect. After a life spent as an international businessman, the author serves up an entertaining story. That he began writing in his 80s says something for having a lot of experience under your belt. A more traditional mystery is served up by Peter Lovesey in Skeleton Hill: A Peter Diamond Investigation ($24.00, Soho). This is the tenth mystery in which Inspector Diamond is the key player and it is, of course, very much in the English tradition of such novels. In a reenactment of a battle that took place over 350 years ago near Bath, England, two of the reenactors discover the headless skeleton of a 20-year-old woman. One of them is then found murdered. The English have perfected this kind of novel with its many twists and turns and you will be turning the pages as quickly as you can to find out whodunit.
Colonial Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s is the beginning location for Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa ($25.99, St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books). It is there that Fela, a slave, works as a seamstress at a sugar plantation. She carries a “special stone” with her into which the essence of her unborn child was carried. After sex with the plantation owner, she becomes pregnant and dies soon after giving birth to a daughter Mali. She becomes a powerful “curandera”, a traditional folk healer. The novel follows the lives of daughters, born generation after generation, until it ends with Carisa, born and raised in New York City. It is quite intriguing. Motherhood is at the heart of 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton ($24.95, Unbridled Books) when a mother wakes in the middle of the night convinced that something is wrong with her adult son. In his early twenties, he has turned from being a sensitive, idealistic man into one upset and distant. Thus begins a search for him. What the reader knows, however, is that he is just 31 hours from committing an act of violence in a New York subway for which he trained in Pakistan where he has secretly been for several months. This is about the making of an Islamic militant and it is a thought-provoking and gripping story by a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East. A quite different local is the background for The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim ($33.00, Henry Holt and Company). Inspired by her own family history, the novel actually began as a work of non-fiction, but evolved into the story of Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher who longs to choose her own destiny. Smart and headstrong, she is encouraged by her mother, but her stern father is determined to maintain tradition, especially at a time in the last century when the Japanese were gaining control of his beloved country. To avoid being married off at age 14, her mother sends her to serve in the king’s court as the companion to a young princess, but the king is soon assassinated. She most cope with increased oppression and seek to continue her education. This is a look at Korea’s history that is rarely offered an American audience or readers and it is well worth reading.
I always like it when a former intelligence operative writes a thriller because you know it is based on real experience. This is the case with John J. Le Beau who served as a clandestine operations office in the CIA for more than 25 years, most of which took place overseas, including nations experience active terrorism and insurgency. Since 2006, Dr. Le Beau has been a professor of national security studies at the George C. Marshall European Center in Garmisch, Germany. Thus, Collision of Evil ($25.95, Oceanview Publishing) has the ring of authenticity to it when it begins with the murder of an American tourist in the Bavarian Alps. The German detective in charge of the case discovers neither clues, not suspects, nor motives. When the victim’s brother arrives and insists on joining the investigation things get even murkier, some reaching back to the Third Reich, and all pointing to a deadly plot. Can you imagine by the son of an acclaimed novelist and wanting to write one yourself? That was the challenge for Peter Leonard, son of Elmore Leonard, one of my favorites, but he has acquitted himself quite well in Trust Me ($24.95, Minotaur Books). It has an ensemble cast of schemers, losers, thugs, con-men, and killers. It has a high-speed plot that unfolds as it careens through the neighborhoods of Detroit. There is no way to explain the plot without giving it away, so suffice it to say that it will prove very entertaining. This is Leonard’s second novel and he is on his way to making his dad and his readers very proud of him. Based on a true story, Dead Weight by Batt Humphreys ($25.95, Joggling Board Press) is the result of his return to his native South after a career in network news at CBS. In 1910, Daniel Duncan, a young black man of respectable employment and temperament was arrested on the even of his wedding for the murder of a local merchant. Suffice it to say that local justice in those days was no justice at all for an African-American. The novel is told through the eyes of a fictional reporter from New York who is assigned to the trial. It was such a miscarriage of justice that a hurricane that hit Charleston after the hanging was seen as divine retribution for the death of an innocent man.
For a very nice change of pace, there’s Robert Rave’s Spin ($24.99, St, Martin’s Press) that just has to be made into a movie. This debut novel explores the lives of the puppet masters who pull the strings behind the scenes. They are the people who keep us glued to our TV’s, computer screens, magazine pages, and all in the name of celebrity. The main character is a corn-fed young man from the Midwest, Taylor Green, who is in the right place at the right time. He gets hired by New York public relations dominatrix, Jennifer Weinstein, soon becoming her right-hand man, getting drawn into her world of sex, greed, power, and fame. His new life conflicts with his core values, though, and he must choose to leave the glamour of a wild New York celebrity scene and a return to one that makes a lot more sense. As someone who has earned his living in public relations (though not this variety), I naturally found this very entertaining and I am confident you will too.
That’s it for September, but mark your calendar to return in October when the best in new books on a wide range of topics is explored.
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My Picks of the Month
One of the abiding aspects of being an American is the dream of becoming rich. Larry Samuel has written Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture ($24.95, Amacom) in which he reminds us that no matter what the state of the economy, there has always been a class of people who remain at the top of the financial stratosphere. The author has been called “the anthropologist of plutocrats”, having researched the American wealth culture and revealed the inner workings of America’s financial elite. In doing so, he has put the American obsession with all things money into a much needed perspective and context. He traces the history of an age of philanthropy that began to erode as an era of wealth exploded after WWII. There are currently nine million millionaires in America and more than 370 billionaires. The author provides a look into the lives of the Carnegies, Astors, and Rockefellers, as well as the Gates, Bransons, Trumps, and Hiltons. You can now also read Empires of Trust: How Rome Built—and America is Building—a New World in paperback ($17.00, Plume). Written by Thomas F. Madden, a professor of history at St. Louis University, the author explores how an unusual set of circumstances led these two republics to attain unprecedented levels of power. In the process, he dispels many of the myths about the Roman Empire which he calls an Empire of Trust because the Romans were asked to extend their protection further and further from Rome as it became clear they could be trusted to exercise power reliably. In a similar fashion, America, after defeating totalitarian regimes in the mid-twentieth century, kept troops in place to fend off the Soviet Empire, to ensure Japan could restructure into a democracy and to extend protection to Korea and other points of conflict. Today, America is an empire of trust. Will it follow the way of Rome? Madden says all empires eventually pass from the scene, but suspects that, like Rome, America’s hegemony will be around a very long time. I heartily recommend reading this excellent book. One of the best books I read in recent years, pointing to why America was heading for a financial meltdown was Empire of Debt by Addison Wiggin. Six years ago he teamed with Bill Bonner to write Financial Reckoning Day Fallout: Surviving Today’s Global Depression ($27.95, John Wiley & Sons). The updated 10th edition is now available and explains the idiocy of spending money to get out of debt. The authors predicted just what eventually happened as the housing, credit and consumption bubble finally burst. If you want to know why and what is happening now, as well as how to protect your assets, this is the book to read. You don’t have to have a college degree, just common sense and an open mind to understand the economics they explain.
A surefire way to get a dozen different opinions going at the same time is to mention Israel during a conversation. The absolutely best book I have read on this subject is Israel is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History by Rich Cohen ($26.00, Farrar, Straus & Giroux). I liked this book for its combination of an excellent knowledge of the history of Israel stretching back to its founding some three thousand years ago to the light touch the author brings to the subject. Although Jewish and a Zionist, Cohen who is an American has a clear, unsentimental view of history and, in particular, the Zionist movement that brought about the reestablishment of Israel in 1947 after two millennia of life in the Diaspora. He provides some wonderful portraits of the men and women that devoted their lives to creating the new nation and to the way its wars for survival and present deadlock with the so-called Palestinians shaped the lives of Israelis and altered how the modern world has come to see these “muscular” Jews who have no intension of being annihilated as were six million in the last century by the Nazi Holocaust. Mostly, though, this is just a wonderful reading experience thanks to the talent of its author.
Another interesting book about the Middle East is Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices against Oppression by Ida Lichter ($27.98, Prometheus Books). What too many Americans do not know is that the Middle East continues to slip behind the rest of the world because all of its nations, with the exception of Israel and Turkey, are ruled by monarchs or despots. This explains why it has made so little progress providing education, improving their economies or at least sharing the great oil wealth with citizens. In a world where the strident demands of Islamic extremists capture the media’s attention there are courageous protests of Muslim reformers that barely receive any notice. It took huge riots in the streets of Tehran for people to be aware of the seething discontent of much of its younger population. While many of the women cited in this book want reform to occur within Islam, the reform they demand stands in opposition to many of the fundamental elements of Islam, a religion firmly determined by men with few real rights for women. Change is coming, but it is coming very slowly.
Still wondering if “global warming” is real? Hint: The Earth has been cooling for a decade! Ralph B. Alexander, who picked up a Ph.D. in physics from Oxford University and been a researcher at laboratories in Europe and Australia, a professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, and the co-founder of a small high-tech materials company, just made it easier to understand all the claims with his book, Global Warming False Alarm: The Bad Science Behind the United Nation’s Assertion that Man-Made CO2 Causes Global Warming ($18.95, Canterbury Publishing, Box 1731, Royal Oak, MI, 48068, softcover). In language that a laymen can understand, Alexander explains how the whole “global warming” claim got started, who started it, and how it has been maintained by too many scientists (and others) using deliberately false or distorted “science”. Insofar as the biggest tax in the history of the nation is contained in the “Cap-and-Trade” act that Congress is contemplating, it’s a good idea to know how to refute it because it is based on a claim that “global warming” is real.
Folks who love the history of seafaring will thoroughly enjoy The Last Century of Sea Power: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894-1922, Volume 1 by H.P. Willmott ($34.95, University of Indiana Press). It is truly a magisterial study of naval power in the 20th century, examining the transition to modern war at sea during the period of the Sion-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Spanish-American War (1898) that advanced the advent of the dreadnought (battleship) and the nearly continuous state of war that culminated in World War I. By 1922, most of the elements that would define sea power in the 20th century were in place. This is an extraordinary work of history writing and an invaluable book for today’s seaman and officer’s corps. Historian Peter C. Mancall has written Fatal Journey: The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson ($33.95, Basic Books) and, considering that the Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay were named for him, this 17th century explorer of the North Atlantic was crucial to England’s efforts to lay claim to Canada. This is a truly wonderful work of history and, on the 400th anniversary of his voyage to New York and the river that bears his name pays tribute to the man who searched for a Northwest Passage and tells the story of the mutiny on his final voyage that set him, his son, and others adrift in June 1611. On their return, the mutineers were charged with murder. For anyone who loves reading history, this one is a keeper.
Sigmund Freud got everybody analyzing their dreams for clues to their unconscious mind. Now The Dream Encyclopedia ($24.95, Visible Ink Press, softcover) is in its second edition. James R. Lewis and Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, its authors, examine 276 dream topics and provide some explanation to their meaning. From ancient times, dreams have had attributed to them the ability to predict the future or explain events in one’s life. I am not terribly sure that they do much more than randomly connect synapses in the brain providing some kind of a maze or map to one’s emotional state. That said, if your dreams interest you, this book will too.
Matters Literary
It should come as no surprise that people who love to read books often want to write of their own. As a published author and longtime professional writer, I can tell you that getting published can be quite an ordeal. Many now famed authors were rejected repeatedly until someone took a chance on them. Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us ($16.95, Tarcher/Penguin, softcover) is subtitled “A (sort of) compassionate guide to why your writing is being rejected.” Written by Jessica Page Morrell, an author who has been in the writing trenches, she points out that editors keep stock rejection letters on hand because less than one percent of manuscript submissions are actually accepted. This is bad news for aspiring writers. Her book is a blunt, but well-meaning wake-up call to what’s working within the story and what adjustments are needed to save it from life in the slush pile. Her book teaches how to juggle an intricate plot, avoid confusing the reader, and keep it moving to a thrilling climax. How to create a compelling cast of characters. Why you should avoid clichés and creepy sex scenes and the secrets of good dialogue. Et cetera.
Coming in November, keep an eye out for Literary Hoaxes by Melissa Katsoulis ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing). It is an entertaining look at its topic and there have been quite a few in recent years. You may recall Oprah Winfrey taking James Frey to task for a largely fake autobiography that had inspired many readers before it was revealed he had played fast and loose with the facts. Perhaps the most famous recent fake was the Howard Hughes “autobiography”, along with the fake diaries of Adolf Hitler. Katsouli takes us on a tour of the authors who betrayed the trust of readers for fame, money, political power, or just for their own amusement. There’s an interesting series of books from Whereabouts Press of Berkeley, CA. They are devoted to the interests of people who love books and love to travel. They are “A Traveler’s Literary Companion” and the three I’ve seen cover France, South Africa and Vienna ($14.95 each). Each is written by someone with a thorough knowledge of the particular nation or city that is featured and, as a result, one can arrive with knowledge of its authors, their books, and history. The guides capture a sense of place and bring it alive in terms of the authors who lived and worked there. They are very good and I recommend you visit www.whereaboutspress.com to learn more and to get one for your next trip.
People, People, People
What do Colonial explorer John Smith, millionaire Cecil Rhodes, and former president Bill Clinton have in common? They were all influenced by the Meditations and considered its advice of great value. So have others over the centuries. It is the writings of Marcus Aurelius, who is the subject of a biography by Frank McLynn ($30.00, Da Capo Press) just out this month. They was penned by Aurelius during the northern campaigns from 170 until his death in 180 AD as a guide to how we should live and deemed one of the great works of classic literature. Aurelius was emperor of Rome for nineteen years, a man of considerable political and military ability, and considered one of the “five good emperors” to have held that position. The author has done biographies of Napoleon and others. His skill is evident and the subject is worth visiting and knowing.
Three very different women are the subject or author of biographies or memoirs. The brief and meteoric career of a modern poet is captured in Connie Ann Kirk’s biography of Sylvia Plath ($16.98, Prometheus Books, softcover). Much controversy has surrounded her since she took her life in 1963 at age thirty. She had battled depression for much of her life, had a difficult relationship with her parents, was married to a respected poet, Ted Hughes, who was unfaithful, and all the time she was trying to balance a literary career with her roles as wife and mother. Kirk has written biographies of Emily Dickinson and J.K. Rawling, so she brings a seasoned hand to the task of telling Plath’s story. Cici McNair is a very different kind of lady from Plath and she tells her story most entertainingly. Detectives Don’t Wear Seat Belts: True Adventures of a Female P.I. ($22.99, Center Street, an imprint of Hachette). Raised as a southern belle, Cici longed to escape her suffocating, strict upbringing to travel the world. From working at the Vatican to dining with a Haitian gunrunner, she has lived a very colorful life, but eventually she found herself divorced, unemployed, and very hungry in a Madison Avenue apartment. At that point, she decided to fulfill a childhood dream and become a private investigator. It wasn’t easy and it initially took her back to her Mississippi hometown. After starting her own firm, Green Star Investigations, she established herself and was in demand. This book is never dull! In a reflection of one of the great catastrophes of recent times, Hurricane Katrina, Phyllis Montana-Leblanc tells what it was like to be in New Orleans, before, during and after in Not Just the Levees Broke ($14.00, Atria Books, softcover) which has a foreword by filmmaker Spike Lee. August marked three years since the hurricane and the author takes you there as a former resident of the Ninth Ward. She spares no one as she reveals just how pathetic the response was from Mayor Ray Nagin who issues an evacuation order too late to the failure of emergency services, and the horror of a devastated city and area stripped of everything we count on each day from power to food.
Carl Sagan probably did more to turn Americans onto the wonders of astronomy and the universe as any single figure in modern times. I still recall his wonderful television series, “Cosmos”. An astronomer, planetary scientist, astrophysicist, exobiologist, skeptic and public figure, he made science interesting to a broad public. Ray Spanenburg and Kit Moser have written Carl Sagan: A Biography ($16.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) that is mercifully brief as opposed to the massive tomes that tend to get the most attention. It is a concise, lively biography of a remarkably talented man. I suspect he would have been on the front lines opposing the dubious, junk science “global warming” theory had he lived. I recommend reading this lively story of a remarkable man. The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac: Mystic of the Atom ($29.95, Basic Books) by Graham Farmelo is a biography about a man few outside the world of physics have ever heard. Stephen Hawking once called him the greatest British Theoretical physicist since Newton. In 1933 Dirac was the youngest theoretician to win the Nobel Prize for Physics. He predicted the existence of anti-matter before it was detected and co-discovered quantum mechanics, a feat second only to Einstein’s theory. The author was inspired by him to become a theoretical physicist and has spent the last six years research this man who fervently avoided the spotlight, but his theories opened the doors for later scientists to develop the modern string theory and other breakthroughs. What emerges in this biography is a man of astonishing intellect, matched only by his passion for both science and anonymity.
Indiana University Press has published three biographies of interest. A new Johnny Depp movie is out and he plays John Dillinger, a criminal who captured the nation’s imagination during the days of the Depression in the 1930s. To read the real story, pick up a copy of Dillinger: The Untold Story by G. Russell Girardin and William J. Helmer, with assistance from Rick Mattix ($21.95, softcover). I suspect the real Dillinger would be pleased by all the attention, but the fact remains he was a notorious and ruthless outlaw who killed quite a few people while robbing banks. Along the way, he staged three successful jail breaks. This book was originally written in the 1930s by Giradin, but never published. It was discovered by Helmer while researching Dillinger. Giradin got a lot of his information from Dillinger’s lawyer, Louis Piquett, after the gunman had been killed by FBI agents in a famous scene outside a movie house. It makes for some very interesting reading. For music lovers, there’s two books, the first of which is The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Legacy in Country Music ($55.00/$21.95, hard and softcover) where are familiar to many people even if they don’t know the composer. Jocelyn R. Neal traces three of his most influential songs and offers a new perspective on him. Ignaz Friedman by Allan Evans, ($39.95) is about a Polish-born composer and master pianist whose recordings in the 1920s and 1930s rank him among the greats. Little has been written about him, however, and this book makes up for that and, for those who love classical music, this book reveals a rich life of an extraordinary artist that was filled with achievement.
I am one of those people who enjoys starting up a conversation with strangers and, invariably, I find people of good humor and good will for a brief chat. I Am Everyone I Meet by James P. White ($12.95, Tabloid Books, softcover) is a collection of brief encounters with strangers on the streets of Los Angeles. They come from all over the world. It is a testimony to our common humanity and is very entertaining. I’m guessing you need to go to www.tabloidbooks.com in order to purchase it.
Lastly, there’s J. Randy Taraborrelli’s portrait of The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, available as an audio book ($29.98, Hachette, 7 CDs). Taraborrelli is a bestselling author of books about Elizabeth Taylor, Sinatra, and other show business personalities. He tells the heartbreaking story of a world-famous woman, her mother, a paranoid schizophrenic, her foster mother, and the details that continue of hold the public’s attention such as who her real father was, her relationship with the Kennedy’s, and her friendships with those who did their best to either exploit her or help her cope. She was an icon of my youth and, though few mention it, a very accomplished actress who could also sing.
To Your Health!
You may have noticed that Americans are living longer and longer these days. It is no longer uncommon for four generations of a family to be alive at the same time these days and the shift in demographics is having a significant impact on political issues, i.e., the debate over the proposed healthcare “reforms” and universal coverage. As it is, Medicare is running out of money and Social Security is not far behind. A timely book is The Longevity Revolution: The Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life by Dr. Robert N. Butler, MD ($30.00, Public Affairs). Worldwide people are living long and by 2025, at least 25% of the industrialized nations will be 65 and old. This book takes a long look at the way an aging population will transform our society. That’s why, if you are a senior citizen or have a parent who’s getting older, you might want to pick up a copy of The Real Truth about Aging: A Survival Guide for Older Adults and Caregivers by a trio of physicians ($21.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) that is filled with news of the latest research about the aging process, chapters on preventative medical testing, a look at so-called anti-aging therapies, vitamins and herbal supplement, and much more. The chapters on caring for an aging parent, particularly one that’s frail, are worth the price of the book. Having been through that for a mother who died at age 98, I wish I had been able to read this book during a long care giving period.
Overcoming ADHD by Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD with Jacob Greenspan ($25.00, Da Capo Press) addresses the fact that schools have been pushing the ADHD diagnosis (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) now for years and pressuring parents into drugging their children with Ritalin. The author brings 35 years of clinical practice as a child psychologist to bear on the topic. The problem is that his profession depends on identifying attitudes and problem behaviors that previous generations of parents dealt with in ways that did not include drugs or tons of counseling. Inattention is school, as often as not, is because school is a very boring place in which to be forced to spend most of the day for a lively young mind. It is a normal response. Hyper-activity is just the normal energy that most children have. I am loath to dispute the author, but if I were a parent these days of a school-age child, I would approach this book with caution.
Assuming that one’s mental health is highly dependent on whom one marries or surviving the now commonplace ordeal of divorce, there are two books offering cautionary and other skills. How to Marry the Wrong Guy: A Guide for Avoiding the Biggest Mistake of Your life by Anne Milford and Jennifer Gauvin, MSW, LCSW ($14.95, Coldfeet Press, softcover) should be mandatory reading for any woman contemplating marriage. Ms. Gauvin is a practicing marriage and family therapist and Ms. Milford cancelled her wedding exactly five months before the day. What both know is that many women, caught up in the demands and anxiety of planning a perfect wedding often push to the background the nagging fear that they are marrying the wrong guy. The book is filled with stories of women who walked down the aisle knowing they were making a mistake. This book is filled with excellent advice. You can learn more about it and purchase a copy at www.coldfeetpress.com. Another book deals with the heartbreak of divorce, noting that two-thirds of American families are “blended”, which means they are made up of remarried adults and often stepchildren. Many divorced people carry the animosities and negative behavior patterns of their former heartbreaks into their new marriage. Your Ex-Factor: Overcome Heartbreak and Build a Better Life by Stephen B. Poulter, Ph.D. addresses the problems ($18.98, Prometheus Books, softcover) and takes the reader through the three phases of divorce to the security of a stronger and more fulfilling future attachment. If you or someone you know is trying to move forward beyond the pain of emotional loss and attempting to achieve a new loving relationship, this would be a very good book to read.
Getting Down to Business
Labor Day marks a return to greater activity in the world of business after the traditional time for vacations. As always, there is a flurry of new books published to help everyone from the new graduate to managers succeed in their careers, invest wisely, and do well in the world of business.
Let’s start with recent graduates and J.R. Parrish’s You Don’t Have to Learn the Hard Way: Making it in the Real World ($19.95, BenBella Books, Dallas, TX). It is filled with proven advice on how to develop crucial people skills, avoid relationships that can derail one’s goals, establish one’s financial health, find mentors who can be dependable guides, and create good habits to further one’s success. The author went from being a milkman to being a multimillionaire after he established a commercial real estate company in the Silicon Valley based on treating people with fairness and respect. In a similar vein, Why Loyalty Matters by Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy ($24.95, Benbella Books) explores this vital aspect of running a business and why failing to exercise loyalty can destroy a company when workers are seen as expendable, employees job hop, and consumers buy what’s cheapest. It affects one’s personal life, too, leading to divorce and children don’t learn the value of service and citizenship. It is well worth reading. For those starting out in the world or those concerned about making wise investments, there’s Peter Passell’s Where to Put Your Money Now: How to Make Super-Safe Investments and Secure Your Future ($12.00, Pocket Books, softcover). Passell is a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, a non-partisan policy think tank in California. He has taught economics at the graduate school at Columbia University and has been widely published. In these uncertain times, everyone is wondering if their savings will last. The author offers lists of funds and accounts you can trust, reliable websites where you can learn more, and the kind of advice that can get you through tough times.
For those in managerial positions, there’s Organizing Your Day: Time Management Techniques That Will Work for You by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims ($13.99, Revell, softcover) that is filled with advice setting goals, project management, daily scheduling, and setting new habits to make your life more productive. If this is a problem for you, this is the book for you. The Hamster Revolution for Meetings: How to Meet Less and Get More Done by Mike Song, Vicki Halsey and Tim Burress ($19.95, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco) looks at the ways meetings have changed, becoming more frequent, informal, and virtual. That said, the authors believe that most managers and professionals need to upgrade their meeting skills and offer a host of excellent advice they say can save you the equivalent of 15 days a year in wasted time. From tech tips to time-saving tricks, the authors offer an easy-to-read regimen to help you make the best of meetings. If you are a woman, have a product or service for women or just want to sell more to women, pick up The Female Brand: Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business by Catherine Kaputa ($24.95, Davies-Black) by the personal branding guru who says that a woman in business doesn’t have to think like a man to succeed. Women, it turns out, are “wired” for certain skills that are highly valued in today’s global marketplace and, she says, have superior verbal and communications skills. Making the most of one’s skills is the essence of this book.
The Internet continues to offer all manner of new opportunities and to generate books about them. Scott Fox has written e-Riches 2.0 ($25.00, Amacom) on how to go about building a online business by using the wealth of low-cost, state-of-the-art tools and vehicles for connecting with customers. The problem for most, however, is that trying to get the handle on all the new opportunities for marketing online can be daunting. As Fox says, “The good news is that you don’t need to figure them all out.” This book builds on his first, Internet Riches and his popular blog. He keeps the focus on using today’s latest Web technologies for the purpose of making money. Others may still be wondering if they can make money on eBay and, for them, there’s The eBay Marketing Bible by Cliff Ennico and Cindy L. Shebley, eBay Certified Instructors ($22.00, Amacom, softcover). Incredible as it may seem, across the USA, nearly 900,000 small business retailers are making a living, either full-time or part-time, on eBay. With more than 80 million registered users worldwide, eBay has a real buyer for virtually every collectible and commodity imaginable. The book is full of good advice for the serious seller, particularly if you want to stand out from the crowd. For Internet addicts (and I am one of them), there’s an interesting and important book, Google Bomb which is “the untold story of the $11.3 verdict that changed the way we use the Internet.” Written by John W. Dozier, Jr. and Sue Scheff, ($14.94, HCI Books, softcover) it makes abundantly clear that it can take twenty years to build a sound reputable business and about twenty minutes “of vicious keystrokes to destroy it all.” This book explains how the Internet can be used against you, from job seekers and small business owners, to parents and students, and explains the things people can do today to protect themselves against those who bare them ill will or are simply malicious. Here’s how to be safe online, defensive tactics, and how to spot an Internet predator. Dozier is an attorney and Scheff is the founder of Parents’ Universal Resources Experts, Inc., a child and parenting advocacy organization. She is an expert on Internet defamation.
I recently received New Neighborhoods: The Consumer’s Guide to Condominium, Co-op, and HOA Living by Gary A. Poliakoff and Ryan Poliakoff ($16.95, Emerald Book Co., Austin, TX, softcover). For anyone contemplating moving to any of these housing options, I would heartily recommend reading this book first. A man’s home used to be his castle, but for millions of Americans, that could not be further from the truth. More than sixty million people live in shared ownership communities and some two million volunteers serve on association boards and committees. The degree of intrusion and control that these communities can exert is sometimes astonishing and many who have chosen to live in them have discovered this truth the hard way. To learn about the rights and responsibilities of shared ownership, pick up a copy of this excellent guide.
Books Kids Will Love
I am a strong advocate of getting youngsters to read at as early an age as possible. Books unlock the world and energize the brain. The reading habit can last a lifetime and provide endless hours of entertainment and knowledge.
Have I Got a Book for You by Melanie Watt ($16.95, Kids Can Press) is ideal for the very young, either pre-school or early readers because it slyly reveals how all manner of products are pitched by smooth talkers. Starring a fox, it takes the reader through all the usual ways salesmen get people to buy anything; in this case her book. Watts is an accomplished and established writer of books for youngsters and this one is pure fun. From the same publisher and for the same age group comes The Delicious Bug by Janet Perlman ($16.95) about two chameleons who get into a big fight over a delicious buy each wants to eat, resulting in they’re almost becoming dinner for two crocodiles! The message is a good one; don’t fight over things that can be shared. It is a very funny story with excellent artwork. Snowy Sports: Ready, Set, Play by Per-Henrick Gurth ($14.95), also for early readers, explores hockey, ice skating, and other favorite winter pastimes. For those who live where the snow falls along with the thermometer, this is a good one for youngsters in those climes. For readers age 7 to 10, there’s Out of This World: The Amazing Search for an Alien Earth by Jacob Berkowitz ($17.95) that combines science with an imaginative text and illustrations to describe how life on Earth began and the exploration for it elsewhere in our galaxy. A visit to www.kidscanpress.com will provide a look at its new and earlier texts.
Pre-teens in particular will benefit from the history lessons in two books from Calkins Creek, a Honesdale, PA publisher. Both are by Selene Castrovilla. By the Sword ($17.95) is about the Revolutionary War and the adventures of a young teacher who sacrifices his career to join George Washington’s army, engaging in the Battle of Long Island. Beautifully illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, it is a great way for a young reader, aged 7-10, to learn about the Revolution while being entertained by a first class story. Her other book, Upon Secrecy ($17.95) deals with the end of the Revolutionary War as the French fleet is soon to arrive and bottle up the British at Yorktown. Keeping it a secret, yet knowing of their arrival is essential to Washington and trusted spies aid him. Illustrated by Jeff Crosby and Shelley Ann Jackson, this too is history at its best for the younger reader.
Who doesn’t love girls? Well, their parents and friends do and American Girl is a publisher devoted to their interests. Pre-teens and teens will enjoy some of their new titles. All About You Quiz Book ($9.95) permits readers to do some early self-evaluation regarding their attitudes and behavior. Always a good idea at any time! Similarly, A Smart Girl’s Guide to Understanding Her Family ($9.95) helps the reader sort out the many questions about relationships with parents and siblings. Learning to understand one’s feelings is always a good idea. A Smart Girl’s Guide to The Internet ($9.95) explains how to connect with friends, find what you need, and to stay safe online. It is full of great ideas and good advice. A really girly-girl book is Spa Fun: Pampering Tips and Treatments for Girls is full of health and beauty tips that any young lady will want to learn about. Visit www.americangirl.com for a world of excellent books.
Mirrorstone is the younger reader’s division of Wizards of the Coast, one of the best publishers of fantasy books. It has a series featuring dragons and the latest is the Green Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham ($9.95) that spins a spellbinding story about a particular kind of dragon. There are the good ones, metallic, and the evil ones, chromantic. Coming soon, too, is the Silver Dragon Codex. Green dragons, as everyone knows, have 80-foot wingspans and breath jets of chlorine gas. The previous books in this series include the Red and Bronze dragons. These are fantastical tales It’s always nice to see new talent emerge and this is the case of Melissa Burmester who has been writing about vampires and supernatural creatures and events since the age of 12. Presently in high school, she has penned Ginger High, ($14.95, Infinity Publishing) a school for students with special powers, the descendents of a parallel universe, but the school is encountering some unexplained deaths and it is up to Daisy Fisher to solve the mystery. This is an impressive debut. Check it out at www.gingerhigh.com.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
One day last month I received seven books. Of the seven, four were adult novels and one was written for young adults. That’s too many novels on one day. And that is what it is like to be a book reviewer these days. In the fall, catalogs arrive from publishers large and small. They all seem to have endless novels and just a few non-fiction books. I don’t know who is buying all these novels, if in fact they do sell. One assumes they do or the publishers would not be publishing them. So, with that lament, let’s look as some of the better ones that have arrived of late.
Combining today’s headlines with a fast-paced thriller, Gray Garland has written Top Secret: Escape from Iran ($16.60/$11.60, Authorhouse, hard and softcover editions). In this novel, the President and the CIA work together to send an American businessman to Iran on a top secret mission. The object is to bring home an old college friend and to persuade an Iranian scientist to defect. After a life spent as an international businessman, the author serves up an entertaining story. That he began writing in his 80s says something for having a lot of experience under your belt. A more traditional mystery is served up by Peter Lovesey in Skeleton Hill: A Peter Diamond Investigation ($24.00, Soho). This is the tenth mystery in which Inspector Diamond is the key player and it is, of course, very much in the English tradition of such novels. In a reenactment of a battle that took place over 350 years ago near Bath, England, two of the reenactors discover the headless skeleton of a 20-year-old woman. One of them is then found murdered. The English have perfected this kind of novel with its many twists and turns and you will be turning the pages as quickly as you can to find out whodunit.
Colonial Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s is the beginning location for Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa ($25.99, St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books). It is there that Fela, a slave, works as a seamstress at a sugar plantation. She carries a “special stone” with her into which the essence of her unborn child was carried. After sex with the plantation owner, she becomes pregnant and dies soon after giving birth to a daughter Mali. She becomes a powerful “curandera”, a traditional folk healer. The novel follows the lives of daughters, born generation after generation, until it ends with Carisa, born and raised in New York City. It is quite intriguing. Motherhood is at the heart of 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton ($24.95, Unbridled Books) when a mother wakes in the middle of the night convinced that something is wrong with her adult son. In his early twenties, he has turned from being a sensitive, idealistic man into one upset and distant. Thus begins a search for him. What the reader knows, however, is that he is just 31 hours from committing an act of violence in a New York subway for which he trained in Pakistan where he has secretly been for several months. This is about the making of an Islamic militant and it is a thought-provoking and gripping story by a veteran journalist who has covered the Middle East. A quite different local is the background for The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim ($33.00, Henry Holt and Company). Inspired by her own family history, the novel actually began as a work of non-fiction, but evolved into the story of Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher who longs to choose her own destiny. Smart and headstrong, she is encouraged by her mother, but her stern father is determined to maintain tradition, especially at a time in the last century when the Japanese were gaining control of his beloved country. To avoid being married off at age 14, her mother sends her to serve in the king’s court as the companion to a young princess, but the king is soon assassinated. She most cope with increased oppression and seek to continue her education. This is a look at Korea’s history that is rarely offered an American audience or readers and it is well worth reading.
I always like it when a former intelligence operative writes a thriller because you know it is based on real experience. This is the case with John J. Le Beau who served as a clandestine operations office in the CIA for more than 25 years, most of which took place overseas, including nations experience active terrorism and insurgency. Since 2006, Dr. Le Beau has been a professor of national security studies at the George C. Marshall European Center in Garmisch, Germany. Thus, Collision of Evil ($25.95, Oceanview Publishing) has the ring of authenticity to it when it begins with the murder of an American tourist in the Bavarian Alps. The German detective in charge of the case discovers neither clues, not suspects, nor motives. When the victim’s brother arrives and insists on joining the investigation things get even murkier, some reaching back to the Third Reich, and all pointing to a deadly plot. Can you imagine by the son of an acclaimed novelist and wanting to write one yourself? That was the challenge for Peter Leonard, son of Elmore Leonard, one of my favorites, but he has acquitted himself quite well in Trust Me ($24.95, Minotaur Books). It has an ensemble cast of schemers, losers, thugs, con-men, and killers. It has a high-speed plot that unfolds as it careens through the neighborhoods of Detroit. There is no way to explain the plot without giving it away, so suffice it to say that it will prove very entertaining. This is Leonard’s second novel and he is on his way to making his dad and his readers very proud of him. Based on a true story, Dead Weight by Batt Humphreys ($25.95, Joggling Board Press) is the result of his return to his native South after a career in network news at CBS. In 1910, Daniel Duncan, a young black man of respectable employment and temperament was arrested on the even of his wedding for the murder of a local merchant. Suffice it to say that local justice in those days was no justice at all for an African-American. The novel is told through the eyes of a fictional reporter from New York who is assigned to the trial. It was such a miscarriage of justice that a hurricane that hit Charleston after the hanging was seen as divine retribution for the death of an innocent man.
For a very nice change of pace, there’s Robert Rave’s Spin ($24.99, St, Martin’s Press) that just has to be made into a movie. This debut novel explores the lives of the puppet masters who pull the strings behind the scenes. They are the people who keep us glued to our TV’s, computer screens, magazine pages, and all in the name of celebrity. The main character is a corn-fed young man from the Midwest, Taylor Green, who is in the right place at the right time. He gets hired by New York public relations dominatrix, Jennifer Weinstein, soon becoming her right-hand man, getting drawn into her world of sex, greed, power, and fame. His new life conflicts with his core values, though, and he must choose to leave the glamour of a wild New York celebrity scene and a return to one that makes a lot more sense. As someone who has earned his living in public relations (though not this variety), I naturally found this very entertaining and I am confident you will too.
That’s it for September, but mark your calendar to return in October when the best in new books on a wide range of topics is explored.
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Bookviews August 2009
My Picks of the Month
After some fifty years of reading and reviewing, I am always searching for the book that offers a new look at an interesting topic. Such is the case of Death Becomes Them by Alix Strauss ($14.99. Harper Paperback Original) that will not officially debut until mid-September. It is a contemplation and report on why so many famous folk in the modern era committed suicide. Of particular interest to bibliophiles are the poets and authors such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Ernest Hemingway. Others include musician Curt Cobain, monologist Spalding Gray, and gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson. There are others, but the common thread seems to be depression, which is to say serious mental illnesses, addictions, and the belief that life was just too unbearable. Ms. Strauss organizes her information quite well and brings the impassionate eye of a true reporter to each of the people in this fascinating book. As to suicide itself, she notes that each year in the United States, more than 32,000 people succeed in killing themselves. That's 86 Americans every day, one death every 16 to 18 minutes. Worldwide, about two thousand people kill themselves every day. She succeeds in going well beyond the numbers into the lives of those who enjoyed great success, but who also experienced great sadness and despair.
Another unique new book is The New York Times Book of New York ($27.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a look at the last 150 years of the city’s heartbeat, its people, from the notable to the largely unknown. It is composed of 549 stories of its people and events. Edited by James Barron and Mitchel Levitas, two reporters on the metropolitan beat, this book will have special appeal to people who make the city their home or anyone who has grown up there and perhaps moved elsewhere. It is organized into sections that capture various aspects of the Big Apple, whether it be food, sports, neighborhoods, crime, Broadway or City Hall. It is filled with wonderful reading and would make a great gift for any New Yorker.
In these hard times, it is natural to go in search of the kind of advice that can help sort out one’s problems and provide some guidance on how to carry on. Two such books have recently been published and will no doubt provide some help. The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit: How to Bounce Back from Life’s Hardest Hits ($28.00, Ballantine Books) by Azim Khamisa and Jillian Quinn examine thirty essential keys to emotional and spiritual resiliency, offering simple strategies and advice that will open one’s mind to new ways of thinking that will help you take control of your life and avoid negative thoughts that will keep you trapped. Life after Loss: A Practical guide to Renewing Your Life After Experiencing Major Loss by Bob Deits ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is now in its fifth edition and it discusses how to gain control over the grieving processes and begin to lead a fulfilling life after a major loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a traumatic injury, job loss, et cetera. It is a practical, user-friendly guide. Coming in November is Starting Over: 25 Rules When You’ve Bottomed Out by Mary Lee Gannon ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) that addresses unemployment. The author, in fact, did lose everything after living a comfortable middle class life as a homemaker when she was divorced, then homeless, without a car, and on welfare. People around the nation are experiencing job loss and the trauma that incurs. This book is filled with insightful strategies and step-by-step methods and clever tips to get your life on track from someone who has been through that experience.
I love really big books, the ones often referred to as “coffee table” because of their size. The Indiana University Press has recently published two such books and, although the titles may initially seem offbeat, the fact remains they are a wonderful piece of history captured in photos with intelligent texts. What they reveal is just how dynamic our manufacturing and transportation sector once was in an age that preceded our superpower status. Steel Giants by Stephen G. McShane and Gary S. Wilk ($39.95) features historical images from the Calumet Regional Archives when a legion of workers descended on the northwest Indiana dunes to forge a world-class steel industry for the nation. Mills constructed by companies such as U.S. Steel and Inland Steel led to prosperous towns, making the Calumet region one of the most heavily population and ethnically diverse areas of the nation. From 1906 into the 1960s, the U.S. enjoyed a golden age of steel production. Iowa’s Railroads by H. Roger Grant and Don L. Hofsommer ($29.95) reflects the essential role of railroading in the success of the nation. At one time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track and that meant Iowa’s great wheat and corn crops, plus its hogs and other livestock could thrive. It also led to urban development connecting Iowa City and Cedar Rapids to other cities nationwide. Filled with 461 black and white photos, this is a wonderful trip back in time when most of America’s goods and people traveled on the nation’s extensive rail systems.
I confess that years of reviewing have made most cookbooks look alike to me. There are always exceptions, however, and The Bear and Fish Family Cookbook
by Yabin Yu and Jialin Tian ($33.95, Jacya, Inc., Yorktown, VA, large format softcover) is certainly one. The popularity of Asian cuisine is well established in America and the authors have put together 130 of their family’s favorite recipes, illustrated by 130 mouth-watering full color photos, to teach readers how to prepare classic Chinese dishes that include appetizers, soup, salads, eggs, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and noodles, desserts and pastries. Every page is an invitation to try something delicious. My late Mother who wrote cookbooks and taught haute cuisine would have loved this cookbook and been eager to try its recipes. You can learn more about it when you visit www.bearandfishcookbook.com. From far-off Beijing and Tianjin China, the authors, both of whom have advanced degrees in engineering, demonstrate that it is the love of food that connects the whole human family.
Each year 150,000 students take the SAT exams in hopes of qualifying for college and many of them have had to deal with leaning difficulties. Until now, no study guide to help these students has existed, but Paul Osborne, who has dyslexia himself and has been teaching SAT preparation has remedied that. LD SAT ($24.95, Alpha Books/Penguin, large format softcover) is a study guide filled with preparation and strategies specifically for students with learning disabilities. If you have a family member or know someone who would benefit from such a guide, this book is packed with all kinds of useful information and there’s even a companion website that enables them to take a pre-test as well as several practice tests, getting their scores immediately so they can spot those areas that need extra work.
As you might imagine, I see quite a few books concerning religion. They are mostly about the Christian tradition as is to be expected in a largely Christian nation, but occasionally a book arrives that addresses the spiritual and cultural traditions of Judaism. Such a book is The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion by Sally Srok Friedes ($19.95, O-Books, softcover). It is an intensely personal story of a Catholic girl from Wisconsin who, upon coming to Manhattan falls madly in love with a handsome, wealthy Jewish lad and is slowly incorporated into “the tribe”, embraced by her mother-in-law and initiated into the traditions of the faith. It is a journey of discovery and ultimately of great solace and joy as the author tells why she chose to become a Jew as the mysteries of the religion fell away as it bedrock philosophy revealed itself to her. I am not sure for whom this book was written except of course the author herself, but it will surely speak to anyone who has thought to themselves that being Jewish would endow their life with a meaning and purpose not found in other spiritual havens. For anyone considering conversion to Judaism, this book will prove useful.
Here’s to Your Health
Have you noticed how some people find threats to health in everything? This is particularly true of those who subscribe to the environmentalist view of the world and if you want to know how everything will kill you, pick up a copy of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being by Nena Baker ($15.00, North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, softcover.) By the time you’re through reading this pile of paranoia you will fear flame retardants in furniture, microwave popcorn, anything made of plastic, and the list just goes on and on. I am reminded of Rachel Carson’s famed “Silent Spring” that led to the ban on DDT and the needless deaths of millions from the malaria transmitted by mosquitoes. This book is not really about hazardous chemicals. It’s about an attitude that can make your life a daily horror instead of a daily joy. Health care “reform” is very much in the news these days and over the years I have read any number of books about this subject. Coming next month is A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine by Dr. Len Saputo, MD with Byron Belitsos ($21.95, Origin Press) and the operative word is “radical” because the author advocates “natural healing” as the future of medicine, universal insurance coverage that includes reimbursement for “alternative” medical treatments, and the right to choose one’s treatments without “coercion by government-backed monopolies”, and much more along the same lines. To put it another way, if you want acupuncture as opposed to a more science-based treatment, it’s your right to die from the wrong choice. It’s not that the author doesn’t have good credentials; he’s board certified in internal medicine. There is no question that the present medical system costs too much and doesn’t put enough emphasis on preventative measures. That said, the less government is involved in our medical system the better. Socialized medicine as practiced in other nations is too often a nightmare of delay and rationed treatment that ends up killing people. This book needs a “Proceed with Caution” label on its cover.
All my life I have been fortunate enough to be spared headaches and those I have had went away swiftly with a couple of aspirin. Others have not been so fortunate and for them there’s The Migraine Brain by Dr. Carolyn Bernstein, MD, ($16.00, Free Press) that is now in a softcover edition. Migraines are a complex, neurological disease affecting more than 30 million Americans, most of them women. It is more than just a headache and, as a neurologist on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, the author is an expert on the topic. For anyone who suffers migraines this is the book to read because it is packed with excellent information about the three types of drugs that are available to treat migraines, wellness plans, steps to take to prevent and reduce migraine, how to create a living space that is migraine free, and much more. Another ailment that afflicts as many as fifteen million women, some five percent of the adult female population, is fibromyalgia. The Fibromyalgia Controversy by Dr. M. Clement Hall, MD, takes an in-depth look at why the medical community is divided over the reality of the condition with one side arguing that patients are masquerading, pretending to have a malady and the other side believing it is very real and that patients are not receiving the support they need. The book ($18.98, Prometheus Books) presents six fictional, though fact-based, case studies of typical patients and describes the varying investigations, diagnosis, and treatments they have undergone. Here again, if you or someone you know has been diagnosed or is suspected to suffer from fibromyalgia, this is a useful, informative book to read.
Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Dr. Mark Sloan, MD ($25.00, Ballantine Books) will prove an enjoyable examination of this miracle of life. As the author who has helped deliver 3,000 babies says, “I was struck by the seemingly simple question asked by her exhausted husband: why is this so hard?” And he didn’t have an answer. Birth is hard and yet, over the centuries, he has occurred everywhere from the caves of early humans to the operating rooms of modern hospitals in the same way. The book discusses how the fetus transforms itself into a fully developed baby, why childbirth can sometimes go wrong and how to save the baby when it does. It is a guided tour to the newborn’s remarkable body.
The Subject is Science
I suspect that science is a mystery for most people who are not directly involved in its various aspects, but it is science, the process by which one arrives at a truth about how everything works, from the human body to the universe, that has given us modern wonders which we take for granted.
There are a number of books that can help anyone understand various aspects of science and Prometheus Books has three excellent new ones available. Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved! by Randy Cerveny ($26.98) is a potpourri of questions related to weather such as why the Mayan civilization disappeared or how the ancient Israelis cross the Red Sea as the Bible tells us? This is a tour of questions that climatologists explore and tried to answer. Weather, however, is what is happened now and climate is something that is examined in terms of hundreds and thousands of years. The book is entertaining, but hardly the final word on anything. The Universe—Order Without Design by Carlos I. Calle ($27.98) asks whether the universe was designed to produce life? Physicists have discovered that many seemingly unconnected phenomena which took place millions of years apart, played a crucial role in the development of life on Earth. NASA senior research scientist, Calle, takes a close look at this and in the process makes the complex comprehensible. The essential laws of physics hold true, but the universe remains in many ways a mystery that tantalizes the minds of scientists. Lastly, David F. Prindle has written Stephen Jay Gould and the Politics of Evolution ($26.98). Gould was, until his death in 2002, America’s best known natural scientist. His essays in Natural History magazine were widely read by both scientists and laymen. This is the first book to explore his science and his politics as a consistent whole, noting that his mind worked along both tracks simultaneously. Gould drove a big truck through the popular theory of evolution credited to Charles Darwin. As more research as revealed, he was probably right.
For those interested in evolutionary theories, I will repeat my recommendation of Robert W. Felix’s remarkable book, Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps ($15.95, Sugarhouse Publishing, Bellevue, WA, softcover. It is available at www.iceagenow. The author demonstrates, often noting Stephen Gould’s hypothesis, that evolution was not a slow process, but tended to match up with Earth’s magnetic reversals, making many creatures extinct while producing entire new or radically changed species in the process. For the stargazers out there, Christopher Cokinos has written The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars ($27.95, Tarcher/Penguin), taking readers on a hunt through time and space as he profiles maverick scientists, mad dreamers, and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites and turned their study into a legitimate science. His own journeys followed the footsteps of these explorers from Greenland to Kansas, Australia to the South Pole. August is a month for the Perseids when shooting stars can best be seen in the Northeast after midnight on the 11th and 12th. Coming in October, the Draconids on October 7 and 8, and the Orionids on the 21st. The dust of meteors is everywhere, having pounded into the Earth for eons. Finally, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw have written, Why Does E=mc2 (And Why Should We Care?) ($24.00, Da Capo Press). This equation is widely known, but few really understand what it means. The authors take the mystery out of it and dispel common misconceptions about relativity, starting with the notion that it is incomprehensible. The authors provide a definition that anyone can understand and then apply it to some exciting science taking place right now such as in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva with its ability to recreate conditions immediately following the Big Bang. Read this book and I guarantee that it will make you the smartest person in the room!
People, People, People
One of the great things about reading biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs is that it gives one insights into the lives of people, famous and unknown. As such, the books reveal something about ourselves, about human nature, about resiliency in the face of the difficulties life puts in our path, and, as often as not, about some of the less pleasant truths as well.
The death of Michael Jackson revealed his impact on the lives of his fans, on the music he created and performed, and about his personal demons and failures. As he rose to fame, so did one of the most famous girl groups from the same Motown that launched so many talented folk. The story of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal is told by Mark Ribowsky ($26.00, Da Capo Press) and it is a classic one of being lifted out of the “projects” of Detroit. The Supremes were four girls who loved to sing and whose talent made them the most successful female singing groups of all time; the first to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The seeds of their breakup were sown at the very beginning as Diana Ross demanded top billing. The movie, “Dream Girls”, captured the behind-the-scenes turmoil, but the real story as captured in this book is every bit as dramatic and more. Blind ambition and unmitigated deception ultimately split the Supremes and anyone who loves the popular music scene will want to read this book. Another singer is the subject of Bjork, the Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork Guomundsdottir ($22.95, Indiana University Press, softcover) by Nicola Dibben. This is a book that will primarily appeal to music aficionados interested in her collaborative working relationship with various artists, musicians, and sound engineers, resulting in twelve Grammy Award nominations, two Golden Globe wards, and an Academy Award among others. The author is a senior lecturer and head of graduate studies in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield.
It’s baseball season and books about the game, its history and its players are showing up as might be expected. Coming in September is Willie’s Boys by John Klima, a look at the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the last Negro League World Series, and the making of a baseball legend. Back then William Howard Mays, Jr. was just a 16-year-old at the beginning of a career of a baseball superstar at the time the Negro Leagues were in their twilight years. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Willie Mays would debut for the New York Giants. This is a very pleasurable read for anyone who loves the game. It Was Never About the Babe by Jerry M. Gutlon ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing) tells the story of the Red Sox who were told that their team was cursed because the Sox had sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees. As Gutlon tells it, there was much more drama to Red Sox history than any mythical curse. The truth is more shocking than any fable. With the zeal of a lifelong Sox fan and skill of a seasoned journalist, Gutlon reveals that ownership too often chose managers and players not based on their talent, but on whom they drank with. Before and after baseball integrated, personal and institutional racism affected their decision-making and the result were teams that lacked the talent, leadership, chemistry, and luck needed to win championships. This is the real nitty-gritty about a team that has finally shaken the mythical curse and demonstrated what can happen when it shakes free of its past.
Lovers of literature (and that surely includes visitors to this website) will enjoy Public Poet, Private man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200 by Christoph Irmscher ($24.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). I suspect that Longfellow is among one of the best known American poets by name, yet unknown because generations since his heyday in the 1800s no longer read his work except as perhaps a class assignment. He was a celebrity in his era, one that revered poetry and literature. This book combines both excellent scholarship and a valuable look at the whole man in terms of his family, his friends, and his life in the spotlight. So Long as Men Can Breath: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Clinton Heylin ($24.00, Da Capo Press) takes a look at the 154 of what many regard as the world’s greatest love poems and asks what if they had never been published? That very nearly was the case because Shakespeare only circulated them among his friends, never intending to publish them because they would not earn anything. The book is “the untold story of Shakespeare’s sonnets” and like everything else about this genius, it is a very interesting story. The sonnets were published by a printer, George Eld and a certain Thomas Thorpe, a self-described ‘adventurer’ trying to make a name for himself in the London publishing scene. The question arises whether the 1609 edition was published without Shakespeare’s permission? And, of course, the sonnets soon spawned their own controversies as to whether Shakespeare was their real author, to whom were they written, and the more. Rather ironically, Heylin is also the author of The Da Capo Book of Rock and Roll!
Another famous name from that era was Sir Isaac Newton and a lesser known aspect of his life was that, in 1695, he left his Cambridge home of 35 years to take a government position in London as Warden of His Majesty’s Mint, a sinecure with the responsibility for overseeing the gold and silver coinage of the kingdom. Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson reveals how the inventor of calculus, the discoverer of the laws of motion and gravity, devoted all his talents and experience in pursuit of one of the most dangerous men of his day. It is a real page-turner, an account of a bloodthirsty rivalry and an interesting look the revolutionary scientist’s later life.
For a change of pace there’s Up for Renewal: What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter ($15.00, Atria Books, softcover) in which the author deliberately decided to live according to the advice in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Self, Real Simple, and Cosmopolitan on just about every aspect of life. For twelve months she determined to learn how to make men desire her, how to throw fabulous parties, and be a standout among coworkers. With equal parts of honesty and hilarity she tells of how such dealt with a rotten job, a dear friend with a serious illness, her complex relationship with her mother, and her fears of rejection and loneliness. Did I mention this is a book that women will read, but men will not? Find out if all that advice in the magazines works.
If you like road trip books, you will enjoy The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Changes by Mark Millhone ($22.99, Rodale) in which the author tells of a year in which his life was filled with troubles. He’d almost lost a son to birth complications, his father was diagnosed with cancer, and his mother died. His marriage began to come apart. When he logged onto eBayMotors, he discovered the car of his dreams, a 1994 BMW that was virtually mint new. Traveling from New York to Texas , he is joined by his father and the story will cheer you. The 1960s and 70s may have been two of the worst decades for their impact on later ones. Still, they fascinate because of their excesses. Stories Done: Writing on the 1960s and its Discontents by Mikal Gilmore ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) takes a look at the era’s cultural icons, from George Harrison, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Jim Morrison to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson, and Leonard Cohen. This is a celebration of Rock and Roll in the Woodstock era. Gilmore has written for Rolling Stone since the 1970s so he knows this turf well and the years have given him a perspective on the era.
Kid Stuff: Books for Younger Readers
Starting with the very young and moving up through the age groups, here are a number of books from pre-school, pre-teens, and the older young person not yet out of their teens.
Countdown to Fall by Frank Hawk and beautifully illustrated by Sherry Neidigh ($6.95, Sylvan Dell Publishing) arrives in time to entertain and education those age 4 through 8. It explains the phenomenon we take for granted such as the changing color of the leaves and why different trees have different leaves. It illustrates, too, how various animals are affected by the change in the weather. The illustrations are superb and a great way to get younger folk interested in books. For parents who want to give their kids a head start on learning, a visit to www.SylvanDellPublishing.com is a good place to begin. For an older component, ages 7 to 10, If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong, provides a quick, easy overview of the more than 300 million people living in the U.S. It is chockablock with statistics on all aspects of life in America, but in a way that will prove interesting and probably surprising for younger readers ($18.95, Kids Can Press) and its large format combining wonderful artwork and brief text is perfect for this age group. For those age 6 to 12, there’s another fun way of learning in Famous Figures of Ancient Times ($19.95 @ www.figuresinmotion.com) Printed on strong card stock paper, it presents 20 historical figures, kings, philosophers, religious leaders, scholars, military leaders and one elephant in both pre-colored and color-them-in versions that can be cut out and assembled into moveable action figures. A brief biographical note is provided for each figure in the book. With crayons, colored pencils or paint, scissors, a 1/8 inch punch, and fasteners, easy to follow instructions will ensure hours of fun.
For the older set, teenagers, sometimes referred to as “young adults”, there are any number of novels written expressly for them and, since I love history) an instant favorite of mine is Hannibal’s Elephant Girl by Ariion Kathleen Brindley ($9.95 @ http://www.ariionkathleenbrindley.com). In 218 BCE Hannibal took his army, along with 37 elephants, in an epic journey over the Alps to attack the Romans. This story begins eleven years earlier when one of his elephants pulled a drowning firl from a river near Carthage in North Africa. Thus begins her bond with an elephant named Obolus. The author knows how to spin a tale and there are her other books to be found at her website. Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill is a fresh voice for teen girls with her debut novel featuring Skylar Hoyt, a high school senior whose exotic Hawaiian looks have propelled her to the height of the ‘in’ crowd, but she is no longer sure where she fits in. New friends, old friends, and a family crisis ensue as she tries to keep it together and figure out who she really wants to be. Issues of popularity, friendship, sexuality, and more are addressed with grace and style. Spooky stuff always appeals to the imagination of some teens and Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme ($16.95, Running Press) is official due off the press next month with a story about a young girl who, trying to be accepted by the ‘in crowd’ accepts a dare to spend a night at a local cemetery. Once there, she meets a handsome boy who works as a caretaker who tells her about Tombstone Tea which is a performance in which actors impersonate the people buried there. Amy discovers they are actually ghosts of the deceased and she possesses the ability to communicate with them. Will she be able to settle an ancient dispute that creates danger and dispute within the cemetery walls?
After some fifty years of reading and reviewing, I am always searching for the book that offers a new look at an interesting topic. Such is the case of Death Becomes Them by Alix Strauss ($14.99. Harper Paperback Original) that will not officially debut until mid-September. It is a contemplation and report on why so many famous folk in the modern era committed suicide. Of particular interest to bibliophiles are the poets and authors such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Ernest Hemingway. Others include musician Curt Cobain, monologist Spalding Gray, and gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson. There are others, but the common thread seems to be depression, which is to say serious mental illnesses, addictions, and the belief that life was just too unbearable. Ms. Strauss organizes her information quite well and brings the impassionate eye of a true reporter to each of the people in this fascinating book. As to suicide itself, she notes that each year in the United States, more than 32,000 people succeed in killing themselves. That's 86 Americans every day, one death every 16 to 18 minutes. Worldwide, about two thousand people kill themselves every day. She succeeds in going well beyond the numbers into the lives of those who enjoyed great success, but who also experienced great sadness and despair.
Another unique new book is The New York Times Book of New York ($27.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a look at the last 150 years of the city’s heartbeat, its people, from the notable to the largely unknown. It is composed of 549 stories of its people and events. Edited by James Barron and Mitchel Levitas, two reporters on the metropolitan beat, this book will have special appeal to people who make the city their home or anyone who has grown up there and perhaps moved elsewhere. It is organized into sections that capture various aspects of the Big Apple, whether it be food, sports, neighborhoods, crime, Broadway or City Hall. It is filled with wonderful reading and would make a great gift for any New Yorker.
In these hard times, it is natural to go in search of the kind of advice that can help sort out one’s problems and provide some guidance on how to carry on. Two such books have recently been published and will no doubt provide some help. The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit: How to Bounce Back from Life’s Hardest Hits ($28.00, Ballantine Books) by Azim Khamisa and Jillian Quinn examine thirty essential keys to emotional and spiritual resiliency, offering simple strategies and advice that will open one’s mind to new ways of thinking that will help you take control of your life and avoid negative thoughts that will keep you trapped. Life after Loss: A Practical guide to Renewing Your Life After Experiencing Major Loss by Bob Deits ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is now in its fifth edition and it discusses how to gain control over the grieving processes and begin to lead a fulfilling life after a major loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a traumatic injury, job loss, et cetera. It is a practical, user-friendly guide. Coming in November is Starting Over: 25 Rules When You’ve Bottomed Out by Mary Lee Gannon ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) that addresses unemployment. The author, in fact, did lose everything after living a comfortable middle class life as a homemaker when she was divorced, then homeless, without a car, and on welfare. People around the nation are experiencing job loss and the trauma that incurs. This book is filled with insightful strategies and step-by-step methods and clever tips to get your life on track from someone who has been through that experience.
I love really big books, the ones often referred to as “coffee table” because of their size. The Indiana University Press has recently published two such books and, although the titles may initially seem offbeat, the fact remains they are a wonderful piece of history captured in photos with intelligent texts. What they reveal is just how dynamic our manufacturing and transportation sector once was in an age that preceded our superpower status. Steel Giants by Stephen G. McShane and Gary S. Wilk ($39.95) features historical images from the Calumet Regional Archives when a legion of workers descended on the northwest Indiana dunes to forge a world-class steel industry for the nation. Mills constructed by companies such as U.S. Steel and Inland Steel led to prosperous towns, making the Calumet region one of the most heavily population and ethnically diverse areas of the nation. From 1906 into the 1960s, the U.S. enjoyed a golden age of steel production. Iowa’s Railroads by H. Roger Grant and Don L. Hofsommer ($29.95) reflects the essential role of railroading in the success of the nation. At one time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track and that meant Iowa’s great wheat and corn crops, plus its hogs and other livestock could thrive. It also led to urban development connecting Iowa City and Cedar Rapids to other cities nationwide. Filled with 461 black and white photos, this is a wonderful trip back in time when most of America’s goods and people traveled on the nation’s extensive rail systems.
I confess that years of reviewing have made most cookbooks look alike to me. There are always exceptions, however, and The Bear and Fish Family Cookbook
by Yabin Yu and Jialin Tian ($33.95, Jacya, Inc., Yorktown, VA, large format softcover) is certainly one. The popularity of Asian cuisine is well established in America and the authors have put together 130 of their family’s favorite recipes, illustrated by 130 mouth-watering full color photos, to teach readers how to prepare classic Chinese dishes that include appetizers, soup, salads, eggs, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and noodles, desserts and pastries. Every page is an invitation to try something delicious. My late Mother who wrote cookbooks and taught haute cuisine would have loved this cookbook and been eager to try its recipes. You can learn more about it when you visit www.bearandfishcookbook.com. From far-off Beijing and Tianjin China, the authors, both of whom have advanced degrees in engineering, demonstrate that it is the love of food that connects the whole human family.Each year 150,000 students take the SAT exams in hopes of qualifying for college and many of them have had to deal with leaning difficulties. Until now, no study guide to help these students has existed, but Paul Osborne, who has dyslexia himself and has been teaching SAT preparation has remedied that. LD SAT ($24.95, Alpha Books/Penguin, large format softcover) is a study guide filled with preparation and strategies specifically for students with learning disabilities. If you have a family member or know someone who would benefit from such a guide, this book is packed with all kinds of useful information and there’s even a companion website that enables them to take a pre-test as well as several practice tests, getting their scores immediately so they can spot those areas that need extra work.
As you might imagine, I see quite a few books concerning religion. They are mostly about the Christian tradition as is to be expected in a largely Christian nation, but occasionally a book arrives that addresses the spiritual and cultural traditions of Judaism. Such a book is The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion by Sally Srok Friedes ($19.95, O-Books, softcover). It is an intensely personal story of a Catholic girl from Wisconsin who, upon coming to Manhattan falls madly in love with a handsome, wealthy Jewish lad and is slowly incorporated into “the tribe”, embraced by her mother-in-law and initiated into the traditions of the faith. It is a journey of discovery and ultimately of great solace and joy as the author tells why she chose to become a Jew as the mysteries of the religion fell away as it bedrock philosophy revealed itself to her. I am not sure for whom this book was written except of course the author herself, but it will surely speak to anyone who has thought to themselves that being Jewish would endow their life with a meaning and purpose not found in other spiritual havens. For anyone considering conversion to Judaism, this book will prove useful.
Here’s to Your Health
Have you noticed how some people find threats to health in everything? This is particularly true of those who subscribe to the environmentalist view of the world and if you want to know how everything will kill you, pick up a copy of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being by Nena Baker ($15.00, North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, softcover.) By the time you’re through reading this pile of paranoia you will fear flame retardants in furniture, microwave popcorn, anything made of plastic, and the list just goes on and on. I am reminded of Rachel Carson’s famed “Silent Spring” that led to the ban on DDT and the needless deaths of millions from the malaria transmitted by mosquitoes. This book is not really about hazardous chemicals. It’s about an attitude that can make your life a daily horror instead of a daily joy. Health care “reform” is very much in the news these days and over the years I have read any number of books about this subject. Coming next month is A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine by Dr. Len Saputo, MD with Byron Belitsos ($21.95, Origin Press) and the operative word is “radical” because the author advocates “natural healing” as the future of medicine, universal insurance coverage that includes reimbursement for “alternative” medical treatments, and the right to choose one’s treatments without “coercion by government-backed monopolies”, and much more along the same lines. To put it another way, if you want acupuncture as opposed to a more science-based treatment, it’s your right to die from the wrong choice. It’s not that the author doesn’t have good credentials; he’s board certified in internal medicine. There is no question that the present medical system costs too much and doesn’t put enough emphasis on preventative measures. That said, the less government is involved in our medical system the better. Socialized medicine as practiced in other nations is too often a nightmare of delay and rationed treatment that ends up killing people. This book needs a “Proceed with Caution” label on its cover.
All my life I have been fortunate enough to be spared headaches and those I have had went away swiftly with a couple of aspirin. Others have not been so fortunate and for them there’s The Migraine Brain by Dr. Carolyn Bernstein, MD, ($16.00, Free Press) that is now in a softcover edition. Migraines are a complex, neurological disease affecting more than 30 million Americans, most of them women. It is more than just a headache and, as a neurologist on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, the author is an expert on the topic. For anyone who suffers migraines this is the book to read because it is packed with excellent information about the three types of drugs that are available to treat migraines, wellness plans, steps to take to prevent and reduce migraine, how to create a living space that is migraine free, and much more. Another ailment that afflicts as many as fifteen million women, some five percent of the adult female population, is fibromyalgia. The Fibromyalgia Controversy by Dr. M. Clement Hall, MD, takes an in-depth look at why the medical community is divided over the reality of the condition with one side arguing that patients are masquerading, pretending to have a malady and the other side believing it is very real and that patients are not receiving the support they need. The book ($18.98, Prometheus Books) presents six fictional, though fact-based, case studies of typical patients and describes the varying investigations, diagnosis, and treatments they have undergone. Here again, if you or someone you know has been diagnosed or is suspected to suffer from fibromyalgia, this is a useful, informative book to read.
Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Dr. Mark Sloan, MD ($25.00, Ballantine Books) will prove an enjoyable examination of this miracle of life. As the author who has helped deliver 3,000 babies says, “I was struck by the seemingly simple question asked by her exhausted husband: why is this so hard?” And he didn’t have an answer. Birth is hard and yet, over the centuries, he has occurred everywhere from the caves of early humans to the operating rooms of modern hospitals in the same way. The book discusses how the fetus transforms itself into a fully developed baby, why childbirth can sometimes go wrong and how to save the baby when it does. It is a guided tour to the newborn’s remarkable body.
The Subject is Science
I suspect that science is a mystery for most people who are not directly involved in its various aspects, but it is science, the process by which one arrives at a truth about how everything works, from the human body to the universe, that has given us modern wonders which we take for granted.
There are a number of books that can help anyone understand various aspects of science and Prometheus Books has three excellent new ones available. Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved! by Randy Cerveny ($26.98) is a potpourri of questions related to weather such as why the Mayan civilization disappeared or how the ancient Israelis cross the Red Sea as the Bible tells us? This is a tour of questions that climatologists explore and tried to answer. Weather, however, is what is happened now and climate is something that is examined in terms of hundreds and thousands of years. The book is entertaining, but hardly the final word on anything. The Universe—Order Without Design by Carlos I. Calle ($27.98) asks whether the universe was designed to produce life? Physicists have discovered that many seemingly unconnected phenomena which took place millions of years apart, played a crucial role in the development of life on Earth. NASA senior research scientist, Calle, takes a close look at this and in the process makes the complex comprehensible. The essential laws of physics hold true, but the universe remains in many ways a mystery that tantalizes the minds of scientists. Lastly, David F. Prindle has written Stephen Jay Gould and the Politics of Evolution ($26.98). Gould was, until his death in 2002, America’s best known natural scientist. His essays in Natural History magazine were widely read by both scientists and laymen. This is the first book to explore his science and his politics as a consistent whole, noting that his mind worked along both tracks simultaneously. Gould drove a big truck through the popular theory of evolution credited to Charles Darwin. As more research as revealed, he was probably right.
For those interested in evolutionary theories, I will repeat my recommendation of Robert W. Felix’s remarkable book, Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps ($15.95, Sugarhouse Publishing, Bellevue, WA, softcover. It is available at www.iceagenow. The author demonstrates, often noting Stephen Gould’s hypothesis, that evolution was not a slow process, but tended to match up with Earth’s magnetic reversals, making many creatures extinct while producing entire new or radically changed species in the process. For the stargazers out there, Christopher Cokinos has written The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars ($27.95, Tarcher/Penguin), taking readers on a hunt through time and space as he profiles maverick scientists, mad dreamers, and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites and turned their study into a legitimate science. His own journeys followed the footsteps of these explorers from Greenland to Kansas, Australia to the South Pole. August is a month for the Perseids when shooting stars can best be seen in the Northeast after midnight on the 11th and 12th. Coming in October, the Draconids on October 7 and 8, and the Orionids on the 21st. The dust of meteors is everywhere, having pounded into the Earth for eons. Finally, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw have written, Why Does E=mc2 (And Why Should We Care?) ($24.00, Da Capo Press). This equation is widely known, but few really understand what it means. The authors take the mystery out of it and dispel common misconceptions about relativity, starting with the notion that it is incomprehensible. The authors provide a definition that anyone can understand and then apply it to some exciting science taking place right now such as in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva with its ability to recreate conditions immediately following the Big Bang. Read this book and I guarantee that it will make you the smartest person in the room!
People, People, People
One of the great things about reading biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs is that it gives one insights into the lives of people, famous and unknown. As such, the books reveal something about ourselves, about human nature, about resiliency in the face of the difficulties life puts in our path, and, as often as not, about some of the less pleasant truths as well.
The death of Michael Jackson revealed his impact on the lives of his fans, on the music he created and performed, and about his personal demons and failures. As he rose to fame, so did one of the most famous girl groups from the same Motown that launched so many talented folk. The story of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal is told by Mark Ribowsky ($26.00, Da Capo Press) and it is a classic one of being lifted out of the “projects” of Detroit. The Supremes were four girls who loved to sing and whose talent made them the most successful female singing groups of all time; the first to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The seeds of their breakup were sown at the very beginning as Diana Ross demanded top billing. The movie, “Dream Girls”, captured the behind-the-scenes turmoil, but the real story as captured in this book is every bit as dramatic and more. Blind ambition and unmitigated deception ultimately split the Supremes and anyone who loves the popular music scene will want to read this book. Another singer is the subject of Bjork, the Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork Guomundsdottir ($22.95, Indiana University Press, softcover) by Nicola Dibben. This is a book that will primarily appeal to music aficionados interested in her collaborative working relationship with various artists, musicians, and sound engineers, resulting in twelve Grammy Award nominations, two Golden Globe wards, and an Academy Award among others. The author is a senior lecturer and head of graduate studies in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield.
It’s baseball season and books about the game, its history and its players are showing up as might be expected. Coming in September is Willie’s Boys by John Klima, a look at the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the last Negro League World Series, and the making of a baseball legend. Back then William Howard Mays, Jr. was just a 16-year-old at the beginning of a career of a baseball superstar at the time the Negro Leagues were in their twilight years. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Willie Mays would debut for the New York Giants. This is a very pleasurable read for anyone who loves the game. It Was Never About the Babe by Jerry M. Gutlon ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing) tells the story of the Red Sox who were told that their team was cursed because the Sox had sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees. As Gutlon tells it, there was much more drama to Red Sox history than any mythical curse. The truth is more shocking than any fable. With the zeal of a lifelong Sox fan and skill of a seasoned journalist, Gutlon reveals that ownership too often chose managers and players not based on their talent, but on whom they drank with. Before and after baseball integrated, personal and institutional racism affected their decision-making and the result were teams that lacked the talent, leadership, chemistry, and luck needed to win championships. This is the real nitty-gritty about a team that has finally shaken the mythical curse and demonstrated what can happen when it shakes free of its past.
Lovers of literature (and that surely includes visitors to this website) will enjoy Public Poet, Private man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200 by Christoph Irmscher ($24.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). I suspect that Longfellow is among one of the best known American poets by name, yet unknown because generations since his heyday in the 1800s no longer read his work except as perhaps a class assignment. He was a celebrity in his era, one that revered poetry and literature. This book combines both excellent scholarship and a valuable look at the whole man in terms of his family, his friends, and his life in the spotlight. So Long as Men Can Breath: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Clinton Heylin ($24.00, Da Capo Press) takes a look at the 154 of what many regard as the world’s greatest love poems and asks what if they had never been published? That very nearly was the case because Shakespeare only circulated them among his friends, never intending to publish them because they would not earn anything. The book is “the untold story of Shakespeare’s sonnets” and like everything else about this genius, it is a very interesting story. The sonnets were published by a printer, George Eld and a certain Thomas Thorpe, a self-described ‘adventurer’ trying to make a name for himself in the London publishing scene. The question arises whether the 1609 edition was published without Shakespeare’s permission? And, of course, the sonnets soon spawned their own controversies as to whether Shakespeare was their real author, to whom were they written, and the more. Rather ironically, Heylin is also the author of The Da Capo Book of Rock and Roll!
Another famous name from that era was Sir Isaac Newton and a lesser known aspect of his life was that, in 1695, he left his Cambridge home of 35 years to take a government position in London as Warden of His Majesty’s Mint, a sinecure with the responsibility for overseeing the gold and silver coinage of the kingdom. Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson reveals how the inventor of calculus, the discoverer of the laws of motion and gravity, devoted all his talents and experience in pursuit of one of the most dangerous men of his day. It is a real page-turner, an account of a bloodthirsty rivalry and an interesting look the revolutionary scientist’s later life.
For a change of pace there’s Up for Renewal: What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter ($15.00, Atria Books, softcover) in which the author deliberately decided to live according to the advice in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Self, Real Simple, and Cosmopolitan on just about every aspect of life. For twelve months she determined to learn how to make men desire her, how to throw fabulous parties, and be a standout among coworkers. With equal parts of honesty and hilarity she tells of how such dealt with a rotten job, a dear friend with a serious illness, her complex relationship with her mother, and her fears of rejection and loneliness. Did I mention this is a book that women will read, but men will not? Find out if all that advice in the magazines works.
If you like road trip books, you will enjoy The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Changes by Mark Millhone ($22.99, Rodale) in which the author tells of a year in which his life was filled with troubles. He’d almost lost a son to birth complications, his father was diagnosed with cancer, and his mother died. His marriage began to come apart. When he logged onto eBayMotors, he discovered the car of his dreams, a 1994 BMW that was virtually mint new. Traveling from New York to Texas , he is joined by his father and the story will cheer you. The 1960s and 70s may have been two of the worst decades for their impact on later ones. Still, they fascinate because of their excesses. Stories Done: Writing on the 1960s and its Discontents by Mikal Gilmore ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) takes a look at the era’s cultural icons, from George Harrison, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Jim Morrison to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson, and Leonard Cohen. This is a celebration of Rock and Roll in the Woodstock era. Gilmore has written for Rolling Stone since the 1970s so he knows this turf well and the years have given him a perspective on the era.
Kid Stuff: Books for Younger Readers
Starting with the very young and moving up through the age groups, here are a number of books from pre-school, pre-teens, and the older young person not yet out of their teens.
Countdown to Fall by Frank Hawk and beautifully illustrated by Sherry Neidigh ($6.95, Sylvan Dell Publishing) arrives in time to entertain and education those age 4 through 8. It explains the phenomenon we take for granted such as the changing color of the leaves and why different trees have different leaves. It illustrates, too, how various animals are affected by the change in the weather. The illustrations are superb and a great way to get younger folk interested in books. For parents who want to give their kids a head start on learning, a visit to www.SylvanDellPublishing.com is a good place to begin. For an older component, ages 7 to 10, If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong, provides a quick, easy overview of the more than 300 million people living in the U.S. It is chockablock with statistics on all aspects of life in America, but in a way that will prove interesting and probably surprising for younger readers ($18.95, Kids Can Press) and its large format combining wonderful artwork and brief text is perfect for this age group. For those age 6 to 12, there’s another fun way of learning in Famous Figures of Ancient Times ($19.95 @ www.figuresinmotion.com) Printed on strong card stock paper, it presents 20 historical figures, kings, philosophers, religious leaders, scholars, military leaders and one elephant in both pre-colored and color-them-in versions that can be cut out and assembled into moveable action figures. A brief biographical note is provided for each figure in the book. With crayons, colored pencils or paint, scissors, a 1/8 inch punch, and fasteners, easy to follow instructions will ensure hours of fun.
For the older set, teenagers, sometimes referred to as “young adults”, there are any number of novels written expressly for them and, since I love history) an instant favorite of mine is Hannibal’s Elephant Girl by Ariion Kathleen Brindley ($9.95 @ http://www.ariionkathleenbrindley.com). In 218 BCE Hannibal took his army, along with 37 elephants, in an epic journey over the Alps to attack the Romans. This story begins eleven years earlier when one of his elephants pulled a drowning firl from a river near Carthage in North Africa. Thus begins her bond with an elephant named Obolus. The author knows how to spin a tale and there are her other books to be found at her website. Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill is a fresh voice for teen girls with her debut novel featuring Skylar Hoyt, a high school senior whose exotic Hawaiian looks have propelled her to the height of the ‘in’ crowd, but she is no longer sure where she fits in. New friends, old friends, and a family crisis ensue as she tries to keep it together and figure out who she really wants to be. Issues of popularity, friendship, sexuality, and more are addressed with grace and style. Spooky stuff always appeals to the imagination of some teens and Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme ($16.95, Running Press) is official due off the press next month with a story about a young girl who, trying to be accepted by the ‘in crowd’ accepts a dare to spend a night at a local cemetery. Once there, she meets a handsome boy who works as a caretaker who tells her about Tombstone Tea which is a performance in which actors impersonate the people buried there. Amy discovers they are actually ghosts of the deceased and she possesses the ability to communicate with them. Will she be able to settle an ancient dispute that creates danger and dispute within the cemetery walls?
Special notice is extended to Harriett Ruderman's The Laceyville Monkeys because it was a "featured book" on our previous website. It is a delightful story devoted to encouraging children to express themselves in ways that will not prove embarrassing and inappropriate. Filled with delightful characters and cleverly illustrated, you can learn all about it www.laceyvillemonkeys.com.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
Summer time and the reading is easy
Hyperion is happy it discovered Maryann McFadden. Her debut novel, The Richest Season ($14.99) is now available in softcover and was a big hit among women readers. She’s back with So Happy Together ($23.99) in hardcover, just off the press in July. The two novels have in common women who devoted their lives to others. In the first novel, a lonely corporate wife runs away to Pawleys Island to consider her life and decide what best to do. She is forced to make a decision between a new relationship and her former life. In the new novel McFadden introduces us to Claire Nobel, a woman who gave up her dreams long ago, but is about to recapture the magic of living life for herself. She raised a daughter alone, has cared for her father who has Parkinson’s disease, but now it is her turn after being accepted to a prestigious summer photography program on Cape Cod. Everything is going great, but then her estranged daughter returns home and is pregnant. This is a damaged family in many respect and how Claire copes, dealing with the mother-daughter bond, with secrets imparted by her parents, is the kind of thing her many readers will recognize and will read through to the end to find out how Claire endures.
A bounty of softcover novels will provide hours of reading pleasure. Here are some recommendations from among the stacks of books received in recent weeks.
Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti has been translated in 19 languages ($14.00, Penguin) as it asks why is it so hard to get a relationship to work between two middle-aged misfits? The answer is found in the story of Shrimp, a young, widowed librarian with a sharp intellect and a home so tiday that her jam jars are in alphabetical order. Benny is a gentle, overworked dairy farmer who fears becoming the villages Old Bachelor. This is an unlikely love story that should not be as complicated as it seems. The Divorce Party by Laura Dave ($14.00, Penguin) is her second novel and her main character, Gwyn Huntington knows how to throw a party at her Victorian home in Montauk at the easternmost tip of Long Island. On the morning of her and her beloved husvand Thomas’ 35th wedding anniversary, she is putting the finishing toughes on the last party they will host there, their divorce party. This novel is full of humor, candor, and a powerful message of how to commit to someone over the course of a lifetime. Summer would not be complete without a Jane Green novel and this one is The Beach House ($15.00, Plume). All three of these novels are clearly intended for women readers and Green has established herself as a leading novelist for this genre. Nan Power is a free-spirited, 65-year-old widow who’s not above skinny-dipping in her neighbor’s pools when they are away. She loves her Nantucket home, but she discovers that the money she thought would last forever is dwindling, she realizes she must make a drastic change to save her home, but renting out rooms. As people move in, they fill the house with noise, laughter and tears. As the house comes alive, Nan finds her family and friends expanding. Every chapter brings a surprise.
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Rosina Lippi ($14.00, Berkley Books, softcover) is by an author with two previous successful and award-winning novels to her credit. She demonstrates why with the story of Julia Darrow who, after her life in Chicago fell apart, moved to small-town South Carolina and opened a shop, Cacoon, specializing in luxury linens. Five years later she’s satisfied with the life she’s made for herself. When John Dodge comes into her life, he is fixing up Scriveners, a small shop on the Square. He takes an interest in her and after that all of Lambert Square is watching the for the fireworks. Far away in Michigan, another story is playing out in Inherit All Things, a novel by J. Ryan Fenzel ($13.95, Ironcroft Publishing, Hartland, MI). In 2006 I had good things to say about Descending from Duty, a novel from this publisher and I can say the same for this story, a kind of treasure hunt steeps in Great Lakes History as it plays out along Michigan’s West Coast, across the inland seas, and amongst a handful of Great Lakes lighthouses. Maritime salvager, Jack Sheridan, embarks on a white-knuckle venture to find a hidden trove of gold coins and each step draws him deeper into conflict with a ruthless man also seeking the treasure. You won’t want to put this one down until you get to the finish.
The Irish war for independence is the background for The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey ($26.99, Center House, a division of Hachette Book Co.) It delves into the passion and politics of North Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. Eileen O’Neill’s family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill, saving her money and holding to her dream. As war is declared on a local and global scale, she find herself torn between two men, a political activist determined to win Irish independence from Great Britain and another, a wealthy and handsome black sheep of a pacifist family who owns the mill. Her decision will change all their lives. This is a very evocative novel, but particularly so for those of Irish heritage. We finish with a very unique mystery novel, Androgynous Murder House Party by Steven Rigolosi ($14.95, Ransom Note Press, Ridgewood, NJ, softcover), an author with two previous novels to his credit. Library Journal has hailed him as “a completely fresh voice in the mystery genre” and he demonstrates why with a story narrated by Robin Anders, the director of new talent at The Good Foundation in New York City’s bohemian Greenwich Village. A series of unexpected deaths begin to occur among Robin’s circle of six longtime friends and as you follow the androgynous Robin, an independently wealthy snob, around the city, you both begin to piece the truth together, while wondering if Robin is a male intellectual or a female seductress? Are his/her friends, Alex, Chris, Terry, and Lee male or female, straight or gay? Suffice it to say, this is a very different novel!
Every summer provides an opportunity to read for pleasure and enlightenment. Bookmark Bookviews so you can come back in a month and learn about the many great new books debuting in September. Don't forget to tell your friends about Bookviews' new home as a blog!
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