Bookviews by Alan Caruba

Bookviews - January 2012

2011-12-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month

A book that has proven so provocative that even Congress is currently trying to fashion a re-write of laws applying to its members is Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich off Inside Stock tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism that would Send the Rest of Us to Prison ($26.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Its author, Peter Schweizer, is the William J. Casey Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has a resume as long as your arm. The service his book provides is one that the Washington, D.C. corps of journalists has largely ignored for years in what Schweizer calls “an incestuous relationship” based on the fact that journalists fear losing access to the members of Congress if they dared to expose the larceny that takes men and women elected to office go from moderate income to owning millions. The book describes the process and names names when it comes to the graft involved that includes insider trading, conflicts of interest, and kickbacks. This goes well beyond mere bribery, something regarding as rather old-fashioned at this point. Since Congress has exempted itself from laws that would send others doing the same thing to jail, the process has been completely legal. “Unfair, unethical, and immoral—but legal. By leading a team that examined the records Congress critters are required to make public, albeit a year after the transactions, Schwiezer was able to put together a book that is an astonishing revelation of self-enrichment at the expense of the public they are said to serve.

The Tea Party movement in America was a spontaneous response to legislation passed during the first two years of the Obama administration to aroused dispute and rejection, the best known of which is “Obamacare.” An interesting new book, Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests that History Forgot by Joseph Cummins ($18.95, Quirk Press) tells the story, not only of the famed Boston Tea Party, but of others in the American colonies from Philadelphia to New York and other cities. It offers a thorough explanation why the British imposed taxes on tea, the role in played in the lives of the colonists, and how the taxes, one that followed the Sugar and Stamp Acts, galvanized Americans of that era to resist Great Britain and ultimately declare their independence. It is an exciting rendition of the people and events that sparked the American Revolution.

Some books are just so extraordinary that one marvels at the intelligence and creativity they represent. This is the case with Theodore Gray’s Elements Vault: Treasures of the Periodic Table ($39.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a slip-cased box of wonders based on an earlier book, “The Elements”, by Popular Science columnist, Theodore Gray in 2009. The book eventually ended up on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list and thousands of people discovered the genius of the periodic table, listing all the chemical and mineral elements of which our planet is composed. It was created by a Russian chemist, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev. Gray’s new book, co-authored with Simon Quellen Field, is a response to the readers who wanted to learn even more about the elements, to touch and feel some of them if possible. It is possible because the book contains samples including pure gold, silicon, boron, europium and zirconium. Throughout the book are 23 important historical and supplementary documents related to the elements and the field of chemistry. It is an extraordinary experience enhanced by many stunning photos by Gray. This book should earn a shelf of awards but the biggest reward will be for the reader who delves into it.

Another large format book is the Lights of Mankind: The Earth at Night as Seen from Space ($32.50, Lyons Press, imprint of Globe Pequot Press), edited by L. Douglas Keeney. At night the Earth from space is a two-billion kilowatt map of civilization and the cities that are lighted to reveal where electricity keeps its cities active long after the sun has set on them. Japan is a garland of lighted islands in the Pacific, Egypt is mostly in darkness except for the Nile that snakes through its desert, bejeweled in light. These are photos, taken by NASA’s astronauts in a program that the current administration has ended. Any aficionado of space exploration will enjoy this remarkable tribute to the only planet in our galaxy that not only supports life, but is illuminated by it.

You might not think concrete is a particularly interesting topic, but you would be wrong. In Concrete Planet: The Strange and Fascinating Story of the World’s Most Common Man-Made Material ($26.00, Prometheus Books) Robert Courland provides a lively history to a material that we use for buildings, bridges, dams, and road. It is everywhere man lives and works, and it has been around for a very long time. King Herod of Judea, a major builder, as well as Roman Emperor Hadrian, and others all relied on concrete, so it’s history is intertwined with the rise of civilization. In America, Thomas Edison once owned the largest concrete plant in the world. Buildings like the Coliseum and the Pantheon are testimony to the skill of ancient architects and builders. The secrets of concrete were lost for nearly a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire, but were rediscovered in the late 18th century. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that the use of concrete exploded. Anyone with an interest in history will enjoy this book.

Now that the holidays are over many are thinking about their cooking and baking skills, often to either begin or to improve on them. For them there’s Kitchen on Fire: Mastering the Art of Cooking in 12 Weeks (Or Less) by Olivier Said and Chef MikeC. ($35.00, Da Capo Press) and Baking with the Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro ($30.00, Free Press). The former book was written by the founders and instructors of the acclaimed Berkeley cook school of the same name and it prepares the reader to take on any recipe in any cookbook and even to invent new recipes. This is a book about cooking principles which one can apply to any meal. Extensively illustrated, it is a good book for the new bride or anyone who has not learned the fundamentals of cooking. This is a great way to become a master chef in the comfort of one’s own home. The latter book takes its name from the author’s popular television show, The Cake Boss, and offers “100 of Buddy’s Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets.” All manner of delicious treats plus great ways to decorate cakes and other baked goods are described and illustrated with mouth-watering photos.

There is considerable distrust these days of journalism and journalists these days. Thus, The Bloomberg Way: A Guide for Reporters and Editors by Matthew Winkler, Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News ($45.00, Bloomberg Press, an imprint of Wiley) would be a good investment for any journalist. I don’t expect the general public to plunk down that kind of money to learn the rules of financial reporting, but I do think that journalists, students, business professionals and anyone who wants to write about money should make the investment. Winkler’s approach is pragmatic and stresses the ethical standards we expect of today’s journalists. As he says, there is no such thing as being first if the news is wrong. He advises that a journalist explain the role of money in all its forms to reveal the true meaning of the news. At a time when the news is filled with reports about unemployment, huge deficits and debt, the threat to the Euro, this is a very timely, important book.

The election of President Obama spurred the increased sale of handguns, so if you are among those who have made such a purchase or possess handguns, I recommend The Complete Illustrated Manual of Handgun Skills by Robert Campbell ($27,99, Zenith Press, softcover). The manual provides instructions for taking care of your firearms, from cleaning to general maintenance. It demystifies the sometimes confusing array of ammunition available in every caliber, and provides the basics on firearm safety, marksmanship, competitive shooting, hunting, and person protection. The author is a former peace officer with twenty years on the job. He has published more than six hundred articles.

Memoirs, Autobiographers, Biographies, Etc

Many Americans are looking back at the Reagan era with fondness these days, remembering how he handled economic problems, the threat of Soviet-style Communism, and the other great issues of his time. John A. (Jack) Svahn was a close adviser of Reagan, serving him during both of his terms as the Governor of California and as President. In that capacity he was the a Commissioner of Social Security, Undersecretary of Health and Human Services, and as the U.S. Commissioner to the Canal Alternatives Commission in Panama. He has written “There Most Be a Pony in Here Somewhere”: Twenty Years with Ronald Reagan ($18.95, Langdon Street Press, softcover) The memoir blends humor with a serious, candid look at both the political and personal moments spent as part of Reagan’s inner circle. He writes that Reagan was an optimist, a man who always saw the glass as half full, not half empty. This book is an important contribution to our knowledge and insight regarding Reagan and will surely please his legion of admirers.

The world has moved on since the horrendous 7.0 earthquake in January 2010 destroyed its capitol city and surrounding areas. In Rubble: The Search for a Haitian Boy ($l6.95, Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press, softcover.) Sandra Marquez Stathis who had lived and worked in Haiti for four years as a human rights observer in the 1990s, tells of her return to search for Junior Louis, an unforgettable boy she had met when he was seven years old and homeless. He was like a son to her and she was determined to find out if he had survived. Her story is not just his story, but a story of Haiti, and a very compelling one. It is only natural to give scant attention to events occurring in far-off lands, but So Far to Run: The Memoir of Liberian Refugee by Louise Geesedah Barton ($l3.95, Bascom Hill Publishing Group, softcover) is quite extraordinary given that Liberia was established on the African coast as a place to which slaves could return from their captivity in America. At the age of seven Louise became a domestic servant in Monrovia. She had a thirst for knowledge, but just as she was entering collage, Liberia was overrun by deadly rebels, forcing her to flee for her life. Thousands died in the conflict and she spent the next ten years on the run, much of it on foot, through two countries and escaping to a third by motoring over 70 miles in a small boat through the high seas. She currently lives in Atlanta where she now is an advocate for those who remain refugees, unable to return to their homes. We tend to forget that there is plenty of poverty right here in America.

Sandra’s Story: It’s Not Gonna Be a Very Good Day by Garrett Mathews ($14.95, Plugger Publishing, softcover) follows a year in the life of Sandra, a fifth grader who lives in a $200 a month apartment with holes in the wall and mice in the ceiling. A retired columnist of the Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press, Matthews tells of being asked to speak to Sandra’s class and, in the process, learns that many of the boys and girls had never been to a mall, a museum, or a baseball game. He began to take three or four at a time to these places. It was an eye-opening experience for Mathews and his book reminds us that many children in America are living in poverty. The book is filled with events that will touch your heart and open your eyes. Bruce Farrell Rosen is a very talented writer who shares the same publisher as William Soroyan, Laurence Ferlinghetti and Allan Ginsburg, but he is no hippie. He has written If You Ever Need Me, I Won’t Be Far Away ($18.50, Alma Rose Publishing, softcover). It is a classic memoir, drawing on his life and it is dedicated to his mother who was clearly an extraordinary person, a psychic , and a family of fairly unique, if flawed individuals. Tolstoy said that “All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This memoir is testimony to that. Rosen tells us of his life, his family, his marriage, et cetera, but he does so quite movingly and you might just, like looking in a mirror, see someone you recognize.

Sports are so much a part of American life that those who play and those who coach become demigods. One of the best biographers of sports figures, Carlo DeVito, has written Parcells: A Biography ($24.95, Triumph Books) about a football legend, Bill Parcells, a two-time Super Bowl winning coach of the New York Giants, taking us through his life beginning with his 15-year collegiate coaching career, examining his demand for perfection from his players and coaches, which may just explain why he has turned around many NFL franchises, including the Jets and Patriots. The book covers the life of a man who says, “You are what your record says you are.” In Parcells’ case, it is the record of a winner on and off the field. Basketball, too, has its legion of fans at the collegiate and professional level. One of the most successful collegiate coaches is Jim Boeheim is told by Scott Pitoniack in Color Him Orange: The Jim Boeheim Story ($24.95, Triumph). A Basketball Hall of Fame coach for his alma mater, Syracuse University, it is an inspiring story that begins with his youth in a small town, making the Syracuse team as a walk-on, turning down lucrative offers to coach elsewhere, and the incredible run to the NCAA championship in 2003. Along the way he coached young men who went onto great careers in basketball.

There is a growing mythology about the 1960s as a decade of drugs, anti-war protests, the assassinations of Kennedy and King. Among the minor players was Ed Sanders who became a counterculture icon. Fug You ($26.99, Da Capo Press) is his story and, for someone who played such a small role in that decade’s events and dedicated himself to legalizing marihuana, it is a hefty tome. Sanders ran the Peace Eye Bookstore and founded a folk-rock group called the Fugs. He came in contact with some real movers and shakers of the era such as Allan Ginsberg, Frank O’Hara, Andy Warhol, and William S. Burroughs. Time has passed him by, but it can’t be said he didn’t live an interesting life. This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl by Paul Bannigan ($26.99, Da Capo Press) is a biography of musician Dave Grohl, a key figure in bands that included Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age. The ups and downs of Grohl’s life will no doubt be of interest to rock fans, including his reaction to Curt Cobain’s suicide made him put aside his career, but he was drawn back in when Tom Petty asked him to play drums with the Heartbreakers on a Saturday Night Live session. He has known great success and being homeless, so the biography is quite a ride since the 1980s.

In a delightful memoir Joann Puffer Kotcher put her values on the line when, fresh out of the University of Michigan, a year of teaching, she became an American Red Cross Donut Dolly in Korea, later setting up four duty stations in Vietnam where she visited the troops from the Central Highlands to the Mekong Delta, the South China Sea to the Cambodian border. She tells her story in Donut Dolly: An America Red Cross Girl’s War in Vietnam ($24.95, University of North Texas Press). This is a unique, personal view of the war, recorded in a journal she kept during her tour. And it wasn’t just handing out donuts. She was once abducted, dodged an ambush in the Delta, and experienced that war in a way that most memoirs do not tell. It is an inspiring story of the men who go to war and of a woman who put her life on the line to bring a measure of cheer when they did. Years ago as a child, I had the opportunity to see and hear Eleanor Roosevelt, then in her later years in the wake of World War II and the beginnings of the United Nations. She had been the First Lady for thirteen years and had redefined the role. In Eleanor Roosevelt’s Life of Soul Searching and Self-Discovery ($19.95, Flash History Press, Paoli, PA, softcover) Ann Atkins tells her remarkable story, highlighting her role in championing African-Americans, Jews, and women. FDR said she was his eyes and ears as she traveled to the front lines of the Pacific and throughout the nation. She was much more. She was his conscience, urging him to accept the changes occurring nationwide and worldwide. Rather than accept society’s rules, she challenged them and, in the process, led a meaningful, purposeful, and successful life.

To Your Health

Parents have lots of questions about maintaining their children’s health and happily Nutrition: What Every Parent Needs to Know is now out in his second section from the American Academy of Pediatrics ($14.95, softcover), edited by William H. Dietz, M.D. and Loraine Stern, M.D. Both have impressive resumes and the book is a complete guide regarding nutritional health from birth through adolescence. It includes standards of weight and height, eating disorders, allergies, and concerns about food safety. The new edition has been updated since it was first published a decade ago. The editors stress that teaching children healthy eating habits is an on-going activity and advises on how to allow for individual preferences, as well as the importance of shared mealtimes that are stress and guilt-free.

The Complete Book of Bone Health by Diane L. Schneider, M.D. ($21.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) is a comprehensive survey of osteoporosis, its nature and causes, along with sensible approaches toward its prevention and management. The most common problem older people encounter is hip fractures and can even be killers; one in five women will die within a year of breaking a hip and one in three men. The good news is that one can reduce one’s risk for breaking bones and it can be prevented at any age. The is a fat book of information on everything from basic health, risk factors, bone density scans, the role of exercise and nutrition, and much more. It is designed to be practical and user-friendly, so that anyone interested in maintain strong bones and good health will come away with a world of information that can prolong and enhance one’s life.

Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging by Dr. James Forsythe ($25.99, Vanguard Press) will surely interest anyone who wants to retain their youthful looks, energy, and lifestyle. A foreword by Suzanne Somers says “The key to youth, good health, and vitality as we age comes from our body’s master hormone, human growth hormone. By rejuvenating the master hormone gland using a range of safe and natural biostimulators, as this book shows, we can improve the quality and duration of the human lifespan.” Since my own knowledge of such matters is slim, I can only say that it appears to provide a useful body of information, but since I am also in my seventies, I have little doubt that, one way or the other, one’s body is going to age despite one’s best efforts. I rely on a full range daily of vitamins and minerals and would certainly recommend them. The author devotes attention to those that work best with regard to the aging process.

Military Matters

Wars have always played a role in history and their potential continues to threaten peace. Several books regarding various aspects of war reflect the ongoing interest in this topic.

Time has published Special Ops: The hidden world of America’s toughest warriors by Jim Frederick ($19.95, Time Home Entertainment Inc.). Frederick is a Time international editor who has reported on the world of military special operations, from the U.S. Navy SEALS who eliminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan to the Green Berets of the Vietnam War. He traces the history of this units, the missions they fought, from World War II to present missions in a lively, well illustrated book. Continuing these topic, there’s MARSOC: U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command by Fred Pushies ($24.99, Zenith Press, softcover) that traces the Marine Corps rich tradition of special operations—the tip of the spear—from World War II’s famed Marine Raiders to Vietnam’s legendary Marine Force Recon companies. In the wake of 9/11, the need for special operations forces dramatically increased and the Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was created in 2006. Its mission is to win wars before they begin, taking combat beyond the frontlines.

Airmen will enjoy two books devoted to former aircraft. The Douglas DC-3 Dakota and the North American F-86 Sabre are subjects of an “Owner’s Workshop Manual.” The former was written by Paul and Louise Blackah and the latter by Mark Linney ($28.00 each, Zenith Press). The Douglas DC-3 revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Tough, reliable, and easy to operate, it played a crucial role in World War II. The F-86 was the first operation Allied swept-wing transonic jet fighter of the post-war era that fought with distinction in the Korean War where it was pitted against the Soviet MIG-15. Both books are sure to please those who flew them and anyone interested in military aircraft.

There are countless books on World War II from the American point of view, but Colin D. Heaton and Anne-Marie Lewis have co-authored The German Aces Speak ($30.00, Zenith Press) that tells the story of those who flew against the Allies and is a reminder of how effective they were. As military history, it will surely interest those who find this of interest. A memoir, Brothers at War, by Werner Gramskow ($14.00, Arbor Books, softcover) tells the story of a boy in Hamburg, Germany in the 1930s who dreamed of going to America. His brother, Hans, had moved their ten years before the start of World War II, but history intervened and Werner was drafted into the Wehmacht. He eventually served in Stalingrad and, knowing he was marching to certain death, he hid out in a tiny German village. Unbeknownst to Werner, Hans had returned to their homeland as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Army. By serendipity, Hans found Werner and, when the war ended, sponsored his immigration to the U.S. It is a fascinating story. Lastly, from WWII is Last Man Standing: The 1st Marine Regiment on Peleliu by Dick Camp. For nearly 70 years historians and military brass have debated the necessity of the invasion of the small Japanese-held Island. What is not debated is the determination, perseverance and sacrifice displayed by a regiment known as “The Old Breed.” Peleliu would become on of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history and now its story is told in a work of excellent military history.

Science, Real and Fake

The vast global warming fraud, perpetrating since the 1980s, has caused a lot of people to be turned off by claims said to be based on scientific investigation and findings. Suffice to say the alleged data supporting global warming, now called climate change, was found to be utterly corrupt. So naturally, along comes John Grant’s book, Denying Science: Conspiracy Theories, Media Distortions, and the War against Reality ($25.00, Prometheus Books). Unfortunately, it is just Grant’s reality as he continues to rail against “deniers” of the discredited “science”. The book is one long rant against what he regards as “unscientific” ideas regarding a wide range of topics. Suffice to say there is no such thing as a “consensus” among scientists because science exists to be both challenged and expanded with new findings. The book is essentially rubbish. Caveat emptor.

Also from Prometheus Books, Drive and Curiosity: What Fuels the Passion for Science ($26.00) by Istvan Hargittai, PhD, DSc is a tribute to many fine scientists who have advanced our knowledge and improved our world. Little known to those outside the scientific community are the challenges they had to endure while retaining their belief in their discoveries that were often derided by others in their field. In one case, chemist Dan Shechtman who discovered “quasiercrystals” in 1982 encountered rejection and mockery for years, but in 2011, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Anyone with an interest in science or who teaches courses to encourage students to pursue careers in science will enjoy this book. Philip Kitchner, a philosopher, has written Science in a Democratic Society ($28.00) to explore issues such as “climate change”, religiously inspired constraints on biomedical research, and similar topics. As with many such books, its appeal is limited to those who want to grapple with such matters. The historic record is filled with science frauds and is testimony to the human failings of those who perpetrate them knowingly or not. In a comparable fashion, Sam Harris has written The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values ($15.00, Free Press, softcover). Harris takes a distinctly liberal approach to the questions he raises, but it all comes down to the ancient debates about good and evil.

Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination by Paul A. Trout ($26.00, Prometheus Books) is an evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, based on thousands of years in which our human predecessors had to cope with predatory animals who thought then and now that we were a tasty meal. The mythology that emerged from this served as a warning about them and responded to our visceral fears of them that exist to this day. It has manifested itself in literature, including children’s fairytales, and in modern movies in which fantastical creatures threaten humanity. It has shaped human culture and readers will find this an interesting book.

Novels, Novels, Novels

So many novels—hardly a day goes by that I do not receive an email request to review a novel or two. Many increasingly are self-published and stories of the success their authors have found as ebooks now abound. The publishing scene is changing, but this reviewer still prefers what I call “dead tree” books, the traditional book one can hold in one’s hands without worrying if the battery will die.

Some novelists are so good at what they do they develop a fan base that looks forward to their next piece of work. This has been the case for me regarding the novels of Lior Samson, a pseudonym for a writer whose first three novels, “Bashert”, “The Dome” and “Web Games” took the reader to Israel for some classic spy-counterspy suspense. His newest novel, The Rosen Singularity, ($16.95, Gesher Press, an imprint of Ampersand Press, softcover) departs from that and I would be lying if I did not say I was delighted to find myself quoted on the back cover saying “This extraordinary author has the ability to anticipate events in ways that enhance his novels.” This time Samson delivers a medical thriller; one with plenty of action from page one to the end. The main character, Rosen David, is a research biologist who prefers to mine the work of others to find patterns and, indeed, he makes a major discovery. In 2005, Steve Jobs told a commencement audience at Stanford that "Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.” Rosen has stumbled upon a discovery that puts his life and those around him at risk. The cast of characters include an invisible network of people who want to cheat death and think Rosen’s research can make that happen. I promise you that, if you read this Samson novel, you will want to read the other three.

Perlmann’s Silence by Pascal Mercier, the author of the acclaimed “Night Train to Lisbon” ($26.00, Grove Press) is surely worth celebrating. It is an exploration of grief, a profound story of a man struggling to cope with the death of his wife and the impact it has on his life. Phillipp Perlmann is a noted linguist. Scheduled to speak at a gathering of international academics in a seaside town near Genoa, he struggles with the text of the keynote presentation until he realizes he can produce nothing. His confidence has deserted him and, desperate, he decides to plagiarize the work of a Russian colleague who is not able to attend the gathering. But Leskov unexpected arrival is suddenly announced and Perlmann panics. He contemplates even more drastic measures. Deeply emotional and intellectual novels like this are a rare occurrence. Italy is the setting for Joe Costanzo’s new novel, Calabria to be specific. In Restoration ($15.95, Charles River Press, softcover) Stephano Strazzi, an Italian-American from the fiction town of Roccamonti returns to recapture his memories of being raised there before his family immigrated to America. He quickly falls under its spell and, in the process of trying to help restore a medieval church, he finds himself in the midst of an old vendetta that erupts with frightening consequences. Constanzo was born in Pedivigliano and draws on the wellspring of his own life to create a compelling story that reflects both the enchantment and the passions of Italy. A veteran journalist, he displays a fine eye for detail and as a novelist he adds to his reputation as an excellent storyteller.

The American West is the setting for Richard S. Wheeler’s The Richest Hill on Earth ($25.99, Forge) as he turns is well-established storytelling talent to a tumultuous time in Montana history when the copper kinds battled for riches, glory, and control of Butte, the fledging government of the then-new State. Caught up in the struggle are the miners, their wives and children, journalists, and even psychics, all trying to make their fortune in the late 1890s. Several memorable characters play out their part in the struggle, from newspaper editor John Fellowes to Marcus Daly, an Irish immigrant of humble origins who rose to create the Anaconda Copper Mining Copper and his political rival, William Andrews Clark who bought a seat in the U.S. Senate, and Augustus Heinze who tried to steal the mines using lawyers and bribed judges, only to be crushed by the Rockefellers. This is fictionalized history, but it is also a very entertaining look at the real story behind the struggles that hinged on wealth and power. When it comes to westerns, novels that evoke a fabled period, few do it better than Jim Best. His latest is Murder at Thumb Butte ($12.95, Wheatmark, Tucson, AZ, softcover) and I guarantee that you will also want to read The Shopkeeper and Leadville. These are part of a “Steve Dancy” series and, in the case of “Murder at Thumb Butte”, it is the spring of 1880 and Dancy has traveled to Prescott, Arizona to gain control of a remarkable invention. He has barely unpacked when he learns that his friend, Jeff Sharp, has been arrested for a midnight murder and Dancy launches an investigation to find who really did it. The problem is, the whole town of Prescott wanted him dead! He turns to another old friend, Captain Joseph McAllen of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to sort out the suspects and find the real killer before Sharp ends up swinging from the gallows. Best is best at dialogue and his novels move along at a swift pace with some of the best dialogue you’ll find. Nothing fancy, but it reflects real people in real situations. Treat yourself to one or all three of the series.

Murder mysteries are a favorite genre in fiction and D.C. Brod delivers a good one in Getting Lucky (24.95, Tyrus Books) with the story of a freelance writer who is hired to finish one of the stories written by a young reporter killed in a hit-and-run accident. In the process she uncovers shady Illinois land deals. At the same time she is trying to come up with enough money to keep her mother in an assisted living facility. Conflict of various kinds is at the heart of the story that moves along at a satisfying pace. At timely as today’s headlines regarding illegal aliens, Craig McDonald, an Edgar Award nominee, takes us to New Austin, Ohio in El Gavilan ($24.95, Tryus Books) where the locals are struggling with waves of undocumented workers who exert tremendous pressure on schools, police and city services. Three very different kinds of cops scramble to maintain control and impose order, but the rape-murder of a Mexican-American woman triggers a brutal chain of events that threaten to leave no survivors. You will keep turning the pages in a story filled with shifting alliances and circumstances.

A finalist for Germany’s prestigious Friedrich Glauser Prize for Best Crime Novel, Morgue Drawer Four by Jutta Profit ($14.95, Amazon Crossing) is one of several new softcover novels worth reading. It is a change of pace blending a witty genre-bending fusion of hard-boiled crime fiction and a comic ghost story that takes place in cosmopolitan Cologne’s seamy underbelly, a hidden world of gangsters, hustlers, and its red light district. A mismatched pair of impromptu detectives is at the center of the story. One is the ghost of a recently murdered career criminal seeking justice and the other is a quiet, unassuming coroner with the blessing or curse of being able to communicate with the deceased! This is a quirky, well-paced, and very entertaining story. A very different time and place is the setting for an Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg ($15.00, Penguin, softcover) in her debut as a novelist. It is 1830 and Neil McKenzie has accepted a post on the islands of St. Kilda, an isolated archipelago off the coast of Scotland. He is there to minister to a small community of islanders. Joining him is his pregnant wife, Lizzie. He is there to test his own faith against the old pagan ways of the islanders who live in squalor. The result is that his faith, marriage, and their sanity is tested in a place of extreme hardship and unearthly beauty. Mary Shelley gave us Frankenstein and Erica Ferencik gives us Dr. Astra Nathanson in Repeaters ($14.95, Waking Dream Press, Framingham, MA, softcover) and the question must be asked, why are women so good at writing stories that scare the pants off you, have you checking the locks on the doors, and keeping the lights on to fend off the dark? I am not giving away any secrets by telling you that the “repeaters” are the murdered among us, forced to repeat their lives until they find someone to love and thus granted eternal peace. Failing that, they bear the scars of the manner in which they were murdered in past lives. This is one scary story that readers who like their thrills bloody will love.

In today’s economy with headlines such as the collapse of a major hedge fund, bailed out banks, and famed media moguls, Richard Wanderer has authored The Holiday Party ($15.95, Two Harbors Press, softcover) that features a high-powered media mogul holding a dark secret, a publisher with a belief in the supernatural, and an assistant who no longer wants to assist. The result is a novel of corporate greed that leaps off its pages. Adam Gladstone is an heir to the family media empire and, with his brother, is running the business like a family. Meanwhile, mogul Daniel Davenport’s mistress is tired of being his concubine and assistant, and wants to take over the Gladstone umpire for herself, not Daniel. The author, a member of the California Bar, brings his experience working in the advertising departments of major magazines and newspaper publishing companies to good use in this novel that rings true as it explores the machinations of greed and betrayal.

Fans of short fiction will enjoy Geoff Schmidt’s Out of Time ($14.95, University of North Texas Press, softcover) a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. A debut collection, it is a meditation on meaning and mortality. In his stories, vengeful infants destroy and rebuilt the world, rival siblings and their mother encounter witches and ghosts, along with others, all of whose time is running out. This is definitely a very different literary cup of tea!

That’s it for January as we all embark on a tumultuous year in which people and parties are pitted against one another for the future of the nation. Tell your family, friends, and coworkers about Bookviews.com, the most eclectic monthly report on news fiction and non-fiction. And come back in February for more!

Bookviews - December 2011

2011-11-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

By Alan Caruba
Founding Member, National Book Critics Circle

My Picks of the Month

As the European Union totters on collapse as several member nations face default and as the U.S. fails to address and solve its own financial problems, perhaps the one book you need to read to understand what is happening now, in the past, and in the near future is James Rickards Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis ($26.95, Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin) that explains in an easily understood fashion what U.S. policy makers have done or failed to do to protect the integrity and value of the U.S. dollar, the nation’s economy, and its natural security, All three are interlinked. Rickards tells of previous currency wars, their causes and outcomes, identifying the present situation as the third such war. He discusses how, when this war is over, the global balance of economic power may look very different and America’s role on the world stage could be dramatically reduced. The failure of the so-called Super Committee to agree on spending cuts and the possibility of sequestration or automatic cuts are part of this larger picture. At present, the annual Gross Domestic Product, the value of the sale of all goods and services, is approximately $14 trillion. The national debt is now $15 trillion and growing. You don’t have to be a math genius to see where this is going.

It’s not going to leap onto any bestseller list but it surely deserves to be widely read. It’s Regulators Gone Wild: How the EPA is Ruining American Industry by Rich Trzupek ($23.95, Encounter Books). A chemist and principal consultant at Mostardi Platt Environmental, he has been an environmental consultant for twenty-five years for several Fortune 500 companies. Trzupek brings a wealth of scientific knowledge and his experience to focus on something many people suspect, but lack the time to explore. The Environmental Protection Agency, established in 1970, has long since strayed from its original purpose to ensure clean air and water, becoming a rogue agency more concerned with aggressive regulation of all aspects of our lives, but in particular all business and industrial activity, large and small. The result is jobs lost because of decisions not to start or expand a business, or to conduct it offshore. For years now the EPA has been waging a war against access to and the use of all the facets of energy Americans need and use. This is a surprisingly short book for such a big topic, but the author covers all the bases and the examples he cites are chilling. I strongly recommend this excellent expose of a government agency run amuck.

These are election times as the merits of the GOP candidates are being evaluated and we are now beginning to look back at the previous administration with some perspective. A softcover edition of Decision Points by former President George W. Bush ($18.00, Broadway) is now available and provides his story of his life and the reasons he made the decisions he did during two terms leading the nation; the first involving the 9/11 attacked that changed our lives in its wake. The President comes across as a man with a deep religious faith, but also uniquely prepared for the job as the son of a former President, a pilot in the Reserves, a businessman, and as Governor of Texas. He comes across as honest, doing the best he could, and pretty much what we all saw at the time. Mitt Romney is a GOP candidate that many want to know better and R.B. Scott has authored Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics ($16.95, Lyons Press, softcover) that answers many of the questions in voter’s minds. It is the first independent, unauthorized biographical profile and draws on research from two decades, including interviews with people who know him well, allies and adversaries alike. The book also looks at the Mormon Church and its march toward the religious mainstream. If you’re still trying to make up your mind, you will be aided by this book.

December is the month when book lovers look for interesting gifts and anyone who loves elephants—and I do—I recommend An Elephant’s Life: An Intimate Portrait from Africa by Caitlin O’Connell ($29.95, Globe Pequot Press) which is filled with her photos of elephants being elephants in glorious color. The author is a leading field biologist who has immersed herself in a study of elephant society for nearly two decades. Her narration of the photos is kept to a minimum so that the pictures speak for themselves, but it is also invaluable for the understanding and insight it provides. This is photojournalism and nature documentary at its best. It is an intimate portrait. A totally different, but hearty, recommendation is for Inside the Jewish Bakery by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg ($24.95, Camino Books, Philadelphia, PA) subtitled “Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking.” There are few joys to rival fresh-baked breads, bagels, and other taste treats. The Ashkenazi Jewry from Eastern Europe brought with them baking traditions that went back centuries, as did the Sephardic or Mediterranean Jews. This book is more than a collection of recipes and because so much of Jewish cuisine has become part of the American dining scene, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy this book. But it helps! The authors recall their youth in Brooklyn and the Bronx, large Jewish enclaves even today. The recipes are based on professional formulas, but adapted for home kitchens. The book is enhanced by many color photos of a range of breads, pastries, cookies and cakes. It’s a great Hanukkah or Christmas gift.

I love big, fat books filled with useful information and was greatly impressed when I received African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence by Lean’tin L. Bracks ($22.95, Visible Ink Press, Canton, MI, softcover). It has biographies of more than 750 influential figures, is filled with little known or misunderstood historical facts, enlightening essays on significant legislation and movements that explore the past, the progress, and current conditions of African Americans. As a true almanac, it covers the civil rights movement, African American literature, art and music, as well as religion, advances in science and medicine, theatre, film and television. It is a tremendous value for the vast amount of information it provides.

One of the most common questions I receive comes from writers who want to know if I can recommend a literary agent or a publisher for their book. The best answer I have is to pick up a copy of Jeff Herman’s encyclopedic 2012 Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents ($29.99, Sourcebooks, softcover). It is an extraordinary compilation of data about the many publishing houses that exist, what their preferences are, who their personnel are, and everything else you need to know. The same applies to the section on agents and to independent editors who can assist a writer. The guide even includes a section on the future of book publishing in regard to the ever-changing technology as well as resources for writers, websites and a glossary for those new to the process of finding the people that can transform a manuscript into a finished book. Herman has a track record of representing bestselling authors and this guide will prove a worthy investment.

Memoirs, Biographies & Autobiographies

Kurt Vonnegut whose novels like “Slaughterhouse Five”, “Cat’s Cradle”, and “Breakfast of Champions” became iconic markers of the twentieth century. Generally speaking, the man, himself, was not well known. His life was a series of tragedies that include his mother’s suicide, being a prisoner during World War II, the loss of a sister to cancer. One suspects he survived because he distilled it in his novels and leavened it with his unique sense of humor. Fans will welcome Charles J. Shields’ And So It Goes—Kurt Vonnegut: A Life ($30.00, Henry Holt and Company). It is an authorized biography, the result of five year’s research, hundreds of interviews, and more than 1,500 letters. Just out in November, it has been greeted with praise, hailed as “triumphant” and “definitive”, the best praise may be that it is very entertaining.

The passing of Apple’s Steve Jobs evoked worldwide notice. George Beahm just had his book, I, Steve: Steve Jobs in his Own Words ($10.95, Agate Publishing, softcover) published. It is a collection of Job’s quotations a vast array of topics, from anxiety to zen. Nor is this a fat compendium of lengthy statements, but rather a selection of short takes, often no more than a single sentence, so the 200 quotes actually fit in the palm of your hand. They capture his thoughts, ideas, and opinions on business, technology, culture, and life. Just as we look back at the genius of Edison in his era of innovation and invention, future generations will do the same for Jobs.

The story of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomatic envoy who risked his life to save the lives of more than 100,000 Jewish men, women, and children during World War II. Alex Kershaw tells that story in The Envoy ($16.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) recounts the final winter of the war and the extraordinary story of how Wallenberg used “safe passage” passes and secret “safe houses” throughout Budapest, using material gleaned from international archives as well as interviews with eyewitnesses, survivors and relatives of those whom he saved. The Talmud says that he who saves a single life, save the entire world. Wallenberg’s fate remains unknown, but his story lives on. Fast forward and Anna Badkhen offers a memoir of Afghanistan and Iraq from the point of view of a war reporter in Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories ($15.00, Free Press, softcover). It is an unsparing and intimate history of the last decade’s most vicious conflicts, bringing the human elements to life along with the dehumanizing realities of war, the people, the compassion they scraped from catastrophe, and the food they ate to survive. It is a very different view of the conflict that reflects the culture that has declared jihad against the West.

Manny Pacquiao, who many consider the best boxer of our times, has his life told in Pacman by Gary Andrew Poole ($15.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) that takes one behind-the scenes in this first major biography. More than a superb athlete, Pacquiao is a cultural icon known as much for his philanthropy to his country. He has been elected a congressman in his native Philippines, using his position to fight the severe poverty from which he came. Many predict he will one day be the president of that nation. In a classic rags to riches story, fans of boxing in particular will greatly enjoy this biography. From the music scene, fans of the group, Black Sabbeth, will enjoy Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbeth, a memoir by Tony Iommi ($26.00, Da Capo Press) that recounts how his band emerged around 1968 to break through the folksy songs of the hippie subculture to address war, famine, and political corruption, shocking and angering people with a new genre that would be known as heavy metal. As their lead guitarist he recounts how an accident sliced off the tips of the two middle fingers on his right hand, affecting the way he played, producing the deeper, more powerful musical tones for which the band became famous. He recounts his drug and alcohol abuse, marital discord, and the constant management problems that included exists by band members, the most famous of which was Ozzy Osbourne.

Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski recount the surprising story between a busy ad executive and a hungry little boy, Maurice Maczyk, who she encountered one day on a Manhattan street corner. An Invisible Thread ($25.00, Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster) tells the story of how something about the boy touched her heart “as if we were bound by some invisible, unbreakable thread.” The boy, born to an abusive father and drug-addicted mother, living in welfare hotels with his knife-weilding grandmother, had all the odds stacked against him, but he had a special spirit and what began as a simple lunch shared between strangers became a weekly ritual and life-changing friendship. Ron Franscell’s The Sourtoe Cocktail Club, ($18.95, Globe Pequot Press, softcover) is subtitled “The Yukon odyssey of a father and son in search of a mummified human toe…and everything else.” A lifelong journalist, the author grew up in Wyoming. He has witnessed and written about the evolution of the American West, the first months of the Afghan war and the devastation of Hurricane Rita. The author of many books, this one is an account of a road trip with his son where they drank a cocktail containing a mummified human toe and spent the longest day of the year under an Arctic sun than never set. Quite simply, he is an extraordinary writer and the memoir can be read for the pleasure of his prose. Anyone who has ever owned a horse will identify with and thoroughly enjoy Jana Harris’s Horses Never Lie About Love ($24.00, Free Press). When she and her husband moved to Washington State, she wanted to fulfill her dream of starting a horse farm. On a visit to a ranch where horses had been corralled for sale, she fell in love with a handsome mare and her foal, a black colt. When they were delivered three months later, however, she was unrecognizable, having survived a range five that had scarred her head and ears, and damaged her lungs. Could this now half wild horse be gentled? Harris’s book is a heartwarming story of the bonds between those who love horses and the horses who love them back.

Memoirs can also be painful while being cathartic. Betrayal and the Beast by Peter S. Pelullo is subtitled “a true story of one man’s journey through childhood sexual abuse, sexual addition, and recovery” ($15.95, Only Serenity LLC) Pellulo focuses on his corporate life in the music industry where he gained recognition for recording acts like the Rolling stones, Foreigner, and Stevie Wonder. He was active as well in the telecom industry, the Internet, and the financial world, but despite success in these fields, he could not overcome the scars of the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of two older neighborhood kids in the 1950s. This book points up, as Pelullo notes, that it is estimated that one in three girls and one in four boys experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. In his case, it led to a hidden life of sexual promiscuity and pain he sought to dull with prescription drugs, alcohol, and work. He had no one he considered a close friend. This book tells of his journey to recovery which he shares to give other victims like himself hope they too can recover.

Reading History

My understanding of the present and concerns about the future are informed by a life spent reading history. It never fails to fascinate me.

A brilliant new book about the history of Christianity is Rodney Stark’s The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion ($27.99, HarperOne). From an obscure Jewish sect whose teacher was executed by the Romans, the story of Christianity is quite extraordinary one. Stark previously authored “The Rise of Christianity”, but this new book carries history forward from its origins to the conquest of Roman society. His new book applies his considerable intellect to the last two thousand years, often challenging the conventional interpretations of many major events in the Christian narrative. He argues that Constantine’s conversion did the Church a great deal of harm and notes that the majority of converts to early Christianity were women. Some books on religion engage the reader in ways that either strengthen or decrease their faith, but this is a book of history and, as such, it is filled with insights that depart from much that is taken for granted by the faithful. Most surely, Stark’s belief that religion must disappear to allow for a more secular world, confident of its own achievements, is provocative, but he also explains why faith remains vigorous almost everywhere around the world and why Christianity continues to play an important role.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have lived in an earlier century? If so, you are in for a treat when you read The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer ($15.00, Touchstone Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, softcover. “Imagine yourself in a dusty London street on a medieval summer morning. A servant opens an upstairs shutter and starts beating a blanket. A dog guarding a traveler’s packhorses starts barking. Nearby traders call out from their market stalls…and you, in the middle of all this, where are you going to stay tonight? What are you wearing? What are you going to eat?” Instead of stories about jousts and chivalry, Mortimer brings to life, the daily sights, sounds, smells and tastes of England in the Middle Ages, hundreds of years before electricity, indoor plumbing, and modern medicine. This is history experienced in ways most other books do not convey.

The American Revolution tends to be taught in fairly sterile terms of battles and books about the leaders, but it was fought by real people and experienced by others that by Noel Rae ($30.00, Lyons Press) whose thoughts and experiences were captured in diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other sources of the time has been captured in a great read, The People’s War: Original Voices of the American Revolution. To gain insight to what it meant to live through that long, tumultuous period, this book is the one to read. We are familiar with George Washington and his colleagues, but here we are introduced to a farm boy who ran away to sea at age twelve, a pretty young widow roughed up by Tory ruffians, and a slave who escaped to the British after witnessing his mother being flogged. Not everyone favored the Revolution in much the same way we differ among ourselves over today’s conflicts. This is history at its most entertaining and authoritive, as told by witnesses to the events.

Much of history is about wars and two define much about America. Grant’s Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant’s Heroic Last Year recounts the last year of the military genius brought the Civil War to an end and served as President. Charles Bracelen Flood goes beyond Grant’s memoirs, written in his final days, beset by terminal cancer and cheated of his wealth by a business partner. They were his effort to save his family from destitution and, finished just four days before his death, became a bestseller. Flood paints a picture of a man devoted to his family. His determination, love of family and nation, is captured in this biography. Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941 by Stanley Weintraub ($24.00, Da Capo Press) recalls the days that followed December 7, 1941 that brought the U.S. into the World War that had been raging in Europe and Asia while Americans resisted being drawn into it. The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor altered history forever. An award-winning historian, author and co-author of more than fifty books, Weintraub describes how Churchill, at great risk, traveled to the U.S. to meet with Roosevelt to set in motion the events of WWII. He arrived on December 22. The book captures the unique feeling of a nation on the brink of war and provides the an insight to the strategic planning of the two most respected politicians of the 20th century. Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll ($35.00, W.W. Norton) chronicles the first two years the followed the attack on Pearl Harbor that claimed 2,500 lives and dealt a blow to U.S. naval power, locking American and Japan in a titanic struggle for control of the Pacific ocean, a struggle that became the largest naval war in history. It tells of the panic, triumph, and sacrifice of the early months of the epic contest and the admirals, political leaders, sailors and pilots on both sides of the conflict. From Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway, the collapse of the Japanese Empire was set in motion. Little wonder this aspect of the war holds our interest to this day. This book is a gripping story that anyone who loves history will devour despite its length or because of it.

Some years just stand out in our nation’s history, 1776, 1864, 1941 and 1968. The last is the subject of a book, The 1968 Project: A Nation Coming of Age by the staff of the Minnesota Historical Society ($24.95, Minnesota Historical Society Press, softcover) does a terrific job with texts and photos catching the highs and lows of a year that was unique culturally, politically, and in so many other ways. 1968 saw the assassination of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. It was the year of the Democratic Party national convention in Chicago with its epic battles with protests in Lincoln and Grant parks. Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic nominee. Richard M. Nixon was the GOP choice and, in November, he was the winner. There were more than 549,000 troops in Vietnam; 17,000 had been killed in combat that year. For a sense of a turning point that influenced much of what has since followed, this is an excellent book to read.

For the younger reader there is perhaps nothing more inspiring than to read the lives of men and women who, as Sandra McLoed Humphrey puts it, “made a difference.” They may learn about such people on television or from movies, but nothing is quite so intimate than to hold a book in one’s hands and to read about them. That’s why I would recommend They Stood Alone! 25 Men and Women Who Make a Difference ($14.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) by Ms. Humphrey who takes the reader on a tour in which she says, “heroes are ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things…” From DaVinci and Newton to Curie and Einstein, from Gandhi to Neil Armstrong and Rosa Parks, this is a gift that should be under the tree or near the menorah as it celebrates vision and courage.

Advice, Advice, Advice

In the world of books there is no end to advice on every single aspect of life. One of the most challenging is how to find a mate and then how to fashion a successful marriage. It’s not easy but Bari Lyman has written Meet to Marry: A Dating Revelation for the Marriage Minded ($14.95, Health Communications, softcover). Lyman has coached hundreds of singles as a modern-day marriage-broker and her book helps the single reader to find their way to lasting love. She teaches how to recognize one’s own blind spots and to change the way one thinks when mind-sets hinder relationships. One must first be able to live in harmony with oneself while being visible to one’s partner. She offers a three-step program—Assess, Attract and Act. I think this book will help a lot of singles avoid the pitfalls and take the right steps. Then there’s the question, “What does your husband—whom you still love—do that drives you nuts?” It was a question that Jenna McCarthy posted on her Facebook page and out of it came If It Was Easy, They’d Call the Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon: Living with and loving the TV-Addicted, Sex-Obsessed, Not-So-Handy Man You Married ($15.00, Berkley Publishing, softcover). McCarthy is happily married and the mother of two daughters. She is also the author of five books and a very funny writer who brings laughter and clarity it to this subject. Women will identify with what she deems male idiocy, but she also dishes some straight talk to the girls as they navigate through marriage.

A very different approach is found in Draw Close ($19.99, Revell) written for Christian couples by Willard F Hartley, Jr. and his wife, Joyce. They share their insights for growing a strong marriage with a devotional because they believe one must draw close to God as well as each other. They must be doing something right. They have been married 48 years! The book addresses a variety of topics that every couple faces in marriage ranging from love to time issues, honesty, harmful habits, selfish demands, criticism, respect, parenting, and so much more. If one’s marriage includes a mouthy, moody teenager, I have just the book for you. It’s Dr. Kevin Leman’s Have a New Teenager by Friday ($17.99. Revell) in which this family expert and author of more than forty books reveals how to deal with the most familiar bad attitudes of teenagers with advice that really works; how to gain respect, establish healthy boundaries, communicate effectively, turn selfish behavior around, and be the influence for the better person you want your teenager to be. Two other Revell books to check out are A Confident Heart: How to Stop Doubting Yourself & Live in the Security of God’s Promises by Renee Swope ($13.99, softcover) and Walk Strong, Look Up by Chantel Hobbs ($13.99, softcover) the author of “Never Say Diet” who is back with a book on the healthful benefits of walking to transform your physical, mental, and spiritual outlook. It is filled with practical advice.

Stephen R. Covey gained fame with his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” which sold 20 million copies and he is back now with The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems ($28.00, Free Press) which looks at the traditional way of conflict resolution—my way or your way. He offers a third way in which the parties engaged in “creative dialogue” and temporarily suspend their entrenched positions. This is not exactly a big breakthrough, unless you’re one of those people who believe in “my way or the highway” and then maybe you need to read this book! Most of life involves a degree of flexibility and compromise and that is what Covey’s new book addresses.

Last Laughs: A Pocketful of Wry for the Aging seems an appropriate way to close out this discussion of advice books ($14.95, Two Harbors Press). Actually, Everett Mattlin serves up a collection of essays that skip all the usual feel-good chatter about growing old and gets right to all its most annoying aspects. His advice is to get lazy and be lazy in your “golden years” because as he says, there is nothing wrong with spending your time wallowing in all the wonderfully clichés of old age, a comfy rocking chair, old movies on TCM, your favorite libation, and just remember the good old days. It works for me!

Getting Down to Business

Ronn Torossian has built a reputation for himself and for his public relations firm, 5W Public Relations, over the years as being among the top practitioners of PR that benefits his clients in New York, Los Angeles, and points in between as one of Inc Magazine’s list of the top 500 entrepreneurial firms. So what should a successful PR professional do at this point in his career? Write a book of course. For immediate Release, written with Karen Kelly ($24.95, Benbella Books, Dallas, TX) is testimony to the triumphs and pitfalls of public relations. It is filled with good advice based on real world case histories of what works and what doesn’t. Over my 40+ years as a public relations counselor I can attest to the many ways this book can help everyone from the CEO of a giant corporation to a start-up new business. Much of what we read or hear in the media is directly related to the information provided by PR practitioners as they seek to help their clients and, indeed, federal and state governments engage in massive amounts of PR to advance their agendas and policies, so it isn’t just private enterprise. Non-profits, too, use PR for their causes. This is one of the best books on PR that I have read in years.

Getting new business and then servicing it are the subjects of two softcover books of interest. Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing by Neal Schaffer ($21.95, Windmill Networking) While most who sign up on Linkedin for the purpose of getting a job, Schaffer explores the network’s potency in connecting sales and marketing forces and backs it up with 15 business owners and professional’s case histories. The book shows how to create a sales-oriented profile and connections policy to attract more leaders. He recommends becoming an industry thought leaders by establishing your own community within the LinkedIn demographic. The networking website clearly offers many such opportunities and this book shows you how to get the maximum value from it. Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service is now in its fifth edition ($18.95, Amacom), testimony to its advice on how customers both shop and relate their experience. Readers will benefit from its new tips, tools, and techniques to impress and retain customers, on problem-solving, working with generational and cultural differences and even how to handle the “customer from hell.” For the start-up or the old pro, this book has proven itself over and over again.

When Life Strikes: Weathering Financial Storms by Cal Brown ($24.95, Brown Books Publishing Group, Dallas, TX) takes a look at the many different problems that life throws in our path, examining questions that include what if “I lost my spouse?”, “I lost my career?”, “I lost my investments?”, along with similar questions regarding marriage, the loss of parents, stolen identity, the loss of health and even one’s mind! The author is a financial planner and brings his experience to bear on these common situations. The book is filled with excellent advice on how to prepare for these problems, looking ahead for the sale of one’s spouse, children, and personal future. Put this one on your “must read” list. In Affluence Intelligence: Earn More, Worry less, and Live a Happy and Balanced Life ($25.00, Da Capo Press) authors Stephen Goldbart, PhD, and Joan Indursky Difuria, MFT, join to discuss what constitutes a fulfilling, financially secure life in which you work at what you love, have satisfying relationships, and life a life that has meaning and purpose. We often do not address these questions until too much time has passed by, so a book like this allows you to begin to focus well before it’s too late.

A rather specialized book is Andrew J. Sherman’s Harvesting Intangible Assets: Uncovering Hidden Revenue in Your Company’s Intellectual Property ($29.95, Amacom). The author says that most companies allocate little structured attention to cultivating the resource of their intellectual property; companies that do include Google, IBM, Amazon, and others. Based on his work with some of the world’s most innovative and successful companies, Sherman presents systematic methods for managing, measuring, maximizing, and protecting these assets in an information-centric, innovation-driven world.

Exile on Wall Street: One Analyst’s Fight to Save the Big Banks from Themselves ($29.95, Wiley) by Mike Mayo could not be more timely in light of the events of 2008 and the “Occupy Wall Street” attack on the nation’s banking system. The author is an award-winning Wall Street analyst, Mayo writes about the biggest issue of our time, the role of finance and banks in America. In doing so, he lays out the truth about practices that have diminished capitalism and tarnished the banking sector. He brings to bear his experience working at six Wall Street firms, analyzing banks and protesting against bad practices for two decades. In doing so, he blows the lid off the true inner workings of the big banks. This book deserves not only to be read, but to be a template for correcting the ills and misfortunes of today’s banking community.

Children’s & Young Adult Books

I am one of those people that thinks that, under the Christmas tree, there should be books as well as toys. A child can always return to a favorite book for some quiet time and usually benefit from its story.

There’s Hanukkah, too. The Jewish festival of lights and one of the most entertaining and charming stories with that holiday theme is The Story of Hanukkah Howie, written by Jan Dalrymple and illustrated by her husband, Bob Dalrymple ($18.00, Peanut Buttler Publishing, Seattle, WA) in which a toddler awakes one day with a spike of hair on the top of his head and one by his ear. This is followed by more such spikes of hair and always as Hanukkah is close at hand. It is an amusing tale of how Howie tries to cope with this strange phenomenon as he grows older until a youngster points out that his hair resembles of menorah with nine candles. If there’s a Jewish youngster around 6 to 9 or so that you know, this would make a great gift. Parents can read the story to those of pre-school age.

For the very young there are books that are indestructible, made with thick cardboard pages and covers, but wonderfully illustrated. Parents can develop a love for books by giving them as a gift and reading from them at bedtime. One example is A Bedtime Kiss for Chester Raccoon by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson ($7.95, Tanglewood Publishing, Terra Haute, IN). As a beam of sun makes the rounds of his nest, young Chester’s imagination gets the best of him as various creatures are conjured up and sleep is slow to arrive. From the same publisher there’s Wild Rose’s Weaving by Ginger Churchill and illustrated by Nicole Wong ($15.95) for the early reader, 5 to 7, about a little girl whose grandmother wants to teach her how to weave, but she wants to play outside and enjoy nature. When she returns home, there’s a rug that’s been woven that has all the colors and shapes of nature and Rose decides she too wants to learn how to weave. Jabberwocky Books has published a book specifically for the pre-teen who suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and there’s an estimated one in one hundred that do. Stuck by Rhonda Martin, M.A., ($15.77) and illustrated by Denis Proulx is about a seven year-old girl who gets “stuck” on things like cleaning her hands, the use of words, and even saying goodbye to her parents. The book will help both the OCD child and their parent deal with the disorder and to know that they are not facing it alone.

Kids Can Press is a publishing dynamo for children’s books. For those ages 3 to 5 there’s My Name is Elizabeth! Written by Annika Dunkler and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe ($13.95) about a little girl who loves her name and does not want to be called anything else like Liz or Lissie. It’s very funny in a sweet way. From the same publisher and also for this age group is Hocus Pocus by Sylvie Desrosiers and illustrated by Remy Simard ($14.95) about a battle of wits between a magician’s rabbit named Hocus Pocus and the magician’s grumpy canine called Dog. Dog wants to sleep. Hocus Pocus wants to eat carrots. The two have a merry time trying to outwit each other. This age group will also enjoy The Call of the Cowboy by David Bruins and illustrated by Hilary Leung ($16.95) about a little cowboy who has to learn that all the noise he is making is annoying his friends, especially a bear and a ninja. They go off on their own and he discovers the value of being quiet around others who return to be his friends again.

For others, Kids Can Press, has some educational books that are also fun to read. Ages 4 to 7 or so will enjoy Look at That Building! A First Book of Structures by Scot Ritchie ($16.95) that’s a brightly illustrated introduction to basic construction concepts of walls, floors and roofs, as well as the many different kinds of structures there are, even in nature. Basic concepts of physical science and space are explained in Motion, Magnets and More by Adrienne Mason will illustrations by Claudia Davila ($18.95). Any parent who works in these fields will want to share this with their child. That’s how young scientists and engineers are guided. And breathes there a child who is not fascinated by dinosaurs? From its series, Tales of Prehistoric Life, there’s Ankylosaur Attack by Daniel Loxton, illustrated by the author and Jim W.W. Smith ($16.95) and when I say “illustrated” I mean absolutely extraordinary artwork that brings that lost era alive. The story is a real adventure.

Young Adult

For young adults, there’s a graphic novel, The Sign of the Black Rock by Scott Chantler ($17.95, Kids Can Press) from the Three Thieves series, part two. Told comic book style, it is a story of friendship, betrayal, and escape—all on one dark and stormy night as Dessa, Topper and Fisk continue their search from Grayfalcon in the hope he will lead them to Dessa’s brother. It’s a long night at Black Rock Inn, only to come face-to-face with their pursuer, Captain Drake. It’s a page turner. Just published in November by Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group comes Snow in Summer: The Tale of an American Snow White by Jane Yolen ($16.95) in which the fairy tale is turned into a modern, rather grim story of young Summer, a girl growing up in West Virginia who loses her mother and her baby in childbirth, followed by her father’s marriage to a step-mother with a very dark side to her personality. Yolen has authored more than three hundred books, has won a heap of awards, and knows how to spin a tale. The Sea Wall by Leslie Ann Keatley ($11.99, Arbor Books, softcover) is a timely novel set in the fictional town of Moss Ridge, California, where 17 year-old Audrey Kelly finds herself the target of a group of bullies known as the Cheerleaders. Fed up with being a victim, Audrey sets out on a campaign of revenge against the group’s leader, Caroline, but her so-called harmless pranks get out of hand. The novel demonstrates what can happen when frustration and anger get out of control and how dangerous such aggression can be. The book works just as well for an older reader, too.

A new Christmas-themed story is The Taste of Snow by Stephen V. Masse ($20.00, Good Harbor Press, Medford, MA) is ideal for ages 8 through 14. It takes the reader to an Alpine wonderland, Gartendorf, Austria, just days before the Feast of Saint Nicholas where eleven-year-old Nicole Kinders has stopped at Boznik’s market stall on the way to school so her younger sister, Ashley, can buy a sweet. Boznick offers Nicole a candy cane saying, “This is a magic candy cane. The magic will be revealed.” One taste unlocks memories of the most wonderful flavors in her memory. But trouble is waiting when Nicole intervenes in a quarrel between students on the tram home from school. Will the candy cane’s magic work to recapture the joy of the season? You will have to read it to learn. Chengli and the Silk Road Caravan by Hildi Kang ($14.95, Tanglewood) takes the reader to China in 630 A.D. where Chengli is an orphaned errand boy in Chang’an. At age 13 he feels ready for independence and joins a caravan on the merchant route known as the Silk Road. In part he is searching for a father who disappeared many years earlier. Also on the caravan is a princess and her royal guards. This is a coming of age story filled with adventure and heroism that will delight a young reader. Finally, for lots of fun, there’s Elliott Stone and the Mystery of the Summer Vacation Sea Monster by Carl DiRocco ($8.99, Blue Martin Publications, softcover) in which Elliot, unhappy to be missing events and friends far from the Vermont family cabin on Neshobe Island in the middle of Lake Bomoseen thinks he may have spotted a sea monster and meets Marley “a totally cute girl next door” that turns the summer into an adventure.

Novels, Novels, Novels

David H. Brown puts his experience dealing with Washington, D.C. agencies, taps the current interest evoked by the forthcoming election, and then hypothesizes that would happen if an act of terrorism killed the incoming and outgoing presidents and vice presidents on Inauguration Day! The succession would go to the Speaker of the House and next to the President of the Senate Pro Tempore, but neither is available to serve. Instead, a new Speaker is named and she is given the oath of office, vowing revenge for the perpetrators. You’re not likely to put down Next in Line to the Oval Office ($25.99, but only $16.30 direct from Author House, also available as an e-book) as the search is on to track down the killers. A very timely novel, indeed!

Chick-Lit

There is a gusher of softcover novels available and, in no particular order, there’s It’s a Waverly Life by Maria Murnane ($14.95, Amazon Encore), a sequel to “Perfect on paper: The (Mis)adventures of Waverly Bryson.” Waverly is a popular blogger whose fans call her an ‘American Bridget Jones.’ Busy with her dating advice blog, Waverly has also fallen in love with Jake McIntyre, a physical therapist for the NBA in Atlanta. Having had one broken heart with a previous romance, she is struggling. Life is getting very complicated for Waverly and if this sounds like ‘chick-lit’, it is. The girls will love this one and, no doubt, A Pinch of Love by Alicia Bessette ($15.00, Plume) who tells a warm-hearted story about the young widow of a Katrina volunteer who forms an unlikely friendship with Ingrid her 9-year-old neighbor. Rose Ellen ‘Zell’ Roy is still morning the death of her husband Nick who died on a relief mission. She has taken up baking to pass the time and has set her eye on winning the grand prize to donate in Nick’s honor. The theme of female friendship is explored in Inseparable by Dora Helt, as translated by Jamie Lee Searle ($14.95, Amazon Crossing, also available as an e-book) Life can be complex. Christine’s best friend ran off with her now ex-husband and she is pretty sure she doesn’t need another BFF in her life. Still reeling from her recent divorce, she is hardly looking forward to her upcoming 44th birthday. Then her editor assigns her to write a column about what she’s been through and, when she does, her two other friends hatch a plan, a surprise party, to snap her out of her doldrums. Believe it or not, this is often a laugh-out-loud story as it we discover how important friendships are. This one is a winner!

Mysteries

For the guys (and girls) who prefer some mystery, a bit of violence, and psychological complexity, there’s Already Gone by John Rector ($14.95, Thomas & Mercer, softcover). Rector’s complex characters and intricate plots have won him plaudits from the media, fellow writers, and a burgeoning fan base. This is his third novel. His main character is Jake Reese, who is teaching writing at a university in the Southwest, has been married to Diane for just over a month, and has a mild drinking problem more or less under control. What could go wrong? Everything. After leaving a local bar to head home, he is assaulted y thugs who do not take his money or car, but just his wedding ring and the finger it was on! The local police are not much help, so he decides to track down his attackers himself. Then he receives news that his wife’s body was found in a car wreck. In his previous life, Jake was a criminal and he reaches out to the crime boss who mentored him for help. Suffice to say this novel has more twists and turns than you can imagine, all quite gripping and worth reading. Another mystery story is Waterfall by David Zini ($17.95, Langdon Street Press) in which police investigators Mark Truitt and Jamie Littlebird are trying to unravel a succession of deaths at Midwest Research Labs, a Minnesota business. The finger points to the Pallidin family that owns the labs, but are they villains or just pawns in a deadly game to control the world’s population? At the center of the story is a vicious contract killer with total disdain for humanity. Scary? You bet!

That’s it for 2011

Wow! 2011 is in the history books and we will now turn our attention to 2012, a year for a national election and who knows what else? In terms of new fiction and non-fiction, I can predict the usual deluge because there is no end to storytelling and to books of all kinds that help us ensure good health, run our businesses better, and provide insight into history. Others teach us about cooking and baking, child care and parenting, and every other aspect of life. Some ask me if ebooks will replace traditional ones. My answer is no. Nothing can replace a book you can hold in your hands and then put on a shelf to revisit.

Tell your friends and other book lovers about Bookviews.com!

Bookviews - November 2011

2011-10-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba
Founding member of the National Book Critics Circle

My Picks of the Month

With the headlines filled with news about the financial crisis in Europe, Dr. Johan Van Overtveldt has written The End of the Euro: The Uneasy Future of the European Union ($24.95, Agate Publishing, Evanston, IL). It is a timely analysis and, while international economics and business may not seem the most exciting topic, the Belgium-based economic journalist has made it one with a highly readable history of how and why the European Union came into being as a response to World War Two and the threat of Soviet domination. The euro’s fate is tied to the dysfunctional economies of Greece, Portugal, and Spain, and dependent on the decisions that Germany makes in the days and weeks ahead. The author makes a convincing case that Germany may well opt out of its support for the euro which, in turn, will impact the entire European monetary union. His examination of previous failures to unify Europe’s monetary systems suggests he may be right. In a way, the book is a testament to the value of national sovereignty and the need for nations to act responsibly to avoid deficit spending, particularly on socialist programs that redistribute wealth by heavily taxing their populations, retarding growth, punishing the middle class, and taking on too much debt. Since every nation is connected in some fashion to all the others, the fate of the EU is worth learning about.

With a global population of seven billion, issues involving food and disease are going to take on greater importance in the event millions begin to starve—they already are in North Korea—or if an epidemic threatens. In Three Famines: Starvation and Politics ($27.99, Public Affairs) Thomas Keneally takes a look at famine, not just natural causes such as crop failure and drought, but by man-made famines based on bad ideologies and attitudes. Looking at three devastating food shortages in modern history in Ireland and India, both ruled by England at the time, and in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s, Keneally provides a portrait of famines that resulted in massive losses of life when a more sensible, compassionate, and moral response could have been taken. Those in administrative positions had the power to stop the suffering, but did not. This book is a reminder that administrative neglect and incompetence have been more lethal than the crop failures. Jonathan Bloom is on a crusade to get Americans to stop throwing out food which he calculates at 197 pounds of food a year. American Wasteland ($18.50, Lifelong Books, an imprint of Da Capo Press, softcover) is one of those tiresome books that blames Americans for enjoying a lifestyle of abundance and generally ignores the enormous export of grains, poultry, and meat we ship to other nations as an important element of our economy. Any time there’s a natural disaster somewhere, Americans send food and aid. Instead Bloom instructs not to keep our refrigerators full, why we should not buy food in bulk-sizes, and why we should monitor our eating habits. If all the fat people I see every day are evidence of waste, apparently a lot of food is being consumed as opposed to being thrown out. The great scourge of mankind has been malaria, the mosquito-born disease that kills some 800,000 every year in Africa, 38,000 in the Middle East, and 36,000 in Asia. Alex Perry has written Lifeblood: How to Change the World One Dead Mosquito at a Time ($25.99, Public Affairs) in which he take the reader to some of the most malaria infested towns in the world. It is an often surprising portrait of modern Africa and the efforts being made to stamp out malaria, those in the past and present aid programs that are making breakthroughs. If we could go to the Moon, we can surely rid the world of malaria. All it requires is killing its agent, the mosquitoes, and we know how to do that.

I enjoy reading history and I am very fond of big, fat books. When you combine the two as Matthew White does in The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities ($35.00, W.W. Norton), you get a compelling look at history that reveals how it is defined as much by its horrors as by achievements. As history, the author makes clear that “destruction and creation are intimately intertwined. The fall of the Roman Empire cleared the way for medieval Europe.” Tying it all together are the mega-deaths whether they were the Crusades or the partition of India in the late 1940s, but the book includes conflicts we may not learn about in school or college, but which had a significant impact. We tend to know something of our own Civil War which was a bloodbath for both sides and how, in the last century, the destruction of human life was perfected from the First World War to the Second. Though its title aptly calls it a horror story, it is an impressive work of scholarship regarding the ways civilizations expanded or were conquered and disappeared. It is well worth reading. Another great big book is The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA’s First Space Plane by Piers Bizony ($40.00, Zenith Press). It is a classic coffee table book, 10.5 x 11.25, 300 pages and filled with 900 color photos. In short, the perfect Christmas gift for someone who is an enthusiast for life and travel in outer space. In the 1980s, on assignment, I had the opportunity to visit the John F. Kennedy Space Center and tour the site where rockets and space shuttles were launched. I saw a shuttle up close and that is to say I saw a vehicle that was the size of a small building and marveled that it could be lifted beyond Earth’s gravity to circle the planet. One can only marvel at the courage of the crews that went aloft and the scientific and technological mastery that made it possible. This book is a keeper!

In 2007 I reviewed Jim Camp’s NO, The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home ($23.00, Crown Business) and it went on to become a bestseller. Camp is an internationally recognized negotiation coach. Now, Nightingale Conant, the leading producer of motivational and educational audiobooks, has published The Power of No: Negotiating Secrets the Pros Don’t Want You to Know ($99.00) in which the author shares his contrarian and results-oriented program that teaches how to avoid making deals based on being needy and emotional. There is no aspect of life in which we are not negotiating something and this audiobook will unlock the secrets of successful negotiation that will transform your life. It is the very essence of arriving at agreements that are an improvement over those first offers you receive or the dreaded “maybe” answer. In my view, whether you are a corporate executive, work in a governmental position, have responsibility for an organization of any kind, or just want to navigate successfully through life, this audiobook is a terrific investment. You can visit the website of the Camp Negotiation Institute to purchase it and, while there, learn how you can become a certified negotiation expert.

Regular visitors to Bookviews know that books of unique specificity also interest me. One such is My City, My New York: Famous New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Places by Jeryl Brunner ($12.95, Globe Pequot Press, softcover) in which more than 300 folks of varying degrees of fame, actors, literary types, the very rich, et cetera, explain why they could not live anywhere else. Mercifully the book is small or short enough not to exhaust the topic as their views are mostly one paragraph long. If you have a New Yorker in your life, this would make a great holiday gift. If they happen to love the Giants then you can also give them 100 Things Giants Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Dave Buscema ($13.95, Triumph Books, softcover). I ignore virtually all sports so all I can say is that this book appears to be the sum total of all useful and interesting information about the Giants. In the interest of fairness (and fun) Jets fans will enjoy Jets Underground by Jeff Freier ($14.95, Triumph Books, softcover) that is a far cry from the usual boring statistics. Instead, Freier treats the reader to a collection of the maddest and baddest of everything related to the NFL’s most colorful franchise. It is subtitled “Wahoo, Joe Willie, and the Swingin’, Swaggerin’ World of Gang Green.” It is very entertaining reading.

Tolstoy called The Iliad by Homer a miracle. Goethe said that it always thrust him into a state of astonishment. Homer’s epic poem is widely regarded as an essential element of an individual’s education though it has not been a part of most curriculums for a long time. Part of the problem have been previous translations, but Stephen Mitchell has remedies that with his translation of The Iliad ($35.00, Free Press) that brings to life its heroes, Achilles and Patroclus, Hector and Priam. Despite having been authored 2,700 years ago, this translation reminds us that war and all the human characteristics we regard as modern phenomenon existed long ago in ancient Greece. Mitchell has been widely hailed for his masterful translations and this one, I think, will be regarded as the capstone of his reputation. Simply stated, it is a marvelous story, filled with excitement, strong characters, and a plot that, despite its length, keeps one reading to its profoundly moving end.

Getting to Know Your Brain

By coincidence, a number of books regarding the workings of one’s brain have been published. In no particular order, let’s begin with What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite by David DiSalvo ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover). The former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and a contributor to science journals, DiSalvo asks why do we routinely choose options that don’t meet our short-term needs and undermine our long-term goals? Why do we insist that we’re right when evidence contradicts us? Why do we yield to temptations that undermine our need to overcome addictions? His conclusion is that what our brains want is frequently not what your brain needs. This book is an excellent way to get to know how your brain (and everyone else’s) works and how to turn that awareness into the kind of action that yields a better life and better decisions about that life.

Your Brain on Childhood: The Unexpected Side Effects of Classrooms, Ballparks, Family Rooms, and the Minivan by Gabrielle Principe ($17.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) takes a look at the way, for most of humanity’s existence, childhood was spent in natural environments, out-of-doors, exploring the world. How different modern existence is with its artificial environments intended to make life easier and more secure for children, strapped into bouncy seats, sitting in front of a television set, playing with battery-operated toys, or interacting with computers. The perfect metaphor is the film 2001 where two astronauts had to deal with the computer HAL that tries to kill them. In basic terms, real childhood development comes from face-to-face communication and freewheeling pretend play. The strict regimen of school—which seem to begin a younger and younger ages is really designed for a society intent on developing a new generation of drones as opposed to freeing young minds to learn at their own pace. For today’s parents, this book is well worth reading. The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Differently Wired Brain by Thomas Armstrong, PhD ($16.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) aims at eliminating negative terms and labels that put millions of people into categories of mental illness, often reducing their opportunity to make the most of one’s brain despite being said to have attention deficit problems (common to anyone bored to tears) or depression (which may be a perfectly rational response to tragedy or other challenges). In effect, the author redefines what are considered mental disorders, explaining why may of the world’s greatest thinkers from Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Ludwig van Beethoven, if they were alive today, would be labeled in this fashion. The book is filled with practical tips for employers, parents, and teachers to make the most of one’s neurodiverse brain. While acknowledging that the medical model has been helpful for people with serious mental disorders, his model is more flexible and more encouraging when it comes to understanding how the brain works.

Pieces Missing: A family’s journey of recovery from traumatic brain injury by Larry C. Kerpelmann, PhD ($16.00, Two Harbors Press, softcover) tells the story of the author’s wife, Joanie, who was out jogging when a freak fall caused her to sustain a traumatic brain injury. Their tranquil life became one of emergency room visits, two hospitalizations, one brain surgery, and months of rehabilitation. It is the story, too, of her determination to recover the pieces missing from her memory, speech, confidence, and joy of life. For those encountering such injuries and their families, it is a memoir of love, hope, family, healing and recovery. A similar memoir is that of Martin Magoun in Russian Roulette ($17.76, Wharfratbooks.com, softcover) who suffered from depression with insights to the way depressed people view the world, medical studies of depression, and its crippling affect on people. It is testimony that one can recover from a disorder that is fraught with ignorance and misunderstanding.

William Ian Miller has written Losing It whose entire title goes on to say “In which an aging professor laments his shrinking brain, which he flatters himself formerly did him noble service. A pliant, tragic-comical, historical, vengeful, sometimes satirical and thankful in six parts, if his memory does yet serve” ($27.00, Yale University Press.) I confess I requested it thinking it was about the affects of aging on the brain from a scientific point of view, but I found instead an intellectual examination of how old age was regarded in ancient civilizations, its pleasures and its indignities as youth gives way to natural decay, and how we cope with it these days. There are moments of pure delight in this book, but one needs to have an inclination for digressions and discussions of Icelandic sagas, references to Beowulf, Vikings, Hebraic, and many other elements of literature. If you are prepared to take a leisurely walk through questions regarding aging, then this book will provide much to illuminate one’s mind, so long, of course, you’re not losing it.

The most devastating definition of “losing it” is Alzheimer’s disease and the affect on the family can be as hard, if not more so, than its victim. Kerry Luksic grew up in a family of fifteen, her mother and father, and twelve siblings. Throughout it all, her mother was the source of calm, of wisdom, of support, operating, as Kerry says with the efficiency of an engineer in Life Lessons from a Baker’s Dozen: 1 Mother, 13 Children, and Their Journey to Peace with Alzheimer’s ($17.99, plus shipping, purchase direct from www.kerryluksic.com, softcover) It is also available from Amazon.com. This is the story of Bobbie Lonergan who like too many really wonderful people fell victim to Alzheimer’s and, in time, did not know the names of her children, losing the memory of her own life. Kerry takes us on that amazing, sometimes heartbreaking, journey that led ultimately to her mother’s most powerful life lesson. She includes a very useful resource section for anyone whose life is affected by the disease. I am happy to heartily recommend this book about family relationships, motherhood, and eldercare.

Christopher W. DiCarlo has written How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Critical Thinker’s Guide to Asking the Right Questions ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) that examines one’s own and other’s answers to questions such as what can I know? What am I? Why am I here? How should I behave? And what is to become of me? How you answer such questions, says the author, reveals a lot about yourself and the same applies when you ask other. The book provides the tools that allow you to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what they’re talking about. These include politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy, and just about everyone else. The book teaches how to analyze your own thoughts, ideas and beliefs, and to understand why you act on them, as well as understanding others who might hold opposing views. In this regard, it can open doors to your mind that are extremely helpful. Stephen F. Kaufman wants you to question some of your fundamental beliefs, but particularly those that do not want you to question faith as a belief system. Faith, Kaufman asserts, covers up the failure to have confidence in our own intellect. In two softcover books, Self-Revealization Acceptance and Practicing Self-Revealization Acceptance ($14.95 and $18.95, Hanshi Warrior Press, New York) takes the reader on a journey in which one defines themselves in ways that enhances their potential for independence, and the ability to be the person they want to be and become. If you have doubts about the faith-based system into which you were born or accepted, these books will prove of interest.

Memoirs, Biographies & Autobiographies

From those in ancient times to today, the urge to write of their lives never ends and, in many cases, that is a good thing as we get to know ourselves better as a result.

Caesars’ Wives: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Roman Empire by Annelise Freisenbruch ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) is a study of some of most powerful women in early Western civilization. Not only is it excellent scholarship, it is a fascinating chronicle and narrative of the women behind the men who created and maintained the Roman Empire for five centuries. The wives, mistresses, mothers, sisters and daughters of the Caesars have been the basis for novels and dramas, but who were they really? The author provides the answer amidst some of the most intense intrigue imaginable.

Then and now populations were on the move and Towards A Better Life: America’s New Immigrants in Their Own Words—from Ellis Island to the Present by Peter Morton Caon (26.00, Prometheus Books) is an excellent way to understand why immigration has played such an essential role in American history. Today, immigrants comprise nearly a quarter of the U.S. population, a larger proportion than at any time since World War II. Ten percent are here illegally, but when you read this book you will understand why America has been such a magnet for people willing to leave their homes behind and launch themselves into a new life. The answer is freedom and America offers more than any other nation and backs it up with the oldest living Constitution. As the grandson of immigrants and one who loves history, I greatly enjoyed this book and you will too. A very different story is told in A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deceptions, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres ($26.00, Free Press) the story of the largest mass suicide in modern times when, on November 18, 1978, the followers of Jim Jones either voluntarily or were forced to drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. It was really more a mass murder than a suicide thirty-five years ago, but it shocked people worldwide. It is a terrifying story, but one that testifies to the utter evil of Jones and his lieutenants.

I do not know how many books have been written by survivors of the Nazi concentration camps and the Holocaust that took the lives of six million Jews and another five million Christians, gypsies, homosexuals, and assorted “enemies” of the Nazi state. David Karmi has written a memoir, Survivor’s Game, ($20.00, Arborhouse, softcover) about his life as a teenager in the death camps. We need to read such books to fully grasp the horror of the deliberate genocide of Europe’s Jews and the fate that others shared as well. The author survived almost by pure instinct and after being liberated by the allies made his way to what was then the Palestinian mandate administered by the British until a Jewish state was proclaimed in 1948. Later he moved to the U.S. and had a thriving career in construction in New York City. This is history as lived during a nightmare and one with a happy ending. Another nightmare is recounted in a memoir by Bonnie E. Virag in The Stovepipe ($17.95, Langdon Street Press, softcover). The author was just age four, living on her family’s farm in rural Canada with her parents and four sisters until they were taken away by force and put into the Children’s Aid Society, spending the next 14 years being pulled apart and struggling to reconnect. Some nights the only warmth they had came from a stovepipe in an attic. It is a heart wrenching memoir but a testimony to the human spirit and the resilience of four young girls. Every region of the nation has its legendary outlaws and Larry Wood has written Desperadoes of the Ozarks ($15.95, Pelican Publishing, softcover) that is a collection of stories from the era of bootlegging, highway robbery, and vigilante courts. From the cow-town of Baxter Springs, Kansas to the mining camp of Granby, Missouri, the Ozarks were a magnet for lawlessness. Whether you live there or not, this is very entertaining reading. These days the former bootleggers are into selling “meth” and other drugs so not all that much has changed except the names on the wanted posters.

Gang life is too often romanticized by Hollywood, but Luis J. Rodriguez tells the true story in It Calls You Back: An Odyssey through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing (24.99, Touchstone, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). It is a compelling autobiographical account of growing up as a Latino gang member in the mean streets of Watts and East Los Angeles. His previous memoir, Always Running, became a huge bestseller and this one too is likely to do the same as it recounts the challenges facing urban youth and the perils of gang life.

Usually, such illness is covered up in the interest of career, but Sorbo has written an interesting memoir in True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal—and How Nearly Dying Saved My life ($26.00, Da Capo Press). Actor Kevin Sorbo was on top of the world in late 1997, playing the role of a popular television show, Hercules. He had just become engaged to the woman of his dreams, but one morning while doing bicep curls, a searing pain show down his left arm. A visit to a chiropractor found a “soft but moveable” lump near his shoulder. He was advised to see an internist right away. The drive home became a nightmare as his brain “went haywire.” He had suffered a stroke. The story of what followed will be of interest to his fans and others.

Cook It, Bake It, Enjoy It

I love anything that is roasted. It brings out the flavor. One of the best books on the topic, All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art, ($35.00, W.W. Norton) doubles as a great holiday gift for anyone who loves preparing delicious meals. This large format, coffee table book, features 150 mouthwatering recipes by Molly Stevens, accompanied by gorgeous color photos in a book that is just over 370 pages in length. She is already a James Beard award-winning cookbook author and the Bon Appetit Cooking Teacher of the Year. The book will teach you how to choose the best cuts of meat, chicken and fish, basis roasting methods, roasting times and doneness tests, and everything else you need to know to master roasting. I have seen many cookbooks, but this one is in a class of its own.

Kathleen Flinn has written The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, ($26.95, Viking) whose sub-title is “How a few simple lessons transformed nine culinary novices into fearless home cooks.” It’s an entertaining story of how Kathleen looked into their cabinets and refrigerators, sampled their cooking, and taught them basic booking skills. Instead of loading up on processed foods, she teaches how to opt for fresher alternatives and to create easy meals. This basic knowledge is not necessary being passed along these days as many women work and preparing meals often takes second place to having time for other pursuits. Nothing beats a real home-cooked meal or replaces sitting down together to enjoy it. As one’s self-confidence in the kitchen grows, it affects all aspects of one’s life. Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese ($24.00, Free Press) takes a similar approach as she tells often funny stories surrounding her learning curve, asking questions such as is homemade better, how much time is involved, and a host of similar questions those new to the kitchen ask. To help the reader, she provides more than 120 recipes. Take my word for it, nothing beats home-baked bread, warm from the oven, and other dishes prepared with love.

My late Mother, Rebecca Caruba, taught gourmet cooking and baking for three decades and authored cookbooks. She loved French cuisine and we all loved their desserts. Now you can learn their secrets in Les Petits Macarons: Colorful French Confections to Make at Home by Kathryn Gordon and Anne E. McBride ($18.00, Running Press). The macaron is a meringue-based sweet with two colorful almond-flour cookies sandwiching a creamy, fruit-based or chocolaty filling. They can often be expensive to buy, if you can find a story that offers them. The authors provide information on, not only the French, but the Italian and Swiss meringue methods. Feeding friends and family these incredibly delicious treats will make you a legend among those fortunate enough to enjoy them. Even vegetarians enjoy a treat and Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have teamed up to write Vegan Pie in the Sky ($17.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) with 75 recipes that include tasty pie crusts, fruit, creamy and chocolate pies. Vegans will enjoy its delicate tars, crumbly cobblers, and other delicious desserts.

Getting Down to Business (Books)

There is no lack of books to teach you how to be a successful entrepreneur, how to manage people, how to plan, et cetera. For anyone who has not spent four years in business school, they are a handy shortcut and they have the benefit of adapting to changing and challenging condition.

It’s Your Biz: The Complete Guide to Becoming Your Own Boss by Susan Wilson Solovic ($22.95, Amacom) is a perfect example. At a time when many people are thinking about starting their own businesses because of the bleak job market, the problem is that, in good times or bad, more than half of such enterprises fail. Some of today’s largest companies began as start-ups in down times. The transition from a W-2 employee to being their own boss is not easy and especially for those who do not know what really makes a small business work. The author has learned from experience after four decades of being “a serial entrepreneur.” If you or someone you know is contemplating going out on their own, I strongly recommend they read this book for its pragmatic advice. I liked Plan B: How to Hatch a Second Plan That’s Always Better Than Your First ($26.00, Free Press) for the same reason. David Kord Murray asks and answers why some companies have stayed flexible enough to survive even after a stumble or two? It’s one thing to have a Plan A with which to begin an enterprise or expand one’s business, but one needs a Plan B and that involves knowing how and when to make changes to your business model. Murray argues that too many strategic plans aren’t flexible enough to change with a changing business environment. Product life cycles once measured in decades are now being measured in years, even months. Making the necessary transitions depends on being able to confronting existing problems, responding to market conditions and the moves of your competition; companies that did this are still around and thriving. Those that didn’t are gone.

The Enemy of Engagement: Put an End to Workplace Frustration—and Get the Most from Your Employees ($25.95, Amacom) is one of those titles that tells the whole story. In this book Mark Royal and Tom Agnew, leaders of the Hay Group’s employee researcher division, share their insights regarding why some employees become frustrated, examining the sources of their aggravation. For example, depending on the industry, between 32% and 48% of employees report work conditions that prevent them from being as productive as they could be. One-third of employees report that they do not have the resources to do their jobs well. Another third say they lack sufficient authority to carry out their job responsibilities effectively. The key to happier employees is enabling them to do their jobs, inhibiting their opportunity to shine. The authors contend that, as often as not, it is the workplace, not the worker that is the problem. This is a book managers at all levels need to read. The Diversity Index by Susan E. Reed ($27.95, Amacom) is subtitled “The alarming truth about diversity in corporate American…and what can be done about it.” I am old enough to remember when women stayed home and raised children, when blacks and other minorities had limited opportunities in the corporate world, Suffice to say it is a very different world today and has been since, fifty years ago, the first affirmative action policy was created by executive order by John F. Kennedy. What Ms. Reed discovered after studying the leadership structure of Fortune 100 companies from 1995 to 2009, that white women have made remarkable gains in climbing the corporate ladder, but that there appears to be significant barriers against native-born men and woman of color. In 2009, more than 40% of the Fortune 100 had no minorities among their executive officers. More than half of the Hispanic and Asian executive officers were born outside the United States. Like JFK famously said, life is unfair.

For women aspiring to positions of leadership, Christine K. Jahnke has written The Well-Spoken Woman: Your Guide to Looking and Sounding Your Best ($19.00, Prometheus Books). Jahnke is a renowned speech coach who has been teaching women what works and what doesn’t when it comes to delivering a speech or presentation. Whether it’s the PTA or the boardroom, this ability is often deemed among the most important to master. This holds true for both sexes, but this book will prove especially helpful to women with its strategic advice on everything from messaging to hair and hemlines that give one the edge.

Lastly, in times when housing prices are low and real estate opportunities exist for the bold, Dr. David Schumacher, PhD, with Steve Dexter have written Buy and Hold Forever: How to Build Wealth for the 21st Century ($21.95, Schumacher Enterprise, softcover). Schumacher is a multimillionaire property owner. Dexter is the president of National Capital Funding and both have authored award-winning books describing their strategies. If, like me, what you know about real estate investing could fit in a bug’s ear, this book holds the potential to make you into an expert like the authors as they explain how to select properties with real profit potential, choose the locations that will become tomorrow’s hottest neighborhoods, and to negotiate lucrative real estate deals. If have always found it unique that successful people like these two would share the “secrets” of their success with anyone who wants to become successful too, but in America we have a philosophy that wealth is a good thing and derives from hard work.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Based on the daily requests for reviews of novels, it sometimes seems to me that everyone is writing one. It is impossible to review them all, let alone read them all, so here’s a selection of a few that made it past the gate.

Erin Brockovich made a name for herself exposing toxic waste sites and became the subject of an Oscar-winning movie that bears her name. She has joined with CJ Lyons, a medical suspense author, to author Hot Water ($25.99, Vanguard Press), a novel about an environmental activist who is drawn into an investigation of a nuclear facility in South Carolina designed to create medical isotopes with the potential to save millions of lives. The plant, however, has been plagued with mishaps that have defied previous investigations and drawn the attention of anti-nuclear groups. This is an old-fashioned thriller. Another thriller is based on the very real prospect of the massive volcano that exists beneath Yellowstone Park. It’s the reason the park’s geysers are such an attraction, but if it every erupted, the impact would be unimaginable. Well, that is until Mike Mullin imagined what would happen in Ashfall ($16.95, Tanglewood, Terre Haute, IN). Given the increase in volcanic activity worldwide, this is a very timely novel and I think you will enjoy a story about a teenager whose life is turned upside down when the Yellowstone caldera erupts and his harrowing search for his family and friends begins. With a fellow teen, they must fund the strength and skills to survive an epic disaster.

The unrest between Islamism and the rest of the world is the backdrop of Hotamah! by Jay J. Schlickman ($27.25, available at Amazon.com) that is based on the Koranic verse 104, a prophesy of nuclear conflagration. It opens in 1982 Tehran and projects forward to an imagined 2045 alliance between prominent Islamic leaders to achieve world domination. Carefully researched, the novel examines Iran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but most of all the danger that religious fanaticism represents to the entire world. The author says that the book is intended to educate readers to a better understanding of Middle Eastern dynamics, the current crisis as the fortunes of nations in the region shift and change, and what a holy war would produce if steps are not taken to retard its progress.

The author, John Barth, has established himself among top-ranked writers and his fans will enjoy Every Third Thought ($24.00, Counterpoint Press) in which an elderly American writer/professor experiences the destruction of his home due to a tornado. He notes that it occurs on the 77th anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash, a detail that would be insignificant were it not for several subsequent events. As he and his wife depart on a European vacation, he suffers a fall on his 77th birthday, and he begins to experience five serial visions, each appearing to him on the first day of the ensuring seasons and each illuminating the successive stages of his life and career. It is a story of uncanny coincidences and one that will keep you turning the pages. Another novel that explores how chance can turn one’s life upside down is The Gentlemen’s Sport & Social Club by Joe Petterle, ($19.95, Langdon Street Press) in which a one-dimensional life is upended when a recluse from his former corporate life meets a beautiful and engaging woman who invites him to join her exclusive club. It is part metaphysical adventure and part mysterious romance. Incarnation and past lives are the basis of My Memories of a Future Life by Roz Morris ($10.77, softcover, also available on Kindle, Amazon.com) when a gifted musician experiences an injury to stop playing, she meets a healer, liar, fraud who may be her future incarnation or just a psychological figment. It is a multilayered story of souls on a conjoined journey in real time and across the centuries. Not my cup of tea, but sure to be of interest to those who find such themes intriguing.

Those of a certain age who can recall growing up before, during or after World War II are in for a treat from two non-fiction novels based on the life of E.E. Smith. Boardinghouse Stew and Times Like These ($24.95 each, Phoenix International) capture an earlier, simpler time from the perspective of six decades later. In the first novel, we encounter an 11-year-old girl, happy to have found work as a maid and cook in a down-at-the-heels Sacramento guest house in 1943 and the second is a sequel set in 1945 when she has relocated to a small town in Nevada, both of which evoke the way patriotism and mutually experienced hard times brought people closer together. Older readers will recognize many aspects of those days and young readers will benefit from learning about them. The author takes you in, sets a place at the table for you, and recreates the life of a young girl in a totally engaging way. Finally, World War II has generated many novels because it was a great traumatic drama. In Hitler’s Silver Box ($16.95, Two Harbors Press, softcover), Dr. Allen Malnack has created a thriller in which a physician, the chief emergency room resident at Chicago’s Cook County Hospital has his attention diverted from his practice by the mysterious death of his uncle Max, a Holocaust survivor. He discovers a journal of his ordeal at Theresienstadt concentration camp that sheds light on his death and sets him on a quest to find a document written by Nazi leaders and hidden in a silver box. Dr. Malnack’s father came to the US from Lithuania at age 16. All the men, women and children of that family were sent to the death camps and exterminated by the Nazis. There is a quality of authenticity that mixes with the story and gives ian immediacy to the events described.

That’s it for November!

Wow, 2011 is almost over. More than 800 fiction and non-fiction books have been the subject so far of Bookviews and we have December yet to go. Please do tell your friends, family and co-workers to visit Bookviews and discover a world of publishing that is generally overlooked in the mainstream media these days due to the end of book sections or even a page or two devoted to new books that used to exist. And come back in December for some great gift books to give for the holidays.

Bookviews - October 2011

2011-09-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba
Founding member of the National Book Critics Circle

My Picks of the Month

If you want to understand why there is so much unemployment in America these days or why Red China has the ability to destroy our financial system, you need to read Peter Navarro’s and Greg Autry’s Death by China: Confronting the Dragon – A Global Call to Action ($25.99, Prentice Hall). No single book that I have read in recent years so clearly describes how Red China has set upon a strategy to dominate manufacturing through currency manipulation and the willful refusal to abide by World Trade Organization rules. Allowed to get away with this by the U.S. and other nations, it is acting in a criminal fashion on so many levels that it boggles the mind. The great service this book performs is to reveal what it is actually doing as opposed to the myth that its 1.3 billion population represents a great new market for the U.S. and others. Quite the contrary, most are so poor they cannot afford the products we export. How bad is it?

“In terms of absolute size, America imports almost $1 billion a day more than it exports from China every business day of the year.” That’s a massive outflow of our money and it is often for products that are lethal, ranging from adulterating vitamins and pharmaceuticals, food produced under unsanitary polluted conditions, and products that can burst into flame. This book should be read by every member of Congress, in the White House, and what is left of America’s industrial base. We must disengage from China before there is only a hollowed out America with millions of unemployed citizens.

If you find Pakistan a confusing, unpredictable place, then I recommend you read John R. Schmidt’s book, The Unraveling: Pakistan in the Age of Jihad ($27.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Schmid had a thirty-year career in the U.S. diplomatic service and spent several years stationed in Islamabad. For most Americans, trying to figure out if Pakistan is an ally or not depends on what day of the week it is. Internally, Pakistan is a feudal nation with patronage being the primary relationship between a handful of landed, wealthy families and the rest of the population. Political power is sought in order to be able to dole out favors. The overall welfare of the nation takes a distant second place to that. Moreover, the various governments used the Taliban as a proxy to control its neighbor Afghanistan, only to have them threaten its own government. An obsessive fear of India has dictated most of its foreign policy since it was founded in 1947 and the army is about the only stable factor the nation can depend upon. This book will give you more insight to Pakistan than you could ever get trying to parse the daily headlines.

Grand Theft Auto: How Entrepreneurs Fought for the American Dream ($26.95, New Year Publishing, Danville, CA) by Alan and Alison Spitzer provides more insight into the way two auto manufacturers and the present administration in Washington, D.C. that bailed them out attempted to deprive their franchised dealerships of their businesses and lost. It is the story of how those dealerships, many of which had been passed down from grandparent to parent to children, all involving the investment of huge amounts of money to maintain, all independent businesses who are the actual purchasers of cars and trucks, were arbitrarily told they were terminated. The insanity of the bailout and subsequent bankruptcy proceedings was that the administration’s Auto Task Force was that the dealerships were the lifeblood of the manufacturers, their market. People purchase cars from dealership, not direct from the manufacturers. As the book reveals, there never was a rationale for terminating a business relationship that the states had long recognized as binding. Rather than lose everything into which their family, from father to son, had poured their lives, Alan Spitzer fought back, along with other dealers whom they organized in a grassroots effort, they achieved a miracle; a bipartisan piece of legislation passed by the Congress to restore their rights. The book is a chilling look at the arrogance of Chrysler and General Motors, combined with a task force of bureaucrats with no experience in the auto industry. It is an inspiring look at what can be done when Americans band together and demand justice for themselves, their thousands of employees, and ultimately their customers.

Economics is often called the dismal science and we have seen over the decades since the days of Roosevelt and other presidents that the advice they received from economic advisors was flawed and often very wrong. The U.S. is now the greatest debtor nation on earth, thanks in part from the advice the present occupant of the Oval Office has received. That’s why Keynes Hayek: The Clash that Defined Modern Economics ($28.95, W.W. Norton) is a very worthy book to read. It tells the story of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrick Hayek, two economists whose views of the role government should play in a nation’s economy sharply differed. Keynes favored government intervention to alleviate problems such as unemployment. Hayek favored less government, believing that the free market would solve the occasional recessions that occurred from the over-enthusiasm generally called “bubbles” and all bubbles burst. Keynes was 16 years the senior of Hayek and world famous, but Hayek, late in life, would receive a Nobel Prize for his theories. The failure of the communist Soviet Union proved Hayek correct, just as the rise of totalitarian governments following World War One would as well. Keynes’ legacy is Social Security and Medicare, two giant government programs sucking enormous amounts of money out of the private sector to be maintained. This book is well worth reading to understand our present dilemma and the crisis facing European nations as well.

Last year I reviewed “New Deal or Raw Deal?” by Burton Folsom, Jr. It was and, in my view, still is the best book I have read on this period in the nation’s history that spanned the Great Depression years of the 1930s. Michael Hiltzick, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has written The New Deal: A Modern History ($30.00, Free Press) of the same period 80 years ago and come to some very different conclusions. Indeed, his take on that period and especially on Franklin D. Roosevelt are quite different from Folsom’s. In many ways it is an apologia for FDR, a rewrite of the many other books that examined this period that generally assert that FDR’s administrations actually extended and worsened the Depression with its hodge-podge of programs and its taxation policies. Astonishingly, Hiltzick asserts that FDR was in fact a conservative as were his remedies. Hiltzick has labored hard and produced a large book that is the reverse mirror image of the way most others perceived the Depression.

For those who seek new knowledge and new insights, to challenge their intellect, two such books will surely do so. There is probably no single threat to the future of America than the “global” efforts to bring it and all other nations under the control of organizations like the United Nations, the EU and the International Criminal Court. John Fonte poses the question Sovereignty or Submission: Will Americans Rule Themselves or be Ruled by Others? ($25.95, Encounter Books) A PhD in world history and director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for American Common Culture, Fonte examines the way “globalists”, including America’s leading progressive elites, are working to establish a “global rule of law.” We are seeing efforts to re-interpret the U.S. Constitution and impose so-called global law in its place and the result can only be a day on which Americans awake to discover that all the protections they have taken for granted have vanished. In many examples drawn from around the world, this book issues a warning that must be heeded. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John R. Bolton, says “John Fonte’s comprehensive dissection of the global governance impulse should be required reading for anyone interested in preserving America’s constitutional freedoms.” The other intellectual challenge is found in Five Foundations of Human Development by Errol Gibbs and Philip Gray ($25.95, Author House, softcover). It is the result of eleven years of research and writing, and the combined travel experiences to 36 countries. It explores the question of whether our materially driven lives undermines the spiritual purpose of our existence. The authors, both Christians, examine five foundations, spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical that define our existence. Together they have spelled out a blueprint for the survival of humanity. Christians will find much to enjoy in this book as they are its intended readers.

Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World by Maria Armoudian ($25.00, Prometheus Books) explores a question of great importance insofar as print and broadcast media have played a role in three deadly conflicts, Nazi Germany, the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda. The author documents how the media were used to spread hate that resulted in the Holocaust and the genocides in the latter two nations. Then she discusses how the media acted constructively, citing its role in the peace process in Northern Ireland, rebuilding democracy in Chile, and bridging ethnic divides in South Africa. This is an interesting exploration of how the media interact with psychological and cultural forces.

Offbeat, Interesting Books

I have never been in a fight in my life, but I have come close. For most of us, the prospect is slim unless we live in places where fights are common. For those people, I recommend How to Win a Fight: A Guide to Surviving Violence by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder ($17.00, Gotham Books, softcover) both of whom are veteran martial arts instructors. The lessons the book offers begin with knowing how to avoid violence. In the military, it’s called situational awareness, spotting trouble. Other lessons include how to stave off violence ranging from non-lethal to lethal force. There are self-defense tips and seven mistakes to avoid in a fight. I would recommend this book to everyone for its advice and the peace of mind that comes with it.

For film lovers, the publication of Leonard Maltin’s 2012 Movie Guide ($20.00, Plume, softcover) is an annual treat, filled with information of the many new films that have debuted in the previous year and tons of news about virtually every film including the older classics. The 2012 edition has nearly 17,000 entries that include more than 300 new ones, plus listings of more than 12,000 DVD and 12,000 videos. The guide includes an updated index of leading performers and directors, along with Maltin’s all-new theatrical recommendations. This book is virtually indispensable for anyone who loves films, old and new. Hollywood, the military, even criminals along withother aspects of our culture have gifted us with all manner of phrases that have been incorporated into our daily conversations. Alan Axelrod has gathered them together in The Cheaper the Crook, the Gaudier the Patter: Forgotten Hipster Lines, Tough Guy Talk, and Jive Gems ($12.95, Skyhorse Publishing, softcover) that is great fun if you’re a language buff. Terms like “drugstore cowboy”, “button man”, “Glad rags”, and many more can be found in its pages, gathered from World Wars One and Two, the Depression, prohibition, and the Jazz Age.

With the kids back in school, parents often find themselves being asked questions about subjects they have long forgotten from their school days. Two books have some fun with this. I Used to Know That: Geography – Stuff Your Forgot from School by Will Williams and Caroline Taggart ($14.95, Reader’s Digest) covers a wide range of geography-related topics in easy, short takes that are an entire education that can be easily read and enjoyed to the point where your kids and others will think you’re some kind of genius. This makes learning fun! Why Read Moby-Dick? By Nathaniel Philbrick ($25.00, Viking) answers a question that even grownups ask. Indisputably one of the great American novels, the length and its esoteric subject matter are daunting. Philbrick loves the novel and he skillfully navigates Melville’s world, providing insight to the book’s humor and unforgettable characters, finding the thread that binds Ishmael and Ahab to our present time. Who knows? You may actually read the novel!

Biographies, Etc

My friend, Dr. Alma Bond, was a psychoanalyst for 37 years. While she still has a limited practice, based on the Freudian theories, she has in more recent years devoted herself to writing books that are quite distinctive and which demonstrate her powerful imagination. Her latest will no doubt fascinate fans of the late Jacqueline “Jackie” Kennedy who became an icon of the 1960s when her husband Jack was President until his assassination. The public could not get enough of her. She was beautiful, intelligent, the mother of two, married into the already famed Kennedy clan.. The assassination changed much. She married the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis and when that marriage failed, her companion became a stout, adoring Wall Streeter, Maurice Templeton. She took a position as a book editor and, at the age of 63, non-Hodgkins lymphoma took her life. Throughout her life she protected her privacy, but now Dr. Bond has written a unique “autobiography” for her, Jackie O On the Couch, ($21.99, Bancroft Press) that she never wrote herself, bringing the events and personalities in her life to the reader in her voice. This is an audacious literary project, based on fact, but a work of fiction and Dr. Bond pulls it off. Anyone who lived through those years and was a fan of Jackie will greatly enjoy this book.

Lovers of rock and roll and fans of the Eagles are going to want to find Eagles: Taking it to the Limit by Ben Fong-Torres in their Christmas stocking. ($30.00, Running Press). Just out this month, it’s a large format, coffee table book to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s formation. It’s been a long trip from the bar of the Troubadour on Santa Monica Boulevard in 1971 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The author is renowned for his many books on the music scene and the book is handsomely and extensively illustrated with many photos from the past four decades, along with an excellent text. Responsible for many classics, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, Desperado”, “Hotel California” and “New Kid in Town”, the band spent ten years together living the rock and roll dream, but in addition to the constant touring, there were the usual tensions and fights that go with that lifestyle. It’s a great story, captured between two covers.

Coming in November is Walk Like a Man: Coming of Age with the Music of Bruce Springsteen by Robert J. Wiersema ($16.95, Graystone Books) that is a rock journey through twenty years of the author’s life set to the Springstein’s music. The author is emblematic of Springstein’s fans, seeing him as the paragon of all that is cool in the world of rock and roll. He brings good credentials to the book having authored two novels, been a reviewer and independent bookseller. Immersed in Springstein’s music, he is the reason the word “fan” is rooted in the word “fanatic.” This is an autobiographical tale of someone who, like others, marked the highs and lows of his life with Springstein’s music. It is the story of his coming of age along with many others, celebrating the music of his favorite performer.

Also from the world of entertainment, for fans of Lucille Ball there’s I Love Lucy: A Celebration of All Things Lucy by Elizabeth Edwards ($30.00, Running Press), a big coffee-table book out this month for the 60th anniversary of her television show and what would have been Lucy’s 100th birthday. It is filled with everything one could imagine or hope for regarding the show and its star, photos, character bios, music lyrics, and even recipes featured on the show. Many of the unforgettable episodes are presented in thumb-nail sketches. The author has worked with the Arnaz family since 1992 and this is the culmination of two previous Lucy-related books. For those of a certain age who look back fondly on this television icon and the laugh-filled show that is still in re-runs today, there’s a lot to enjoy.

The name Leonardo Da Vinci is so well known that we give it little thought beyond the fact that he was a remarkable figure in history. Indeed, we may not even know what his contributions were! Stefan Klein has corrected that with Leonardo’s Legacy: How Da Vinci Reimagined the World, now in paperback ($16.00, Da Capo Press). A painter, sculptor, scientists, inventor, and writer, his discoveries changed history. With each chapter, another invention and another facet of Da Vinci’s endless imagination are explored. Klein is a leading European science writer and anyone with a love of history and science will quickly find themselves drawn into a distant time in which this giant intellect and talent transformed the world in ways we still experience today. As noted last month, Paul Johnson has written Socrates: A Man for Our Times ($25.95, Viking), now officially on sale. Johnson is a noted historian and he brings the Greek philosopher and the times in which he lived to life. It’s a visit to the fifth century B.C. and the life of a man whose thoughts helped shape our actions and our understanding of the body and soul. The author has taken an ancient, iconic figure and made of him a living, breathing individual, albeit and intellectual giant. All of Western civilization is indebted to him.

A very different and thoroughly delightful memoir is found in Zelda, the Queen of Paris: The True Story of the Luckiest Dog in the World by Paul Chutkow ($22.95, Globe Pequot Press). A journalist, Chutkow was working in India when Indira Gandhi was in charge. Zelda adopted Chutkow and became a steadfast companion to the author, his wife, and newborn son because of her “boundless courage, humor and high spirits.” The Hindus believe in reincarnation and Zelda may have been someone with the same traits. She came along when the family was reassigned to Paris where, at first, Parisians considered Zelda a ragamuffin, but she developed a taste for Camembert cheese, warm croissants, and homemade borscht. When Zelda helped police apprehend a burglar, she became the “Queen of Paris” and “very picture of European refinement. In time, she journeyed to America as well. This is a story anyone who has ever loved a dog will love.

Getting Down to Business

Once past Labor Day people get serious about doing business, hoping to gin up profits before the end of the year. There are, of course, always books ready to offer all manner of advice.

Building A Winning Business by Tom Salonek is useful for its pragmatic approach ($9.95, softcover, http://www.intertech.com/) as it focuses on 70 “takeaways” that will improve anyone’s management skills. Based on his own experience and his father’s advice on how to work with people, the author shares how he grew his own company from $2 million in annual revenue to more than $10 million, despite the burst of the technology bubble and the worst recession of our time. He offers succinct, good advice on the fundamentals of hiring and managing employees, identifying top talent, and weeding out those with poor performance. I have seen a lot of books filled with management advice, often twice or three times as thick as this one, but this book delivers the goods. Joe Banda asks whether you are a leader and then answers with his book, You are a Leader ($14.95, Langdon Street Press, softcover). A slim volume, the book uses historical and political examples of why anyone can become an effective leader by tapping qualities they have, believing in themselves, and taking charge. It is a conventional book of unconventional wisdom that explores ten intangible qualities that exist in everyone.

Creating the right environment for work starts with the office and Smart Office Organizing: Simple Strategies for Bringing Order to Your Workspace by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims ($13.99, Revell, softcover) will prove very helpful to those whose offices are a mess with piles of paper, files that need organizing, and represent the pressures of time and project management. It is filled with advice on how to use organizational tools, taking advantage of electronic advances, and to maintain control. If you or someone you know has this problem, this book is the answer. It seems obvious, but Michelle Tillis Lederman has written The 11 Laws of Likeability ($16.95, Amacom, softcover) that takes a look at the fact that online job boards and LinkedIn still do not substitute for face to face actual conversations and are the key to finding and keeping a job. An expert on effective business and interpersonal communications, the author shows how networking can be easy, enjoyable, and beneficial to job goals. Citing a Forbes.com survey that said 41% of more than 59,000 new employees credited personal networking as a critical job-hunting method. Her book is full of advice on how to develop the skills necessary. I have a friend who has built a business on such personal contact and it works.

In these times lots of people are paying close attention to their personal finances and to help them Paul A. Tucci has written The Handy Personal Finance Answer Book ($19.95, Visible Ink Press, softcover). His book avoids jargon while providing some good, fundamental advice anyone can apply. Combining recent data and findings, the book features financial information suitable for a wide range of ages and is particularly useful to the neophyte, perhaps just out of college or starting a new career or business. These are things rarely taught in school at any level. How do you balance your check book? What are the most common mistakes investors make? What should one consider before investing? And much, much more. To get real control over your financial life and your future, this is an excellent book. A useful book for those who have over-used their credit cards is Harvey Z. Warren’s Drop Debt: Surviving Credit Card Hell Without Bankruptcy ($14.95, Greenleaf Book Group Press, softcover). Warren, a debt relief expert has helped thousands of families find relief from debt and has written a book that will help the reader negotiate with creditors, explains why minimum payments on your credit card debt can hurt your credit rating, how to use a debt-settlement company, and much more. This is the kind of critical information that those in debt need when they are feeling the pressure and often desperate to find a way out. Instead of making more bad decisions, the book steers the reader in the right direction.

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally by Alice Feiring ($24.00, Da Capo Press) reminded me of my Mother, an international authority on wines and the way she would tell her students that wine naturally throws off all impurities during the fermentation process and why it offers so many benefits to health. The author, a food and wine journalist, tells of a growing movement to champion natural wines that avoid any additives. She’s no fan of many California and other wines she regards as “over-ripe, over-manipulated, and over-blown.” She worries that wine has become “an industry”, but the fact is that there has long been a growing global demand for wine and the insistence on “organic” wine and food ignores the obvious fact that food is organic and combined to enhance its taste. That’s why, for example, we love sauces. When it comes to wine, quality and taste always comes down to the grapes and the soil in which they are grown. In the end, the author comes off as a wine and food snob.

For those vegetarians and vegans out there, Brandan Brazier has written Thrive Foods: 200 Plant-Based Recipes for Peak Health ($20.00, Da Capo Press, softcover). It is also fairly idiotic in that he is so environmentally correct, the author discusses what foods use the least amount of natural resources to produce, require little “of our dwindling water supply, and cause a minimal amount of pollution.” Does any really care about such things when putting together the evening meal? Does it matter to anyone that farmers are probably more concerned about such things than you? They are not in the business of running up the water bill if Mother Nature will provide some rain. They are not in the business of polluting the food crops on which they depend. That said, there are some 200 recipes in this book, but you’d probably enjoy even tastier ones if you bought another cookbook. That brings me to Joanne Fluke’s Lake Eden Cookbook ($18.95, Kensington Publishing Corp). Fluke is best known for her mysteries featuring Minnesota bake shop owner Hannah Swensen. The cookbook is a compilation of recipes from mysteries and some vignettes involving the fictional Lake Eden characters. Fluke’s novels have names like “Cherry Cheesecake Murder” and “Key Lime Pie Murder.” All very entertaining for sure, particularly for fans of her novels, but the recipes are mouth-wateringly good and are mostly traditional favorites of every description cookies, cakes and pies. This one’s a keeper.

War! War! War!

War has generated books going back to the earliest accounts of such conflicts. In our era, the most epic war was World War II and it has spawned accounts at all levels from generals to privates.

General George S. Patton, Jr. was one of WWII’s greatest generals and one in whom the Germans took a great interest. Fighting Patton: George S. Patton, Jr. Through the Eyes of His Enemies by Harry Yeide ($30.00, Zenith Press) is a thick history and biography of a man who Hollywood immortalized in film. His real life equaled and surpassed that drama. At the age of five he told his parents he intended to be “a great general” and he did. He studied war like others study music or architecture. It was his passion. This book is the first to examine the legendary general through the eyes of his opposing generals, the Germans who devoted time and effort to know as much as possible about him and, during the conflict, where he was and where he was headed. They had good reason because he was instrumental in their defeat. This book is a wonderful piece of history on many levels by an author who understands the story of the mechanized cavalry—tanks—and the men who drove them into historic battles. Patton’s armored division was a key player in one of those battles that turned the tide for the allies in WWII was the Battle of the Bulge. Michael Collins and Martin King have written Voices of the Bulge ($28.00, Zenith Press) that is told through numerous first-person accounts of American officers and enlisted personnel who successfully repelled the German attack that was intended to shift the momentum of a fading war back in German hands. Almost a million men eventually took part in the conflict that generated unfathomable casualties. The book comes with a DVD that, together, is a fitting tribute to the men who made the ultimate sacrifice and the veterans who lived to tell their story.

In the Pacific theatre of World War II, the untold story of B-24s is told in Finish Forty and Home by Phil Scearce ($24.95, University of North Texas Press). In the early years of WWII in the Pacific, against overwhelming odds, young American airmen flew the longest and most perilous bombing missions of the war, often facing Japanese fighters without fighter escort, relentless anti-aircraft fire, and all while covering thousands of miles over water with no alternative landing sites. Scearce tells the true story of the men and missions of the 11th Bombardment Group as it fought alone and unheralded in the South Central Pacific. It is an homage to his father, Sgt. Herman Scearce who, at age 16, lied about his age to join the Army Air Corps. This book takes you back to a time when Americans were more engaged in the war in Europe, before the island campaigns that brought our Pacific force closer to Japan and the ultimate end of the war. The bombardment of Wake Island, Tarawa, and finally Iwo Jima made that possible. It took great courage and the 42nd Squadron lost nearly half its men through 1943. Another chapter in the Pacific is told by Joseph A. Springer in Inferno: The Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II (19.95, Zenith Press, softcover). On March 19, 1945, off the coast of Japan, the USS Franklin had just launched its aircraft for an attack on the shipping industry in Kobe Harbor. A single enemy aircraft came out of the cloud cover and, in a matter of second, its bomb would strike the Franklin, setting off a chain reaction of exploding ordnance and aviation fuel. More than a thousand died or were wounded. Listing heavily to starboard, it seemed the great ship was doomed, but the remaining crew of Big Ben, officers and enlisted men, volunteers to remain on board to save the ship as the USS Santa Fe came along side to rescue the wounded and nonessential personnel. The ship made an arduous journey from Okinawa to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in a great story of endurance and seamanship for a great chapter in the history of the U.S. Navy.

Children’s Books

Children’s stories have been part of the cultural heritage of all nations. A Norse tale, Sister Bear ($17.99, Marshall Cavendish Children) as retold by Jane Yolen and beautifully illustrated by Linda Graves is the story of Halva who finds a bear cub alone in the woods and brings her home to raise. Sister Bear becomes part of the family and saves Halva from some terrible trolls at one point. Ideal for ages 5 through 8. For a slightly young set, there’s Creepy Monsters, Sleepy Monsters ($14.99, Candlewick Press) about two like human kids go to school, play outside, take a bath, and finally settle down to sleep. It’s a cute and clever way to debunk fears. For the same ages comes The Cave Monster by Thomas and Peter Weck ($15.95, Lima Bear Press) When Joe Bean, Lima Bear’s cousin, has been captured by the Cave Monster, Lima must rescue him from the Black Cave. It has a happy ending and a lesson about facing up to one’s fears.

Goosebottom Books has an excellent series on famous and infamous women from history. It’s called “The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Dastardly Dames” and the books are devoted to six women who wielded great power. The series includes Cleopatra, Agrippina, Mary Tudor, Catherine de’ Medici, Marie Antoinette, and Cixi, the last empress of China. Aimed at ages 9-13, well written by different authors and illustrated by Peter Malone, they are priced at $18.95 each. There is a world of history in each and, even though the women featured were wicked in their own way, there are many lessons to take from this series. Caldecott Medalist and bestselling illustrator Ed Young has created a poignant and powerful memoir of his childhood home in China and the house his father built. The House Babe Built ($17.95, Little Brown). As war clouds gathered over Shanghai, Baba’s home provided a place for the Young family, cousins, friends, and refugees, a place indeed of refuge. It is not just Young’s youth, but a history lesson that is beautifully told and a feast for the eyes of youngsters ages six to ten, as well as youngsters of all ages.

Two unique children’s books address the issue involving illness. The Princess and the Peanut ($15.95, Wild Indigo Publishing) deals with life-threatening peanut allergies. It helps the reader with food allergies understand they are not alone and that their lives to do not have to be defined by their condition. In a similar fashion, Even Superheroes Get Diabetes has the same theme. Written by Sue Ganz-Schmitt and illustrated by Micah Chambers-Goldberg, they will prove especially helpful to parents with children who have medical problems.

Nicole Haas has been writing poetry since she was a young girl and now she’s the mother of Wyatt and Cody. For the very young, she’s written a clever, rhymed tale, Freedom Bee, a Hive Story ($8.99, Tate Publishing, Mustang, OK) about a hive whose queen bee begins to demand all the pollen for herself, resulting in the worker bees losing interest in gathering it. The old hive collapses, a new one is built, and the queen learns her lesson. Along with its eye-catching illustrations, it’s a way to teach a useful lesson about individual freedom. In addition to the paper version, one can download a free audio version. Also for the pre-school set, Kathy M. Miller has authored and photographed a sequel to her first book about Chippy Chipmunk which garnered 15 national book awards. The new title is Babies in the Garden ($19.95, Celtic Sunrise) that is filled with more than 80 photos of the first days of chipmunks out of the burrow. Children 4 and older will enjoy this story of four chipmunks as they encounter birds, butterflies, rabbits, and even the resident cat!

Novels, Novels, Novels

Humans seem to have a need to tell stories. I receive far more novels than I could ever take notice of in this monthly report. The best I can hope for is to share word of some of the best that arrive daily.

The cliché is “ripped from the headlines”, but it fits Amil Imani’s new novel, written with Cyrus Azad, Operation Persian Gulf, ($16.99, FreeAmericanPress.com, softcover) because the reader learns more about Iran, its “mad mullahs”, and its quest to acquire nuclear weapons, than one might otherwise learn by reading various newspaper headlines. The novel is about a small team of Iranian-Americans whose deep love for their former homeland drives them to fulfill a daring scheme to disable Iran’s newly activated nuclear facility at Bushehr in order to delay the weaponizing of its waste product. In that regard it is an old-fashioned thriller, filled with assassination teams, and other mayhem, but this novel is endorsed by one of the foremost authorities and authors on Islam, Robert Spencer, and Pamela Geller, a noted commentator on current events. The novel is so up-to-date it includes references to the Stuxnet virus that was planted in Iranian facilities’ computers for the same objective, to slow its relentless effort to secure nuclear weapons. That would be a major game-changer. This novel is a highly entertaining way to learn why Iran’s people live as hostages to their dictatorial mullahs and why a potential Armageddon must be avoided.

Black as Snow by Nick Nolan is his third novel ($13.95, Amazon Encore, softcover). It is a modern-day deconstruction of Snow White and one, to repeat a cliché, “ripped from the headlines.” The novel’s main character leads a religious cult and, unfortunately for him, he finds himself mixed up with fanatics who are anticipating his demise and the end of the world. Sebastian Black is blessed with good looks, loads of charm, and a talent for telepathy. His mother is a prophetess, Kitty Black, and together they have forged a spiritual movement that warns of mass extinction. Suffice to say this novel has more twists and turns than a corkscrew and you will turn the pages as fast as you can to find out what happens next. A very different story is told in Tom’s Wife by Alana Cash ($12.95, Hacienda Press, softcover). Set during the Great Depression, it is the story of a very unhappy wife, a dirt-poor family, and Annie who is married to Tom, a coal miner who leaves her to tend to his farm with all the chores that involves. Despite visits from her friend Twila, life is bleak and lonely until a peddler named Jake Stern shows up to sell “notions.” After that, everything on the farm belongs to Tom except Annie’s heart. This novel rings true on many levels and women will especially grasp its message.

Some novels take a long time to gestate and this is true of First the Torch by Richard Baker ($22.00, http://www.junglesnaps.com/). Well before the U.S. got involved in Vietnam, it was the French colonial forces that were facing the Viet Minh. The story, however, begins far from Vietnam in South Dakota where Bix is a young man who wants some adventure before he settles on the family farm. He meets French-educated Chau, a Vietnamese girl who has been victimized by the racism that could be found in early 1950s American culture. They become friends and Bix decides he should join the French Foreign Legion to help save Chau’s homeland from the communists. His best friend, Steve, joins him and both end up in Dien Bien Phu. Meanwhile Chau has changed side and joined the Viet Minh. The two friends discover how quickly life can change. The author served in Viet Nam where he was twice wounded. On his return home he held many jobs and earned a master’s degree in fiction writing, earning the Ernest Hemingway Award. He currently works as an editor of Vietnam Cultural Window in Hanoi. This is a “big novel” for the themes it tackles and the story it tells. The French lost the six month siege of Dien Bien Phu. The U.S. stepped in and, as they say, the rest is history.

For those who enjoy fantasy, K.V. Johansen has penned Black Dog ($17.00, PYR, an imprint of Prometheus Books, softcover). It is filled with necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad. A caravan guard, Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town in a land where gods walk the hills and goddesses rise from the river, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog is a shape-changing guardian spirit. To read this book is to enter another land, one of fantasy, of danger, and page-turning adventure. Just out this month is Trespass by Rose Tremain ($14.95, W.W. Norton, softcover). It is a gothic tale by an award-winning novelist. It is a darkly drawn tale of sibling love, family hate, and of revenge, set against the backdrop of a crumbling stone farm in Southern France. The characters are flawed as a younger sister, Audrun, longs for the day when the farm and its home will be hers. Other characters add to the general madness that runs through the macabre story.

Women are at the core of two softcover novels that offer plenty of entertainment. Angela Sloan by James Whorton, Jr., ($14.00, Free Press) is a trip back to the 1970s with a winning 14-year-old heroine, the daughter of a former CIA agent who confronts a crazy cast of characters while maintaining her undercover identity. It is a rollicking story of a straight-faced innocent who is somehow both “wised up and clueless.” When her father goes underground she is left with few answers after she receives the keys to a Plymouth Scamp and a few sequentially numbered hundred-dollar bills. Despite trying to stay under the radar, strangers keep popping up. Trying to unravel what has happened to her father and the story is told as her account of what happened while she waited for get some answers. The novel is very funny and an homage to classic espionage tropes and insider lingo. A very different story is told in The Glass Harmonica-A Sensualist’s Tale by Dorothee E. Kocks ($16.00, Rosa Mira Books) that is set largely in New England in the heady period after the founding of America. Turns out that our Puritan predecessors weren’t always as virtuous as we’ve been led to believe. Indeed, about one in three brides in the 1700s showed up pregnant on their wedding day. The story follows an immigrant from Corsia, Chjara Valle, who scandalizes her American audiences with her playing of a glass harmonica, a musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin; in its day it as a sensation for its ethereal sound. Not only is Chjara pregnant when she marries, her husband runs a clandestine business in erotic books and goods. This is a novel about America’s first sexual revolution when half the population was under twenty years old and the ideas of freedom filled the air. It’s definitely not for the prudish.

That’s it for October! Come back in November as we look at some great books for Christmas giving and hours of pleasurable reading. Tell your book-loving friends and family about Bookviews.com and bookmark it for news of books you may not learn about in the mainstream media.

Bookviews - September 2011

2011-08-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba
Founding member of the National Book Critics Circle

My Picks of the Month

Five Stars! If you want to learn how the U.S. got into the financial mess we’re in, I recommend you pick up a copy of Lost Decades: The Making of America’s Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery by Menzie D. Chinn and Jeffrey A. Frieden ($26.95, W.W. Norton). It is singularly one of the best books on the subject I have read as the authors present an interesting history of what is shaping up to be the Great Depression 2.0. Not only does the reader learn of the history of the Great Depression and the measures that emerged that turned what should have been a relatively short recession cascaded into a period between 1929, through the 1930s, and ending with the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the nation into World War Two. While we speak of globalization these days, the 1920s was a period in which the developed nations were closely linked financially with considerable lending and investment back and forth across the Atlantic. When the U.S. slid into the Depression, Europe followed soon after. A very nearly comparable scenario is playing out now. Then, as now, the remedies the political class put forth failed as we have seen more recently with the “stimulus” programs and other programs that have not stemmed increasing unemployment, foreclosures, and the misery that characterizes such crises. The book provides a clear, concise, and impartial explanation of how we got here.

Four Stars! The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival by Hirsh Goodman ($26.99, Public Affairs) looks at the conditions threatening Israel’s future, offering his view that it is demography, the growing Arab population within and beyond Israel that is the greatest challenge and one that requires the acceptance of a Palestinian state. There is a parity between Israel’s Arab and Jewish populations, but in a decade this will shift to the Arabs. This is one of the best books you will ever read on the history of Israel’s struggle to survive and the threats that exist today. Goodman is a longtime journalist who now holds a senior research position at the Institute for National Security Studies at the University of Tel Aviv. All around the Middle East nations are in upheaval and everyone awaits the outcome of the turmoil in Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere. Achieving peace with the Palestinians may be difficult, he argues, but holds the key to the future. Anyone concerned with the welfare and future of Israel will find his analysis of great interest. The Ayatollahs’ Democracy: An Iranian Challenge ($15.95, W.W. Norton, softcover) by Hooman Majd provides valuable insights to Iranian politics, controlled by a small group of fanatical Islamists intent on achieving Middle East hegemony and, of course, nuclear weapons parity while opening threatening Israel with annihilation. Majd, a former Iranian, a journalist, spells out what has occurred since the ayatollahs took control of Iran in 1979 and how they use draconian methods to stay in power. While our concerns have turned inward toward our own economic survival, we need to remain alert to external threats and both Iran and China are at the top of the list these days.

Four Stars! A second revolution of sorts occurred in the 1950’s and 60’s when the Civil Rights movement was instrumental in ending segregation and the Jim Crow oppression of Blacks in the South. It was so successful that, by 2008, Americans elected their first Black President. Even so, the Black population in America has been outpaced by every other minority and suffers from a pathology that has destroyed its family structure and rendered much of its youth ignorant and unskilled with a large portion of its men incarcerated. Dr. Seth A. Forman, a social scientist who teaches government and public policy at Stony Brook University, has just had American Obsession: Race and Conflict in the Age of Obama published ($17.95, Booklocker.com, softcover). I heartily recommend it for the manner in which the author links facts, history, and sociology together to render a portrait of what the Black community is doing to itself, how it is influencing the politics and social policies of our times, and how Whites, who made great strides in erasing the ills of the past, are reacting at both the local and national level. Its examination of President Obama’s racial identification and adoption of black liberation theology and politics is masterful. Those interested in politics will enjoy his examination of the 2008 election. In many ways this is a courageous book for the truths it addresses that hinder Black assimilation into the larger society and its values. It comes as America’s first Black President begins a campaign to be reelected. His polling numbers are all plummeting. The 2012 election is likely to be a massive rejection of Obama and the Democratic Party.

Also in the area of policy, I recommend David H. Brown’s Full Body Scam: The Naked View of Current Airport Security ($14.95, Authorhouse, softcover). What Brown doesn’t know about aviation and air travel is probably not worth knowing. As far back as the late 1960s, Brown was the press officer for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Task Force on the Deterrence of Air Piracy. He was a response to a spate of airline skyjackings to Cuba. After 9/11 an understandable panic set in because three airliners were used to perpetrate it. The problem was the response in the form of the Transportation Safety Administration and its insane practice of treating 100% of all travelers, including babies and elderly invalids, as potential terrorists. Brown has written books on this topic heretofore and has combined two of them into this new look that raises serious questions about the erosion of Constitution rights to privacy Americans used to take for granted. I am happy to recommend this book to anyone with an interest or concern about the way the TSA has turned air travel into a very unpleasant experience for everyone without once having actually found a terrorist waiting for a pat down or a body scan.

It’s no secret that I love reading history and occasionally a book comes along that provides an unusual insight beyond the standard telling of a given event. Signing Their Rights Away: The Fame and Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the United States Constitution ($19.95, Quirk Books) is the work of Denise Kiernan and Joseph D’Agnese who previously introduced us to the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and their fates. Now they have turned their attention to the 39 men who met in the summer of 1787 to create the Constitution and to sign their names to it. Though rarely taught in our schools, the Constitution, written behind closed doors in Philadelphia, was a response, eleven years after the Revolution, to save the new nation from the chaos of the former Articles of Confederation. The nation was facing political collapse, citizens feared a strong central government, banks were issuing their own currencies, and out of that came the oldest living constitution in the world! The book chronicles how these men put aside their personal gain for the greater good of the nation, arrived at compromises, and combined the knowledge of legal scholars, those who had served in war, and were just as quirky and flawed as elected officials today. It is a truly fascinating story that puts their achievement in perspective.

Does it say something about a society in which a creature called a “metrosexual” has emerged? Most certainly, Hollywood keeps churning out films with cartoon super heroes that make men look puny by comparison. An entertaining and useful new book, Manskills: How to Avoid Embarrassing Yourself and Impress Everyone Else by Chris Peterson ($15.99, Creative Publishing International, distributed by Quayside Publishing Group softcover) provides short, page to page instructions on things like how to catch a fish without a rod and reel, iron a dress shirt, and be a great host. In truth, this would be a great gift for young men in high school or college, as well as older men who never learned fundamental skills from jumping a dead battery to selecting the best steak. Indeed, for the “foodies” among us (and I most certainly am one) there’s a delightful book by Albert Jack, What Caesar Did For My Salad: The Curious Stories Behind Our Favorite Foods ($18.00, Perigee, Berkley Publishing Group). You will be the hit of any dinner party as you explain that the word “salary” comes from the practice of paying Roman soldiers in salt. It is also why we often say someone is worth his salt. Black pepper has been in use for seven thousand years. I have a cousin who loves Cob Salad, but I bet he doesn’t know it was invented by Robert H. Cobb, founder of the famed Brown Derby restaurant chains in Los Angeles. He made it from whatever he found in the refrigerator for Sidney Grauman, owner of the Chinese Theatre, who loved it and began ordering it to a point where it caught on and became part of the menu. The book is filled with the history of foods and makes for great reading.

It is no secret that the nation’s educational system has been so dumbed down since around the 1960s that the kids passing through are being fed a diet of diversity, sex education, and distorted history, among other ills. Ron Clark was named America’s teacher of the year by Disney and deemed phenomenal by Oprah. His Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta has been visited by more than 10,000 teachers from around the world to learn how to improve education. He’s written The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck ($23.00, Touchstone, a division of Simon and Schuster) offering real solutions for parents and teachers in which he spells out his recommendations for parents who want to instill the right attitudes and skills in their children from an early age and for teachers who need strategies to help every students achieve success in school. He also has advice for communities as to what they can do. This is a man on a mission and I recommend this book to one and all. It’s clear to anyone who was educated long ago when mastery of the English language was an essential part of learning that entire generations are deficient.

Those of my generation grew up enjoying Ripley’s Believe It or Not, a syndicated newspaper column that was filled with oddities. The Ripley’s empire has recently published Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Strikingly True ($28.95, Ripley Publishing), a collection of incredible and bizarre facts, stories, interviews, lists, and features that adds up to hours of entertaining reading. Begun in 2004, this annual reference has a million copies worldwide in circulation and, in 2010, made it to The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. It is just page after page, lavishly illustrated, that provide the kind of diversion that only a book can. Keep it handy at bedside or in the bathroom to pass the time.

Lastly, this month marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and it is to be expected that some publisher would put out a book to do so. Lyons Press has published 9/11: The World Speaks ($24.95) offering a selection of the cards expressing the thoughts of some of the two million people who visited the World Trade Center Visitor Center. Regrettably, they are mostly rather banal and predictable. I wish I could say it was inspiring, but it is not.

Memoirs, Biographies, Real People

Five Stars! Do you know someone who is a huge fan of Judy Garland? A big coffee table book, Judy: A Legendary Film Career by John Fricke ($30.00, Running Press) will be a birthday or holiday gift that will dazzle them. This year marks the 75th anniversary of her film debut, as well as other achievements that made her a superstar for the generations that flocked to her films and live performances. Fricke is the preeminent Garland historian and tells her story in unprecedented detail, augmented by more than 500 photos and illustrations. This has got to be the ultimate Garland book for all the information it contains. From 1936 to 1963, she provided memorable performances, singing, dancing and acting. Her life and career left an indelible imprint on her era. She was a great entertainer and now she has a book that matches her talents.

Before there was Martin Luther King Jr., there was Martin Luther King Sr., a driving force for civil rights in Atlanta from the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Murray A. Silver, an attorney, has written Daddy King and Me: Memories of the Forgotten Father of the Civil Rights Movement ($29/95, Continental Shelf Publishing, Savannah, GA), a slim memoir that encompasses the author’s experience at the heart of the civil rights movement, aiding not just King Jr., but all the key players in that great struggle of the 1950s and 60s. Especially close to King Sr., he was an eye witness to the events and personalities. His memoir is especially useful for anyone interested in that period of U.S. history. It is a warm, fact-filled selection of the highlights of that period and one that takes the reader behind the veil of history into the homes of his family and Dr. King Sr’s. Since his wife and Coretta Scott King shared a birthday, they celebrated together, but this book is particularly interesting for the depth of emotional attachment it reveals that kept the various participants strong in periods of shared tragedy. The power of Daddy King’s faith and his capacity for love was the platform from which his son led a revolution.

Coming in October is Paul Johnson’s short biography of Socrates ($25.95, Viking) taking the reader back to the fifth century B.C. in Athens, demonstrating how his thoughts still shape our actions, our understanding of body and soul, and providing a portrait of a middle class citizen of that nation-state whose philosophy shaped the thoughts of generations that followed. Mary Bowman-Kruhm has written a biography of anthropologist, Margaret Mead ($17.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) who came to prominence when her book “Coming of Age in Samoa” was published in 1928, swiftly becoming a bestseller. For the next five decades, she became the public face of anthropology in the U.S., generating both acclaim and controversy. She had a career at the American Museum of Natural History, three marriages, and at one time came to the aid of the American Anthropological Association when it was in financial straits. She encouraged a whole generation of anthropologists. The author has written more than thirty books for children and young adults, but the book will serve the interest of older readers. Just out this month is Einstein On the Road by Josef Eisinger ($25.00, Prometheus Books) that tells the story of how Albert Einstein, at the height of his fame traveled around the world between 1922 and 1933. At that point, the Nazi takeover of Germany caused him to leave for sanctuary in Princeton, NJ, where he became an American citizen as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study. Einstein kept notes of his observations as he traveled to places such as Japan, Spain, the British mandate of Palestine that would become the state of Israel, and to America, meeting with royalty, presidents, movie stars, and the greatest scientists and physicists of his era. Einstein was interested the advances, the arts and the culture of his day. Anyone interested in Einstein and the history of his times will find this a very enjoyable read.

The human side of the practice of medicine is revealed in The Man Who Lived in an Eggcup: A Memoir of Triumph and Self-Destruction by Dr. John Camel, MD ($14.95, Bascom Hill Publishing Group, softcover). The publisher describes it, saying, “In the corridors of every hospital lurk tales of triumph and tragedy, lives won and lost to the world of medicine. But the complexity of the human psyche cannot be stripped down to mere science. Indeed, it’s in this environment—where people remain at their most vulnerable—that the human condition manifests itself the strongest.” This is a look behind the scenes in hospitals where life can hang in the balance and when diagnosis, success and failure, includes the human component of emotions brought on by tragedy. Tragedy involving a mentally ill mother is the theme of The Memory Palace: A Memoir by Mira Bartok ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) “Even now, when the phone rings late at night, I think it’s her. I stumble out of bed ready for the worst. The last time my mother called it was in 1990. I was thirty-one and living in Chicago. She said if I didn’t come home right away she’d kill herself.” Norma Bartok was a piano prodigy in her youth, but a severe case of schizophrenia created a hellish upbringing for Mira and her sister. To survive, the decided to stay away and, for 17 years, her contact was through letters to a post office box so her mother could not find her. The author of 28 books for children, this memoir will interest anyone who has a family member suffering from this mental illness. It debuted to an avalanche of much deserved praise.

In 1946, Tomas Castellano, age 17, set sail from Franco’s fascist rule in Spain. Without telling them of his plans, he had to leave his family behind, but his desire for freedom was so great that he stole a sailboat and set sail across the Atlantic for America. The story is told in Journey ($13.40, Authorhouse.com, softcover) by his son, Stephen Mateo. It took 90 days to make the journey and a lifetime for the story to unfold. It is filled with many interesting people who helped Tomas fulfill his dream and who became a part of his life. It was not until 1955 that he was able to return to Spain and visit with the family he had left behind. In America he would marry and raise a family in freedom. It’s too easy for a story like this to slip by unnoted, but this one deserves a wide readership.

Life upon the ocean waves and the search for the treasure of sunken ships below is the subject of Capt. Syd Jones’ account, Atocha Treasure Adventures: Sweat of the Sun, Tears of the Moon: A True Story ($25.00, autographed copy, order from www.atochatreasureadventures.com, softcover). It presents three individual story lines that eventually come together as it tells the story of Treasure Salvors, Inc’s occasionally desperate and often self-destructive search for shipwrecked Spanish treasure galleon riches. The story is told through the experiences of the actual people and events, some reaching back four hundred years ago, in such a way the reader gets to experience the thrills and disappointments of today’s real treasure hunters with all the human elements of adventure, romance, tragedy, betrayal, greed, and uncommon optimism involved in finding the richest treasure galleons ever, as told by one of its participants.

I knew nothing of the Boyce-Sneed feud until I read Vengeance is Mine: The Scandalous Love Triangle that Triggered the Boyce-Sneed Feud by Bill Neal ($24.95, University of North Texas Press). It became a legend in West Texas when it erupted in bloodshed in 1912. Almost a half century later, the author has pieced together the elements of the story that featured Lena Snyder Sneed, a high spirited, headstrong wife; Al Boyce, Jr., Lena’s reckless, romantic lover; and John Beal Sneed, Lena’s arrogant and vindictive husband who responded to her plea for a divorce by having her locked up in an insane asylum. When Al rescued Lena from the asylum, the chase was on as the lovers fled to Canada. Sneed would assassinate Al’s father and later Boyce. He was twice acquitted of murder. It was a crime of passion and trials that were dramatic for the tactics used. It is great social history.

Marriage, Parenting Skills

Marriage is the greatest leap of faith anyone can make and it behooves those who plan to get married to know how to avoid one that will turn out badly. Psychotherapist Isabelle Fox, PhD, and attorney Robert M. Fox, have written The Prospective Spouse Checklist: Evaluating Your Potential Partner ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) that is officially due out in October. The authors provide a rational approach to evaluating the person in order to avoid emotion-driven and unwise marriages. This is a good idea given the high rate of divorce in America and the too-frequent emotional and other damage involved. The book provides 35 keys to evaluate including ten red-flag warning signs. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone contemplating marriage.

After marriage (and sometimes without) come children. Annie Murphy Paul has written Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our lives ($15.00, Free Press, softcover). Childbearing has long been the subject of various myths and advice. The author sorts it out in ways that make this book an absolute must-read for expectant mothers and those who care about them. The mysteries of pre-natal development are explored in ways that make the experience less stressful and can lead to a successful, healthy birth. The Hour that Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal by Les and Leslie Parrott. Psychologists, with Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna ($15.99, Tyndale House, softcover) particularly resonated with me because, in my family, the evening dinner always began at 5 PM and, since my Mother was a teacher of gourmet cooking, it was always a special treat. More importantly, it was an opportunity for my older brother, myself and my parents to exchange information that was useful to them and to us. It created a strong bond, built on good food, camaraderie, and love. If dinner hour at your home is a scattershot affair, you need to read this book and benefit from it. Keeping Your Child in Mind by Dr. Claudia M. Gold, MD, ($15.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) focuses more on “what to be” as a parent, as opposed to “what to do” with children. A pediatric physician, the author bring a lot of experience and knowledge that helps the reader understand the world from the child’s perspective so that various behavior problems can quickly and effectively be addressed while controlling one’s own strong emotions. The book looks at various ages and stages of development, imparting excellent advice that will make the job of parenting much easier.

Bullying has become a major problem at schools and this particularly affects teenagers. Every parent wants to help their bullied teenager and Hey, Back Off: Tips for Stopping Teen Harassment by Jennie Withers with Phyllis Hendrickson, M.Ed. ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) is filled with advice that provides tens and parents the proven tools, tips and strategies to stop bullying as well as ways to prevent them from becoming bullies. In an age of cell phones, texting, and social networks like Facebook, there has been a rise in this behavior and it behooves all concerned parents to learn what to do.

Kid’s Books

How was it that early pioneers on isolated farms or in towns where one school taught all ages were able to teach an entire generation or two of children how to read and do their sums when today’s schools often pass them through, totally illiterate, to graduation? And what role do parent’s play in encouraging youngsters to acquire a love of reading? Given the vast quantity of new and existing books for younger readers, including pre-schoolers, there is no excuse for this.

One of my favorite publishing houses for younger readers is American Girl and it is, of course, directed at girls and their particular interests. They have a number of excellent new books for the autumn. Among them are Stand Up for Yourself Journal ($9.95) that offers quizzes and questions to help girls stand strong against bullying. Feeling Great: A Girl’s Guide to Fitness, Friends & Fun ($8.95) discusses various strength exercises, yoga poses, and games for girls to explore for a healthier lifestyle. These girls, ages 7 to 10, will also enjoy A Crafty Girl’s Planner ($9.95) that is filled with ideas of things to make and do that are far more fun than just staring at the television. In a similar fashion Just Grandma and Me ($10,95) offers lots of ideas that girls can do with their grandmothers to create a bond and memories that will last a lifetime. The reader age 8 to 11 will enjoy the Innerstar University series that includes A Surprise Find and Dive Right In ($8.95 each) that explore sharing and how to accept someone more talented or skilled into your life. Growing up is filled with questions and challenges and A Smart Girl’s Guide to Knowing What to Say: Finding the Words to Fit Any Situation ($9.95) is a great way to prepare a girl to deal with all kinds of situations from asking a teacher for help to standing up to a bully.

Another favorite children’s book house I like is Kids Can Press. They, too, have a raft of new books for kids. Reaching by Judy Ann Sadler and illustrated by Susan Mitchell ($16.95) uses rhyming verse to describe a sunny afternoon with the family as a baby experiences new things and is helped in many ways. A young child with a new baby in the family would benefit greatly from having this read or, as a early reader, reading it on their own. Just for fun, there’s Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires ($16.95), part of a popular series about a cat. Told largely through cartoons, it follows his adventures adjusting to another cat in the house and is very funny. Another cartoon book is Big City Otto: Elephants Never Forget by the prolific and talented Bill Slavin ($16.95) who writes and illustrates his books. Otto has a good memory and cannot stop thinking about his long lost friend, Georgie, a chimp, snatched from the jungle. With his parrot pal, Crackers, they set off for America to find him and thus begins a hilarious story for the younger reader, Cartoons are also the format for Luz Sees the Light by Claudia Davila ($16.95) that explores when a blackout occurs and her mother experiences financial difficulties, introducing Luz and the reader to a future with less of everything. Finally, there’s Space Tourism for the Machines of the Future series. Written by Peter McMahon and illustrated by Andy Mora, it not only discusses future space flight, but offers some fun projects to demonstrate things like gravity and propulsion for those ages 8 to 12.

From Tanglewood Books comes Ashlee Fletcher’s first book for children, My Dog, My Cat ($13.95) that’s perfect for the earliest readers, preschoolers or those just learning their ABCs and words as it explores the pet lovers’ views of whether dogs or cats are their preferred pet. It is very simple and direct with illustrations by the author that any child will enjoy. From Reader’s Digest came two books for youngsters, Write (Or Is That ‘Right’?) Every Time by Lottie Stride ($9.95) and My Grammar and I…Or Should That Be Me? How to Speak and Write It Right by Caroline Taggart and J.A. Wines ($14.95) that take the mystery out of writing and speaking correctly and well. Perhaps no other two skills separate winners from losers in this society and these two books would be a terrific help to so many students passing through elementary and high schools these days without grasping the importance of the many elements of the language to determine sentence structure and of grammar, the proper way of speaking and writing.

Love jazz? Want to pass that love along to your children? Then pick up a copy of Anna Harwell Celenza’s wonderful book, Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite ($19.95, Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA), illustrated by Don Tate and it includes a CD recording! Together with his friend, Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington composed, orchestrated, and recorded some of the greatest jazz classics. When offered a recording contract and told he could do anything he wanted, Strayhorn, a classically trained musician, playfully suggested he do a version of the Nutcracker Suite and soon enough the Sugar Plum Fairy became the Sugar Rum Cherry! This one is a keeper!

Novels, Novels, Novels

Though it may be hard to believe, I receive one or two emails daily from authors who have published their own books. This trend has been increasing over the years and, in particular, for novels. It is understandable that many do not wish to put themselves through the meat grinder process involved. Unspoken in this rush to self-publish, however, is the fact that most will not likely sell any copies, even if they turn them into e-books. The market place is over-saturated and one good way to know if a novel has any merit whatever is whether a mainstream publisher, large or small, has published it.

The popularity of the new film version of Planet of the Apes may well be reflected in J.E. Fishman’s new novel, Primacy ($24.95, Verbitrage). The novel takes readers from New York’s Central Park to the jungles of the Congo River where researcher Liane Vinson discovers that her bonobo Bea has begun to communicate to other bonobos in a decipherable language. She is a monkey Liane had once performed chemical and genetic testing, but Bea knows secrets that must never see the light of day. Major ethical questions arise. Does she have a memory? Can she decipher human language? The author raises questions about the experimentation on animals, vertebrates, but the reader needs to also know that major medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs have resulted from such science. Suffice to say that animal rights advocates will love this book and there’s enough suspenseful action to please the general reader. A very different story is told in Sebastian Barry’s On Canaan’s Side ($24.95, Viking) just out this month. The narrator is 81-year-old Lilly Bere. As a teenager Lilly and her fiancé, Tadg Bere, were forced to flee Ireland under threat of death from the IRA. They came to America where they settle in Chicago where Tadg is brutally murdered. Lilly moves to Cleveland where she marries, finds happiness, enduring the Depression and World War II. Becoming pregnant at 43, her husband mysteriously disappears and Lilly moves to Washington, DC where she finds work as a cook for a wealthy family and raises her son. This novel is just one tragedy upon another as Lilly strives to survive against the odds.

Wunderkind by Nikolai Grozni ($24.00, Free Press) is drawn from the author’s life as a piano prodigy growing up behind the Iron Curtain in Sofia, Bulgaria. As a teenager he wins a competition that gives him the opportunity to stay with a welcoming Italian host-family during which he becomes fully aware of the oppression under a communist government’s social and psychic dictatorship. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the author left for the United States where he studied jazz and composition. For a look at life under communism, this book provides many insights, enough to make the reader value the freedoms we take for granted in America. World War Two is the background for Klara by Joseph Leary ($14.95, Dog Ear Publishing, softcover). Set in the 1970s America, it is a look at the thousands of Polish, Ukrainian and other residents of Chicago’s ethnic enclaves, many of whom escaped the horrors in their homelands during World War Two. A seemingly kind Ukrainian carpenter, a single parent raising his young daughter, comes under suspicion of having been a truck driver who transported children to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Klara’s memories of her escape are beginning to invade her dreams. The novel looks at the way decent, hard-working people who had experienced unfathomable horrors tried to forget a past that confronts them years later and how a local parish becomes the center for that past. It is a powerful story.

Heaps of softcover novels stack up each month. Here is a selection from among them.

Winner of the prestigious Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award, The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger ($15.00, Touchstone-Simon and Schuster) marks the author’s American debut novel. Based on the real lives of famed traveler, Lady Duff Gordon and her maid, the novel takes the reader on a journey from the high society of Victorian England to the uncharted far reaches of Egypt’s Nile Valley. A bout of tuberculosis causes the move to a drier climate. In Cairo, she and her maid, Sally Naldrett, are joined by Omar as a servant and guide as they travel to Luxor. Lady Duff goes native, begins language lessons, and throws herself into weekly salons with local community leaders. Sally finds romance and, when she asks for more freedom than her status permits, she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing. This is a great read. The Price of Guilt by Patrick M. Garry ($17.50, Kenric Books) marks the sixth or seventh novel this author has written. It is a modern morality tale with a suspenseful plot that explores the destructiveness of misguided guilt. It is told as a flashback as Thomas Walsh sits in a jail cell. An accident that occurred when he was age 12, one that left a classmate blind and orphaned has plagued Walsh. Years later as a prominent lawyer, though reeling from a recent political scandal and mired in marital problems, Walsh seeks out his childhood friend only to become drawn into events that leave him wondering who was really the blind one. I previously reviewed Garry’s “A Bomb Shelter Romance”, and he continues to demonstrate he is one of America’s best unknown novelists!

The British seem to have a special gene in the DNA when it comes to novels, both serious and fanciful. Helen Smith is testimony to this with her new novel, Alison Wonderland ($13.99, Amazon Encore) which is set in today’s London. After discovering her husband has been unfaithful, 20-something Alison divorces him and joins an all-female detective agency. Though exciting and fulfilling at first, Alison grows bored by the routine of catching cheating spouses. It convinces her not to wait around for “Mr. Wonderful.” Then she is put on an odd case involving genetic testing and animal mistreatment. Suffice to say it is filled with memorable characters as Alison and her friend Taron become involved with some scary folks, their evil projects, and the prospect of new romance. Two Amazon Encore novels take the reader to places in America rarely visited. The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole ($13.95) is a white-knuckle ride into the backwoods of Alabama where a man must either kill or watch his only daughter be killed. What should have been a spring evening spent shooting pool with his tomboyish, clever daughter turns into a life and death nightmare in which Jake Crosby must put his hunter’s and backwoods skills to work in a cat-and-mouse thriller. In Johnny Shaw’s Dove Season($13.95) Jimmy Veecher heads home to the Imperial Valley, a hotbed for Mexican border crossings to visit his ailing father Big Jake one last time. When asked to locate a Mexican prostitute, Yolanda, he is joined by his friend Bobby Maves, to fulfill his father’s request to bring her to him. Mission performed, he wakes up days later with a huge hangover to discover that Yolanda’s body has been found floating at the bottom of a cistern. It gets very busy for Jimmy after that and I will not spoil the fun with more details.

That’s it for September! Tell your book loving friends and family members about Bookviews.com and come back in October for more news about the latest in non-fiction and fiction books hot off the presses.

Bookviews - August 2011

2011-07-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba
Founding Member of the National Book Critics Circle

My Picks of the Month

Occasionally one receives a book for review that is simply astonishing for its lack of candor and common sense. Clean Energy Nation by Rep. Jerry McNerney, PhD, and Martin Cheek ($27.95, Amacom) is subtitled “Freeing America from the tyranny of fossil fuels.” What tyranny is McNerney talking about? The entire world runs on coal, oil, and natural gas. All transportation depends on gasoline or diesel. Fifty percent of all the electricity produced in the U.S. depends on coal and the U.S. is often described as the Saudi Arabia of coal because we have such vast reserves of it. We also have over an estimated trillion worth of untapped barrels of oil. To argue that this should be abandoned in favor of solar, wind, or biofuels energy, none of whose producers would exist without large government subsidies backed up by mandates for their use is a kind of willful ignorance or insanity.. Suffice to say, this is an extraordinarily silly book.

America is often called a Christian nation based on its historical roots and majority population of Christians, so one can only imagine what a chilly reception The End of Christianity, edited by John W. Loftus, ($11.99, Prometheus Books, softcover) will receive. Loftus is a former minister and now recognized as a leading spokesperson for atheism. The contributors to this book are also noted atheists. What makes the book interesting, however, is its historical review of how Christianity came into being, what religious beliefs preceded it in the ancient world, and how, theologically, it challenges believers to accept some extraordinary beliefs on pure faith. This book is not some screed decrying Christianity, but rather a studied effort to understand its roots, its spread, and the assertions on which it is based. As such, it makes for some very interesting reading. We all need our beliefs challenged on occasion to determine the strength of one’s faith. By contrast, Beginner’s Grace: Bringing Prayer to Life by Kate Braestrup ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) offers practical suggestions on how to incorporate prayer into one’s life for all occasions and situations, as well as the role that parents can play in instructing children in faith. A chaplain to the Maine Warden Service that engages in search-and-rescue, the author shares her experiences and insights.

There are currently more than 6,000 languages spoken around the world and yet one can say “hello” anywhere and be understood. The English language is the lingua franca of the world, required for everything from business and science, diplomacy and education, and entertainment. In China, more people speak English than in America as it taught in its schools to prepare Chinese to go out into the wider world. The English is Coming! How One Language is Sweeping the World by Leslie Dunton-Downer ($14.00, Touchstone, softcover) takes the reader on a journey across commerce and culture, war and peace, to show how everyday English words have become a shared piece of understanding and the way people around the world communicate with one another. This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves words and loves the language that has gone global.

Compared with the work involved in writing a book, fiction or nonfiction, getting it published is often as arduous and difficult as task. Literary history is filled with now famous writers being rejected over and over again. Mike Nappa has written 77 Reasons Why Your Book was Rejected (and how to make sure it won’t happen again!) ($14.99, Sourcebooks, softcover). It is often brutally honest, but this is made more palatable by the humor he brings to this awful task. A literary agent, Nappa knows most of the reasons given for rejection as well as the ones never expressed. The fact is that, with the invention of the computer, just about everyone has become convinced they can and should write a book. In addition, there are many affordable outlets that will publish it for you, for a fee. With thousands of book proposals flooding agents and editors, it would be useful for the aspiring writer or one who has been rejected to know why one’s book simply cannot find a publisher. I suspect Nappa grew tired of explaining over and over again why a book was rejected. Now he need only hand them his new book and, if you have a book you want published, you should read it!

While wandering the aisles of the Book Expo, I came across Urban Farming: Sustainable City Living in Your Backyard, in your Community, and in the World ($24.95, Bowtie Press, softcover) by Thomas J. Fox. I confess I am not enamored of all the tree-hugger talk of sustainability because it often masks an agenda to control people’s lives, but this book offers a lot of information about how to grow healthy vegetables and fruits in an urban setting. It is a practical guide filled with how-to advice, enhanced by many handsome full-color photos. Our little backyard in New Jersey always had space set aside where Mother would plant a variety of items that graced our dinner plates with fresh vegetables throughout the spring, summer, and into early fall.

Dog owners are a special breed—no pun intended—and some write wonderful books about their furry companions. Stanley Coren has established himself as an expert with two previous books on “How Dogs Think” and “How to Speak Dog.” His latest is a delightful memoir, Born to Bark: My Adventures with an Irrepresible and Unforgettable Dog ($16.00, Free Press, softcover). Coren writes “For Christmas the woman who would become my wife bought me a dog—a little terrier. The next year her Christmas gift to me was a shotgun. Most of the people in my family believe that the two gifts were not unrelated.” The dog was Flint and this psychologist’s memoir will provide lots of laughter as he relates his experience with an extraordinary, willful pooch and those that had preceded it.

Getting Down to Business (Books)

Those in the field of marketing are always searching for answers to why we purchase what we purchase. In interesting book will help answer that question. The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature by Gad Saad ($25.00, Prometheus Books) answers what it is that all successful fast-food restaurants have in common. Why women are more likely to be compulsive shoppers than men, but men more likely to become addicted to pornography. How the fashion industry plays on our innate need to belong and many other questions that involve the underlying evolutionary basis for most of our consumer behavior. While culture is important, says Dr. Saad, a professor of marketing at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, there are deeper forces at work in our psyche that range from survival to reproduction to kin selection. All of which makes this a very interesting book to read for any reason whatever. In a somewhat similar fashion Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us in and Hold Us Spellbound by Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan ($34.95, Praeger) explores the heart of gaming’s powerful psychological and emotional allure. Indeed, it is no longer just kids and teens who are hooked on them, but adults as well. Parents, researchers, and those who love these games will find this book of interest, particularly if there’s someone in the family or a friend who is addicted to them. Both authors come to the subject with backgrounds in psychology and related research, so this is a serious book about an entertaining topic.

It’s a topic that politicians, business executives, celebrities, and many others find of great interest, Elements of Influence: The Art of Getting Others to Follow Your Lead ($26.00, Amacom). Terry R. Bacon says it is not some kind of magic power, but rather something that we do all the time whenever we want someone to do something, to believe something, to agree with us or to behave differently. While it is not possible to influence anyone to do anything, it is possible to develop the skills necessary and the author explains how influence really actually works, ethically, consensually, and productively, in business, in everyday life, and in a world of cultural diversity. It does, however, require “a great deal of adaptability, perceptiveness, and insight into other people” says the author. Backed by decades of research, I have no doubt that this book would prove useful to anyone seeking to improve their ability to influence those around them. In the world of business, the best result is leadership.

On a lighter level there’s Dumbemployed: Hilariously Dumb and Sadly True Stories About Jobs Like Yours by Phil Edwards and Matt Kraft ($13.00, Running Press, softcover) that is filled with more than 800 short paragraphs that demonstrate you are not alone if your workplace sometimes resembles a madhouse. Divided into five chapters, bosses, customers, just dumb, overtime and weird shift, it is a chronicle of every workplace misery you could imagine, plus some you can’t. These short takes will make you laugh (or groan) from page to page.

Let’s Get Cooking

Cookbooks come in all sizes and varieties, but one especially good idea is one that comes in a five-ringed binder that permits the cook to lay it flat on the counter top and, when you add in tabbed sections, the ease of use is matched by the quality of its recipes. This is the case of the Taste of Home Baking: All-New Edition ($29.95, Taste of Home Books) that is officially due out this September. It offers 786 recipes that are accompanied by more than 730 color photos in 510 pages. This is a hefty book that is likely to serve its user for a lifetime with its comprehensive collection of recipes on just about every kind of baked item from cakes to breads and everything in between. It would make an ideal gift for the newly married homemaker who wants to bake but does not want to deal with often daunting recipes. Instead, if offers all the tips and advice one could want for a beginner, but plenty of recipes for the most advanced baker.

Put your order in now to get your copy of All About Roasting by Molly Stevens ($35.00, W.W. Norton) due in the bookstores in November. If I could only eat food prepared in one fashion, it would be “roasted” because it brings out the taste of meats. The author describes when to use high, moderate or low heat to get the best results in juicy, well-seared meats, caramelized drippings, and concentrated flavors. There are 150 recipes that include beef, lamb, pork and poultry, as well as herb-roasted shrimp and basted broccoli. Suffice to say this is a book for anyone who is really serious about producing meals that will linger in the memory of family and guests for years after. The author has won both the James Beard and IACP cookbook awards, and is a contributing editor at Fine Cooking magazine. It will become a treasured reference and guide on the bookshelves of those who purchase it.

From Da Capo Press come two food-oriented books, two of which are devoted to the vegan lifestyle. Just out in July is Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet by Jack Norris, RD, and Virginia Messina, MPH, RD ($17.00, softcover) and Sinfully Vegan: More than 160 Decadent Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth by Lois Dieterly ($18.00, softcover). The former book addresses how difficult it is to give up meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and all other animal-derived ingredients and it acknowledges that “many new vegans can suddenly find themselves suffering from deficiencies of fundamental nutrients like protein, calcium, and iron.” That a warning sign worth considering insofar as the human body, over millennia is designed and intended to eat meat. There are teeth in everyone’s mouth whose purpose is to chew meat. For those who, for whatever reason, intend to become vegans, this book will be helpful, but I personally do not recommend the vegan diet. As for vegan desserts, you will find plenty in the latter book.

Women have their special needs and an interesting book, Eat to Defeat Menopause: The Essential Nutrition Guide for a Healthy Midlife---with more than 130 Recipes ($19.00, Lifelong Books, softcover) by Karen Giblin and Mache Seibel,.MD. The midlife “change” is subject to myths, uncertainties, and some trepidation. It makes sense that what one eats can have good or bad effects on the body’s changing chemistry. The good news is that black bean and rice salads, lobster and duck chow mein, and chocolate mouse pie are among the many ways to satisfy every craving or mood swing. You will learn why eating foods that contain phytoestrogens, such as soy and garlic, combat hot flashes, mood swings are stabilized by eating omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B. There is a lot of excellent and interesting dietary information in this food.

I have seen so many diet books over the years that I am wary of most, but Timothy S. Harlan, MD, has penned Just Tell Me What to Eat! The Delicious 6-Week Loss Plan for the Real World ($25.00, Da Capo Press). It addresses the fact that there are an estimated 145 million Americans, aged 25 and up, who are overweight. After hearing from patients complain how confused they were by all the various diet plans, he decided to write one of his own. It is not a fad diet, nor a typical diet plan because it not only tells the reader what to eat, but why to eat it. The recipes reflect a variety of cuisines from Italian and French to Spanish and American. It even discusses convenience food alternatives when there isn’t time to prepare a meal. It is an informed and informative book about dieting that should prove helpful to take its advice and stick to it.

Science & Math Stuff

As someone who has difficulty with sums, I am in awe of those who can do them in their head and actually think math is fun! For them, there’s Here’s Looking at Euclid by Alex Bellos ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) “From counting ants to games of chance, an awe-inspiring journey through the world of numbers”, says the subtitle. The book is full of interesting information such as the fact that numbers of not innate to humans, but came into use about 8,000 years ago. There’s a tribe in the Amazon that can only count to five. Apparently they need one hand to count the fingers on the other. Who knows? If you love numbers, odds are you will enjoy this book. Even more arcane is The Wave Watcher’s Companion by Gavin Pretor-Pinney ($15.00, Perigee, softcover) that will appeal to anyone who has wondered about the motions we call waves, from brain waves to sound waves, infrared waves, to all manner of comparable patterns that appear to have a similarity. This book isn’t just for those into science, but also natures, history, and even surfing.

There has been controversy about the theory of evolution since Charles Darwin put it forth and, indeed, a friend of mine, Robert W. Felix, disputes it in his book “Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps” that correlates such phenomenon with mass extinctions and the sudden emergence of new species. The Fact of Evolution by Cameron M. Smith ($18.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) asserts that evolution is, well, a fact. He offers all manner of real-world examples to show that not only does it happen, but that it must happen. Suffice to say this is some very deep scientific writing about things such as “phyletic gradualism vs. punctuated equilibrium.” Don’t ask me what any of that means. You will have to read the book to find out, but I have my doubts about anything that has to come up with arcane, undecipherable language to describe its views. From the same publisher comes The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe is Not Designed for Us by Victor J. Stenger ($28.00, Prometheus Books). Stenger is a physicist who goes after the view that the universe was the creation of God and why nature is not part of a divine plan. A great deal of effort is expended in this effort and, if you’re an atheist, you will find comfort in the author’s conclusion. If you’re not, reading it will not likely change your mind. I doubt the universe really cares what anyone thinks.

National Issues

As the 2012 election begins to loom in the minds of Americans who will be tasked to select a President and Congress, it is not surprising that there are books offering to provide information and a point of view on national issues.

People who self-identify as patriots, members of the Tea Party movement, and other groups devoted to the U.S. Constitution and national values are being derided regularly these days by those who want to change America into something it was never intended to be. If you would like to learn what that is, I recommend that you read The Patriot’s History Reader: Essential Documents for Every American ($17.00, Sentinel, softcover). The editor, Larry Schweikart, first came to notice with his book, “A Patriot’s History of the United States”, and other books based on history, a subject he teachers at the University of Dayton. This new book contains a whole range of reading matter from the original Articles of Confederation (that were replaced by the Constitution) to Barack Obama’s “A New Beginning” speech in 2009. There are many such documents from our history that provide valuable insights to the choices we made and the nation we became.

Dr. L. Lynn Cleland, Ph.D., has authored Save Our System, subtitled “Why and how ‘We the People’ must reclaim our liberties now.” We know that too many Americans have passed through the educational system without receiving the knowledge they need to understand the Constitution and what it was the Founding Fathers had in mind when they fashioned the federal government, a republic composed of separate republics, the States. The book ($16.95, Two Harbors Press, softcover) is not a diatribe against either political party, but it does identify the nation’s systemic problems, along with their causes, evolution, solutions, and actions citizens can take to return the nation to its fundamental principles. You will learn what effect “career politicians” have on both creating and distorting the answer to problems, government systems that are near failure, and much more in this excellent “textbook” to bring any reader up to speed to make important decisions about the future at election time.

Adrift: Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation by William C. Harris and Steven C. Beschloss ($25.00, Prometheus Books) brings together Harris, the president of Science Foundation Arizona and other science-related organizations, and Beschloss, a journalist who was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. The authors offer their diagnosis of what they deem to be critical systemic weaknesses plaguing America. The blueprint they propose leans a tad to liberal solutions, but their proposals are worth considering.

There’s considerable irony that all the proposals offered by President Obama during his 2008 campaign and first year in office regarding issues involving the programs put in place by former President Bush were abandoned in their favor and continued maintenance. In National Security, Civil Liberties, and the War on Terror ($21.00, Prometheus Books, softcover), those issues are hotly debated in a collection of essays edited by M. Katherine B. Darmer, a professor of law at Chapman University School of Law and an assistant US Attorney in New York, NY, and Richard D. Fybel, an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal in Santa Ana, CA.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Novels arrive daily and my office table has more than forty of them in various stacks during any given month. They come from the mainstream publishers, large and small, some university presses, and self-published authors. (See my Pick of the Month book on why most authors have their books rejected.) Humans are story-telling creatures from the days they huddled around fires in caves.

One of this year’s most exciting new novels reflects recent headlines that the Pentagon has been under cyber attack from a foreign nation. Its timing could not be much better. If I could, I would want everyone in the White House, the Congress, the Pentagon, and the business community to read The Chinese Conspiracy by John Mariotti ($22.95, iUniverse, softcover). It is a thrilling novel of cyber war whose author has established himself as a successful writer of nine non-fiction books, as well as a contributor to blogs on the Forbes and American Express websites. The story begins with a scenario of America’s vital communications and elements of its infrastructure system, including the Pentagon, shut down by an unknown cyber enemy. Imagine the chaos if all the traffic lights in New York turned green at the same time? Mariotti uses his extensive knowledge of commerce and computer technology to envision an America in which no one can talk via their cell phones or access the Internet. It is one in which millions of computers have been invaded by a “worm” that controls their use. This may, in fact, be the way a future war will be fought, but for now this novel offers a globe-spanning story that will remind you of novels by Tom Clancy. If you read just one thriller this year, make sure it is this one. The best place to purchase this novel is via Amazon.com.

The itch to write a novel is one that so seizes some people that it would be better described as an addiction. The authors that amaze me are those who managed to put thousands of words on page after page. The only rule I apply is whether they manage to hold your attention. This was the task before Sam Djang who spent eight years and traveled to many nations—Russia, China, Mongolia, among others—to research the life of Genghis Khan. To the extent that Genghis Khan: The World Conqueror (Volumes I and II) is 90% factual, held together by a skein of fiction, he has more than succeeded in capturing the life, the times, and the impact of a man who, in his lifetime, conquered more land than Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, or the size of the Roman Empire, surely makes him a worthy topic. By 2010 A.D., the Mongol Empire measured 13,754,663 square miles, the largest in history. Volume One and Volume Two are both 420 pages in length ($29.95/$19.95, New Horizon Books, hard and softcover editions.) Khan’s was the age when human civilization gained knowledge of the compass, paper, gun powder, astronomy, mathematics, and developed techniques to make glass. Anyone who loves history will thoroughly love this book.

If you are in the mood for a courtroom thriller, pick up a copy of Margaret McLean’s Under Fire ($24.99, Forge) who has already been hailed as one of next new faces of Boston crime fiction with her debut. On a tragic night, a Boston firefighter is shot and killed in the line of duty while rescuing Amina Diallo and her 15-year-old son, Malick, from their burning store. A Senegalese Muslim immigrant, she is arrested for arson and murder, facing a likely conviction given Boston’s unease with its growing immigrant and Muslim population. Her defense attorneys are facing more than just prejudices, but attacks on their client and key defense witness. Ms. McLean, a former prosecutor, trial attorney, and currently a professor at Boston College, joins a well-worn path from attorney to novelist with her first novel and does so in ways that will keep you turning the pages.

Another debut novel is Luke Williams’ The Echo Chamber ($25.95, Viking) that was published in Great Britain in May to rave reviews and is available now in America. The reader is invited into the world of Evie Steppman, born in 1946 during the dying days of the British Empire in Nigeria. Evie has acute hearing and, to her, the world is a loud, cacophonous place. She is too young to make sense of all the sounds, but she hoards them in a vast internal sonic archive. The novel is narrated by a 54-year-old Evie, now living in Scotland, sorting through an attic filled with objects from her past. Her powers of hearing are beginning to fade and she sets out to record her history before it disintegrates on her. Family, empire, and memory coalesce in a novel that is an amazing feat of imagination. This one is surely worth reading. And still another novelist makes his debut with The Butterfly Cabinet ($22.99, Free Press). Bernie McGill has spun a tale based on a true story of the death of the daughter of an aristocratic Irish family at the end of the 19th century. It begins with a former nanny, now in her 90s, who received a letter from the last of her charges that evokes a secret she has been keeping for more than 70 years about what really happened on the last day in the life of Charlotte Orman, the four-year-old, only daughter in a house where she was employed. If you’re thinking of the recent Casey Anthony trial, this novel suggests that such events have a way of repeating themselves.

Cheryl Crane, the daughter of movie star, Lana Turner, gained fame when in 1957, at the age of 14, she stabbed to death one of her mother’s lovers, a Hollywood hoodlum, who was threatening to kill her mother. She has written a number of books and has authored The Bad Always Die Twice ($24.00. Kensington). It goes on sale officially on August 30. This novel draws on her own life in real estate and debuts a Nikki Harper series based pm a realtor-turned-amateur sleuth. It closely reflects her own life as a realtor to the stars. It begins with a frenzied call from Nikki’s business partner, Jessica Martin, saying that a TV has-been, Rex March, has been found dead in Jessica’s bed. Especially shocking is that, as far as anyone knew, Rex had died six months earlier. It’s obvious that Jessica is being framed and Nikki knows she must act swiftly to find out who the killer is. This is a very lively, fast-paced thriller that is sure to please fans of this genre. You Never Know by Lilian Duval ($21.95, Wheatmark, Tucson, AZ) explores what happens when extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. The author is a survivor of the 9/11 attack and lives in New Jersey where the novel’s protagonist, Tobias Hillyer, has a life filled with both tragedy and extraordinary luck. This is a novel in which the characters intertwine in an ever-changing landscape of events, capped by Hillyer’s win of a MegaMillions lottery that, despite the millions involved, evoke a whole new set of problems. It an intriguing story filled with unexpected twists and turns.

There are scores of softcover novels. Just out this month there’s The Whole Package by Cynthia Ellingen ($15.00, Berkley) who makes her debut with a novel about three women approaching forty who find that even though things haven’t gone according to plan, their friendship and resourcefulness present them with the perfect opportunity for a new venture, a restaurant staffed exclusively by handsome men. Women, of course, will enjoy this one. There’s love and lust to spare in Francine Thomas Howard’s novel, Paris Noire, (14.95, AmazonEncore) about African American and Caribbean immigrants to France as the U.S. Army liberates Paris in 1944. The widowed mother of two young adults is concerned as they embark on their romances and contemplates a new one for herself in a story that explores race, sex, and a vivid time in history.

That’s it for August and ahead are the many new books that are published each autumn. Be sure to come back to Bookviews as we select from the torrent, leaving the bestsellers to the mainstream media while we mine for lesser literary gems. Tell your book-reading friends and family members about Bookviews, bookmark it, and come back in September.

Bookviews - July 2011

2011-06-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba
A founding Member of the National Book Critics Circle

Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs ~ Lots of Advice ~ Business Books ~ Summer Reading for Kids & Teens ~ Novels

My Picks of the Month

This report has recommended three previous books devoted to President Obama’s life and eligibility to hold the highest office in the land. In retrospect, as carefully documented as they were, the nation was not ready to consider that fact, nor ready to accept the consequences. Lyndon B. Johnson, however, surprised the nation with his announcement that he would not run for reelection in 1968 and, in 1974, Richard M. Nixon became the first President to resign from office in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Prior to Obama’s election, however, Dr. Jerome R. Corsi, PhD, had authored “The Obama Nation”, warning that his credentials and life history was suspect. Now he has written Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama is Not Eligible to be President ($25.95, WND Books). More than 380 pages, complete with appendices and footnotes, meticulously reveal that he was not and is not eligible. I believe this book will lead to Obama’s resignation in the run up to the September 2012 Democratic Party nominating convention. I also believe that the mainstream media that formerly ignored or deriding all those who raised this issue are moving inexorably away from that position. Simply stated, Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution requires that a President be a “naturally born” citizen and Obama, as is widely known, is the son of a Kenyon citizen. Natural born requires that both parents be American citizens. How and why this was ignored in Obama’s case is examined in Corsi’s book, along with a massive cover up of the documentation that would and should disqualify him. Ignoring the Constitution has serious implications for the rule of law, the keystone of the American Republic.

I recommend you add Catherine Herridge’s new book to your summer reading list. It is The Next Wave: On the Hunt for Al Qaeda’s American Recruits ($25.00,.Crown Forum). If you watch Fox News then you know that Ms. Herridge is a national correspondent based out of Washington, D.C., and you know she has been following the story of terrorism directed against the nation for a long time. As a result, she has contacts deep inside the counterintelligence community as well as having traveled to Guantanamo many times to cover the proceedings there regarding some of the most evil people on Earth. She devotes a lot of the book to connecting the dots involving the life and activities of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born imam who facilitated the movement of several of the 9/11 terrorists before the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon. His knowledge of American culture has made him a valuable al Qaeda asset, so much so that he is the only American on a CIA hit list. He is currently believed to be hiding out in Yemen, but distance is nothing to the Internet and he is a master of recruiting disaffected American Muslims to attack their fellow Americans. One of them was Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood killer. Jihad is not just a present-day conflict; it is generational, and it is now a movement as opposed to a top-down vertical organization. The failed underwear bomber and Time Square bomber should not make us forget that there are new plots to kill Americans being hatched every day.

Two companion volumes to the Herridge book will explain a lot to anyone who has not been paying any more attention to al Qaeda or Hezbollah for the last decade or longer. The first is Peter l. Bergen’s The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al Qaeda ($16.00, Free Press) now in softcover is authored by a man widely regarded as a leading expert on al Qaeda, a national security analyst who has been in the belly of the beast. His book provides a comprehensive history of an organization devoted to terrorism for the ultimate purpose of imposing Islam on the West and everywhere else. Your grandchildren will be dealing with this threat. Consider Israel, now more than sixty year’s since its founding, but still facing implacable enemies. One of them is Hezbollah and Thanassis Cambinis has written A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel ($15.00, Free Press, softcover). Part standing army, part terrorist group, party political party, and part theological movement, it joins al Qaeda and Hamas it its intention to remake the map of the Middle East. An influential movement, this book will surprise you with its description of the people who are willing to die for it, people who span economic classes and religious sect for its apocalyptic beliefs. Based in Lebanon, the Party of God, has influence well beyond its borders.

I have a friend who has spent most of his life accompanied by dogs and presently has two who regard him as the alpha male of the pack. His love for dogs makes up for a distinct skepticism about humans and it is difficult to disagree with him much of the time. Dog lovers will love The Dog Next Door and Other Stories of the Dogs We love, edited by Callie Smith Grant ($12.99, Revell, softcover). There are an estimated 77.5 million dogs in the U.S. with 39% of U.S. households owning at least one while 24% own two. Americans love their dogs and they will love this follow-up to “A Prince Among Dogs” for the 35 true stories Grant has collected to celebrate these tail-waggers. Another passion for many Americans is baseball and 1961: The Inside Story of the Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase by Phil Pepe ($20.00, Triumph Books) tells of the year-long power surge that approached Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs for the 1927 New York Yankees. Maris would surpass it. The book is about an era when the game was not beset with doping scandals and raw power and real skill determined the outcome. Pepe has written more than fifty books on sports and this one is a wonderful look behind the scenes as well as on the field.

I cannot imagine what it must be to pilot a fighter jet, but a new book, Viper Force: 56th Fighter Wing by John M. Dibbs, an award-winning air-to-air photographer with text by Lt. Col. Robert ‘Cricket’ Renner, ($40.00, Zenith Press) will get you as close to the experience as one can have by enjoying page after page of extraordinary photos and a text provided by as 1988 Air Force Academy graduate who retired in 2010 after 22 years of active duty service that included 37 combat sorties over Iraq. If a machine can be called beautiful, than surely the F-16 Fighting Falcon, known to its pilots and crews as the Viper, is a thing of beauty and the photos are testament to that. Reading this book gives one a wonderful insight to the lives of those associated with this fighter jet and a sense of its lethal capacity to protect the nation that built it. From the same publisher comes Burt Rutan’s Race to Space by Dan Linehand ($30.00, Zenith Press). Rutan has earned a reputation as an aerospace visionary and he is seeking to make private space travel affordable and accessible these days. The book is the story of that endeavor. I suspect, however, that its appeal will be mostly to those steeped in the engineering aspects of the effort and those for whom this quest remains the ultimate expression of pushing the envelope.

Odds and Ends: My Mother taught gourmet cooking, mostly French and European cuisine, so I am partial to cookbooks (she wrote two) that share their enthusiasm and recipes for this gastronomic genre. I first encountered Chef Jacques Haeringer through the “Chez Francois Cookbook”, the bible of classic Alsatian cuisine. The chef lives in Northern Virginia where L’Augberge Chez Francois in Great Falls attracts not only the locals, but some famous DC folk as well. His new book is Two for Tonight ($26.95, Bartleby Press) and is a gourmet’s dream of romance when you combine great recipes, a nice bottle of wine, and a summer al fresco meal. These are meals for dining outdoors whether it’s his Alsatian fish stew or any of the other mostly fish dishes with the occasional lamb chop, veal scallopini, or Kobe beef dish for meat-eaters. The color photos are mouthwatering and, yes, I miss Mom's wonderful dinners. While recently attending the Book Expo in New York, I came across a book that I think many older computer users will find of interest. It’s Windows® 7 for Seniors: Quicksteps by Marty Matthews ($20.00, McGraw-Hill, softcover). It has many advantages in that it uses a larger print size, has lots of illustrations, and is filled with how-to tips that will enhance the use of this popular operating program. It is comprehensive and anyone taking advantage of it will discover how remarkable Windows®7 can be.

Many book lovers also aspire to be writers and for those who think they have a novel in them, there’s A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft, edited by Andrea Barrett and Peter Turchi ($19.95, Trinity University Press, softcover). It features twenty contributors offering some excellent advice that will answer many of the questions a beginner may have. I have always been a non-fiction writer and concluded long ago that my brain is not equipped to write fiction. That requires a whole different set of sensibilities as well as the development of specific skills. This book will help future and current fiction writers hone those skills.

Let me finish with the thought that I do not normally take note of a specific poet’s work, preferring to deal only with anthologies of poetry. The reason is simple and cruel. If I feature one poet, I receive the books of others and great poetry is usually produced in relatively small amounts in any given era. I am going to make an exception for Maxine Kumin whom I met long ago when we were both young. I was at the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, famed even then as a Middlebury College legacy of Robert Frost. I was there to write about it for Publishers Weekly and Kumin was one of the writers there to give readings and share their insights on the craft with aspiring writers. I was, at that point, already an aspiring and published poet but it would be my first and last time. I was old school, but Maxine was a modernist. All this returned to me when I received Where I Live: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 ($16.95, W.W. Norton, softcover). Maxine is the author of 17 poetry collections, as well as numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. She’s won the Pulitzer Prize and a raft of other literary awards. If you were to choose a present day poet to read, you would discover she writes poetry that goes straight into your mind and heart. There is no way to “describe” a particular poet’s work, though I am sure many try. To read a modern poet, Maxine Kumin would be a very good choice.

Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs

The thing about some memoirs is that one often ends up wondering why the writer thought their life was all that significant or why the publisher did. Not all lives are equal in this respect, but I suppose one can learn something from a memoir if it reflects one’s own questions about life or illuminates some dark, unexplored corner.

My AOL address book was recently hacked for the second time and I am searching for software to prevent that occurring again. Serendipitously Mafiaboy: A Portrait of a Hacker as a Young man, arrived. Told by Michael Calce with Craig Silvermann ($22.95, Lyons Press), it is his account of what it was like to be a 15-year-old boy who, in the spring of 2000, was exposed as “Mafiaboy”, the cybercriminal who had crippled the websites of Yahoo!, Amazon, CNN, E*Trade, eBay and Dell. Not only were people asking how some adolescent could pull off devastating denial-of-service attacks, but why? Due out officially in August, Calce reveals the story of how his prodigious talent for unraveling and manipulating computer technology evolved into a teenage obsession. He was too young to realize the scope of the damage he was doing, but joining a gang of hackers gave him a sense of power and mission. In the end, the FBI joined with Canadian authorities in a manhunt to find out who he was. Calce acknowledges how reckless and stupid his attacks were. He was caught, spent eight months in a group home for troubled adolescents, and a year on probation with restricted access to computers. Cyber-folk will find this book of interest. Where’s My Wand? by Eric Poole ($15.00, Berkley, softcover) is an entertaining tale of growing up gay and Baptist in the 1970s. It is not a gay polemic as one might assume, but rather a hilarious recounting of confused gender at a time and place, and in the person of a very clever youngster looking for a way to make sense of it and come to peace with it. Gay folk will no doubt enjoy it, but the surprise is that straight folk will too. A comparable search for identity is told by Maise Houghton in Pitch Uncertain: A Mid-Century Middle Daughter Finds Her Voice ($24.95, Tide Pool Press, Cambridge, MA). It is the story of how she slowly decoded her parent’s marriage as the middle child coming of age in the 1950s. Her parents had an estranged by oddly loyal relationship and the author captures the era and genteel culture of the time. I am not sure who would find this book of interest except for someone of the same age and gender, but it is a well-told account. A very different memoir is told by Kelle Groom, I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl ($23.00, Free Press) that recounts her young life as an addict and how, at age 19, she became pregnant with a son that she would end up losing twice, first to adoption, and then, within a year to cancer. This is a look into an addictive personality who discovered alcohol at age 15 and was an out-of-control alcoholic by age 19. The child’s death only hastened her downward spiral. The memoir, based in part on journals she kept at the time, is about her search for that lost son. In recovery she became a poet, earning a spot in Best American Poetry 2010, along with other accolades. Anyone who has known an alcoholic knows how totally destructive this addiction can be unless the pattern is broken. In a very real way, writing saved her life.

Sex, Mom, & God by Frank Schaeffer ($26.00, Da Capo Press) recounts what it was like to grow up in L’Abri, the Swiss chalet/Christian community that his parents, Evangelicals Francis and Edith Schaffer ran. He was surrounded by women, beautiful women, but the one who influenced his sexuality was his devout, but candid, mother who was at ease answering his questions about Jesus or sex, believing that conservative religion wasn’t about ruining sex for believers and others. Part memoir, part exploration of Evangelical views on issues such as abortion, premarital sex, and contraception, the book explores the harsh attitude organized religion has toward women and sex, while demonstrating that faith and fun can actually co-exist. Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy by Carlos Eire, the National Book Award winning author of “Waiting for Snow in Havana” ($15.00. Free Press, softcover) recounts what it was like to come of age as a Cuban émigré attached to the memories of his youth in that island nation. He explores the tension between Carlos the Cuban and Charles the American as he eventually embraced his continual reinvention as someone distinctly American.

Nica’s Dream: The Life and Legend of the Jazz Baroness by David Kastin ($26.95, W.W. Norton) is a fascinating biography of Baroness Kathleen Annie Pannonic “Nica” de Koenigswater, a British Rothchild who flew her own plane before she was twenty-one. Her husband was a French baron and, during World War II, they joined the French Resistance and went to North Africa where she drove ambulances at the front lines of battle against Rommel. That might have been enough for a biography, but in 1953 she moved to New York to pursue who overwhelming love of jazz and never left. As a patron of jazz, she befriended jazz legends and, indeed, both Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk died in her home. There is much to explore in her extraordinary life and the author, a music critic and journalist, plums it for its history of the powerful forces at work in a remarkable chapter in American history when jazz defined American modernism, mid-century New York, self-invention, and race. Any fan of jazz will want to read this book.

New York plays a role in Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin ($30.00, Da Capo Press). Olmsted is best known as the designer of Central Park and Prospect Park, as well as other famous sites including Stanford University in California, and the Capitol Grounds in Washington, D.C. He was likely the most famous landscape architect of his times and since, but he was also a champion of abolition to American and British audiences in the 1850s and 60s. He was a forerunner of environmentalists to preserve public places that included Niagara Falls and Yosemite. This is a life well-lived and filled with achievements that still touch the lives of all who enjoy the fruits of his labors.

Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist by Peter L. Berger is subtitled “How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore” ($26.00, Prometheus Books) doesn’t live up to its promise. Essentially a memoir of an extraordinary and distinguished career as a sociologist, author and educator, it still manages to spend a lot of time on minutia that may interest his colleagues and former students, but didn’t motivate this reader to engage to the end. Is it just me? That’s a question I often ask, but if an author doesn’t capture and hold my attention, I tend to blame them. By contrast, James Hesketh is a freelance journalist and former motorcycle columnist for The Miami Herald. His memoir is Riding a Straight and Twisty Road ($15.95, Central Recovery Press, softcover) and recounts his life and his love of motorcycling, calling motorcycle riders “motion addicts” in ways that only other cyclists could understand. For them motorcycling is “a celebration of life.” Hesketh tells of a life initially affected by a childhood trauma and then a struggle for recovery to reclaim his life from another sort of addiction. In the course of his memoir, we learn about the changing history of motorcycle culture, a cross-country ride in response to a personal crisis, and the new serenity he found at the end of the road. It is a well-told tale that is sure to resonate with many readers who love motorcycling and/or are seeking recovery from their own addictions.

Lots of Advice

There is no end to books offering advice about every aspect of life and, having seen many of them, I still believe they perform a useful service. I particularly liked Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong by Alina Tugend ($22.95, Riverhead books). As we all know, we’re told that it’s okay to make mistakes so long as we learn from them and don’t repeat them. Ms. Tugend points out that, in reality, we are frequently punished for making mistakes. She points out that mistakes occur all the time, but her book focuses on how we can identify them correctly and, in the process, improve not only ourselves, but our families, our work, and even the world around us. She has done a lot of research about the cultural attitudes regarding mistakes, how they can affect us from the earliest stages of our lives, and shape us into adults who are risk-averse and reluctant to take on challenges. This is one of those unexpected books, the kind that looks at something commonplace and provides a complete new understanding of it.

Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to Find Peace is one of those titles that tell you everything you need to know about the book. Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, along with Ann McMurray ($13.99, Revell, softcover).has added a new book to the more than 25 he has already written, several coauthored with Ms. McMurray. There is no question that we are living in times that are fraught with anxiety that comes at us from the media and is generated in our own lives as many struggle to make a living and get on with life’s other tasks. This new book offers a whole-person approach to coping with and eliminating anxiety. It is a combination of common sense, biblical wisdom, and therapeutic advice that can free the readers from being anxiety all the time. If this describes you or someone you know, the book will prove a good investment.

I suspect most mothers simply ask themselves “what would my mother do?” by way of raising their own children. I have no doubt that raising children can prove quite overwhelming for many young mothers. Momsense: A Common-Sense Guide to Confident Mothering by Jean Blackmer ($12.99, Revell, softcover) is there to help. The book features “real mom” stories along with proven and practical advice, encouraging them not to seek perfection, but to honestly assess their skills and develop their own mothering style. If you’re a new mom or know one, this book will prove a blessing. It makes a lot of momsense! Books on better parenting abound and I particularly liked Smart Parenting for Smart Kids: Nurturing Your Child’s True Potential by Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD and Mark S. Lowenthal, PsyD ($16.95, Jossey-Bass, softcover) in which the two authors combine their expertise to provide strategies to help children develop social and emotional skills that will need to become capable, confident, and caring people. Among the chapters are “building connection”, “developing motivation” and “finding joy.” In a society beset by fear-mongering, endless testing in school, and mixed messages about personal conduct, raising a child is a real challenge, but most parents can do it with a bit of guidance. This book provides that guidance and the children will be the beneficiaries. The iConnected Parent: Staying Close to Your Kids in College (and Beyond) While Letting Them Grow Up by Barbara K. Hofer, PhD, and Abigail Sullivan Moore ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) advises parents on how to stay connected to college-bound youngsters while giving them the space they need to become independent adults. The advent of cell phones, email, and texting, many kids turn to their parents for instant answers on how to handle a variety of problems they encounter. The authors suggest that too much guidance at this stage in life results in kids that never really emerge as adults in their own right. This is a significant book in a new era of connectiveness and one I would recommend to any parent whose child is going off to college.

Getting Down to Business (Books)

With unemployment verging on or exceeding 14 million, Unbeatable Resumes by Tony Beshara ($16.95, Amacom, softcover) is a very timely book indeed. As the author explains, it is a sales tool to get the attention of a hiring authority. Based on 38 years as a placement and recruitment specialist, the author knows what makes a resume effective. This book takes the mystery and the agony out of writing a resume that has a high probability of winning a candidate a face-to-face interview. His survey of more than 3,000 hiring decision-makers, managers and human relations specialists, reveals the hallmarks of a well-written resume. For those seeking employment, this could well be the best investment in yourself that you could make.

Another book on this topic that I would recommend is from the “Knock’m Dead” series that has sold more than five million books to date. Secrets & Strategies for Success in an Uncertain World by Martin Yate ($14.95, Adams Media, softcover) not only deals with resumes, but offers tips on turning interviews into job offers and tips about job security and promotions, understanding key career choices and career change strategies. This book addresses how to take control of your job search, your career, and your life. Career Mapping by Ginny Clarke and Echo Garrett ($17.95, Morgan James Publishing, softcover) isn’t officially due out until next month, but it takes a look at the world of work and concluded that it has changed forever. The only way to thrive in this highly competitive, technology-driven economy is to think of yourself as a free agent says the author. In short, you have to have a plan and her book is devoted to that. She too has been a recruiter and a career coach, so she is well positioned to understand the changes and how to adjust and take advantage of them. This book will work for the newcomer to the job marketplace as well as people nearing retirement age who want to switch gears. Books like this give those out of work a real advantage.

Everyone in business is looking for ways to secure an advantage over their competition. Front Runners: Lap your Competition with 10 Game-changing Strategies for Total Business Transformation by Mahesh Rao ($24.95, Bascom Hill Publishing Group) offers a step-by-step program that has been successfully implemented by numerous executives of Fortune 100 companies over the past decade. Rao has been an executive consultant with more than twenty years of business experience, as well as a coach to top executives, who has spent many years building strategies, managing global business and technology operations. With a degree in engineering and an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, he holds 14 US and international patents. The book comes with endorsements from the president of Global Brands and Commercial, Hilton Worldwide, and an executive vice president of Cisco Systems.

The “buzz” these days is all about “social media” and anyone seeking to master these rapidly growing communications vehicles would do well to read one or both books that have been recently published. Social Boom! How to Master Business Social Media by Jeffrey Gitomer ($22.99, FT Press--Financial Times) discusses how this tool is the best, least expensive, most direct way of communicating with your customers and how you can take advantage of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. It is easy to read and easy to implement. How to Make Money with Social Media by Jamie Turner and Reshma Shad, PhD ($24.99, FT Press, Pearson Education Inc) offers comparable advice and comes with glowing endorsements from top level executives. It is self-described as an in-the-trenches guide” written by experts who have developed money-making marketing campaigns for many of the world’s largest companies. This is not for lightweights because it discusses how to set objectives, assess one’s competition, craft strategies, select platforms, and integrate social media into broader marketing programs. Marketers, executives, and entrepreneurs can all benefit from its advice.

Summer Reading for the Kids & Teens

I have a number of favorite publishers of children’s and young adult books, and among them is Charlesbridge Publishing of Watertown, Massachusetts. Year after year, season after season, their editors and writers provide books for young readers and the latest batch is no exception. There’s Little Pig Joins the Band written and illustrated by David Hyde Costello ($14.95). This one is for the very earliest reader, age 5 or so, and of course can be read to the pre-school set. Being quite small Little Pig finds most musical instruments too big for him to play. It turns out that that he has a natural talent as the leader of the band! Those further along in reading skills, ages 7 and up, will enjoy Leo Landry’s Grin and Bear It ($12.95) about a bear who can write funny jokes by gets stage fright when he tries to tell them. Readers with a Hispanic heritage will especially enjoy Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango, illustrated by Fabricio VanderBroeck ($12.95) filled with wonderful poetry and short tales it is a tribute to Latin American cultures and music. What child does not love animals? Cool Animal Names by Dawn Cusick is lavishly illustrated by color photos of all manner of creatures, including insects and fish, who share the Earth. Those in the early grades in school will enjoy Miss Martin is a Martian, a Children’s Book Award Winner by Colleen Murray Fisher, illustrated by Jared Chapman ($7.95) and told from the point of view of one of her students who cannot imagine how she knows so much and is on to all his tricks! For the younger reader age pre-teen and older, there is a spooky, scaring, completely fascinating novel, Escape from Zobadak by Brad Gallagher about a mysterious box that leads to an antique maze of wooden corridors. This story is so complex that it draws the reader in and won’t let go until the last page.

Kids Can Press is another favorite of mine and a visit to its website will reveal why. Two recent books are Totally Human: Why We Look and Act the Way We Do by Cynthia Pratt Nicolson and illustrated by Dianne Eastman ($16.95). Aimed at those aged 8 and up, it is a clever, frank discussion of why humans hiccup, burb, shake when they’re scared, crave surgery food, and many other common characteristics. It’s a great introduction to the human race. Mathemagic! Number Tricks by Lynda Colgan and illustrated by Jane Kurisu ($16.95) will intrigue younger readers with an interest or flair for mathematics, and particularly good for those who need a reason to develop these skills.

There’s a world of fun in How Back-Back Got His Name by Thomas and Peter Weck and illustrated by Len DiSalvo ($15.95, Lima Bear Press) just out this month with a story about Lima Bear and his animal pals who help Plumpton the opossum when his back disappears! Ideal for those aged 4 to 8, it is fully of laughs. The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob ($16.99, Children’s Success Unlimited LC) is aimed at children aged 5 and up. It quite deliberately intends to share its philosophy of life to motivate young minds to make the most of every day using the creatures of the sea to impart it. For the child that needs a nudge in this direction, it is a good book to share. In a similar fashion, two books from New Horizon Press are intended to help children be team players and to teach the value of perseverance. They are Joni and the Fallen Star by Cindy Jett Pilon, illustrated by John Hazard ($9.95) and The Tale of the Teeny, Tiny Black Ant by Teresa R. Allen, illustrated by Tea Seroya ($9.95). Both are geared to either pre-schoolers to whom they can be read or early readers aged 5 and up.

For the older reader, ages 10 and teens, there’s The Lucy Man: The Scientist Who Found the Most Famous Fossil Ever! ($16.00, Prometheus Books softcover) by CAP Sacier. It is a biography of Dr. Donald C. Johanson who found Lucy, (Australopithecus afarensis) in 1974. A paleoanthropologist, the skeleton was the first up-right walking human ancestor that was mostly complete. Any youngster showing an interest in such things will be immersed for hours in this book. Its foreword is provided by the subject of the book. Just published this month is a novel by Karen DelleCava, A Closer Look, ($16.95, WestSide Books, Lodi, NJ) for those aged 14 and older. It is about alopecia, an affliction that causes a person’s hair to fall out. How Cassie deals with this, at first trying to keep it a secret, and then confronting it when the secret is exposed, is the heart of a story about dealing with setbacks and still achieving one’s goals in life. This may seem a bit creepy, but I suspect many teenagers will find it a reflection in some way of their own lives.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Summer is traditionally a time for taking a novel to the beach or just the backyard to catch some sun and pass some time. I have stacks and stacks of novels and can only share news of some, so here goes.

Rules of Civility marks the debut of Amor Towles ($26.95, Viking) that is in many ways a throwback to the way novels were written in earlier times and, in particular, its theme of rising from humble beginnings to reach great heights, a classic American tale. It is the story of an irresistible young woman that is set in the late 1930s. On New Year’s Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, 25-year-old secretary, Katey Kontent and her boardinghouse roommate meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker. Both fall for him, but the meeting sets Katey on a year-long journey through the upper echelons of New York society where she encounters a glittering new world of wealth and station, along with all the other emotions and behaviors that lurk beneath the surface. Katey is made of stern stuff and good values. Towles was born and raised just outside of Boston, graduated from Yale University, and an MA from Stanford University. He is a principal at an investment firm in Manhattan. He has just joined the ranks of promising new authors.

A very intriguing story is told by Kevin Klesert in The Other Side of Light ($32.95,
(http://www.theothersideoflight.com/). A combination of science fiction and historical fiction, Klesert asks what would happen if a modern U.S. Naval Task Force with the Secretary of Defense on board to watch how new technology can render the entire task force invisible to the enemy only to have it go awry and transport them back to December 3, 1941, four days before Pearl Harbor! Knowing what happened, they must wrestle with the question of changing history by intervening. I am not going to tell you much more because it would spoil the plot. This one is a fascinating take on the twists and turns of history. The genre of the science of genetics and its unexpected events is the background to The Genius Gene ($34.95 hardcover, $14.95 softcover, $4.99 Kindle, http://www.geniusgenebook.com/) by Howard Bernberg. We are introduced to geneticist Catherine Fox and archeologist Paul Butler, attractive, accomplished, ethical, and widely acclaimed. Political, religious, and scientific institutions are trying to cope with rapid medical advances that allow the potential of our own genomes to be unlocked. This is a complex story of an older Nobel Prize winning geneticist who has developed a package of genetic enhancements he wants to legalize, the purpose of which is to create superior humans and make all others obsolete. The plot's twists and turns will have you turning the pages in this compelling and scary story. Fans of supernatural thrillers will want to glom onto the first four of a five-book series you can check out at http://www.mannyjonesseries.com/. Eli Just has chosen a very different kind of hero to battle the forces of evil, a live-and-let-live bachelor with a minor but successful music career. Strange things begin to happen to Manny when his band takes a break. I am not a fan of this kind of fantasy genre, but Just makes it work. The Manny Jones series is priced at $29.95.

Among the softcover novels available there are several that stand out. On the light side, there’s Why I Love Singlehood by Elisa Lorella and Sarah Girrell ($13.95, Amazon Encore). Eva Perino is single and the proud owner of The Grounds, a bustling coffee shop in the heart of a North Carolina college town. She’s busy, she’s happy, and there is no need, she feels, for a man in her life. It has been two years since her live-in boyfriend broke her heart and her blog about singlehood is a big hit, but Eva begins a secret and very funny search for love when she secretly joins an online dating site. It is soon time to decide between her lifestyle choices. A very different story is told by Christina Ali Farah in Little Mother ($22.95, Indiana University Press). The Somali-Italian author provides an insight to the Somali diaspora, the result of that torn nation’s civil wars. She tells the story of two cousins, Domenica Axad and Barni, forced to flee. Barni ekes out a living in Rome and Domenica wonders Europe in a painful effort to reunite her broken family. After ten years the two women meet again and, when Domenica gives birth to a son, Barni, an obstetrician, is there by her side. It is a powerful story of the strength of women, family, and the tenacious yearning for a homeland that has been denied to them. Short stories make for good summer reading and you will find some excellent ones in Stolen Pleasures by Gina Berrialt ($15.95, Counterpoint Press). She died in 1999 after receiving many awards for her four novels, short story collections, and several screenplays. Novelist and screenwriter, Leonard Gardner, shared her life for many years and selected the stories in this collection. No two of the stories is alike and each taps into the fundamental emotions that drive our lives.

Being New Jersey born and bred, I naturally want to give a nod to a fellow resident, Janet Stafford, who has written an excellent new novel, Saint Maggie, ($16.00, Squeaking Pips Press, Box 5854, Hillsborough, NJ 08844, softcover). Set in the days just before the Civil War, this debut novel has a full cast of characters who share a rooming house on the square of a small New Jersey town. It is run by Maggie Blaine, a compassionate Christian woman who participates is the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves moving north. When the new minister moves in, sparks begin to fly and we are treated to a bit of history and a bit of romance. All in all, a very good story from beginning to end.

That’s it for July! We are now more than halfway through the year and hundreds of great new books await us. Come back in August for news of the best in fiction and nonfiction. Don’t keep Bookviews a secret! Tell your friends, coworkers, and others!

Bookviews - June 2011

2011-05-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month ~ Advice Books (Mostly) for Woman ~ The Story of America ~ Dogs of War ~ Books for Kids and Young Adults ~ Novels

My Picks of the Month

In 1984 I created a very popular media spoof called The Boring Institute© and it thrived until, after 9/11, I decided to put it on hiatus. Along the way I learned a lot about boredom and wanted to write a book about it, but publishers only wanted a “funny” book, not a serious one. Peter Toohey, a professor of classics in the University of Calgary’s Department of Greek and Roman Studies, has written Boredom, A Lively History ($26.00, Yale University Press). I had an opportunity to do a radio show with Prof. Toohey. He is an erudite and charming man, and an intellectual. Academics tend to squeeze a subject for all its juices. He has applied this to the subject of boredom and its fundamental attributes by referring to every painting, book, and every other historical and cultural reference. That said, he has done a very good job. I personally think that boredom has been a major driving factor throughout history and in our present culture. Prof. Toohey’s book is well written and well researched and, at this point, the definitive book on the subject.

When you see as many books as I do in the course of a month or a year, one is always on the look-out for those that stand out from the others. For example, I have a friend who has always had dogs as his companions, but did you know that Americans spend an estimated $45.4 billion annually on their cats, dogs, birds and other pets? This is money that is not being spent on ourselves as food, clothing and other necessities. In The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What makes Us Human by Pat Shipman, ($26.95, W.W. Norton) the author points out that, unlike other mammals, we are the only species that routinely adopts other species in this way. A paleoanthropologist, Shipman notes that our desire to keep and care for other animals in a uniquely human trait and, she says, our species’ greatest strengths. In a fascinating tour of the past, Shipman takes us through various milestones in our development, noting how humans related to other species. This is a wonderfully readable book that rates our domestication of other species as a major advance that defines our hominid lineage.

In a very different way, Waterford Press of Phoenix, AZ has published a unique booklet, Cat Care, a simplified owner’s manual ($7.95) that teaches you just about everything you need to know. It is quite brilliant even though it is quite short, taking the reader through the basics of food, health, playtime, the preparation before a cat becomes your pet, training fundamentals and everything else! This publishing house offers some wonderful Pocket Naturalist ® Guides, Travel, and Tutor guides, along with wildlife guides. Visit its website and be prepared to be excited by it. For sheer malicious fun, there’s a book of cartoons by Elia Anie. Evil Cat: A Fluffy Kitty Gets Mean ($10.95, Perigee, an imprint of the Berkley Publishing Group, softcover) featuring 95 versions of darkly humorous variations on an insidiously evil cat intent on destroying all decency. You will laugh!

In another section of this month’s report, the Zenith Press is noted for its many fine books on war, but it has also published two unusual books that anyone with an interest in history and engineering would enjoy. They are RMS Titanic Owner’s Workshop Manual and NASA Space Shuttle Owner’s Workshop Manual ($28.00 each). Extensively illustrated with photos, design and construction illustrations and plans, these two books relate why the Titanic suffered a tragic failure and sinking at sea and how the space shuttled defied gravity to fly its many missions to carry large payloads into space. First flown in 1981, six orbiters have been built before retirement after a thirty-year career.

There are a lot of college-bound young people as always and three softcover books will make that adventure a lot easier for them and their parents. They are published by Sourcebooks and cover the topics one really needs to know in order to make the transition. The Happiest Kid on Campus: A Parent’s Guide to the Very Best College Experience (for You and Your Child) by Harlen Cohen ($14.99) provides a wealth of advice on how to make the change work for both parents and the student. It’s all about the do’s and don’ts, and is a great companion for his other book, The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College ($14.99) that has already sold more than 125,000 copies to those smart enough to equip themselves for experiences they might not otherwise anticipate. Women will account for 58% of the enrollments in 2011 and they have their own special issues. These are happily addressed by Christie Garton in Chic U: The College Girl’s Guide to Everything ($14.99) that discusses everything from how to handle homesickness to the pros-and-cons of co-ed dorms, sororities, and the inevitable temptations of drinking, drugs and sex. I would not send my daughter to college without making sure she read this book first!

Combining history and humor, How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous ($17.99, Walker & Company) written by Georgia Bragg and illustrated by Kevin O’Malley is just page after page of fun. The history recounted is quite good and you will be astounded to learn how so many famous folks breathed their last. For example, a trip to London by Pocahontas, her two-year-old son, with her husband John Rolfe was literally the death of her. The air was so fetid that she soon developed respiratory problems and was dead at age 21 far from her home in Virginia. Beethoven was not only deaf and could not hear the music he composed, but he died a dreadful death made worse by the doctor’s effort to drain his stomach that had become bloated. George Washington was literally bled to death by his doctors. The novelist, Charles Dickens had a variety of illnesses including serious mental disease. A stroke killed him. I know all this sound ghoulish, but the various stories are fascinating compared to the usual things you have read about famous folks.

Advice Books (Mostly) for Women

Women must need a lot of advice these days because there are a number of new books that want to provide it.

Saundra Dalton Smith, M.D. has authored Set Free to Live Free: Breaking Through the 7 Lies Women Tell Themselves ($12.99, Revell, softcover). Apparently, perfection, envy, image, balance, control, emotions and limits represent a lot of problems for women and, since the author, a board-certified internal medicine physician, treats a lot of women, she sees a lot of the problems that arise as a result. Paula Renaye is a certified coach and motivational speaker with a passion for helping people face reality and take personal responsibility for their choices. Her latest book is The Hardline Self Help Handbook ($19.95, Diomo Books) and is billed as a fast-track course in self-discovery and self-empowerment that asks “What are you willing to do to get what you really want?” Both men and women can benefit from the advice she offers. Written for both adults and young adults, It’s Not Personal: Lessons I’ve Learned from Dealing with Difficult Behavior ($14.95, Orange Sun Press, softcover) by Cindy Hampel is filled with good advice. Hampel, whose won awards for investigative journalism and has a world of experience with corporate and non-profit organizations addresses how to handle fear and guilt tactics, stay poised under pressure, and the kind of attitude one needs to get through difficult encounters and experiences. Who hasn’t had to deal with bullies, a cranky neighbor, an unpleasant business encounter, and even a demanding elderly parent? Knowing how to deal with them lets you focus on your own goals and push life’s common disturbances aside. In the end, it’s really up to you.

Fans of Dr. Mehmet Oz of television fame know he has been married for 25 years to Lisa Oz who has also been a producer, entrepreneur, mother of four children, and the co-author of six bestsellers. One of them, Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships That Matter Most is now available in softcover ($14.00. Simon and Schuster). The author discusses how to “identify one’s authentic self and why it matters in a relationship, how your relationship with your body affects those with other people, tips for “conscious parenting”, and other advice that a reader might find of value. What Did I Do Wrong? What to Do When You Don’t Know Why the Friendship is Over is by Liz Pryor, Good Morning America’s advice guru ($14.00, Free Press, softcover). The book addresses breakups with your best girlfriends and, she says, they often come without warning and can be devastating. The book discusses why friendships fizzle, how to resolve old wounds, and even how to—sometimes—reconnect.

Think by Lisa Bloom is subtitled “straight talk for women to stay smart in a dumbed-down world ($25.99, Vanguard Press). The author thinks that women are in danger of spiraling into a nation of dumbed-down, tabloid media-obsessed, reality TV addicts. Paradoxically, women these days are excelling in education at every level, often out-performing their male counterparts in employment situations, but still spending too much time and money on their appearance, including, says the author, choosing plastic surgery in record-breaking numbers. Part of the problem, says Ms. Bloom is a culture that rewards beauty over brains. Are too many women just playing dumb or are they actually clueless? This is a very provocative book that will definitely make women readers think.

Then, of course, there is The Mommy Docs’ Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by three OB/GYNs ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) which, at 526 pages, is as complete a tome on the subject as one could want. Were there such books for our grandmothers and their grandmothers? Verily, if the answer you’re looking for in this guide cannot be found, the question is not worth asking. From preparing your body for pregnancy to birth, this is an impressive piece of work. Say Goodbye to Varicose & Spider Veins Now by Dr. Greg Martin ($14.95, Plentiful Publishing, softcover) discusses ‘how revolutionary new medical techniques can improve your health and quality of life by eliminating pain, swelling, cramps, restlessness and unsightliness in your legs.” According to the book, 80 million Americans, women and men, suffer from this condition. The author says this is a real health problem that should be addressed, increasing the risk for blood clots, phlebitis, and pulmonary embolisms. Have this problem or know someone who does? Get this book!

The Story of America

It’s no secret that I love reading history and American history is a particular favorite. I was born just before World War II and came of age in the years that followed. One of the enduring markers of that time was the fear that the Russians would lob an atom bomb at the U.S. and after the Sputnik satellite in 1957 some people started building bomb shelters. The fears reached their peak with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. During that time, the government issues all manner of Civil Defense brochures and pamphlets. Eric G. Sweden has gathered their content between the covers of Survive the Bomb: The Radioactive Citizens Guide to Nuclear Survival ($17.00, Zenith Press) and it is not only a stroll down memory lane, it is still has relevance today as many worry that Islamic extremists could use nuclear weapons against the U.S. Its advice would be useful to cope with any kind of natural or manmade disaster.

One of the great chapters of American history is brilliantly captured in Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America by Richard White ($35.00, W.W. Norton. This MacArthur Award-winning historian cuts through the myths about “robber barons” are replaced with facts from the Gilded Age that reveal that many of the early investors in railroads were small-time grocers and merchants who were drawn to the subsidies and land grants of the Civil War Congress. A handful turned corporate and national economic disaster into personal fortunes. The railroads that opened up the West and connected the two coasts also made corruption a permanent fixture of the political system as favors were exchanged without even the need for bribery; such as favorable prices for stock, low-cost loans, and campaign contributions. Sounds like the recent housing bubble, eh? Well, there is so much more because the railroads are the sinews of modern America. This is great reading. A year or so ago I had praise for Colossus by Michael Hiltzik, a history of the building of the Hoover Dam during the Hoover and Roosevelt years. It is now available in softcover ($17.00, Free Press) and I am looking forward to his forthcoming history of “The New Deal”, coming in September. The dam was a great engineering achievement, but its human back-story reads like a suspense novel. If you want to talk about good times, let’s not forget the Roaring Twenties. David Wallace has written Capital of the World: A Portrait of New York City in the Roaring Twenties ($24.95, Lyons Press) and, in doing so, brings to life the era and personalities of the jazz loving customers, Prohibition gangsters who kept their glasses filled, and the music playing. It was the era of Mafia boss Lucky Luciano, Mayor Jimmy “Gentleman Jim” Walkers, the famed madam, Polly Adler, and comedienne Fanny Brice. Literary stars emerged such as the Round Table’s Alexander Woolcott and Dorothy Parker. You could go to the Cotton Club and hear Bessie Smith or the ballpark to watch Babe Ruth. Wallace has captured them and the fabled decade in which they thrived.

Another chapter of American history was the fabled gold rush and Howard Blum has written The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush ($26.00, Crown Publishers). It occurred in the last decade of the 1800s. The Wild West had been tamed and the men who tamed it had outlived their usefulness as “civilization” moved in to build towns and begin cities. When gold was discovered in Alaska and the adjacent Canadian Klondike, a giddy mix of greed and the lust for adventure sent men fleeing a worldwide economic depression, driven by dreams of wealth, to some of the most inhospitable regions of the northwest. All manner of greenhorns and grifters followed in their wake. It was, to say the least, a very colorful and dramatic time. This book never fails to ignite the imagination, particularly with its story of the Pinkerton detectives who tracked the men who stole a fortune in gold bars from the Treadwell Mine in Juneau, Alaska.

The Dogs of War

Much of what we call history is, in fact, the story of war. It holds a fascination for us because it is the ultimate drama for those who participated, were its victims and heroes, and because it is an expression of the aggressive aspect of our species, the one that for good or evil, defines humans. One sees it in its many forms all around us.

One publishing company, Zenith Press, devotes itself to reporting the events of war and, especially, World War Two. Their latest, a large format—coffee table—book is Bombs Away! The World War II Bombing Campaigns Over Europe by John R. Bruning ($50.00) and it is extraordinary. While battles were being fought on the ground with tanks, troops, and artillery, it was the war from the skies that rendered the relentless destruction of cities and specific military targets. Both the Nazis and the allies developed air warfare to a point never previously achieved. Bruning is among a handful of great military historians and his earlier books on “The Battle of the Bulge”, “The Air Battle for Korea”, and others are testimony to that. Filled with page after page of photos, this latest chapter from World War Two will provide hours of great reading while paying tribute to those whom we have come to call “the greatest generation.” 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy by Mark Bando ($29.99, large format softcover) recounts one of the greatest days of this famed fighting unit that was composed of a cross-section of American men who volunteered to undergo rigorous training and who enjoyed a high degree of esprit de corps. This is an inspiring book and would make a great gift for the survivors as well as those following in their warrior tradition.

Other new Zenith Press titles include one that also involves the air war, Mission to Berlin by Robert F. Dorr ($28.00) that tells the story of the 314 bombing missions to Berlin between 1940 and 1945. Berliners did not expect to be bombed and in the early years of the war were not. Berlin, however, was a legitimate military target as the headquarters of the Third Reich and German armed forces. The sixth largest city in Europe, it was home to manufacturing facilities such as aircraft factories. Forty miles of defenses protected it, but the British and American fliers carried out a sustained effort that is well worth reading. Hitler’s most daring commando, Otto Skorzeny, who died in 1975, was called “the most dangerous man in Europe” for his exploits. His book, Skorzeny’s Special Missions, ($16.99, softcover) is a memoir of his war years and vividly depicts commando action. The recent mission to kill Osama bin Laden had its roots in these early exploits. Modern wars are also generating their histories and Zenith has published Dick Camp’s Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2004 ($30.00) tells of the spring and summer of that year when Iraq was coming apart at the seams, was rent by sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis, and Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Militia used the Imam Ali Mosque as its base of operations. A U.S. Marine battalion and two U.S. Army battalions broke the militia’s defenses in the cemetery and Najaf’s old city. This is an ugly story of war, but one that needs telling and is told well.

The role that bombers played in World War Two is also explored by David Sears in Pacific Air ($27.50, Da Capo Press) in a book that provides a panorama of the battle against Japan. Despite three years of sacrifices by fearless airmen who took on a strong military power, a combination of aeronautical ingenuity and aviators who refused to accept defeat turned the tide and led to victory. Anyone who loves military history will thoroughly enjoy the stories of the many young men who helped write it against daunting odds. In the end, Navy and Marine Corps pilots at the controls of F4F Wildcats, F6F Hellcats, and TBF Avengers destroyed more than 5,000 Japanese aircraft and scored a big win in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The Wolf: The Mystery Raider that Terrorized the Seas during World War I by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) reaches back to 1917 to tell the story of a disguised German raider ship that embarked on a 15-month wartime mission to capture or bomb every ship in its path, becoming at one point an international floating prison to more than 800 men, women and children, prisoners and crew as it sailed the world’s major oceans. Amazingly, it made it back to Germany, 64,000 miles and 444 days later. Gretel’s Story: A Young Woman’s Secret War Against the Nazis by Gretel Wachtel and Claudia Strachan ($24.95, Lyons Press) puts a human face on story of war as it recounts how a young, free-spirited woman was caught up in World War II and waged her own war against the Nazis by helping a local priest protect those hunted by the Gestapo, hid her Jewish doctor in the cellar of her house, allied herself with the Resistance, served as a typist in the Wehrmacht and passed along secrets learned from her work, finally to be arrested by the Gestapo in 1945, and liberated by the British army. It is an astonishing story. She moved to England in 1993 and died there in 2006. This memoir would make a great movie.

The Itch to Travel

There are folks who just love to travel. Throughout the 1980s as part of my work as a writer and photojournalist, I traveled all over the United States. With the exception of New England there were only a few States I did not visit, often several times. I have not gotten on a plane in so long I cannot recall. My idea of travel is the local supermarket. Leave the USA? No way. For those who do still want to travel, however, there are many excellent books to help satisfy that itch.

I recently attended the annual Book Expo in New York where thousands of new books are on display, often with authors to sign them, and long aisles of publishers promoting them. I paused at the East View MapLink booth and discovered their Crumpled City soft city maps for places like New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and others. They are literally on cloth so you can stuff them in your pocket or backpack when not using them to find your way around. It is a very clever idea. Check them out at http://www.evmaplink.com/.

Though not a “travel book” by definition, David Monagan’s Ireland Unhinged: Encounters with a Wildly Changing Country ($28.00, Council Oak Books) provides an intriguing look at today’s Ireland by someone born in Connecticut who moved himself and his family to Ireland in 2000 and established himself as one of its observers. His travel books include “Jaywalking With the Irish” and “Journey Into the Heart.” Monagan was there to observe its recent economic miracle declines swiftly into collapse. His book is a clear-eyed look at his adopted country. This is a highly personal story of Ireland and its people for whom Monagan has a depth of love and concern. It’s still a great place to visit and this book will provide insights you will likely not fine elsewhere.

Whereabouts Press of Berkeley, California, has a unique series that booklovers will want to tap before selecting a destination. It is “A Traveler’s Literary Companion” and one of the latest is devoted to India ($14.95, softcover), edited by Chandrahas Choudhury. It is a different way to experience that vast subcontinent as it serves up short fiction by accomplished writers, many of whom are famous in the English-speaking world beyond India. The foreword is by Anita Desai and one of the contributors is Salmon Rushdie. Its thirteen selections provide insights into Indian culture and history, representing eight (translated) languages and a dozen different cultures and regions. I have known about this series for a long time. Twenty different nations and cities are available from Argentina to Vietnam, Amsterdam to Vienna.

Michael Jacobs has written an exhaustive book about the Andes ($24.95, Counterpoint Press, softcover), a mountain range stretching 4,500 miles through South America, rivaled in height only by the Himalayas. Jacobs, a travel writer, takes one on a tour across seven different countries, from the balmy Caribbean to the inhospitable islands of Tierra del Fuego. His route begins in Venezuela and ends with the tip of the continent. Along the way you will learn of Simon Bolivar, the young Charles Darwin, and a host of other characters whose lives were intertwined with the Andes in some fashion. This is a hefty volume that is likely to be regarded as a travel classic in the years to come.

Alaska has become a destination for travels in part because of the fame acquired by its former Governor Sarah Palin, but it is also a place of great natural beauty as well as famed for its recreational opportunities. It is a huge place and the 63rd edition of The Milepost ® 2011: Alaska Travel Planner, edited by Kris Valencia ($29.95, softcover) is 784 pages with more than 700 color photos and 100 maps including the classic MILEPOST® Plan-A-Trip Map with mileage plus latitudes/longitudes for GPS users. It contains all the information needed and more. Where to stay, where to eat, where to visit. This book is a triumph and definitive for anyone who wants to visit Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, or the Northwest Territories. Go not leave home without it!

Books for Kids and Young Adults

The next time some young person says “I’m bored”, tell them to go read a book. Not turn on the television and not play some video game. Nothing engages the mind and helps it to grow more positively than reading.

You can get the reading habit going even in the pre-school years by reading to a child. One of my favorite series for this stars Howard B. Wigglebottom by Howard Binkow and illustrated by Susan f. Cornelison. Aimed at ages 4 through 8, these books teach useful lessons in a delightful, entertaining way. You can learn more about them at http://www.wedolisten.com/. The latest is Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns Too Much of a Good Thing is Bad ($15,00, Thunderbolt Publishing) in which Howard, a white rabbit, does too much celebrating on his birthday, eating too much, buying too many balloons that carry him aloft, and generally giving him a tummy ache and scaring the wits out of him. It’s all good fun for the young reader who also will learn a valuable lesson. Also for the same age group, there’s Big Bouffant by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown ($16.95, Carol Rhoda Books, a division of Lerner Books). It’s the story of a trend-setting girl who is bored with the standard hairstyles in her classroom and, inspired by her grandmother’s bouffant, get one in order to stand apart from the pack. First mocked and then imitated, Annabelle experiences the thrill of trying something new and, yes, getting bored with it and ready to move onto to something else. It’s a clever story.

Beach Ball Books has published John Thorn’s First Pitch: How Baseball Began ($14.99) for ages 9 and up. Thorn is Major League Baseball’s Official Baseball Historian and former editor of “Total Baseball”, so you can be sure the facts are accurate as he traces the game back to its roots and dispels many of the myths about how it evolved. Handsomely illustrated with photos and artwork from its early years, readers will learn many fascinating things such as women have been playing baseball since at least 1798 and was being played in China in 1836. It’s popularity spread after the Civil War when it became a game played by professional athletes. The Ultimate Guide to Basketball by James Buckley, Jr. ($7.99) is an alternative book for the younger readers, ages 7 and up, that enjoy that game. The same publisher provides fun reading with Weird Sports ($6.99) that includes elephant soccer, extreme unicycling, and even bog snorkeling. To learn more about this and others, visit http://www.beachballbooks.com/.

For middle school young folk and teens, there are novels that both tackle serious topics or are just fun. In the latter citatory there’s Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman ($15.99, Atheneum Books for Young Readers), ideal for those ages 8 through 12. Told through 10-year-old Gabe’s eyes, he is looking forward to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment that other kids call the Smart Camp for Geeks and Eggheads. When he meets his super-cool, soon-to-be stepbrother, Gabe begins to wonder if he isn’t geeky-squared? All manner of trials ensue from a lice epidemic to a karaoke showdown, and the camp experience turns out to be far less stressful than he anticipated. Two new books from Westside Books will prove compelling for young adults, ages 14 and up.. They are A Kid from Southie by John Shea and Mike Harmon ($16.95) and Open Wounds by Joseph Lunievicz ($16.95). South Boston is where Aiden O’Connor, a high school senior, must sort out his loyalties to a local street gang and the benefits of a better life, a trip through temptation and the sacrifices it will take to make the right choices. Queens, New York, is the setting for the second novel in which Cid Wymann is almost a prisoner in his own home to avoid the harsh world outside. He loves Errol Flynn movies filled with swordplay and duels, deciding to become a great fencer. When his cousin Cid arrives from England, he introduces him to a Russian fencing master who provides training and, at age 16, he learns to channel his aggression through the discipline of the blade. Suffice to say, an adult could read these books with equal pleasure.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Time was a novelist had to run a gauntlet of publishing house editors in order to get published. They usually needed a literary agent as well. Not so today. Any author can publish their novel and even reach a large audience of readers if the “buzz” goes viral and people hear about it.

Jeffrey M. Anderson, a former book publicist, has gone the self-publishing route with Ephemera ($15.99, Creatorspace, softcover). It is a perfect book to take to the beach to read on a summer’s day for its length, 420 pages, and densely written, compelling story about Nester Cab, a second-rate magazine writer whose life is changed when a mysterious note left in his office awakens his curiosity. He begins a search for a missing soldier and, in the course of it, discovers a clandestine anti-government organization and a hidden world of government conspiracies, real and imagined. Anderson is particularly adept at character description and the dialogue rings true. The novel is filled with madmen, killers, and megalomaniacs. It is a modern day journey for truth told with a mixture of satire and sadness. Ephemera is defined as "a short-lived thing, printed matter of passing interest." Your interest will be grabbed from the beginning to the end of this novel.

I think former Sen. Bob Graham’s novel, Keys to the Kingdom ($25.99, Vanguard Press) is going to generate a lot of buzz, a suspense novel that has the particular benefit of the fact the author served in Congress, knows its secrets, was the former Chairman of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence for many years, and has written a timely story about terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. Sen. Graham’s writing style has an eye for detail that lends a verisimilitude to the story that begins with a New York Times opinion editorial by a Florida Senator who served as a co-chair of the 9/11 commission and is murdered not long after the piece is published. The issue raised is the full role that Saudi Arabia played in the 9/11 attack; something not seriously addressed by the commission. The Senator, sensing the danger he has provoked by his commentary, recruited an ex-Special Forces operative, Tony Ramos, providing him with detailed instructions for an investigation. Ramos joins forces with the slain senator’s daughter to uncover a shocking conspiracy linking Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden, and al Qaeda. It spans Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. At the heart of the novel is the question of whether Ramos and his team can stop an al Qaeda attack, this time nuclear, on American shores?

Vietnam haunts the collective memory of Americans who fought in or lived through the war in the 1970s. Daughters of the River Huong by Uyen Nicole Duong ($13.95, Amazon Encore, softcover) has the distinction of being told by a winner of the Vietnam National Honor Prize for Literature at age 16, who like many fled her native country in the wake of that war. Now, thirty years later, her debut novel tells a century-long tale that captures the complex history of Vietnam and its people. Told through the eyes of Simone, a precocious teenager, it is the story of a concubine of the extinct Kingdom of Champa, her daughters, and her mother. From monarchy to French colonial occupation, the American intervention, the fall of Saigon, and Communist rule, it is a compelling history as experienced by all elements of Vietnamese society. The author, a Harvard graduate, was the first Vietnamese-American appointed as a US judge. It is well worth reading for many reasons, not the least of which is its compelling story. Penguin Classics has published El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal ($17.00, softcover) to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the author’s birth and the translation of his story, a revolutionary epic set in his native Philippines. A story of obsession and revenge, it has a rich cast of characters as it tells the story of resistance to colonial rule by a champion of Filipino nationalism and independence. This novel so angered Spanish authorities that, when the revolution broke out, the author was imprisoned and, at age 35, executed. Another nation’s history is captured in Knight of Swords by Ian Breckon ($14.95, Counterpoint, softcover), set in the winter of 1944 when northern Italy is a battlefield with Communist partisans battling the forces of Mussolini’s fascist Republic. A wounded fugitive finds shelter in an isolated and decaying castle in the mountains, home to a reclusive nobleman and his family. As he regains his strength, he discovers they have no intention of letting him leave. Snowed in during the long winter, the fugitive, the Baron, and his family are drawn into a complex game of power and seduction. India is the setting for An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy ($14.00, Free Press, softcover) marks her American debut. The place is a small town in Bengal where a family lives in solitude in a vast new house. This is pre-partition India of the 1940s and focuses on the relationship between an orphan of unknown caste, Mukunda, and Bakul, an orphaned daughter. Mukunda is banished to Calcutta where he prospers, but his thoughts are always of Bakul and he knows he must return. It is a richly romantic novel that explores many themes.

Another summer read is an erotic adventure novel, Captured Prey by Craig Odanovich ($14.95, Emerald Book Company, softcover). Its plot ranges from the windswept ranchlands of Texas to the back rooms of political power on a New Year’s Eve on the beaches of Rio. It is a romp, inside the bedroom and out as Misty, an elite fitness trainer to a well-heeled male clientele spins her web for the powerful men who come her way and gets snared by her own tap. A very different story is told by Marilyn Howell in Honor Thy Daughter ($16.95) published by the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Though fiction, it is a hard-hitting story of the author’s loss of her 32-year-old daughter to colon cancer and for anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer this story will strongly resonate. The unique aspect of the story is the use of psychedelic therapy to ease her daughter’s final days, making for a politically provocative and emotionally stunning tale. Howell makes a compelling case against the 40-year ban on research into psychedelic psychotherapy, especially as it relates to end-of-life issues as opposed to the chemotherapy drugs in wide use today.

Two softcover novels explore universal themes. In Long Drive Home author Will Allison returns after his literary sensation, “What You Have Left”, a 2007 novel that was widely heralded. In this novel, a sudden decision by a happily married suburban father who gives into an angry impulse when he jerks the steering wheel of his car to scare a reckless driver who dies as a result. It explores the moral ambiguities of personal responsibility as he tries to explain his action to his daughter. It is written in part as a confessional letter of a single event that alters both their lives. In Her Sister’s Shadow Katharine Britton ($15.00, Berkley, softcover) tells the story of two estranged sisters whose lives are brought together again after a sudden death. Forty years earlier Lilli Niles fled her family in White head, Massachusetts to escape her over-competitive sister Bea and a betrayal that has resonated ever since. Living in London, she received a call from Bea who has just lost her husband and wants Lilli to fly home for the funeral. It is a strong debut for the author who explores the bonds of sisterhood. Making his debut with The Descent of Man ($24.95, Unbridled Books) Kevin Desinger also employs the theme of a happily married man with a successful, quiet suburban life. Having survived the grief of his wife’s miscarriage, seen his marriage tremble, but stand, he refuses to lose her, and the questioned explored is how far he will go when he wakes one night to find two men trying to steal his car and, against her wishes, goes outside to get the plate number of the thieves’ truck, only to make the split-second decision to steal it! Sinister events ensue as his life spirals into a nightmare and he risks everything to regain of his life before that night.

For lovers of thrillers and the detective genre, there’s Fool’s Republic by Gordon W. Dale ($19.95, North Atlantic Books) and Wahoo Rhapsody: An Atticus Fish Novel by Shaun Morey ($13.95/$9.98, print and digital, Amazon Encore). The former is a masterful political thriller in which a man who has lived a normal life, barely noticeable, finds himself detained and accused of crimes against the state that are never specified.
He fights back using his only weapon, a high IQ, as the novel explores issues of freedom of action, of thought and the right to be left alone. The novel is a bit of an intellectual exercise. Shaun Morey’s story is a more traditional story about the motley crew, a captain, first mate, and novice deckhand aboard the fishing charter boat of the novel’s title. The crimes at its center are drug-running and murder. Atticus Fish, an expatriate American lawyer becomes involved when an old friend is murdered by a drug lord and Fish sets out to save the charter’s crew from becoming human chum. It is a very entertaining story told with a light touch.

That’s it for June. The summer holds the promise of many new fiction and non-fiction books to entertain and inform, so bookmark this site and tell all your book-loving friends and family about Bookviews. See you in July!

Bookviews - May 2011

2011-04-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month; To Your Health; People (biographies and memoirs); Marriage and Parenting; Business books; Children’s and Younger Reader’s books; and new Novels

My Picks of the Month

For the best book on why the U.S. is in severe financial trouble. I recommend you read Dice Have No Memory: Bad Bets & Bad Economics from Paris to the Pampas by Bill Bonner (29.95, Wiley, hardcopy and e-Book). For more than thirty years, Bonner has analyzed and commented upon the challenges facing the U.S. economy as the president/CEO of Agora Publishing, one of the world’s largest financial newsletter companies. His newsletter, The Daily Reckoning, has six global daily editions and he has coauthored three previous bestsellers. This book is a collection of his columns since the new millennium, all just dead-on regarding the way the Federal Reserve and other central bankers have historically and currently created financial havoc for nations and individuals. Bonner writes with such a light touch, with humor, that the reader has to remind themselves how serious things are. This book will make it much easier to grasp that is happening and to make smarter personal financial decisions.

Regular readers of Bookviews know that I come from the “boost, don’t knock” school of reviewing. If I receive a book that I find wanting in some respect, it simply does not show up among the notice taken of those which I think will be of interest to readers.

I am going to make an exception for two books because they represent a genre I have seen now for decades. They are books that tell readers that everything around them is lethal or hazardous in some respect. They arrived about the same time that the Centers for Disease Control announced that life expectancy in the United States is an astounding 78 years of age on the average, the highest ever! You wouldn’t know that from reading The Healthy Home: Simple Truths to Protect Your Family from Hidden Household Dangers by Dr. Myron Wentz and Dave Wentz ($21.99, Vanguard Press, imprint of Perseus Book Group) that is just page after page of generally idiotic warnings against non-stick pots and pans, wrinkle-free sheets, and electrical appliances of all kinds. Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in the Age of Environmental Crisis by Sandra Steingraber ($26.00, Da Capo Press) is equally idiotic in its own paranoid way. To begin with, there is no “environmental crisis.” The Earth is 4.5 billion years old and doing what it has always done, sustaining life. To read this book is to be advised to forego all the advances of modern life, including bug spray, on the grounds that children are threatened by them. Take away the bug spray and all that’s left is the bugs, Nature’s most effective means of spreading disease. Avoid these books. Read poetry instead.

While on the subject of toxic books, another to avoid is Life Without Oil: Why We Must Shift to a New Energy Future by Steve Hallett with John Wright ($26.00, Prometheus Books) that is surely one of the greatest collections of lies about energy to come along in a while. Having made enormous leaps forward over the past two centuries or so using coal and oil, the authors would have you believe that the Earth is running out of both these energy sources when is most certainly is not. The United States by itself is a huge storehouse of coal and oil, but access to it has been systematically denied, thus making the nation dependent on expensive imported oil and thwarting access to hundreds of years’ worth of coal reserves. The book claims that “global warming” exists when this hoax was exposed in 2009, advances the debunked “peak oil” myth, and throws in “wealth inequality” for good measure. The latter could have come right out of the Communist Manifesto. Avoid this book like the plague.

Since the 1980s we have been hearing about “global warming”, but in late 2009, the leak of emails between the small group of “climate scientists” whose data fed the fraud, based on reports by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore’s propaganda machine, drove a stake into the heart of it. The problem is that this bad science has been wired into our society from health to education, law, defense, international development, trade, and academic publishing. A clear-eyed look at this is found in Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and our Lives, edited by Patrick J. Michaels ($24.95, Cato Institute). We continue to be flooded with apocalyptic scenarios when the real threats, earthquakes, tsunamis, and others are equated with the false ones. In chapter after chapter, the size of the fraud is described in this eye-opening book. Perhaps the most valuable instrument in the regulator’s toolbox is something called The Precautionary Principle which happens to be the title of Indur M. Goklany’s new book, subtitled “A critical appraisal of environmental risk assessment” ($17.95, Cato Institute). I grant you that this does not make one’s heart leap with anticipation, but it is surely worth reading if you want to understand why environmentalists and self-appointed consumer protection groups are forever seeking to ban everything critical to human health and other needs. The banning of DDT by the Environmental Protection Agency and subsequently by African nations led to the needless deaths of millions in Africa from Malaria and is credited for the plague of bed bugs that has occurred nationwide in the U.S..

In a world where the Middle East and the Maghreb (North African) nations are in a state of turmoil and the U.S. is engaged in two lengthy wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a stealthy participant in the effort to remove Libya’s despot from office, peace seems as elusive as ever. Douglas E. Noll has written Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts ($25.00, Prometheus Books). Since the dawn of civilization some five thousand years ago, I doubt that there has ever been a day when war and conflict has not existed somewhere, shaping history for good or ill. Noll brings his extensive experience as a professional mediator to the question of why peace talks and other issue-related negotiations fail. He posits that the international community is using a model of European diplomacy dating back to the 18th century to solve the problems of the 21st century. This strategy is based on the belief that nations will act rationally to resolve problems, but it is clear with a glance back on the last century that this is not true. Noll cites studies that demonstrate that emotional and irrational factors play a great role in the success or failure of a mediated solution. He has written an important book that should be read by diplomats, politicians, and all others engaged in the struggle for peace.

When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse ($26.95, Verso Books). From metal detectors to drug tests, increased policing to electronic surveillance, schools have been transformed in ways that have detrimental affects on students who must submit to this system of unprecedented restrictions on their rights, dignity, and educational environment. The author, Annette Fuentes, cites a CNN report that found that in New York City there are nearly 5,000 employees in its school safety division in contrast to about 3,000 counselors. This book is a real eye-opener. As For Me and My House: A GPS for Parents of School-Age Children ($14.95, Amazon.com, softcover) by Rose Marie Whiteside addresses the need for accountability by parents whose children are matriculating through what many regard as a seriously flawed public school system nationwide. You can learn more about the book and her views at www.as-for-me-and-my-house.com. All manner of problems faced by Americans and ethnic groups such as Latinos, Afro-Americans, and Asian Americans are noted, along with the responsibilities that come with the rights Americans assume are associated with government schooling. It is commonly said by teachers that parents are as much of the challenge of teaching children as any other and this book prepares parents to get the most out of their local education system.

With the growing population of single people, I have often wondered why cookbooks do not cater to this trend. Now one does. Cooking for One by Chefs Mark and Lisa Erickson of the Culinary Institute of America ($24.95, Lebhar-Friedman Books, softcover) addresses the many ways a single person can, season to season, prepare delicious meals for themselves. The book is enhanced with gorgeous full color photos by Ben Fink, but it is the recipes for everything from Cornish hen with chutney glaze to spiced halibut or roasted duck with orange sauce that will make your mouth water. While the recipes are scaled to the single diner, they can easily be adapted for a dinner for two.

I am a pushover for a book that approaches an interesting topic, especially if the author does a great job of describing it. This description fits Poison, an Illustrated History by Joel Levy ($16.95, Lyons Press, softcover), a short, very entertaining look at poison from Cleopatra to Mary Ann Cotton, from cone snails to cocaine. It is filled with fascinating facts such as ergot mold which grows on rye and other grains may have played a role in the 1691 witchcraft panic because it causes hallucinations. Nicotine, the addictive ingredient in cigarettes, is also a highly potent alkaloid neurotoxin used widely as an insecticide. Botulinum toxin is the most potent poison known to science. Little more than a cup of it would be enough to kill every human on Earth. I recommend a strong dose of this book for the sheer pleasure (and terror) of its contents. I am also fond of books that offer a look at the world in which we live in an entertaining fashion. The Indispensable Book of Useless Information by Don Voorhees ($12.95, Perigee, softcover) has lots of information and while much is trivia, there’s plenty of actually useful information as well. Voorhees delights in gathering bits of information and organizing to entertain the reader. He has three previous such books and they are a great way to pass the time. Having grown up watching the great western movies of the 40’s up to more recent times, I only later came to realize how the values expressed in those films influenced my own and always for the better. If you’re a fan, you will enjoy The Greatest Western Movies of All Time by the editors of American Cowboy magazine ($16.95, Two Dot, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press). It’s a compendium of short essays about films that any fan will instantly recall, appealing to a wide variety of ages and preferences, from Shane to The Wild Bunch, High Noon to Unforgiven. The best of them—and they’re all here—were in fact real dramas despite the general formulas we came to understand and expect. It was, indeed, good versus evil. It was about taking responsibility and showing courage. This is just a dandy little book that is also filled with photos of many of my favorites. And, yes, I have seen most of those in the book.

To Your Health

Every so often a book on some aspect of health comes along that makes such good sense that you just want to shout “hurrah!” The Breakthrough Depression Solution by Dr. James Greenblatt, MD, is one such book ($16.95, Sunrise River Press, North Branch, MN, softcover). Dr. Greenblatt is a psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of children and adults experiencing depression and, with twenty years of experience, he says that “There are many factors involved in depression, ranging from diet and lifestyle to genetics. The good news is that patients can, indeed, escape the roller-coaster ride of frustration and cynicism caused by ineffective antidepressant regimens and their attendant side affects.” An assistant clinical professor at Tufts Medical School, Dr. Greenblatt has laid out a method for identifying and treating the physical contributors to depression and he does so in a way that a layman such as myself can easily understand. Bearing in mind that each depression is unique depending on the individual; their biochemistry, including physical factors such as nutrition, genetics, hormones, and stress, all of which can contribute to the severity of the condition. The bad news is that depression is strongly associated with heart disease, puts people at risk for alcohol and drug abuse, and is a major factor in suicide. There are, however, simple, effective strategies for sustained recovery and you can learn about them in this book.

Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life by Dr. Claudia Welch, Master of Science, Oriental Medicine, ($18.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) takes a very different approach and is directed at women and, in particular, those in the workforce who must juggle work and family life. She explores the counterbalancing effects of sex and stress hormones, and outlines strategies for self-care to help combat stress-induced medical problems from painful periods, mood swings, fatigue, insomnia, infertility, and other common health problems women encounter. The author lectures and teaches on Asian and Ayurvedic medicines that involve a complete lifestyle that is, in many ways, different from the one to which most American women are accustomed. A lot of it will raise questions such as advice to avoid storing food in plastic containers or plant and lawn care choices that are deemed “endocrine disruptors”, the all-purpose villain used widely to disparage beneficial chemicals that actually protect one’s health. So, proceed with caution if you choose to read this book.

Given events in Japan with its horrendous earthquake and tsunami what, in fact, would you do in a true life-threatening situation? Scott B. Williams has written an interesting guide, Getting Out Alive, ($14.95, Ulysses Press, softcover) that describes thirteen deadly scenarios and how others actually survived them. He lays out the three vital ways to cheat death when all seems lost by avoiding panic, knowing survival skills, and maintaining a relentless determination to survive. The book is filled with tactics such as building shelters, finding water, signaling for help, and much more. You never know when such knowledge will come in handy.

People, People, People

There is no question that Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the great figures in history and so famous that his first name is the title of Napoleon: A Biography by Frank McLynn ($19.95, Skyhorse Publishing, softcover). From cover to cover it runs 739 pages, but the subject of the biography more than lives up to them. McLynn tells the story of a man who was an existential hero, plaything of fate, an intellectual giant, and a deeply morally flawed man. The book is enhanced by the author’s analysis of the personalities around Napoleon that include his sprawling family and two wives. What emerges is a figure more closely resembling a Mafia godfather than visionary European leader. His life is a reflection of 18th century European history and I guarantee any lover of history a thoroughly gripping and enjoyable biography.

Iran, after the 1979 Islamic revolution that forced out the Shah and installed a vicious coterie of ayatollahs and mullahs, the nation descended into a hell that few can comprehend. During the summer of 1988, the Islamic Republic began to systematically kill its political prisoners, hanging thousands, estimated to be between 4,500 and 10,000, many of whom were in Evin Prison in Tehran. They did everything they could for two decades to hide this crime and the mass gravesites. Dr. Jafar Yaghoobi, a prisoner between 1984 and 1989, somehow survived and, in Let Us Water the Flowers ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) shares his memoir with readers, describing the courage, resistance, camaraderie, and solidarity of the prisoners who did not give up hope. Others broke under the pressure and collaborated with their jailers. The book provides a powerful insight to the mindset of those ruling Iran and to the events of that early terrible period of time. Released from prison in 1989, he escaped to Turkey, joining his family in Germany and eventually, in 1990, moving to the United States. Since his retirement from the University of California-Davis, he has been active in bringing attention to human rights abuses in Iran. Today, Iran’s leaders are moving inexorably toward acquiring nuclear weapons and the failure to stop this could have catastrophic consequences for the region and the world.

A colleague of mine, member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Jerome Tuccille, has just had his latest book published, Hemingway and Gellhorn: The Untold Story of Two Writers, Espionage, War, and the Great Depression ($15.99, on sale for $11.51, Amazon.com, softcover). Hemingway had the good fortune to be born and to live through one of the world’s most exciting, challenging, and dangerous periods, including the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War that preceded World War Two and, of course, the war itself. Ernest Hemingway emerged from this era of turmoil as one of America’s greatest novelists, but his life reads like a novel as well. Turcille’s latest of more than twenty books deals with his tumultuous marriage to his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, along with their activities as spies for the U.S. government. Between Gellhorn’s political passions, her affairs, as well as Hemingway’s extramarital affairs that doomed the marriage, they were dramatic enough to merit an upcoming HBO special, starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman, based on the book!

Boneheads: My Search for T. Rex ($25.00, Council Oak Books, Tulsa, OK) is Richard Polsky’s story of putting his career as a private art dealer on hold in order at age 50 to pursue his childhood obsession with paleontology and embark on a quest to fine the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex, a rare find even by those who devote a lifetime to it. In this entertaining account, Polsky sets out for the South Dakota badlands and discovers what he calls a lost tribe, the Boneheads, and becomes one of them, an oddball group of dinosaur hunters intent on finding the holy grail of those searching for this elusive skeleton. Fewer than fifty have been found, but one fetched $8.3 million at Sotheby’s. An offbeat tale, it says a lot about how, for fun and profit, some pursue this dream and why. In a similar fashion, Jake MacDonald tells of his own obsession with grizzly and other bears, In Bear Country ($18.95, Lyons Press, an imprint of Globe Pequot Press, softcover). If you’re expecting a dry story about the life cycles of bears, this is not the book to read. If you’re in the mood for a collection of stories about bears, it surely is. Ironically, the more MacDonald studied bears, the less he felt he knew. To the question, what do you do if you meet a bear in the woods, he relates the advice of an old-timers who told him, “You can’t outrun a bear, so forget it. Just outrun the person you’re with.” For anyone who finds these creatures of interest, this is a great read.

We live in a culture that drowns us in useless entertainment, mostly provided by the now ubiquitous television set in every room of the house. Jan Lancaster has penned My Fair Lazy ($15.00, NAL, New American Library, softcover) that is subtitled “One reality television addict’s attempt to discover if not being a dumb ass is the new black or, a culture-up manifesto.” Lancaster relates how content she was to wrap herself in a blanket, eat grilled cheese sandwiches, and watch an endless stream of mind-numbing nonsense such as American Idol, Survivor, Wife Swap, The Biggest Loser, and the endless other “reality” shows. She admits it gave her a feeling of intellectual and moral superiority without requiring any effort other than moving the dogs to find the remote. If this is you or someone you know, I recommend reading it. Theatre Geek: The Real Life Drama of a Summer at Stagedoor Manor by Mickey Rapkin ($15.00, Free Press, softcover) takes the reader on a backstage tour of the lives of young drama queens. Before there was “Glee” or “American Idol” there was Stagedoor Manor, a theatre camp in the Catskills where Hollywood casting directors came to find the next generation of stars. It’s where Natalie Portman, Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff and others got their start in a breeding ground for Broadway and Hollywood. It is an interesting look at the world of young performers hoping to become stars. Long ago I did public relations for Actors Equity, learning what a difficult life it was for those who longed for the spotlight and how few ever achieved any success. Movie aficionados will enjoy Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley by Jeffrey Spivak ($39.95, The University Press of Kentucky), but it will help if you are particularly fond of films from his era of musicals, transforming the way dances were staged and filmed during the Great Depression. Surprisingly there is no star on Hollywood Boulevard, nor was there any Academy Award recognition despite his innovations. This book is devoted to his life and it was messy. He was married six times and his addiction—liquor—and behavior would derail his career as a choreographer and ultimately ruin his life, despite the fact that the techniques he developed are still in use today. Oddly, he had little training in dance. Indeed, most everything about Berkeley was odd and Spivak has done a first rate job of capturing his life. From the world of entertainment, a large format book, Queen: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock by Phil Sutcliffe ($24.99, Voyageur Press, an imprint of Quayside Publishing Group) will prove a joy to all who are fans of this fabled band. It is hard to believe it is now forty years after their debut. More than 500 photos and artifacts illustrate the book.

There is a deluge of memoirs these days. People, for whatever reason, feel compelled to tell their stories. Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses by Claudia Sternbach ($14.95, Unbridled Books, softcover) has a previous 1999 memoir and her new one tells of the kisses that shaped her life and uses them to tell of her search to get life right in a sharp, funny memoir, ideal for other women seeking the same thing. Into My Father’s Wake by Eric Best (www.intomyfatherswake.com) is one of many self-published memoirs. This one tells of the author’s solo, 5,000 mile Pacific journey aboard the 47-foot ketch as he sought to understand the way his father’s life shaped his own. There are some for whom the tossing waves and long hours on the ocean are a lure that must be explored and, for those, this book will prove of interest. A very different story is told in The House on Crash Corner…And Other Unavoidable Calamities by Mindy Greenstein, PhD ($20.00, Greenpoint Press, softcover) is the author’s entertaining memoir of a woman who leaves the world of a Yiddish-speaking, orthodox Jewish upbringing to become an expert gunslinger and prison psychologist, an Upper West Side mom, a therapist for cancer patients, and, ironically, a cancer survivor herself. This is about growing up in a home of Holocaust survivors, a mother who loves to gamble at the off-track betting parlor, a poker-playing father, a rebellious brother, and what it was like to be an over-achieving daughter.

Roy Rowen, a career correspondent and author, has written Never Too Late: A 90-Year-Old’s Pursuit of a Whirlwind Life ($19.95, Globe Pequot Press) shares the pleasures and potentials of old age based on a long life of adventure spend covering wars and revolutions around the world that took him into his eighties. For seniors, this is his advice to those who still enjoy good health and a career that keeps them young. He offers his views on the value of optimism, the fight to maintain independence as the years go by, and the necessity for seniors to start a second career or activity. For the many people who likewise are in their later years, this book will prove an inspiration and a reason to examine what it means to be old.

Marriage, Parenting, Etc

Let us begin with marriage and Gerald Fierst’s latest book on the subject, The Heart of the Wedding ($19.95, Parkhurst Brothers Publishers, softcover). Fierst notes that, while traditions like the tiered white cake, the Wedding March, and formal dress are still honored, there are all manner of new choices for the ceremony, the reception, music, and other elements. The book is filled with true love stories of real life wedding ceremonies, along with lots of common sense recommendations for making the day meaningful, memorable, and practical. The author is a Civil Celebrant who has officiated at more than 250 weddings over the past seven years.

After the marriage comes the fighting—just kidding! In The Good Enough Spouse: Resolve or Dissolve Conflicted Marriages ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) Dr. William E. Ward addresses unhappy spouses and explains why their marriages are unsatisfying, dysfunctional, and deteriorating. Know a couple this describes? If so, this book might prove helpful to both as it explores the true, deeper causes that each partner must address. Then he outlines a proven strategy for partners to mend and revitalize their unions. Everyone brings a certain amount of personal “baggage” to a marriage and it is important to examine it and grow beyond it. Relations do evolve and change. The aim is to make it change for the better. One problem few couples will discuss is examined in Intimacy Anorexia: Healing the Hidden Addiction in Your Marriage by Dr. Douglas Weiss, Ph.D. ($22.95, Discovery Press, Colorado Springs, CO, softcover). The author is the president of the American Association for Sex Addiction Therapy and the clinical director of the Heart to Heart Counseling Center. A licensed psychologist, he has authored twenty books on addiction and relationships. The book grew out of a recognition by himself and his colleagues that they were seeing male sex addicts, usually engaging in masturbation or having sex outside of their marriage. What was notable was that they were often not having sex with their wife. They called this intimacy anorexia and the book addresses this behavior. The book will prove helpful to both the addict and his spouse.

There are many books on parenting, but while this is a priority for mothers, most men do not get much advice or help beyond having observed their own fathers. Perfect Dad: The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide for Becoming a Great Father by Todd Cartmell ($12.99, Revell, softcover) is written in the language of dads, especially new ones, using short, entertaining chapters, humor, while providing a comprehensive look at what it takes to be a great dad. It offers advice on how to look at your children, how to talk to them, connect with them, act toward them, and provide the leadership they want. For the new father in particular, this is the perfect gift, but it will also work for the father feeling a bit overwhelmed. Though it “belongs” in the Bookviews section on novels, Parents Behaving Badly by Scott Gummer ($23.00, Touchstone) fits in here as well for its hilarious look at what occurs at the start of Little League season with all of its joy, passion, stress, and anxiety. It is a wonderful satire on the insanity of youth sports today and roasts the lunatic parents and overzealous coaches who all too often ruin it for the kids! Anyone who has a kid in Little League will recognize the truths exposed and way the game can bring out the worst in zealous parents. Check it out.

Getting Down to Business Books

In an alarmingly bad economy, it is perhaps not surprising that there aren’t that many new books being published to tell you how to succeed. Still, there’s always some author who wants to take a shot at it and Robert Mayer, with Peter Weisz, has done so in Without Risk There’s No Reward ($23.95, Seven Locks Press). After serving in the U.S. Air Force in World War II, Mayer began as a day laborer and from there became a builder, banker, businessman, hotel and casino operator, and world class entrepreneur. The book is essentially a memoir, the story of how he achieved his success; it took a lot of work on his part and that is perhaps the greatest lesson the book imports.

Leadership is Dead: How Influence is Reviving It by Jeremie Kubicek ($24.00, Howard Books, division of Simon and Schuster) acknowledges that “leadership” has been studied and redefined for decades. He concluded that too many people who claim to be leaders have abused their positions and lost their moral compass. He decided to free himself from the old self-centered view of leadership and embrace a broader, more positive view; that of the opportunity to influence people, have a positive affect on them, and bring them together for more than just displaying personal status, wealth, power or success. Essentially, he writes about values that are as much spiritual as managerial. For anyone who wants to reconcile success with service, this book will prove most satisfying. For those entrepreneurs wondering that the next big trend will be, Patrick J. Howie has written The Evolution of Revolutions: How We Create, Shape, and React to Change ($25.00, Prometheus Books). It is a blend of historical analysis and how-to knowledge that Howie, an economist, has come up with to help spot “the next big thing.” He holds a patent for analyzing the effectiveness of marketing strategies, so he has been studying this for a long time. Now he shares what he has learned with the reader.

Conflict 101: A Manager’s Guide to Resolving Problems So Everyone Can Get Back to Work is one of those titles that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the book ($17.95, Amacom, softcover). Susan H. Shearouse is about to save managers who read her excellent book hours and hours of trouble and the costs of conflict in the workplace which affects productivity and can lead to a world of related problems such as decreasing motivation, destroying morale, aggravating absenteeism, and worse. The author has more than 20 years as a conflict resolution professional so she knows what she’s writing about. Anyone in a management position will benefit greatly from this excellent book.

Children’s & Younger Readers Books

The marriage of Britain’s Prince William to Kate Middleton got lots of little girls thinking about what it must be like to be a princess. Goosebottom Books has a series devoted to six female leaders who are not well-known to American girls, but are part of the history of Egypt, Iran, Mongolia, Spain, and other places. For those aged 9 through 13, it is a great series called “The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses". Among the titles are Hatshepsuit of Egypt, the first female Pharaoh, Artemisia of Caria, a queen and admiral who earned the Persian Xerxes’ respect, Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, the daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan who consolidated her family’s control of a vast empire. Others include Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile, and Nur Jahan of India. They are priced at $18.95 and, in addition to excellent texts, are all beautifully illustrated.

The story of a very different princess is told in Pretty Princess Pig ($9.99. Little Simon, a division of Simon & Schuster) by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, and illustrated by Sam Williams. Ideal for kids ages 4-6, it will have them laughing on every page as Princess Pig gets ready for a big party, redecorating the dining room, baking a cake, digging up flowers, and unknowingly making a big mess on every page, all while wearing her flowered party dress. Kristi Yamaguchi, the famed skating star, has written Dream Big Little Pig! ($15.99, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky). Illustrated by Tim Bowers, the mother of two children of her own, she based the theme of the book on her lifelong motto, “always dream.” Poppy the Pig provides a lot of fun and inspiration as she dreams of becoming a skating star, despite some early setbacks trying out other dreams. This is a great book for readers aged 5-10.

A spate of books about our feathered friends, birds, offers a variety of wonderful reading.

Ten Birds by Cybele Young ($16.95, Kids Can Books) is a numbers book for the very young, teaching them numbers, but doing so with some of the most extraordinary artwork I have seen in a while. Remarkable images will entrance the very young reader fortunate enough to receive this book. A nine-book series, “The Lima Bear Stories”, by Thomas Weck and Peter Weck, kicks off with The Megasaurus, with illustrations by Len DisSalvo ($15.95, Lima Bear Press) and a cover featuring three very nervous owls. Great for kids aged 4-8, this and the others in the series will teach the values of courage, tolerance, honesty, and other traits worth acquiring. This book, however, also entertains with its story of a monster in Beandom whose favorite food was beans! All manner of efforts to rid the kingdom are tried before they find one that works. For a taste of poetry there’s Birds of a Feather ($17.95, Wordsong/Boyds Mill Press, Honesdale, PA) with poems by Jane Yolen and some extraordinary color photos of various bird species by Jason Stemple. This will appear to kids ages 9-11 and may turn one of them into a future ornithologist with pages that feature kingbirds, waxwings, terns, and others.

A Norwegian folktale is retold by Ashley Ramsden and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist, Ed Young. Seven Fathers ($16.99, Roaring Brook Press) tells of a traveler seeking shelter in a snowstorm who stumbles upon a house and when he asks the old man on the porch if there’s a room where he can spend the night, he is directed to an older man who, in turn, directs him to one yet older. This is a mystical tale that is sure to enter into the memory of any youngster, ages 8 to 11, fortunate to read it.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Someone, I’m told, once said there are only seven plots in the whole of literature and, if you have read novels for fifty years or so, it’s easy to see why. There are, of course, the various genres such as suspense, mystery, romance, fantasy, and science fiction. In all novels, it seems, there must be a hero and a villain. In the end, it comes down to how well the story is told.

I recently received a review copy of a novel by Jonathan Bloomfield. It combines all the elements described and one more. It is so timely it will scare the pants off of you. It is Palestine ($17.97, http://www.silverlanepublishing.com/) and is about an attack on Israel that involves Iranian nuclear bombs and the coordination with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Why not call it “Israel” instead? Because Israel was called Israel before a Roman emperor tried to expunge that already ancient name by calling it Palestine. With the exile of the Jews to Babylon and their subsequent life in the Diaspora, two thousand years passed before they could reclaim it as their historic, national homeland. Barely the size of New Jersey, it became the focus of hatred for all Muslims, but especially for the Iranian ayatollahs who, in 1979, took control of Iran. To bring about the return of the Twelfth Imam, a Shiite legend, they intend to bring about Armageddon and that is where the novel begins in earnest as Israeli military and intelligence officers gather to confront the fact that they are 24 hours away from annihilation. The nation’s political leaders refuse to take action though. What follows is a coup orchestrated to save Israel from destruction. The story is actually told from the point of view of both Israelis and members of Hamas. Moreover, the details of the actions of all the characters suggest that only someone totally familiar with Israel’s capabilities could have written the book. This is heart-pounding suspense that could become a reality. Another novel has Judaism at its core and takes a page of largely unknown history as its theme. The Messiah of Septimania by Lee Levin ($16.95, Royal Heritage Press, softcover) tells of the medieval Jewish Kingdom of Septimania and its first king; one with three different names, a man hailed as the Messiah. During the reign of Caesar Augustus, veterans of the Roman Seventh Legion (Septimanii) settled in a land just north of the Pyrenees. There was, indeed, such a region, but it is not known as a Jewish kingdom and the author has “borrowed” it for his own purposes, noting that in 70 A.D., the Romans had conquered Jerusalem and allegedly took the Holy Menorah back to Rome. In 410, the city was sacked by Visigoths who were said to have taken it back to their capital, Rhedae, in Septimania. It vanished. Or did it? The novel is written with a strict adherence to historical accuracy and introduces us to a Jewish King, said to have been an uncle to Charlemagne and whose bloodline intermingled with the Carolingian kings of France. His army protected the southern flank of Charlemagne’s Frankish kingdom. The novel that Levin has woven from these strands of history will keep the reader entranced.

Kal Wagenheim has been writing books since before I met him many, many years ago. We were both born in Newark, NJ and have both pursued the writer’s trade in one fashion or another. From a biography of Babe Ruth to teaching creative writing at Columbia University and The State Prison in Trenton, Kal’s own creative juices keep percolating and that is evident in a very “grown up” novel, The Secret Life of Walter Mott ($16.99, http://allthingsthatmatterpress.com). And, yes, it’s a bit of a play on the famed “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. The year is 1959 and Kal’s Walter has a dreary job in an insurance company. A bachelor, he secretly lives in his office to save money, retire early, and travel the world. Then he falls in love with a co-worker and all his plans go to hell. It is a ribald tale of misadventures spinning out of control. Laura Dave returns with a new novel, The First Husband, ($25.95, Viking) that more seriously explores the question, how do you know you’ve made the right choice? Annie Adams appears to have the good life with a career, a circle of friends, and live-in boyfriend, Nick. When Nick decides he needs to take a break from the relationship, Annie is shattered. While recuperating from the shock she visits a local restaurant where she meets the chef, Griffin, and falls for him big time! Three months later she marries him and finds herself living in Griffin’s hometown in Massachusetts. Life is full of surprises and questions.

For romantics, there’s Santa Montefiere’s new novel, The Mermaid Garden ($24.99, Touchstone, a division of Simon and Schuster), following the international success of “The French Gardener.” It is a complex and irresistibly compelling story set in both Tuscany and the coast of Devon, England. Spanning four decades, the novel threads together two separate stories. The garden is part of a palazzo in Herba, Italy. The year in 1968 and ten-year-old Floriana, a child of poverty, is befriended by the son of the villa’s wealthy owner. They become friends despite the odds She dreams that her destiny is in that garden, with him. Fast forward to 2009 and a charming old hotel by the sea. When its owner, Marina, hires a handsome Argentine artist to run it, sparks fly for her step-daughter Clamentine. Happy endings? You will have to read it to find out. Location often plays as great a role in a novel as the characters. In Philip Cioffari’s novel, Jesusville, ($18.95, Livingston Press, softcover) the two meld together when despair meets greed in a Southwestern desert. As Cioffari explains, “All the characters have in one form or another lost faith—in God or the Church or the social order or themselves.” Possessing empty lives, they are seeking some meaning to their existence. They are in great need of redemption.

For those who like their suspense straight, two novels amply provide it. In The Gods of Greenwich ($24.99, Minotaur Books, a Thomas Dunne Book) Norb Vonnegut (no relationship to Kurt Vonnegut) follows up on his initial success with “Top Producer”, a novel of Wall Street. He continues that theme with a new story of frighteningly plausible manipulations in the world of high finance to deliver a recession-era nail-biter about a super-powered hedge fun and a new employee who suspects a deadly secret behind its spectacular quarterly gains. Jimmy Cusack is trying to deal with investors who want out ‘now’ while Cy Lesser, a high-powered financial dynamo is in Iceland planning a shorting-scheme to bring down one its largest banks. Add in Rachel Whittier, a sexy nurse who has killed an aging millionaire in his Fifth Avenue apartment. Cusack jumps at the chance to work for Lesser in the Greenwich, Connecticut office of his hedge fund. Only a Wall Street insider like Vonnegut could have written this fast-paced thriller. It could not be more timely. In A Conflict of Interest ($25.00, Gallery Books) we enter the world of criminal defense attorney Alex Miller, the youngest partner in a powerful New York firm. He’s got everything; a loving wife, a beautiful daughter, and the dream job. At his father’s funeral he is approached by Michael Ohlig, a mysterious and nearly mythic figure in Miller family history. He asks Alex to represent him in a high-profile criminal investigation of an alleged brokerage scam that has lost hundreds of millions of dollars for its investors. As the novel unfolds, Alex discovers shocking secrets that threaten everything in which he believes. This is a strong debut for Adam Mitzner, its author. Fans of legal thrillers will have found a new author to read and follow.

Most of us could not find Serbia on the map if we had to, but David Albahari has put it on the literary map with Leeches ($24.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a darkly funny, complex murder mystery that reflects the uncertainty of life in the late 1990s Serbia. It begins when a single, pot-smoking columnist for a Belgrade newspaper sees a man slap a beautiful woman on the banks of the Danube. Intrigued, he tries unsuccessfully to follow her though the city’s tangled streets. Soon after, he received a mysterious manuscript comprising fragments on the Kabbalah and the history of Jews in Zemun and Belgrade. Wierdly, the manuscript’s contents seem to mutate each time he opens it up. Not your average thriller to be sure, but very interesting in its own way. Born in Serbia, the author emigrated to Canada in 1994. His reputation is growing. Finally, for those who love short stories, there’s Roddy Doyle’s Bullfighting ($25.95, Viking), a series of bittersweet tales about men and middle age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. Doyle has a knack for capturing human moments, bravado and helplessness, as, in one story, four men take a vacation in Spain to drink and watch bullfights. The stories move from classrooms to crematoriums, local pubs to bullrings. It’s all about life and it’s all marvelously well told.

That’s it for May! Come back next month for more news of the latest in fiction and on-fiction. Tell all your book-loving friends and family about Bookviews so they too can get the inside track.

Bookviews - April 2011

2011-03-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month

For anyone struggling to understand the actions of the present administration with its 32 “czars” advising the President, but free of congressional oversight as they shape policies and regulations, it is essential to school oneself in the rise of Communism and its lesser evil, Socialism. Suffice to say, neither economic system has every worked successfully and the former has historically been accompanied by murder on a scale that defies comprehension. This is why I recommend reading Dupes: How America’s Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century by Dr. Paul Kengor ($29.95, ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE), It is a hefty tome, running past 600 pages, but the good news is that the writing is lively, depicting how many intellectuals of the last century were completely duped by those behind the 1917 Communist revolution in Russia and how it created the Communist Party USA for the sole purpose of imposing communism on America by any means, deception at all levels being the primary instrument. What unfolded was, for one example, turning the American educational system into the means of preaching the “collective” rather than individual merit. It so debased education that past and present generations of students move through the system achieving ever lower scholastic levels while those in other nations far outstrip them. Politically, the “progressives” have given America its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, imposing entitlement programs that have bankrupted States and the Federal government alike. As former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, famously said, “Sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.” The history of America’s duped intellectual elites and those they went onto profoundly influence is great reading and essential if you are to understand our present crisis.

Our attention always is directed to nations experiencing wars or internal conflicts of one kind or another. One nation that lies at the heart of the Middle East, however, has proved to be a largely baffling enigma to the West. Pakistan was stuck from India when it declared its independence from Great Britain in the years following the end of World War II. Gandhi had hoped to have a united India, but many Muslims wanted a Muslim nation for themselves. The initial effort apportioned Pakistan in two pieces, the latter which ultimately became Bangladesh. Pakistan, A Hard Country by Anatol Lieven ($35.00, Public Affairs) is a hefty tome that examines the history, the culture, the military, and multifaceted other aspects of Pakistan. It is a nuclear nation and maintains a 500,000-strong military, as much a response to its fear of India as any other reason. The two have fought short, largely inconclusive wars over the years. Pakistan is held together by its military and is primarily threatened by militant Islam in the form of the Taliban and whatever is left of al Qaeda. Many Afghanis have sought refuge there. Lieven, a British journalist, has lived there and returned for long trips. His book is based on hundreds of interviews with Pakistanis from prime ministers to landless laborers. He warns against taking Pakistan lightly and provides a vivid portrait of the nation that is well worth reading.

Many myths surround China these days and Troy Parfitt has sent most of them packing in his book, Why China Will Never Rule the World: Travels in the Two Chinas ($20.95, Western Hemisphere Press, New Brunswick, Canada, softcover). A Canadian, Parfitt has spent years in both Korea and Taiwan, and is fluent in Chinese. He decided to take three months to visit all the provinces of China and, in doing so, he produced an entertaining travelogue and a devastating dismissal of the media-driven myths that China is a nation on the rise when, in fact, it is both Communist and tied to an ancient culture that is unsuited to the demands of modern times. While it has adapted new technology, Parfitt notes China has been doing that for a century without really changing its way of thinking. “Politically, culturally, socially, and historically, China has practically nothing to offer the Western world…or any other non-Confucian country or culture.” Its economy is highly dependent on the West. “China’s economic advances are certainly impressive, although it’s important to remember that foreign companies are responsible for roughly 60 percent of all Chinese exports and 85 percent of all high-tech exports.” My Two Chinas: The Memoir of a Chinese Counterrevolutionary ($26.00, Prometheus Books) by Baiqiano Tang with Damon DiMarco describes China from inside, a China in which its people are being imprisoned by their own government for the “crime” of wanting a more democratic republic instead of the communist regime that controls their lives. The dissidents include student leaders, journalists, bloggers, human rights activities and Buddhist monks. The book was written by one such political prisoner whose name became known during the Tiananmen Square massacre. Over the past 21 years he has remained on the front lines of pro-democracy movements. Now living in exile in New York, Tang is just one of many Chinese whose stories must be read if real change is ever to come to one of the world’s largest prison states.

Americans are increasingly concerned about the value of higher education and what it produces in terms of graduates that were often ill-prepared to attend and are ill-prepared when they leave. If it wasn’t so entertainingly written, with lively prose and a beguiling humor, In the Basement of the Ivory Tower: Confessions of an Accidental Academic by Professor X ($25.95, Viking) would be less fun as it offers further evidence for concern regarding “higher” education. That appellation seems to apply more to the cost than the value. There are 18.2 million college students and 66% of those graduating four-year colleges will leave with debt that averages $20,000 or more. Some 73% of these students are taught by adjuncts or graduate students rather than fulltime professors. The author calls today’s colleges “America’s most expensive Ponzi scheme.” The author has penned a partial memoir of an over-educated, under-employed and downwardly mobile father of three who became a college English teacher as a way to bring in more money with a second job. He paints an ugly picture of higher education as a business enterprise more interested in the bottom line than the well being of students. Walter Olsen paints a portrait of what the nation’s law schools are turning out in Schools for Misrule: Legal Academic and an Overlawyered America ($25.95, Encounter Books). The most renowned, Yale, Harvard and Chicago, are hotbeds of liberalism and have generated a number of U.S. presidents. They have created a society that is far too litigious, promoting class action suits and the right to sue anybody for any reason. Law schools have generated the movement for slavery reparations, court takeovers of school funding, and a multitude of really bad ideas with sense of moral superiority and the use of the courts to impose requirements on society that are widely rejected by most Americans. Both books are real eye-openers and well worth reading.

There are many ways in which American have been duped. Only now, after thirty years of deception regarding “global warming” has that hoax been revealed to have been based on manipulated “computer model” outcomes that did not and could relate to the actual science or climate data. The Cholesterol Delusion by Dr. Ernest N. Curtis, MD ($13.99, Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, IN, softcover) is not only affordable, but it can save your life if any of the anti-cholesterol drugs are prescribed on the basis of a finding you have too high a level of cholesterol. As the author demonstrates in clear, lucid language, “Cholesterol is one of the most vital and important biochemical compounds in nature. It is a major component in every cell in the body. All cells are enclosed by a membrane that keeps the contents of the cell intact and regulates everything that enters or leaves the cell.” From birth to death, cholesterol protects the cells and these include the brain and nerve tissue that contain the highest proportion of cholesterol in the body. Why would anyone want to reduce this life enhancing element of health? What Dr. Curtis demonstrates is that physicians and the public alike have been sold a myth about cholesterol and its alleged role in causing heart disease. The pharmaceutical companies have grown wealthy maintaining this myth and, yet, as far back as 1978 it was known that the research behind this was far more political, than scientific. Indeed, most of the studies ultimately demonstrated no connection. Simply put, it does not matter what you eat. There is no connection between diet and heart disease. A whole host of other factors are involved including a family history that includes a genetic predisposition to heart disease.

I don’t know how long I have heard that coffee is bad for you, but you can be sure I always ignored it. So do millions of others who enjoy it. Indeed, I order Café du Monde, a special blend with chicory from New Orleans because it is my favorite. So, naturally, I enjoyed Coffee Talk by Morton Satin ($21.95, Prometheus Books), billed as “the stimulating story of the world’s most popular brew.” Even in places like China and even in India where tea has been the tradition brew of choice, coffee is making inroads because it is just so good. As Satin points out, in the intellectual capitols of the world, coffee houses have been the place where philosophy, the arts, and even sciences are discussed. The author traces the intriguing history of coffee, showing how coffee consumption evolved to fit the social and economic needs of different times. For any “foodie”, this book will prove a special treat. Another treat is The Handy Science Answer Book compiled by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, now in its fourth edition ($21.95, Visible Ink Press, softcover). In a world where so many issues and events involve matters of science, it is just so great to be able to reach for this book that explains them in plain English. Physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, climate and weather, ecology, plants and animals, health and medicine, energy and so many answers to so many questions can be found between its covers to quickly explain the complex in terms anyone can understand. For example, in the wake of Japan’s problems with its nuclear plants, the brief chapter on nuclear energy will make you the smartest person in the room. Indeed, brief is the key to this book’s value, because the many topic areas it covers are “handy” in the way that a quick, authoritative explanation always is.

Some books are special because they fill a gap and that is the case of At Ease, Soldier! How to Leave the War Downrange and Feel at Home Again ($19.95, http://www.soldiersathome.com/, softcover). Written by Gayle S. Rozantine, PhD, it addresses the needs and problems of soldiers who have been deployed at least once and maybe more into war zones and are having trouble readjusting to life at home. War presents physical and psychological effects that must be dealt with when the battlefield has been left behind. The warrior has to learn to manage their stress, anger, and deal with sleep problems, among a myriad of comparable problems. The author has over fifteen years of dealing with soldiers and their families and has great admiration for them. If you or someone you know has returned to civilian life or stateside duty and think this book would be helpful, you’re right.

Play ball! If you’re a Yankee fan or know one, you will enjoy The Ultimate Yankees Record Book ($14.95, Triumph Books, softcover) by David Fischer along with Donnie Baseball: The Definitive Biography of Don Mattingly by Mike Shalin ($24.95, Triumph Books). The former is as complete a collection of records and statistics you will find anywhere and the latter is a worthy tribute to the 14 seasons Mattingly played to become one of the most beloved and popular players in the history of the team.

Some books are just extraordinary because of the care taken to create them; their text, their illustrations and artwork, their overall merit as they add to the body of knowledge in a particular area. This is the case for Guns of the Civil War by Dennis Adler ($40.00, Zenith Press) that is obviously a labor of love, but also a unique contribution to knowledge of that tremendous battle between the Northern and Southern States that took so many lives it dwarfs our nation’s other wars. Page after page is filled with full color photos of rifles and pistols of the first modern war. Anyone interested in this chapter of the nation’s history and, in particular, the weapons with which it was fought, will find this book a treasure.

Advice, Advice, Advice

Everything I learned about personal conduct, self-esteem, hard work, and respect for others, I learned from my parents and beyond them, my grandparents. These are generally grouped together as “values” needed to function well in life and to get along with others.

I have long wondered if this is the case today because, as a reviewer, I see an awful lot of books offering the kind of advice one used to receive in the course of growing up. Here then, are some books intended to teach you what you probably should have learned by now, but didn’t.

How to Be the One ($14.95, Centre Publishing, Bath, England, softcover) has crossed the Big Pond to offer commonplace advice on such things as “your emotional core” and “attitude.” If you are so bereft of a source of advice, you could do just as well to read this book to improve yourself, spread happiness and sunshine, and stop being a pain to everyone around you. Happy Crap: 8 Tools to Choose Your Thoughts for Prosperity, Productivity and Peace by Erika Oliver ($14.95, Affirmative Publishing, Portage, MI, softcover) has an amusing, cynical title by a “positive approach coach” and “recovering pessimists.” There are so many red flags about this book it is hard to know where to start. The title is “cute” and anyone can call themselves a “positive approach coach”, particularly if they have few other criteria to offer. Despite this, there is a lot of common sense advice in the book , especially if you walk around all day with a brain full of negativity and unhappiness. We tend to manufacture our own problems in this fashion and the book might just jolt you into a new frame of mind. Parenthetically, it appears to be directed more to women than men. Roy Sheppard bills himself as “a relationships specialist”, another one of those occupations that used to be served by family, friends, or member of the clergy.

I like advice books by people who have first lived out the advice they give and that describes Alissa Finerman, an MBA from the Wharton School, who left the gold-plated halls of Wall Street, having worked in some of its most prestigious firms, to follow a new path. She also plays a mean game of tennis having been an All-American at the University of California, Berkeley, and ranked #1 in the USTA National Women’s 40 Doubles in 2008 and 2009. So, as a life coach, when she sat down to write Living in Your Top 1%: Nine Essential Rituals to Achieve Your Ultimate Life Goals ($10.80, Amazon.com), she knew what she was talking about and the book reflects it. The book has garnered a lot of praise from other authors including Michael Milken, Chairman of The Milken Institute. It combines research with compelling stories to provide a very motivating, satisfying book worth reading. Want to be a winner? Learn from one!

The Lost Art of Happiness by Arthur Dobrin ($17.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) has the benefit of having a real publishing house behind it. Dobrin is billed as an “ethicist” and he argues—surprise—that one’s pervasive and gnawing sense of dissatisfaction is mainly self-inflicted. In short, it’s your fault. This is actually a rather serious book on the subject and the author concludes that we improve ourselves and our lives by developing and employing a large sense of compassion. The book is a meditation on how to be a good person. You can become one and, if you want to know how, then perhaps you should read this book. One of the problems that come with age is the loss of loved ones and friends. Sunie Levin has experienced this. She has written a book for boomers and seniors who, if they are to have friends late in life, must often start from scratch with new ones. Make New Friends…Live Longer ($13.95, plus $4.00 shipping, http://www.makenewfriendslivelonger.com/) offers a variety of recommendations in a breezy, warmhearted guide to developing meaningful friendships whether one is active or home bound. There are plenty of studies that demonstrate that a lack of friends and family in one’s older years can sap the life out of anyone. The author of four other easy to read self-help books, she’s come up with a good one to rejuvenate one’s life.

Disentangle: When You’ve Lost Yourself in Someone Else by Nancy L. Johnston, a licensed psychotherapist with three decades of clinical experience ($15.95, Central Recovery Press, softcover) at least has the blessing of being authored by someone with some training and experience to help people in difficult family, divorce, or matrimonial law disputes. The book is not how to win the case, but rather how to win one’s life back in a positive, non-adversarial way. It is a solution-oriented guide for people seeking to find emotional freedom within their relationships with an intimate partner, the parent-child relationship, other family, friends, or even in the workplace. It is a guide to creating some “emotional space”, a component of regaining a sense of one’s own worth. All things considered, this is a very useful book if it describes your condition or that of someone you know. In a lighter vein, Janice Holly Booth has written Only Pack What You Can Carry: My Path to Inner Strength, Confidence, and True Self-Knowledge ($24.00, National Geographic) in which she explores the joys and challenges of traveling solo, facing one's fears, and most of all, of being alone. It is a metaphor in many ways for the fact that we all, ultimately, travel alone even when surrounded by others. The book is relentlessly upbeat and that is actually a treat.

From Revell, a publisher specializing in themes based on Christian values, comes Coach Wooden by Pat Williams ($17.99) that discusses the seven principles that shaped the life of the renowned basketball coach who passed away in 2010. The author is a senior vice president of the Orlando Magic team. Wooden led the UCLA to ten NCAA national championships over twelve years, including seven in a row. He knew basketball, but he taught the values that made him and his teams champions. He taught that one must be true to themselves, help others, work at being a good friend, read the Bible and other great books, pray and give thanks for one’s blessings. It’s hard to find fault with values that made him a great coach, a winner, and a great man in his own right. In sharp contrast, if you want to read a case history of a thorough screw-up, by all means read I Know I Am, But What Are You? The author is Samantha Bee whose main credential is being a “senior correspondent on The Daily Show” starring Jon Stewart. She is known for being unpleasant to those who agree to be interviewed by her and this is what passes for comedy these days. I would suggest you pass on her book.

Here’s to the Ladies

Sisters of Fortune by Jehanne Wake ($27.00, Touchstone, Div. of Simon and Schuster) is subtitled “America’s Caton Sisters at Home and Abroad” and is devoted to Marianne, Bess, Louisa, and Emily Caton, all of whom enthralled English Regency society and were, as they say, the talk of the town, in this case, London. Descendents of the first settlers of Maryland, they were brought up by their wealthy grandfather, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. As often happened among the wealthy, the girls were well educated as opposed to being expected to merely marry into wealth. As a result, they became unusually independent, fascinated by politics, clever with money, and romantically inclined. After arriving in England, they became part of the Duke of Wellington’s circle. The Duke wanted to marry Marianne, but she shocked everyone by marrying his brother instead. Louisa became the Duchess of Leeds and a member of Queen Victoria’s court. Emily married a Scots-Canadian and stayed home in Maryland while Bess made a fortune speculating in the stock market. Intrigued? You will be when you read this delightful biography.

It is quite an achievement to change the way a government is elected and two ladies did just that by championing suffrage, the right of women to vote. Though written for the younger set, I would recommend Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World by Penny Colman ($18.99, Henry Holt, due out in May). It tells the story of their meeting in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1851. Together, against fierce opposition, they challenged entrenched beliefs that only men should have the vote. In 2005 I reviewed an extraordinary book, “Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement” by Robert P.J. Cooney, Jr. (American Graphic Press, Santa Cruz, CA) a large format book for history buffs that I would recommend again and again. It would take 70 years to achieve the women’s right to vote with the passage of an amendment in 1920.

You may not have heard of her, but Mary Chesnut’s Diary by Mary Boykin Chestnut ($15.00, Penguin Classics Original, softcover) is considered one of the best accounts of the Civil War from the Southern perspective. Written between 1861 and 1865, she narrates the war from her vantage point in Charleston, S.C. Because she was married to a politically prominent husband, she was able to witness some of the significant sites of the war such as Montgomery, Alabama, and Richmond, Virginia where the Provisional Congress of the Confederate State of America convened. Her husband served as an aide to Confederate president, Jefferson Davis. The result is a one of the most cited memoirs of the war and still one of the most compelling to this day. A very different story of war is told in A Long Silence: Memoirs of a German Refugee Child, 1941-1958 by Sabina de Werth Neu ($19.00 Prometheus Books) insofar as there have been many Holocaust survivor memoirs, but few by the other victims of Germany’s Nazi regime, the children who came of age amidst the destruction of their homeland with little understanding of what was happening around them and often suffering severe trauma and physical abuse. Born in 1941 as the war raged around her, the author, her two sisters and mother, were often on the run and homeless. All were raped and beaten by marauding Russian soldiers. The American soldiers were a welcome sight, the U.S. Marshall Plan offered hope, critical to her and her nation’s survival in the wake of the totalitarian regime.

Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them & How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets by Carole Lieberman, M.D. ($16.95, Cogito Media Group, softcover), a Beverly Hills psychiatrist and host of the popular TV show, “Carole’s Couch”. This book is a follow-up to “Bad Boys” and it explores how these bad girls entice otherwise smart, savvy, successful men to fall in love with them and then break their hearts. Along the way they indulge in sex, drugs and spending other people’s money. The author says there are things that good girls can learn from them while avoiding their unsavory behavior and attitudes.

Getting Down to Business Books

I have a friend who built up a business over twenty-five years and one day fired his staff and returned it to the apartment in which he started it. It is now entirely virtual and hardly a day goes by without his telling me how relieved he is not to have to manage a bunch of people for whom the job was just a paycheck. He came to mind when I received a copy of You Can’t Fire Everyone and Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager by Hank Gilman, a deputy management editor for Fortune magazine ($25.95, Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Books). “In my business, we find bosses by taking talented writers, waving a wand and saying, ‘Hey, congratulations, you’re now supervising a dozen people. And, by the way, good luck.’ Gilman takes note of the fact that lots of managers start out that way, never asking, expecting or having been trained to be responsible for other people and the work they produce. He shares what he has learned through trial and error over two decades in what he calls one of the craziest businesses on the planet. It’s filled with unconventional advice that will surely resonate with anyone smart enough to read it. Personality Plus at Work by Florence Littauer and Rose Sweet ($13.99, Revell, softcover) is intended to help one manage employees or get along with co-workers. It’s objective is to help the reader understand the kind of people with whom they must deal daily, categorizing them for easy identification. Nothing here is new, but if you’re in a situation where you need such guidance, this book will provide it.

The Elements of Power: Lessons on Leadership and Influence by Terry R. Bacon ($27.95, Amacom) is one of those questions that people in the business world and other occupations that require it always wonder about. The author sheds light on eleven different sourses of power that contribute to a powerful person’s impact on a company, a movement, history, or individual lives. Drawing on wide ranging research as well as the authors original studies, this book will provide a lot of insight to the dynamics of leadership and why knowledge is the bedrock and the ability to communicate is the ladder. There is much to be said for character, reputation, and networking too. Also from the same publisher comes an Army of Entrepreneurs by Jennifer Prosek, ($23.00, Amacom), subtitled “Create an engaged and empowered workforce for exceptional business growth.” This is the author’s system to make entrepreneurial behavior business-as-usual throughout the ranks of her public relations and financial communications firm. She grew her company from one office and around $2 million in 1995 to three offices and $10 million today, so she’s obviously onto something. As she says, “The AOE model is not commonplace. To try it requires a leap. It asks you to be willing to think of your company, your employees, and your own job in new and different ways.” There’s a lot of good advice to be found in this book.

John Bradberry has penned 6 Secrets to Startup Success ($21.95, Amacom) and in these times when so many are being laid off quite a few are thinking of starting their own business. Indeed, according to the Small Business Association, six million Americans take a shot at it, but the bad news is that half of them fail after a few years and those that survive find themselves working longer hours, earning up to 35% less, and experiencing a lot of stress. Bradberry’s book is intended to help entrepreneurs avoid that fate, identifying the steps that should be taken to avoid the typical pitfalls involved. It’s good, solid advice. There are precious few books that teach teens the ins-and-outs of creating a business of their own to generate cash outside of an allowance and after-school jobs. Start It Up: The Complete Teen Business Guide to Turning Your Passions into Pay ($14.95, Zest Books, softcover) shows that it is never too early to learn the basics of business with information about establishing a support system, creating a business plan, making the business official, hiring and management, promotion and customer service, as well as financial protection measures. Kenra Ranklin lays it all out in easy to understand fashion. You can check out a lot of really good books for teens at www.zestbooks.net.

Business Fraud: From TrustBetrayal—How to Protect Your Business in 7 Easy Steps by Jack Hayes ($19.95, Bascom Hill Publishing Group, softcover) is one of those books that everyone should read if you are involved in corporate management. Hayes is one of the nation’s experts on business crime and his book takes a look at the mistakes management makes that invite fraud, why relying soley on auditors to keep the workplace free from fraud is a big mistake, the factors that create the opportunity for fraud. It is jammed packed with advice on how to spot the fraudsters, how to spot your company’s vulnerabilities, and how to combat fraud.

Novels, Novels, Novels!

For anyone who loves history and great fiction, they are in for a treat with Margaret George’s Elizabeth I ($30.00, Viking). She formerly scored a bestseller with “The Autobiography of Henry VIII.” Set to debut this month, the novel brings a fresh perspective to one of the most remarkable women in British history. It opens in 1588 when Elizabeth faces her reign’s greatest challenge, the Spanish Armada. As queen it fell to her to steer her nation through some of the most challenging times in its history that included a famine and further onslaughts, as well as an uprising in Ireland. There were, in addition, the machinations of her court. It was a time when William Shakespeare flourished and explorers like Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake sought fame and fortune in the name of their queen. All this is caught up in this thick volume that reflects the life and times of the Virgin Queen who held sway over her subjects and triumphed.

History is the backdrop for an excellent novel by Talia Carner, Jerusalem Maiden, ($14.99, Harper paperback original) official due out in June. It is the story of Esther Kaminsky and the time is early 20th century Jerusalem, a time in which a woman is expected to marry and bear many sons. This is especially the case for a woman raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish household during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Esther, however, believes she has more to offer than the role laid out for her. Encouraged by her French teacher she yearns for more, but when a sudden tragedy strikes her family, she believes God is expressing displeasure with her ambitions and untraditional attitude. She commits herself to being an obedient Jerusalem maiden until, in the years that follow, a surprising opportunity forces her to contemplate to whom she must be true, to God or to herself. This is a gripping piece of fiction that many women will find has reverberations in modern times as well.

History plays a role in My Wife’s Affair by Nancy Woodruff ($15.00, Berkeley, softcover) reflecting the true life 18th century actress, Dara Jordan, paired with her fictional modern day counterpart, Georgie Connolly. It is told through the eyes of Georgie’s husband Peter, as their marriage spirals downward in the wake of her affair. While Peter was a failed novelist, he was a successful businessman who took his family from the suburbs of New Jersey to London. Georgie, meanwhile, regretting she gave up a life on the stage, lands a one-woman show and an irresistible attraction to the show’s playwright in an affair that will alter her life and marriage. The real life Dara Jordan had thirteen illegitimate children, ten by the future King of England! In Faking It, Elisa Lorello ($13.95, Amazon Encore, softcover) tells a story of a thirty-something writing professor whose personal life is in flux after she breaks off her engagement and moves home to Long Island and a new teaching position at Brooklyn University. Everything is going just fine until she meets Devin, a male escort whose client list seems to include a least half of the accomplished women she knows! They strike a deal. He will teach her to be a better lover and she will teach him to be a writer. Both discover they have, in effect, been faking their lives in what is, surprisingly, a romantic comedy with a dash of drama.

If you’re looking for a bit of sleuthing, there’s Gayle Trent’s Murder Takes the Cake ($15.00, Gallery Books, softcover) starring cake decorator and amateur sleuth, Daphne Martin, whose routine cake delivery turns into a murder scene when she discovers a dead body. In the little town in southern Virginia where she’s been trying to get her business going, the murder of Yodel Watson gets all the tongue’s wagging and it seems like just about everyone had a reason to want to poison the town gossip. Daphne recruits her old flame, Ben Jacobs and they soon unearth a hidden family scandal that might hold the key to the killing. As a bonus, this novel comes with recipes for cakes, cupcakes, and frosting. Yum! Girls will enjoy Declaring Spinsterhood by Jamie Lynn Braziel ($13.95, Amazon Encore, softcover) in which Emma Bailey must confront the problems of nagging parents and relatives wanting to know when she will marry. She has a job she loves, running a children’s bookstore, and finally decides to get everyone off her back by declaring spinsterhood as her chosen lifestyle despite dating and dating and dating. This is a very entertaining, funny novel about life after thirty, about independence, about friendship, and—yes—about love.

For the men, there is a terrific novel by Tom Seligson, King of Hearts, ($14.00, Saugatuck Books, softcover, also on Kindle). The author is an Emmy Award winning television producer, journalist, and novelist. This novel asks what happened to Saddam Hussein’s more feared associates, two of whom remain at large despite a $1 million reward for each of them, one was the King of Hearts in the U.S. military’s “most wanted” deck of cards. Also, what happened to the $1.5 billion stolen from the Iraq Central Bank at the beginning of the war? These questions surface after the book begins with the murder of a mother while she is jogging and Ric Hill, a former New York City cop and veteran of the Iraq War, is called in to investigate. What begins on a quiet suburban street will lead back to the streets of Baghdad as well as the back rooms of the U.S. Capitol. On another level, the novel explores the impact the war had on those who fought it and the issue of post traumatic stress disorder. What emerges is a well-paced thriller that keeps one turning the pages.

That’s it for April! “Bookmark” Bookviews and come back next month for more news of the best in new fiction and non-fiction. Tell your book-loving friends and family. Spread the word!

Bookviews - March 2011

2011-02-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month

Of all the themes of literature I like, history is my top choice. This is greatly enhanced when the author can write well. This is the case of James Carroll’s Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World ($28.00 Houghton Mifflin). Just out this month, Carroll adds to his reputation that already includes a National Book Award and a PEN/Galbraith Award, among others. No other city on Earth so ignites the Judeo-Christian mind while remaining the object of desire for Muslims who lay claim to it by virtue of myth and past conquest. Carroll, a former Catholic priest before becoming a scholar, brings to his history of the city, the theme of human sacrifice, dating back to the story of Abraham and Isaac, and to earlier, pagan eras with the practice was common. Jerusalem is central to the religious imagination as the site of the most holy events for Judaism and Christianity. It is also the site of repeated conquests over the millennia and, today, the place where a renewed State of Israel, its original people, exists. Carroll takes the reader on a great journey that is the history of Western civilization as it played out in a city where great dramas occured, where armies clashed, where holy men sought the essence and presence of God, where its great temple was transformed into the torah, a book of worship and wonder. Turn off the TV, read this book. Learn about Jerusalem.

I always approach books by economists with caution because today’s trendy analysis is often tomorrow’s derided buffoonery. That said, Dambisa Moyo brings an impressive set of credentials to her latest book, How the West Was Lost: Fifty years of Economic Folly—and the Stark Choices Ahead ($25.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Born and raised in Zambia, the holds a PhD in economics from Oxford University and a Master’s from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government. She has been a consultant for the World Bank and worked for Goldman Sachs for eight years. Her first book, “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working” drew raves. What worries the author (and lots of others including myself) is the way the U.S. is filling up with poorly educated, unskilled and unemployed people, directly affecting our wealth and standing in the world. We are, after all, a nation who elected someone who hadn’t finished even one term in the Senate, had never managed a business, and place of birth is a subject of controversy. The sheer folly of “social justice” programs like those that caused the meltdown of the U.S. housing market is just one of the foolish practices threatening recovery and growth. Ms. Moyo argues for the U.S. to remain open to the international economy. There’s not much that misses her keen eye and this book is well worth reading for the warning it issues.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been friends with Tom DeWeese for some two decades and served as the director of communications for the American Policy Center, his grassroots activist organization addressing a wide range of assaults on everything from property rights to the American educational system. I was, therefore, delighted to receive his new book, Now Tell Me I Was Wrong: 15 years of unheralded wisdom and warnings in the battle for the Republic ($19.99, softcover, available at Amazon, $16.95, plus $2 shipping, direct from the Center. Tom has a love of America and a determination to thwart those who would take away our rights that is unrivaled. It would be easy to dismiss him as some kind of zealot, but as the book reveals, he has been ahead of the curve over the years in sounding warnings about the many ways those in the White House, Congress and special interest groups have sought to distort or over-ride the Constitution in order to limit the freedoms it bestows on Americans. I would recommend his book even if I did not know him because it addresses a broad spectrum of issues with an arsenal of facts that represent a one-stop fount of information to provide anyone valuable insights to the challenges America faces today, internally and beyond our shores. Tom is never boring! He would have been right at home at the Boston Tea Party or Valley Forge. I have been a fan of Jack Cashill’s writings since reading his book, “Hoodwinked.” A contributor to WorldNetDaily.com, I recall reading in September 2008, a speculative article that posited the view that it was former Weatherman, Bill Ayers, who had written Obama’s memoir, “Dreams of my Father.” He made a good case at that time by comparing the language of both books that strongly reflected Ayers’. In Deconstructing Obama: The Life, Loves, and Letters of America’s First Postmodern President ($25.00, Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster) Cashill has written a very lengthy expansion on the WND theme and, about halfway through, I concluded that Cashill had said everything that could be said, but had managed to write even more. He is a very gifted writer and a serious one while also being entertaining. He does good research. If understanding who Obama’s mentors, friends and facilitators have been is your goal, this book will surely help fill in a lot of blank spots in his largely undocumented past. The near total lack of curiosity regarding the candidate for president by the mainstream media is another theme that is also explored. Two years into his first term, whatever credibility Obama had has been largely dissipated by the massive spending he initiated and the healthcare legislation to which his name is attached.

Confused by all the claims and predictions about global warming? Maybe you need to learn about the laws of thermodynamics. Physics and science is based on logic and, therefore, anyone can understand the world better if you approach it with a basic understanding of the physics that determines everything, much as Einstein’s general theory of relativity showed that light does not always travel in a straight line. The Handy Physics Answer Book by Dr. Paul W. Zitzewitz, PhD is now in its second edition ($21.95, Visible Ink, softcover) and even for someone like myself who never studied the subject, it is a fascinating journey toward greater understand of the universe and how it works. That’s why it’s definitely one of my picks of the month. Do you want to get all the information you will ever need to put the global warming (the claim that carbon dioxide causes the earth to heat up) hoax to rest? Some knowledge of physics and other sciences will help, but the one book that finally addresses all the lies is Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory by several contributing authors, that represent leading, physicists, scientists, a retired engineer, and a legal analyst with a specialty in the subject ($21.80, Stairway Press, softcover, $9.95 Kindle edition). This is not light reading as the science is presented in depth and the physics can be daunting to anyone not schooled in it. Overall, however, the book is a triumph of objectivity regarding a topic that has dominated the news and politics since the late 1980s when it was sprung on the world with a series of claims of impending doom that have never ceased. Then and now just about every natural phenomenon and weather event was blamed on global warming. Efforts have ensued to “reduce the carbon footprint”, to change the way electricity is provided, and to put a price on carbon dioxide so it could be bought and sold as a commodity. The sheer absurdity of this and the fact that it was little more than a get-rich scheme for those putting it forth has finally begun to dawn on people. For the record, carbon dioxide represents an infinitesimal 0.329% of the earth’s atmosphere and plays no role in heat absorption or transfer. I highly recommend this book.

On a lighter note, all of you who live to eat, not just eat to live, will enjoy A Feast at the Beach by William Widmaier ($14.95, 3L Publishing, softcover) has put together some brief stories of life in Provence, France, in the 1960s.with an emphasis on the tastes and smells of Southern France, complete with recipes of dishes that, though born in the U.S., evoke his memories of vacations spent at his French grandparent’s home in St. Tropez. My late Mother, Rebecca, a teacher of haute cuisine, used to say that food and memory go together. This book is proof of that. For those who love great dining, there’s Patricia Lewis Mote’s Great Menus: Seasonal Recipes for Entertaining ($25.00, Dicmar publishing, trade paperback) enhanced by David Harp’s photos that will make your mouth water. The author, the mother of two and grandmother of four, has lived in five foreign countries, England, Norway, France, Germany, and Japan. She resides now with her husband, Dan, the former president of the University of Maryland (1998-2010) in Annapolis. One recipe after another will inspire you to try them out and are sure to please your family or just yourself. This is a book for people who truly live to eat, to enjoy the dining experience. I grew up dining Mediterranean style on the foods of Italy and France, so when Zov Karamarian’s new book, Simply Zov: Rustic Classics with a Mediterranean Twist arrived ($39.00, Zov’s Publishing, Tustin, CA) I was instantly entranced with its large size format, page after page of mouthwatering full color photos and its recipes that will entice you to try them out, one by one, in your own kitchen. From appetizers like beef pirozhki with mushrooms to breakfast bananas foster French toast, or soups like coconut chicken chowder, a classic Tuscan tomato salad, main dishes to sweets, this cookbook stands out in so many ways. No wonder people come from all over the world to visit her restaurant in California. This book is an instant classic.

Real People: Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs

The bestselling memoir, Nomad: From Islam to America—a Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is now in softcover ($16.00, Free Press) and well worth reading. Ms. Hirsi first captured attention with her memoir, “Infidel”, the story of her physical and emotional journey to freedom. It is testimony to the threat the Islam poses to the West and why she believes the U.S. is underestimating the threat of radical Islam. It is a horror story of the way Muslim women, even in the U.S., are thwarted from completing their education, and why some become victims of so-called honor killings. I would recommend you read this compelling book. In a very different story, one’s heart is touched by Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan ($25.99, William Morrow), an account of how Grennan volunteered to help the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal. Initially unsure he could help, he was soon won over by a herd of rambunctious, resilient children whom he learned were not orphans at all, but the victims of child trafficers who promised families in remote villages to protect them from the civil war by taking them to safety, for a fee. Instead, they were abandoned in Kathmandu, the nation’s capital. He set about returning them to their families despite great odds. He found a cause and he found a wife! Great reading.

Another woman says “Being an explorer isn’t my job. It’s who I am. Exploration is deeply embedded in my soul, coursing through my veins.” Aside from the florid rhetoric, there is an interesting autobiography of sorts to be found in Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey from NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer by Mireya Mayor, a host on the GEO Wild Channel ($26.00, National Geographic Books), just out this month. She was an overprotected child of a Cuban immigrant mother who didn’t even want her to join the Girl Scouts fearing that camping was “far too dangerous.” After graduating high school she became an actress and then a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Her love of animals led her to an anthropology course in college and then to being a Fulbright Scholar and renowned primatologist and globetrotter. At age 30 she’s survived a plane crash in the jungle, been chased by an elephant and a gorilla, and stung by nasty insects. In short, an interesting life. An entertaining book is Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History’s Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon ($15.00, Perigee Trade, softcover). As the author notes, from the ancient world to present day, women have caused wars, ruled empires, defied the rules laid down for them, and brought men to their knees. While women’s rights and power has been limited through much of history, that didn’t deter the women in Mahon’s book.

I am old enough to remember the bombing of a Birmingham church in 1963, but Carolyn McKinstry was there in the church! Just 14 years old at the time, she had spoken to four of the victims just minutes before the bomb went off and killed them. While the World Watched ($17.99, Tyndale House Publishers) is the Civil Rights movement as experienced and told by Carolyn Maull McKinstry who saw it as a young black girl, as told to Denise George. This is the nitty-gritty of what it was like to grow up in the segregated South, through the courageous movement that ended that ugly chapter in American life. Writing fifty years later, this is the a book that a younger generation would benefit from reading and an older one can revisit. Black Faces of War: A Legacy of Honor from the American Revolution to Today by Robert V. Morris ($30.00, Zenith Press, Quayside Publishing Group) is a large format tribute the Afro-American men and women who fought and died for America, long before America showed them any appreciation or dignity. It was not until President Truman officially ended racial segregation in the U.S. Army, the Tuskegee Airmen had earned fame during World War Two, and even earlier, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry fought valiantly in the Civil War. From Crispus Attucks, the first man to die in the American Revolutions to Gen. Colin Powell, theirs is a great story and this book provides a fresh perspective.

The American Revolution was, of course, intended to overthrow England’s control of the colonies, but America was also passing through an intellectual revolution as well, one that lasted about eight-five years from 1725 to 1810. The leaders of American society were often men who challenged Christian orthodoxy, celebrated human reason, and saw nature as evidence of the creator’s handiwork. Revolutionary Deists: Early America’s Rational Infidels by Kerry Walters ($20.00, Prometheus Books) explores that period of American history with its prominent figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and others who were critical of orthodox Christianity. This was America’s first culture war and it lives on today. From the same publisher comes Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie’s biography of Marie Curie ($17.00, softcover), the iconic woman whose scientific achievements in an era when women were largely restricted to roles as wives and mothers. Curie (1867-1934) made history when she postulated that radiation was an atomic rather than a chemical property, a breakthrough in understanding the structure of matter. She coined the word radioactivity and her research isolated two new elements, polonium and radium. She would win two Nobel Prizes, one in physics (1903) and one in chemistry (1914). Born in Poland, she was the first of her sex to become a professor at the Sorbonne University. Ironically, her long exposure to radium led to her death from aplastic anemia. She was not just a brilliant scientist, but a courageous person who has since inspired others to enter the field of science.

Alan Arkin is one of those actors who has been around a very long time. He’s appeared in more than eighty films. He is also a director and musician, but mostly he is just very gifted, although you would not read him saying anything like that in An improvised Life: A Memoir ($17.00, Da Capo Press, softcover) in which he relates knowing he wanted to be an actor by age five. I have known any number of actors who have said the same thing. It has a lot to do with wanting to pretend to be someone else. Arkin’s memoir devotes a lot of space to the art of acting and, thus, will be of greater interest to those who love drama. Arkin, unlike many actors, has an intellect that takes in more than just acting. That said, you really have to be a fan to get too deep into this memoir.

To Your Health!

One of the most interesting new books of 2011 has to be The Longevity Project by Howard S. Friedman, PhD and Leslie R. Martin. PhD ($25.95. Hudson Street Press). It is the story of a landmark eight-decade study in psychology to answer the question of who lives longest—and why. Many of the common beliefs we have about living a long life are dispelled. For example, people do not die from working long hours at a challenging job. The study found that many who worked the longest lived the longest. It is commonly believed that getting and staying married was a guarantee of long life, but the study found this is not necessarily true, especially for women, nor is it the happy-go-lucky who thrive. It turns out it is the prudent and persistent who do best over the long run. The book even offers tests you can take yourself so that you can optimize your choices to increase your life. So much of life is outside one’s control such as your genetic inheritance or whether we are caught up in a war. How one handles stress is a significant factor, but a life built on successive successes is likely to be a longer one. Both my parents lived into their nineties, both enjoyed success in their fields of endeavor, both loved to eat well, both were free of any serious disease, so the odds are that I will be reviewing books for a very long time to come. Read this book and increase your chances, too.

Other than cancer, the most frightening diagnosis a person can receive is that of Alzheimer’s Disease, the slow degeneration of the brain that robs an individual of all memory and capacity to function. That’s why I would unhesitantly recommend Stop Alzheimer’s Now: How to Prevent and Reverse Dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis and other Neurode-generative Disorders ($19.95, Piccadilly Books, Ltd., Colorado Springs, CO, softcover). More than 35 million people have dementia today and each year 4.6 million new cases occur worldwide. Parkinson’s disease, another progressive brain disorder, affects about four million people worldwide. This book outlines a program using ketone therapy and diet backed by decades of medical and clinical research that has proven successful in restoring mental function and improving both brain and overall health. The best medicine is preventative medicine. This book will prove helpful to those suffering neurodegenerative diseases, as well as anyone who wants to be spared from ever encountering one. Protect your brain!

It is not uncommon for those who have suffered a heart attack to experience a second one. Prevent a Second Heart Attack: 8 foods, 8 weeks to reverse heart disease by Janet Bond Brill, PhD, RD, LDN ($15.00. Three Rivers Press, softcover) offers a program that will put the victim of a previous heart attack on the way to better health by providing a guide to good practices. The author discusses why the Mediterranean diet is the gold standards for heart-healthy eating, how “good carbs” like oatmeal lower bad cholesterol, why a glass of red wine with dinner is great for your heart, and much more. If you or someone you know has had a heart attack or looking for ways to ensure you don’t have one, this book is the one to read.

One of the most successful series from Workman Publishing is its “What to Expect” series devoted to topics such as what to expect when you’re expecting a baby and what to expect in the first year. This series has now been joined by What to Expect the Second Year by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel ($24.95/$15.95, hard and softcover). It picks up after an infant’s first birthday and takes parents through baby’s first steps, lightning-speed learning, and all manner of common toddler behavior from tantrums to picky eating, nighttime refusal to go to bed, and much more. Don’t “wing it.” Learn what countless other parents have before you encounter year two.

Kid’s Books

It’s no secret that I love children’s books and may be among only a handful of reviewers that try to include notice of them on a regular basis. The following are all from Kids Can Press.

For the very young, though to whom a parent might read a book, there’s Kitten’s Summer by Eugenie Fernandes ($14.95) in which various animals “dash”, “scramble” and leap as the child enjoys the illustrations and learns words about movement. Continuing the cat theme, there’s My Cat Isis by Catherine Austin and illustrated beautifully by Virginia Egger ($16.95) for the early reader and draws a comparison between a boy’s cat and the Egyptian goddess namesake in an entertaining tale (no pun intended!) A rather unusual twist on the story of the Three Little Pigs is found in Happy Birthday Big Bad Wolf by Frank Asch ($16.95) in which the pig family overwhelm the wolf with kindness and friendship. In the real world, this usually does not work, so I would suggest some caution with this version. You may recall that in the original version the pigs are saved from being the wolf’s dinner by a strong, brick house.

Melanie Watt’s squirrel stories adds a new one to the series with Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party ($16.95) in which the main character must overcome his fear of just about everything to plan a party. It’s funny at the same time it demonstrates how one can overcome fears. Friendship and its importance is the theme of Without You by Genevieve Cote ($16.95) when a pig and a rabbit, friends, go their separate ways after a minor disagreement. Both discover there’s a lot less fun in playing alone. Small Paul is a hilarious story written and illustrated by Ashley Spires ($16.95) about a little boy who wanted a life on the sea, but was rejected by the navy because he was too small. The pirates weren’t so picky, so he enrolled in Pirate College to learn how to be one. When he cleaned up the ship, the Rusty Squid, the pirates objected. They were lazy and dirty. They tossed him overboard, but soon discovered how stinky their ship really was and rushed back to rescue him. It is a great story for any little boy (or girl) who won’t clean up their room!

For early readers, ages 8 through 10, there are two books that are sure to please. As part of the Sam & Friends Mystery series, Book Four, there’s Witches’ Brew by Mary Labatt and Jo Rioux ($16.95) Sam, a detective dog, grows suspicious when “three strange sisters” move into a house on the street and all manner of strange things begin to happen. Sam and his human family begin to suspect awful things are happening. Told in text and cartoon illustrations, the story has a happy ending, but I won’t tell. Finally, for the older child who may find horrid endings of interest, there’s Dreadful Fates: What a Shocking Way to Go by Tracey Turner and illustrated by Sally Kindberg ($14.95) that uses text and cartoon illustration to relate the actual stories of how various people throughout history met a weird end.

The publisher, American Girl, is quite prolific, producing a variety of series designed to encourage girls to make the most of their talents, skills and interests. Adding to its Innerstar University series are two new titles, A Winning Goal and Into the Spotlight, both priced $8.95 and aimed at early readers, ages 8 and up. They are fun to read with the added twist of being “A book starring you with more than 20 endings!” These both reflect common experiences for the age group, seeking to stand out, but also fit in. American Girl also publishes mystery series featuring separate characters such as Rebecca, Samantha, and Julie. Well written and intriguing, I would think any pre-teen would enjoy them. They are priced at $6.95 so they don’t bite into any parent’s budget. With the arrival of spring, it’s time to think about places for playtime and Oddles of Ocean Fun ($12.95) offers lots of activities in what they describe as “this rip-it-out, tear-it-up, fold-it-open book.” It’s 80 pages of sea and sand inspired posters, crafts, puzzles, doodles, bookmarks, picture frames and more. Literally hours of craft activity

Finally, for young hoop fans, ages 7 and up, there’s the Ultimate Guide to Basketball by James Buckley, Jr. ($15.95/$7.99, Beach Ball Books, Santa Barbara, CA, hard and softcover editions). I have never seen an entire basketball game in my life, but I found the book to be quite interesting and handsomely illustrated. The truth is, this book would interest adults as well for the wealth of facts, stats, and information about the game’s stars over the years. This publisher has two other books, First Pitch: How Baseball Began and Weird Sports that will prove equally entertaining. If you have a young, sports minded member in your family, check out www.beachballbooks.com.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Too many novels today are fairly predictable in their choice of topic and the way they are written, so anyone seeking a new literary experience often has to search around. The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb ($25.95, Penguin Press) combines American and Vietnamese history from the not so distant past to present the story of Old Man Hung, the enlightened proprietor of a popular shop that served a soup and has served as a meeting place for a group of young dissident artists, but is now a makeshift stall where people leave Hanoi’s main streets to enjoy his beef noodle soup. A faithful customer is Tu, a young tour guide, often for American veterans visiting the nation in which they fought a war. The two men are joined by Maggie, an art curator who is Vietnamese by birth but has lived most of her life in the U.S. She has returned to search for clues to her dissident father’s disappearance. Their intertwined narrative will change their lives forever.

A selection of softcover novels offers a variety of reading experiences. From the University of North Texas Press comes A Bright Soothing Noise by Peter Brown ($14.95) a collection of short stories that grip the reader in ways that make some read several at one sitting. Filled with characters, young, old, black, white, male, female, crazy and sane, and all caught up in some defining moment of their lives, this is the kind of reading pleasure that can get lost in the stacks. Don’t miss out on it. Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum ($15.00, Gallery Books) is a story of family secrets that cannot be hidden or escaped. Set in the 1970s, Amaryllis has grown up with three older sisters, Mary Grace, Mary Catherine, and Mary Tessa. She, however, does not share their blond hair, fair skin, and pale blue eyes. Moreover, she possess the extrasensory gift of synesthesia, the ability to taste emotions, hear colors, and know when something bad is going to happen. Their mother, Seena, has built her life on deception and wants to protect her daughters from anything that might threaten the illusion of their happy home. To save that, her husband Dick, a physician, moves them from Michigan to Africa, hoping to heal the family in a new unfamiliar place. Suffice to say, it does not and watching it unfold, the reader is swept along in a very unusual tale that begins with Seena on trial for murdering Dick. A very different story, lighter and romantic, is also from Gallery Books. Swept Off Her Feet by Hester Browne ($15.00) takes the reader to Scotland and its famous reel, a complex dance, is at the heart of a novel about two very different sisters whose dreams may just come true at a romantic ball. Evie Nicholson is in love with the past. She is an antiques appraiser in a London shop. Alice, her sister, is in love with Fraser Graham, a dashing Scotsman who she secretly desires. She is a delightfully complex story of sisters swept off their feet, a modern Cinderella story that women will enjoy.

The Winter Thief by Jenny White ($13.95, W.W. Norton) continues her series of Kamil Pasha novels. I previously recommended “The Sultan’s Seal” and am happy to report that Istanbul’s wise and fiercely dedicated magistrate, Kamil Pasha, is on the job in the winter of 1888 when Vera Arti carries an Armenian translation of The Communist Manifesto into the offices of a prominent Ottoman publisher. Would he publish the work? “Everyone wants to offer us a utopia. No one offers us peace” he tells her. When she leaves, she does not realize that men from the Sultan’s secret police are following her. What she doesn’t know is that her husband, Gabriel, is behind the robbery at the Imperial Ottoman Bank, as well as the shipment of guns. She is captured, tortured, and interrogated. Kamil Pasha is on Gabriel’s trail but the secret police interfere. Their chief plans to slaughter some Armenian villages to gain the Sultan’s favor. History and fiction are a powerful mix in this page-turning thriller. The legendary curse that surrounds Shakespeare’s MacBeth is the background for Jennifer Lee Carrell’s Haunt Me Still ($15.00, Plume Books) whe the heroine, Kate Stanley, is called to Edinburgh to direct a private performance of the play using authentic relics from Shakespeare’s day. It doesn’t take long for the curse to stir. Some of the actors go missing. Kate finds a local woman dead under circumstances that reflect ancient pagan rituals and human sacrifice. Kate becomes both a suspect and possible figure victim. In short, some very intriguing reading.

For lovers of the macabre, two new titles. Apostle Rising by Richard Godwin ($14.95, Black Jackal Books, softcover) demonstrates his ability to write dark crime fiction. In this novel, a serial killer is targeting British politicians and the crime scenes are signature replicas of the Woodland Killings that took place 28 years earlier. The case became an obsession for Chief Inspector Frank Castle, one that he was not able to solve and close. This is just good, old fashioned detective fiction, reflective of the special skills that a British author brings to the genre. A very different setting is the background and time of Fire the Sky: Book Two of Contact—The Battle for America series by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear ($26.00, Gallary Books). They have made a reputation for themselves as chroniclers of early Native American life and the novel recreates the conflict-filled years following one of the first European invasions as seen through the eyes of a courage pair of Indians as it follows Hernando de Soto’s brutal expedition north from the Florida peninsula as the explorer looks for plunder. For anyone interested in this era and lost civilization, this book serves up a powerful love story as conflict moves inexorably toward to major battle.

That’s it for March! Please tell your book-loving friends and family members about Bookviews which, each month, provides notice of fiction and non-fiction that you likely will not learn about anywhere else. Bookmark Bookviews and come back every month.

Bookviews - February 2011

2011-01-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month

Have you ever wondered why we have all lived through two decades of talk about global warming only to learn that it was a complete fiction? That the science behind it was bogus? And then wondered why the federal government became so involved in this hoax that it wasted $50 billion on “research” to support it and is presently engaged in schemes involving millions more for “alternative” energy such as wind and solar power? Or electric cars? The answers can be found in Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and Our lives ($24.95, Cato Institute) will come off the presses official in April, but I suggest that you put in your order now if you want to learn the extraordinary role the federal government has played in misleading Americans to believe a hoax discredited in 2009 by the release of thousands of emails between the handful of its perpetrators on behalf of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by Patrick J. Michaels, it reveals how corrosive this massive hoax, international in scope, corrupted the U.S. government and endangered our lives. It continues to do so to this day.

The news is filled with coverage of Iran as well it should be given the threat of a prison nation under the control of fanatical ayatollahs, but there is much more to know and William R. Polk has written Understanding Iran ($17.00, Palgrave Macmillan, softcover), subtitled “Everything you need to know, from Persia to the Islamic Republic, from Cyrus to Ahmadinejad.” It is a very comprehensive examination of Iran’s history and the role it played in the rise of civilization. The author was a professor of history at the University of Chicago and established the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He has been active as an advisor to the Kennedy and LBJ administrations. Anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the history and modern events in Iran will find this book an excellent education on the subject. An older generation recalls the perils of the Cold War with the then-Soviet Union. Communism was understood to be a despotism, but a younger generation may not grasp this central fact and an entertaining and informative book about life under communism provides vivid insights. Slavenka Drakulic has authored a group of fables in A Guided Tour Through the Museum of Communism ($14.00, Penguin Books, softcover) in some ways reflects George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, a story in which animals represent the humans living with despotism. In this book, a mouse, a parrot, a bear, a cat, a mole, a pig, a dog and a raven tell their stories of life in the Balkins under communist rule. I would recommend it to younger readers in particular, but it works just as well for older ones. Most of the world’s inhabitants life in prison nations and we need to remind and inform ourselves what that truly means.

For a spotlight on science, three new books from Prometheus Books will provide some interesting reading. They are The Genesis of Science: The Story of Greek Imagination by Stephen Bertman ($27.00) who notes that, while historians often look to ancient Greece as the wellspring of Western civilization, perhaps the most significant achievement, other than democracy, was the early development of the sciences. The names of many of science’s branches have their roots in Greek words that first defined these disciplines. This is an excellent history. Science in America was of widespread interest to many of the Founding Fathers and, along with Franklin, one of the greatest, most inquiring minds was that of Thomas Jefferson. In A Professor, a President and a Meteor: The Birth of American Science, Cathryn J. Prince tells the story of a meteor crash in 1807 sparked the interest of a young chemistry professor at Yale College. His rigorous investigation of the event started a chain of events that lifted American science to international importance, unfortunately pitting him against then President Jefferson who took issue with it. It’s a lively story worth reading. Lastly, there’s The Wonder of Genetics: The Creepy, the Curious, and the Commonplace by Richard V. Knowles ($25.00) that provides a layman’s introduction and explanation of genetics, discussing its importance and scope. The author is an acclaimed geneticist who devotes chapter after chapter of a genuinely fascinating topic, discussing topics as diverse as genetically modified crops, cloning, genetic therapy, and how genes are related to many diseases, psychological disturbances, and possibly other behaviors. In short, you are your DNA! Finally, Quantum Physics for Poets by Leon M. Lederman, a Nobel Laureate, and Christopher T. Hill ($28.00) have taken on the job of explaining the heart of contemporary physics, the basis for understanding matter in its tiniest dimensions and the vastness of the universe, and they have succeeded. They have transformed what is an enigma for most people into a highly entertaining, lucid and informative book. If you have always been curious about it, this is the book to read!

While it is trendy to be pessimistic about the future of the human race, given the present financial problems facing nations including our own, Ronald G. Havelock, PhD, has looked at history that includes the two world wars of the last century and trends in nuclear proliferation and population growth worldwide, and come up with a different, more optimistic trend that he describes in Acceleration: The Forces Driving Human Progress ($28.00, Prometheus Books). He reviews the extraordinary pace of the scientific revolution of the last two centuries, the explosive growth of knowledge, not just from generation to generation, but across cultural lines via the Internet, and other trends. Despite periodic setbacks, Havelock describes how progress is actually accelerating to positively affect the human experience and views fears of failure as wildly exaggerated. Grounded in a wealth of research, this book says humans are fully capable of solving even ore most challenging problems. An interesting companion book, The Art of Invention: The Creative Process of Discovery and Design by Steven J. Paley ($20.00, Prometheus Books, softcover) explores the process of invention and how it applies from something as simple as the paper clip to more complex inventions. The book concludes with an in-depth look at the business of invention and the typical inventor’s toolkit. It is filled with insight and advice for anyone with an innovative idea.

I am particularly fond of any book that can not only make me laugh, but make me think at the same time, occasionally actually teaching me something new as well. This is a perfect description of You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News from the editors of Cracked.com ($14.00, Plume, softcover). It is a compendium of truly astonishing scientific and other facts that taken individually or as a whole will blow a big hole in many of your cherished beliefs or just tell you something astonishing, but true. Enjoy the book and visit the website. Prepare to laugh. A lot. There are plenty of laughs to be had in The Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, 2011 Edition ($14.95, Pelican Publishing Company, softcover). Edited by Charles Brooks, it is testimony to the way political cartoonists have the gift of capturing the absurdities and events in ways that makes us both think and laugh. It was not a particularly good year for President Obama, the object of many of the cartoons, along with the economy, the Tea Party movement, the Ground Zero Mosque, environment, the courts, and other issues of the past year.

We all take for granted, reading and writing. How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One by Stanley Fish ($19.99, Harper) explores the way we externalize our thoughts through the creation of sentences and Fish is an aficionado of the finely wrought sentence. His book offers a literary tour of great writers throughout history and the way they captured their reader’s attention and imagination. I would go so far to say that anyone who wishes to write well should definitely read this book and, for that matter, anyone who loves literature should do so as well.

History Well Told

Everybody knows of the Tea Party movement that arose spontaneously in the first year of the Obama administration to oppose Obamacare and other initiatives, but I suspect that few know much about the original tea party that sparked the American Revolution. That has been remedied by American Tempest, ($26.00, Da Capo Press) written by Harlow Giles Unger, the author of more than seventeen books about the Founding Fathers and the Revolution. On December 15, 1773, an estimated seven dozen men, many dressed as Indians who were then a symbol of freedom, dumped more than 300 chests of tea worth the equivalent of $1 million today, into the Boston Harbor to protest British taxes, mostly levied to pay for its wars with France. This is a fascinating story considering they were taking on the greatest power of its time. I love reading history and especially American history, so you can imagine how pleased I was to receive The War of the Revolution by Christopher War ($19.95, Skyhorse Publishing, softcover) which is a complete history of the battles that resulted in the achievement of independence. From the first musket shot at Lexington and Concord to the final battle at Yorktown, this book brings the long effort to life with stories of those who participated, maps, and the realization that it took unbelievable tenacity to wage the war over six long years against tremendous odds and against what was, at the time, the greatest empire of the age. The way the Revolution is taught in our schools hardly begins to reveal how much we owe to Washington and his troops. This 1,000-page book has long been regarded as a classic and now, happily, it is available in an affordable softcover.

I loved the title of Eminent Gangsters which is subtitled “Immigrants and the Birth of Organized Crime in America” ($57.00, University Press of America). At a time when Americans are grappling with the issue of massive numbers of illegal aliens coming across the nation’s southern border or just visiting and over-staying their visas, this is a fascinating look at the way a handful of earlier immigrants, Italians, Jews and later the Irish, became the Five Families of the New York Mafia to include the Capone gang in Chicago, and others who cooperated to an extent that dominated crime from the days of Prohibition onward until exposed. Starting in the 1920s, these were men in a hurry to cash in on the American dream. From its origins in Sicily, the Mafia would control crime in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans, eventually spawning a vast war in which the families emerged victorious. The ban on liquor, transport and sale was a bonanza for these criminals and laid the groundwork for the Mafia’s infiltration of many elements of American society. On a lighter note, I greatly enjoyed A Dangerous Woman: The Life, Lovers, and Scandals of Adah Isaacs Menkin, 1835-1868 by Barbara and Michael Foster ($24.95, Globe Pequot). Who is she? How about “the mother of theatrical and film nudity”? Adah drew overflow audiences from Broadway to Paris as her front-page scandals and under-the-counter nude photos made her an erotic sensation in the midst of the Victorian era. She married five times and her lovers included Alexandre Dumas and Algernon Swinburne, among others. She bedazzled a young reporter, Mark Twain, with her performance in gold rush San Francisco. He deemed her a magnificent spectacle.” If one was to create her as a character in a novel, even fiction could not compete with her real life. The daughter of a beautiful Creole mother, father unknown, with a series of step-fathers, one who endowed her with the Jewish faith, Adah grew up in Texas where she became a trick rider in the circus and then became an actress where, in New York, she performed comedy, tragedy, along with song and dance; in short, immensely talented and possessed of real intellect. Not until Marilyn Monroe, did any performer so captivate and titillate audiences.

God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Journey of Transformation by Joseph Sebarenzi ($15.00, Atria Books, softcover) with Laura Ann Mullane, is the story of how this native Rwandan lost his parents, seven siblings, and most of his relatives in the savage 1994 genocide of Tutsi tribal members by Hutu tribesmen. It is a tragic story, but the author would rise to become Speaker of the Rwandan parliament, intent on healing his nation. It is a reminder that humans are still capable of horrendous acts of mass murder just fifty years after gaining independence. The history of African nations for the past half century and more suggest they have a long way to go before they adopt Western values. For most, democracy is still just a charade.

To Your Health!

If you have your health, all your other problems in life can be solved. So, as we ease into the new year, let’s look at some books that address health and diet issues.

One of the great miracles of life is birth and two physicians, Michael F. Roizen, MD, and Mehmet C. Oz, MD, have gotten together to write YOU Having A Baby: The Owner’s Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy ($18.00, Free Press, imprint of Simon and Schuster, softcover) that is a large compendium of information that will prepare anyone for the birth of a child. This is truly an A-to-Z treasure of information on topics that range from the biology of pregnancy to the fundamentals of child rearing. Together, they have answered most of the questions any new parent might want to ask. Parents often encounter two common ailments in their children and there’s a book to help when they do. Allergies and Asthma: What Every Parent Needs to Know, edited by Dr. Michael J. Welch ($14.95, American Academy of Pediatrics, softcover) is now in its second edition this month. Allergies and asthma often start in childhood and continue throughout life. Asthma currently affects around 6.2 million Americans under age 18. These young people often also have allergies. This book, written in easily comprehensible language, provides the latest findings on food allergies and treatments, as well as new approaches for monitoring asthma control. It’s the real deal.

At the other end of the age spectrum is Dr. Marc Agronin’s How We Age ($25.00, Da Capo Press). A geriatric psychiatrist, the author is currently the medical director for Mental health and Clinical Research at Miami Jewish Health Systems. Out of his experience working with older folks, he has gained interesting insights regarding aging today. The result is that, while aging includes some inevitable decline, it can also be a period of vitality, wisdom, creativity, and hope. For anyone with aging parents or who is aging, this book can provide some comforting information. I personally had parents that both lived into their 90s and, despite some physical problems, remained mentally alert and involved to the end.

Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life by Claudia Welch ($17.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is not officially due off the press until March 15. Directed to women in the workforce who must cope with the stresses of work and family life, the book is devoted to Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and Western science. The author explores the counterbalancing effects of sex and stress hormones, and provides easy-to-follow strategies for self care to combat stress-induced medical problems that can include painful periods, mood swings, fatigue and insomnia, among other physical problems. If these problems and others describe you or someone you know, make a note to pick up a copy of this interesting book. Somewhat along the same lines is The Mind-Body Mood Solution by Jeffrey Rossman, PhD ($25.99, Rodale Books) that offers a non-drug program for relief from depression. Reportedly, depression is ten times more prevalent today than in 1960 and the rate is doubling every decade. As new technologies and other life-enhancing conveniences have occurred, it may well be they are the cause of this phenomenon. Dr. Rossman is a clinical psychologist believes many of these changes in the way we live, eat, travel and work are creating mood disorders. His book describes how one can regain control of your life. Dividing the book into sections devoted to the mind and to the body, it is filled with advice that might work for you, from diet to exercise changes. The Solution: Conquer Your Fear, Control Your Future by Lucinda Bassett ($22.95, Sterling Publishing) addresses how one can control negative thoughts and behaviors that are linked to anxiety and stress. It offers a positive program for doing so through her stories of personal experience, inspiration, and proactive action. Instead of being fearful, uncertain and insecure, the book demonstrates how to turn one’s life around by turning around one’s thought processes and perceptions. As we have seen with the Tucson tragedy, depression and other mental illnesses can play a role in some tragic outcomes. Leo J. Battenhausen, a counselor, looks at the way depression can be overcome in Defeating Depression: The Calm and Sense Way to Find Happiness and Satisfaction ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover). We live in depressing times and it can take over our lives, affecting our relationships, work, social situations, and our health. This book spells out the way to cope with setbacks without turning a medications or bad choices such as alcohol or illegal drugs. He discusses how to rid the mind of negative thoughts, get past emotional pain, and how to gain control and find emotional peace. Though some will need professional help, many can overcome depression on their own and this book is surely a step in the right direction.

All healing begins with the body’s immune system. Dr. H. Robert Silverstein, MD, FACC, has written Maximum Healing ($16.95, North Atlantic Books, softcover) that takes the reader on a tour of antioxidants, minerals, healing foods, herbs and supplements, exercise and stress reduction. That a lot for a very affordable price and since I have taken vitamins and minerals for a very long time, I can testify to the way they ward off the common cold and other problems. If you or someone you know needs to heal from an injury or illness, this would be a great book to read as well as for its information on immune-related disorders such as allergies, asthma, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, and rheumatoid arthritis, among others. This is the real deal. Return to Fitness: Getting Back in Shape after Injury, Illness, or Prolonged Inactivity is one of those titles that fully describe this book’s content. Written by Bill Katovsky ($16.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) founder of Tri-Athlete Magazine, he shares his own story of reclaiming his health after a decade-long period of illness and injury-laden inactivity. Katovsky discusses how our bodies age, provides nutritional advice, and advice on exercise, including information on the treatment and prevention of injuries. One of the most unusual books I have seen of late is just off the press. When Sex Hurts: A Woman’s Guide to Banishing Sexual Pain has three authors, two MDs and one PhD ($15.95, Da Capo Press). It is estimated that twenty million women experience some pain during sexual intercourse and as many as 40% will not seek medical care to relief it. The embarrassment of the experience and reluctance to address it is widespread to the extent that many doctors are in the dark regarding it. The commentary is supported by diagrams, lists of resources, and psychological exercises to help women get to the root of their pain and begin treatment. This is an authoritative, practical, and comprehensive guide.

There are many diet books that advise eating more fruits and vegetables, but Dr. Andrew Iverson, MD, says that your favorite fruit could be contributing to your growing waistline and even putting your at risk for diabetes and heart disease! Nature’s Diet ($24.95, Trilium Health Press, Tacoma, WA) explores the way what you eat can affect your energy, your memory, your mood, and even how you think. Certain foods can even make a child behave poorly and lose focus in school. This book explains why many of today’s most common health problems can be remedied. After seeing chronically ill patients every day in his practice, Dr. Iverson advises how to correctly feed yourself and detoxify from chemical waste to achieve amazing improvements in your health. Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz ($19.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is hot of the press demonstrates that a vegan diet can also be a very tasty one while also being low-fat and low-calorie. As she says, healthy vegan food can be so good that it appeals to a meat-eater. Editor's Note: One caveat, though. If you examine one’s teeth, you will note that some are specific to meat-eating, suggesting that we humans need both meat and vegetables.

Maximum job performance is the focus of Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People by Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, MD, ($26.95, Harvard Business Review Press). The author has been a guest on many television shows discussing his philosophy and offers a five-step process to apply to any business culture. Though primarily a business-oriented book for managers, the advice can apply to many fields of endeavor. Though I am not and have never been a vegan, someone who avoids eating meat, there’s no denying that there have been many books advocating this life style in recent years. Your Mind at its Best ($13.99, Revell, softcover) has three authors who share forty activities and behavioral changes that scientific research has shown can support optimal brain health if they become part of your daily routine. Among the recommends is keeping one’s home free from carbon monoxide by checking for any gas leaks. Going to church is good for one’s brain as well as surfing the Internet to find things that interest and engage you. Making sure you give your heart a workout is yet another way to ensure brain health. In sum, this is an interesting, useful book. The same can be said of Be Excellent at Anything: The Four keys to Transforming the Way We Work and Life by Tony Schwartz ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) that debunks common myths about great performance such as the view that great performers get by on less sleep. Not so, they really average 8 ½ hours a night. The other myth is that a little anxiety helps motivate us when facing tough deadlines. False. The better we feel, the better we perform. My favorite is the myth of multitasking when, in fact, juggling multiple activities reduces the time to get one task done well. If you’re still in need of some motivation, try Tapping the Source by William Gladstone, Richard Greninger, and John Selby ($17.95, Sterling Publishing) that offers a practical daily process for changing one’s life for the better. It offers a system for improving one’s life and one’s opportunities using ancient meditative techniques and other methods.

How to Love: Choosing Well at Every Stage of Life by Gordon Livingston, MD ($12.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) takes note of the difficulties in finding life in a world of speed-dating and Internet match-up sites. He explores how to choose a partner and the types of hurtful personalities and behaviors to avoid. This is common sense advice that some people do not receive for one reason or another. If you or someone you know is encountering problems finding the right person, this book will prove helpful. One stage of life that is often filled with problems is the teen years and Rick Johnson has written That’s My Teenage Son: How Moms can Influence their Boys to Become Good Men ($12.99, Revell, softcover) in which he discusses the great influence a boy’s mother has on how well he sees himself as a man and interacts with the world as an adult. For any mother of a teenage son, this book is filled with a wealth of information on the way a boy’s maturing mind, body and emotions are affected during this years and how these changes influence their behavior and needs. It’s a critical time to teach self-discipline, help them develop a healthy emotion life, and prepare them to be healthy adults. These are the years, too, when many young men and women go off to college and Alex Chediak has written Thriving at College ($14.99, Tyndale House Publishers, softcover) to help the generation entering college. With the economy in the tank, it is no surprise that seven in ten graduates do not have a job lined up and many must move back in with mom and dad, often with large debt. Written from a Christian point of view, Chediak notes that at least a quarter of college professors are atheists, compared with just 4% of the U.S. population. Some 70% of young adults will stop attending church. Some useful advice is provided to cope with these and other problems encountered at this critical point in young lives.

Books for Younger Readers

There is a deluge of books for younger readers, particularly pre-teens and teenagers, so it is always a treat when one comes along that is just so thoroughly delightful you want to tell the whole world about it. That’s the case with Saltwater Taffy by Erick Delabarre, as illustrated by R.C. Nason ($15.95, Seven Publishing, distributed by Perseus Books). To date it has been endorsed by nine Teachers of the Year, Delabarre is an award-winning Hollywood director/writer of “Law & Order” fame. The illustrator is equally distinguished. Set in the seaside town of Port Townsend, Washington, the novel follows the lives of five friends as they uncover the secrets of a treasure map that once belonged to the New Orleans pirate, Jean Lafitte. It is one adventure after another as they try to outwit and out-maneuver everyone who wants to intimidate them and/or get their hands on the treasure. It is so well written that one does not want to put it down until the last page. Officially for “middle grade” students, it will please anyone of any age, including me!

A series for younger readers, “I See the Sun”, is a great way to introduce early readers, five to seven years, to the world. The second addition is I See the Sun in Nepal written by Dedie King and illustrated by Judith Inglese ($12.95, Satya House Publications, Hardwick, MA, softcover) It is bilingual, written in English and Nepalese, and it portrays the essential cultural elements of Nepal through the eyes of a child. It is an excellent way to introduce a child to the way the world is made up of different nations, cultures, languages, and such. Coming in 2011 are others in the series devoted to Afghanistan, Russia, and India. The exotic State of Hawaii is the setting for Aloha, Kanani by Lisa Yee ($6.95, American Girl, softcover) that debuted in January, kicking off American Girl’s 25th birthday celebration. Kanani Akina is the 2011 Girl of the Year. She is a warm and cheerful girl, blessed to grow up in Hawaii and sharing the “aloha spirit.” Girls from the middle to later years of elementary school will enjoy this one as Kanani welcomes her cousin from New York, helps to rescue a baby Hawaiian monk seal, or assists older people in her community. Also on the same them from American Girl, is Lend a Hand: Girl-Sized Ways of Helping Others ($9.95, softcover) that offers all kinds of ways to help friends, family, animals, and neighbors for the pre-teen set. You can learn more about it and other titles at www.americangirl.com.

Dog lovers will love Ted Kerasote’s Pukka: The Pup After Merle, the author’s previous dog about whom he wrote “Merle’s Door.” ($18.95, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Pukka more than fills the hole in Ted’s life after Merle passed away. Filled with color photos from beginning to end, the book is told through Pukka’s eyes as he grows up and discovers the world with his human companions. Any child, aged seven to ten who reads this book will surely want a Pukka in his or her life and, if there is a dog in the family, it will provide many insights regarding the way to raise them and enjoy them.

For the teenager who’s into “texting” there is the more serious problem called “sexting” that can lead to all kinds of trouble. The harsh realities of this are explored in a young adult novel, Never Been Kissed, by Melody Carlson ($9.99, Revell, softcover). All Elise wants is her first kiss before she turns 16, but when a friend’s poor advice and modern communications technology combine, she finds herself on a dangerous path. Accused of “sexting”, she gets kicked out of school. This novel shows teen girls the impact of their choices when it comes to respecting themselves. Revell is famed for practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life and the author has penned more than two hundred books. Check it out at http://www.revellbooks.com/. For the same young adult crowd, there’s The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie ($16.95, WestSide Books, Lodi, NJ). This is a gritty story of a girl’s life after her father’s death forces her mother to sell their oceanfront home and move to Las Pulgas, the site of a tough urban high school where Carlie is dubbed the princess for her aloof ways. This is a novel about a difficult process of transition and is timely in difficult economic times. It tells of a challenging learning experience as Carlie learns that not everything is as it seems. The eighth book in the Good Girlz series, Drama Queens, by Reshonda Tate Billingsley ($11.00, Gallery Books, softcover) is all about friendship. The Black Christian national booksellers list ranks the author number one on the list. In this novel, high school is coming to a close for the Good Girlz and Camille, Angel, Alexis, and Jasmine are ecstatic to discover they’ve all been accepted to the same Texas University, Prairie View A&M. Need it be said that changes, many unanticipated, lay ahead? The girls learn a lot about relying on their faith and each other when facing life’s tough decision.

Novels, Novels, Novels

World War II continues to provide the background for novels today and Honor Knows No Borders by John Sharer (iUniverse, softcover) asks a philosophical question of about enemies in war. A dangerous and often fatal pursuit, collecting pieces of bombs is a prime activity for boys in London during WWII in the early 1940s. Young Tom Sloan is no exception. While investigating one ravaged building, he finds more than he expects, an injured German pilot, Hauptman Heinrich Leuzinger, who had ejected from his plane. Leuzinger begs Tom not to turn him in to authorities, but rather to help him see his wife and children again. Tom understands this is a dangerous dilemma for which there could be serious consequences. More than a thousand miles away in the North African desert, the boy's father, Major Bernie Sloan, a British officer and the commandant of a German and Italian POW camp, meets captured German Colonel Hans Dieter Reichmann who tells an unbelievable story. Sloan, a Jew, harbors a deep hatred for Germany and its people. Sloan finds it difficult to believe that Reichmann may have actually saved a Jewish family by smuggling them out of Germany. Both father and son are about to discover that in war, as in life, things are not always as they appear, and people can't always be judged by the uniforms they wear. Rising Tides – Destroyermen: Book Five by Taylor Anderson ($25.95, New American Library) adds a parallel universe to a World War II drama, billed as an “alternative history” series. Apparently military science fiction is a new and popular genre. In this case it involves Lt. Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the U.S.S. Walker. As you might imagine, the first four novels in the series did quite well. This one is filled with drama and adventure, plus the extra element of a non-human species that gets involved in the conflict on the high seas.

The novel, Soul Mate, by Ronald Weaver ($14.99, QuestFiction Entertainment, Valley Village, CA) tells the story of Claudia de la Rosa, a 26-year-old, starry-eyed innocent who has just arrived in the glamour-charged world of Beverly Hills to become a high school teacher. One of her students is Lance Van Arden, a handsome, worldly-wise teenager from a wealthy family and both begin to connect in ways that go beyond the teacher-student relationship. Their steamy and blissful private world collides with social norms and raises his parent’s suspicions. In real life such liaisons are forbidden and unlawful, but in the book they become modern folk heroes when their story becomes public knowledge. The author is a senior producer for the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. I confess, being a guy, I could appreciate The Black Widow Trainer ($14.95, Emerald Book Co., softcover) by Craig Odanovich because it appeals to what most men fantasize about, a hot woman, hot sex, wealth and swanky places. This is not a deep intellectual experience, but it is a highly entertaining one; the first of a series starring Misty the top trainer at a health club on Maui who becomes an independent fitness trainer to some of the world’s most sophisticated and wealthy men who are willing to pay a lot and go the limit to have Misty get them in shape and get them into her bed. This is just old fashion erotic storytelling.

On a far more realistic and, dare I say, mature level, there’s The Bird House by Kelly Simmons ($14.00, Washington Square Press, softcover) that tells the story of a 70-year-old woman’s slide into dementia and her growing bond with her eight-year-old granddaughter who explore family secrets of both the past and present that have the power to either destroy or heal. When her granddaughter asks for her help to work on a paper about the family, she jumps at the chance, but it will be a journey of discovery for both as classic family and personal problems are reexamined. This is Simmons second novel and she demonstrates again her ability to come to grips with powerful and frightening themes. The Mother Who Stayed is a trio of stories by Laura Furman ($15.00, Free Press, softcover.) They each involve a different set of characters whose lives are connected through family, location, or sheer coincidence. The stories were inspired by 23 diaries written between 1874 and 1902 that Furman found in a house she owned in upstate New York. They are an homage to the timeless, primal bond between mother and child, as well as other relationships. They are poignant, memorable, and inspiring. Furman has earned prestigious awards for previous books and this one demonstrates why.

Weeping Underwater Looks A Lot Like Laughter by Michael J. White ($15.00, Berkley, softcover) will further enhance the author’s reputation as one of Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers for spring 2010. Teenager George Flynn and his family have just moved to Des Moines, Iowa and, on their first night in town, a young woman is murdered at the hotel in which they are staying. Is it an omen of things to come? By turns witty, charming, and heart-wrenching, this is the debut novel about a young man coming of age under the toughest of circumstances. It is a story of first lovers, unrequited emotions, second lovers, family secrets, and the untold truths that lurk in one’s heart years and years after they’re grown. George’s life will be influenced by the Schell sisters. He is immediately smitten with one, Emily, his classmate and peer, and the perfect counterpoint to her sister, Katie, who has been diagnosed with a baffling case of multiple sclerosis. You will want to go along to learn how these three deal with life’s challenges and upheavals. Finally, for sheer laughter and fun, pick up a copy of Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King’s Daughter by Simon Brett, the first of a series based on two of these characters ($14.95, Felony & Mayhem Press, softcover). Brett is best known for cozy mysteries set in a little English town as one of the grand old men of British mystery since 1975. Set in the 1920s we are introduced to siblings, Blotto, a handsome fellow whose low on brain power, and Twinks, his beautiful and brilliant sister. The result is that rarest of genres, a genuinely funny crime story when the daughter of the exiled king of Mittleleuropa is kidnapped on a visit to Tawcester Towers.

That’s it for February! Do tell all your book-loving friends and family members about Bookviews so they can visit and learn about many books that deserve readers but may not catch the eye of the loftier critics and reviewers. And do come back in March for even more news of the latest and best fiction and nonfiction.