Bookviews - June 2011

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 - June 2010

By Alan Caruba

My Picks of the Month

Some works of history are so monumental that they are especially deserving of praise. This is the case of Norman Stone’s The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War ($35.00, Basic Books). The Cold War that lasted from 1946 to 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed was an epic struggle that dominated the second half of the last century. Having lived through it, I have vivid memories of its milestones including the Cuban Missile Crisis when I was on the alert in the U.S. Army in the event we had to invade. Sadly, a new generation has little or no knowledge of this epic period in which freedom triumphed over Communism. Stone regards Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Charles de Gaulle and Helmut Schmidt to be four of the heroes of the Cold War. It was the military power and economic strength of the United States and a succession of American presidents, supported by Americans, who never wavered. Stone calls the United States a “great creative force” during the Cold War era. The book reflects three decades of research. Its 712 pages reflect the scope of the struggle which, at times, turned hot in proxy nations. To understand our present times, one must know what the Cold War was and did. We are no less challenged for the dearth of world leaders who replaced the giants of a former age. Having lived through the era, American Dreams: The United States Since 1945 by H.W. Brands ($35.00, The Penguin Press), I was very impressed with the way the author captured the changes that occurred in America following the end of World War Two. The cliché that America emerged as the only superpower in the world is true and so are the great societal changes that followed in its wake. Brands analyzes the changes in a way that brings clarity to someone like myself looking back or to someone born well into the second half of the last century who might not comprehend. It’s not always pretty because of the turmoil. The gradual distancing from long-held common values and beliefs is the most surprising aspect as the children of returned WWII veterans embraced a drug culture and rejected traditional sexual mores in the sixties. There followed both the end of segregation and the rise of feminism. If you love history you will love this book. I did.

As Americans discuss the latest in a long line of terrorist attacks on America, a new book, Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy is Failing and How to Fix It, as edited by Benjamin H. Friedman, Jim Harper and Christopher A. Preble ($24.95, Cato Institute) has just been published. Cato is a noted D.C. think tank and this book offers practical analysis of current counterterrorism policies which, if the Times Square incident is any indication, are not working all that well. Based on the lessons and experiences of the past eight years, Friedman asserts that “Fear of terrorism is a bigger problem than terrorism and the defenses that we mount against terrorists often heighten our fears of them.” Anyone passing through an airport can attest to that. This book is not light reading, but it is worth the effort for the many insights and recommendations that it offers. One of the recommendations is that politicians and government organizations often have a stake in reinforcing excessive fears. Many different experts have contributed to this book and anyone seriously interested in this topic should read it. The recent scare concerning swine flu turned out to be far less threatening than projected, but is still important to track such outbreaks of diseases that can go global. Mark Pendergrast has written an interesting book, Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service ($28.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) that tells the story of the founding of the Epidemic Intelligence Service in 1951 for the purpose of saving lives when an epidemic occurs anywhere in the world. Given the history of such epidemics such as the Black Death that killed millions in Europe or the flu epidemic in the early years of the last century that took thousands of lives, the value of the EIS cannot be calculated, nor has the service been without controversy. One of the great contributions to modern life was the development of public health standards. You will learn much from this book and have a greater appreciation for the forces of disease and those who combat it.

The Internet has become so much a part of our lives that a whole new body of law has been developed. An estimated 45% of Americans generate their own online content, including videos, on blogs, websites, and social networking sites. It is becoming essential to know how to stay legal online and to protect your own online interests. Joy R. Butler is a business and media attorney who has authored The Cyber Citizen’s Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Internet Law for Your Professional Online Presence ($19.95, Sashay Communications, softcover). As a longtime professional writer and someone with two websites and a blog, I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who uses the Internet as a business tool, publishes an email newsletter, or offers original content. There is all manner of excellent advice to be garnered from this guide and it is the kind that can save you from making some costly mistakes as well as protecting against online predators. Want to help a young person graduating from college this month? Give them Gradspot.com’s Guide to Life After College ($14.95, MG Prep, softcover). I wish I had had such a book when I graduated shortly after the last ice age ended! It is filled with excellent advice on finding work and career options, housing options, smart tips on credit card use, budgeting, buying versus leasing a car, and so much more. All the pitfalls that wait for grads (and everyone else) are addressed in this guide.

We use so many common expressions that we rarely stop to wonder where they originated. Phrases such as “Hell is paved with good intentions” or “Virtue is its own reward” are common wisdom and now Julian Baggini has written Should You Judge This Book by Its Cover? 100 Fresh Takes on Familiar Sayings and Quotations ($15.95, Counterpoint, softcover) in which the acclaimed philosopher challenges the reader to think again about well-worn sayings and phrases that we use every day. Is it always best to practice what you preach? Or to do in Rome as Romans do? Is it better to be safe than sorry? Not just a reference book, but an interesting collection of short, stimulating capsules of defiantly clear thinking that will energize your intellect while thoroughly entertaining you. A clever little book, Do Not Interrupt: A Playful Take on the Art of Conversation, by Stephen Kuusisto ($14.95, Sterling) examines the do’s and don’ts of conversation. Lovers of language and communication skills will greatly enjoy this examination of the difference between merely talking with someone else and actually having a stimulating conversation.

For all you “foodies”, here are two books you will love. India is one of the truly ancient civilizations. Its cuisine is unique and a real treat. If you combine its recipes with their history, you get Nani Power’s Ginger and Ganesh: Adventures in Indian Cooking, Culture and Love ($25.00, Counterpoint). It is in part the author’s journey of learning, being invited into the homes of strangers eager to teach her Indian cuisine. Along the way she learned much more. The book is filled with unique, often treasured family recipes from vegetarian homes in India. They range from cheese cubes in a rich cilantro and almond curry to coconut stuffed okra. It all makes for great reading and eating. In my home, there was always plenty of cheese to savor. Now, cheese enthusiast Eric LeMay has written the ultimate cheese-lover’s book, Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese ($25.00, Free Press). This is a world tour of cheese and he relates his travels from Cambridge, Massachusetts to a cheese festival in Bra, Italy, with plenty of other stops along the way as he shares his extensive knowledge. The book even has a comprehensive appendix on how to enjoy and pair cheese with beer, chocolate, coffee, fruit preserves, honey and other choices. Be advised; keep some cheese in the fridge when you start to read this delightful book. It will make you yearn for it.

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell wrote three groundbreaking books that have contributed to the way we understand the world. They were The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and Outliers: The Story of Success. All three became audiobooks and now all three are gathered together in a slipcased edition ($79.98) by Hachette Audio, unabridged on 22 CDs) read by the author. If you are in a mood to expand your mind or want to give a remarkable gift, this collection is ideal.

A short, useful book for anyone who wants to learn about socialism is 10 Truths About Socialism available from Coral Ridge Ministries. As far back as 1848, Frederic Bastiat defined it as “legalized plunder.” Socialism/Communism advocates government ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. America fought Soviet communism for fifty years, but it has established itself here in the form of Social Security, Medicare (both teetering on financial collapse) and is manifesting itself in the actions of the current administration such as the government takeover of General Motors. The book by a Christian publisher has a conservative point of view, but it has its facts in good order. For a donation of $15.00, purchase it by clicking here.


Biographies, Autobiographies and Memoirs

Music lovers are in for a treat. Two biographies of music giants, Louis Armstrong and Stan Kenyon are in the bookstores. Terry Teachout has authored Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong ($30.00, Houghton Mifflin) is just a joy It captures Armstrong’s slow, but steady assent in to the highest orders of musical fame and success. Teachout is a gifted biographer and two of his previous books were devoted to George Balanchine, the ballet impresario, and a life of H.L. Mencken, the famed journalist and columnist. Armstrong literally lifted himself out of poverty as a child in New Orleans as the result of his talent. All his life he wore a Star of David to honor the Jewish family that gave him the money to buy his first trumpet and the values they imparted to him were worth much more. He was no angel, but he had innate good instincts and was blessed with a personality that, like his music, drew an ever widening circle of friends and fans. He became a great ambassador of good will for America. Years ago I attended a concert by Stan Kenton’s orchestra and the memory remains strong to this day. Stan Kenton: This is an Orchestra by Michael Sparke ($24.95, University of North Texas Press) tells the story of his great success leading musicians whose brass instrument wall of exciting sound made an indelible mark during the four decades he toured. Born in 1911, Kenton formed his first full orchestra in 1940 and thereafter they toured to enormous concert and recording success. His story is told through the words of those who composed and played the music. Kenton brought an unrelenting quest for his particular interpretation. It resulted in a whole new way to hear jazz and changed popular music. Few know the man and his music better than Sparke and we are fortunate to have this new biography.

Though they were a literary phenomenon of my youth and are now on their way to legend, I was never a fan of “the Beats”, writers that included Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac. I read Kerouac’s rambling novels without finding the stories that compelling and I thought Ginsberg’s poetry was not worth the accolades it received. Clearly I am in the minority with such views because Bill Morgan has written The Typewriter is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation ($28.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). In many respects, Morgan confirms my early reservations. It is in fact a quite fascinating series of revelations about the writers who came to be known as the Beat Generation. They were almost exclusively male and all shared a belief in personal liberation. They also all paid a personal price as it took a toll in varying ways on all of them. At the heart of the group was Kerouac who sought a circle of friends whose love affairs, straight and gay, whose drug use, whose search for spirituality, and whose battles over censorship contributed to a transformation of society. It makes for great reading. From the same publisher comes another biography from the world of literature, Sophia Tolstoy by Alexandra Popoff ($28.00, Free Press). She was the wife of the celebrated writer and cultural icon, Leo Tolstoy. She was also the mother of thirteen, a businesswoman, and a publisher. History portrays her as a shrill, small-minded woman who tormented her husband and actively tried to sabotage his endeavors, but Popoff believes that history has been unfair to her and has written this biography to set the record straight. She is, instead, portrayed as a strong, intelligent, and dedicated woman who participated in Tolstoy’s writings and causes, and shared his sense of mission and important values. Without question, Tolstoy modeled his memorable female characters after her. She emerges as having played an essential role in his life, one for which we can thank her service, encouragement, and management that left him free to write. Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family’s Feuds by Lydall Gordon ($27.95, Viking) explodes many of the commonly held beliefs and views of the extraordinary poetess, 1830-1886, the maid of Amherst, Massachusetts who never married, but produced poems of tremendous emotional depth and indelible beauty. He theorizes that she suffered from epilepsy which carried with it a social stigma. This would account for her reclusive lifestyle. There are other factors that those who love her work will find of great interest. The self-appointed editor of Dickinson’s poetry was Mabel Loomis Todd who had an affair with Austin Dickinson, her older (and married) brother. It set off a family feud. Previously untapped papers and access to the Dickinson and Todd archives illuminate the formerly unknown aspect of her life in ways that make this a provocative biography.

The first and only biography of Nobel Prize-winning novelist, William Golding, has just been published ($32.50, Free Press). It is a monumental piece of work by John Carey, a noted British literary critic. In 1953, Golding was a provincial school teacher whose novel, “Lord of the Flies” had been repeatedly rejected until an editor at Faber and Faber thought better of it. It would sell millions with its tale of original sin and our capacity for evil. Perhaps not surprisingly, Golding was not a particularly nice person, a depressive who regarded himself as a monster, but he was clearly a gifted novelist and for that he will be remembered. Now you can read the full story of his life. Genius is frequently not pretty.

The world of war always serves up stories of people who achieved much in life and Cataclysm: General Hap Arnold and the Defeat of Japan does that for one of World War Two’s great leaders and heroes ($24.95, University of North Texas Press). Japan’s defeat required extraordinary men and the strategic planning to bring about the destruction that yielded surrender. Herman S. Wolk has written of the General’s role during the Pacific War of 1944-1945. The retired Senior Historian of the U.S. Air Force, Wolk is especially qualified to share with the reader the thinking of its commanding general as he led those who crafted the weapons, organization, and command of the strategic bombing offensive against Japan. A lot preceded the dropping of the two A-bombs that ended the war in the Pacific. For those who love military history and lore, this book will prove to be a treat. For a personal story of triumph over cerebral palsy, John W. Quinn has written Someone Like Me ($16.96, History Publishing Company). Despite having been born with cerebral palsy, John wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, but the Navy didn’t want him. Even though every step he took was measured in pain, the Navy requirement for a “duck walk” initially disqualified him. He never made mention of his CP. Instead he put himself into a regimen of self-applied physical therapy for a year until he could fulfill the requirement. It meant learning to deal with a new level of pain and it led to a twenty-year career in the Navy! He retired as a senior chief petty officer and earned numerous citations and awards. This is not the story of an easy life at any point along the way, but it is one of great determination that can serve as an inspiration to those born with CP and anyone else inclined to feel sorry for themselves.

An icon of the labor movement, Mother Jones: Raising Cain and Consciousness, is the subject of a biography by Simon Cordery ($21.95, University of New Mexico Press, softcover). Mary Harris was born into a family of Irish radicals in 1837. Like thousands of others, the Irish potato famine forced them to immigrate to Canada. She married George Jones and settled with him Memphis, only to lose him and their four children to a yellow fever epidemic in 1867. She then lost her dressmaking business to the great Chicago fire in 1871. She found a home in the emerging labor movement after that, crisscrossing the nation to be an organizer. By all accounts she was a force to be reckoned with and in time she gained a national reputation in mines, factories, and workshops across the nation. There’s even a magazine named after her these days. If you have heard of her but never knew how she gained her reputation, this book will prove of interest as part of America’s history.

How to Survive Being Alive

Was it Yogi Berra who said you can learn a lot by just watching? Well, you can also learn a lot by reading books that explain how others survived their individual journey through life. They are frequently entertaining and often inspiring, but they always open a door to other’s experiences that can prove useful to your own life choices.

In America, we learn that everyone has a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Note that it is a pursuit, not a guarantee, but James D. Baird, PhD, and Laurie Nadel, PhD, have joined forces to write about Happiness Genes ($15.99, New Page, a division of Career Press, softcover) whose subtitle is “Unlock the positive potential hidden in your DNA.” An inventor-engineer, author and researcher, Dr. Baird has studied the subject of happiness for more than 20 years. He got an assist from Dr. Nadel, herself a bestselling author, a former New York Times columnist, and a radio host. Together they offer scientific research that proves the links between science, spirituality, and happiness. It turns out that compassion, acts of kindness, meditation, and prayer play a significant role in one’s happiness, just as we have been taught by parents and by observation. The authors offer a 28-day “natural happiness” program the reader can use to turn on their happiness genes and program their emotions, their beliefs, and their behaviors to create a steady stream of well-being. Another book that will prove helpful is Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies by Charles H. Elliot, PhD, and Laura L. Smith, PhD ($21.99, Wiley Publishing Co., softcover.) It is filled with excellent advice on how to get one’s fears and worries under control, identifying your anxiety triggers, and information about the latest treatments and medications. It is testimony to the fact that there is a book out there to help anyone with any problem and surely anxiety is high on the list these days given the economy and the threats of terrorism.

Last One Down the Aisle Wins by Shannon Fox and Celeste Liverside ($16.95, Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Griffin, softcover) is subtitled “10 keys to a fabulous single life now and an even better marriage later.” The book is directed at young women. Ms. Fox is a licensed marriage and family psychotherapist and Ms. Liverside is an attorney specializing in family law. Together they bring considerable experience to the view that one’s twenties are not just a waiting period before marriage. They offer a wealth of statistics and other data that demonstrates that waiting until one is closer to one’s thirties increases their chances of having a healthy, long-lasting relationship more than double! They offer tips on how to develop and improve one’s emotional health, body image, and confidence. They also identify the ten top reasons women marry too young and why they should be avoided. Sometimes people’s memoirs offer the key to understanding one’s own life. Just Don’t Call Me Ma’am: How I Ditched the South, Forgot My Manners, and Managed to Survive My Twenties with (Most of) My Dignity Still Intact is an hilarious, truthful tale of one woman, Anna Mitchael, ($15.95, Seal Press, softcover) that details impulsive moves to new cities, domestic disasters, and even the occasional nervous breakdown. It is about growing up! She made her way as a copywriter in advertising agencies across the nation, but she has since returned home to her native Texas.

While women have many books to call upon that offer advice about dealing with life’s twists and turns, men often do not. What, for example can men do to cope with the loss of a wife? The Widower’s Toolbox: Repairing Your Life After Losing Your Spouse ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) by Gerald J. Schaefer joined with Tom Bekkers, MSW, APSW, to provide an excellent guide for grieving men that sets them on the path to healing. Schaefer draws on his 26-year career experience managing people and dealing with many of the issues facing him and his young sons after the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Bekkers is a licensed psychotherapist and advanced practice social worker with twenty years experience in professional counseling. Together they provide a wealth of information and advice on such things as organizing household tasks, resolving issues that prevent healing, handling children’s special needs, and learning to love again. Robert Rodi has penned a hilarious and heartwarming memoir, Dogged Pursuit: How a Rescue Dog Rescued Me ($15.00, Plume, softcover). It is an account of a year in the dog show world that is filled with outsize personalities, lots of laughs, and the unforgettable bond that was forged between himself and an unlikely, loveable teammate. When he began training his Sheltie, Carmen, in canine agility, he had no idea what lay ahead. He soon caught the competitive bug and when Carmen was sidelined with a hip injury, he went looking for a new dog to take to the competitions. His choice was a surprising one; a scrawny, scruffy rescue dog that alternated between Cujo-like aggression at home and possum-like paralysis in the ring. Dusty had a talent for finding ways to do things wrong, but by then they have bonded in ways that taught Rodi some valuable lessons. The author owns three dogs and has authored seven novels. This may turn out to be his favorite book and, if you love dogs, is likely to become yours as well. Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled—and Knuckleheaded—Quest for the Rocky Mountain High by Mark Obmascik ($15.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, softcover) is the story of a man who joined the more than half million people who attempt to climb one of Colorado’s 54 mountains over 14,000 feet high. A stay-at-home father of three in Denver, he never thought he would become one of them, but when his 12-year-old son, Cass, called home from his Colorado summer camp, ecstatic about climbing Pike’s Peak, Obmascik found an activity they could enjoy together. He tells the story of his outrageous midlife adventure in this memoir of taking off for the mountains at the weekend’s early dawn to huff and puff his way toward climbing every one of the 14,000 foot mountains. Men will identify with this delightful story.

A debilitating disease that puts fear in the hearts of anyone approaching their senior years is Alzheimer’s. It has no cure and it does not appear that any new drug is on the horizon to offer one although some do offer some palliative use. Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik has teamed with Ellen Clegg to write The Alzheimer’s Solution: How Today’s Care is Failing Millions and How We Can Do Better ($19.00, Prometheus Books, softcover). As the Baby Boomer generation arrives to expand the elderly population the prospect of more cases is expected. This book offers a measure of hope and coping strategies for people facing Alzheimer’s now and in the future. Dr. Kosik is a neurologist and leading researcher on the disease. Ms. Clegg is a healthcare journalist. Together they outline a bold vision of one-stop centers for information about the care required, explaining why the current healthcare system is poorly equipped to deal with Alzheimer’s patients and how market economics stymies physician creativity. This is an extremely informative and provocative book on a subject that will loom larger and larger in the years ahead.

Getting Down to Business (Books)

The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz ($28.00, Free Press) takes a look at today’s workplace and finds it about as enervating as a salt mine. He points out that human beings aren’t designed to operate like computers—at high speeds, continuously, running multiple tasks at the same time, but as often as not that’s the kind of demand being put on today’s workers. The result is distracted, exhausted, and often demoralized workers in tough economic times. Written with Jean Gomes and Catherine McCarthy, PhD, the book offers a way for individuals to manage their energy more skillfully. It will help those in management positions by pointing out ways to ensure their co-worker’s energy levels are taken into account these days, creating organizational policies and practices that fuel rather than deplete human energy. It refutes the myths that people can get by with little sleep or that fear is a motivational device. It lays waste to the notion that multi-tasking is a good idea. As if the workplace wasn’t stressful enough, the process by which one selects a career path can also be a challenge. Work to Your Strengths by Chuck Martin, Richard Guare, PhD, and Peg Dawson, EdD, ($21.95, Amacom) puts forth a program on how best to identify one’s best skills and channel them into jobs that will prove satisfying over the long run. The authors say your brain is hardwired to function in certain ways and you have to match that to jobs where you will find the most success and satisfaction. It identifies specific executive skills that will enhance the work experience. This is not light reading, but it can ignite the kind of insight that you can use to make good choices.

Norlights Press in Nashville is a small press with a variety of eclectic titles, one of which is Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget ($15.00, softcover) by Maria Ross who brings 16 years of experience to her new book. We know how the big guys like Apple, Nike and Harley Davidson create a brand image that inspires countless consumers, but the author says a small business can do that as well and then provides the blueprint to do it. Branding effectively and connecting with customers is not about how much money you have to spend, she says, but how clearly, consistently and relevantly you can communicate your message. It’s about being authentic. Check out this title and others at www.norlightspress.com. In my lifetime I have seen the rise of women in the workplace. Iron Butterflies: Women Transforming Themselves and the World by Birute Regine ($19.00, Prometheus Books) examines the transition from the traditional roles to the revolution in which a society once based on domination and power over others is beginning to crumble as an era of cooperation and community emerges, founded on the principle that power should be shared with and for others. The author weaves together the stories of sixty successful women from all walks of life and throughout the world. She spent several years in eight nations interviewing dynamic, female role models from a Congresswoman to a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and others whom she calls her “Iron Butterflies.” For those of a philosophical inclination, this book will prove quite interesting.

What do you do if you have built a successful business and want to sell it? The first thing is to purchase Built to Sell by John Warrillow ($24.95, Flip Jet Media, Toronto). The author started and sold four companies, becoming in the process an expert on how to get the most value out of a business when selling it. He is a small business expert who is widely quoted in publicans from Business Week and Inc Magazine to USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. In this book he reveals the secret of building a business to sell, offering eight steps to making a business sellable. “You can always run a company as if it will last forever, and yet you should also strive constantly to maximize its value, building in the qualities that allow it to be sold at any moment.” Good advice.

Books for kids and Teens

For the toddler set, there’s a book that’s out just in time for Father’s Day on June 20. Dad and Pop: An Ode to Fathers & Stepfathers by Kelly Bennett ($15.99, Candlewick Press) and illustrated by Paul Meisel is aimed at kids age 4-to-7. In an era when half the marriages end in divorce and often lead to remarriage and a new father figure, this book offers warm illustrations and a comforting text on how to look at a happily blended-family scenario. It reassures that the birth dad and the step-dad both love their child. Dance, Y’All, Dance is another Kelly Bennett book, illustrated in a delightful fashion by Terri Murphy ($16.95, Bright Sky Press) that celebrates country music and the way folks of all ages love to dance to it. It recreates the fun and excitement of Saturday nights at the dancehall for ages 4 to 8. Also among the books for this age group is a wonderful story taken from real life, Miles of Smiles: The Story of Roxey, the Long Island Rail Road Dog (17.95, Blue Martin Publications) by Heather Hill Worthington with warm and wonderful illustration by Bill Farnsworth. Roxey became a legend 1900s when he was granted complete access by the crews of the Long Island railroad system. When he jumped on board President Teddy Roosevelt’s private car Teddy was delighted to learn he had a railroad pass attached to his collar and let him stay for a while.

For the teens, there are new novels coming along at a rapid rate, but first let me recommend Aim High: 101 Tips for Teens by Brad Berger ($9.75, www.aimhigh101tips.com) It is filled with short, easy to absorb points on how to speak, be helpful, acknowledge mistakes, forgive, maintain health, and lots, lots more. Any parent of a teenager, particularly the early teen years, will want to pick up a copy and just leave it around. It shortcuts the difficulties often encountered in communicating with this age group.

We know that teens will read a longer book from the Harry Potter series and Cory Doctorow has written a novel, For the Win, (17.99, a Tor Teen Book) that explores the world of labor politics and the free market economy in a worldwide post-economic collapse. Sounds timely, doesn’t it? The plot is about a movement that will draw opposing forces, Western corporations, the Chinese police, and organized crime into the ultimate struggle for freedom. Doctorow has won awards for his previous books with comparable adult themes and as co-editor of BoingBoing,net. It is set in the world of online gaming and is sure to intrigue any teen who picks it up.

Two softcover novels are worth a read for those ages 12 and up. Star Crossed: Taurus Eyes by Bonnie Hearn Hill ($9.95, Running Press Teens) and involves astrology, often an interest of teens. Logan is spending the summer at the camp of her dreams and is determined to secure a coveted writing spot in the camp’s anthology. It’s a summer of challenge and a bit of romance and Logan wonders if the stars can guide her through them. The Girl Next Door by Selene Castrovilla ($16.95, WestSide Books) offers a serious theme when 17-teen-year-old Sam, instead of worrying about final exams and the prom is trying to save her best friend’s life. He has a form of cancer that does not respond to treatment, but Sam is there by his side as friendship ripens into love as time threatens to run out. I will not give away the ending, but will recommend this interesting novel.

Novels, Novels, Novels

Summer is a traditional time for reading at the beach or just the back porch and there is a surfeit of novels for those who enjoy fiction.

Allie Larkin has written a funny, romantic novel about a woman who watches the longtime love of her life marry her best friend instead. Stay ($25.95, Dutton/Penguin Group) is the story of how she drowns her sorrow initially in Kool-Aid-vodka cocktails and watches reruns of Rin Tin Tin. Then, impulsively, she buys a German shepherd over the Internet. Her new companion, Joe, is a clumsy, slobbering hundred-pound beast that only responds to commands in Slovak! But he helps her begin to mend her broken heart and it doesn’t hurt that Joe’s vet is a rugged sweetheart with floppy blond hair and a winning smile. This is a warm, witty, laugh-out-loud story and a very good debut. Another debut novel is by Brando Skyhorse. In The Madonnas of Echo Park ($23.00, Free Press), just published this month, he gives voice to a Mexican community in Los Angeles not far from Dodger Stadium. We are introduced to and come to know the story of Aurora Esperanza, a young girl caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting with a dozen other girls and mothers while acting out a scene from a Madonna music video. This is straight out of the life of the author, himself a Mexican-American, who knows these people well having been born and raised in Echo Park. This is a very timely story and a moving one that will provide a window into the world of Hispanics.

Andy Andrews takes the reader back to World War Two in The Heart Mender: A Story of Second Chances ($18.99, Thomas Nelson) when a German U Boat officer is betrayed for refusing to kill Americans while sinking supply ships destined for Europe in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942. Shot by a fanatical Nazi and left for dead at sea, he washed ashore in Alabama where he is found by a beautiful young woman whose husband has been in killed by Germans in the war. Torn between leaving him to die and saving his life, she elects to hide him until he recovers and tries to elude capture. The stage is set for an extraordinary emotional and action-packed journey as both explore their past lives and face a crucial decision together. It is a story of how people overcome anger and hate, and about the value of forgiveness; a gift to yourself and others. In The Wave ($18.95, Sherman Asher Publishing, softcover) author Tom Miller uses his degree in geology, his thousand dives as a recreational scuba diver, and a thousand hours piloting everything from a small Cessna to Lear jets, combining them the fact that the big island of Hawaii is surrounded by massive undersea landslides. An earthquake or volcano eruption could trigger staggering tsunamis. Combine that with a heart-pounding story filled with nail-biting events and you have one heck of a tale that will keep you turning the page.

Henry Roth (1906-1995) wrote novels that were always a literary event when published. He’s perhaps best known for Call It Sleep (1934), but he was always highly regarded. Now, fifteen years after his passing, another novel, An American Type, has been published ($25.95, W.W. Norton). Set in 1938, it tells the story of his alter ego, Ira Stigman, who at 32 years of age is standing, in his words, “at the portentous crossroads of maturity.” His first novel has been published to wide acclaim and he is doted upon and provided for by an older women, the alter ego of Eda Lou Walton who was Roth’s lover at the time. In the novel, Ira is experiencing the angst of initial success and keeps re-writing the first pages of a second novel. His relationship with his lover feels like a Faustian contract he’ll never escape, and he is terrified of what stretches out before him. Written in the years before his death, this is a wonderful look inside the life of authors to whom success has come swiftly and unexpectedly. Fans of Roth will enjoy this along with anyone who wants a look inside the life of novelists who must draw on their own lives for inspiration. It is funny, touching, and a lot of fun to read.

Among the softcover novels worth reading is Samantha Bruce-Benjamin’s The Art of Devotion ($15.00, Gallery Books), a haunting debut novel filled with secrets, love, betrayal, obsession, and deceit. It is a window into one family’s dark and complex history as told from the view of four women and tells the story of the emotional damage within a family led by a matriarch who was tragically widowed too soon, the almost inappropriately close relationship between her son and daughter, and the deceit of an outsider. Its plot is too intricate to describe, but that makes for a story that is hard to put down once begun. The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge ($15.95, Counterpoint) will please those familiar with the poet Elizabeth Bishop. In 1951 she boarded a ship bound for South America to visit friends in Rio de Janeiro for two weeks and stayed for seventeen years. In a mesmerizing debut novel, Sledge creates an intimate portrait of Bishop, her life in Brazil and her relationship with her lover, the aristocratic Lota de Macedeo Soares. Drawing on her lifelong correspondences and biography, he imagines the poet’s intensely private life, lived in conflict with herself as a writer and a woman. There is much to admire and enjoy in this novel that closely mirrors the reality of the poet’s life.

For the girls, Sophie Hannah serves up suspense in The Dead Lie Down (15.00, Penguin Books) in a story about Ruth Bassey to whom a man confesses a murder committed years ago, but Ruth knows a woman of the same name as the alleged victim and she is very much alive. Set against the background of the London art scene, this story has twists and turns for which the author has acquired a growing base of fans. Just out this month is Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth ($13.99, Tyndale House Publishers) is set in a five-star resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Riley Sinclair has just settled into her new job as director of guest relations while putting her own life together again. With a hurricane headed straight for the resort, Riley and three women guests forge unlikely but powerful friendships as they each deal with varying fears. The result is laughter and lunacy, heartache and healing. The prolific novelist, Jane Green, has proven her writing chops and is back for some summer reading with Dune Road ($15.00, Plume). Set in a Connecticut town, Kit Hargrove has bounced back from her divorce with a new sense of freedom. She’s enjoying her life and can’t believe she had landed a job as the assistant to a dashing, famously reclusive novelist, Robert McClore. At a rare book event, Robert meets Kit’s friend, Tracy, who has a weakness for older men. Life begins to get complicated again and ties to friends and family become crucial. It’s an intriguing tale.

Finally, my friend, David H. Brown, has penned a classic mystery, Murder at 250 Center Street, ($15.99, Author House) with a plot that has so many twists and turns you will not want to stop reading. From abandoned newborn fraternal twins found in an apartment building basement after eight days, to their teenage mother being shot to death shortly after delivery, to a lapse of two decades when the murder weapon is found, the story just rockets along, buoyed by a great cast of characters, more deaths, a bizarre trial, and much more. They used to call such a novel a pot boiler because the lid was sure to blow at any moment. Treat yourself to this one.

That’s it for June! And do come back in July for still more news of the best of new non-fiction and fiction. Tell all your book-loving friends about Bookviews, too!