Book Review: Still Alice (OT)(early onset Alzheimer's, also a movie)

 Still Alice, by Lisa Genova (Simon and Schuster, 2009, $16, 293 pp PB)

The Plot

An enthralling movie (2014) made me pick up the book* when I saw it and not want to put it down. For some reason, I identified with Alice even though I am not a Psychology professor at a prestigious college that I and my science professor husband can walk to, don't live in New England, don't have a house on the beach or three adult children with one grand on the way, am not a runner - so I don't know why I liked this book (and movie) so much. Perhaps it is because Julianne Moore won an Academy Award for portraying Alice.

I believe that if you read a book and see the movie, or see a movie and then read the book, that your favorite is the one you read/watch first. In rare circumstances you like both equally: To Kill a Mockingbird,

The Help,

and now, Still Alice. 

The astute inhabitant of today's world will know how the book ends but will keep reading it to hope against hope and to experience what gradual loss of memory feels like from the patient's point of view and because all the characters are likable. We want to shake Alice's husband, however, but love the estranged daughter for handling Alice so naturally - real, with all the bumps experienced in life. 

Written by a neurocientist, you will wonder just how much is true in this work of fiction. Most likely, the science and medicine are true, as well as the characters' feelings, emotions and reactions. And you will find the book and movie to be wonderfully on track** with each other. Remember that Alice has early-onset Alzheimer's which seemed to progress fairly rapidly. And keep it on your bookshelf to read again next year, after watching the movie again.

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* and yes, butterflies are significant

** This reviewer found a couple of scenes in the book that are not in the movie and vice versa but perhaps the bookmark fell out and was replaced in the wrong chapter. . . . 

Book Review: Dog Tags, Strays (Vietnam, Military Working Dog, YA novel)

Dog Tags: Strays, by C. Alexander London (Scholastic, 2012, 210 pp, $5.99, ages 10-14, book 2 in a 4-book series*) Review by Skye Anderson

How Far Would You Go To Save a Life?

We meet Chuck and Ajax, his German Shepherd military working dog (MWD), a scout dog, in Vietnam. Teams like Chuck and Ajax rotate from unit to unit and generally work as point, leading a patrol and acting as an early warning, thus saving lives. Chuck is at the end of his fourth tour, having re-upped because he feels his work in important, but suddenly he receives orders to return to the States near the end of the Vietnam Conflict. 

But what about Ajax? Chuck has been put in for a Bronze Star* but MWDs do not return home. Some have contracted a 'jungle disease' but most are classified as surplus military equipment and are euthanized not released while a war is going on and due to the expense of sending dogs back. A few are turned over to friendly forces, the ARVN.

A Hard Book to Read

About halfway through arises the realization that not all dogs make it back to the States after a conflict: they are euthanized (or were, in previous conflicts) at a rather young age. This can be very difficult for youngsters to learn about, particularly if they have a pet dog. For this reason, it might be a good idea for a parent to read this book first and then decide if the child is ready for it. And, of course, the parent should be ready for a discussion about this (and about other topics such as AWOL).

What The Reader Will Learn**

Young readers will learn a little about being a soldier during wartime in the Vietnam Conflict, as author Alexander London manages to seamlessly sneak in a history lesson or two. The reader will learn a lot about foxholes as all soldiers are experienced in digging and sleeping in.

The Plot

Strays is a thrill a minute (after about halfway) and the soldiers are very lucky as they flit from one situation to another. This reviewer tried to guess what would happen and was usually incorrect. Hopefully the young reader will be able to tell the characters apart (there are several of them) and the epilogue was probably written more for the adult reader, even causing some tears to flow.

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* but after 2 years, 1 month and 19 days, ". . . if anyone deserved the Bronze Star,  it was Ajax. Chuck was just the guy at the other end of the leash." (p. 72)"

** just a couple of things that illustrate poetic license perhaps: in the book, the command to stop firing was "Hold your fire!" but in my Army (1983 and beyond) the command was "Cease fire!" And MWDs nowadays are nearly pets when off-duty and dearly beloved by soldiers in the unit - petted and played with. Author London portrays Ajax as being rather barky and not terribly friendly towards other soldiers in the unit to the point that some fear him. And a dog's thoughts off-duty tend to be "Am I full and am I safe? Is it time to play?"

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Book 1: Semper Fido (Afghanistan, Black Lab)

Book 2: Strays

Book 3: Prisoners of War (WW2, Doberman)

Book 4: Divided We Fall (Civil War, hound)

Book Review: No Ordinary Dog (My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid)

No Ordinary Dog (My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid), by Will Chesney (St. Martin's, 2021, $21, 336pp) Review by Skye Anderson

No wonder No Ordinary Dog is a bestseller! Nevertheless, this reviewer gives you permission to skip chapters 3 and 4: they are simply an extension of the first two chapters about SEAL* training. Additionally, you may skim the last pages also because too much detail is presented, over and over again. 

Author Will Chesney begins the book with his rather elongated (laborious?) story of joining the Navy and the rigors of SEAL training: the details may bog you down plus it is hard to believe he remembered those months in such detail. 

The Dog

Cairo is the Belgian Malinois MWD** (military working dog) who played a part, albeit small, in Operation Neptune Spear but do you know exactly what he did? 

We remember the pictures of him wearing goggles and body armour but did you know he was born in Europe and cost the US Navy 10,000$ as a youngster, before his Navy SEAL training?

The author remarks often on the bond between him and the dog but we don't experience this first-hand, perhaps because the author mentions it so often rather than showing us, instead.

UBL

Osama bin Laden was killed by US SEALs in 2011 in Abbotabad, Pakistan, during a surprise night raid of his residential compound (and surprising to me was the success of the raid). He had been the leader of al Qaeda and came to light after 911.

The Book Club

This reviewer is a member of a veterans' book club that has been meeting for seven  years. She generally reviews our monthly selections, sometimes before we meet and sometimes after our discussions (so she can incorporate some member comments). The group selected this book on her recommendation (she is also a dog trainer) and found out that some book club members had peripherally worked with MWDs but were not "dog-people" while others were dog-people.

We had varied views after reading No Ordinary Dog - from considering it to be poorly written to highly recommended. Some were disappointed in not meeting Cairo for so many pages. The reviewer was particularly disappointed in the use (albeit rarely) of an e-collar (electric - not positive reinforcement)

Every veteran will learn a lot from author Will Chesney, whether it be the continuous training rigors of the Navy's special operations forces (SOF) or the closeness of the SEAL teams or even just the details of the UBL raid and Cairo's part in it.

*SEAL - Sea, Air, and Land

**On page 140, the author seems to mention the story of another MWD in OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom), "Max, Best Friend, Hero, Marine," about a service member who is killed in action and his MWD is given to his family but has trouble readjusting to life back in the States. Watch the trailer here.

Book Review: Camille and the Silver Thorn (OT)(children's book, Christian values)

Camille and the Silver Thorn, by Rhonda Rein (Carriage Light, 2022, 139 pp, $7.99, ages 8-11)

The front cover of the book hooked me! Is it a boy or a girl? Is there a dog or a fox? Love it, whatever.

It is Saturday and 11-year-old Camille is playing outside in her Kansas backyard, checking in with her neighbor every once in a while since her dad is at work and her mom passed away. She notices a little red door, leading to a gnome home, at the base of a large tree and discovers a whole different world within. 

Much like Alice of Alice in Wonderland, Camille goes on an adventure that is too exciting to believe.  Her adventure also includes the opportunity to save a civilization, after she receives training from the elf in the tree (geren-haired Lila Elfonso) and others she meets along the way. 

A Creative Version of Wizard of Oz?

This story moves along at an impressive clip with tests along the way.

The Eyes Have It

Lila the Elf , "about the height of an unsharpened pencil," sees a kindred spirit in Camille as do others in Lila's world. It's in her eyes. It is this that convinces everyone to trust Camille to save their world but it is not easy as she goes from trial to trial and makes progress along the way - but will it be enough? Will Camille be able to do what others have not been able to do - save an entire world?

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Kindle version: 

Book Review: Simple Lies, An Amish Inn Mystery (Christmas, mysterious 'gifts')

Simple Lies: An Amish Inn Mystery, by Jan Fields (Annie's, 2026, $19.99HB, 205pp, a cozy mystery)

The Speed

We like fast-reading books that you can't put down. At the very least, you have to - put it down, but can't wait to get back to it. Many books start out slow - slow enough that readers don't stick with the book and lay it aside. Permanently. Simple Lies starts out slow but then picks up speed.

Weird Christmas in April?

There is noting wrong with Christmas in April. As a matter of fact, it just might be the thing you need. Minus the horror, though. And minus the bones and minus the other weird stuff like shopkeepers in a quaint little town finding packages on their doorstep and, upon opening them, finding stinky moldy hay and bones - but as the gifts inside escalate in horror (rags, a dead mouse, etc.) someone must find out who is doing this and why.

On the Other Hand

On the other hand, we read of an attorney from the big city settling down in a small Amish town as the innkeeper until her ex-fiancee comes to visit and cause havoc. On the other hand, we have the innkeeper's friends who own a quaint little bakery or another store and are her friends, as well as a couple of Amish women who work at the inn and okeeper.her Amish who are actually relatives of our inn-keeper.

And Don't Forget Beans!

Beans is the inn's resident bulldog, a real sleeper. Beans doesn't  have a large role in the story but is a constant and a cover model as well.

Book Review: Inequality by Design (OT) (planned obsolescence?)

Inequality by Design, by Ryan Mattson and Ben Johnson (Upriver Press. $24.95, 264pp PB, 2025)

Inequality by design, Planned obsolescence. But now, along with people's lives and occupations and Socio Economic Status (SES) and educational opportunities and tax brackets.

Authors Ryan Mattson and Ben Johnson have written a book that is spellbinding, a non-fiction book that reads like fiction, a book you simply cannot put down. Inequality by Design follows three highschool seniors from graduation to their lives ten years later and then twenty years later and . . . .Whatever happened to the promise at graduation that hard work will let you climb the ladder to success? Our highschool grads eventually learn that their success also depends on new laws passed by the government, which the average person has no inkling of nor time to pay attention to. All they know is that life is tough through no fault of their own. They are losing ground.

Although graphs are large enough to be read easily, the print accompanying them is readable only by squinting. The cover design shows something breaking, an up arrow and a down arrow, a mountain (?) and a body of water: I would suggest a design that is more obvious to the naive reader. Most importantly, I would put the subtitle on the cover (How a Rigged Economy Fractures America and What We Can Do About It).

The authors somehow make complex ideas understandable in conversational tones. I would take a class from these two in any subject. I would read any book they wrote.

Book Review: We the People (OT) (A Premonition)

We the People, A Premonition, by Russell Razzaque and T. MacGregor (Omni House Press, 2025, $9.99, 244pp PB)

Have you wondered what the future will bring, politically? Children do: they have illogical fears. I know I did- about nuclear war. Well, the future is now, or at least on its way and visible. This dystopian novel creates one such future.

The cover is magnetic - amid a destroyed New York City is featured Lady Liberty with injuries - this contradicts the title, We the People. The reader must read to find out why the contradiction. Or, reading the back cover, the reader is given a glimpse of the plot, setting and characters (and AI). It most likely will be a thriller but perhaps an unsettling thriller (and it's good to have both women and men protagonists).

We the People is a fast read and one that appeals to Hiispanic readers. The authors do a good job of inserting Spanish sentences whose meanings can be deduced in the following text.

The Table of Contents is interesting: chapter titles are One, Two, Three (with the final chapter being called "Now it's over to you!") and appear in Part One, Two or THREE [sic] as if the authors or publisher couldn't come up with better titles - but I like them!

*Lines are spaced rather far apart vertically and, unfortunately, too many errors are still present (the Mariel boat life took place in 1980 not 1982, e.g.) which include occasional uneven spacing between words. Where are the proofreaders when you need them?

Given all this, People is well written, well thought out and a different yet fascinating read for discussion.

Book Review: The Catalysts (OT) (the accelerating forces forging the new world financial order)

The Catalysts (The Accelerating Forces Forging the New World Financial Order), by Amanda Wick (Racket  Publishing, $34.95 PB, 2025, 417pp PB) 

The title, The Catalysts, and the front cover illustration led me to believe this book was about the environment. Great! But I was wrong: the subtitle contains the word, financial. Therefore, I put this book at the bottom of my list to read and review. When its turn came up I found out just how wrong I had been - early on. (P.S. Will the average reader know what a catalyst is, or just the chemistry majors?)

Author Amanda Wick opens her book with a zinger - the January 6 incident in Washington, DC. And she writes a non-fiction book that reads like fiction - fast and fascinating.

Subtitles in each chapter are extremely helpful as is the good-sized print which enables one to read in bed at night under less than ideal lighting circumstances.

An amazingly clear debut text with uncluttered drawings of graphs, key points at the ends of chapters (and it might be good to put them in the beginning of said chapters as well), headings and subheadings and subsubheadings emphasize important points for the reader. 

My final comment would be to write a companion book, shorter, and for the populace rather than for  public policymakers, regulators and concerned citizens.

Book Review: Through the Gates of Hell (OT), American Injustice at Guantanamo Bay

Through the Gates of Hell (OT), American Injustice at Guantanamo Bay, by Joshua Colangelo-Bryan (Humanitas Media, 2025, $27.00HB, 232pp HB)

As I've said before, a good book has a good story to tell and is well-written (also called magic since it is hard to define, but "I know it when I see it" [also said in the past of pornography]).

The reader knows a good book early on - by thumbing through it or by starting to read the first few paragraphs or words.

Many good books have been written by journalists or by former authors though not this book. Through the Gates of Hell is authored by a first-time author - an attorney to boot! Joshua Colangelo-Bryan must attempt to explain a lot of legal lingo in words the average person can understand - without being too boring. I believe he has done a quite good job.

Front cover designs are becoming more and more important in selling what is inside and becoming more fashionable to the book buyer (though not necessarily for the library patron. Hell's front cover, though perhaps I should refer to the book as Gates rather than Hell, depicts a wall topped by barbed wire, a universal photo.

Books have changed the world, from sparking an interest in a youngster so he or she goes into a specific occupation or causes someone to visit a certain foreign country. I am not sure Hell will do this but the author is a highly ethical person, even though an attorney, and that shows in the 'plot.'

And lastly, a good book is good all the way through. Hell is this, also. It is a piece of nonfiction that reads like fiction and brings in the rest of the world.

Through the Gates of Hell is a good book. It is about one of the detainees/prisoners at Gitmo (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) and his American attorney and the hours they spent talking their case (Jaber's release, after 911), and their legal fight for Jaber's freedom due to perhaps mistaken identity.

A sobering, spellbinding, yet inspirational book. Can we really be the bad guys?

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I have read a few authors that I really like, not only as an author but as a person. Josh is one such person due to his high ethics. At the least, I would like to meet him.

I might suggest that some sensitive readers skip much of the beginning material which depicts treatment of prisoners at Gitmo (Guantanamo). And it was hard for me to believe that much of that treatment was going on - not the Army I knew in the war against terrorism (but I did get an inkling of it when I was in Afghanistan).

Gates does get bogged down in much of the book and that makes it hard to read because we know how it ends, we merely have to read the entire book to find out under what circumstances and when it gets resolved. And some might wonder why the book is about one Bahraini man when there were six at Gitmo at the time.

Book Review: The Immigrant Next Door (OT)(Collected stories of the American experience)

The Immigrant Next Door (Collected stories of the American experience), by JamesKenyon (Meadowlark Press, 2024, 301pp, $25)

What an amazing title! And penned by a veterinarian to boot! Thirty-one stories of 31 immigrants to the  United States - when they came, why they came, and "the rest of the story."

Two chapters, two stories stand out: Elizabeth Drummond Hempfling who saw an ad in her native British newspaper in the late 60s for a nanny for 3-year-old twins in New Hampshire and Isabel Posso Diedrichs from Ecuador, who ended up in Montana (of all places) for college, pledging Kappa Alpha Theta.

The stories belong to the immigrants - people who come to the US, some with the intention of staying and some with not, but who manage to spend their life here anyway.

These stories are mini-biographies with the added bonus of supplying a considerable amount of information about the immigrant's home countries: from Myanmar to Bosnia to Ghana.

Not the first book from this author-veterinarian, The Immigrant Next Door has its hills and valleys of well-written paragraphs and sentences, as if some were carefully crafted, as if some were written by an experienced editor - most just telling a homey story.                                                                            

Suggestions

I was surprised at the dearth of stories from Asia or the Far East (China, Thailand, etc.); nonetheless, a good selection is to be had (read and remembered). You will have your favorites, along with their photos. And the story of how this book came to be is also memorable which may account for the selection of home countries. 

The United States is such a lucky country!

Book Review: The Wire-Walker (OT) (love, care, dreaming)

The Wire-Walker, by James Janko (Regal House Publishing, 2025, #20.95, 310pp PB)

The cover design with illustration, colors, and title is only slightly magnetic and I probably would not have purchased the book, The Wire-Walker. I might have thought it was about a circus, which, in a way, it is. But it is so much more than just a book about a circus. Although the title is 'appropo' I would suggest something more engaging to grab the reader's attention. However, the praise from other authors that is included made my decision for me, even though I knew next to nothing about this part of the world.  

Wire-Walker reads like a work of fiction, which is actually is, with lovely creative prose.

Our 16 year-old Palestinian protagonist lives in a refugee camp* and has learned to walk tightropes so she goes to the 'other' side (Israel) to improve her skills in the circus for kids, The Flying Kids, in which she is an 'aerialist' not a 'tightrope walker.'

One of the subplots will have you reading fast and faster to see what her twin brother finds and finds out. ----------------------------

*Balata has dwellings so crowded they remind me of one of the slums in the Far East with alleys so narrow that one can touch buildings on both sides at the same time and, when looking up,  can see only a sliver of sky and only at noon.

Book Review: Politics, Gangs and Vodou (OT)(Haiti's Struggle for Democracy and Human Rights)

Politics, Gangs and Vodou (Haiti's Struggle for Democracy and Human Rights) by Yvon Milien (Yvon Milien, 2025, $18.99, 268pp) 

Halfway through the introduction and after perusing the 'parts' like the Table of Contents, I realized the reader should read Politics, Gangs, and Vodou in chapter order, for it explains the history and culture, and delves into the future. Then, lo and behold, the next page in the introduction said the same thing but was more forgiving in that the second most valuable way to read the book is to just open it and start where your interests lie.

On second thought, there are 12 sections, each with chapters for a total of 30 chapters. The most memorable divisions in any object are a total of 3 but often goes up to 7 (unsuccessfully). Politics, with12 divisions, is unwieldly with sections that are hard to keep in mind and remember. Many times a book like this would include history, the current day, plans for the future, and maybe culture. However, with short chapters, Politics does a good job.

How can one describe how a nation came to be "born in chains, baptized in fire, and cast into the world alone, . . ."? Once the wealthiest (French) colony in the world due to its climate, soil and indigenous slaves, once Haiti won its freedom, the struggle began.

In order to understand Haiti, author Yvon Milien compares it to the US and compares authoritarianism to democracy, more than just elections, with civilian power and military rule.

Book Review: The Last Bake Sale (OT), The Fight for Fair School Funding

The Last Bake Sale, The Fight for Fair School Funding, by Andru Volinshky (Peter E. Randall Publisher, 2025, $24.95, 224pp )

 

The Last Bake Sale will open your eyes to the issue of underfunded, unequal education for public school students all across the country - and their origins from t he 1600s to the present day. We all live in a bubble and either resides in a school district that funds their schools well or doesn't, but those in the latter districts may not be aware that this has been a problem for eons and is also a problem throughout the nation.

Well-organized, Bake Sale begins with the situation today on the national scene, then focuses several chapters on the situation in New Hampshire and finally proposes some solutions based on New Hampshire where the author resides and has worked on more equitable school funding for many years.

Well-written by an attorney who later ran for (New Hampshire) governor, Bake Sale alternates from being told in the third person to the first person and is very effective in doing so. The reader will almost turn into an expert on New Hampshire school funding over the years nearly to the point of being a word-for-word transcription of some court cases. The reader will become more familiar with Plessy v Ferguson ('separate but equal') and Brown v Board of Education ('separate is not equal').

Readers especially interested in Bake Sale would be those who have lived in New Hampshire or have had children in the school system there (or anywhere) as well as educators and politicians across the country. I would suggest readers take notes because the play-by-play accounts could get detailed and one needs to read this book in chronological order (page by  page).

Book Review: Employment Ethics (OT), Redefining the Employer-Employee Relationship

Employment Ethics, Redefining the Employer-Employee Relationship, by Travis Schachtner (FTS Leaders, 2025, $19.99, 184pp) 

A Gem! 

We have all had a job (or two. . . ) that we just didn't like, but was it the people or the work itself? And how much of a role does salary play, or the manager? Let's redefine the 'employer-employee relationship' in the words of author Travis Schachtner.

Where's the Beef?

It is here. Being a rather small, affordable book enables the reader to carry it with him or her in a purse of pocket, to return to in  spare time. The concerpts are grad school concepts written in everyday language with examples being primarily of blue-collar employment.

Bringing in Maslow's hierarchy of needs and relating it to the real world of work can be challenging but the author does a good job of this (was it his PhD thesis?)

Much (too much?) of the book explains the premise which is: "Employers emphasize financial efficiency seeking to maximize productivity while minimizing labor costs. Employees, however, value their personal time, viewing work as an exchange of giving effort for a certain amount of time for ethical compensation." (p. 44) And much of the time, the author poses questions that outline a poor employer-employee relationship.

 A second theme compares a strong marriage to the employer-employee relationship while a one-night stand (contractors, PT or gig work) or an abusive relationship could be likened to other types of marriages.

And what book would be replete without mention of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the Monogah mining or Hawk's Nest Tunnel Disaster or Willow Island but do you know what improvements in employment law resulted?

Several chapters end with reflections that are questions to summarize the chapter and cause the reader to evaluate his situation. Anyone picking up this book is probably in a difficult work situation and Employment Ethics, besides acting as a therapist, gives a structure to correct the situation.

Suggestions

I'd like to see Employment Ethics in greater use, perhaps by being shorter or condensing the first third or even by adding illustrations. Although I understand the items on the cover, I'd prefer a cover that is more magnetic and grabs the potential  reader to explore inside. 

Book Review: Befriending China, People-to-People Peacemaking (OT)

Befriending China, People-to-People Peacemaking, by Dee Knight (Solidarity Publications, 2025, $14.95, 187pp)

With a nice cover photo (look closely and you will see the flag of China - the stars - a lovely surprise for those who discover it), and descriptive title and subtitle, Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking might be thought of as controversial but there is enough travel story embedded to be enticing reading nonetheless.

The book appears to be written in two parts and perhaps by two people: a travelogue followed by serious comparisons of China and the US and their current relationship, with the world, and future goals. Author Dee Knight has also included how to best travel to China (visa information, etc.)

The author made several recent trips to China, covering much of the country, which is what the reader will take away: the large cities (besides Beijing), the vastness of the western part of the country and their numerous ethnic groups, the 'green-ness' of China (concern for the environment), concern by the government for poverty and what they are doing to help people. And, yes, COVID has a section.

A couple of possible typos caught my eye, which is acceptable in a book (though no more than that) and led me to wonder if the author, editor, or publisher might be British. One of these is the spelling of 'pop sickles' on page xx. That is a difficult word to spell and many have to look it up each time, but it just seemed not quite right.

The map on page 5 might be viewed more frequently if it were in the front of the book and given a caption like other's of the book's illustrations. Several illustrations are accompanied by their sources and a few appeared to be photocopied. The graph on page 80 is interesting in that each bar grows almost at the same rate with no dips in the data while the graph on page 97 (and others) seems 'taken' from a source. All quotes also should be referenced (Pompeo's on page 84) and all graphs need both the x- and y-axes labelled (page 97).

Generally editors settle on a method and stick to it, whatever it might be, since there may be no one correct way of writing a specific thing. For example, US or U. S. - either is correct as long as its use is consistent throughout the document.

Book Review: You're Telling my Kids They Can't Read This Book? (OT)

You're Telling my Kids They Can't Read This Book? by Andrew Laties (Rebel Bookseller, 2025, 106pp, $14) 

Our Hundred-Year Children's-Literature Revolution and How We'll Keep Fighting to Support Our Families' Right to Read

Love the front cover - just the title in white on a black background with the font gradually increasing in size.

With a target audience of  parents, teachers and librarians, You're Telling My Kids They Can't Read This Book is challenging, contemporary and captivating. Librarians and booksellers have done an outstanding job in recent years spreading the word about banned books, censorship and their negative consequences. Telling also tells the viewpoint of publishers, educators, authors, and even students resulting in a short book, well-organized.

Did you know Goodnight, Moon never found its way into the New York City Public Library's children's reading room, because it 'had no plot. . . '? Learn why librarians across the country disliked* Maurice Sendak's 1964 Caldecott-medal-winning Where the Wild Things Are.

This book is not for the faint-hearted especially due to the number of four-letter words in the chapter about students' viewpoints.

Describing the history of children's sections in public libraries was fascinating: every reader will find something to marvel at and remember in Telliing. A possible weak point is the emphasis on the story of Little Black Sambo. I think the subject could have been covered more clearly: the elders among us remember little black Sambo fondly while those of us who are younger may not have heard of him.

It's good to remember in this day and age that in the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes "We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions of those we loathe."

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*Because Max is disobedient to his mother but ultimately receives no punishment

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"Children's librarians today are on the front lines, working against book bans.  Modern librarianship has a punk aesthetic: pink hair, tattoos and a nose ring.

"This wasn't always so.

"For much of the twentieth century, librarians were stereotyped as straight-laced, glasses-wearing, buttoned-up, asexual women, their hair in a tight bun, whose notorious habit was aggressively shushing. . . ." (p. 47)

Book Review: Snake in the Grass, a Fina Mendoza Mystery

Snake in the Grass: A Fina Mendoza Mystery, by Kitty Felde (Chesapeake Press, 2025, 287pp, $11.90)

Ten-year-old Fina now lives with her dad (and 16-year-old sister and grandmother) in Washington, DC, since her mother passed away. Her father is a member of Congress from California which gives author Kitty Felde plenty of information for another book in the Fina Mendoza mystery series (numbeer 3).

I had to read this book twice, I learned so much more the second time around about the House, about the best places to snack (according to a 10 yo), about which Senators and Representatives had dogs!

Snake in the Grass, Or Wolf in Sheep's Closing?

Readers not familiar with the phrase, snake in the grass, will learn it (the same as 'sheep in wolf's clothing') and debate among themselves if the snake phrase should have been the title of the book. On one hand, the wolf phrase is better known but less prone to being portrayed in a book about 'real life.'

Set in contemporary times (maybe this year), author Kitty Felde simply doesn't mention the political party of our starring family or any of the other characters, making it fun to guess their real names and parties. And not too hard, either.

Basically every page (every paragraph?) has the opportunity for elementary school age children to learn about how our government operates. But still, the emphasis is on the plot - Fina solves another capital mystery aided and abetted by Senator Something (probably a golden retriever and the cover dog), this one about a snake in a gym bag that bites a Congressman, an Independent (while our starring family is Democratic, no doubt).

Who placed the snake in the bag and why? Is this the beginning of another political war between the two parties with a girl and a dog in the middle? Read it to find out!

A fast-paced story, Snake in the Grass can easily be read in almost one sitting. The characters are a real family and (drum roll, please!) did you know that Congress is populated with dogs, like Senator Something, my favorite? Fina walks him after school for 5$ so the people who make DC work know her. Well.

Look carefully at the cover and you will see, besides Senator Something, a snake! 

Book Review: Scabmuggers (OT)(A Novel)

Scabmuggers: A Novel, by Yvonne Martinez (She Writes Press, $17.99, 110pp, 2025)

Based on a true story, Scabmuggers is like no other book you have read. It's fast reading, composed primarily of dialogue and covers many subjects from Harvard to Geisha Girls to unions.

The protagonist and narrator, Simone from Seattle, is selected to attend a four-month course at Harvard on unions. Students come from all over the world (Japan, Australia, etc.) and the curriculum is fascinating - a course I would love to take myself.

Attendees take up sides when one woman (a plant?) is the recipient of unwanted attention from a male student. The 'sides' continue until graduation when class speakers are chosen, then unchosen, then chosen once more.

Scabmuggers is easy reading if you can remember all the students' names (at lease 16 are mentioned) and which side they are on. Both the subject matter and the writing style are contemporary, leading this reader to get lost at times since she has not kept up with the latest lingo.

Scabmuggers is well-organized and follows attendees throughout the course from day one to graduation, including weekends, and rises to a climax when the graduation speaker is announced. At times, the reader will have to read slowly, or get lost, but that is fine: it is a good test and if you fail, you realize it and simply back up and reread a few sentences.

Although this reader has never been to Harvard, the description of the campus in winter and the interiors of centuries-old buildings seems historical, traditional and even inspirational.

Book Review: The Black Sea Whale: A Beacon in the Sea of Troubles (OT)

The Black Sea Whale: A Beacon in the Sea of Troubles, by The Froms (The Magazine Cafe, 2026, 121pp, $25)

A lovely, heavy, literary magazine, a fictional collection of true stories based on current life in Ukraine, this is the third issue and contains four selections. More like a small book with simply gorgeous illustrations, Issue Number 3 contains examples of brilliant writing.

From villages and cities, academics and peasants, young and old, the reader gets a flavor of what living abroad is like for both the resident and the foreigner. And The Black Sea Whale will bring back memories of when the reader was not a tourist but someone living abroad.

Mistaken for a book about sea life at first, Whale is more than just symbolic as "a beacon in a sea of troubles." The characters are real, and though some (all right, many) leave town one after another, due to the gravity of the situation, others stay and survive because they understand the rules of the game.

The prose is lilting, the stories move along, with pictures in the reader's mind or depicted by the illustrators. One can read a story in one sitting or pause and come back without missing a beat. And the reader just may pay more attention to new about Ukraine or even search for articles on the war in the media.

Marichka Melnyk writes about accepting graft in the police world while Mace describes city life and Paddington even appears on page 11!

Book Review: Beyond the Politics of Contempt (OT) (Practical Steps to Buiild Positive Relationships in Divided Times)

Beyond the Politics of Contempt (Practical Steps to Buiild Positive Relationships in Divided Times), by Doug Teschner, Beth Malow and Becky Robinson (Together Across Differences, 302pp,, 2025, $19.95)

What a timely book to help heal America as she continues on the road to becoming more and more divided into silos. The cover illustrates that point with two groups of people - one blue and one red, separated by nothing but empty space. The title appears in red though I would put some words in blue, too.

Like the Dummies books or Idiot's guides that are elementary but excellent, the three authors of Beyond the Politics of Contempt have produced a bookful of ideas, explanations, and helpful hints, via boxed text and cute little figures. I believe Doug Teschner, Beth Malow and Becky Robinson have co-written a section then added their own anecdotes to make the 'lessons' on leadership more memorable - and it works. In addition, each chapter ends with additional questions, For Further Thought. The writing is easy to follow (perhaps due to simple illustrations) and short ideas flow into others. One appendix even has a checklist, a pathway to follow to help our nation heal.

The authors met in Braver Angels, "a citizens' organization uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize America."

The authors discuss a graphic that is rather like a Johari Window (with Urgent and Important axes) but do not show the graphic itself so if the reader is not familiar with it, it slides by him. The reader is helped to remember COVID, and learns concepts like healthy and unhealthy conflict, how major decisions, if gone the other way, would result in different paths, and how we tend to gather round us, those who are like us.

This is a book that could very well help to change the world by starting with the individual.

Book Review: Stand Up, Speak Up (OT) (How survivors created a movement to end sexual violence)

Stand Up, Speak Up (How survivors created a movement to end sexual violence), by Tim Lennon (self-published by Tim Lennon, 2025, $24, 320pp)

My first question was why was a man writing a book about sexual abuse/violence but it didn't take long (though I was embarrassed) to remember that men can be sexually abused too. It happened to author Tim Lennon - by a Catholic priest - when he was just a child. Can you imagine holding that inside you for many years?

Stand Up, Speak Out is not too long a book but it seems long because it is more of a text book, a complete history, replete with all the information you might need to become involved - from subject matter details to how one person got a start in a movement, and grew in his recovery as a result. Highly referenced, it contains 33 pages of organizations that might help, as well as 20 pages, an entire chapter, on politics (related laws, e.g.)

Helpful also are the headings, especially when reviewing topics later rather than reviewing page after page straight through (though that, too). The Preface is the most prose-like part in that it shows Lennon's ability to use triplets as a good writing tool:"step forward, stand up, speak up"; "empower the victim, challenge the powerful, and raise social awareness"; "break free of past domination, take action, and create a world free of sexual abuse."

Stand Up, Fight Back

I look at all parts of a book and ask friends and colleagues and ask what they think (mostly titles and covers), from the index to the front cover. We noticed the cover font for Stand Up is masculine while the font for Speak Up is feminine. Hmmmmmm. Wonder what that means. If anything.

One way to recover from a tragedy or crime, even if or especially if unreported, is to become an activist, telling your story, helping others, with an organization behind you. This is what the author did, and began his book with his story, to grab your attention and try to have you follow his road to recovery by sharing it.

It's All Here

From historical days to how the author helped himself recover by volunteering in recovery organizations. From unknowns centuries ago to people we know, like Larry Nassar, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, members of the Supreme Court, Anita Hill. Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstien, Jerry Sandusky, and Joe Paterno, and "Me, too!" - even Trump - and organizations like the Catholic church, colleges and universities, and the military. And focusing on the experiences of author Tim Lennon especially. A very necessary book for a certain group of people. 

Book Review: Space Shock (OT)(18 Threats that Will Define Space Power)

Space Shock (18 Threats that Will Define Space Power), by Peter Garretson and Richard Harrison (Armin Lear Press, $24.95, 2025, 330pp)

                                                            

Space Shock is one book whose title says it all: "18 threats that will define space power." I leave it up to the reader to make the connection between the title and the text, however.

Written by two subject matter experts (SMEs) rather than reporters or journalists, Space Shock seems to be an expanded engineering document - very well organized.

Written for a high-level expert audience, the book seems long but isn't, because of the comfortable font size and spacing. Each chapter has a couple of illustrations (not captioned, just plopped in) that, if in color, would be worthy of being studied as works of art.

I had some difficulty with the index, though - there could have been better spacing and slightly smaller font size for ease of finding a topic. Loved the chapter summaries and recommendations, however, though a shorter version in the chapters' first words would tell the reader what to look for as well and focus his attention. And again, each chapter/senario has the same methodology so planning and comparisons are easier and more valuable.

We are at the beginning of another couple of decades of revived interest in space, particularly by China and Russia, so to help in planning, Space Shock provides a synopsis of scenarios with their discussion participants named - very helpful for high-level directors of space programs. Even if a scenario materializes, it would be years in the future, with different personnel in key positions: however, those personnel would have similar backgrounds and their discussion 'errors' committed now might be the same as in the future. Therefore, a critique of those role plays, if analyzed, would serve their purpose well.

Book Review: Confronting the Politics of Gridlock (OT)(Revisiting the Founding Visions in Search of Solutions)

Confronting the Politics of Gridlock (Revisiting the Founding Visions in Search of Solutions), by Steven Ludd (Distinction Press, 2025, $19.99, 285pp)

Confronting the Politics of Gridlock (Revisiting the Founding Visions in Search of Solutions) would be a good choice for an undergraduate seminar in history or contemporary politics. It iis not a hard book to read but the subject matter is detailed and requires a wide base of knowledge to get the best understanding of the subject.

The introduction describes each chapter which is very helpful to refer back to even if nothing sticks the first time through. Chapter 1 sets the stage and within it lies the job description of each of the three parts of our government - the judicial, the legislative and the executive. The reader may refer back to this chapter often.

Rather new terms include the "political elite" and congressional paralysis, the latter being quite illustrative.

My favorite chapter, the fourth, focused on the Fourth Estate, the press. Author Steven Ludd tells us that the dearth of objective reporting lately is caused by the need for newspapers to make a 'financial' living which has been the case for a long time - this book's seminar students might debate whether or not the demise of newspapers and subsequent rise of other forms of media will change this.

Though mentioned in chapter four, 'gridlock' might have been given more attention since it also appears in the title and is such an optical term. The front cover, depicting the signing of our Constituation shows the reader that history will play a large role, on many pages of Gridlock. 

Book Review: Love Rebels (How I Learned to Burn it Down without Burning Out)(OT)

Love Rebels (How I Learned to Burn it Down without Burning Out), by Kitty Stryker (Thornapple Press, $24.95, 193pp, 2025)

Love Rebels: A Book about Activism and Relationships

Love Re-bels' or Love Re'-bels? Reality favors the former. Or the latter. Or both. The answer may be found in the final chapter. Or the first.

Intriguing Title on the Cover (and something very intriguing - the book block)

The front cover is more informative than at first glance with letters of only two colors, red and black, red being the color of the title and black being the subtitle, a black flag replete with a cut-out heart and the flag nearly cut to pieces, and some letters with white smudgeons and other marks. 

The most memorable visual is the book block, the edges of the pages (all of them), this time printed with "Keep Loving, Keep Fighting."

Publishers should adopt book blocks! They would help bookstores and private libraries plus I like them!

A powerful, uplifting, well-organized and conversationally written conversation to boost the spirits of activists and to offer newly minted ones approaches to follow, Love Rebels provides helpful hints for activists, often taken from the author's experiences with details of her own life as a queer woman. The reader has a big sister in author Kitty Stryker.

I especially like the half dozen or so questions at the end of each chapter that bring out the main points. 

Boundaries, families, four-letter words, protests, arrests, all are covered in a stream of consciousness style that makes for easy reading and since there is a plethora of material about the subject matter but not with the style, Love Rebels is welcome.

Book Review: Strong Floor, No Ceiling (OT)(Building a new foundation for the American Dream)

Strong Floor, No Ceiling (Building a new foundation for the American Dream), by Oliver Libby (Advantage Books, 2025, $19.99, 344pp)

Ah! Reading the back cover explains the title. Love it!

So glad this author is considering running for office. He is extremely well-rounded, coming from a European family of academics, physicians, and Nobel Laureates. The author adds just the right amount of personal story to make the book believable and inspiring. Oliver Libby's writing style is fascinating and his writing style, easy reading.

With a puzzling title like Strong Floor, No Ceiling, author Libby has written a book that can serve as a blueprint for the return of the American dream. I would not necessarily use it as a college text but perhaps as a book for an upperclass seminar, along with other books.

I generally look at all parts of a book, from the index to the acknowledgement to the preface and skip over the pre-publication quotes but this time after reading the book, I went to the quotes and counted 29. including many names I was familiar with. This only cemented the value of the book for me.

Well-organized beyond the requisite introduction and conclusion chapters, Strong Floor focuses on severn topics from education to immigration, justice, the economy and more, so the reader can begin with the first and last chapters, then go to the topic chapter of greatest interest. 

Libby's writing style is invisible in that the reader does not notice how he writes, but on what he writes - ideas and content over style of expression.

My only suggestion is to perhaps rename the book to grab more readers and pull them inside Strong Floor. The cover design is crisp and clear but might be made more representative of what's inside. For example, since it is about the new American dream, perhaps a house with a white picket fence.

Book Review: A Perilous Time (OT) ("Keeping Faith During Periods of Adversity")

 A Perilous Time, by N Kurz (Dogwood Publishing, 146pp, 2025, $14.99)

Though the front cover is magnetic, I could not easily make the connection between it and the book's topics itself. In addition, I feel A Perilous Time will resonate with only a small group of readers.

However, even with illustrating key points by using contemporary examples such as the bombing of the Alfred Murrah federal building in 1995 in Oklahoma City, the themes are universal with many questions about faith deserving their own chapter. For example, Is God a Real Person? Where is God? and others like Does He Really Care? How Powerful is God? and What Does He Know?

Kurz' writing style is quite good (seamless) as is the use of quotes (though possibly overused) and it is evident the author has spent a considerable amount of time researching the topic, a painstaking endeavor. Each chapter focuses on a different question that Christians must come to grips with in order to truly believe.

Well-organized, this third book in the Window of Opportunity trilogy, Perilous almost reads like a sermon, bringing in both the King James Version and the New International Version of the Bible.

Book Review: Conquer the Planet (OT), A modern-day global enslavement handbook

Conquer the Planet, A Modern-day Global Enslavement Handbook, by Sir Lawrence McAlister (Ingsoc Publishing, $24.95,  432pp, 2025)

Not having had any experience with dystopian* books, I was apprehensive about reading Conquer the Planet, so I saved it for last and actually looked up the term, dystopian. However, the title is perfect and the front cover illustration is descriptive. So, I plunged in.

Well-written and well-organized, Conquer the Planet is a thick book that you might not read in chapter order, depending on your interest. If you are as apprehensive as I was, think of Conquer as a parody, which it is. It is also a history book (with unknown/unnamed countries), explaining the steps in how a country has become authoritarian. It also serves as a warning to those who see this slowly happening in their country and wanting to halt it. Conquer has been called an allegory.

World Domination

The purpose here is to take over the world with a process that starts slowly and then gathers speed as it gathers acceptance. This is why it is so hard to overcome the speed - because the populace has been in the habit of accepting small changes at first.

Author McAlister has given us a handbook that reads like a novel.

It reminds me of the (unscientific) story of a frog dropped into a pot of water that is heated will not perceive danger and will eventually boil to death but if the same frog is put into a pot of water that is already boiling, he will jump out. 

What would you have done if you were Jewish in Germany in 1938 before (after) Kristillnacht? What would you do under the circumstances of "First they came for the communists but I was not a communist, . . . . "? When would you leave?

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*authoritarian; the opposite of utopia; an imaginary, nightmarish society characterized by oppression, dehumanization and extreme misery, often under totalitarian control or environmental ruin

Book Review: The Illusory Bargain: Liberty in the Aftermath of the 17th Amendment (OT)

The Illusory Bargain: Liberty in the Aftermath of the 17th Amendment, by Ralph Lehman (Brown Books Publishing, 2025, $24.95, 197pp)

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot. . . . " (Thomas Paine) 

The 17th amendment (1913) changed the election of senators from state legislatures to the citizenry.  The Illusory Bargain goes into depth reminding us of the history of our government so as to explain various events and types of governing.

Written for both subject matter experts and the average person, The Illusory Bargain brings in what the reader knows OF but may not recall: terms, dates of events, names. This will send many  readers to Wikipedia if they have time (e.g., democracy v. republic). An excellent choice, therefore, for book clubs.

Such a long introduction may not have been necessary but it was fun seeing names from Roman times.

Perhaps using the word, triangle, would bring in more readers - triangles are such an important theme of author Ralph Lehman. He begins with functional, fractional and foundational framework, uses the Triangle of Tyranny, and compares a monarch with an oligarchy and a democracy, in stating when power is in the hands of one, it results in tyranny eventually; in the hands of two, that one of those eventually comes out on top; and in the hands of three, the country gets checks and balances (which the author later debunks). Lehman finishes by saying  that one can win votes if one promises new programs for the populace as demonstrated in the fields of education, medicine and housing (currently highly regulated by the federal government.

The author is quite successful in writing for the common person to understand  - the use of triangles throughout is memorable and easy to picture and understand. The graph on page 113, however, is too small to read, However, transitions from chapter to chapter are helpful as is the explanation of the book's organization, in the front matter.

Book Review: State of Georgia versus Clevon Jamel Jenkins (OT)

State of Georgia versus Clevon Jamel Jenkins, by Robert Kelly (RMK Legal Publishing, 2025, 552pp, $47.95)

Intimidating?

At 552 pages, the State of Georgia versus Clevon Jamel Jenkins' length is intimidating but the story of a possibly wrongly convicted person will keep you on the seat of your pants even when we know how it turns out. 

At first I thought the book might include the transcript (thus explaining the length of the book) of the trial, thereby making it so long, but it does not. Instead it contains background chapters on Jamel the convicted, on the attorney author, on a judge, and if you don't know much about a trial, you will by the time you get to page 552, or sooner. The chapter, "Why Did I Fail?", is especially illuminating.

The legal profession has its own lingo that law students learn in their three years of law school. We may know some of the terms like pro bono, felony, misdemeanor, but that is about the extent of my legal lingo. I can't even defiine habeas corpus although I have heard many many times. I would have preferred each new term defined the first time, perhaps in a footnote.

And even the character's names could get wordy, hard to tell from one another, and add to the confusion of who's who. The five main characters each have a first and a last name and some have middle names as well, each of which is referred to at times.

Parts of the book read like prose but are very detailed, e.g., about the robbery and murder, told twice which helps cement the details in the reader's mind, but other parts of the book remain for legal eagles only to fully understand: they focus on the appeals and the errors made at trial.

Errors?

Reading Jamel's story may cause you to lose faith in our judicial system or it may give you hope in elucidating just what is wrong that can be corrected.

Book Review: We the Men: How Forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality (OT)

We the Men: How Forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality, by Jill Hasday (Oxford University Press, 2025, 301pp, $34.99)

Well organized into four parts (Erasure, Distortion, Consequences, and Hope) and seven chapters, We the Men uses the introduction 'Forgotten Women' to expand upon these which also serves as an excellent review of the book.

On the other hand, We the Men is not a textbook. A textbook goes into great detail in explaining concepts while We the Men seems to include as many facts and quotes from source material as possible: think breadth not depth.

With a title like We the Men, author Jill Hasday could have penned an expose or an insightful treatise. Instead, we seem to have been given a list of quotes and facts, albeit put into paragraphs, about some wonderful topics, prime among them being the invisibility of women in, e.g.,  the media (newspapers and other print materials), due to credit given men even if belonged to women. Erasure. Fogetting. Period.

"How Forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality," the subtitle, makes perfect sense to serve as Hasday's thesis with chapters that can be read in just about any order.

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*I. Courts Ignore Women's Struggles for Equality

Remembering America without Remembering Women

II. Courts Declare Victory Early and Often

Popular Culture Announces Women's Emancipation

III. Courts Protect and Perpetuate Inequality

Anti-Feminists Capitalize on America's Misremembered Past

IV. Building on the Past to Create a More Equal Future

Book Review: Overcoming Information Chaos (where is the true information?)(OT)

Overcoming Information Chaos: A Guide to Cultivating Peaceful Communities in a Digital Age, by Danielle Reiff (editor) (Upriver Press, 2025, $29.95, 440pp)

She wanted to write a book and the topic finally came to her after COVID.  The next step was to find experts to write a chapter each and she did. Some were PhDs and some were librarians. Others were other things. All are good writers, perhaps because they write a lot in their areas of expertise. 

I wish book covers were attributed like magazine covers are - along with an explanation. This cover with red circuits (?) on one side and blue-green circuits on the other side are perfect for this reviewer who may be wrong (me).

One particularly fascinating chapter explained the history of the election process and the differences among states. Not really how to get elected but the procedures how the states differ in their boards of election and what the various jobs are in the voting process. 

I have very little to say about the writing styles - I saw nothing I didn't like except possibly to make the text more exciting. 

Information disorder and the media are the main topics covered - they appear as sections under which the chapters fall. Misinformation, disinformation, disorder, election integrity, media literacy - all are covered in detail by experts.

Book Review: Women Who Talk to the Dead (OT)(cold cases)

Women Who Talk to the Dead: The True Story of 200 Forgotten Murder Victims and the Relentless Pursuit of Justice by an FBI Agent and a Detroit Police Detective, by Katherine Schweit (82 Stories, 2025, 215pp PB, $21.99) 

Do you know that Detroit is a murder capital - and why? Are you intrigued by police, FBI and detective stories, movies, TV programs and college majors? Then this book is for you. You will learn why the field of body-finding and identification is replete with women, why they are so perfect for the fields of anthropology and related majors. You will follow two women - an FBI agent and a Detroit police detective as they try to find and identify the unknown, even if they have to dig them up! You will learn how exacting and detailed those in this job must be and yet how sensitive to the families concerned. And you will learn patience.

Why Detroit?

You will learn the history of Detroit and what made it so prone to murders.

You will follow too many cases of babies left outside alone on purpose to die most likely because their new mothers were overwhelmed.

You will learn about body parts and how those in the field of anthropology can identify bones by feel and you will learn how the new science of DNA helps, though it is costly.

This book has its flaws but they are easily glossed over. I suggest reading it rather quickly.

Book Review: COVID Wars (OT) (the country vs the individual)

COVID Wars: America's Struggle Over Public Health and Personal Freedom, by Ronald Gruner (Libratum Press, 2025, $29.95, 387pp) 

COVID Wars will open your eyes! If you lived through the worldwide pandemic but haven't thought about it for a while or if you are too young to have followed it, this book is for you. Very well-organized - and I love introductions which give a one or two sentence summary of each chapter as author Ronald Grumer has done. I also like the fairly large print (hard cover) that allows me to read it in bed, in less than perfect light.

Beginning with a brief history of illnesses and viruses followed by chapters on COVID vaccines, deaths, and lockdowns (among others) and illustrated with charts, maps, photos, tables and images, COVID Wars will beat a theme into your mind, relentlessly, that you will not soon forget: red states had more cases than blue states and red states value individual freedom over the public health of the masses.

It is a rather long book and I would like to suggest a Reader's Digest version for those who are less scientifically inclined or who are pressed for time or who might otherwise not finish the book. Perhaps fewer graphs along with simpler ones but the photographs were well done and the cover is absolutely magnetic: a flag superimposed on a map of the US, torn in half.

Remember Operation Warp Speed? What do you know about mRNA vaccines? Find out more here.

I also would have liked being brought more up to date: for example, how life has changed as a result of COVID, such as working from home and the effects of school closures on student personalities and achievement.

Well worth the read!

Book Review: The Good Soldiers (Iraq)

The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel (Picador, 317 pp, 2009, $20)  

In a word: Wow!

Uniquely organized, The Good Soldiers' chapters each reflect one day in the year-long deployment to Iraq of a Ranger unit in 2007-08, the year of the surge (when this reviewer was deployed to Afghanistan, by the way). The author could have spent those few days (about one a month) embedded with that unit or those days may have been significant for other reasons, such as major altercations with the enemy, whoever they may be. In actuality, the organization and topic of chapters was neither. Or perhaps, both.  But, seamlessly.

This reviewer knew in the first few pages that Good was going to be a good book, a book with an incredible story, well-written. After hooking the reader, author David Finkel (a Pulitzer Prize winner) slipped only slightly but recovered in succeeding chapters until the abrupt final ones. The reader comes to know perhaps half a dozen soldiers with different ranks and life stories: the author follows them throughout.

Seamless Transitions

Through seamless transitions in many chapters, the reader comes to experience a deployment consisting of casualties, R&R (Rest and Relaxation, two weeks mid-tour of a trip back home), Soldier of the Month (Quarter, Year) competitions, going outside the wire (off base), meeting with Iraqi leaders, trying to explain things to family back home, understanding who the Iraqi interpreters are and why they do what they do, and the camaraderie* that military life can generate.

Does it Work?

The author attempts to not merely tell the reader about one year in Iraq but write a book to let the reader live it vicariously. Does it work? Does it read like a novel? Does the reader experience the camaraderie, the frustration of trying to help a people without knowing them and their culture, the frustration of living in a different world where opposite things matter? Perhaps it does work for the reader who has lived the military life or been deployed himself. (There are no women with major roles in this book.) Perhaps it doesn't. But nothing is sugar-coated.

Who are the "Good Soldiers"?

We follow the commanding officer of the battalion through pre-deployment training at Ft. Riley, Kansas (the 'arm pit' of the army) with his active-duty infantry unit, to arrival in Iraq replete with idealism ("Everything is good."), and living the evolution of how that idealism morphs into despondence, with each chapter introduced by a quote from President Bush.

Now I'm off to my library or bookstore to pick up a copy of Thank You For Your Service, also by David Finkel.

*often developing in prisons, summer camps by counselors or colleges and universities by freshman roommates, and other situations where strangers are placed with each other for long periods of time, 24/7,