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Ann Skea's Bookshelf
The Honeyeater
Jessie Tu
Allen & Unwin
https://www.allenandunwin.com
9781761470745, A$32.99 PB 352pp.
https://www.amazon.com/Honeyeater-Jessie-Tu/dp/1761470744
Fay's widowed Taiwanese mother brought her to Australia when she was still a baby. Now, Fay is a well-qualified translator, teaching at the university, and keen to further her career as a specialist in translating Taiwanese literature. She likes and trusts her Professor, who has been her mentor and supporter, and who has recently passed on to her the work of translating a novel by a young, award-winning, Taiwanese author.
The professor fought for me to have it... she told them [the publishers] that I was better suited to the work - the protagonist being young like me.
Like Fay, too, the protagonist lives with a single parent. Fay believes this to be the mother, although this is only hinted at in the novel, and the relationship has become highly unusual:
On page one, she has violent encounter with her parent. There's slapping, hitting, yelling and fighting. It took me a few paragraphs to realise it's not a scene of violence, but of lovemaking. Harriet is trying to pleasure her parent.
Fay's relationship with her own mother is loving and complicated, but certainly not sexual, and Fay has just ended an affair with an older, married man, who calls her his 'honeyeater' and with whom she is still in contact. However, she feels empathy for the novel's protagonist and she works hard to capture the fluidity and rhythms of each of the novelist's sentences, choosing the exact words for her translation, trying out new ones and patterns of expression, 'splicing' switching, replacing, eliminating'. This is 'private, solitary creative problem-solving' that she enjoys.
In the early chapters of The Honeyeater, we get to know Fay and her mother as they share a trip to France that Fay has organized as a birthday present for her mother. To Fay's dismay, Paris, and other parts of France, seem not to greatly impress her mother:
We're in Paris, you should be more excited. Isn't this your dream come true?
She opens her handbag rummaging for an item. 'I gave up on dreams when your father died'. She puts on her sunglasses and sighs. 'I am excited. But I didn't expect it to be so warm. Or bright.
Fay's mother is superstitious, and very concerned about thieves. 'Did you check your pockets, she asks Fay' in the Louvre. 'You shouldn't look at your phone when you're standing alone! Someone might sneak up on you'. She is especially superstitious about Fay's prospective visit to a translators' conference in Taiwan, something Fay badly wants for career reasons, but which her professor is strangely reluctant to approve. Taiwan for Fay's mother is 'that ghost island', and the conference will be taking place in the especially dangerous 'ghost month'.
Fay fits in some of her translation work during their trip, and keeps in touch with her former lover, until on their last day in France she receives news that he has died of a cardiac arrest. From this point on The Honeyeater gets more complicated. Fay learns that many things she had kept secret are not as secret as she had believed; that there are things her lover has concealed from her; and that her professor is not totally trustworthy.
There are more shocks when she does go to the conference in Taiwan to present her paper on the novel she has been translating. There, she meets a young man who is the protege of the renowned Taiwanese author, Wet-Lin, whose own works her professor has been translating. The connections between this young man, Wei-Lu, and Fay's professor, plus the duplicities Fay becomes aware of in her professor's words and actions, make the second half of The Honeyeater gripping.
Jessie Tu unfolds her story slowly and we get to know Fay, with her ambitions, her trust in others, her loves and her insecurities. So, we share her bemusement and her emotions as the mysteries unfold.
Altogether, this is an interesting, original and generally absorbing story of, as the cover blurb says, 'betrayal, ambition and love'. For me, it was also an introduction to the highly competitive world of academic translating, and the difficulties of this highly skilled work.
As Margaret Atwood said in her talk 'In Translationland' in 2014:
Whether a reader in another language will grasp anything at all about an author's work is dependent on the translator alone.... I am always a bit of a nightmare for my translators. I make puns (almost impossible to translate) and jokes (difficult) and I also create neologisms, especially in the realm of genetically engineered species and imagined consumer products'.
Fay would have completely understood.
[The quotation is from Margaret Atwood's Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004-2022. p.222]
Dr Ann Skea, Reviewer
https://ann.skea.com/THHome.htm
Arthur Turfa's Bookshelf
Dark Souvenirs
John Amen
NYQ Books
https://www.nyq.org
9781630451080, $18.95
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Souvenirs-John-Amen/dp/1630451088
This impressive book centers around an uncle's suicide, addiction, music, and childhood memories. The uncle morphs into several other figures in the poet's life: brother, son, stranger. Loss and pain permeate this collection of stunning verse that draws the reader into it with detailed imagery and creative use of language.
Some examples now of the powerful writing. From Addict "Blind harpy, rapids in your vein" (p. 39) The 80s recalls the onslaught of AIDS "At first the beast had no name./Then we uttered the acronym..."p. 45, and from Roman a Clef, "My body flares with the din of grackles,/their manic jazz one savage horn rising over the rest." p. 53
Although these souvenirs of life are painful reminders of less-than-pleasant events, the poet transcends them and uses them to create unforgettable images and to demonstrate that they do not have the last word. This is a poetry collection to ponder, reflect on, and see how these souvenirs cannot crush the creative spirit.
Landsickness
Leigh Lucas
Tupelo Press
https://www.tupelopress.org
9781961209091, $14.95
https://www.amazon.com/Landsickness-Leigh-Lucas/dp/1961209098
My poet friends (and poets who are not my friends, for that matter) know I am not fond of prose poetry. Usually, the genre strikes me as someone ranting at great length about something. I am reminded of those people who are behind me in the checkout line at the grocery who babble about some complaint, droning on as I unload my buggy.
Landsickness avoids those pitfalls. The chapbook is a poignant, focused account of grief. The opening line sets the tone for the complete work: In my new life, I must learn everything again. Readers observe the speaker adapting to her new reality at work, at home, in her thoughts, at the funeral. Grief often comes in waves, and that is reflected in these poems.
The title is intriguing; it refers to a condition of being in an unfamiliar state, one that requires people to adjust themselves to it.
The bravest friends still drop by. The speaker gives the appearance that life still goes on routinely. Laundry is done, work is going fine, and the like. None of those things are fine. the speaker is numb, the waves of grief keep coming, Yet there is an awareness that the time will come when the speaker not only resume her life, but will do so forcefully. The concluding lines The world will be unsettled./ I will unsettle them.
Lucas writes with an economy of words and imbues them with strong images. There are distinct stanzas, some very short, others somewhat longer. there are two benefits from this; the first is that each idea or section is clearly-defined (none of that huge block of words and secondly readers can read and admire the writing itself.
Living with loss and grief is not easy. Truthfully speaking, one cannot completely get over the loss of a loved one. However, one can function again, one will see life differently, and one will continue without totally forgetting the lost loved one.
Arthur Turfa, Reviewer
Saluda Reflections, Finishing Line Press
Carl Logan's Bookshelf
The Stoicism Book of Quotes
Nick Benas & Kortney Yasenka
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578269761, $13.50, HC, 128pp
https://www.amazon.com/Stoicism-Book-Quotes-Inspirational-Philosophers/dp/1578269768
Synopsis: The Stoicism Book of Quotes compiles over 200 inspirational and illuminating quotations from the world's greatest Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers including Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Diogenes, Epictetus, Plato and others. These ancient words come to life in the present and help provide much-needed strength, wisdom, and resilience for all of life's challenges.
Stoicism is a school of philosophy that believes virtue is based on knowledge and reason which enables you to rise above your emotions and allows you to control what you can and let go of what you cannot. The Stoic way of thinking allows you to thoughtfully process and accept situations while giving you the power to choose how you react, handle, and cope.
Many great leaders and thinkers of our time have sought guidance from Stoic philosophy, including George Washington, Immanuel Kant, Walt Whitman and Theodore Roosevelt, to name a few.
For many, Stoicism is a tool in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance and wisdom. Living a more stoic life will give you the opportunity to live a mentally healthier, more balanced and overall happier life.
Critique: Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Nick Benas and Kortney Yasenka, "The Stoicism Book of Quotes" is a compact (5.01 x 0.56 x 7.42 inches) hardcover edition from Hatherleigh Press that is especially commended to the attention of readers with an interest in the tenets of Greco-Roman stoic philosophy. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "The Stoicism Book of Quotes" is an ideal and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library Quotation Reference collections and supplemental Stoicism Philosophy curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Stoicism Book of Quotes" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).
Editorial Note #1: Nick Benas, USMC, is a former United States Marine Sergeant and Iraqi Combat Veteran. He's the author of Mental Health Emergencies and Tactical Mobility. He travels around the United States training individuals on how to recognize a developing mental illness and how to prevent someone from slipping into a crisis. Nick attended Southern Connecticut State University for his undergraduate degree in Sociology, and for his M.S. in Public Policy. He has been featured by more than 50 major media outlets for his business success and entrepreneurship, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Men's Health, ABC, FOX, ESPN, and CNBC.
Editorial Note #2: Kortney Yasenka, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor who provides individual, family, and group therapy, as well as life coaching services. Kortney is certified in trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy and has experience working with veterans and active military personnel. She has a Masters in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Health Psychology from Northeastern University. With over 15 years of experience, Kortney has worked in community mental health, school systems, and private practice while specializing in mood disorders, school and work related issues, life transitions, and self-esteem.
The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes
Travis Hellstrom
Hatherleigh Press
c/o The Hatherleigh Foundation
www.hatherleighpress.com
9781578269808, $15.00, HC, 160pp
https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Book-Quotes-Collection/dp/1578269806
Synopsis: Benjamin Franklin is a iconic figure not just in American history, but history in general. A true Renaissance man adept in politics, science, writing and more, his words have been a source of wisdom and inspiration for a long time.
The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes compiles his best quotes, speeches, and advice in one place and reaches out to an America, and a world, which need them more than ever.
Organized into sections by themes, this book of quotations is accessible and easy to share with friends and loved ones. The themes featured range from Virtue, Learning, Hard Work, and Wisdom, to Kindness, Leadership, Love, Humor -- an more!
Critique: Exceptionally 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, this edition of "The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes: A Collection of Speeches, Quotations, Essays and Advice from America's Most Prolific Founding Father", compiled and edited by Travis Hellstrom, is very highly recommended for personal, professional, community, highschool, and college/university library Quotation Reference collections. It should be noted that "The Benjamin Franklin Book of Quotes" is also available a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).
Editorial Note: Travis Hellstrom is a writer and consultant helping social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders dream big and expand their influence. Travis was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia from 2008-2011 working in the eastern steppe of Mongolia to help doctors, nurses and residents improve the overall health of the community. He was a Peace Corps Fellow at SIT Graduate Institute, where he received his Masters in Leadership & Management, and he is the former Chair of the School of Leadership & Management at Marlboro Graduate School. He is the author of several titles including The Dalai Lama Book of Quotes and The Peace Corps Volunteer's Handbook.
Carl Logan
Reviewer
Clint Travis' Bookshelf
Once Upon an Effing Time
Buffy Cram
Douglas & McIntyre
www.douglas-mcintyre.com
c/o Harbour Publishing
https://harbourpublishing.com
Tantor Media
https://tantor.com
9781771623605, $14.00, PB, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Effing-Time-Buffy/dp/B0CW5F5CFS
Synopsis: It's 1969 and an eight-year-old girl, Elizabeth Squire, has a choice to make: to be disabled by the circumstances of her own botched birth or to become extraordinary.
In Buffy Cram's new novel, "Once Upon an Effing Time", Elizabeth narrates the story of her childhood in the late sixties, describing how she came to be at a Vancouver halfway house at the age of nineteen.
"Once Upon an Effing Time" also chronicles the sometimes-exploitative relationship between Elizabeth and Margaret, her mother, and the bizarre and criminal misadventures they have after running away from Ontario's cheese belt and their "Big Sad Story".
Attempting to bond with her neglectful mother, Elizabeth learns to adopt personas and live multiple lives, transforms into a fortune teller named MeMe who speaks primarily in Bob Dylan lyrics, and joins an American hippie doomsday cult.
Elizabeth's life is fragmented between ordinary childhood pleasures and indulging her mother's conspiracy theories about the upcoming moon landing by hiding pamphlets in New York City Public Library books.
Throughout "Once Upon an Effing Time", novelist Buffy Cram deftly weaves humor and heartbreak together to form an engaging narrative about cults (the cult of family, the cult of counterculture, the cult of rock 'n' roll) and the role of story within those cults.
Critique: Although a work of fiction, Buffy Cram's new novel, "Once Upon an Effing Time" reads with resonance that will prove personally familiar to readers with an interest in unusual 'coming-of-age' style memoirs. Fascinating, memorable, and available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99 and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Media, 9798212936361, $41.99, CD) narrated by Megan Trout, "Once Upon an Effing Time" is unreservedly recommended for community/public library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Buffy Cram (www.buffycram.com) is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, an entrepreneur, and a farmer. She has been a fiction finalist for the Western Magazine Awards, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has won a National Magazine Award. She holds an MFA in creative writing from UBC and lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
Clint Travis
Reviewer
Garry Powell's Bookshelf
Perestroika
Joao Cerqueira
Arkbound
https://arkbound.com
9781912092314, $17.99 PB, $3.99 Kindle, 448pp
https://www.amazon.com/Perestroika-Jo%C3%A3o-Cerqueira/dp/191209231X
Perestroika is an ambitious novel that has no comparison with other political novels. In fact, it is unique in Portuguese, and even European, letters. Perhaps the authors who have most in common with Joao Cerqueira are George Orwell and Michel Houllebecq, as he shares with them their dystopian vision, brutal frankness, and black humor. However, Cerqueira differs from them in several respects: first, because there is no single protagonist in the novel of the Portuguese author, but many, and nor is there a single plot, but several, of equal importance. And the multiple stories are woven into a tapestry as complex as a Persian rug. The architecture of the novel is impressive. Only a master storyteller can juggle so many characters and so many fates at the same time.
The story takes place in a fictional Central European country called Slavia. The first half of the novel depicts life there under the dictatorship of Alfred Ionescu; it is a barbaric and corrupt communist regime. The second half portrays the same country, and the same characters (at least, those who manage to survive) after Perestroika, and the democratic revolution that overthrows the regime.
Cerqueira avoids the easy solution of portraying the new leaders as saints and heroes. In fact, one of the main virtues of Perestroika, and indeed of Cerqueira's fiction in general, is that it recognizes the complexity of everyone -- the human side of some Commissars, for example, who genuinely love their relatives, or in one case, the Minister for Education, who accuses another minister, Zut Zdhanhov, of paedophilia and other crimes, despite the extreme danger to herself.
And the good ones also turn out often to have a sinister side. One of the members of the Resistance decides to destroy a factory in an act of terrorism, knowing that innocent people may die, and Silvia, an art student, and perhaps the most sympathetic character in the novel, is the mistress of the old and almost impotent Ionescu, because as such she enjoys great personal advantages. There are some heroes who never compromise, but their fate is not a happy one.
The author writes with humor, because he is not able to write without humor (and perhaps the truth would be unbearable without humor, as the people of the Warsaw Pact learned) and yet the book is not a comedy, but a tragicomedy, an unusual genre, because it is very difficult to do well.
Perestroika is not a roman a clef: Slavia is not Russia, although it has a kleptocracy after Perestroika, as happened in that country. Nor is it Romania, even though it is a poor and small country with cruel orphanages. It seems that Slavia fulfils the role of a mythical country, and the novel is a modern myth, a fable that speaks to us of the essential nature of freedom. Obviously, there is no freedom under any dictatorship, whether from the Left or the Right. But there is also no freedom under an ostensibly democratic government if that government is corrupt and criminal.
After all, like Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy and all serious and wise novelists, Cerqueira affirms that there is no freedom without responsibility and integrity. He asks if we have the courage to take responsibility for our lives. Or do we want to take the easy route, play the role of victim, constantly whining about the cruelty of others?
This is a moving novel, but sometimes difficult to read, because it forces us to face the barbarity within human beings, even the better ones. But it is worth reading. I, as the translator of the novel (into English) spent many months in the constant company of the characters in the novel, many of whom I feel were acquaintances of mine in real life - and living with the book has enriched me, beyond doubt. So don't miss this author's masterpiece!
Editorial Note #1: Joao Cerqueira was born and lives in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
He holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Porto. He is the author of nine books and is published in eight countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, England, United States, Brazil, Argentina. He won the 2023 HFC Book of the Year, the 2020 Indie Reader Awards, the 2014 Global ebook Awards and the 2013 USA Best Book Awards.
Editorial Note #2: Garry Craig Powell is a former professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the author of Stoning the Devil (Skylight Press, 2012), a linked story collection that was longlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2013, and the satirical novel Our Parent Who Art in Heaven (Flame Books, 2022), which has been described as 'pure comical genius' and 'perhaps the anti-woke campus novel of our time.' Powell writes a weekly blog on the intersection of writing, politics, and philosophy, called Write Dangerously, on Substack. For more information, see https://www.writedangerously@substack.com and https://www.garrycraigpowell.org
Garry Craig Powell
Reviewer
Israel Drazin's Bookshelf
Religion of Reason: Out of the Sources of Judaism
Hermann Cohen
Scholars Press 1995
9780788501029, $83.46
https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Reason-Sources-Religions-Translation/dp/078850102X
Hermann Cohen's Problematic Philosophy
German Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen (1842-1918) was a neo-Kantian philosopher. Jewish Virtual Library describes him as "probably the most important philosopher in the nineteenth century." His book "Religion of Reason: Out of the Source of Judaism" has been praised by many thinkers.
He agreed with Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) that ethics must be universal, a "categorical imperative." He stated that one must always respect the humanity of others and act according to rules that apply to everyone.
Building on Kant's ethics, Cohen concurred that every person's action should be ethical and directed toward the greater good of society. His ultimate aim was to establish complete social justice on a global scale.
Hermann Cohen added another idea. He emphasized that the Jewish notion of ethics is far superior to other religions and cultures. Judaism focused on acts, while Christianity was involved in faith. Judaism is a religion that found its source in ethical monotheism. At the same time, Christianity's involvement with the Trinity, saints, and various other beliefs turned aside from the way of a religion of reason. He used the term "ethical monotheism" to describe Judaism.
As I will discuss below, the keywords are ethics for everyone.
His book and its ideas, however, are not without their issues. I will describe the problems I see with his and Kant's focus on ethics and his concept that the entire world, Jews and non-Jews, should accept Judaism's "ethical monotheism."
I prefer the understanding of proper conduct as taught by Maimonides (1138-1204), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), and others. In his Guide for the Perplexed 1:1, Maimonides said that the "image of God" that Genesis 1:27 states God placed in humans is intelligence, which is the power given to people to use logic and reason. In 2:17, he adds that the concept of "divine providence" does not mean that when humans face dangers or, for other reasons, need help, their help does not come from God but through the use of His gift, their intelligence.
In 1:2, he notes that the forbidden tree in Genesis 2 and 3 is not a tree producing fruit that is truth and falsehood but good and bad. He interprets the tale as a lesson for intelligent humans not to behave according to ethical rules of what is good or bad but with the divine gift of intelligence. Intelligent people should use their ability to think whenever they act.
Ethical rules are excellent guides for people who are unable to take the time to think about how to act in specific instances. These rules differ in different locations and times. They are generally correct, but not always so. For example, it is a good safety rule not to cross a street against a red light. However, when a person is pursued by a thug trying to kill the person, reason demands that the individual should run even though the light is red. The message of Guide 1:2 is that an intelligent individual, whom Nietzsche called an ubermench, should always use the divine gift.
I also dislike his notion that Jews can ignore the Torah as long as they join non-Jews in following ethical rules. Cohen certainly was a wise man, but he did not see the value of the Torah laws as interpreted by the rabbis.
All people, indeed all creation, are important to God. Jews were given the Torah to serve as an example by their behavior and acts in following the Torah mandates that all people can improve and be all they can be, improve themselves and all creation. Non-Jews do not have this obligation. Although they do not observe Torah Laws, they are still important to God as Jews who observe the Torah. Each is treated the same.
By telling Jews to observe the ethical rules and not the Torah, Cohen is telling them to cease their responsibility, to stop being Jews.
Israel Drazin, Reviewer
www.booksnthoughts.com
Kpade Denis' Bookshelf
Monkey in Residence & Other Speculations
Xu XI
Signal 8 Press
https://signal8press.com
9781915531001, $19.99 pbk / $9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Monkey-Residence-Other-Speculations-Xu/dp/1915531004
Monkey in Residence & Other Speculations by Xu Xi is published by Signal 8 Press in 2022. It is a mind-blowing realistic fictional work set in Hong Kong with the use of flashback to recollect events that occurred in New York and flashforward sometimes. In other words, flashback is used to recall memories while flashforward is deployed to unveil her expectations and prospects. The story is about a hyphenated Hong Kong-American female narrator personally involved in the story through the use of the personal pronouns "I" and "we". She stems from a family with Indonesian and Chinese roots by parental heritage, Hong Kongese through immigration with her parents at her child age, and American by adoption at a grown-up age. She recounts her experience in Hong Kong and in the United States where she shuttles chiefly between New York and Hong Kong in search of a freedom coupled with an independence in her creative life as illustrated in this excerpt: "...it's been a lifelong shuttle, mostly between New York and Hong Kong, in my quest to live an independent, creative life..." (143). Her shuttle spanned more than a decade as revealed in this passage: "...for more than a decade when I lived between Hong Kong and New York..." (120). The story then revolves around fictional and non-fictional actions along with incorporated historical facts. It addresses an individual's hyphenated identity which contextually encompasses cultural, linguistic, geographical, and national hybridity, to mention but a few.
The book is worth reading because it navigates amid many contemporary prevalent issues namely assimilation, integration, identification and (re)connection, citizenship along with a sense of belonging and attachment to a place and a nation, questioning the American dream and the issue of dreams as a whole, among other things. Besides, it highlights the contribution of diversity and multiculturalism of a nation to its substantial and sustainable growth. Likewise, it raises the issue of calling a place "home" for a hyphenate. Equally, it sets out the connection between language and culture by emphasizing the importance of language for a hyphenate. Indeed, regarding "assimilation", the narrator brings to light the danger of assimilation on the hyphenate in a given society; instead, integration together with adaptation should be the recipe for embracing intended ethnic / cultural values. This excerpt speaks volumes of the importance of integration with adaptation rather than an intentional assimilation: "...no matter how hard you tried to assimilate you'd always be different, an outsider" (40). As an African saying states so, "however long a wood remains in a river, it will never become a crocodile". Thus, assimilation of the hyphenate themselves is detrimental but the assimilation of the host-country values for a successful integration is beneficial and essential. Addressing "identification charged with (re)connection", the narrator unfolds how redolent and familiar the protagonist is with her identitarian values. The familiarity with these values sets up a (re)connection with the matching society. Through the illustrative following extracts: "...I had joined the Facebook page 'Hong Kong in the '50s, '60s and '70s' to see images and memories from the colonial past" (16) and "...by the time she fully reconnected with all her Hong Kong schoolmates..." (39), one can notice the pivotal aspect of identification and (re)connection for an individual in the society. Thus, it can be adamantly asserted that without identification and (re)connection, identity would be trivial or meaningless, misleading, worrisome, and misdirective. Furthermore, the narrator has developed a deep attachment with two different places namely Hong Kong and the U.S. mainly New York. The deep attachment is packed with citizenship and a strong sense of belonging to those places. As illustrations, when she predicates or reveals: "...my Hong Kong" (29); "My Hong Kong..." (30); "..I was watching my city vanish just a little more" (116); "...I wasn't entirely 'Chinese' either - since we were Indonesian citizens - although I walked, talked, and certainly looked Chinese enough, despite my mixed blood. National affiliations are, however, difficult to ignore when I recall my passport" (117); "...I retain my Hong Kong permanent residency" (117); "Many of us were ethnically Chinese. Among those who were not, many, myself included..." (118); and while much of our literature is naturally influenced by our Chinese origins, we are not completely tied to the history, culture, geography, or even language of our sovereign ruler. In fact, local writers look to the world, China included, for ideas, images, inspiration, while still retaining a deep-rooted sense of Hong Kong's own identity and nature. (145)
Through the foregoing one can posit that hyphenatedness enables to have distinct citizenships, embodies a sense of belonging to different places or nations, and really shows off a deep attachment to those places or nations. This is quite noticeable with the use of the possessive determiner 'my' in the selected extracts and it demonstrates her deep attachment and a strong sense of belonging to her composite national identities. Consequently, hyphenatedness should be assetized and performed accordingly. Additionally, diversity together with multiculturalism crisscross and permeate the book through the portrayal of their assets and contributions to the development of Hong Kong. It is perceivable that Hong Kong is actually regarded as a "world city" (31) which implies that it is a collage of different nationals residing there. The issue of "home" to hyphenates is unquestionably paramount to their sense of selves. This is unfolded in the following passages: "...back home in New York...'at home' in Hong Kong..." (143); "...and will always be as much my world as the United States, a country I've chosen to also call home" (20); and "...home was now (is still) in the U.S. and I no longer owned a piano or home in Hong Kong" (181). These passages demonstrate her relatability and attachment to her deliberate identitarian nations. Additionally, the narrator contends that people should keep their dreams alive through this passage: "...Why shatter our dreams?" (127). This means that people should keep hope for their dreams to come true and then work hard to achieve them. However, she questions the reliability of the American dream through this excerpt: "The American dream...you have to be asleep to believe it" (167). This passage debunks the concept which is prevalent and represents the unguent to the U.S. society. So, the American dream should not be considered as systematic, for hardworking does not mandatory breeds success in the U.S. Besides, language and culture percolate the book as it depicts the tight connection between the two concepts. Thus, language plays an instrumental role in cultural performance insofar as language carries culture in the society and the hyphenate should highlight the corresponding language with its culture for a successful social matching.
Not being entirely local, there was no stigma in embracing the English language as my own, because Chinese, or rather Cantonese, would never 'belong' entirely to me. My parents' mother tongue was Javanese, and Dad was bilingual in Mandarin as well; English was for both their third language. (18)
This book spells out the fact that identity draws its sustenance from perceptions either from oneself and otherness.
I would highly recommend this riveting and thought-provoking book to anyone who loves to think outside the box and who is absorbed in identity-related issues chiefly regarding hyphenatedness as an identity to bear and perform in a cosmopolitan society.
Dr. Kpade Denis CODJO
Reviewer
Jack Mason's Bookshelf
Man in the Water
David Housewright
Minotaur Books
www.minotaurbooks.com
c/o Macmillan
https://us.macmillan.com
9781250863607, $29.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Water-McKenzie-Cities-Novels/dp/1250863600
Synopsis: It all starts with the body in the water -- on what should be the first boat day of the season, McKenzie's wife Nina finds a dead Army vet. As the dock owner and the insurance companies claim that it was suicide, despite the deceased, E.J. Woods, having no obvious reason to kill himself, his widow starts acting suspiciously. McKenzie finds himself pulled into the fight when Naveah, the victim's daughter, convinced her father was murdered, asks him to investigate.
Further complicating the situation are uncooperative boaters, allegations of PTSD, and the simple fact that there was no reason for E.J. to be in the water. McKenzie's investigation unearths not only the petty squabbles surrounding the lake and its dock, but details of her father's past that Naveah is perhaps better off not knowing. With Nina haunted by dreams of the body and the legal fight over cause of death becoming increasingly nasty, McKenzie may be the only one interested in finding justice for E.J. -- and uncovering the truth before another person dies.
Critique: With the publication of "Man in the Water", novelist David Housewright once again demonstrates his master of the 'whodunnit' murder mystery genre. A memorable caste of characters, and original storyline, and a fun read from start to finish for the dedicated mystery buff, "Man in the Water" is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted that "Man in the Water" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: David Housewright (www.davidhousewright.com) has won the Edgar Award and is the three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction, which includes the modern noir Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie series (starting with A Hard Ticket Home). He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA).
Trust and Safety
Laura Blackett & Eve Gleichman
Dutton
c/o Penguin Group USA
https://www.penguin.com
9780593473689, $28.00, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Safety-Novel-Laura-Blackett/dp/059347368X
Synopsis: Newlywed Rosie has grown disenchanted with NYC. Inspired by Instagram ads, she starts thirsting for a rural life upstate -- one full of beauty and authenticity. She just needs to convince her tech-bro husband, Jordan, of her vision for the future. Willing to do anything for Rosie's happiness, Jordan signs on, and they offer (well above asking price) on a beautiful, historic fixer-upper in the Hudson Valley.
But when Jordan suddenly loses his job, the couple is forced to rent out the property's dilapidated outbuilding. There's no heat, it's overrun with mold, and nothing works.
Enter Dylan and Lark: an incredibly attractive and handy queer couple who offer to rent the outbuilding and help Rosie and Jordan with repairs. They also happen to be living the life Rosie had envisioned for herself: hand-built furniture, herbal tinctures, guinea hens, and hand-dyed linens. Rosie grows increasingly infatuated with their new tenants, especially with model-esque, charismatic Dylan -- to Jordan's increasing distress.
Whip-smart and wickedly funny, with the publication of "Trust & Safety", co-authors Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman deftly examine questions of authenticity, betrayal, belonging, and entitlement, while also poking fun at contemporary fear of the "gay agenda".
Critique: A fun read from start to finish, "Trust & Safety" is unique, original, deftly scripted, entertaining, and memorable. While also available for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (Verve Books, 9780857308818, $16.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), "Trust & Safety" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and college/university library Contemporary Satirical Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Laura Blackett is a writer. Eve Gleichman has published work in The Kenyon Review, Harvard Review, BOMB magazine, and elsewhere. Eve is also a graduate of Brooklyn College's MFA fiction program. Laura and Eve's debut novel, "The Very Nice Box", was a New York Times Editors' Choice and an Apple Book of the Month.
Jack Mason
Reviewer
John Burroughs' Bookshelf
Hall of Mirrors
John Copenhaver
BenBella Books
www.benbellabooks.com
9781639366507, $29.95, HC, 336pp
https://www.amazon.com/Hall-Mirrors-Nightingale-Philippa-Mystery/dp/1639366504
Synopsis: In May 1954, Lionel Kane witnesses his apartment engulfed in flames with his lover and writing partner, Roger Raymond, inside. Police declare it a suicide due to gas ignition, but Lionel refuses to believe Roger was suicidal.
A month earlier, Judy Nightingale and Philippa Watson attend a lecture by Roger and, being eager fans, befriend him. He has just been fired from his day job at the State Department, another victim of the Lavender Scare, an anti-gay crusade led by figures like Senator Joseph McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, claiming homosexuals are security risks. Little do Judy and Philippa know, but their obsessive manhunt of the past several years has fueled the flames of his dismissal.
They have been tracking their old enemy Adrian Bogdan, a spy and vicious serial killer protected by powerful forces in the government. He's on the rampage again, and the police are ignoring his crimes. Frustrated, they send their research to the media and their favorite mystery writer anonymously, hoping to inspire someone, somehow, to publish on the crimes -- anything to draw Bogdan out. But has their persistence brought deadly forces to the writing team behind their most beloved books?
In the wake of Roger's death, Lionel searches for clues, but Judy and Philippa threaten his quest, concealing dark secrets of their own. As the crimes of the past and present converge, danger mounts, and the characters race to uncover the truth, even if it means bending their moral boundaries to stop a killer.
Critique: Complex and deftly crafted, "Hall of Mirrors" is a suspense thriller fan's delight and will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in the adventures of mystery solving amateur sleuths. A fun and memorable read from cover to cover, "Hall of Mirrors" is an unreservedly recommended pick for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists that "Hall of Mirrors" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).
Editorial Note: John Copenhaver (https://johncopenhaver.com) won the 2019 Macavity Award for Best First Mystery for Dodging and Burning and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery for The Savage Kind. He is a co-founder of Queer Crime Writers and an at-large board member of Mystery Writers of America. He cohosts on the House of Mystery Radio Show. He's a faculty mentor in the University of Nebraska's Low-Residency MFA program and teaches at VCU in Richmond, VA.
We Used to Live Here
Marcus Kliewer
Atria Books / Bestler Books
c/o Simon & Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
9781982198787, $28.99, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/We-Used-Live-Here-Novel/dp/1982198788
Synopsis: As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can't believe the killer deal they've just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they're working in the house one day, there's a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.
As soon as the strangers enter their home, uncanny and inexplicable things start happening, including the family's youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can't seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family -- or is Eve just imagining things?
Critique: The stuff of which nightmare movies are made, "We Used to Live Here" by Marcus Kliewer is one of those 'read with the lights on' novel of the horrific and the supernatural. A simply riveting read from start to finish, "We Used to Live Here" will prove to be a prized pick for community library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "We Used to Live Here" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Marcus Kliewer is a writer and stop-motion animator. His debut novel "We Used to Live Here" began life as a serialized short story on Reddit, where it won the Scariest Story of 2021 award on the NoSleep forum (eighteen million members). Film rights were snapped up by Netflix, and it was acquired by Simon & Schuster in the US for publication even before it had been extended into a full-length novel.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Julie Summers' Bookshelf
The Stories Behind Astrology
Alison Davis, author
Jennifer Parks, illustrator
Leaping Hare Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
www.quartoknows.com
9780711290747, $24.99, HC, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Behind-Astrology-Discover-mythology/dp/0711290741
Synopsis: Have you ever wondered why the Zodiac signs are associated with certain animals? Or how a crab (Cancer) came to rule a part of the sky? Or, for that matter, what it means to have Taurus, the stubborn bull, as your star sign?
Whether you're a fiery Aries, a mysterious Scorpio, or a sassy Sagittarius, with the publication of "The Stories Behind Astrology: Discover the mythology of the zodiac & stars" from Leaping Hare Press you can discover the fascinating, sometimes forgotten, and often wild Greek and Roman mythology that gave rise to the star signs and planet names, while learning the stories behind:
In "The Stories Behind Astrology", author Alison Davis covers: Aries, the ram; Taurus, the bull; Gemini, the twins; Cancer, the crab; Leo, the lion; Virgo, the maiden; Libra, the scales; Scorpio, the scorpion; Sagittarius, the archer; Capricorn, the goat; Aquarius, the cup bearer; Pisces, the fish; Venus, the planet of love; Mars, the planet of war -- and more!
With stunning, specially commissioned illustrations from Jennifer Parks and featuring rituals/affirmations at the end of each story to help you harness the power of every sign and planet, whether you're a super grounded Taurus looking to bring more activist Aquarius energy into your life, or a dreamy Pisces looking to get focused like no-nonsense Virgo, "The Stories Behind Astrology" is for you.
Critique: Beautifully and profusely illustrated throughout by the artistic talents of Jennifer Parks in support of the informative commentaries of Alison Davis, "The Stories Behind Astrology: Discover the mythology of the zodiac & stars" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Astrology collections. It should be noted that "The Stories Behind Astrology" are also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99) as well.
Editorial Note #1: Alison Davies lives in Nottingham and runs workshops at universities throughout the UK showing academics, students and early years practitioners how stories and narratives can be used as tools for teaching, healing and learning. She has a keen interest in folklore, health and wellbeing and the esoteric and is the author of Tales Behind the Tarot and Goddess Stories (Leaping Hare Press).
Editorial Note #2: Jennifer Parks (www.spectralgardens.com) is an illustrator, ceramicist, and tattoo artist living in the US. She is also a mystic, a mother, and an animist. She loves nature and is surrounded by the lush greenery of the PNW and has many animal friends, including cats, a dog, squirrels, raccoons, birds, and a possum. She believes in magic and spirits and everything in between. Her Instagram handle is @spectralgardens
Gothic Life: The Essential Guide to Macabre Style
Aurelio Voltaire
Epic Ink
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
www.quartoknows.com
9780760388327, $24.99, HC, 208pp
https://www.amazon.com/Gothic-Life-Essential-Guide-Macabre/dp/0760388326
Synopsis: Are you ready to embrace your dark side? With the publication of "Gothic Life: The Essential Guide to Macabre Style", Aurelio Voltaire shows you how to do just that, using the expertise honed as founder and host of the show Gothic Homemaking and years of stop-motion animation work to take you on a journey to goth-hood.
From DIY design projects to helpful haunted hosting tips and tricks, with this step-by-step reference, you'll transform your domain to capture your spooky essence with lessons on: The history and mindset of goths, including gothic icons from Vincent Price to Tim Burton to Wednesday Addams; Enchanting home decor, making use of spooky color palettes (beyond black!) and all the bats and gargoyles your gothic heart could want; A gothic dinner party menu featuring the likes of squid ink linguini and charcoal ice cream; Holiday and party prep to celebrate Halloween and beyond.
Whether you are looking for new ways to express your inner goth year-round or seeking brilliantly haunting ideas for your next Halloween bash, "Gothic Life" reveals the secrets to unleashing your inner goth and transforming the mundane to the macabre.
Critique: Replete with macabre illustrations, Aurelio Voltaire's "Gothic Life: The Essential Guide to Macabre Style" is a kind of modern day bible for aspiring members of the Gothic community. Think of Halloween all year round and "Gothic Life" is the ideal tour guide for the Gothic life style. While a recommended pick for personal, community, and college/university library collections, it should be noted that this edition of "Gothic Life" from Epic Ink is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).
Editorial Note: Aurelio Voltaire (www.voltaire.net) is an accomplished singer-performer, author, and creator of films, animation, toys, and home decor. As an internationally touring musician for nearly 30 years, Voltaire is at the forefront of the Gothic and Dark Cabaret genres. His Gothic Homemaking can be seen on YouTube @TheLairofVoltaire
Dear Hanna
Zoje Stage
Thomas & Mercer
c/o Amazon Publishing
9781662521003, $28.99, HC, 331pp
https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Hanna-Novel-Zoje-Stage/dp/1662521006
Synopsis: Hanna is no stranger to dark thoughts: as a young child, she tried to murder her own mother. But that was more than sixteen years ago. And extensive therapy (and writing letters to her younger brother) has since curbed those nasty tendencies.
Now twenty-four, Hanna is living an outwardly normal life of domestic content. Married to real estate agent Jacob, she's also stepmother to his teenage daughter Joelle. They live in a beautiful home, and Hanna loves her career as a phlebotomist (a nurse or other health worker trained in drawing venous blood for testing or donation.) -- a job perfectly suited to her occasional need to hurt people.
But when Joelle begins to change in ways that don't suit Hanna's purposes, her carefully planned existence threatens to come apart. With life slipping out of her control, Hanna reverts to old habits, determined to manipulate the events and people around her. And the only thing worse than a baby sociopath is a fully grown one.
Critique: Original, memorable, deftly crafted, horrifically chilling, "Dear Hanna" is a simply riveting read from start to finish. Laced with dark humor and unexpected twists and turns, "Dear Hannah" will have a very special appeal to fans of psychological suspense thrillers. Very highly recommended for community/public library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Dear Hannah" is also available in a paperback edition (9781662520990, $16.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).
Editorial Note: Zoje Stage (https://zojestage.blogspot.com) is the author of "Baby Teeth", "Wonderland", "Getaway" and "Mothered".
Julie Summers
Reviewer
Margaret Lane's Bookshelf
Witch Trials: A Worldwide Chronology
Mary Ellen Snodgrass
McFarland & Company
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476694412, $95.00, PB, 301pp
https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Trials-Mary-Ellen-Snodgrass/dp/1476694419
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-trials-mary-ellen-snodgrass/1143788850
Synopsis: With the publication of "Witch Trials: A Worldwide Chronology" from McFarland & Company, Mary Ellen Snodgrass provides a chronological reference compendium that traces accusations, punishments, and the investigation of occultism from sorcery inquiries in 323 BCE Athens down to the modern day.
The text provides detailed information on actual hearings, torture, and death sentences for cases both famous and unknown. Primary sources (media, correspondence, adjudication) reveal the appalling injustices of government, church, and mobs toward the accused. Extensive appendices include a glossary, chronology of examples, and a list of legal proceedings, their locations, and outcomes.
Critique: This large format (7 x 0.61 x 10 inches, 1.2 pounds) paperback edition of "Witch Trials: A Worldwide Chronology" will prove to be an invaluable and seminal addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library Witchcraft History/Reference collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. An impressive work of exemplary scholarship it should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Witch Trials: A Worldwide Chronology" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $59.99).
Editorial Note: Mary Ellen Snodgrass is an award-winning author of English and Latin textbooks and reference works for 40 years. She taught at Hickory High School and Lenoir Rhyne University in North Carolina for 23 years. Her writing focuses on women's and world literature and history and general research topics, including epidemics, the history of money, clothing, food, and dance. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellen_Snodgrass)
Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women
Shona Riddell
EK Books
c/o Exisle Publishing
www.exislepublishing.com.au
9781923011045, $24.99, PB, 256pp
https://www.amazon.com/Guiding-Lights-extraordinary-lives-lighthouse/dp/1923011049
Synopsis: Women have a long history of keeping the lights burning, from tending ancient altar flames to manning modern day lighthouses. Yet most of their stories are little-known. "Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women" by lighthouse enthusiast Shna Riddell is a collection of true stories spanning decades and continents, chronicling the lives of the extraordinary women who mind the worlds lighthouses.
From Hannah Sutton and her partner Grant, the two caretakers living alone on Tasmanias wild Maatsuyker Island, to Karen Zacharuk, the keeper in charge of Cape Beale, Vancouver Island, where bears, cougars and wolves roam, the lives of lighthouse women are not for the faint of heart.
Paired with stunning photographs throughout, "Guiding Lights" includes the tales of:
The dramatic torching of Puysegur Point, one of NZs most inhospitable lighthouses.
Haunted lighthouses in across the US and their tragic tales.
Lighthouse accidents and emergencies around the world.
Two of the worlds most legendary lighthouse women, Ida Lewis (US) and Grace Darling (UK), who risked their lives to save others.
"Guiding Lights" also explores our dual perception of lighthouses: are they comforting and romantic beacons symbolising hope and trust, or storm-lashed and forbidding towers with echoes of lonely, mad keepers? Whatever our perception, stories of women's courage and dedication in minding the lights (then and now) will continue to capture our imagination and provide inspiration.
Critique: Informative enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of a six page Epilogue (To the Lighthouse), a two page listing of Acknowledgments, ten pages of End Notes, a four page Appendix (The Lighthouses of Guiding Lights), and a seven page Index, "Guiding Lights: The Extraordinary Lives of Lighthouse Women", is an inherently fascinating read from cover to cover. This newly updated second edition of "Guiding Lights" from Exisle Publishing is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and college/university library Women's History collections and will prove to be of special value to readers with an interest in the history of lighthouses and lighthouse keepers.
Editorial Note: Shona Riddell (www.shonariddell.com) has a long-held fascination with lighthouses. A writer for 20+ years (including her subantarctic history book Trial of Strength with Exisle Publishing), Shona lives with her husband and two daughters in Wellington, New Zealand. She enjoys cold, windy weather and stories about remote locations.
I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India
Rollo Romig
Penguin Books
c/o Penguin Group (USA)
www.penguin.com
9780143135289, $17.99, PB, 400pp
https://www.amazon.com/Am-Hit-List-Journalists-Autocracy/dp/0143135287
Synopsis: When Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken female journalist in the South Indian city of Bangalore, was assassinated in September 2017 outside her home, it wasn't just a loss to her close-knit community of writers and activists -- the shock reverberated nationwide, making headlines and sparking mass protests.
Why was she targeted, and who was behind it? Following the case to its stunning, unsettling conclusion, Rollo Romig uncovers a world of political extremists, fearless writers, organized crime, and shadowy religious groups.
"I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India" is an epic narrative that moves between a historic booksellers' district and brand-new high rises funded by IT wealth, to a secretive ashram in Goa and the kitchens of an international vegetarian restaurant chain, boldly interrogating whether we can break the cycle of polarization and bloodshed inspiring political murder across the globe.
Critique: An extraordinarily informative and memorable account of the life, achievements, and assassination of a remarkable journalist, "I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India" by Rollo Romig is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and college/university library Journalism History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "I Am on the Hit List" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).
Editorial Note: Born and raised in Detroit, Rollo Romig (www.rolloromig.com) is a journalist, essayist, and critic. He has been reporting on South India since 2013, most often for The New York Times Magazine.
Margaret Lane
Reviewer
Mari Carlson's Bookshelf
Black Days
Jackson Ellis
https://www.jacksonellis.net
Green Writers Press
https://greenwriterspress.com
9798989178452, $19.95
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Days-novel-Jackson-Ellis/dp/B0CVTHZBJN
On the eve of retirement, Daniel, a Vermont factory worker, gets in an accident that leaves him in a coma. He awakens months later to a depressing combination of a paltry pension, a botched real estate deal, and an estranged family. A bear he encounters on a walk in the woods reminds him that his coma was like hibernating. Perhaps "hibernating" in the cold during the long winter will revive him. With the help of his family doctor, his plan succeeds. But will others' plans to ride his coattails succeed?
Based on a true hoax story, the book appeals to a condition to which many in today's milieu can relate. Daniel exemplifies "the quietest type of tragedy: a silent, invisible tragedy of loneliness and unspoken pain" (65). He learns from his labor job to stuff his feelings and trudge through. He's also ingenious enough to create an escape. Daniel's beleaguered yet hands-on, can-do voice sets a sensitive as well as action-oriented tone.
Daniel isn't the only actor, however. Dr. Butcher is omnipresent. He cared for Daniel during his coma and afterwards remained a steady (sometimes overbearing) companion. Dr. Butcher, with his expertise and attention to detail, is as convincing as the plan itself, which makes the gruesome climax a surprise ending.
The book's straightforward and linear narration about how to freeze people keeps the story moving at a steady clip. The experiment at its heart, carried out by two able men, is intriguing enough. The real hook, though, is a lurking tragedy, pernicious and startling and devastating to everyone in its wake. Are we ready to believe we're as susceptible to it as the pervasive condition Daniel exemplifies? What begins as a science fiction hoax becomes a psychological thriller, a double hitter that packs a painful punch.
Unashamed Observations
Richard Krause
https://richardkrausewriting.com
Unsolicited Press
https://www.unsolicitedpress.com
9781963115185, $17.95
https://www.unsolicitedpress.com/store/p465/unashamedobservations.html
https://www.amazon.com/Unashamed-Observations-Richard-Krause/dp/196311518X
What distinguishes a poem from other writing genres? In this collection, Krause offers a definition that "a poem elicits feeling, it fulfills itself" (83). In this book, feelings and thoughts also elicit poems. As with Krause's epigrams, the poems are economical. Form and function are synonymous. Succinct sentences, saying as much as possible with only the words necessary, state a clear - and original - thought. In the poem, Her Hands, a woman showing her hands, damaged in part by her own abuse, she also shows that her life is still "in her hands." She manifests the cliche in her own way. In other poems, cliches are similarly debunked or questioned. The poem Beating a Dead Horse, how beating feels explains why it's done. Like the horse can be anything beaten, other poems use metaphor to explore a thought. In Choice Cuts of Wit, writing transforms into a cow, a powerful source of sustenance and pleasure. What distinguishes these prose-poems is a symbiosis of content and delivery. Taken together, the poems transport readers to a refreshing dimension where words effect what they say.
The poems are arranged in nine sections loosely around a theme. The first poems are visceral and bodily. Many poems in section two concern writing and reading. The third section is about relationships. The fourth and longest section contains the most animals. Five is self-reflective. Six is portraits, setting disparate people or things alongside each other, and seven's character sketches show people changing. In eight, people or things are not as they first appear. The final poem characterizes and summarizes the whole book in a wonderment: imagine every movement of gills as an explosion. The poems, called observations, in turn observe life's often overlooked details to instill imagination. What if, they ask, we would observe as these poems do, with gills that breathe stimuli with precision and beauty, thereby releasing their heft and value? The poems offer this amazement, disgust, destruction, and passion in minute doses, just enough to inspire more.
Mari Carlson
Reviewer
Mark Walker's Bookshelf
Walking with Evaristo: A Memoir of Celebration and Tragedy in the Land of the Achi Maya
Christian Nill
https://www.christian-nill.com
Peace Corps Writers
9781950444687, $15.99
https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Evaristo-Memoir-Celebration-Tragedy/dp/1950444686
Fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Christian Nill has written an engaging story about the impact and consequences of his experience as a volunteer in the highlands of Guatemala. He's also made a timely contribution to our understanding of the devastating ten-year period of violence there.
Although I was a volunteer five years before Nill, the similarities were amazing. I worked on a study for CARE identifying some of the management and conservation practices used for the Food-for-Work program implemented in conjunction with the group Nill worked with, INAFOR (National Forestry Institute).
My second site was also in Baja Verapaz, where I found my bride. I raised money for the program in the late 80s and led a donor trip there as Regional Director for CARE in Denver. And when Nill mentioned that the Vice President at the time he was there, Villagran Kramer, had quit because of the corruption, I could only chuckle, as he was also the Presbyterian pastor who wed my Guatemalan wife and me. I was in Guatemala setting up a Guatemalan development agency when Nill volunteered. So, Nill's story resonated on many personal and professional levels.
What I didn't realize was that Rabinal, a small Mayan village in the highlands, had been an epicenter for the violence and massacres of the 1980s. He does a masterful job weaving together the stories of the local reality as he immerses himself in the culture.
Throughout the first part of the book, Nill alludes to some of the underlying injustices and unrest in and around Rabinal. After three years, he was aware that a battle was brewing. He also refers to several excellent books that provide the backdrop of the violence, like Thomas and Marjorie Melville's Guatemala: The Politics of Land Ownership.
He is uncomfortable with the "sheer ubiquity of those companies' (like Monsanto) products all over this tropical paradise. The pervasive use of hazardous agrochemicals in every single stage of plan farming in Central America laments, "We had, in a sense, become hypocrites before we even began our tour of service in Guatemala."
Nill expresses frustration that none of his Peace Corps training provided more than a "scant, cursory knowledge of Guatemala's troubled history." He then goes on to describe the 1954 coup, which introduced an era of violent suppression of any voices for justice or equality.
He also describes his transformation from a "naive, modern altruist, over the course of three years living in the community where I was assigned, I became increasingly committed to Guatemalan self-determination."
Nill takes us inside one of the insurgent movements, the EGP (Ejercito Guerrillero de los Pobres), and how their influence grew in the area, as well as the government's response to the formation of Auto Defense Civil Patrols in which local men organized by the regular army in 1982 hiked over the Rio Negro and slaughtered 177 villagers who were considered "insurgents."
I knew some of this history, since this was the same strategy the government used in the Ixil area of neighboring Quiche. But I didn't know the story behind these groups and their "scorched earth" policy, developed between Guatemalan "General Benny" and U.S. Lieutenant Colonel George Mayes, with advisors from Israel and Argentina and 15,000 troops.
Nill reveals the role of Benedicto Lucas Garcia, the Army Chief-of-staff and the brother of the Guatemalan President who deployed troops on a broad sweep through Mayan villages, accounting for many of the 200,000 killed and 40,000 "disappeared," as well as many more forced into exile.
In the author's extensive notes at the end of the book, he reveals the production of a documentary played on "Point of View" on the escape of one Denese Becker from the Rio Negro slaughter, which is now available on YouTube.
I knew nothing about the Achi Maya group, since San Jeronimo is a Ladino population (they wear Western clothing and speak Spanish). According to Nill,
The guttural sounds of Achi, supported by an alphabet comprising twenty-two consonants and ten vowels, are closely related to other native Mayan Languages such as Kaqchikel, Tsu'utijil, and K'iche. Achi is spoken by over 160,000 Mayans living primarily in the Baja Verapaz department." (This also helps explain how I could work in the highlands where they say 10 of the 22 Mayan languages and never learned them).
The cultural gap and mistrust were aptly reflected in one scene where Nill tries to help an injured Maya girl who is in great pain,
As I kneeled to examine her hand, the girl took a step backward. When I looked up at her, I saw her face contorted into a grimace of horror. And yet she said nothing, she just stood there. What wisdom lay behind those black, squinting eyes? What secret knowledge lay dormant in a deep recess of her afflicted brain? I could only imagine the torment and hardship she must have suffered in her short life. Yet, I felt a connection, almost electric or deeply organic like symbiosis, between myself and the poor bedraggled girls with wild black hair... They stared at one another for a "long minute," then she turned away and ran.
Throughout the book, Nill deals with what he calls "baggage." "Self-doubt that was never in short supply, lost loves that would take a separate book to write about, recurring bouts of depression, religious questions..."
I was bogged down by the extensive quotes from Euripides, bringing some Greek tragedy to the story. Nill also expresses a lot of remorse for those close to him who were injured or killed, which is understandable. It took me a long time to appreciate why my mother-in-law, wife, and her brother burned my entire library of books when I was away around this same period. (They were all leftist/Marxist-oriented books, which would have compromised everyone's life with military hit squads on the loose in the Capital City).
Nill was also contrite for waiting over 40 years to tell his story. The important thing is that we tell our stories when the time is suitable for the writer and those concerned. Many secrets still exist about the wonders and violence hidden throughout history in Guatemala, and people still need to be reminded what it was about and what our country's role was - for good and evil. I agree with fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer writer Paul Theroux when he said, "Writing is not a job; it's a process."
This book makes a worthwhile contribution to our understanding of this dark period in history, and we should be grateful to Nill for having had the courage to write it." Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books.
About the Author
Christian Nill is an environmental professional who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1978 to 1982. After his Peace Corps service, Nill continued working in Guatemala for another five years as a project manager for CARE. A native of upstate New York, he holds a master's degree in natural resources from Cornell University and resides with his wife, Mireya, in El Paso, Texas.
Mark D. Walker, Reviewer
www.MillionMileWalker.com
Mark Zvonkovic's Bookshelf
Draw A Hard Line
Micheal Jimerson
https://michealjimerson.com
Elwood Jimerson Farms L.L.C.
9798218409852, $24.89, 310 Pages
https://www.amazon.com/Draw-Hard-Line-Jimerson/dp/B0D24Z1FZL
A tale of a Texas hero who teeters atop a ridge between tragedy and redemption.
Is enough enough? Or is any too much? Ya basta! EJ Kane, the hero in Draw A Hard Line frequently tries to answer the question as he rides a rollercoaster plot (as opposed to his daughter's horse, Sunshine) during which he must solve the murder of a teenage girl, survive a harrowing skirmish with an Aryan gang, and deal with a relapse into drug addiction by his pregnant daughter. EJ's character brings new meaning to description "tortured soul," as he gallops through the novel's pages as a modern day Texas Don Quixote. His adversity is both physical and mental, from a constantly buckling arthritic knee to enduring a reoccurring guilt associated with the death of his son and the blame cast upon him by his divorced wife. And EJ never makes a good first impression. When he shows up to rescue a woman chained to a bomb, she refers to him as "a geriatric cowboy with attention deficit disorder."
Not to disparage his excellent, fast paced plot in Draw A Hard Line, Jimerson's greater talent resides in his complex characters. They provide the narrative with a solid foundation, giving meaning to the lives affected by the story line. There are many of those characters: an ex-wife, a drug addled daughter, an old employer with Alzheimer's, a mentor, a protegee, a movie star, and even a high school friend turned nemesis. All of these characters have lives outside the story's action, lives deep with suffering and joy, as well as confusion and redemption. Jimerson achieves a remarkable feat by including these tangential storylines without interfering in the slightest way with the novel's narrative drive.
One character in the story has no complexity. That is G.H. Burton, a villain so evil that no character dimension could possibly exist in him. Jimerson uses Burton's malevolence brilliantly to set in stark relief the depth of the other characters who interact with him. On several occasions Burton tests EJ's sense of right and wrong. Early on, while complex images spring through EJ's mind about his son Konnor's death, and Rebecca's blame of EJ for it, EJ comes across Burton in a back hallway. Burton's language and attitude tempt EJ to kill him, something that might absolve him for the role that Rebecca thinks EJ played in Konnor's death. EJ's experience is that, "This time, he wouldn't fail Rebecca. His legs seemed rubbery, yet he rose and kept moving, wishing to put emotion behind him like a foul stench he could walk past." And then, much later, after Burton has murdered Sheriff B.B., EJ is tempted again while holding his gun to Burton's head, thinking, "The man's existence made a cruel joke of everything good and right in the world. The mere act of G.H. Burton drawing air disproved any favorable view of human nature. Evil, like what consumed Burton, lived within the confines of humanity, filling their souls with a vile cruelty." But EJ's memory of what he told his son just before he was deployed as a marine, helps EJ not to pull the trigger. He'd said, "Remember who you are." Draw A Hard Line is full of scenes just like these small explorations of the provocations morality must face in a person's life. EJ's expression of his take on these challenges is beautifully set forth by Jimerson as, "In one day, he had been drugged, abducted, made to stand in gallows for hours. Also, the truths underlying his life had been challenged. Challenged by a man he couldn't trust. B.B. had fabricated falsehoods all their lives, and yet the new piece ordered the puzzle. However, the more it came into focus, the more the whole thing presented a greater enigma than ever."
Assigning a genre to Draw A Hard Line would be a futile exercise. Yes, the story is thrilling. And the novel is also a mystery. But those are hollow categories for a narrative that drives its characters through an expertly depicted percipience that arises when doing the right thing spills into the real world. In EJ's words, "Evil knows no limits, forcing hard men, lawmen and women to hold fast. Not knowing if the threat is behind or in front of us, nor all the sources and extent of inequity and depravity in the world, we have to draw a hard line, prepared to fight ahead or behind us." Page after page, Jimerson writes this kind of beautiful prose. And page after page his protagonist teeters atop a ridge between tragedy and redemption. One should expect no less from an honorable Texas man.
Mark Zvonkovic, Reviewer
www.markzvonkovic.com
Matthew McCarty's Bookshelf
The Exvangelicals
Sarah McCammon
St. Martins Press
us.macmillan.com
9781250284471, $30.00 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle, 312 Pages
https://www.amazon.com/Exvangelicals-Loving-Living-Leaving-Evangelical/dp/1250284473
Religion is arguably one of the most powerful influences in American society. Almost every community has at least one religious structure or symbol and many American communities have a plethora of churches that can be noticed on every street. However, many Americans, since the turn of the new century, have come to see the religious ideology or theocracy, especially the American Evangelical Christian movement, as dangerous, suspicious, and often criminal. As a result, people have left the church in droves, many taking on the label "exvangelical." Sarah McCammon, decorated journalist and correspondent for multiple press outlets, sheds light on the mass exodus of people from the church in The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2024, 312 pgs, $30, $40 CAN).
McCammon describes both her own deconstruction from religion and that of others who managed to escape the often intolerant and inhibiting theology of the evangelical movement. McCammon talks with LBGTQ+ folks, African-Americans who were made to feel uncomfortable in white evangelical churches, and others who for one reason or another, felt excluded, denigrated, or afraid of the evangelical movement. McCammon describes in detail how her emergence of religion coincided with a change in her view towards her grandfather and the questions that would not go away as she graduated from college and took her place in the world as an adult. McCammon describes the difficulty in losing the faith that provided a safe place for her as she was growing up and how that loss of faith led her to search for a true meaning of life. McCammon makes a great point in writing about Exvangelicals who are still very much practicing Christians, but practice a Christianity that is peaceful and welcoming.
The Exvangelicals is a quality read. McCammon writes with a very specific and succinct goal in mind: to inform the reader about the process of leaving religion. She also writes with a desire to let the reader know just how hard that process is. McCammon's words are not harmful but do relay a powerful sense of the struggles that many Exvangelicals face as they leave the only community that they have ever known. The Exvangelicals is highly recommended for anyone who is questioning their faith or want to support someone who is considering the tough transition to "exvangelical."
Matthew W. McCarty, EdD
Reviewer
Michael Carson's Bookshelf
Fatal Intrusion
Jeffery Deaver & Isabel Maldonado
https://www.jefferydeaver.com
Thomas & Mercer
c/o Amazon Publishing
9781662518713, $28.99, HC, 444pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Intrusion-Novel-Sanchez-Heron/dp/1662518714
Synopsis: Carmen Sanchez is a tough Homeland Security agent who plays by the rules. But when her sister is attacked, revealing a connection to a series of murders across Southern California, she realizes a conventional investigation will not be enough to stop the ruthless perpetrator.
With nowhere else to turn, Sanchez enlists the aid of Professor Jake Heron, a brilliant and quirky private security expert who, unlike Sanchez, believes rules are merely suggestions. The two have a troubled past, but he owes her a favor and she's cashing in. They team up to catch the assailant, who, mystifyingly, has no discernible motive and fits no classic criminal profile. All they have to go on is a distinctive tattoo and a singular obsession that gives this chillingly efficient tactician his nickname: Spider.
Over the next seventy-two hours, Sanchez and Heron find themselves in the midst of a lethal chess match with the killer as they race to stop the carnage. As the victims mount, so do the risks. Because this spider's web of intrigue is more sinister (and goes far deeper) than anyone could possibly anticipate.
Critique: An original, carefully crafted and simply riveting read from cover to cover, with "Fatal Intrusion" co-authors Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado have created a 'whodunnit' murder mystery that rises to the level of an extraordinary literary elegance. Especially and unreservedly recommended for community and public library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Fatal Intrusions" is also available in a paperback edition (9781662518720, $16.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.99).
Editorial Note #1: Jeffery Deaver (www.jefferydeaver.com) is the award-winning author of the Lincoln Rhyme, Colter Shaw and Kathryn Dance series, among many others. Deaver's work includes forty-seven novels, one hundred short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. He was recently named a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, whose ranks include Agatha Christie, Elmore Leonard and Mickey Spillane.
Editorial Note #2: Isabella Maldonado (www.isabellamaldonado.com) is the award-winning author of the Nina Guerrera, Daniela Vega and Veranda Cruz series. Her books are published in twenty-four languages. Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in her police department, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing.
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Shadow
Brian Freeman
G. P. Putnam's Sons
c/o Penguin Group
www.penguin.com
9780593716458, $29.99, HC, 400pp
https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Ludlums-Bourne-Shadow-Jason/dp/0593716450
Synopsis: It's been over a decade since Nash Rollins recruited a brilliant, talented, but disaffected young man named David Webb to join Treadstone. Webb became the agent known as Cain -- and later on took on the identity of Jason Bourne.
That violent winter (which included Cain's first mission for Treadstone) was also a story of betrayal in ways that David never knew. So after the injury that erased Bourne's whole life, Nash lied about the circumstances of David's recruitment to Treadstone. He was afraid that learning the truth might drive Bourne out of the agency forever.
But now, when Bourne meets a woman who recognizes him as David Webb, the secrets of those days begin to come out -- and Bourne is forced to confront the dangerous ghosts of a past he doesn't even remember.
Critique "Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Shadow" by Brian Freeman is the 19th title in the wildly popular Jason Borne action/adventure series and a 'must' for the legions of Jason Bourne fans. A deftly crafted novel of espionage, terrorism, and devious politics, "Robert Ludhum's The Bourne Shadow" is unreservedly recommended for community library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this edition of "Roberrt Ludlum's The Bourne Shadow" from G. P. Putnam is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Brian Freeman (https://bfreemanbooks.com) is the author of more than two dozen psychological thrillers, including the Jonathan Stride series and multiple popular stand-alone novels. His books have been sold in 46 countries and 23 languages. He is widely acclaimed for his "you are there" settings and his complex, engaging characters and twist-filled plots. Brian was also selected as the official author to continue Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne series.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Robin Friedman's Bookshelf
Charles Portis: Collected Works (LOA #369)
Charles Portis, author
Jay Jennings, editor
Library of America
https://www.loa.org
9781598537468, $25.49, hardcover
https://www.amazon.com/Charles-Portis-Collected-Atlantis-Writings/dp/1598537466
Charles Portis On Independence Day
Every Fourth of July, I try to review a book appropriate to the themes of the day. For this difficult year, 2024, I picked this Library of America volume of the Collected Works of Charles Portis published last year. Portis (1933 -- 2000) was a Southern writer, born and raised in Arkansas. He earned a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter in New York City and London. In 1965, he returned to Arkansas where he lived the rest of his life and wrote his five novels. Portis shunned publicity and lived in relative obscurity, but his famous novel "True Grit" (1968) was a best-seller and was filmed twice, in 1969, in a film starring John Wayne and directed by Henry Hathaway and in 2010, in a film directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Jeff Bridges.
Portis was a humorist, but he was much more. His novels, and the shorter works collected in this volume, show a sharp-eyed observation of American characters and American life. He wrote in a deadpan style in which every word tells. His characters tend to be eccentrics, loners, and outsiders without a clear sense of direction. The novels are picaresque and have particular settings but also are road novels with long journeys. With all their sharpness and sense of human foibles, the novels show an acceptance of people and their possibilities more than a social critique. A recent essay by Jonathan Lethem, aptly described Portis, with his focus on odd characters and situations as the "Grand Poobah of the Antigrandiose". (New York Review of Books, June 20, 2024, pp. 34 --36).
Laughter and humor are important in troubled times, as is an understanding of the range of American life. It is valuable to think of Portis on Independence Day and to be grateful for this volume of his writings.
Portis wrote his five novels over a 25-year period. The first two were commercial successes and were made into films. The final three are more obscure and difficult.
"Norwood" (1966) tells the story of Norwood Pratt, a discharged marine, who travels from California to his home in Texas, to New York City, and then back to Texas to collect a small debt owned by a friend. "Norwood" is full of country music and of strange adventures and characters, including a college-educated chicken named Joann. It is an accessible, humorous novel about road life, odd characters, and a seemingly ordinary young man coming into his own. It is a good place to start in reading Portis.
"True Grit" (1968) is unusual among Portis's novels in that it has a developed plot and is a story of revenge. It moves from Arkansas to Texas in the 1870s in search of a ruthless killer. The main character and narrator is Mattie Ross, who pursues her father's killer at the age of 14 with the assistance of the redoubtable Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne and Jeff Bridges in the film adaptations). Mattie narrates the story of her youth much later in 1918, as an unmarried, determined successful woman, devoted to the Bible and to moralizing. Although "True Grit" does not offer a triumphalist portrayal of the settlement of the West, it shows a love for the United States, for the land, and for the diversity and strengths of the people. With all his faults, Rooster Cogburn displays strong loyalties and heroic qualities and inspires Mattie through her long life.
Eleven years separate "True Grit" from Portis's third novel "The Dog of the South" (1979), told in the first person by Ray Midge, 26, of Little Rock, Arkansas, a young man with no particular purpose in life. Ray undertakes a mad journey from Arkansas through Mexico to Belize in search of his wife who has run off with his friend and his car. Ray is more interested in the car. The novel features an extensive cast of characters, including American hippies, radicals and religious fanatics and features a former doctor, Doc Symes, who becomes a travelling companion of Ray and incessantly expounds his view of the world. The novel has a rare sense of the ridiculous while inviting the reader to peer a little below the surface.
"Masters of Atlantis" (1985) has an omniscient third person narrator and involves the story of Gnomonism over a sixty year period beginning with the end of WW I. Gnomonism is a fictitious secret society along the lines of Freemasonry or Rosicrucianism. The main character, Lamar Jimmerson, becomes the Master of the Gnomon Order following a chance encounter in France. He establishes the Order in his hometown in Indiana where it thrives initially and then fades into obscurity after WW II. Jimmerson is gullible but with a sincere interest in spirituality. Most of his associates lack this sincerity and seek instead the money. Portions of the story become a form of road novel and follow the adventures of Jimmerson's acolytes across the country. Portis is sympathetic and merciless in equal measure -- sympathetic to the spiritual search, merciless to the shallowness of his characters.
Portis's final novel "Gringos" (1991) is set in Yucatan in southeastern Mexico. Portis spent a great deal of time in Mexico over his life. Jimmy Burns, a 41 year old expatriate from the United States narrates the story, which features a wide variety of eccentric characters including hippies, anthropologists, seekers of UFOs, and ex-convicts from both the United States and Mexico. Jimmy has little sense of direction in his life until he sets off on a mission to the jungles of Yucatan to find and rescue three people who have disappeared. "Gringos" is Portis's longest, most complex novel with Jimmy coming to understand, at last, that "You had to commit to something. You had to plant a tree somewhere."
The Library of America has done a service in publishing this volume of the works of Charles Portis. He has a distinctive American voice. It was good to read his works over the past several months and to write about them in celebration of Independence Day.
The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History
Margaret S. Creighton
Basic Books
c/o Hachette
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com
9780465014576, $19.98 paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Colors-Courage-Gettysburgs-Forgotten-Immigrants/dp/0465014577
Unsung Heroes Of Gettysburg
So much has been written about the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 -- July 3, 1863), that it is difficult to find something new to say or a new and interesting way to say it. Margaret Creighton's book, "The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Forgotten History" (2005) succeeds on both counts. Margaret Creighton is Professor of History at Bard College, Maine. Her study of the Battle of Gettysburg focuses on the people and groups that frequently do not receive their full due: the Union XIth Corps, composed in large part of German immigrants, slightingly referred to as "Dutch", and its leaders, the German immigrants in the Borough of Gettysburg, the women of Gettysburg, and the African-American community in Gettysburg and its environs. Professor Creighton also discusses the "Louisiana Tigers" a much-feared unit of the Confederate Army. Each of these groups, Professor Creighton shows the reader, had something at stake in the Battle of Gettysburg over and above the military maneuvers and strategies, and each contributed something important to the result of the battle and to its significance.
The book begins with some stage-setting of where each group stood just before the Battle. Thus the Union XI Corps was smarting from the defeat of the Union Army at Chancellorsville, and it was viewed as the scapegoat because it was the victim of Stonewall Jackson's surprise attack on the far Union flank.
Professor Creighton gives a good picture of pre-war Gettysburg, something most other histories treat too lightly. Women of Gettysburg were of varying economic and social status and had to bear much of the brunt of the invasion because many of the men were in military service or had left the town in anticipation of the invasion.
Approximately eight percent of Gettysburg's population was African-American. Most of the African-American population was poor and struggling, but some individuals had managed to acquire land and property and to attain positions of influence and respect within their community. With the Confederate invasion, most of the African-American population that was able to do so left town. And with good reason. The Southern Army seized African-Americans as "contraband," including those who had never spent a day in Southern slavery, and sent them South to a life of slavery. Professor Creighton describes this well as the "reverse Underground Railroad."
In Professor Creighton's account, we see how the XI Corps and its leaders tried to redeem themselves at Gettysburg. She shows how women conducted themselves heroically during the battle by offering a mixture of cooperation with and resistance to the invading troops. After the Battle, many women in the town made tireless and demanding efforts in caring for the wounded and the dying.
There is a great deal of attention paid to Gettysburg's African-American community and how it was changed by the Battle. I found the discussion of the African-American residents of Gettysburg the most fascinating part of the book and the part which has been least explored in other studies.
The book is brought to life by its treatment of individuals as well as groups. Thus we meet a variety of people in the XI Corps, from its Commander, General Otis Howard, through the German immigrant Generals Schurz and Schimmelfennig on Howard's staff, through the enlisted corporal Adam Muenzenberger who is taken prisoner on July 1 and dies in a prison camp. We see a great deal of Georgia Wade McClellan and her more famous sister, Jennie Wade, and learn more about them than is usual in battle studies. We also hear a great deal about Elizabeth Thorn, who in 2002 at last received a monument in her honor. Mrs. Thorn, pregnant and the keeper of the Evergreen Cemetery provided great and hazardous service before, during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Again Professor Creighton makes nuances and details of her story come alive that often get little attention.
The African-Americans described in Professor Creighton's study include Abraham Brian, whose home remains on the Gettysburg Battlefield on Cemetery Ridge at the center of the Confederate attack, the flamboyant Mag Palm, Owen Robinson, a successful businessman, and Basil Biggs, who did a great deal of work burying fallen soldiers after the Battle. Professor Creighton also uses a great deal of oral histories based upon her interviews with Catherine Carter and Margaret Nutter, descendants of African-Americans in Gettysburg at the time of the Battle. These sources are unusual and have much to teach about the Battle.
Professor Creighton tells her story in a clear, dignified way which, for the most part, is free of polemic. She reminds the reader that Gettysburg was fought for human freedom and that the goals of the battle and the Civil War, particularly the promise of freedom and dignity to African-Americans, sometimes were forgotten in the spirit of reconciliation that came to pervade American life following Reconstruction. Professor Creighton tells an important story, or a series of important stories, and she tells them well. Her book was a pleasure to read and taught me a great deal about the facts and the meaning of the Battle of Gettysburg.
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815 -- 1848
Daniel Walker Howe
Oxford University Press
https://www.corp.oup.com
9780195392432, $22.75 paperback
https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195392434
Daniel Walker Howe On The Transformation Of America
In "What Hath God Wrought" historian Daniel Walker Howe offers a learned and judicious overview of the political and cultural history of the United States between 1815 -- 1848 which he aptly describes as "The Transformation of America". The book covers the history of the United States beginning with Andrew Jackson's triumph at the Battle of New Orleans and concludes with the War with Mexico. I came to this book after reading a similarly through study of this period of American history by Sean Wilenz, "The Rise of American Democracy" (2005) Howe and Wilenz offer different perspectives on this tranformative period of American history, and it is fascinating to compare the two.
Wilenz's book focuses on Andrew Jackson and on what is commonly called "Jacksonian America". Wilenz sees the transformative aspects of the 1815 -- 1848 period as rooted in the extension of sovereignty at both the national and state levels. For Wilenz, the Jacksonian era, for all its excesses and inconsistencies, marked a transformation from a United States based upon elitism, property and privilege to one based on Jeffersonian democracy to include all white males. Democracy is at the heart of Wilenz's narrative, and he shows how it was unable to keep the United States from falling into sectionalism and Civil War.
Howe takes a different approach to the nature of American transformation than does Wilenz. Howe rejects the term "Jacksonian America" or "Jacksonian Democracy" as covering this period. (p. 4) America was not "Jacksonian" in that Jackson's program was always controversial. Furthermore, the age was not "democratic" as witnessed by the policy of Indian removal, the expansion of slavery, and "the exclusion of women and most nonwhites from the suffrage and equality before the law." (p. 4) The expansion of the suffrage, for Howe, was limited to white males, and, in any event had began well before Jacksonian times. Thus, Howe has a major difference in perspective, in this way among others, from Wilenz. Late in his book, Howe summarizes the factors leading to the transformation of America as: 1. the growth of the market economy, facilitated by improvements in transportation; 2. the increasing vigor of Protestant churches and other voluntary associations; 3. the emergency of mass political parties offering options to the electorate. The communications revolution multiplied the effects of these factors. (p. 849)
Howe's political heroes are opponents of Jackson and the Jacksonian democrats, especially John Quincy Adams, to whose memory the book is dedicated, and, as it seems to me, Henry Clay.
Howe emphasizes the revolution in communication and transportation as leading to a strong, expansive United States and as changing radically the character of the nation. His key figure in epitomizing the new era is Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. The title of this book is taken from Morse's first message on the telegraph sent from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore on May 24, 1844. The Biblical phrase "What Hath God Wrought" shows, for Howe, a certain ambiguity. Taken as concluding with an explanation mark (!) it reads as a celebration of American expansion. But with a question mark at the end (?), as Morse subsequently recounted his initial message, it "unintentionally turned the phrase from an affirmation of the Chosen People's destiny to a questioning of it." (p.7) Howes's book shows an admirable mixture of celebration and questioning.
Howe frequently describes the contrast between Jacksonians and their opponents as involving a difference between quantitative and qualitative expansion. The Jacksonians expanded the franchise and individualism while they pushed the boundaries of the United States by removing the Indians, acquiring the Oregon territory from Britain, and making war with Mexico. For Howe, the Whigs and other cultural opponents of Jackson stressed a qualitative transformation of America. Their political-cultural program included internal improvements, (Clay's American system), educational and scientific advancement, moral and religious growth, and an attempt to capture American unity as opposed to the strife of party. Howe argues that America owes a great deal to the opponents of Jackson -- including the figure of Abraham Lincoln.
There is a great deal in Howe's book about religion as transforming America in what is known as the "Second Great Awakening." Howe emphasizes the role religion played in the abolitionist movement, in opposing the mistreatment of the Indians, in crusades for temperance, and in the development of the movement for women's rights. (In the concluding section of his book, Howe spends a great deal of space praising the 1848 convention for Women's Rights in Seneca Falls, New York.)
Howe's book shows an extraordinary amount of thought and learning, with extensive footnotes on every page and a detailed bibliographical essay at the conclusion. Of the many subjects he addresses, I thought his treatment of the War with Mexico particularly insightful. Howe is deeply critical of the expansionist, aggressive character of this war and of the president, James. K. Polk, who fomented it. Yet he recognizes that in "the long run of history" in some respects the seizure of California from Mexico worked for "the general interests of mankind." For Howe, "God moves in mysterious ways, and He is certainly capable of bringing good out of evil." (p. 811)
Howe's book, especially taken with Wilenz's impressive study, offers much for learning and for thought about the United States, its past, and its future. As Howe concludes: " Like the people of 1848, we look with both awe and uncertainty at what God hath wrought in the United States of America." (p. 855)
A Menorah for Athena: Charles Reznikoff and the Jewish Dilemmas of Objectivist Poetry
Steven Fredman, author
University of Chicago Press
https://www.press.uchicago.edu
9780226261393, $29.00 paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Menorah-Athena-Reznikoff-Dilemmas-Objectivist/dp/0226261387
A Welcome Study Of An Important American Poet
Charles Reznikoff was born at the end of the Nineteenth Century in New York City to immigrant Jewish parents. Although he studied law, his calling was as a poet. He became one of the important practitioners, beginning in about 1918, of a modernistic form of poetry known as objectivism. This school was heavily influenced by Ezra Pound. It is difficult to define, but it involves stripping poetry of romantic accretions, forced verse forms, and standardized sentiments. It has a motto of "to the things themselves" and the emotional response produced from the writing flows from exact description, precise wording, a lack of editorializing, and understatement. Reznikoff attained a small measure of recognition towards the end of his long life (he died in 1976) and in my opinion is the leading Jewish poet that has written in the United States.
Fredman's book is a welcome critical study of Reznikoff. The book explores the tension that resulted when a first generation American trying to recapture something of his Jewishness came in contact with the spirit of secularity and modernity in Twentieth Century America. This tension, for Fredman, is at the heart of Reznikoff's poetry.
Fredman expands his theme to show how the Jewish immigrants attempted to adjust to their new country by discussing the Menorah Journal. This periodical was founded by Jewish students at Harvard in 1906 and it became an important magazine publishing Reznikoff's poetry, as well as many other historical and critical articles in which the new immigrants attempted to joint the mainstream of American culture while keeping something of their Jewishness. Most of these individuals were secular and rejected the religious element of Judaism.
Fredman takes the conflict between traditional Jewish belief and modernity back still further with a discussion of Spinoza, the prototypical secular, modern Jew. He finds that Spinoza articulated a philosophy of immanentism under which God was found by studying the world, rather than through the transcendent source of religious revelation. Reznikoff, argues Fredman, was a modern heir of Spinoza and the philosophy of immancence. Many of the issues faced by modern Jews have their roots in Spinoza.
Fredman's book includes a good selection and analysis of passages from Reznikoff, emphasizing the Jewish component of his poetry. Other writers tend to emphasize the American nature of Reznikoff's writing, particularly his descriptions of New York City. I was pleased that with the work of this too little known writer, Fredman emphasized some texts that remain to be discovered and brought back into print. He offers a long discussion of Reznikoff's plays, in particular a play dealing with Uriel da Costa, an apostate Jew and a predecessor of Spinoza. Fredman, of course, ties in da Costa's project with Reznikoff's own.
This book also offers much in the discussion of intellectual and poetic life in Twentieth Century America. Although Reznikoff has never been and probably never will be a writer with broad mass appeal, his work helps illuminate the United States and the dilemmas faced by the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe as they assumed their many places in our country
Robin Friedman
Reviewer
Suanne Schafer's Bookshelf
Light of the Fire
Sarahlyn Bruck
https://sarahlynbruck.com
Lake Union Publishing
https://amazonpublishing.amazon.com/lake-union-publishing.html
9781662513299, $16.99
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Fire-Novel-Sarahlyn-Bruck/dp/1662513291
In Light of the Fire, Beth and Ally, the only girls on their high school soccer team, fight back against their male soccer team's misogynistic "pranks"; i.e. they lock the girls in the janitor's closet so they won't be able to out-perform the boys before soccer scouts. The girls' revenge goes awry and results in major property damage to their high school. The janitor was falsely accused of causing the incident and loses his job, and his whole family is affected by this. Twenty years later, Beth and Ally must deal with the aftermath of their actions - and their cover-up. Beth has become a professional soccer player who is forced to retire because of multiple serious concussions. Ally has started a girls' soccer team in their hometown. Beth returns home when her father has a stroke and resumes her friendship with Ally. Author Bruck does a good job showing the women's stakes if the story comes out. They have a lot at stake, but at crossroads in both their lives, can they handle their uncertainty and guilt?
Light of the Fire is written in three points of view: Beth, Ally, and Jordan (the son of the janitor). He is a journalist trying to research the cause of the fire so he can clear his father's name before his dad, who's suffering with Alzheimer's, loses the ability to realize he has been cleared. The town's reaction to learning who actually caused the accident seems overblown as the two women are nearly completely ostracized. Beth and Jordan have fallen in love, and the effects of her confession are devastating to their relationship. Their reconciliation seems a bit too pat. Overall, an enjoyable read about redemption and forgiveness.
Broken Bayou
Jennifer Moorhead
https://jennifermoorhead.com
Thomas & Mercer
https://amazonpublishing.amazon.com/thomas-mercer.html
9781662518775, $16.99, July 1, 2024
https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Bayou-Jennifer-Moorhead/dp/1662518773
Broken Bayou is author Jennifer Moorhead's debut thriller. Protagonist Willa Watters, a child psychologist with a new book to promote, throws herself off the deep end during her first major television interview about the book. To escape the blowback, she returns to Broken Bayou, Louisiana where she spent many summers with her mother and sister in the home of a pair of now-dead aunts. Ostensibly, Watters is collecting a bunch of her mother's memorabilia left the the aunts' attic.
While there, as a drought drains the bayou, local police are finding oil barrels filled with the remains of women, the work of a serial killer. Almost daily, either barrels or old sunken vehicles are dredged up. Watters finds her past is dredged up as well.
The prose here is taut. Suspense and malevolence ooze from every page. Every time I thought I figured out whodunnit, Wham! Another suspect pops up. An amazing tense debut.
Great Small Things
Jodi Picoult
Ballantine Books
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com
9780345544957, $28.99
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Great-Things-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0345544951
Having recently read Jodi Picoult's By Any Other Name, I was interested enough to start picking up some of her back list, this time Small Great Things. This book in particular attracted me for two reasons: I am a physician and the medical aspects intrigued me, and because I am raising a Black child, the racial aspects also incited my curiosity. Ruth Jefferson, a Black labor and delivery nurse with more than twenty years' experience, performs a screening exam on a newborn. The father, a white supremacist complete with swastika tattoos, asks the nursing supervisor to ban all people of color from handling his child. Of course, Ruth is the only POC in the department. After a routine vasectomy, the baby unexpectedly starts tanking in the nursery. Ruth, due to understaffing, has been left to monitor the child - but not touch him. When the baby's heart stops, her hesitancy - should she touch him or not" Her personal Catch-22 gets her charged with murder. From here, the book explores privilege as seen by both Blacks and Whites as Ruth's trial proceeds. Ruth feels that Kennedy McQuarrie, because she doesn't want to play the "race card" during the trial, doesn't really see the problem. Kennedy must undergo some significant internal struggles before she finally gets the picture.
Small Great Things is told from three points of view: Ruth, Kennedy, and Turk (the White supremacist). Picoult does a good job of capturing Turk's hatred. All three characters undergo a very satisfying character arc. The situation is based on real happenings. Though people feel things have changed since the Jim Crow era, much still remains the same. This is an extremely well-written, highly thought-provoking read. Kudos to Picoult for taking on such a difficult topic and showing all points of view, however ugly and brutal they might be, while showing the unrelenting damage centuries of racism has done to Black psyches.
Fugitive Colors
Lisa Barr
Arcade Publishing
c/o Skyhorse Publishing
https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com
9781628725179, $16.99
https://www.amazon.com/Fugitive-Colors-Novel-Lisa-Barr/dp/1611458943
Fugitive Colors explores the rape of Europe's artistic patrimony before and during World War II, but it does so at a more personal level than most books I've read on the subject (Monuments Men, etc). Jakov Klein, a young Orthodox Jew, is born to be a painter. After a blow-out with his family, he changes his name to Julian Klein and leaves for Paris just before World War II to study art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. When he arrives, he is befriended by three other young artists: Felix, a German aristocrat; Adrienne, a young French Jewish woman; and Rene, a young Jewish man and the most talented artist of the group. Felix is forced to return to Germany to run his father's company. Though well-aware of the situation in Germany for Jews and abstract artists, Julian and Rene, wanting to study under a famous abstract expressionist, follow Felix, bringing along a gorgeous model, Charlotte, a former prostitute. Felix, the least talented of the group, like Hitler himself, wants to be an artist but lacks the talent, and becomes heavily involved with the Nazi campaign against "degenerate art." Julian and Rene become entrapped in Felix's machinations and face danger constantly, including being imprisoned in Dachau. Julian becomes a spy, sometimes for both sides, to try to save the artworks that the Reich is destroying.
Barr is quite knowledgeable on Abstract Impressionist art (called Entartete Kunst or degenerate art in Germany because it offended Hitler's aesthetics). She writes not only of the art, artists, and the European art scene in the late 1930s and early 1940s but peels away layers of friendship, jealousy, and physical and emotional love running rampant between the main characters. The characters all undergo some degree of character arc, with Felix's being somewhat a reversal of his original character. At the end, the story comes full circle in a nice closure.
Woman on Fire
Lisa Barr
Harper
https://www.harpercollins.com
9780063211261, $26.99
https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Fire-Novel-Lisa-Barr/dp/0063211262
Lisa Barr's Woman on Fire is not to be mistaken for the recent movie, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a lovely historical period piece. Though both deal with artists, Woman on Fire is a contemporary novel set in Chicago, Berlin, Montana, Miami, and Amsterdam.
Jules Roth, an intrepid young reporter talks Dan Mansfield, the lead investigative reporter for a Chicago newspaper, into giving her a job. He wants her to find a painting, the Expressionist artist Ernst Engel's most famous work, Woman on Fire, which was looted by the Nazis during World War II. Mansfield's friend Ellis Baum, a shoe designer, is dying, and Mansfield wants the painting found before his friend passes. The model for the painting was Baum's mother. Jules is joined in her search for the painting by Baum's grandson, Adam Baum, an artist himself. The villain, Margaux de Laurent, a complete sociopath, wants the painting herself as it once belonged to her grandfather and was a major element in her childhood.
Woman on Fire is fast-paced art-heist thriller that I read in one sitting. I enjoyed it because it combined two of my favorite genres: art fiction and thrillers. Lisa Barr, an investigative reporter herself, brings first-hand knowledge of reporting to the book as well as an extensive knowledge of art, especially Entertarte Kunst (or degenerative art) and German expressionism. There is enough tension and plot twists and turns to keep any reader engaged.
Structured Madness
C.S. Fuqua
https://csfuqua.com
Tuxtails Publishing
https://www.tuxtailspublishing.com
9781957211299, $2.99
https://www.amazon.com/Structured-Madness-Poems-Traditional-Formats-ebook/dp/B0D3BJS9XT
Recently I reread Dylan Thomas's villanelle "Do not go gentle into that good night" which was written in 1947 for his dying father. Somehow, it touched me much more than when I read it in college, perhaps because I am considerably older. After reading a fair amount of modern free-form poetry, I found great comfort in the repetition, rhyme, and refrain of the villanelle form. At this point, I ran across C.S. Fuqua's book of poetry, Structured Madness: New Poems in Traditional Formats. Fuqua writes of modern life in the traditional poetic forms, and conveniently lists each form and the requirements to meet that form in an extensive glossary in the back of the book. Some of my favorites include "List", which is simply an inventory of what's in a wallet, but which tells a story. His villanelle, "Repossession", deals with the repossession of a woman's trailer home. I enjoyed his rhymed free verse "Compact" about a woman's makeup compact and her son's feelings when he finds it after her death. Fuqua's works range from looking at the minuscule (as in "Compact") to gazing at the universe and eternity with stops along the way to look with some poignancy at life, death, religion, family relationships, and coming of age. In the words of the author, these poems are his "experiment[s] in style and form without indulging in so-called experimental poetry of the day, to craft a poem that sounds poetic," and certainly succeeds in his goal. An excellent read with poems to savor and read again and again. An excellent read with poems to savor and read again and again.
Releasing the Reins
Catherine Matthews
https://catherinematthewsauthor.com
Pacific Peaks Publishing
https://pacificpeakspublishing.com
9798989884018, $16.99
https://www.amazon.com/Releasing-Reins-Novel-Catherine-Matthews/dp/B0D6T8BHX9
Releasing the Reins is Catherine Matthews' debut novel and she successfully pulls off a genre-breaking melange of coming of age, women's fiction, mystery, and modern western, set against the vast expanse of Alaska. Matthews successfully blends the points of view of the protagonist, Bunny O'Kelly; a rancher's daughter, Katie; and Jeremiah, the son of an abusive ranching father; and Rocky, the aforementioned abusive ranching father as well as a timeline running between 1982 and 1984.
Bunny is the daughter of a dairy farmer whose father decides to leave his farm only to his sons, though his daughter has worked just as hard as her brothers. She realizes she doesn't have a future at home, so taking matters into her own hands, she finds a job as a ranch hand and moves to Alaska. There she's greeted by Buck, the owner of a horse ranch and his main ranch hand, Jake. Buck is still grieving the death of his daughter, Katie, and Jake is determined to quash Bunny's spirit and prove to her she can't do a man's job. Bunny, though, is a smart, stubborn woman who gives as good as she gets and won't back down in a fight.
Katie's ghost hangs over the ranch, very much a mystery to Bunny as no one will tell her what happened. Curious, Bunny determines to find the cause of Katie's death.
While doing so, she uncovers a web of lies and dark family secrets both in Buck's family and in Jeremiah's.
Very short chapters (71 in 352 pages) that move this novel along at a rapid clip. The reader senses Matthews' familiarity with horses and ranching.
The Silence of the Girls
Pat Barker
Vintage
https://knopfdoubleday.com/imprint/vintage
9780525564102, $18.00
https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Girls-Novel-Pat-Barker/dp/0525564101
Give me a feminist retelling of almost any story, and I am quite happy. I particularly enjoy the revisionist accounts of the Greek and Roman myths that have come out recently.
The Silence of the Girls is a fierce, feminist look at the costs of war from the point of view of Briseis, the prisoner given to Achilles as his prize for taking the city of Lyrnessus, located on the Trojan plain. When Agamemnon refuses to give up his prize, Chryseis (the daughter of a priest in the temple of Apollo), the plague besets the Greek military encampment outside of Troy. The Greeks believe Agamemnon's insult to the priest and his daughter are the cause of the plague. Ultimately, his generals persuade Agamemnon to return Chryseis to her father. Agamemnon does so under duress, and as compensation, he demands Achilles's prize, Briseis. She becomes a pawn in the struggle between Agamemnon and Achilles. Achilles, an ardent soldier, in protest of Agamemnon's action, refuses to fight for the Greeks, saying the Trojan War is not his war. He will not allow his soldiers, the Myrmidon, to fight either.
Greece eventually wins the war after ten long years, and as History is written by the winners, for centuries people have heard only the Greek side of the story. Booker does a bang-up job of turning the story of the Trojan War upside down and showing the other side. She doesn't spare any of the horrors Briseis and the other prisoners/slaves endured; she is quite open about horrible deaths, gang rapes, infanticide, and other aspects of war that are difficult to deal with. She neither glorifies nor underplays them, but merely presents them as inescapable acts of war.
Suanne Schafer, Reviewer
www.SuanneSchaferAuthor.com
Susan Bethany's Bookshelf
Determined to be Extraordinary
Dawn Heimer
Bradway Publishing
9798218275419, $34.99, HC, 128pp
https://www.amazon.com/DETERMINED-BE-EXTRAORDINARY-DAWN-HEIMER/dp/B0D5XGY336
Synopsis: Representation matters. Cultural stereotypes can discourage girls from considering STEM fields as viable career paths. Seeing successful women in STEM fields can inspire and motivate young girls to pursue STEM careers. When they see someone who looks like them achieving greatness, it reinforces the belief that they can do it too. 'Determined to be Extraordinary' isn't just a book - it's an invitation. An invitation to be inspired, to dream bigger, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the phenomenal
women shaping our future.
You will find that "Determined to be Extraordinary" quickly showcases the value, relevance, and importance of the book and how it can significantly benefit a child's outlook on STEM. If you want to ignite the spark of scientific wonder in the next generation of female innovators, then "Determined to be Extraordinay" is essential for you to achieve your personal and professional goals.
Critique: Nicely illustrated with color photographs of the women presented, this large format (8.25 x 0.49 x 11 inches, 13.6 ounces) paperback edition of "Determined to be Extraordinary: Spectacular Stories of Modern Women in STEM" from Bradway Publishing and compiled/edited by Dawn Heimer is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, highschool, and college/university library Women in Science biography collections. It should be noted that "Determined to be Extraordinary" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9798218275426, $24.99).
Editorial Note: Dawn Heimer (https://dawnheimer.com) pursued academic and industry sponsored research for over 30 years. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Sciences and Behavioral Genetics from the University of Connecticut, where she conducted family studies in dyslexia and befriended multiple generations of affected family members. She also conducted and published scientific research on gender differences in learning and memory in small animals and held clinical research posts at several top pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The concept for this book project developed over several years of introspection into her role models, exposure to multiple amazing women over her career, and noticing a gap in the young adult literature of stories on living (not dead), female, STEM role models. She is also a Leadership Coach and an accomplished abstract photographer.
Your Life, Your Way
Alicia Lamberghini-West
Estudebaker Press
9780578401003, $19.95, PB, 274pp
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Life-Way-Pressures-Limiting/dp/0578401002
Synopsis: We have all heard from time immemorial that a woman's place is second to a man's, that women should put everyone else first, or that complying with traditions will bring you acceptance, appreciation, respect, and belonging.
Women around the world, of all ages and sociocultural/religious backgrounds, experience social pressures that lead to expectations and challenges in their lives. These pressures are often internalized, and we women lose touch with our authentic self, our inner life, and what makes us who we genuinely are.
With the publication of "Your Life, Your Way: Become Aware of Social Pressures Limiting Women", Alicia Lamberghini-West provides an objective view of the challenges women face and defines existing social pressures that often clash with women understanding and pursuing their personal preferences, ambitions, and desires.
This edition of "Your Life, Your Way" from Estudebaker Press motivates women to take steps toward greater personal choice and freedom, inspiring us to recognize our power and rise above social pressures and expectations. We each have a unique personal identity and the right to develop and express it. "Your Life, Your Way" is a springboard for all women to bravely create the fulfilling life we want - a life that takes into account our individual desires, needs, and talents.
Critique: Motivationally inspiring, "Your Life, Your Way: Become Aware of Social Pressures Limiting Women" is an extraordinary and thought-provoking read from start to finish. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95), "Your Life, Your Way" by Alicia Lamberghini-West is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and college/university library Women's Issues & Feminist Theory collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Dr. Alicia Lamberghini-West (www.alicialamberghini-west.com) is a Licensed Psychologist in the states of Texas and Missouri. She has had 25 years in private practice, and from 2001 to 2012 she was a professor at a graduate school in Professional Psychology. Impassioned by the limitations women face, across all cultures, ages, and social classes she is determined to empower women in every aspect of their lives (personal, social, economic and political growth), and help them develop a positive identity in the face of social pressures and challenging gender issues.
Helen Keller: Autobiographies & Other Writings
Helen Keller, author
Kim E. Nielsen, editor
The Library of America
www.loa.org
9781598537727, $40.00, HC, 653pp
https://www.amazon.com/Helen-Keller-Autobiographies-Writings-Speeches/dp/1598537725
Synopsis: Here, in a deluxe hardcover edition from the Library of America (and the 378th title in their series, "Helen Keller: Autobiographies & Other Writings: The Story of My Life / The World I Live In / Essays, Speeches, Letters, and Journals" is the inspiring story of an American icon in her own words.
The Story of My Life (1903), published just before she became the first deaf-blind college graduate in the United States, brought Helen Keller worldwide fame, and has remained a touchstone for generations. Recounting her astonishing relationship with her teacher, Annie Sullivan, "the Miracle Worker," it offers still-vivid testimony of the transformative power of love and faith in overcoming adversity.
Keller's underappreciated literary artistry and philosophical acumen are especially evident in the personal essays that make up The World I Live In (1908): exploring her own "disability," she reflects profoundly on language, thinking, dreams, belief, and the relations between the senses.
Also included are more than a dozen letters, speeches, essays, and other works (most of them from out-of-print, uncollected, or previously unpublished sources) charting more than 50 years of Keller's exemplary life and career. These pieces reveal her commitments to women's rights, workers' rights, racial justice, and peace, as well as her advocacy for the disabled.
Kim E. Nielsen, Keller's biographer and the author of A Disability History of the United States, introduces this volume, of Keller's writings which includes a 16-page portfolio of photographs and a newly researched chronology of Keller's life, along with authoritative notes and an index.
Critique: Essential reading for the legions of Helen Keller fans, this elegant hardcover Library of American edition of "Helen Keller: Autobiographies & Other Writings: The Story of My Life / The World I Live In / Essays, Speeches, Letters, and Journals" is unreservedly recommended for community and college/university library American Biography collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the life and writings of Helen Keller that this outstanding volume is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note #1: Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880, Helen Keller lost her hearing and sight at 19 months after an unknown illness, perhaps rubella or scarlet fever. When she was 6, Anne Mansfield Sullivan arrived as her teacher: Keller recounted the astonishing story of their relationship in The Story of My Life, later adapted in the play and film The Miracle Worker. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904 -- becoming the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor's degree and who went on to write a dozen books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles. She suffered a stroke in 1960, and died at home in Westport, Connecticut, on June 1, 1968. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller)
Editorial Note #2: Kim E. Nielsen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_E._Nielsen) is the Distinguished University Professor and Disability Studies Chair at The University of Toledo, and was founding president of the Disability History Association. She is the author, among other books, of The Radical Lives of Helen Keller (2004), Beyond the Miracle Worker: Anne Sullivan Macy and Her Extraordinary Friendship with Helen Keller (2009), and A Disability History of the United States (2012).
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Willis Buhle's Bookshelf
Passion Struck
John R. Miles
www.johnrmiles.com
Post Hill Press
www.posthillpress.com
9798888451403, $30.00, HC, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Struck-Powerful-Principles-Intentional/dp/B0C8G5R5FZ
https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Struck-Powerful-Principles-Intentional/dp/B0D5FRSF7Q
https://www.audible.com/pd/Passion-Struck-Audiobook/B0D2DWCJF3
Synopsis: Imagine yourself waking up each day with a clear mission, free from self-doubt, and armed with the skills to lead and thrive in any situation. With the publication of "Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life", John R. Miles provides a compelling roadmap to elevate your life from ordinary to extraordinary.
With "Passion Struck" the reader will learn how to: Create a meaningful mission that will enhance your life's purpose from Square founder Jim McKelvey; Identify the root causes of self-doubt and overcome fears that are holding you back from Oprah Winfrey; Transform the way you lead from General McChrystal and the Honorable Keith Krach, former Under Secretary of State; Unleash your potential by taking purposeful actions toward achieving your dreams from Astronaut Captain Wendy Lawrence; Transform the world around you by harnessing Jeff Bezos' power of adaptability.
"Passion Struck" also introduces a methodology centered around mindset and behavior shifts, the psychology of progress, deliberate action, and intrinsic motivation. You'll discover how to break free from the constraints of fear and doubt, leveraging insights from some of the world's most successful and inspiring individuals. In "Passion Struck" John Miles deftly combines his own life experiences with actionable advice and powerful stories to help you ignite your passion and live with intention.
Structured into twelve powerful principles, "Passion Struck" guides the reader, step-by-step, through the process of unlocking their purpose and igniting their most intentional life. Each chapter delves into a specific principle, enriched with personal anecdotes, expert interviews, and practical exercises. By the end of this transformative journey, the reader will have a clear mission, newfound confidence, and the tools to make a lasting impact on your life and the world around you.
Critique: Simply stated, "Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life" isn't just another DIY self-help book of examples and inspirations -- rather it offers a 'real world' practical roadmap to a life of personal and professional significance. Exceptional and especially recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Self-Help/Self-Improvement & Business Management/Motivation collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that "Passion Struck" by John R. Miles is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99), as a complete and unabridged audio book on CD (Blackstone Audio, 9798874825133, $45.95, CD), and as a digital audiobook on Audible.
Editorial Note: John R. Miles (www.johnrmiles.com) is an author, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur who blends practical wisdom with relatable anecdotes, making complex ideas about health, wellness, and personal mastery both accessible and inspiring. His Podcast, Passion Struck, is one of the world's leading shows and the #1 alternative health podcast, featuring engaging conversations with notable figures like Angela Duckworth, Seth Godin, Susan Cain, Robin Sharma, and Dr. Mark Hyman.
Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn
Sonny Malone
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9798887715032, $36.00, HC, 182pp
https://www.amazon.com/Smutcutter-How-I-Survived-Porn/dp/B0D66T6P2X
Synopsis: Sex has been filmed and documented since the invention of the camera. The people in front of the lens become the stars and the faces of the adult industry. However, behind the camera, on the sets, and in the post-production facilities, an entire world exists that most people never see. With the publication of "Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn", Sonny Malone provides an in-depth and candid look into that dimly lit world of computers, raw footage, and too many late nights spent in the name of art. -- All told by a woman who crafted that art.
Sonny Malone has been editing adult films since the early 90's. With a film degree in hand, her life took a turn she never planned. However, once she decided to work in the adult industry, her goal was to be the best. As a female in a male-dominated industry, she managed to navigate the rushing waters to become the first editor ever given the industry's highest accolade. With stops at many prominent companies, each move gained her a higher reputation. She spent time on sets, in edit bays, and at many parties and award shows. At its peak, the internet came along and decimated much of post-production. The big companies wouldn't pay her price but those performers striking out on their own lined up for her expertise.
Now, after nearly thirty years of editing adult films for a living, Sonny Malone has decided to document her roller-coaster journey through the porn industry -- and answers the question "What do you cut out of a porn film?"
Critique: One of the most unique insider accounts of the movie making process you will ever encounter, "Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn" by Sonny Malone is a fascinating, candid, detailed, and informative read from cover to cover. A true 'insider's' story on a part of the porn industry that has never been presented before, "Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn" must be considered an essential addition to college/university library Cinematic History & Film Making collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Smutcutter: How I Survived Porn" from BearManor Media is also readily available in a paperback edition (9798887715025, $26.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).
Editorial Note: Sonny Malone (aka Madison Premo) was born in Massachusetts and moved across the country with her family. Stops in Ohio, Chicago, and finally Los Angeles brought her to the film industry. When the family moved back to the East Coast, she stood at the airport and waved goodbye. She is happily married to her wife (a published poet), and they live with their rescue Yorkie, Roxie.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
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