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Featured New Release Of The Week: Side Trip by Kerry Lonsdale

This week we’re looking at a bold and refreshing departure that also masters a type of tale the author had never told before. This week we’re looking at Side Trip by Kerry Lonsdale.

Over the last several books, Kerry Lonsdale has managed to tell amazing tales that always used some variant of the same basic idea. The books have been phenomenal, but it was getting to a point where one wondered how she would be able to continue in that vein.

So what does she do?

She tells a completely new story and writes the best book she’s written in her career – which is saying something, because her previous four books really were that awesome.

Here, she uses as one of her primary characters a young woman whose motivation is all too easy for me to understand, because we very nearly shared some version of it. Here, Joy lives with guilt from a car crash she survived… but her sister didn’t. In my own case, many years ago I was in a double T-bone car crash yards from my house with both of my younger brothers in the car. Long story short, my Toyota Corolla caught both a Ford Bronco and a Toyota Tacoma broadside, and had one of those two – I do not remember which – hit even a couple of inches further back in the car than it did, I would have shared Joy’s fate. Even as it was, thanks to incompetent personnel at my small town hospital my brother still came close to losing his life that day.

But shockingly, it wasn’t when we get the full reveal of all that happened that night that brought on the waterworks here. And the waterworks *will* come in this book. No, the events of that night had been well established if never explicitly shown by the time they are finally shown. But there is something else, much closer to the end of the book, that opened the faucets pretty damn wide. And it would have been the *perfect* ending – or so says the man that says that Smallville should have ended with the Season 7 finale, rather than continuing on for 3 more years as it did. (Even though even from the moment it aired, I’ve held that the finale we actually got on that show – particularly its last hour, the actual finale – is the singular best hour of television to ever air. So I’ve been known to be wrong, and your mileage may vary.)

What Lonsdale actually closes the book with satisfies a few things and adds quite a bit more depth to the overall tale, so to a point I get why she ended it the way she did. And it even makes the book somewhat reminiscent of a pair of my favorite movies from many years ago, but to list which two would be to get too close to spoiler territory for my comfort. But I still say it should have ended at the waterworks point, as that would have been even more courageous – but courageous doesn’t always sell. 😉

Ultimately a truly remarkable book, and a very refreshing departure for this particular author. Very much recommended.

As always, the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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#BookReview: Last Mission To Tokyo by Michel Paradis

Slightly Misleading Title, Solid History. If you’re looking for a history of the actual Doolittle Raid… this isn’t it. Instead, this focuses on the 1946 war crimes trial of the Japanese officials implicated in murdering four of the Raiders after their capture in China following the raid in 1942 and subsequent conviction in a kangaroo court. But for what it is, this is truly a remarkable story that brings to life a part of history I personally had never so much as heard about. Paradis notes in the afterword that upon researching what was originally supposed to be a more straightforward legal analysis, he realized that he needed to change the focus to be a historical narrative fit for a wider audience, and in that new goal this reader can confirm that he did particularly well. Yes, Paradis is a miliary lawyer historian by trade, and this particular background comes through quite blatantly in the text, but it is never so full of jargon from any of those parts of his background as to be incomprehensible to the wider audience only cursorily aware of those subjects. Very much recommended.

This review of Last Mission To Tokyo by Michel Paradis was originally written on July 5, 2020.

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#BookReview: Political Junkies by Claire Bond Potter

Solid Discussion Of Sometimes Obscure History. Full disclosure up front: As a former political blogger who was an organizer of one of the Tea Party events (before the professionals got involved) and as both a Party Official (for the Libertarian Party, at both local and State levels) and Candidate (for City Council in a town encompassing an area just four square miles), I actively participated in some of the history Potter discusses here. Though quite a bit of it was before I was born – she begins her discussion in the 1950s, before even my parents were born, and I would come along during Ronald Reagan’s first term as US President but not become truly politically active until November 5, 2008.

But even as someone with the aforementioned background, even as someone who once had a very high level of behind the scenes access within at least State level politics of at least one State, this truly seems like a comprehensive and accurate history of how we got to where we now find ourselves as Americans relating to politics through media. Potter has done a remarkable job of showing how various movements and moments played on and into each other, building on and around prior and contemporary techniques to go from a dude in his garage just trying to present news the Big 3 weren’t to the modern era of ubiquitous cameras and Deep Fake technology. Though actual Deep Fake tech is one area Potter doesn’t *truly* get into, likely as it hasn’t been shown to be actually active in political circles in the US. Yet. Truly an excellent work, and anyone who is interested in why we are as fractured as we are as a populace would do well to read this to at least know how we got here from an alternative media side. If you’re discussing regulation of social media or complaining about the vitriol far too many online discussions turn to, read here to find out how we got to this point – and a couple of passing ideas on how we can do a little better. Very much recommended.

This review of Political Junkies by Claire Bond Potter was originally written on July 4, 2020.

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#BookReview: Beautiful Resistance by Jon Tyson

Interesting But Not Revolutionary. This is a fairly standard “Christian Living” book written by a pastor, this time an Australian living in NYC – which at least makes it a bit atypical in that regard. Those outside of Christendom probably will have little interest here, and honestly there is little value for that crowd. For those inside the Church who are looking for a new book to read, eh, there are much worse options. One note here is that, as with far too many books of its type, prooftexting – citing random Bible verses out of context – is rampant in this text as well, and is an automatic star deduction in any review I do for a book that contains it. The 4* total here are because even with the prooftexting, the other sporadic issues with the book don’t amount to much either by themselves or in combination. To borrow Tyson’s own construction, this book could best be summed up as (Mostly) Solid But Not Remarkable. Recommended.

This review of Beautiful Resistance by Jon Tyson was originally written on July 4, 2020.

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#BookReview: NPC by Jeremy Robinson

Robinson Is Back With Another Mindbender. In this book, The Modern Day Master of Science Fiction creates yet another absolute breakneck thriller that also happens to be one of the most mind-bending books of his career, right up there with ALTER and INFINITE. It *also* is one of the few books at this “more developed” stage of his career where he openly wrestles with religious and philosophical issues, and indeed the very debate between our two primary characters on these topics is some of the most intense and intriguing bits of the book. Still, for those who want to gloss over the philosophy and focus on the action, there is still quite a bit of that here as well, and indeed the debates often happen in the middle of the intense action. (Think: Brian and Dom having a debate about the nature of reality *while in the middle of the airplane chase scene* at the end of Fast 6.) There are numerous reasons I call Robinson “The Modern Day Master of Science Fiction”, and this book just adds to them. Very much recommended.

This review of NPC by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on July 1, 2020.

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#BookReview: Call To Power by Jack Page

Excellent Corporate Thriller. If you like corporate board room power plays and machinations, this book is right up your alley. If you like Godfather-esque stories of honor and destroying enemies who disrespect you, you’re going to love this book. If you absolutely want nothing to do with corporate America at all in any way whatsoever… you can probably already tell that you should probably skip this book, but I’m going to tell you that your reluctance there is going to cost you an awesome read. Per the bio at the back of the text, Page is a new pseudonym for an author that has previously been well received, if not necessarily well known, and that level of execution bleeds through the entire text here. Very much recommended.

This review of Call To Power by Jack Page was originally written on July 1, 2020.

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#BookReview: The Myth of Experience by Emre Soyer and Robin Hogarth

Argumentum Ad Verecundiam. This book had an excellent premise, but just a mediocre implementation. Soyer and Hogarth excel when showing how one’s own experience can blind oneself in numerous areas and arenas, and suggest ways to overcome this blindness. But then fall to their own blindess in accepting and even appealing to the “authority” of “experts” in various topics – seeming to completely disregard that these very “experts” have the exact same problems with being hampered by their own experiences that Soyer and Hogarth are attempting to show us how to overcome in this book. Ultimately, they make a lot of good points, which is why the book gets as many stars as it does. That you have to wade through so much muck to get to all of them is why it *only* gets as many stars as it does. Still, absolutely something everyone should read, and thus recommended.

This review of The Myth Of Experience by Emre Soyer and Robin Hogarth was originally written on July 1, 2020.

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Of Bears And Ballots by Heather Lende

This week we’re looking at an intriguing look at rural small town American politics. This week, we’re looking at Of Bears and Ballots by Heather Lende.

This one got my attention mostly because I myself ran for rural small town City Council twice a decade ago – unsuccessfully both times – and so whenever I see an actual book come out about such experiences, I’m immediately interested. In this one, it turns out that this particular town has a couple of very big differences than my far-from-the-sea town did: 1) The jurisdiction here includes a cruise terminal and Glacier Point, a major cruise excursion destination. 2) While the town that I ran for Council in is the home of country singer Luke Bryan, San Fransisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, and American Idol Season 12 winner Phillip Phillips (and I have interesting experiences being in area crowds with both singers), Lende’s town – Haines, AK – happens to be the hometown of Parker Schnabel of Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush family of shows. And one of the controversies Lende spends a fair amount of time on in this book is her decision – along with other members of a split Council – to hire Parker’s aunt, Debra Schnabel, as the town’s Manager. It was a controversy big enough that it nearly led to her ouster less than one year into a three year term, and it apparently set the tone for the rest of her term and indeed for the narrative of this book.

Overall the book did exactly what I expected of it – it showed the realities of life on a small town City Council, the striking dichotomies of being “The Honorable Heather Lende” or “Ms. Lende” or such in meetings and “Heather” as soon as the gavel sounds to close the meeting. Of having disagreements about policy so stark that voters initiate a recall election against you… and then finding out people you thought were good friends, who go to church with you, shop at the store your husband runs, or other seemingly major small town connections… signed the damn petition that forced the recall to happen. I had a degree of that myself even in my unsuccessful runs, watching people as they walked into the singular voting precinct in my town (Lende’s had two, despite having roughly the same number of voters) as I waved campaign signs from across the street while talking to an area reporter. So while I was never recalled, I know well the… interesting… feelings Lende discusses quite well in the text.

In her calls for civility and her support for Robert’s Rules of Order as a mechanism for returning us back to a more civil era of politics and the Rule of Law, Lende actually manages to evoke a sense of President Andrew Shepherd as portrayed by Michael Douglas in The American President. Which their shared liberal politics helps to cement, to a degree. 😉

Ultimately, this was a very satisfying and fairly quick (for a nonfiction book) read, and it is very much recommended.

As always, the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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#BookReview: Prisoners Of Geography by Tim Marshall

Interesting Concepts. Marshall presents an interesting case of geopolitics from a geographical perspective, and while quite a bit of it makes perfect sense, there are also times where he presents an idea as perfectly obvious… when it actually isn’t/ wasn’t. For example, he claims that once America gained access to the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century via the Oregon Territory, it was destined to become a great world power simply because it had direct access to both of the world’s great oceans. If it was so perfectly obvious, why did it take another century or so – for this barely century old nation at the time – to achieve such supremacy? But the cases Marshall does make, he makes many interesting points on that even I had never considered, and I consider myself a fairly learned and analytical person. He also does so with great humor, which makes what could have been a much drier, more academic treatise into a much more enjoyable read. So read this thing. It has some good ideas and you’ll be entertained. Just don’t believe every word it says, and keep a critical eye on all things at all times. Recommended.

This review of Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall was originally written on June 29, 2020.

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Featured New Release of the Week: Feeding The People by Rebecca Earle

This week we’re looking at a remarkably well researched novel history. This week, we’re looking at Feeding the People by Rebecca Earle.

This is one of the more novel histories I’ve ever read, whose central point is looking at the Andean Potato as at least a sign, if not a driver at times, of world history through the last several centuries since it was brought to Europe and popularized there post-Columbus. Structurally, it divides its chapters between various ages – Enlightenment, Scientific, Globalization, etc – and examines how potatoes were playing a role in world history during those ages. And it makes some very interesting cases that I personally had never considered, but which largely make sense.

Truly the most remarkable thing about the book though is just how well documented it is – literally 42% of the edition I read was bibliography and index. Considering that more normal documentation rates for even books I generally consider to be well documented are closer to 25-30%, this is exceptional indeed.

For its completeness, its documentation, and yes, its novelty, this is absolutely a very much recommended book.

As always, the Goodreads/ Amazon review:
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