Tag: nonfiction

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#BookReview: Men Of Virtue by Zachary Wagner

Powerful. Controversial. Desperately Needed. This is one of those books where “Preacher” is stepping on *everyone’s* toes (while aiming for their hearts, as the old joke goes). Left. Right. Woke. Based. Southern Baptist. Cooperative Baptist. Andrew Tate. Elliot (fka Ellen) Page. Don’t matter. Wagner openly proclaims you’re all wrong, and here’s why. Yet even while doing this in a fairly direct, uncompromising manner… he also has (and shows within the text here) quite a bit of heart and compassion for everyone, no matter where they happen to currently find themselves in this particular discussion.

As one example that particularly stood out, at one point Wagner proclaims (apparently quoting someone else?) “A Christian is someone who is always more willing to die than to kill.”, when speaking to Jesus’ pacifism.

But this is truly the heart of the book, from the introduction:

“This book is not a call for us to take back the culture from the ‘feminists’ or the ‘bigots’ or whoever your preferred scapegoat may be.”

Instead, Wagner uses the famous Pauline “Fruits of the Spirit” – Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control – to walk us through a fairly balanced view of what male virtue *should* be according to the Bible itself.

One area that I always look at in Christian nonfiction is the use of prooftexting – citing Bible verses out of context in support or opposition of some point or another – and here, while Wagner decries the practice in the introduction… he actually uses it fairly often throughout the text. Not as horribly as some other authors, and indeed in focusing so much on expounding the famous verse from Galatians he actually provides quite a bit of the overall context of *most* of what he discusses… there’s enough “throw away” proof texting here that it almost constitutes slamming his pinkie toe onto the corner of the bed and snapping it (as I did while reading this book!). Painful in the moment and an unforced error… but ultimately not actually harmful. Yet it still cost him a star on my rating, because I try to be consistent about removing that star *any* time I see the practice used as my one “weapon” in my personal war against all vestiges of the practice.

If you’re interested in Christian ethics and virtue at all, you’re going to need to read this book. Wagner truly does an excellent job of looking at the topic from a remarkably balanced view while actively ignoring many more hot button culture war issues – and actively telling you he is going to and his reasons for doing so.

If you’re not interested in Christian ethics or virtue – or perhaps even question whether that last phrase is an actual oxymoron – this book isn’t going to be for you. Which the cover and description should have told you, but I’m telling you here now as well. Just leave it alone if you are so adamantly anti-Christian or anti-organized religion generally or what have you. You’re only going to make yourself upset as you read it and if you review this book you’re more than likely going to make yourself look like a jackass. So *please*, just leave it alone. This book isn’t for you, and that is perfectly ok. It has an audience, that audience simply doesn’t include you.

Overall though, this book really is a solid examination of its premise, written in a very approachable style and using a cohesive narrative structure quite well indeed.

Very much recommended.

This review of Men Of Virtue by Zachary Wagner was originally written on March 26, 2026.

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#BookReview: Who Needs Friends by Andrew McCarthy

Part Memoir. Part Travelogue. All Too Real. This is one of those books where even as McCarthy himself is traveling across the country to meet up with friends from much earlier in his life who he has lost contact with, I find myself reading it as a 43yo man and thinking of my own similar friendships. Specifically Mike, the guy I once worked with in the computer lab at Kennesaw State University where we bonded over playing Halo in the back room between the labs when neither of us had any students to work with, and Sean, the SQL guru who was once essential both in getting me hired at one job and in being a close partner and friend at that job, neither of whom I’ve seen in 10 or even 20 yrs now.

Thus, as McCarthy talks about how much these guys meant to him and how much he misses them… yeah, that absolutely *hits*… and I suspect it will with most guys, because most of us (particularly these days) *all* have these types of friendships. Even my own dad, who lived literally just three houses away from his own best friend for roughly 30 yrs, now lives in the next County up.

The fact that McCarthy uses connecting with his friends as a reason to start off on what becomes a road trip across America from coast to coast talking to the various men he encounters along the way about their own friendships works quite well here, and we get a wide variety of responses and perspectives along the way. Including, even, a female to male transexual teenage child. (That last bit is only a very small part of the overall narrative, but *is* present – so do with that as you will. As part of the overall tale and discussion here, it does in fact add a different perspective and wrinkle, and I pass no judgement here either direction on that perspective.)

The travel part of this almost reads like a version of so many similar projects over the years, including the former Motor Home Diaries where Adam Mueller, Peter Eyre, and Jason Talley once travelled the country searching for liberty in America during Obama’s first year as President – and even more than a few hints of one Jack None Reacher, created by British author Lee Child. Indeed, one passage in particular in Uvalde – yes, that Uvalde, and yes, the school in question is *exactly* where McCarthy was at this point in the narrative – really brings forth shades of the MHD crew, while other passages – specifically in Mississippi – bring forth a more explicitly Reacher vibe as McCarthy seeks out esoteric Jazz legends.

Because this book is primarily memoir and almost entirely direct personal experience, the normal requirements for a nonfiction book to have a 15% or more bibliography don’t really apply here, though even in the Advance Review Copy edition of the book I read, there was in fact at least some recommended reading provided at the end that seemed to include many of the various studies and other works McCarthy had mentioned over the course of his narrative.

Overall this really was a quite fun and even poignant tale that does exactly what its subtitle proclaims – provides “an unscientific examination of male friendship across America”, and in its breadth and quality of writing in particular, it really does excel. Who knew, maybe this “washed up actor” might just be a decent enough writer? 😉 (That last bit was a joke, to be clear. McCarthy really is one of the better travel writers I’ve read in quite a while.)

Very much recommended.

This review of Who Needs Friends by Andrew McCarthy was originally written on March 26, 2026.

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#BookReview: Open Space by David Ariosto

Well Documented Examination Of Space Tech Beyond Musk and Bezos. At least in the US (where both Ariosto and I are based), if you’re talking space these days you’re generally talking NASA, Elon Musk (SpaceX), or Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin). This book goes into the details of where space science and tech are *beyond* just those three entities, traveling all over the world showing how different people in different areas are contributing to pushing humanity beyond our home world – and why. While there are a lot of details here, including how nativist US policies ultimately both created China’s space program decades ago and pushed it to new heights (both literally and figuratively) more recently, this is also more of a complete overview of the entire field than a deep dive on any particular tech or event. Even as some significant ones – including the race to have the first commercial lunar lander – are more heavily detailed than other aspects. (For example, while space craft of various forms are discussed heavily, I don’t remember any mention whatsoever of space suit tech and only the barest mention of space food tech.)

Still, for all that it *does* cover, this book will actually better inform you of a lot of things that perhaps even some within the space exploration field may not be fully aware of (as I’m all too familiar with the idea even in my own field that a practitioner isn’t always fully aware of newer developments even in their own field). At 22% documentation, it is also fairly well sourced and because it is primarily reporting on current and near future tech and the histories thereof, Sagan doesn’t really apply here – making the 22% more than sufficient for this particular narrative.

Overall, this is an exploration of space exploration in its current forms that is clearly designed for mass appeal, and I do think this is one that most anyone even remotely interested in space tech and how we got where we currently are (beyond NASA, Musk, and Bezos) will find quite informative indeed.

Very much recommended.

This review of Open Space by David Ariosto was originally written on March 24, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons

Dense Academic Treatise With Not Quite Enough Bibliography. The singular most important thing you need to know about this book is that it is very much written in a dry, academic, very much textbook tone. There is a *lot* of seemingly fairly comprehensive history of birding from the beginning of European settlement in the area now known as the United States – with a brief touch on histories before that period – basically up to Silent Spring. Yes, given the eras this covers, particularly in the 19th century and earlier, this means that for nature lovers in particular it may be a doubly difficult book as it goes into details about the wholesale slaughter of birds generally and even the extinction of several different specific species, including the passenger pigeon.

While at least one other reviewer does claim the book to be hyperbolic, the approach here seemed at least relatively balanced regarding birds – if slanted more in favor of conservation and government power in particular human actions and specific conservation methods. Up to and including recommending some rather extreme actions regarding pet cats, declaring that they should be regulated even more tightly than pet dogs are. Clearly, this author has never actually attempted to keep a cat even inside a covered stroller, much less walked on a leash. (Yes, I’m aware *some* cats tolerate these actions. *Some* animals – including the human animal – will tolerate nearly any physically survivable situation. This does not mean the majority do or that these conditions are good for them.)

Indeed, as with so many nonfiction books declaring policy recommendations… eh, they’re always going to be hit or miss at best depending on the reader’s personal preferences. As a cat lover and avowed Anarchist… let’s just say I personally agreed with few of them indeed, but others with different views may arrive at different conclusions there.

Overall if you can withstand the dense academic tone – and, if a nature lover, the clinical precision with which McCommons describes such wholesale and wanton slaughter of so many birds – this book will at minimum be informative, unless perhaps you are a birder yourself with a strong knowledge of the history of that hobby.

Recommended.

This review of The Feather Wars by James H. McCommons was originally written on March 19, 2026.

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#BookReview: Body Electric by Manoush Zomorodi

Clarion Call For Post-COVID Society To Move More. In this text – based on a 2023 podcast and experiment Zomorodi helped orchestrate – the central point could not be more clear: Virtually all of us, particularly among white collar workers, in this post-COVID age need to move more. A lot more. To the tune of 5 minutes every 30 minutes. Nothing overly stressful, a casual stroll or its equivalent is actually the recommendation. No or at least minimal sweat, just movement to get our body operating more efficiently than it does when we sit for hours on end.

This is actually a book that is hitting pretty damn hard personally, as I am now actively fighting health issues in my legs (and I’m actively getting various scans to identify exactly what is going on and where, but so far it seems limited to my legs) that this text actually directly addresses, such as lymphedema (which is specifically mentioned) and possible (in my case) chronic veinous insufficiency. This, from a man who a few yrs pre-COVID (within the absolute value from COVID that we now are after COVID) was walk/ running (13 min mile or so at my best) 1100 miles per year / 5K race every month and even did a pair of half marathons (PR: 3:09:12). And then COVID hit and I eventually got my dream job, fully remote and doing interesting work while getting to mentor colleagues newer to the field.

But now I sit. All. The. Time. And my legs in particular have begun to noticeably have ill effects. DDPYoga, particularly its programs starting you flat on your back on your bed and progressing to sitting in a chair and then (where I am now) using a chair for stability as you begin to stand through the workout, has helped in my case… but Zomorodi’s advice here may actually be even more beneficial to even more people than DDP has been. (Sorry, DDP – you’re awesome and I really can’t thank you enough for this program, but I stand behind my last statement.)

In conjunction with Rowan Jacobsen’s In Defense of Sunlight, releasing about six weeks after this book and which I read just a day or so before reading this book, what many of us need to do to begin both getting healthier and generally feeling better could not be more clear… or more basic. Get up. Get out. Move around more. Not enough to burn (either your skin or sweating), but enough to just *be*. According to the actual research using thousands of people Zomorodi describes in this text that she helped facilitate, it really is that simple and will provide a fair amount of quality of life benefits that will at minimum help your focus and emotional stability if nothing else.

Ultimately, and I can’t believe *I* am saying this, consult your physician for any problems you’re actually feeling. If you don’t have one, find one – even with my general anti-doc stance (and I have my reasons), quite simply (and this is the very thing that got me to finally go to them), they have instrumentation and thus information that you cannot possibly obtain on your own/ at home, including the scans I’ve already done and am doing over the next couple of weeks. But talk to them about Zomorodi’s ideas here in this text. Talk to them about Jacobsen’s ideas in his text. Ask them about DDPYoga if you think it may help you.

Even as Zomorodi is discussing something she actively participated in and helped facilitate via her podcast, this book is still pretty well documented at 22% of the text of even the Advance Review Copy I read, with a forward from the doc whose research she had found and decided to help with. Which is perfectly in line with my usual expectations of 20-30% documentation.

Move more. 5 minutes every 30 minutes is ideal, according to Zomorodi, but even 5 minutes every hour or even 2 hours will provide at least some benefit. Just a casual stroll, in an office hallway, around your apartment, whatever space you may have. Just move. Frequently.

Very much recommended.

This review of Body Electric by Manoush Zomorodi was originally written on March 2, 2026.

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#BookReview: What If Jesus Is Right by Douglas Groothuis and Lindsey Medenwaldt

Routine Conservative Christian Apologetics. Two things up front: the single star deduction is for prootexting, which is far too common in books such as this and is an automatic star deduction for me every time I see it in a text. Second, I honestly fail to see why this particular book exists, as it offers nothing particularly new – not even a real discussion of more current social issues and an Apologetics-based response to them. Indeed, in quoting the legends of this field – C.S. Lewis and Lee Strobel – and especially in basing such a decent chunk of the text around Lewis’ “Liar, Lunatic, or LORD” argument… there isn’t really anything novel at all about this book. It is good enough for what it is, and for those unaware of Christian Apologetics as a field it is a pretty decent summary of a high level view of its arguments, but there’s no real “meat” here, and certainly nothing worthy of deep contemplation the way Lewis and Strobel achieved. Hell, I largely left Christian circles 20 ish yrs ago as my faith in Christ deepened while my faith in people faltered, and the arguments presented in this text are remarkably similar to ones that were even then at least a few years old.

So don’t get me wrong here, this book is in fact solid for what it is, and again, for those unfamiliar with the topic, it does indeed serve as a decent overview and introduction. Clocking in at 12% bibliography as judged by the Acknowledgements section after yet with documentation at the end of each chapter as well that seemingly bumps the actual total documentation to around the 15% or so I consider the bare minimum for a nonfiction text, there is nothing overly *wrong* here other than the prooftexting. I was just expecting *some* kind of new slant or potentially *some* level of new argumentation, and this book fell rather flat on those accounts.

Recommended, particularly for those who have never considered Christian Apologetics.

This review of What If Jesus Is Right by Douglas Groothuis and Lindsey Medenwaldt was originally written on March 1, 2026.

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#BookReview: In Defense Of Sunlight by Rowan Jacobsen

Short Yet Thoroughly Documented Clarion Call Inspired By Pollan’s In Defense Of Food. In this text, Jacobsen explicitly sets out to do for sunlight what Michael Pollan once did for “real food” several years ago… and largely nails it. The writing here is engaging and explains the science at a level that most will be able to understand it yet doesn’t shy away from the more complex areas of the science either. At just under 300 pages with just over a quarter of even that being documentation, this is an easy one day read for many people… and yet will also be one that many readers will want to sip and savor and perhaps spread out over a much longer reading period.

Perhaps, even, via reading it for a few minutes per day as the sun rises or sets… which is a particular period Jacobsen shows does quite a bit for the human body.

In all honesty, I read this book when I did – days before the dreaded “Spring Forward” of “Daylight Saving Time” – hoping for a much stronger anti-DST argument here, which isn’t as present as I had hoped… but that actually points to the actual strengths of the text, as Jacobsen is more concerned that you get outside at all than *when* you get outside, though he does indeed go into detail about what the sun’s light at different times of the day can do for you and does in fact make at least some case for the earlier sunrises of so-called “Standard” time, while also pointing out the science of living on the eastern vs western edges of a time zone, among many other topics.

Overall a very thorough text covering all aspects of the science of the interaction of the sun and the human body, this is absolutely one book everyone needs to read and make their own calls about… and perhaps even recommend it to your medical providers. I know I’ll be recommending my own docs read this.

Very much recommended.

This review of In Defense Of Sunlight by Rowan Jacobsen was originally written on February 27, 2026.

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#BookReview: Chosen Land by Matthew Avery Sutton

“His Assessment Told Only Half The Story”. Yes, this is a direct quote Sutton used in this book… and also quite possibly the most succinct summary of this text available. Despite having an ambitious premise with a rather large page count to expound upon it, Sutton here still manages to omit or dismiss key figures and movements when he deems them problematic (Lottie Moon, the Student Volunteer Movement, and Annie Armstrong), fails to show moderating actions by groups he opposes (the Southern Baptist Convention in particular), and fails to show similar controversies involving those he generally supports (black prosperity gospel preachers TD Jakes and Creflo Dollar) while showing in some detail at times the controversies of those he opposes.

And yet, despite all of this – and particularly for those who align with Sutton’s progressive biases – there is enough here that you are likely to learn something, almost no matter how much you know about the history of Christianity in the United States.

For those who know no better, Sutton’s history here shows at least one version – a significantly biased one – of the history of American Christianity that largely downplays or outright omits much of the history of Christianity in the American South, including the efforts of Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong in the era around the turn of the 19th century into the 20th in particular. Through this period, more focus is placed on the religious developments of the enslaved or formerly enslaved, even when other leading figures – such as first female US Senator and last formerly slave owning US Senator Rebecca Latimer Felton – were pivotal through this period. Further, key Southern revivalists such as Sam Jones are omitted entirely, even when similarly situated and influential black, Northern preachers are later discussed and even when discussing white Northern predecessors and successors to Jones’ style, such as Billy Sunday (the real one that the fictional character played by Robert De Niro in Men of Honor claimed no relation to) or Billy Graham.

And yet, for those who perhaps don’t know much about the history of American Christianity at all… there is truly enough here that warrants reading this book. As I noted above, you’re truly going to learn at least a little. You just also need to treat this as a biased primer and actively seek out a more complete picture, including from original sources such as Felton’s Country Life in Georgia In The Days Of My Youth or Jeff Guinn’s excellent chronicle of the siege at the Branch Davidian compound, Waco.

Ultimately, the star deductions are for a lack of bibliography, clocking in at just 10% of the overall text available in the Advance Review Copy edition of the book I read, the stark omissions that show only part of the overall premise, and the bias bordering on bigotry against anything white and/ or conservative that is so pervasive throughout this text.

One final curious note is that deep in the text, in the penultimate chapter to boot, there is a brief chronicle of one particular pastor named Doug Wilson who holds a very distinctive view of Christianity…. and who lives in and “took over” the next town down the road from Sutton’s base at Washington State University. While there is no public record of any animosity between the two, the lack of balance and clear bias towards perspectives even remotely similar to Wilson’s seems more than coincidental – though again, to be crystal clear, there is *zero* public evidence to support this. Still, that particular passage made me wonder, and I leave it to you, the reader of my review and possibly reader of Sutton’s book, to draw your own conclusions there.

Those that have a conservative lean to their politics and/ or religion are likely going to want to defenestrate this book long before completing its 600 ish pages. Don’t. There really is enough through most of this text that you’re going to learn something. Those who lean more in Sutton’s direction will likely praise this book quite highly. Again, I leave it to you, the reader of my review, to decide for yourself whether to read this book or not, and I do hope that if you decide to read it at all – even if you wind up DNFing it – that you’ll leave your own review and tell all of us what you thought of the text and why.

Recommended.

This review of Chosen Land by Matthew Avery Sutton was originally written on February 25, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Greatest Scientific Gamble by Michael Joseloff

Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Werner Heisenberg. In this text, Joseloff almost portrays the leading nuclear scientists of the WWII era – particularly Oppenheimer and Fermi vs Heisenberg – as a Professor X vs Magneto friendship yet rivals, still with humanity’s freedom – and possibly existence – at stake. Written in an approachable more journalistic rather than academic style befitting Joseloff’s background as an Emmy award winning news producer for various cable networks, thriller/ action fans may actually be able to enjoy this particular nonfiction book quite well.

This noted, the cast of “characters” is rather large – if you have trouble keeping track of half a dozen different characters in a tale, this one may not be for you after all, as there are nearly that many major players here along with several more supporting players for this particular narrative (many of whom were far larger players in the overall scheme of WWII, but who weren’t *as* prominent directly within the efforts on both sides of the war to build a working atom bomb).

Clocking in at roughly 23% documentation though, this tale is fairly well cited, and even if you think you know absolutely everything about nuclear development during the WWII era, this book will likely show you at least a few you didn’t. For example, I personally learned of the Allied attempts to assassinate Heisenberg, that Heisenberg was a version of the US/ Confederate States of America’s Robert E. Lee… and that the plutonium blast at Nagasaki that effectively ended the war (once the Russians finally declared war against Japan the next day) actually hit facilities used to produce torpedoes that had been used to attack Pearl Harbor nearly four years earlier (along with a *lot* of other facilities in Nagasaki).

But really, it is a story of friends finding themselves on opposing sides of a war, both seeking to both be the best in their field and uncover new scientific breakthroughs before the other does… knowing that their governments intend to weaponize these breakthroughs to use against the other side. It is a story of one man remaining staunchly loyal to his homeland, knowing its faults and yet choosing his home and family anyway. It is a story of his friends already seeing how evil their friend’s homeland is – even before its full evils were truly known – and doing absolutely everything possible to convince their friend to abandon his home and join them… even if they have to kidnap him to save his life.

It is a story you think you know… and yet you almost certainly never knew these particular aspects of it.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Greatest Scientific Gamble by Michael Joseloff was originally written on February 18, 2026.

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#BookReview: I Told You So by Matt Kaplan

Interesting History That Can In Fact Comes Across As Extended Ad For Author’s Day Job. I was perusing the existing reviews on Goodreads as I sat down to write this review, as is my custom, when I saw a 2 star review mention that this book felt, to that reviewer, at least partially like an extended ad for the author’s day job as a science reporter for The Economist and actually agreed with that point in retrospect.

Written almost as much in a memoir style as even a popular science history type book – the author’s bread and butter for twenty years now both in articles for The Economist and in books on various topics over the years, if you didn’t know (see what I did there? 😉 )- this is actually the second book this month I read that dealt with a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweiss and his pioneering antiseptic work in the 19th century, with the other being The Great shadow by Susan Wise Bauer, about the history of sickness and healing more generally whereas Kaplan’s text here focuses more on how right Semelweiss was… and how much a price he paid for being the one man that was beginning to get at least something right in an era when The Establishment (to use a more modern phrase) was oh so very wrong.

Semmelweiss’ story is the binder of this narrative, but along the way we encounter a few others similarly situated, from the famous (Galileo, Lister (whom Listerine is named after, to give those who may not be familiar with the name an idea of why it may be significant), and Pasteur, among others) to the more bleeding edge and let’s say not-yet-as-globally-famous, even though this modern set has at least one Nobel Prize winner among it and one who was essential in the creation of the COVID 19 vaccine.

The history is well written – as should be expected with someone of Kaplan’s experience – and doesn’t shy away from relevant facts that may make the historical figures look not so great in modern eyes, yet the modern is, while still well written, perhaps a touch *too* personal, offering insights into Kaplan’s own training and direct interactions with some of the subjects he is profiling. This is where the more memoir aspects of the tale kick in, and again, these are still well written and engaging, they just don’t share the same psychological distance as is notable when Kaplan is writing of Semmelweiss and others.

Still, the only reason for the star deduction is, as long time readers of my reviews of nonfiction books can probably already guess, a lack of documentation, clocking in at just 12% of the overall text here, just shy of the 15% or so of even my more recent more relaxed expectations on this point after having read quite a few nonfiction Advance Review Copy books over these last eight or so years.

Overall though, the book is truly fascinating and brings to light quite a bit of obscure history of the last few hundred years, and does a great job of making the points Kaplan is trying to make quite clear without veering too deeply into preachiness. Most readers will likely learn quite a bit from reading it, and have a generally pleasant experience doing so.

Very much recommended.

This review of I Told You So by Matt Kaplan was originally written on January 30, 2026.