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May 9, 2026May 9, 2026

#BookReview: American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald

Solid Travelogue/Memoir Needs Documentation To Be Solid As History. This is one of those books where read as a travelogue/ memoir from a 40 ish yr old dude who has lived a life few of us can really imagine (though far too many can imagine quite well, at least in some experiences discussed herein), it really works quite well. Fitzgerald found an esoteric thing connected (ish) to his home area and childhood and uses that in midlife as a way to both connect with people he otherwise would never have met and to examine his own life, and in these aspects the tale here really is a solid slice of Americana as it exists in this post-COVID world.

But approaching this as anything remotely resembling a history of Johnny Appleseed – even though this history is discussed – would be a mistake. Because even though Fitzgerald frequently mentions various actual biographies of Appleseed, he never once actually cites them – at least not in this Advance Review Copy text I’ve had for a little over four months prior to publication day. Indeed, that is actually the star deduction here – there is not one shred of any bibliography at all in this text, when similar nonfiction books – even similar memoir based books! – average out around the 15% or so documentation point.

But there again, Fitzgerald isn’t an academic. At all. As this story will tell you. Repeatedly.

Those interested in seeing the actual lived lives of their fellow humans will enjoy this book. It has an interesting structure and due to the particular event chosen for that structure has an interesting cadence to the tale that is atypical and indeed refreshing to a point, and it reads as particularly raw and honest at pretty well all points herein. Specifically including at least some stories here where Fitzgerald doesn’t exactly come out looking as perfect as those memes say we generally try to show ourselves on Instagram or LinkedIn. And yes, there are even points where the room gets a touch dusty.

Overall an interesting tale that will absolutely appeal to at least some readers, and one that helps bring out the commonalities in so many of us even as so much of our lives tries to tear us apart by our differences, and for that reason alone it should get more attention than it likely will.

Very much recommended.

This review of American Rambler by Isaac Fitzgerald was originally written on May 9, 2026.

May 6, 2026May 6, 2026

#BookReview: Paul For The World by Nijay K. Gupta

Deja Vu / Rinse And Repeat. Either Works. I do believe this is the first time in over 1,800 reviews over the last decade where I can truly say that literally everything I said about the author’s previous book – in this case, 2024’s Strange Religion – still applies to this one. Simply swap out any references to the “early church” to the “Pauline epistles” instead, and truly literally that entire review could be here with just those changes.

And so, the rest of the review is a version of exactly that:

“Fascinating History Marred By Prooftexting And Dearth Of Bibliography. This was an utterly fascinating look at the Pauline Epistles and the world they were written in and for. I genuinely learned quite a bit from reading this book, and Gupta kept the overall tone scholarly enough to be sufficiently serious without going into pretentiousness. Indeed, the *only* problems I had here, that are automatic star deductions when I encounter them, are the rampant prooftexting – the practice of citing Bible verses out of context in order to “prove” a particular point – and the dearth of a bibliography, clocking in at just 12% or so of the overall text when 20-30% is more normal in my experience across hundreds of nonfiction titles over the last several years. Even with being more willing to at least *slightly* lower that given more recent experiences, 12% is still simply too low.

But for anyone interested in the history of the Pauline Epistles and how that history could well change how exactly you interpret them, for any reason: read this book. Christians, no matter your bent, read this book and consider its words in relation to your relationship with the Pauline Epistles.

Very much recommended.”

PS Special To The Review of Paul For The World: After you consider this text and write your review of it, you should also read Frank Viola’s Pagan Christianity. He too has a very illuminating look at these very books of the Bible.

This review of Paul For The World by Nijay K. Gupta was originally written on May 6, 2026.

April 30, 2026April 30, 2026

#BookReview: One Nation Over God by Wes Crawford

Ipse Dixit – Bare Assertion Mars Needed (If Politically Slanted In Presentation) Call. This is one of those texts that so many American Christians are going to need to read… and yet because it *is* so politically slanted in a somewhere left-of-center/ social justice warrior direction, not enough on at least one side likely will. A more balanced presentation, perhaps referencing more right-oriented issues like being truly pro-life from conception through natural death in addition to those presented here, could have gone a long way to making the overall presentation of the arguments here that much stronger.

But that isn’t actually the star deduction here. No, the star deduction is exactly what the title noted – there is *zero* bibliography in this Advance Review Copy edition of the text I read nearly six months before publication of this book, and yes, even this far out the texts I get as an experienced reader and reviewer of such editions usually include at least some level of bibliography. Indeed, my standard *based on my experience of doing this for nearly a decade now across hundreds of similar works* is at least 15%, and more commonly somewhere in the 20-30% ish range. Less than that will get a star deduction every time, as this does here.

One thing this book, more about Christians living in the US and their behaviors than anything actually Biblical, has going for it is that it is one of the rare books about Christianity/ directed towards Christians that doesn’t actually prooftext – it never cites the Bible in any argument at all, thus is has no opportunity to selectively pick Bible verses out of their context in support or opposition to any of the points it is raising. Thus, it doesn’t lose the star here that so many similar books do, as I deduct when this technique is used in my own personal war against it.

There really is quite a bit here that *every* Christian in America needs to read and truly consider, but there’s also a decent amount here that those claiming any form of right-of-center politics are going to want to find the nearest window to defenestrate this book. Maybe not a high one, but certainly a close one. But don’t. Because you need to read this book even with its political bent. Yes, there is that much here that you really do need to consider. But those with more leftward politics *also* need to deeply consider this book, even as you find yourself agreeing with it more politically, because yes, there is going to be a fair amount of Crawford calling you out too, if in more subtle ways than he uses against those on the right.

Overall a book that is needed – but it needs a healthy bibliography to support it just as much as the American Church needs to read the arguments it presents. And perhaps a more right-of-center author could write a companion text from that perspective ultimately raising many of these same points, in a vein somewhat similar to Shaunti and Jeff Feldhan’s 20+ yr old books For Women Only and For Men Only once did for men and women and helping them understand each other.

April 30, 2026

#BookReview: The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet

Interesting Insights From An Atypical Perspective. How often have you ever heard the term “business anthropology”? Hell, how often have you ever heard the term “anthropology” and not pictured some remote tribe somewhere in some jungle or maybe desert? My guess is that your answer to both of those questions is somewhere in the range of “Rarely” to “Never” for nearly anyone reading this review. Even as widely read as *I* am, my answer would have been right there with you.

Yet here Sweet, a Xennial Londoner with a clearly leftist political bent – as in, he frequently villainizes pretty well anything white and/ or male – actually uses his experiences with both psychology and anthropology to show how the two interact to form culture in ways that you likely never even actively thought of… even if some of his observations make a fair amount of intuitive sense.

Depending on your own politics, you may well be praising Sweet’s more political commentary or you may be looking for the highest window available to you for defenestration purposes – but stick with this. Yes, it may be a touch annoying at times if you are more conservative than AOC or Bernie Sanders – sorry, Brits, I don’t know (or care about, frankly) your politics enough to give you an example from Sweet’s own backyard) – but Sweet really does have a lot of insight to offer here that you really should read, so work through your annoyances if possible and feel free to blast him on them in your review *after* you read the book, if you feel you must.

The star deduction isn’t for the political bent though, as I do try to be objective-ish with those. No, the star deduction is because of the lack of bibliography, clocking in at just 5% in the Advance Review Copy of the book that I had had for several weeks before publication and yet due to life happening just before and after the publication of this book was only able to read it a couple of weeks after publication in mid April 2026. The Sagan Standard – extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – absolutely applies to quite a bit discussed in this text, so I would expect at least 20-30% documentation, and the given 5% falls well short of even the bare minimum 15% documentation I would expect to see from a more standard book with more standard points raised.

Still, read this book anyway. Even with the political bent (which, again, you may well appreciate depending on your own politics) and even with the lack of bibliography (which is inexcusable no matter your politics), there really is quite a bit here that is both interesting and perhaps even useful,. and if nothing else it can help show the kids in your life that there is yet another profession available to them that perhaps they may be interested in pursing and may not have been aware of. Given that so much of this book is based on Sweet’s own professional experience, it really does give almost as big an insight into what a “business anthropologist” does as it reveals about any more general cultural/ psychological insights into how we can all live together with at least somewhat more understanding of each other and how we interact with the “other”.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Rules That Make Us by Oliver Sweet was originally written on April 30, 2026.

April 28, 2026

#BookReview: Blue Power by Stuart Schrader

Rise Of The Political Cop. Nearly 15 yrs ago now, when Michael Brown still had almost exactly a year left in his life, Radley Balko released a seminal history of the rise of the militarized police force in the United States he titled Rise Of The Warrior Cop. In it, he traced the history of policing in the American tradition all the way from its origins as the ‘Shire Reef’ in feudal England to its then most modern incarnations. (He has also released an updated version of this book in the last couple of years.)

Here, Schrader does for police unions what Balko did for police militarization, though Shrader’s historical focus is more explicitly limited to the last century or so with only brief mentions of prior periods – including the aforementioned ‘Shire Reef’.

Detailed and decently documented, with its bibliography clocking in at a reasonable 22%, this is yet another book that anyone concerned with the amount of power police wield in modern America will want to read. Schrader does a great job of showing how we got to this point via both intentional machinations… and some sheer dumb luck for those pushing for more unionization of police. Yet despite being a Johns Hopkins professor, this doesn’t really read as an academic tome. Dense, yes, with a *lot* of facts and names and dates, but also decently readable even for those less academically inclined.

Overall a truly solid look at a facet of policing in America that some talk about yet virtually no one understands the history of, this will absolutely fill in that gap for any who care to read it. It also happens to be reasonably balanced, so while there may be annoyances here or there depending on one’s own politics, there isn’t really anything here that seemingly anyone will be looking for the highest possible window to use for defenestration purposes.

Very much recommended.

This review of Blue Power by Stuart Schrader was originally written on April 28, 2026.

April 16, 2026

#BookReview: Nightfaring by Megan Eaves-Egenes

More Memoir Than Science. In all honesty, one of the books I keep coming back to as an example of what this book *is* is Rachel Held Evans’ Searching For Sunday, just a more explicitly anti-Christian one rather than someone who still considered themselves a believer in Christ but was searching for a version of the faith that made more sense to themselves.

Here, we get a so-called “Elder Millennial” or “Xennial” similar in age to both Evans (before she tragically suddenly died a few years ago now) and myself, though from a different area of the US than the Southern Appalachia Evans and I both called home – the New Mexico deserts were Eaves-Egenes’ homeland. Like Evans and myself, Eaves-Egenes grew up in the American Church (she’s never ultra specific on which exact version beyond it being “evangelical”, but that can mean a wide-ish range of actual beliefs), but unlike myself (though similar to Evans in that Evans did become more open to the more mystical within Christianity), Eaves-Egenes ultimately becomes one of the so-called “Ex-vangelicals” who have seemingly left Christianity behind… and still seems quite bitter about the breakup. In Eaves-Egenes’ case, the breakup was even so bad that she ultimately fled the United States at all for the nation that is the world leader in creating Independence Days – the United Kingdom – and this too greatly informs the perspective you will read in this text.

Which is why it is so important to understand Eaves-Egenes’ background as expressed in this text – because understanding this will give you, the reader of my review, a far better look at what this book actually is than the description currently available as I write this review over two weeks after the book’s release (despite having it since a bit before Halloween 2025 as an Advance Review Copy). Indeed, the book in the description sounds extremely promising, particularly as someone who is a fan of the work of Dark Sky International who has never seen the Milky Way… and includes seeing it on his personal bucket list.

But what we get here isn’t the science and history based examination of dark skies and their significance to the human mind and body and to human civilization that the description leads us to think. Instead, what we do get here is more of a memoir/ travelogue about one person’s thoughts and experiences with the night sky and darkness in general, and framing the book as *this* would be a much clearer picture of what the consumer is actually getting.

Which actually leads to both of the star deductions – the first, my standard “lack of bibliography” deduction. Clocking in at just 11% documentation, this simply isn’t up to the even relaxed standards of 15% or so documentation and is barely half of the 20-30% documentation standard I once more rigidly held similar nonfiction titles to.

The second deduction actually leads from the first, as even I debate within myself whether the Sagan Standard – “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” – applies here, but the statements within the text also involve at least some things that I was actually and legitimately an expert on at least at one time… and which Eaves-Egenes is 100% dead wrong about. Specifically, her “throw-away” line about the rise of Columbine-style school shootings in the decades since that event, which happened her Senior year of high school (as she recalls in the text here) and my own Sophomore year. Being so wrong – and so explicitly led by activist propaganda talking points, no less – actually calls into question every other thing she similarly proclaims as fact, particularly in light of such a dearth of a bibliography.

As a personal memoir, this book is actually very well written, particularly for fans of Evans’ almost poetical prose. As a book of science and history… you’re going to want to read more well documented source material. There really is a lot to like here, but there is also a fair amount that if your politics lean to the right of AOC or Bernie Sanders… you may want to defenestrate this book fairly early on. But don’t, because the writing itself really is quite beautiful, and hearing from another perspective really does help us all become better informed and more well-rounded ourselves, as there really are at least some elements of truth here and thus at least some things that we can all learn from and perhaps learn to do better in our own lives because of.

March 26, 2026

#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.

March 26, 2026

#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.

March 24, 2026

#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.

March 19, 2026

#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.