Non-fiction: Collective Biography
Team America: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, and the World They Forged by Robert L. O'Connell
An excellent collective biography about the four men who exhibited unparalleled military leadership that led the United States victoriously through two World Wars: Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, George Marshall, and Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower.
Beginning with their childhoods through education and on to their military careers, the experiences that shaped them into effective leaders are highlighted. Each man played a major role in saving the free world and preserving the security of the United States. Without the leadership of these men, the world we know would be vastly different.
Audiobook- Fiction
We Run the Tides by Vendala Vida
While the bulk of the story takes place when the girls are 13, it ends when they unexpectedly meet again at almost 50 years old. Has anything changed?
Why We did It: A Travel Log from the Republican Road to Hell by Tim Miller, former Republican staffer
True confession: I voted for George W. Bush ... TWICE! John McCain held my respect and trust until he agreed to Sarah Palin on the ticket. In 2020, the Republicans simply reused the 2016 platform verbatim and their priority was simply Trump.
What happened to Abraham Lincoln’s party? What happened to Republicans like Barry Goldwater (the Trump of his time) who said of the sitting Republican President, “There are only so many lies you can take, and now there has been one too many. Nixon should get his ass out of the White House -- today!” (8/6/1974 @ Senate Republican Conference)
In this hard-hitting critique, Miller a life-long Republican, wryly recounts the key moments that he and other mainstream Republicans -- like Reince Priebus and Lindsay Graham--decided it was more than okay to encourage the Obama-birther and Pizzagate “base” as long as it was good for “the team.” They told themselves they were just playing "the game" but deep down they knew they were feeding the very mob that tried to upend our democracy on Jaunuary 6, 2021. Especially interesting are the author’s interviews with people on the Trump team. Their reasons for ignoring things they wouldn’t stand for in the past are varied. Everyone has a need, a narrative, and, in this case, their network of choice is MAGA Trump.
A Conspiracy of Tall Men by Noah Hawley
Linus Owens is a professor of conspiracy theory, so inevitably, when his wife is killed in a plane crash, he assumes that there is some clandestine reason for this tragedy. As he and his friends, Edward and Roy, plunge headfirst into an investigation of the accident, they begin to unravel a plot that involves nuclear tests, pharmaceutical companies, the FBI, the CIA, Gulf War Syndrome, and a paranormal radio host. It seems all of modern life is part of a huge conspiracy in which we are all guinea pigs.
The author employs some great narrative devices. First, when characters are introduced, he shares their innermost secrets and even their futures, which adds a creepy, omniscient tone. Second, the author preys on the uneasiness that all of us feel about an increasingly technological and dehumanized world, making the paranoid concerns of the characters understandable, sometimes even credible. Third, as scenes are unfolding, regardless of where or when, there are always people on the periphery talking into cell phones, speaking lines of dialogue that may be totally unrelated to the action, but which remind us of the omnipresence of cell phones and how disconnected we are even from people who are standing right next to us.
King Stakh's Wild Hunt by Uladzimir Karatkievich (translated from Belarusian)
The wild hunt is a mythology that is common in Belarusian and German folklore. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by a ghostly or supernatural group of hunters on horseback.
In this Belarusian tale, a young man, Andrei Belarestsky, ends up at the castle of Marsh Firs. There he meets a young woman whose father was killed by a “wild hunt,” making her the last in her aristocratic family’s line. Meanwhile, the castle seems to be inhabited by a ghostly “Blue Lady” and a diminutive “Green Man.” The young woman is convinced that either the “wild hunt” or the ghosts will kill her. Andrei decides to stay and defeat the otherworldly- or are they worldly? - threats. Will he find out what is really happening at Marsh Firs?
Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds by Robert Mann
If you haven’t seen this political ad, you should! It transformed political advertising from “dull” facts to emotional appeal. The “Daisy Girl” ad showed a little girl counting (non-sequentially) the petals on a daisy as she pulled them off, and it then shifted to an ominous countdown that culminated in a nuclear blast. It concluded by declaring that the stakes were too great to stay home on election day and asking viewers to vote for Lyndon B. Johnson. It never mentions his opponent, Senator Barry Goldwater.
It aired only once due to the outrage it caused. However, it was so groundbreaking that it was replayed numerous times on newscasts and other television shows. In the end, millions of people experienced the emotional effects of this ad.
This is a well cited account of the origins, execution, and impact of a notorious political attack ad run by Lyndon B. Johnson during his 1964 presidential campaign. It is essential to understanding the history of television ads in American presidential campaigns.
A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost
I randomly chose this book based upon the title. I haven’t watched Saturday Night Live (SNL) in decades and I didn’t know who Colin Jost was.
This book is about his childhood in Staten Island, time at Harvard, as a student in Russia, his early experiences at SNL, and the last few years as head writer and on-air talent on the show.
It has many humorous anecdotes including Jost’s history of pooping his pants as an adult and having French teens pelt him with vegetables. While most people may enjoy the retelling of his time as a writer on SNL, I enjoyed the tales of his quirky family.
Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck
I read this book after learning about it from C-Span’s Lectures in History, 20th Century UFO Conspiracies by Emory University Professor Felix Harcourt.
This book features 500 UFO sightings from thousands of years of human history wherever written records have survived up to 1880, just prior to the invention of man-made flight. It begins with an extensive chronology of UFO sightings, then explores the recurring themes linked to sightings (myths, legends, religious texts) and ends with an explanation of the authors’ sources and methods.
After extensively researching and analyzing accounts from around the world, the authors make the point that from the very foundations of civilization, man was seeing things in the sky. Plus, man was also reporting interaction with strange beings from the sky. They cite examples from the Bible, Koran and other religious writings that involve an entity from the sky coming to earth and imparting a message.
How to Survive the H-Bomb and Why by Pat Frank
Published in January 1962, at the height of the Cold War and 9 months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, this book was written at exactly the right time. By the author of “Alas, Babylon,” it assumes (prophetically) that a nuclear war is coming and offers advice on how to survive. The author concludes that nuclear war is unwinnable but presents his arguments for improved Civil Defense as a necessary deterrent factor.
In 2022, we might be tempted to write this book off as being an outdated survival guide of yesteryear. The truth of the matter is having a home or accessible, community shelter that is properly stocked with necessities (and some luxuries) would also benefit us in natural disasters, pandemics and civil disorders.
A quick and highly informative read.
Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats by Kristen Iversen
This is a book about the destructive power of secrets--both personal and governmental. A father's hidden liquor bottles, strange cancers in neighborhood children, and production at Rocky Flats-- all these secrets are woven through Kristen Iversen’s childhood and adulthood.
Tucked up against the Rocky Mountains, just west of Denver, sits the remnants of one of the most notorious nuclear weapons sites in North America: Rocky Flats. With a history of environmental catastrophes, political neglect, and community-wide health crises, this site represents one of the darkest and most controversial chapters in our nation's history. What was life like for the Rocky Flats workers and the families living near the plant?
Based on extensive interviews, FBI and EPA documents, and class-action testimony, this book is both captivating and unnerving.
NOTE: In 2018, after forty years of plutonium production and
contamination, a portion of the Rocky Flats site was opened as a
National Wildlife Refuge. In the center of the refuge is the Department of Energy
Legacy Site – where the plutonium production buildings once stood.
As the crush of encroaching residential areas close in on this site
and the generation of Rocky Flats workers die, the memory of
Rocky Flats is receding from the public mind; yet the need to
responsibly manage the site remains.
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