Category Archives: Book Reivews

A Book Review, An Investigation, The Unsolicited

I recently got a new book.  Usually I get my book recommendations from various papers and magazines I subscribe to and with GoodReads, but this new book, I got off my TikTok feed.  Because it was talking about books, I stopped and watched.  I am only in chapter one and I am already writing a recommendation  for it.  How could I?  Well because I can tell it will help thousands answer that pesky question Why?  Why don’t other countries get involved?  Why does the US always have to get involved?  Why can’t those other nations help?   The title of the book is Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall.  I recommend it, it’s an easy read, and it will have you looking at maps.  Most importantly it will help to answer the questions and comments people make about why?  Chapter one alone will help people to understand the situation of Ukraine immensely.  I do not recommend this book for those who know their history and geography as you may find the information to what you would think is common knowledge; and perhaps it would be if we would teach world history in our schools rather than a lopsided view of US history.  This book should be used as a text in history.

The Cold War.  Now this is a subject that if you have time and are somewhat interested in history you could look into.  I suggest you start with the Forgotten War also known as the Korean War.  Your investigation will take you from Asia, to Europe, and into Latin America.  I will venture to say that many know of and are taught about the Europe, Russia, Cuba Cold War missile crisis.  But I am not sure how aware people are of how the Cold War reached into Latin America and the effects it has on the US today.  I do believe many have heard of the dictators that came into power in Latin America and how the US aided the country in stopping the dictator takeover, but the story that gets told over the media outlets and that we hear are not the whole story and are lopsided too.   This investigation, if done, may help to answer the comments and questions as to why are “they” the immigrants coming to the US or at least shed some light into the matter.  

If anything, by reading and investigating you will be able to explain to the askers of why.  

Bookshelf

Had to peruse my bookshelves for this one. I wasn’t sure I even had a repeat author.  I immediately thought, nope I do not have one as I am a nonfiction reader. But of course, I proved myself wrong.  There are two repeat authors.  David Sedaris and Chelsea Handler. They are definitely my favorites.  Humor and sarcasm are the common denominator. 

Historical, academic texts, biographies, autobiographies and memoirs are my typical readings. Serious informational reading one might say. But Handler and Sedaris are two authors which also call my attention. Their writing causes me to burst out laughing, chuckle and smile in public or at home. I especially love it when it happens in public. Oh the looks and stares of envy I get. These types of books are great reads, enough to make me a repeat buyer.

Book Review

Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee

This is a historical fiction novel set in the time of the Korean War, 1950’s.

Anger, fear, hope, joy, elation, and heartbreak are the range of emotions one will experience while reading Brother’s Keeper. Set in the 1950’s during the Korean War, also known as the forgotten war, it tells a story of a sister and brother’s survival as they are separated from the parents during their escape from the North to the South of Korea. Normally I do not read in the genre of ficiton because I struggle with elaborate detail that some authors tend to use, but Brother’s Keeper is written with just enough detail to create images but not overally done to make one want to skip words or whole sentences. The novel also touches upon Korean traditions, customs and family dynamics. I highly recommend this book as you will learn a bit about the “forgotten war,” culture and at the same time be entertained.

Book Review – Fallen Idols

Non-fiction

Fallen Idols by Alex von Tunzelmann delves into the sticky topic of statues. If you are a history buff, you may be not be too impressed with this book, but if you are someone like me who only knows the history that you were taught in school, then I would recommend this book. Tunzelmann examines the colorful history of twelve men. George Washington, Saddam Hussain, and Cecil Rhodes to name a few. Tunzelmann compounds the reasonings for and against the tearing down monuments erected in the name of prominent men of history.

Much information is omitted from history lessons in school in order to paint a rosy historical picture of ones nation, so that one can be proud, but this colored version of history gives us a skewed view of history. Fallen Idols not only gives a more complete picture of twelve particular men but points out that perhaps we must do our research in order for us to have a more accurate picture of our history. So the next time you look at a monument in your town or city ask yourself, what do I really know about this dude and what else do I need to know?

Happy Reading!