Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner.  Ryan and his friend, Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire's four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity.  It was an adventure of a lifetime, leading them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland.  At the heart of the amazing journey was the extraordinary relationship they shared, one that blurred the line between man and dog.

I'm the kind of guy who still cries when I watch Old Yeller.  For that matter, Nestor, The Long Eared Christmas Donkey has me in tears every time I watch it.  I even cried when they went deer hunting on Silver Spoons.  Let's just say I'm a sucker for animals.  So stick a cute dog on a cover, and I'm going to agree to anything you say, just so I can read the book.

Because of the adorable Atticus M. Finch on the cover, it was almost a sure bet that I was going to enjoy the book.  What wasn't a given, was whether or not I was going to enjoy the voice used to tell the story.  As much as I love dogs, I tend to not enjoy books written by journalists that feature their own lives as the subject material. I understand that you have to have a bit of an ego to write a book about yourself, but for some reason, journalists seem to revel in their own self importance.  In the case of one book I reviewed earlier this year, the journalist in question was so self involved, I actually lost respect for him after reading the book.  So when I finally found the time to crack the book open and dive in, it was with a bit of trepidation.

At the very beginning, I was almost convinced that I wasn't going to be pleasantly surprised.  When the author talks about his paper and the roll he played in town, I was reading some of the same words as I did in the book I read earlier this year.  It was a little too self congratulatory for my taste.  So I hunkered down to delve into the world of Tom Ryan, hoping that I would get something out of what I was reading.

As I kept on reading though, I started to enjoy the time I was spending with Tom as he meandered his way across town.  The man I quickly judged, just a quickly started to surprise me.  As Tom started to talk more about himself, my brain started to change what I read as ego, into pride.  Pride for what he had built with his paper, and pride and gratitude for the story he was about to relate to his reader.  He opened himself up in ways that few of us would be willing to do.

It's when, first Max then Atticus come into his life, that Tom truly comes across on the page as a humble man who feels blessed to have had these two wonderful dogs in his life.  To my fellow dog lovers out there, you know what a wonderful blessing it is to have a canine friend share your life, both the triumphs and the setbacks.  What Tom shares with his readers as he recounts the time spent with Atticus up in the mountains isn't a travelogue or a manifesto on the joys of mountain hiking.  What I found in the pages of Following Atticus, was a story of two friends who come together and help each other heal in ways that neither could have expected in the beginning.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review the book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The Unconquered by Scott Wallace (Giveaway Included)

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

Even today there remain tribes in the far reaches of the Amazon rainforest that have avoided contact with modern civilization.  In this gripping first-person account of adventure and survival, Scott Wallace chronicles an expedition into the Amazon's uncharted depths, discovering the rainforest's secrets while moving ever closer to a possible encounter with one such tribe - the mysterious flecheiros, or "People of the Arrow," seldom-glimpsed warriors know to repulse all intruders with showers of deadly arrows.  Danger lurks at every step as the expedition seeks out the Arrow People even while trying to avoid them.

As a kid, the idea of the Amazon River fascinated me.  I would fantasize about swimming in the water, trekking through the jungle, and playing with the jaguars and monkeys.  Let's just say I had an overly romanticized notion of what the Amazon River was all about.  As a recently turned 36 year old, part of me still has an unrealistic idea of what the Amazon River is and what it means to those who call it's many tributaries home.  So when I have the opportunity to read a book, fiction or nonfiction, that takes place on or around the river, I jump at the chance.  At my age, I want to know how my childhood dreams stacks up against the reality.

Come to find out, after all these years, my dreams have been dashed by the reality of the situation on the ground.  I'm pretty sure the point of this book was not to dissuade people from wanting to visit the river, but it's had that affect on me.  I don't want to contribute to the desecration of progressively fragile ecosystem, that seems to be under assault from all sides.  If it's not corrupt government officials, illegal loggers, gold prospectors, poachers, drug runners, or other nefarious individuals raping the land for their own uses, it's the wanton subjugation of the indigenous tribes that have called the Amazon basin home for centuries.  Sitting in my air conditioned apartment in the middle of the United States, I had no idea of the dire situation facing the Amazon and it's denizens.

Now I don't want you to get the idea that this book is a treatise on the ravages of modernization, while it may speak to that, it's really the story of a lifetime, a story that the author simply could not pass up.  When he is asked by National Geographic to accompany a mapping trip, deep in the Amazon rainforest, Scott Wallace is torn in two directions.  Part of him wants to decline in order to rebuild the personal relationships he has neglected through the years as a traveling journalist.  But it's the side of him who simply can't pass up the opportunity of a lifetime to fulfill a dream of going deep into the Amazon.

It's through the travels that he truly begins to the understand what's going on, and how important it is to protect the last few tribes who have decided they want nothing to do with the modern world.  The mission he is accompanying is one that is designed to specify the boundaries of a section of rainforest that will be set aside for the "People of the Arrow" a tribe(s) that has thus far kept itself as far from white men as they can get.  The only way the government agency and it's headstrong leader can do that is by finding out where they live and the extent of their travels.  It's a mission made even harder by the fact that they need to do all this, without making direct contact with the Indians.

This is the story of a gruelling trip that took it's toll on all those involved.  It's a history of the region and the horrors of what has been perpetuated on the tribes that have been contacted by the outside world.  It's the story of a region and it's people that seem to be stuck in this middle area of trying to protect the environment and move a country, Brazil, into the modern world.  But most of all, it's a story of the people involved.  We meet, through Mr. Wallace's eyes, the egomaniac leader of the expedition, a man I grew to dislike and admire all at the same time.  We meet the various Indian and white men who make up the traveling party, and how the changes in the region have radically altered their lifestyle and culture.  It was a story that engrossed and repelled me at the same time.  I'm not sure that's a reaction many will have, but it's the only way I can really describe my feelings after I closed the last page.  It's a story that must be told, but it's also a story that I don't see ending well for anyone involved.  Hopefully I'm wrong, only time will tell.

Now for the giveaway.  I have one copy, generously offered by the publisher, up for grabs.  If you are interested in entering, please leave a comment with your email address.  The giveaway is, I believe, only open to residents of the US.  You will have until 11:59 pm CST, on September 1st to enter.  I will use random.org to pick the winner.

The Gospel According to the Fix by Chris Cillizza (Plus Giveaway)

Synopsis From Back Cover:

The political world is full of acronyms, verbal shortcuts, and lingoes that stand as a barrier to entry for anyone not in the business.  The onset of social media has only mad that barrier higher, as insiders tweet furiously to one another in a language most of us can't even understand.  Everyday Americans and even political junkies nee a hot-to manual for understanding what words matter in this arena and why.

Enter Brother Chris Cillizza and The Gospel According to the Fix - an essential guide to the wonderfully odd religion of politics.  Based on a highly popular blog, The Gospel According to the Fix will teach you something new about politics, including parables the likes of:

• Why Ron Paul's candidacy is a lot like the TV show Friday Night Lights
• What it takes to be Richard Ben Cramer and write the political classic What it Takes
• The top ten negative campaign ads of all time
• The top ten issues candidates should be discussing but aren't because of the economy
• the dos and don'ts of surviving a political sex scandal

This was one of those books that I couldn't pass up.  I'm not sure anyone who is addicted to politics in the way that I am could.  Now I'm not going to sit and pretend that I know everything or that I even given an ounce of my time to learning all there is to know on the subject.  I wish I had the time, or made a different career choice in college, but since I don't and didn't, I have to rely on pundits that I respect.  I'm a big fan of The Fix, the blog written by Chris Cillizza for The Washington Post.  Sow when I saw a book version being discussed on an MSNBC show, I knew I needed to have it.  In an act of serendipity, I had an email waiting in my inbox the next day offering it for review.  I felt like the luckiest lad on Earth.  No joke, I almost squealed like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Beiber concert.

So needless to say that as soon as the book was in my possession, I dug in and rarely came up for air.  I'm one of those individuals who takes politics seriously but still sees the fun to be had by observing the whole process from a distance.  It's one of the reasons I enjoy Chris Cillizza as much as I do, his humor comes across on his blog and on TV, but it shines in this book.  I laughed out loud several times, nodded my head when I read something I agreed with, and couldn't wait to share certain sections with my other politically nerdy friends.  As a matter of fact, I now know what a lot of them are getting for Christmas.

I'm just hoping that he writes a second book sometime soon, so I have next Christmas covered as well.

Now for the giveaway.  I have one copy, generously offered by the publisher, up for grabs.  If you are interested in entering, please leave a comment with your email address.  The giveaway is, I believe, only open to residents of the US.  You will have until 11:59 pm CST, on August 27th to enter.  I will use random.org to pick the winner.

Eat the City by Robin Shulman (Giveaway Included)

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

New York is not a city for growing and manufacturing food.  It's a money and real estate city, with less naked earth and industry than high-rise glass and concrete.  Yet in this intimate, visceral, and beautifully written book, Robin Shulman introduces people of New York City - both paste and present - who do grow vegetables, butcher meat, fish local waters, cut and refine sugar, keep bees for honey, brew beer, and make win.  In the most heavily built urban environment in the country, she show an organic city full of intrepid and eccentric people who want to make things grow.  What's more, Shulman artfully places today's urban food production in the context of hundreds of years of history, and traces how we got to where we are.

In these pages meet Willie Morgan, a Harlem man who first grew his own vegetables in a vacant lot as a front for his gambling racket.  And David Selig, a beekeeper in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn who found his bees making a mysteriously red honey.  Get to know Yolene Joseph, who fishes crabs out of the waters off Coney Island to make curried stews for her family.  Meet the creators of the sickly sweet Manischewitz wine, whose brand grew out of Prohibition; and Jacob Ruppert, who owned a beer empire on the Upper East Side and the New York Yankees.

Eat the City is about how the ability of cities to feed peoples has changed over time.  Yet is is also, in a sens, the story of the things we long for in cities today:  closer human connections, a tangible link to more basic processes, a way to shape more rounded lives, a sense of something pure.

Naturally, most food and drink consumed by New Yorkers hundreds of years ago was grown and produced within what are now the five boroughs.  Yet people rarely realize that long after New York became a dense urban agglomeration, innovators, traditionalists, migrants, and immigrants continued to insist on producing their own food.  This book shows the perils and benefits - and the ironies and humor - when city people involve themselves in making what they eat.

There are times I like to pretend that I have not been living in the Midwest since about 1990.  Before that I moved around a lot and lived just about everywhere.  I was born on the shore of Lake Superior but have lived in Houston, the Los Angeles area, and gone to school in New Orleans.  I've lived in the country and have lived in a city for over 14 years now, of course comparing Wichita, KS to New York, NY is like comparing a dik-dik to a giraffe.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I pretend to be more worldly than I am, I like to think I know everything there is to know about living in a "big" city, but books like Eat the City prove me wrong time and again.  They show me what it means to really understand city living, and that most of us have no clue about what's going on in their streets we walk everyday.

How many of us would be comfortable with having several bee hives on the roof or our apartment building?  Would we begrudge our neighbor growing a grape vine up the back of his house?  Would we complain if the vacant lot down the street was taken over by our neighbors who want to grow their own vegetables?  Or would be celebrate the fact that even amongst the miles of pavement and high rises, some of our fellow city dwellers are working with their own hands to produce the food for their kitchen table.  That they are rethinking how our food is produced and deciding that maybe the old days were better for us.  Maybe it's a great idea for those of us who live in urban setting to rethink what we've been doing and allow ourselves to fully appreciate what food means to our culture and our heritage.

Now I'm not saying I'm going to start keeping bees or growing my own tomatoes out on the balcony.  I don't have the space or the time.  That and the was summers have been going, I'm not sure how long those plants would even stay alive.  But I am curious to find out what, if any, local food is being produced in the city of Wichita.  Robin Shulman in her examination of New York and it's history of food production has made me want to know about what took place in and around Wichita over the last 100 years.  I want to know about our past cattle and dairy industry, signs of which can still be found today in and around downtown.  I'm curious to know how many bootleggers roamed the city of Wichita during Prohibition.  I want to know the fishing history of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers as they flow through the city of Wichita, waters of which I would not being eating out of today.  Robin Shulman has not only given me a glimpse of New York, it's history and it's present, but she has given me the desire to know more about my own city and how food has and continues to impact the people of Wichita.

The wonderful people at Crown have allowed me to give one copy of this book away to one lucky winner.  The giveaway is only open to the US and will run until 11:59 pm CST, on August 21st, 2012.  To enter, please leave comment about food.  Is there a local speciality that you love.  Or do you have a memory of your childhood centered around a garden?  Whatever it is, I would love to hear about it.  You also need to leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.  I will use random.org to pick the winner.

The Twilight War by David Crist

Part Of The Synopsis From The Dust Jacket:

For three decades, the United States and Iran have engaged in a secret war.  It is a conflict that has never been acknowledged and a story that has never been told.

This surreptitious war began with the Iranian Revolution and simmers today inside Iraq and in the Persian Gulf.  Fights rage in the shadows between the CIA and it's network of spies and Iran's intelligence agency.  Battles are fought at sea with Iranians in small speedboats attacking Western oil tankers.  This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations into open warfare.  It is a story of shocking miscalculations, bitter debates, hidden casualties, boldness, and betrayal.

I dare anyone to walk into a mall, stop 10 people, and ask them the capital of Iran.  You may even ask them to point to Iran on a map.   I would be surprised if more than two people were able to do either thing.  Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them could.  Think it's just a problem with Iran.  Do the same thing for Syria, Egypt, or for that matter Germany.  You will more than likely get the same results.  The idea of most Americans not being able to answer those questions, scares the hell out of me.

I'm not going to sit here and say that the present day is any more dangerous than those that have came before them.  I think human civilization has always lived on the brink of self annihilation, but we are living in a world that makes that outcome a lot easier to accomplish, and in less time.  I think at a minimum, we should at least know the players in the game and the history behind the present circumstances.  Wanting to grow my base of understanding is the whole reason I chose to read/review this book.  Our history with Iran is one that I know very little about, and I wanted a resource that could put our relationship into context.

Now I'm not going to say that The Twilight War is for the casual reader, because it's not.  At times, I felt as if I was back in school reading a well written text book.  It's a dense tome, full of dates, names, and events.  Granted, those dates, names, and events are the meat of the book and could not be left out.  With them, Crist paints a broad and concise picture of our relationship with Iran since the Carter administration.  He chronicles our failures and our successes with a country that most Americans don't understand, but should know more about.  It's one of those books that everyone, who is wanting to get a better understanding on the Middle East, should read.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review the book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

Twilight of the Elites by Christopher Hayes (Giveaway Included)

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Over the past decade, Americans watched in bafflement and rage as one institution after another - from Wall Street to Congress, the Catholic Church to corporate America, even Major League Baseball - imploded under the weight of corruption and incompetence.  In the wake of the Fail Decade, Americans have historically low levels of trust in their institutions; the social contract between ordinary citizens and the elites lie in tatters.

How did we get here?  With Twilight of the Elites, Christopher Hayes offers a radically novel answer.  Since the 1960s, as the meritocracy elevated a more diverse group of men and women into power, they learned to embrace the accelerating inequality that had placed them near the very top.  Their ascension heightened social distance and spawned a new American elite - one more prone to failure and corruption than any that came before it.

I'm a humble book blogger who happens to be addicted to politics and public policy almost as much as I am to reading.  I will never claim to be a policy wonk or to know everything there is to know about the way our government works, but I think I stay abreast more than most.  I wish I had the time or made a different career choice when I was in college, but I learn what I can, pay attention to what is being debated, and really try to analyze the way I think about a given topic or situation.  Now being a life long reader, you would think that I would be reading a ton of books on public policy, political history, and maybe a civics text book or two.  That would make sense, but it really doesn't reflect the reality of my reading habits.

Since I was a kid, reading has been an escape from the everyday world, something that politics and policy are a huge part of.  It's only been within the last few years that I've become interested in combining my two interests.  It's a combination that has allowed me to further develop my personal beliefs and has shaped the way I analyze the information that seems to be pouring in 24/7.  But when I add in blogging/reviewing into that mix, I fell myself doubting my choices.  After reading Twilight of the Elites, I'm left with some serious qualms.

There are times I like to think I'm smarter than I am, that I know more than those around me.  When I read a book like Twilight of the Elites, I realize that my grasp on reality may not be as strong as I would like to think.  I forces me to acknowledge the fact that maybe I don't follow the inner workings of government and policy makers as much as I thought I did.  It makes me rethink the amount of time I actually put into the endeavor of learning all there is to know in order to make better decisions.  It makes me grateful that there are people like Chris Hayes who do take the time to learn, analyze, and share the information that I simply don't have the time to gather myself.  

I can not, nor want to, delve into the arguments that Mr. Hayes makes for why our upward mobility through meritocracy has created the very fissures that seem to be dotting the political landscape.  I don't have the vocabulary nor the knowledge to make any sort of analysis credible to anyone who happens to read this.  What I do want to touch on is the obvious intellect that Mr. Hayes shows throughout the book and on TV, yes I do watch MSNBC for my news.  At no point in time does the narrative that he is relating feel illogical or reaching in it's conclusions.  While there are some vocabulary choices that some my not know without having to look them up, he doesn't talk over the heads of his readers.  It's all pretty straightforward, most of which can be credited to the way Mr. Hayes broke his argument down, allowing the reader to follow along at their own pace.


Thanks to Danielle at Crown Publishing, I have an extra copy to giveaway.  The giveaway will be open to US/Canadian residents only.  The giveaway will run until 11:59 pm CST on July 20th, CST.  To enter the giveaway please leave a comment, maybe with a reading suggestion of your own, including your email address.  I will use random.org to draw the winner, who will have 48 hours to respond to my email.

Rather Outspoken by Dan Rather & Digby Diehl

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket: 

For half a century, Dan Rather has covered the major news stories of our time:  the civil rights movement, the assassination of JFK, Vietnam, Watergate, 9-11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib.  For 24 of those years, he was the network "face" of TV journalism as the anchor of the CBS Evening News.

At the end of his tenure, he became part of the news himself.  Now for the first time, Dan tells the real story of his final months at CBS, including his removal from the anchor chair in the wake of the controversy surrounding the story of George W. Bush and the Texas Air National Guard.  He also exposes the frantic and secret behind-the-scenes machinations that followed.  These clandestine maneuvers unmasked the "independence" of the investigation by the Thornburgh commission, revealing a News Division that had, Rather believes, temporarily abandoned its principles in order to enhance the bottom line of the parent company.

I was going to start this review off with the last paragraph, but after some more thought, I decided it wouldn't be a fair way to start things off.  Instead I'm going to admit why I wanted to read this particular book.  I think, like most people who have picked Rather Outspoken up, I was wanting to hear Dan Rather's account of what happened behind the story that brought an end to his career at CBS.  For that reason alone, I think this book is worth the read.

I was never one of those who thought Mr. Rather or his producers did anything wrong in their coverage of the story.  From everything I knew then, and know now, what happened to them felt like a raw deal.  Now that I've read the book, and understand everything that went on behind the scenes, I'm even more convinced that Mr. Rather paid a steep price for telling the truth.  His account of the way political and business pressure interfered in the way news was and is being told, scares the hell out of me.  It should scare everyone who cares about the public's right to know what our government does and how our corporations behave.  His story is not only an example of what can happen when things go wrong, but it's a call to arms.  It's a defense of the concept that journalism should be separated from politics and business considerations.  Sadly, I think it's a call to arms that has come just a bit too late.

I almost wish that this memoir only dealt with that one situation.  I would love to be able to divide that aspect from the rest of the book.  But I can't.  I have never gone into a memoir/biography with a higher opinion of the subject, than I had when I turned the last page.  It's been a fear I've had for years, so now that it's finally here, all I can say is that it made me sad. I hate the idea that I can read a book and come away with less respect for someone.  But less respect is what I'm left with.  I know it's hard for anyone writing a book about themselves to leave their ego out of it.  A good writer should be able to minimize the way that ego is expressed and how it will come across on the page.  I'm not sure what happened, but it seems as if the opposite took place.  Instead of the ego being minimized, it seems as if the ego was expanded and forced into every sentence.  I can't imagine someone in Mr. Rather's place wouldn't have a good sized ego, I just dont' want to be reminded of it on every page.  I'm positive that Mr. Rather is a terrific journalist, has covered stories in such a way that made a difference, and is an all around great guy.  I just don't want Mr. Rather telling me that himself.  Let it come across in the storytelling, not in the tonal voice of the narrative.

That ego got in the way of everything else for me.  It kept what should have been an informative read from being anything other than a justification of his life.  I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with that last concept, I just wish wish he would have been able to mesh the two ideas together in such a way that didn't leave me feeling cooler towards him.

The American Bible by Stephen Prothero

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

Since Thomas Jefferson first recorded those self-evident truths in the Declaration of Independence, America has been a nation that has unfolded as much on the page and the podium as on battlefields or in statehouses.  Here Stephen Prothero reveals which texts continue to generate controversy and drive debate.  He then puts these voices into conversation, tracing how prominent leaders and thinkers of one generation have commented upon the core texts of another, and invites readers to join in.

I love politics.  I don't think there is anyone around me who doesn't know that fact.  I follow it as much as I can, as much as being a single father with a full time job will allow me to.  I know enough to follow elections and debates with a degree of understanding.  Hell, I follow it enough that I'm pretty sure I could identify every sitting Senator, if not by name, by face.  I volunteer for campaigns.  I wear campaign shirts.  I voice my opinion, sometimes too much. I have never missed an election, primary or general, since I turned 18.  I take politics seriously, but not personally.  What I do not do, is make a religion out of my political, national, or world views.  What's more, though they don't realize it, I think the vast majority of Americans do make a "religion" out of their beliefs.  I'm still debating in my head, if this book simply reflects that, or if it glories in it.  I am leaning towards the reflection side.

By the way, I have a feeling this is going to be a rather long review, so for that I apologize.  You guys won't hurt my feelings if you don't feel like reading the entire thing.

From the title to the layout (more on that later), it seems as if the author is glorifying the idea that nationalism and our identity as Americans has turned into a quasi-religion.  All you have to do is turn on cable news for anything longer than 30 minutes to understand that for a lot of us, being an American has taken on some rather overt religious tones.  A lot of us consider this nation and, by default, ourselves as God's chosen.  It's a concept I have serious issues wish, least of which is that when you think you are doing what God wants you to do, or that you represent God's chosen, it's a little hard to have a serious debate that may actually change hearts and minds.  It's a concept that has set into stone, certain ideas and beliefs that doesn't allow any room for growth or compromise.

The book itself is broken down into chapters that mirror the Bible.  It's starts with Genesis and ends with Epistles.  I must admit that part of me was awfully glad that it didn't end with Revelations.  And it's in the way the author structures these chapters that redeemed this book for me.  Each chapter follows the same basic flow.  He introduces us to the topic, giving us a brief background and history on it.  Then, except in one case, gives us the material in it's entirety or if it's from a longer work, an excerpt of it.  That is then followed by commentary, both past and present.  Other than in the introductions, where some of author's biases come through (I dare anyone to write a book like this and not have that happen), the material is presented in a pretty straightforward manner.  The commentary we are presented with comes at the subject from all angles and all political persuasions.  I think he did a rather admirable job at giving the reader a cross section of opinion, allowing the reader to take everything in.

As you may suspect, Genesis, starts us off at the beginning of our nation.  It delves into the idea of how The Exodus Story has influenced our history and our present political climate.  It moves on through "A Model of Christian Charity" by John Winthrope, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, The Declaration of Independence, and The Blue-Black Speller by Noah Webster.  In each of these cases, the author makes a compelling argument for how each speech or book influenced the way Americans viewed themselves and the country at the beginning of our history.  He makes the cases that these are the foundations of what an American identity was built upon.

Law, introduces us to The Constitution, a document that many of us revere but have never read all the way through.  It's, in my view, one of the pillars of our country, but it's not widely read or understood.  You don't need to watch cable news to discover a lot of Americans not only don't know the history of The Constitution or the fights our founding fathers had in crafting it, but they really don't know what's in it.  Outside of the Preamble and the first 10 amendments, our schools really don't cover it enough to allow our children to really have a grasp on not only what The Constitution says, but what it doesn't say.   This chapter also delves into two Supreme Court decisions that altered society in ways that we are still fighting about, Brown V. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade.

Chronicles, delves into the novels that have formed and changed the way Americans relate with each other, racial minorities, and their government.  Of all the chapters in this book, this is the one that seems to be the most subjective in terms of what was included and left out.  It only lists three novels, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe,  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  Now that first two books I get.  I can understand how both books fundamentally changed the way society understood and changed in regards to race in this country.  I don't think either book worked alone in that aspect, nor did either one work miracles, but they both got a conversation started.  It's the third book I find to be an odd choice.  Don't get me wrong, I love Atlas Shrugged, and despite how it conflicts with my politics, it's one of my favorites.  And maybe when it first came out, it helped to define the current conservative movement in this country, but I think that's where it ends.  I think the politics and beliefs behind the book have a rather powerful cult following, but I think it's small.  I actually wonder how many people underneath the age of 40 have even read the book, outside of a college campus that is.  I'm not saying it shouldn't be included because it has made an impact, I'm just thinking there were other novels that should have been included before it.

The musical heritage of our country is diverse and strong, so I think it's fitting that there should be a Psalms chapter.  And while I think the three songs included deserve to be there, I'm not so sure they are the only three songs that have shaped our nation's identity.  Nor do I think they are the only three songs that have shaped our view of our place in the world.  "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key, "God Bless America", Irving Berlin's response to the national anthem, and Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" are important songs.  I'm just not convinced, even after reading this book, that there shouldn't be an entire book on this subject alone.

Proverbs was by far the quickest chapter to read and one of the most entertaining.  Here is where we are introduced to one line sayings from Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Abigail Adams, Sojourner Truth, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Joseph, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Regan, but the author lets us in on some of the background and history behind the words.  They are all sayings we are familiar with and I must say I'm amazed by the staying power of some of them.  There can be a pretty strong argument made in regards to how some of these proverbs have shaped the American identity in ways unrivaled by any other aspect of this book.

Of all the books I've read before this one, I don't think I've ever had Henry David Thoreau, Dwight Eisenhower, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X put into the same section before.  In Prophets, the author makes a compelling argument for lumping these men together.  Whether it's in Thoreau's treatise on  "Civil Disobedience", Eisenhower's farewell address, King's "I Have a Dream" speech, or The Autobiography of Malcolm X, these four men were giving us a glimpse into the future of this country.  In some cases they were meant to serve as a warning, in others, a celebration of where we were going.  But in all cases, they were men who were trying to give us their vision of our country's future and for the most part, they are visions that have stuck in our collective minds and hearts.

Lamentations is the one chapter that surprised me the most.  There are only two subjects discussed in the book,  Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by Maya Lin.  I guess what surprised me the most was the controversy that both of those things stirred up and how both of them were used in such ways, by people who should have know better, to score political points.  When it comes to mourning our dead and how we choose to remember them, I think it should be off limits.  Sadly it never is, and this chapter made that all too clear.

Thomas Jefferson's and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address and Ronald Reagan's speech that introduced him politically to the nation are what the author set as the Gospels.  They are three speeches that changed the way Americans viewed themselves, their government, and their role in the world.  They were speeches that tried, and in large degrees managed, to shape the country's attitude and direction.  They were speeches that told a story, whether true or not, in order to alter the political landscape.

The shortest chapter, and the one chapter I could have done without, was Acts.    Apparently the only thing that warranted inclusion was The Pledge of Allegiance.  Now I don't want to rehash the fights we have had in this country over the Pledge, but it's not something I'm ever been comfortable with, especially after I learned the history of it while I was still in high school.  I'm not going to give my opinion of how I view it, I would just hope that everyone takes it upon themselves to find out where the Pledge came from and why it was altered to fit a certain narrative during the 50s.  Now with that being said, I'm not sure what else the author could have included, but I would be curious to find out if anything else was considered.

And that leaves us with the last chapter, Epistles.  Of all the chapters, this was the one I paid the most attention to, reading it twice.  The author includes George Washington's farewell address, Thomas Jefferson's "Letter to the Danbury Baptists", and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."  This chapter, more than the others, though only by a small degree, allowed me to get behind the eyes of the three men as they wrote down their words.  I was familiar with all three works, some more than others, but this book allowed me to look at them in a way I haven't done before.

I'm still not sure how much this book will allow people to be more open to political dialogue in this country, but I think the author has made a good opening move in that direction.  We seem to be living in a time that doesn't allow people to view those with opposite viewpoints as anything else but evil.  I live in a state where I'm in the political minority.  I have been called a communist, socialist, and been told I was going to Hell.  Granted, it's normally by people who don't really know the definition of the words they are using, but that's beside the point.  I guess my point is this, no matter how bad the discourse seems to be now, it's been worse.  As a country we have always been able to figure out a way to come back together and do the right thing for ourselves and the future of our country.  I have no doubt that though we deal with forces (cable news, blogs, talk radio) that seem to divide us even further apart than we have ever been, that books like this will have their own impact.  That eventually, especially after we remember where we have been, that we will figure out how to keep moving forward.  We just need enough people who are open enough, that aren't dogmatic in their beliefs, to reach across the political divide and get back to work.

I would like to thank Jordan of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Kamila Sadiqi's life changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.  After her father and brother were forced to flee, she became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings.  Banned from school, confined to her home, and armed only with determination, she picked up a needle and thread to create a thriving business that saved their lives.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur who mobilized her community under the Taliban.  A story of war, it is also a story of family, faith, and resilience in the face of despair.  These women are not victims - they are the glue that hold families together; they are the backbone and the heart of their nation.  Kamila Sadiqi's journey will inspire you, but it will also change the way you think about one of the most important political and humanitarian issues of our time. 


For those of you who have been reading the blog for a while, it will come as no surprise that I'm a huge fan of NPR.  I listen to it in my car and at work, when I can get away with it.  One of my favorite programs is The Diane Rehm show as she is one of those interviewers who can talk with her guests about any issue.  Politics, war, literature, music, health care, and I would say the kitchen sink, but that may be a bit redundant.   There is nothing she does not discuss on her show.  So needless to say I'm always intrigued when she is interviewing an author about a new book.  I'm constantly writing titles down that I plan on rushing to the bookstore and purchasing as soon as possible.  Well needless to say, I have a rather long list of books that are still not bought.  Thanks to blogging though, I have had the opportunity to not only read, but review, a few of those books on that list.  The Dressmaker of Khair Khana is one of those books.  I heard the interview on March 17th, 2011, and about a year later I was given the opportunity to read it for myself.  I would encourage everyone to click on the link above in order to listen to the interview as well.

I can only imagine what it would be like to have your entire life and country turned upon it's head.  To have your life, which was on one track, be completely altered by things totally out of your control.  Kamila Sadiqi is one of those individuals who not only managed to adapt to a country and it's rulers that wanted her behind closed doors, but she thrived.  When she is told that her education is over, that her career path is no longer valid for a woman in Afghanistan, she is left floundering for a bit.  It doesn't take long before she decides that she needs to do something for her family and eventually her community.

She faces the risks, which included beating, imprisonment, and even death, and starts her own dressmaking business.  From what starts as a her and her sisters sewing dresses to sell to some trusted local merchants, turns into a business that employees and teaches hundreds of women.  She felt a true calling to teach other women to fend for themselves in order to take care of their families.  Kamila is one of those people who manage to inspire me just by being who they are.  She weighed the odds, and in the end decided the risk was worth the danger.

As I was reading the book, I felt as if Kamila was telling the story.  The author does such a wonderful job of pulling her reader into the life of Kamila and her sisters, that despite the first person narrative that she opens the book with, the author was able to convey a sense of such intimacy.  It was a pure pleasure to read, and at only about 243 pages, it was a quick read as well.  I read it every chance I could, and would put other things aside just to pick the book up again.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews of the book.

A Train In Winter by Caroline Moorehead

Part Of Synopsis From Back Cover:

They were teachers, students, chemists, writers, and housewives; a singer at the Paris Opera, a midwife, a dental surgeon. They distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, printed subversive newspapers, hid resisters, secreted Jews to safety, transported weapons, and conveyed clandestine messages. The youngest was a schoolgirl of fifteen who scrawled "V" for victory on the walls of her lycée; the eldest, a farmer's wife in her sixties who harbored escaped Allied airmen. Strangers to each other, hailing from villages and cities from across France, these brave women were united in hatred and defiance of their Nazi occupiers. 

Eventually, the Gestapo hunted down 230 of these women and imprisoned them in a fort outside Paris. Separated from home and loved ones, these disparate individuals turned to one another, their common experience conquering divisions of age, education, profession, and class, as they found solace and strength in their deep affection and camaraderie. 

In January 1943, they were sent to their final destination: Auschwitz. Only forty-nine would return to France.  

I have been reading a lot of great books, both non fiction and fiction, that deal with WWII.  It's not a subject I had sought out on purpose, but for some reason I was presented with books this year that I could not turn down.  For the most part, they blew me away with their narrative voices and I walked away feeling as if I had not only learned something, but my emotional thinking was altered as well.  So when I agreed to review A Train In Winter, I was betting on the same thing happening.  I wish that that bet would have payed off.  


It's not that I didn't find the story being told compelling, because I did.  I found the women (and men) featured in this book to be both heroic and engaging.  What happens to them after they are captured broke my heart and reaffirmed for me the inhumanity that we, as a species, can show to each other.  They are true heroes and deserve all the recognition and honor that we can bestow upon them.  My issue with the book, and I'm sure it's more of me comparing this book to others that I have read this year, is the tone of the narrative voice.

I don't think cold is the right word for it, but it comes close to the way I reacted to it.  In the beginning of the book the author throws a lot of names, dates, and events at the reader, hoping that he/she will be able to follow along and not get bogged down in facts.  The author shows her skill as a biographer and historian, but the human side of the story seems to get lost in the shuffle.  There are moments where the women shine through the recital, but it's pretty sparse.  As the book continues, the narrative changes a bit, especially after the women are captured and put into the camp.  But even then, as the women take more shape and the author lets us to get to know them on a more personal level, there still seems to be a level of detachment there that I was just not able to get over.

I'm glad I read the book and even happier to learn even more about a period of history that seems to, the more time passes, get glossed over in our schools.  The women whose stories are being told, deserve to be remembered for their courage and strength.  I just wish I had been able to connect with the author's style a bit more.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the tour page to read other reviews.

The Heights by Kate Ascher

Part Of The Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

The Skyscraper is perhaps the most recognizable icon of the modern urban landscape.  Providing office, homes, restaurants, and shopping to thousands of inhabitants, modern skyscrapers function as small cities -  with infrastructure not unlike that hidden beneath our streets.  Clean water is provided to floors thousands of feet in the sky; elevators move people swiftly and safely throughout the building; and telecom networks allow virtual meetings with people on other continents.  How are these services-considered essential, but largely taken for granted - possible in such a complex structure.  What does it really take to sustain human life at such enormous heights.

I have read some wonderfully detailed, analytical reviews of this book by people who really know their stuff.  Thankfully, I'm not one of them so I won't have to beat myself up for not delving into the minute details of what the books is choosing to highlight or leave out.  I'm not bogged down with a vast store of foreknowledge on the subjects of skyscrapers, engineering, architecture, or any of the stuff I was so horrible at (it all required math skills way above my level) in college.  Instead this will be a rather short, but unapologetic positive review.

Using lots of pictures and graphics, thank goodness, the author does a pretty good job of giving a brief history of they skyscraper and it's genesis  Pretty quickly after that the author quickly moves into the science and the construction of the tallest building to ever see the light of day.  She gives pretty interesting detailed information on all the small stuff that I never thought about before.  How do you keep the wind from blowing a building over?  How do all the pipes needed to carry water and sewage get built into the core of the building?  How do engineers take settlement of the building into the plans?  I found it to be a rather informative read that I think I and my son will look into for years to come.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review the book.  Please visit the tour page to read some really great, educated reviews.

Instant City by Steve Inskeep

Part of the Synopsis From The Dust Jacket:

In recent decades, the world has seen an unprecedented change in human life:  for the first time in history, more people now live in cities than in the countrysides.  As Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep so aptly puts it, we are living in the age of the "instant city," when vast metropolitan areas emerge practically overnight.  No rising metropolis has experienced this epic migration more dramatically than Karachi, Pakistan, which has grown from four hundred thousand people in the 1940s to more than 13 million today.  Karachi is the largest city in a nation of vital strategic interest to the United States - yet is a place Americans frequently misunderstand.  In his first book, Inskeep explores how this one city illuminates the perils and possibilities of rapidly growing megacities all around the world.

I like to think I'm pretty smart and that I have a decent grasp on world history and current geopolitical events that are shaping the world we live in.  Then I see or read something that makes me realize I really don't have a frickin clue.  These are the moments that I both live for and dread.  I love them because they help me remember that I will never stop learning, that there is so much out there for me to discover that I'll never get bored.  On the other hand, it's almost too much to comprehend.  There are times I feel I should be concentrating on one subject for the rest of my life, if I don't, I'll never know what I need to.  Reading Instant City was one such moment.

When I decided I wanted to read/review this book, I wasn't thinking too deeply about it.  There were really only two reasons I wanted to do so.  I'm a fan of Steve Inskeep, I listen to NPR all the time, and I want to know more about Pakistan, a country I don't know all that much about.  That, and this sounds really superficial, but every time I think of Karachi, I think of the last segment of one of my favorite movies.  At the end of Auntie Mame, as she is telling Patrick's son about the sites and sounds he is going to see on their trip, Karachi is one of the place she is telling him about.  Silly reason to read a book, but I'm glad I did.

What I enjoyed the most about this read, even though it made me feel a little dumb at times, was finally being able to understand a little of the history of the region and why India and Pakistan are always at each other's throats.  I know I heard of the partition before, but I never thought about it and the ramifications of splitting apart such a large country into smaller ones.  The concept of it being done along religious lines, gave me a better understanding of the history and and current troubles in the region.

Karachi serves as a perfect petri dish for studying the very modern phenomenon of an Instant City.  When you have mass migration from rural to urban settings, whatever the reasons, it's bound to cause problems that nobody really thought through or prepared for.  Buy investigating Karachi, even by narrowing down to one bloody day in December of 2009, Steve Inskeep is able to look at the subject from all angles.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the  tour page to read some really insightful reviews on this one.

Killer Stuff And Tons Of Money by Maureen Stanton

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Whatever the American Dream once was, it now seems to be about making an Antiques Roadshow-worthy killing. Every weekend, thousands of us trawl cluttered flea-market tables of family heirlooms and rejects to search for the one thing that will establish our good taste and pay for junior's college diploma. Among those hunters is Curt Avery, the plucky antiques dealer at the center of Maureen Stanton's charming new book. Avery, a former high school wrestler who favors sneakers and shorts, doesn't quite fit the image of antiques connoisseur. Through his sometimes steep uphill learning experiences, Killer Stuff & Tons of Money guides us through this intensely competitive subculture.  


Before this book, I never realized that flea marketing had it's very own subculture.  I guess that should have been obvious, since everyone seems to have their own subculture, but it's not one I've ever thought of before.  It's an oversite that I'm glad to have fixed.  Maureen Stanton takes us into the lives of Curt Avery and his circle of friends and competitors.  Before this book, I never realized that you could make a living off of buying and selling antiques, well outside of a store that is.  It won't be a career I'll be starting anytime soon, but I will be watching all those antique shows with a new interest.
  
What I found to be the most interesting was the way antiques can keep passing through dealers hands, raising in price for years.  Sometimes these things never see the home of a collector, they just keep getting passed around.  The idea makes me sad a little bit, I think most of these things deserve to be in a home where they will be displayed and cherished.
  
One of these days I want to visit the large outdoor flea markets that Curt and his friends haunt, year after year.  I want to walk down the aisles, handle objects that have been cherished or used by someone long before I was born, and give a new home to a few of them.

State vs. Defense by Stephen Glain

Synopsis From Goodreads: 

For most of the twentieth century, the sword has led before the olive branch in American foreign policy. In eye-opening fashion, State vs. Defense shows how America truly operates as a superpower and explores the constant tension between the diplomats at State and the warriors at Defense.

State vs. Defense characterizes all the great figures who crafted American foreign policy, from George Marshall to Robert McNamara to Henry Kissinger to Don Rumsfeld with this underlying theme: America has become increasingly imperial and militaristic.

Take, for example, the Pentagon, which as of 2010, acknowledged the concentration of 190,000 troops and 115,000 civilian employees inside 909 military facilities in 46 countries and territories. The price of America’s military-base network overseas, along with the expense of its national security state at home, is enormous. The bill comes in at well over $1 trillion. That is equal to nearly 8 percent of GDP and more than 20 percent of the federal budget. (By comparison, China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, the five countries Pentagon planners routinely trot out as conventional threats to the national well-being, have a cumulative security budget of just over $200 billion.) Quietly, gradually—and inevitably, given the weight of its colossal budget and imperial writ—the Pentagon has all but eclipsed the State Department at the center of U.S. foreign policy.

In the tradition of classics such as The Wise Men, The Best and the Brightest, and Legacy of Ashes, State vs. Defense explores how and why American leaders succumbed to the sirens of militarism, how the republic has been lost to an empire, and how “the military-industrial complex” that Eisenhower so famously forewarned has set us on a stark path of financial peril.
  
I don't have the knowledge or the expertise to review this book on the merits or on the facts, so I'm not even going to try.  For the most part, due to my world & political views, I tend to agree with every point this author is making about the disparity between the State and Defense Departments.  I agree that for too long this country has let it's military define our global footprint and I think it's time for the State Department to start doing it's job again.  Despite my inclination to to agree with the state purpose of the book, I'm afraid that I walked away from it with a sour taste in my mouth.  


What I did not like was the tone the author chose to take in discussing the subject.  I didn't like the obvious contempt the author has for many of the people he talks about in the book, it's contempt that I may share, but I don't think it's necessarily helpful.  Anyone who is coming at this book from the opposite point of view is not going to take it seriously.  They are, wrongly in my opinion, going to look at this is a work of the "liberal media" and dismiss it.  They won't take it seriously, something which I think this subject needs.  I think the tone did a disservice to the book, one that was avoidable.  I would have much preferred a book that laid out the facts, with no judgements made, in order for the reader to make up their own mind.  


I do think this is an important look at the players involved and the decisions that have been made in order for us to get to this point in our history.  The State Department has been sidelined too many times for the political or financial gain of those involved in the decision making.  I do think it's time that we allow the diplomatic community to take the reigns once again.  I just hope that this book, despite it's flaws, gets the idea across to enough people.

Believing Is Seeing by Errol Morris

Part Of Synopsis From Dust Jacket:

In Believing Is Seeing, Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris turns his eye to the nature of truth in photography.  In his inimitable style, Morris untangles the mysteries behind an eclectic range of documentary photographs, from the ambrotype of three children found clasped in the hands of an unknown soldier at Gettysburg to the indelible portraits of the WPA photography project.  Each essay in the book presents the reader with a conundrum, and investigates the relationship between photographs and the real world they supposedly record.  

It's rare that I can read a book of essays and not find one of them boring. In an ordinary collection, at least one will be about something Ihave absolutely dull and am forced to either finish reading it, or miss out on something I could learn from.  Thankfully with Believing Is Seeing, documentary film maker, Errol Morris, has managed to write 4 lively and interesting essays into an aspect of photography I've never really thought about before.

In these essays he examines the nature and history of documentary photography and the way it can be used to not only create a memorable image, but to create a flas image and a false reaction in the viewer as well.  Through an exhausting amount of time researching and interviewing, he takes on the enormous taks of not only looking at why a particular picture is taken, but how it was taken.  He delves into the minutae of whether or not a picture was staged and if it was, how it was achieved.  Thankfully, he doesn't stop his examination there.  He also chose to investigate the motivations behind and the fallout after the fact.  Does it really matter if a cow skull is moved around if it get the same point across?  Does a picture have to be staged to create a false impression?  Does the way a photographer frames and edits alter the image itself?

In "Abu Ghraib Essays (Photographs Reveal And Conceal)" he examines two photographs that I think we would all recognize.  The first is of a hooded man standing on a box, hooked up to what appears to be wires.  The man is being tortured and it's hard not to have an initial reaction to it.  What I did not know before reading this book was that the man has been positively identified, but also had a different man claiming to be him.  Morris examines the backround of the story and hwo the fact a man falesly came forward changed the dynamic of hte story and the photograph itself.  Does this false claim make the horrow of any less impactful?  Does he hurt the cause of justice for the other victims of Abu Ghraib?  Does the fact that he may have truly believed he was the man in the picture, matter at all?

The second photograph examined in this essay is the infamous one of MP Sabrina Harman posing with a dead prisoner, giving the thumbs up sign.  When I first saw the photograph, I was appalled by the image.  In my gut, I was horrified and embarrased that a fellow American, a soldier, was appearing to be so callous in the face of a horrific death.  I'm grateful that Morris chose this photograph to delve into.  He not only examined the motivations of Sabrina Harman, but he looked into the backstory of the events that lead up to the photograph.  I still have a visceral reaction when I look at the picture, but I'm no longer judging the young soldier pictured in it.  If this essay taught me anything, I learned that without knowing the context of a picture, there is no way to get the whole story.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Please visit the  tour page for additional reviews.

The Remains of War by G. Pauline Kok-Schurgers

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

When the Dutch Army surrenders to Japan in 1942, nine-year-old Sofia is imprisoned with her mother, younger brother, and two baby sisters in different concentration camps on Sumatra, Indonesia.  Her father is sent to work on the Burma-Siam railroad, and the family doesn't know if he is dead of alive.  In this memoir, author G. Pauline Kok-Schurgers narrates a story of hate and torture, starvation and disease, and physical and psychological abuse experienced during her interment.

Sofia toils through those years, taking care of her younger siblings and trying to prevent her mother from sinking deeper into depression.  Sofia longs for her father's return and her mother's attention and love.  The gruesome years in those camps, the loneliness, and the loss of dear friends transform Sofia into a silent, inward person, scarred for the rest of her life.

I dont' even know where to being on this one.  I'm not sure if it's even possible to "review" a book like this.  There is no way I can critique such a personal, raw story of dehumanization and war.  All I can do is state how I reacted to the book and how it made me feel on a visceral level.

I found the narrative choice to be interesting and provocative.  Instead of  recounting her time in the camps from an adult perspective, the author chose to narrate from the eyes of herself as that little nine year old thrust into a world she can't begin to comprehend.  The emotions are that of a child, so hate, jealously, bitterness is all the more palpable for me.  The contempt she feels for certain people oozes off the page as does the vast suffering she had to endure.  I'm a little torn on how that decision influenced the way I feel about the book.  On an emotional level, I was in heartache reading what this child had to go through.  On a academic level, I would have liked to see what she thoughts now, as an adult, about what she and her family had to go through.  I think both are valid outlooks but I think I would have liked a little of both.

I'm not going to recount everything she and the rest of the prisoners had suffer as it would take too long and would make me wince with every word I typed.  I will say that nobody, especially a child, should ever have to endure the humiliation, torture, and neglect that these people had afflicted on them.  The fact that any of them survived the camps is a testament to the human spirit and desire to live.  I'm not sure I could have survived after four years of what they had done to them.

My only other wish is that the book had not ended when it did.  It left me feeling a little disconnected from what happens and how Sofia reacts to her father not recognizing her.  If is was her father.  I would like to know what happened after she wandered away, how the family reacted and dealt with being reunited once again.

No matter what, Sofia and her story will stay with me for the rest of my life and I would love for more stories to be told.  I would like to read other accounts from survivors of the concentration camps, that I think the world and history have forgotten about.

The Honored Dead by Joseph Braude (Plus Giveaway)

Part of Synopsis From Tour Site:

Joseph Braude is the first Western journalist ever to secure embed status with an Arab security force, assigned to a hardened unit of detectives in Casablanca who handle everything from busting al-Qaeda cells to solving homicides. One day he’s given the file for a seemingly commonplace murder: a young guard at a warehouse killed in what appears to be a robbery gone wrong. Braude is intrigued by the details of the case: the sheer brutality of the murder, the identities of the accused—a soldier—and the victim, a shadowy migrant with links to a radical cleric, and the odd location: a warehouse owned by a wealthy member of one of the few thriving Jewish communities in the Arab world. After interviewing the victim’s best friend, who tearfully insists that the true story of the murder has been covered up by powerful interests, Braude commits to getting to the bottom of it.


This will probably sound a little strange coming from a mystery fan, but I have never really enjoyed reading about real crime.  I have tended to stay away from true crime books, I think mainly because they seem sensationalized to me.  I've always gotten the impression that the author cares more about making money than telling an accurate and fair story.  Because of that bias, I almost passed on this book.  I wasn't sure it would be something I could really enjoy or get into.  I was somewhat familiar with the author's work in journalism, so I was hoping for a little bit more of a story, less "pizazz."  


I was also intrigued by the setting of this book, Morocco.  I'll be the first to admit I know almost nothing about that region of the world other than what I see in the news.  It wasn't a region we really ever studied in school, which I still think the Middle East, Africa, and Asia should get more attention but that's another thought for a different post.  The book itself takes place in the country's largest city, Casablanca.  Now this may sound dumb, but I've never even thought of Casablanca outside the movie, which I've never seen.  So the idea of reading a book set in a country in Northern Africa that I'm not at all familiar with, hooked me.  That was all I needed to set my hesitations aside and dig in.


The book opens after the author has already embedded with the 5th precinct in Casablanca.  He has already witnessed both sides of the way the police force deal with crime and suspects.  Sometimes the heavy hand of violence comes out and others an almost strange emphasis on human rights.  I almost felt as if the police force was schizophrenic in it's approach to the populace of the city.  They can't quite make up their minds on what direction the country should go in.  I will also say that their definition and my definition of human rights probably don't compare very well.


It's not longer after that he is handed a file on the murder of a homeless
Berber man on the property of a Jewish owned warehouse.  The author, who's mother was an Iraqi Jew knows how sensitive of a subject, Judaism and Jews can be in a Muslim country.  The file states that the killer, a member of the military, has already been detained and confessed.  Mr. Braude quickly becomes interested in the case as it deals with cultural, ethnic, religious, and society issues all rolled up into one.  He takes it upon himself to delve into the case further and once he meets the best friend of the murdered man, the author finds himself agreeing to help the friend prove the police are lying about what happened.


The investigation takes them into the shanty towns of Casablanca and rural villages miles away from the city.  They discover that not only are the authorities lying about what happened. but that their are larger motives at work.  It just so happens that they authorities feel that if the truth comes out it will damage societal structures as a whole, so they see it as their duty to hide the truth.


I actually find that concept fairly interesting.  I find the idea of a government or government official covering up the truth of a crime to be rather abhorrent and against what I instinctively feel would happen in this country.  Then I start to think a little more and realize that governments, including ours, constantly try to hide or blur the truth in order to protect "the common good."  What that common good is, I have no idea, but I do know people are always talking about it.  All you have to do is look at the Pat Tillman case and realize that no country is clean of this behavior.


I really got into this book and found myself caring about the case.  I wanted to know what happened to this man and why he had to die.  I found myself sympathizing with him when certain aspects of his life came out.  I would think, but for the fact of where I was born, I could have found myself living the same life.


I even liked the way this book forced me to dust off my sociology degree and delve into the cultural aspects of a country that has so many ethnic and religious layers to it.  It was an insightful look into a way of life and thinking that I'm not at all familiar with, and I thank the author for that.


I would like to also express my thanks to Lisa of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.  You can read so more insightful (and better written) reviews by visiting the tour page.


Now for the GIVEAWAY!


You will have a chance to win a copy of this book for yourself.  All you have to do is leave a comment with your email address, that's it.  I would love for you to start following the blog as well, but you don't have to.  The giveaway is only open for the US and Canada.


The contest will be open until 11:59 CST on 7/13/11.  After the deadline I will pick a winner using random.org.  I will then email the winner who will have 48 hours to contact me with their shipping info.  If they do not, a new winner will be picked.