Lynn's List (February 28, 2020)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming America From The Right by Paul Krugman
• The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul Krugman
• Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, And The Fight For A Better America by Paul Krugman
• The Girl with the Louding Voice: A Novel by Abi Daré
• Together Tea by Marjan Kamali
• The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
• After the Lie: A gripping novel about love, loss and family secrets by Kerry Fisher
• The Mother I Could Have Been: A gripping and heartbreaking page turner by Kerry Fisher
• The Woman I Was Before: A gripping, emotional page turner with a twist by Kerry Fisher
• Lost Girls: A fast paced, gripping thriller novel by Angela Marsons
• Evil Games: A gripping, heart-stopping thriller by Angela Marsons
• Trick of the Light by Jill Dawson
• The Outcast Girls: A completely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 historical novel by Shirley Dickson
• The Fortunate Ones: Beautiful and heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction by Catherine Hokin
• The Empty Nest: An unputdownably gripping psychological thriller by Sue Watson
• The Scandal: A gripping emotional page turner with a breathtaking twist by Nicola Marsh
• Single: A totally gripping psychological thriller full of twists by K.L. Slater
• All Her Secrets: An unputdownable psychological thriller with a stunning twist by Sue Watson
• Finding Grace: An unputdownable psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist by K. L. Slater
• Our Last Goodbye: An absolutely gripping and emotional World War 2 historical novel by Shirley Dickson
• The Orphan Sisters: An utterly heartbreaking and gripping world war 2 historical novel by Shirley Dickson
• The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly
• Unspeakable by Graham Masterton
• Unspeakable by Caroline Pignat
• Unspeakable by Kevin O'Brien
• Unspeakable by Susan Burch and Hannah Joyner
• Unspeakable by Sandra Brown
• The Unspeakable by Charles L. Calia
• Innocent in Alaska: The Story of Margaret Knudsen Burke by John A. Springer
• Death at Papago Park POW Camp: A Tragic Murder and America's Last Mass Execution by Jane Eppinga
• Barack Obama's America: How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era by John Kenneth White
• Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War by John D. Lukacs
• The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• A List of Cages by Robin Roe
• Suspect Red by L.M. Elliott
• This is Our Story by Ashley Elston
• The Keeper of Secrets: A Novel by Julie Thomas
• The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
• Battle for Skyline Ridge: The CIA Secret War in Laos by James E. Parker Jr.
• Capitals of the Confederacy, The: A History (Civil War Ser.) by Michael C. Hardy
• Hitler's Fortune by Cris Whetton
• Swimming in the Daylight by Lisa C. Paul
• Louisville's Alma Kellner Mystery (True Crime) by Shawn M. Herron
• Ian Fleming and SOE's Operation POSTMASTER: The Untold Top Secret Story by Brian Lett
• Nothing to Fear by Adam Cohen
• Imbeciles by Adam Cohen
• American Pharaoh: His Battle for Chicago and the Nation by Elizabeth Taylor and Adam Cohen
• Crossing Confessional Boundaries: Exemplary Lives in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions by John Renard
• Switch Off and Find Calm: Slow Down and Regain Control of Your Life (Be Your Best) by A. Lockwood
• A Is for American by Jill Lepore
• The Whites of Their Eyes by Jill Lepore
• These Truths: A History Of The United States by Jill Lepore
• It's Up to the Women by Jill Lepore and Eleanor Roosevelt
• Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
• How to Deal With Parents Who Are Angry, Troubled, Afraid, or Just Plain Crazy by Elaine K. McEwan-Adkins
• The British Mandate in Palestine: A Centenary Volume, 1920–2020 (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern History) by Michael J. Cohen
• When We Were Brave: A completely gripping and emotional WW2 historical novel by Suzanne Kelman
• In Defense Of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case For God's Action In History by R. Geivett and Gary Habermas
• Swimming in the Deep End by Christina Suzann Nelson
• The Least of These: Paul and the Marginalized by Carla Swafford Works
• Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
• Mother Teresa: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta by Mother Teresa and Brian Kolodiejchuk
• Triumph: Life After the Cult--A Survivor's Lessons by Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer
• The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
• Cottage at the Beach (The Off Season #1) by Lee Tobin McClain
• Follow Me by Kathleen Barber
• Grace Canceled: How Outrage is Destroying Lives, Ending Debate, and Endangering Democracy by Dana Loesch
• Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life by Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler PhD
• Island in the Sky (Island In The Sky Ser. #No. 6) by Ernest K. Gann
• Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann
• IMPEACHMENT: An Opening Argument (A Vintage Short) by Adam Schiff
• The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
• The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World by Rahm Emanuel
• The Tuscan Girl: Completely gripping WW2 historical fiction by Angela Petch
• Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America by Adam Cohen
• Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford
• Pretty as a Picture: A Novel by Elizabeth Little
• Cops, Cameras, and Crisis: The Potential and the Perils of Police Body-Worn Cameras by Michael D. White
• Necessary Valor by Lenora Worth and Lynette Eason
• Call of Bravery by Dana Mentink andMaggie K. Black
• Hearts of Courage by Valerie Hansen and Terri Reed
• Forbidden Promises (Jackson Falls) by Synithia Williams
• City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism by Abram C. Van Engen
• Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge by John G. Matsusaka
• Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote by Ellen Carol DuBois
• The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success by Ross Douthat
• Scratched: A Memoir of Perfectionism by Elizabeth Tallent
• The Eulogist: A Novel by Ms Terry Gamble
• The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel byPaul Tremblay
• The Highway of Death by Earl Bishop Downer
• Greenwood: A Novel by Michael Christie
• Watching from the Dark: A Novel by Gytha Lodge
• Williwaw: Julian; Williwaw; The Judgement Of Paris; Messiah; The City; The Pillar by Gore Vidal
• Cry Slaughter! by Edilberto K. Tiempo
• This is My Brother: A Novel by Louis Paul
• Yesterday's Man by Branko Marcetic
• The Watch on the Bridge by David Garth
• The Atrocity by Jackson Burgess
• Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner
• Internment by Samira Ahmed
• The River of no Return: The Autobiography of a Black Militant and the Life and Death of SNCC by Cleveland Sellers and Robert Terrell
• The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel by Jeffrey Lewis
• Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt
• Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches by Carolyn Heggen
• The Hearsts: Father and Son by William Hearst
• Reporting Live by Lesley Stahl
• The $66 Summer: A Novel of the Segregated South by John Armistead
• Touches the Sky: A Novel by James Schaap
• The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse by Lawrence Scanlan
• On Fire by Larry Brown
• Fay: A Novel by Larry Brown
• Civil Rights Chronicle: The African-American Struggle For Freedom by Clayborne Carson, Myrlie Evers-Williams and Martin King
• Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Custis James
• Fly Like a Bird by Jana Zinser
• A Girl from Yamhill: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
• My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary
• The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary
• The Paper Bracelet: A gripping novel of heartbreaking secrets within a home for unwed mothers by Rachael English
• Trump and Us: What He Says and Why People Listen (Communication, Society and Politics) by Roderick P. Hart
• They Led the Way: 14 American Women by Johanna Johnston
• My Husband and I: The Inside Story of 70 Years of the Royal Marriage by Ingrid Seward
• Youngblood: A Novel by Matt Gallagher
• A Beautiful Place to Die: Martha's Vineyard Mystery #1 (Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries #1) by Philip Craig
• Rivers: A Novel by Michael Farris Smith
• Barons of the Sea: And their Race to Build the World's Fastest Clipper Ship by Steven Ujifusa
• River Road: A Novel by Carol Goodman
• The Salt House: A Novel by Lisa Duffy
• Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine by Barry Strauss
• The Ever After: A Novel by Sarah Pekkanen
• The Simple Wild: A Novel by K. A. Tucker
• Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann
• Prep: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Man of My Dreams: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
• American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Roadmap To Redemption by Rebecca Bender
• Doxology: A Novel by Nell Zink
• Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream by Edward Humes
• Clifford's Blues by John A. Williams
• The Patricia Potter Western Romance Collection Volume One: Relentless, Renegade, and Notorious by Patricia Potter
• The Patricia Potter Western Romance Collection Volume Two: Diablo, Defiant, and Wanted by Patricia Potter
• The Patricia Potter Romance Collection Volume One: Cold Target, Twisted Shadows, and Behind the Shadows by Patricia Potter
• Dead Heat by Linda Barnes
• Geronimo's Story of His Life: As Told to S. M. Barrett Geronimo, S. M. Barrett
• Jamintha by Jennifer Wilde
• Redemption: A Novel by Howard Fast
• Widow's Fire by Elizabeth Chadwick
• A Killer's Wife (Desert Plains Book 1) by Victor Methos

Review: A Killer's Wife

A Killer's Wife by Victor Methos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jessica Yardley’s life as a prosecutor becomes very complicated when the FBI asks her to help them solve what they believe to be a serial murder. They believe her ex-husband, on death row, can help them because this crime, and others, are eerily similar to his MO. At first, she refuses, but the more she thinks about it, the more involved she becomes in the case, and the closer to her private world the case becomes.

This story, was fascinating and pulled me in from the first! A great legal thriller--well thought out and well presented. But I also liked this book so well for a completely different reason. Victor Nethos captured the essence of a woman's perspective in so many ways that I often find missing in the development of female characters by male authors. It was wonderful to read and added so much more depth and detail to the story. I am looking forward to the second book in the Desert Plains series which is due to be released in 2021.

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Review: The Keeper of Secrets

The Keeper of Secrets by Julie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Simon Horowitz at age fourteen loves music, his family and his life. He especially loves playing his families prized violins. But in 1939, all that changed when he was put in a Nazi concentration camp.

Fast forward to Present day when his grandson, Daniel, a potential world-class violinist, decides he no longer wants to play the violin and just be a "normal" kid. Daniel's life and that of his grandfather, Simon, come together in a most remarkable way.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing and the historical accuracy we superb, not to mention the plot of the story itself. There are two more books in the Horowitz Chronicles series. I can hardly wait to see what's coming next.

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Updated Review: In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished rereading In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives, where Dr. Kenneth C. Davis sets us straight about the history of America. Four of our greatest presidents owned enslaved people. Liberty, justice and equality for all did not apply to enslaved people owned by our founding fathers, as well as many others who fought for America's independence. Each of the thirteen colonies allowed ownership of enslaved people. Dr. Davis takes the reader on a journey with five of these enslaved people, as they serve these four Presidents.

I found this book heartbreaking, informative and fascinating. Many aspects of enslavement have been left out of the history books, so I welcomed reading this un sanitized version of our inhumanity to man, and the exposure of hypocrisy. This book is a great read, and I recommend it highly. Though written for middle-grade readers, it is a great read for people of any age. I learned even more from a second read, and will revisit this book again.

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Lynn's List (February 21, 2020)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• The River Murders by James Patterson
• Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan
• The Bookshop: A Novel (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Ser.) by Penelope Fitzgerald
• How Doctors Think: How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
• The Book of Separation: A Memoir by Tova Mirvis
• The Marriage Lie: A bestselling psychological thriller (Harlequin Audio Series) by Kimberly Belle
• Trust No One: An Anthology by Kimberly Belle
• Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip
• The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson
• Malcolm X: The FBI File by Clayborne Carson and David Gallen
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Enriched Classics) by Harriet Jacobs
• Voyage to a Stricken Land: A Female Correspondent's Account of the Tactical Errors, Wild West Mentality, Brutal Killings, and Widespread Misinformation During the War in Iraq by Sara Daniel
• Sun at Midnight: A Novel by Rosie Thomas
• Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders by Greg King
• Death, Disease & Dissection: The Life of a Surgeon–Apothecary 1750–1850 by Suzie Grogan
• Walter Cronkite: His Life and Times by Doug James
• Fallgirls: Gender and the Framing of Torture at Abu Ghraib (Classical and Contemporary Social Theory) by Ryan Ashley Caldwell
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg
• Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro by Rachel Slade
• Moralism: A Study of a Vice by Craig Taylor
• Money Secrets of the Amish: Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving by Lorilee Craker
• The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger
• The Chase: A Novel (Crime Scene: Houston #1) by Diann Mills
• Elsie Chamberlain: The Independent Life of a Woman Minister (Gender, Theology and Spirituality) by Alan Argent
• The Nazi Movement by Theodore Abel
• The Physical Basis of Mental Illness by Ronald Chase
• The Terrible Secret: Suppression of the Truth About Hitler's "Final Solution" by Walter Laqueur
• The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
• The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America by Jonathan Tasini
• Bernie Sanders: In His Own Words: 250 Quotes from America's Political Revolutionary by Robert Reich, Chamois Holschuh and Walker Bragman
• Outsider in the White House by John Nichols and Bernie Sanders
• Christian Nation: A Novel by Frederic C. Rich
• The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman
• The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights by William P. Jones
• The Rip: From The Award-winning Author Of Wimmera by Mark Brandi
• The Italian Villa: An emotional and absolutely gripping WW2 historical romance by Daniela Sacerdoti
• Political Agape: Christian Love and Liberal Democracy (Emory University Studies in Law and Religion) by Timothy P. Jackson
• Liberal Christianity and Women's Global Activism: The YWCA of the USA and the Maryknoll Sisters by Amanda Izzo
• Liberal Religion: Progressive versions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Routledge Studies in Religion) by Emanuel de Kadt
• Moral Injury and the Promise of Virtue by Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon
• Going to War with Iraq: A Comparative History of the Bush Presidencies (The Evolving American Presidency) by Joseph M. Siracusa and Laurens J. Visser
• The Liberal Tradition in America: The Classic on the Causes and Effects of Liberal Thought in the U.S. by Louis Hartz
• What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer
• Votescam by James M. Collier and Kenneth F. Collier
• Congress, Presidents, and American Politics: Fifty Years of Writings and Reflections by Lee H. Hamilton
• The Center: People and Power in Political Washington by Stewart Alsop
• The Hillary Effect by Taylor Marsh
• Quotable Elizabeth Warren by Frank Marshall
• 1984 by George Orwell
• In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis
• Beside Myself: A Novel by Sasha Marianna Salzmann
• The Antidote for Everything by Kimmery Martin
• The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt by Elizabeth Warren and Teresa A. Sullivan IV
• Amnesty: A Novel by Aravind Adiga
• F*ck Silence: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic, Authoritarian Con Man He Is by Joe Walsh
• Home Making: A Novel by Lee Matalone
• Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II by Max Hastings
• The Lucky One: A Novel by Lori Rader-Day
• No Bad Deed: A Novel by Heather Chavez
• Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent by Ralph Pezzullo
• Good Enough: A Novel by Jen Petro-Roy
• Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America by Sherrod Brown
• Coming of Age in Jim Crow DC: Navigating the Politics of Everyday Life by Paula C. Austin
• We Are Worth Fighting For: A History of the Howard University Student Protest of 1989 (Black Power #1) by Joshua M. Myers
• Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America by Gilda R. Daniels
• Yes We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump by Dan Pfeiffer
• Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again by Dan Pfeiffer
• Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen
• Feminism Unmodified: Discourses On Life And Law by Catharine MacKinnon
• Fever Zone: Military Romance (Women in Arms #1) by Cindy Dees
• A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price
• Letters Across the Divide: Two Friends Explore Racism, Friendship, and Faith by David Anderson and Brent Zuercher
• The Enduring Democracy by Christina E. Bejarano, David A. Yalof and Kenneth J. Dautrich
• The Other Mrs.: A Novel (Mira Ser.) by Mary Kubica
• Silver Sparrow: A Novel by Tayari Jones
• Murder in McComb: The Tina Andrews Case by Trent Brown
• The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall
• The Betrayal by Kate Furnivall
• While I Was Sleeping by Dani Atkins
• A Song for Tomorrow by Alice Peterson
• Stranger Things: An Official Stranger Things Novel (Stranger Things) by Adam Christopher
• In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars by Mark Batterson
• Reputation: A Novel by Sara Shepard
• The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil by Philip Zimbardo
• Wunderland: A Novel by Jennifer Cody Epstein
• Matters of the Heart: A Novel by Danielle Steel
• The Angry Wife: A Novel by Pearl S. Buck
• The Lost Daughter by Ann Goldstein and Elena Ferrante
• The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante Boxed Set (Neapolitan Novels) by Ann Goldstein and Elena Ferrante
• The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and Technology by Barry Commoner
• Off the Grid (Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery) by Robert McCaw
• Come Home by Patricia Gussin
• The Last Girl (Dexter Vega Mystery) by Danny Lopez
• Passenger 19: A Jammer Davis Thriller (A Jammer Davis Thriller #3) by Ward Larsen
• Yesterday's Echo: A Novel (The Rick Cahill Series #1) by Matt Coyle
• Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation by Steve Vogel
• Lady in the Lake: A Novel by Laura Lippman
• What Makes Us Stronger by Freya Lewis
• A Hope for Emily: An absolutely heartbreaking and gripping emotional page turner by Kate Hewitt
• The Truth About My Mother by Jemma Wallace
• Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment by Linda Hirshman
• The Beaded Moccasins: The Story Of Mary Campbell by Lynda Durrant
• Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff
• How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz

Lynn's List: Presidents Day Edition (February 17, 2020)

I thought it might be interesting to celebrate Presidents Day in a whole new way this year by putting together a list of books about the Trump presidency, the man, how we got here, and what we can do to make this his last Presidents Day in the White House. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and these books are in no particular order. What really surprised me is the number of them, and these are just the ones I know of.

People say that everyone wants to write a book to Bash Donald Trump because these books sell. But if you look at the number of prominent Americans who are expressing their concerns about Donald Trump and his henchman, the death of truth in America, the religious right and more, You quickly realize these are not all people with an ax to grind. And as much as the "right" want to dismiss them, they will not be dismissed. They have gone on the record.

• Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff
• Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House by Cliff Sims
• Inside Trump's White House: The Real Story of His Presidency by Doug Wead
• Sinking in the Swamp: How Trump's Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington by Lachlan Markay
• Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office by Benjamin Wittes and Susan Hennessey
• Crossfire Hurricane: Inside Donald Trump's War on the FBI by Josh Campbell
• The Plot to Betray America by Malcolm Nance
• Fake President: Decoding Trump's Gaslighting, Corruption, and General Bullsh*t by Mark Green and Ralph Nader
• All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator by Monique El-Faizy and Barry Levine
• To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment by Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz
• The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani
• Crime in Progress: Inside the Steele Dossier and the Fusion GPS Investigation of Donald Trump by Peter Fritsch and Glenn Simpson
• Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos by Peter Bergen
• Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump by Vicky Ward
• American Oligarchy: The Permanent Political Class by Ron Formisano
• The Plot to Betray America: How Team Trump Embraced Our Enemies, Compromised Our Security, and How We Can Fix It by Malcolm Nance
• A Warning by Anonymous
• Enemies of the State: The Radical Right in America from FDR to Trump (The American Ways Series) by D. J. Mulloy
• Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For by Susan Rice
• How to Beat Trump: America's Top Political Strategists on What It Will Take by Mark Halperin
• Golden Handcuffs: The Secret History of Trump's Women by Nina Burleigh
• Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Shear
• America Is Better Than This: Trump's War Against Migrant Families by Jeff Merkley
• The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story by Joy-Ann Reid
• Fight for Liberty: Defending Democracy in the Age of Trump by Jon Meacham and Mark Lasswell
• The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America by Jim Acosta
• Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
• The Trump Presidency, Journalism, and Democracy (Routledge Research in Journalism) by Robert E. Gutsche Jr.
• Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump by David Neiwert
• Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches by John W. Dean
• Conservatives Without Conscience by John W. Dean
• Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump by David Corn and Michael Isikoff
• What the Hell Do You Have to Lose?: Trump's War on Civil Rights by Juan Williams
• The Hill to Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America by Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman
• Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting by Joshua A. Douglas
• The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great by Ben Shapiro
• Dear America: The Story of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
• A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
• The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew G. McCabe
• Nervous States: Democracy And The Decline Of Reason by William Davies
• It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics by David Faris
• The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It by Yascha Mounk
• How to Save a Constitutional Democracy by Aziz Z. Huq and Tom Ginsburg
• How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
• Enemy of the People: Trump's War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy by Marvin Kalb
• Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America by Seth Abramson
• Against Us: The New Face of America's Enemies in the Muslim World by Jim Sciutto
• Blinded By the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock
• The Marginalized Majority: Claiming Our Power in a Post-Truth America by Onnesha Roychoudhuri
• American Intolerance: Our Dark History of Demonizing Immigrants by Anja Reumschuessel and Robert E. Bartholomew
• Speaking Out: Activism and Protest in the 1960s and 1970s by Heather Ann Thompson
• An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics by Greg Sargent
• Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic by David Frum
• Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright
• Letters to America: Courageous Voices from the Past by Tom Brokaw and Tom Blair
• The Nancy Pelosi Way: Advice on Success, Leadership, and Politics from America's Most Powerful Woman (Women in Power) by Christine Pelosi
• Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever by Rick Wilson

Review: Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut

Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut by Mike Mullane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

RIDING ROCKETS was one of those books I expected to be among my favorite reads of 2020. Mike Mullane writes candidly about his life and being part of the crew of the first flight of the space shuttle Discovery. From that perspective, it is well written and informative, especially concerning the culture at NASA during his time there.

The reason I gave this book less than a stellar rating is because of the constant emphasis, it seems to me, on the feminine/masculine divide or differences, and his own attitudes about women. Naturally, I expected some frank discussion of the subject, but it was a constant that grated on me and took so much away from both the process and risks of space flight and my overall enjoyment of the book. I was relieved to finish reading it. That continual sarcasm, mail chauvinism, whatever term you choose to apply, always has, and always will, leave a very bad taste in my mouth. And, it is the dominant impression I am left with from these pages, though I'm certain that was not the author's intent. As a reader, if you can set this aspect aside, you'll find the book interesting.

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Lynn's List (February 14, 2020)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• Shattered. (The Roll Models Saga Book 1) by D.A. Charles
• Black in America: The Paradox of the Color Line by Enobong Hannah Branch
• Tears of Battle: An Animal Rights Memoir by Brigitte Bardot and Anne- Cécile Huprelle
• The Little Book of Restorative Justice: Revised and Updated (Justice and Peacebuilding) by Howard Zehr
• The Case for Universal Basic Income by Louise Haagh
• The AOC Way: The Secrets of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Success (Women in Power) by Caroline Fredrickson
• Class Conflict: The Pursuit and History of American Justice by Gregory C. Leavitt
• The Magic of Melatonin: How this Amazing Hormone Will Help You Sleep, Reduce Pain, Relieve Anxiety, Slow Aging, and Much More by Dr. Jan-Dirk Fauteck
• The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America's Soldiers by Joseph Hickman
• Midnight in Samarra: The True Story of WMD, Greed, and High Crimes in Iraq by Eleanor Cooney and Frank Gregory Ford
• Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East by Michael Curtis
• The New Debtors' Prison: Why All Americans Are in Danger of Losing Their Freedom by Paul Lonardo and Christopher B. Maselli
• White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing by Gail Lukasik and Kenyatta Berry
• Notes from the Other Side of Night by Albert Mehrabian
• October Earthquake: Yom Kippur 1973 by Yehoshafat Harkabi
• Sinatra and the Jack Pack: The Extraordinary Friendship between Frank Sinatra and John F. Kennedy Jr. - Why They Bonded and What Went Wrong by David Harvey and Michael Sheridan
• Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown
• Square Rigger Days: Autobiographies of Sail by Charles W. Domvillefife
• Open House: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club Ser.) by Elizabeth Berg
• The House Sitter: A spine-chilling and compulsive read that will leave you questioning everything and everybody! by Jill Barry
• The Winter That Made Us by Kate Field
• Redemption Song by Laura Wilkinson
• Whisper by Chris Struyk-Bonn
• The Witness by Jane Bidder
• The Dynamics of Murder: Kill or Be Killed by R. Barri Flowers
• The Schuyler Sisters by Monika Davies
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
• Jay Gould, "The Most Hated Man in America" by Matthew Preble
• The Wright Brothers Legacy: Orville and Wilbur Wright and Their Aeroplanes by Walt Burton
• Brenda Novak Stillwater Suspense Complete Collection: Dead Silence\Dead Giveaway\Dead Right by Brenda Novak
• We Also Served: The Forgotten Women Of The First World War by Vivien Newman
• The Nazi Hunters: The Ultra-Secret SAS Unit and the Hunt for Hitler's War Criminals by Damien Lewis
• Mercy House: A Novel by Alena Dillon
• The Only Child: A Novel by Mi-ae Seo
• Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward J. Larson
• Little Faith, Big God: Grace to Grow When Your Faith Feels Small by Debbie Wilson
• Finally Home (The Buckhorn Brothers #1) by Lori Foster
• Washington's End: The Final Years and Forgotten Struggle by Jonathan Horn
• Dead to Her: A Novel by Sarah Pinborough
• Prodigal (Lost and Found #1) by TA Moore
• The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming
• No True Believers by Rabiah York Lumbard
• Summer of '79: A Summer of '69 Story by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
• Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War by Vincent Brown
• Sinking in the Swamp: How Trump's Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington by Lachlan Markay
• The Escape Artist by Diane Chamberlain
• The Warehouse: A Novel by Rob Hart

Lynn's List (February 7, 2020)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• The Wives: A Novel (Hq Fiction Ebook Ser.) by Tarryn Fisher
• Lucy Spires – The Blind Detective by Peter Hamilton
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
• A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein
• Clever Girl: A Novel (P. S. Ser.) by Tessa Hadley
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
• Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
• The Leaving Party: An absolutely gripping and addictive psychological thriller by Lesley Sanderson
• Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes
• Shot Down: The Secret Diary of One POW's Long March to Freedom by Alex Kerr
• Shattering Silences: Strategies to Prevent Sexual Assault, Heal Survivors, and Bring Assailants to Justice by Christopher Johnston
• The Hidden Wound by Wendell Berry
• American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics by Roland Merullo
• We Speak for Ourselves: A Word from Forgotten Black America by D. Watkins
• Right after the Weather: A Novel by Carol Anshaw
• The Innocents: A Novel by Margery Sharp
• The Law and the Lady: A Novel, Volume 1 (Barnes And Noble Digital Library) by Wilkie Collins
• An Undisturbed Peace: A Novel by Mary Glickman
• Maori: A Novel by Alan Dean Foster
• Voyage of the Damned: A Shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal, and Nazi Terror by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts
• Enola Gay: Mission to Hiroshima by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts
• The San Francisco Earthquake: A Minute-by-Minute Account of the 1906 Disaster by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts
• Rivers in the Desert: William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles by Margaret Leslie Davis
• Heart of Oak by Tristan Jones
• For Richer, for Poorer: A Novel by Edward Stewart
• The Shape of Night: A Novel by Tess Gerritsen
• Soldier of Her Heart by Syndi Powell
• The Canaris Conspiracy: The Secret Resistance to Hitler in the German Army by Heinrich Fraenkel
• The War of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War (Greenhill Military Paperback Ser.) by Chaim Herzog
• Amish Country Undercover by Katy Lee
• A Dark Night in Aurora: Inside James Holmes and the Colorado Mass Shootings by Dr William Reid
• Flat: Reclaiming My Body from Breast Cancer by Catherine Guthrie
• Different Strokes: Serena, Venus, and the Unfinished Black Tennis Revolution by Cecil Harris
• The Other Custers: Tom, Boston, Nevin, and Maggie in the Shadow of George Armstrong Custer by Bill Yenne and George Armstrong Custer IV
• South of Forgiveness: A True Story of Rape and Responsibility by Elva Thordis and Stranger Tom
• Ken Follett EPIC HISTORICAL COLLECTION by Ken Follett
• Prisoner of the Gestapo: A Memoir of Survival and Captivity in Wartime Poland by Tom Firth
• Spirit of Resistance: The Life of SOE Agent Harry Peulevé, DSO MC by Nigel Perrin
• Man In Black by Johnny Cash
• The Justice Women: The Female Presence in the Criminal Justice System 1800-1970 by Stephen Wade
• Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg
• Selling the War on Terror: Foreign Policy Discourses after 9/11 (Routledge Critical Terrorism Studies) by Jack Holland
• Tiny Dancer: The Incredible True Story of a Young Burn Victim's Journey from Afghanistan by Anthony Flacco
• Into Enemy Arms: The Remarkable True Story of a German Girl’s Struggle against Nazism, and Her Daring Escape with the Allied Airman She Loved by Michael Hingston
• Living Room: A Novel by Rachel Sherman
• Married to the Job: Wives' Incorporation in Men's Work (Routledge Library Editions: Feminist Theory) by Janet Finch
• Midway: A Re-Examination of Americas Greatest Naval Victory of World War II. by Peter C. Smith
• Cash: The Autobiography by Patrick Carr
• Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel by Diane Chamberlain
• Strange Exit by Parker Peevyhouse
• The Black Cathedral: A Novel by Marcial Gala
• Saltwater: A Novel by Jessica Andrews
• Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry
• Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
• The Look-Alike: A Novel by Erica Spindler
• Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Wiener
• Storm Chaser by Mike Olbinski
• Saving Meghan: A Novel by D.J. Palmer
• Do You Really Need That Pill?: How to Avoid Side Effects, Interactions, and Other Dangers of Overmedication by Jennifer Jacobs
• The Lords of War: Supreme Leadership from Lincoln to Churchill by Correlli Barnett
• Confronting Hate: The Untold Story of the Rabbi Who Stood Up for Human Rights, Racial Justice, and Religious Reconciliation by Deborah Hart Strober and Gerald S. Strober
• Hope in a Secular Age: Deconstruction, Negative Theology, and the Future of Faith by David Newheiser
• The Sterling Redemption: Twenty Five Years To Clear My Name by James Edmiston and Lawrence Kormornick
• The Emperor's Codes: The Thrilling Story of the Allied Code Breakers Who Turned the Tide of World War II by Michael Smith
• Justice and Morality: Human Suffering, Natural Law and International Politics (Ethics and Global Politics) by Amanda Russell Beattie
• Justice beyond 'Just Us': Dilemmas of Time, Place, and Difference in American Politics by Gregory W. Streich
• The RBG Way: The Secrets of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Success (Women in Power) by Rebecca Gibian
• The Girl from Paradise Alley: A heartbreaking and absolutely unforgettable page-turner set in Ireland by Sandy Taylor
• Remember Us: My Journey from the Shtetl Through the Holocaust by Martin Small and Vic Shayne
• Firestarter by Stephen King
• Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Life and Work by Victoria Ortiz
• Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin
• The Museum of Desire: An Alex Delaware Novel (Alex Delaware #35) by Jonathan Kellerman
• The Polish Detective by Hania Allen
• Clearing The Dark by Hania Allen
• The Family Business by Hania Allen
• The Little Village Library by Helen Rolfe
• Witness X: A futuristic crime thriller guaranteed to keep you up all night by SE Moorhead
• Summer on Mirror Lake: A Novel (Honeymoon Harbor) by JoAnn Ross
• The Network: A Novel by L. C Shaw
• Silence: Harnessing the restorative power of silence in a noisy world by Joanna Nylund
• The Golden Hour: A Novel by Beatriz Williams
• End Game: the most addictive, nailbiting gangster thriller of the year (Kerry Casey Ser.) by Anna Smith
• The Power of Letting Go: How to drop everything that’s holding you back by John Purkiss
• Running From the Shadows: A true story of childhood abuse and how one woman faced her past, and ran towards her future by Stephanie Hickey

Review: American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment

American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shane Bauer, a journalist for Mother Jones, takes an in depth look at life inside America's private prisons. His approach is unique. He has the inside scoop because he is hired and works as a prison guard.

The revelations are somewhat shocking, and this is not an easy read, but it is a most informative one.

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Review: Man in Black

Man in Black by Johnny Cash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I think of Johnny Cash, it is not "Man in Black" I think of. I think of him as he appeared on his television show singing and sharing the message of Jesus. "Man in Black" is his story, told from his perspective. I first read it when it was published, and am glad to have revisited it again all these years later.

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