Category Archives: Bios and Memoirs
Are We French Yet? Keith & Val’s Adventures in Provence – Keith Van Sickle
(Reviewed by Don Jung) What would happen if you decided to divide your family life between two countries and live six months of the year in each place? Well, that’s what author Keith Van Sickle has done as he tells … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Culture, Non-fiction, Travel
Tagged culture, France
Comments Off on Are We French Yet? Keith & Val’s Adventures in Provence – Keith Van Sickle
A Rebel in Gaza: Behind the Lines of the Arab Spring, One Woman’s Story – Asmaa al-Ghoul (Author), Selim Nassib (Author), Mike Mitchell (Translator)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I think the real occupying forces are the internal ones, Hamas, Fatah, the parties…then comes the major occupation: Israel. We can’t get rid of the latter without first of all getting rid of the former. To … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Our Best, Politics, Social Justice, World Issues
Tagged Gaza, Hamas, Middle east war
Comments Off on A Rebel in Gaza: Behind the Lines of the Arab Spring, One Woman’s Story – Asmaa al-Ghoul (Author), Selim Nassib (Author), Mike Mitchell (Translator)
A Divided Life: A Personal Portrait of the Spy Donald Maclean – Robert Cecil
(Reviewed by Ila Bullinger) Who was Donald Mclean? The son of a parliament member born to class in Marylebone, London in 1913. He was privileged, educated, handsome and charismatic. So why did he become a spy? Could you be persuaded … Continue reading
24: What Can Happen in a Day – Michael Ford Jr
(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan) “I exit the vehicle and move swiftly to the point of the accident to find something I have never seen in my five years in the [fire] department. There is the man…still smashed between the … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction
Tagged autobiography, firefighters, Religion
Comments Off on 24: What Can Happen in a Day – Michael Ford Jr
Gigolo: Inside the Secret World of the Super Rich – Ben Foster, Clifford Thurlow
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…I had plenty of money but always needed more. I had thought of myself as a healer when I started work at the spa. I had turned into a total slut. I played every client until … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Politics
Tagged Britain, class, massage, prostitution, rich, society
Comments Off on Gigolo: Inside the Secret World of the Super Rich – Ben Foster, Clifford Thurlow
From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia – Michael McFaul
(Reviewed by Cathy Carey) “I have spent the greater part of my life trying to deepen relations between Russia and the United States. But in 2014 all these efforts seemed for naught. Heightening my sense of frustration, I was banned … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction, Our Best, Politics
Tagged cold war, diplomacy, Obama, Putin, Russia, treason, Trump
Comments Off on From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia – Michael McFaul
Dark Chains – LaTasha “Tacha B.” Braxton
(Reviewed by Jeyran Main) Sometimes what we lose or do not achieve in life does not necessarily set us back. We strive forward and if in fact, we fail in receiving love, given the situation, we love back more. This … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Your Best Self
Tagged child abuse, family dysfunction, memoirs
Comments Off on Dark Chains – LaTasha “Tacha B.” Braxton
Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way -Kamin Mohammadi
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “ Now that I was living without all the relics of my former identity, there was a glimmer of something new. The heady possibly of freedom.” Kamin was thirty-two and seemed to have it all: a … Continue reading
Maharishi & Me: Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles’ Guru – Susan Shumsky
(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) “Merely by being in his presence, we disciples entered an utterly timeless place and rapturous feeling, and, at the same time, realized the utter futility and insanity of the mundane world.” I don’t know why I … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Philosophical reads, Spiritual/mystical
Tagged Maharishi, philosophy, spirituality, TM
Comments Off on Maharishi & Me: Seeking Enlightenment with the Beatles’ Guru – Susan Shumsky
Lunacy and Death: A perspective developed over thirty years of working in mental health and death investigation – Tom Dombrock
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “They plant little beasties in your psyche that love nothing more than to dart out from the holes they’ve bored into your brain, race around inside your skull, flipping switches, overturning tables, and playing the stereo … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction
Tagged death, mental illness, Non-fiction
Comments Off on Lunacy and Death: A perspective developed over thirty years of working in mental health and death investigation – Tom Dombrock
