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UnderratedReads is devoted to discovering underrated books and under-represented authors. We highlight hidden gems from around the world–honest reviews only, never pay-to-play.
Category Archives: Non-fiction
The Total FilmMaker – Jerry Lewis, Foreword by Maltin Leonard
(Review and poem by Betty Jo Tucker) Way back in the 1950s and 60s, I was an avid Jerry Lewis fan. I enjoyed watching his silly characters doing nonsensical things in movies like “The Delicate Delinquent,” “The Nutty Professor” and … Continue reading
Posted in Non-fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged comedy, film, Filmmaking, Jerry Lewis, movies
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Here, Right Matters: An American Story – Alexander Vindman
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Regardless of any impact on the president, the domestic and foreign policy consequences, or personal costs, I had no choice but to report what I’d heard. That duty to report is a critical component of U.S. … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, Bios and Memoirs, History, Immigration, Non-fiction, Politics and Social Justice, Reviewers' Top Picks, World Issues
Tagged Donald Trump, ethics, immigration, impeachment, military, Russia, Soviet Union
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Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys – Joe Coulombe with Patty Civalleri
(Reviewed by Don Jung) Becoming Trader Joe is a true story about a marketing genius who went against conventional mega grocery store chains to create his own style of branding, with a name with unusual food products. Joe Coulombe started … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Business, Non-fiction
Tagged Business, marketing, Trader Joe
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Glimpses of Eternity: Sharing a Loved One’s Passage From This Life to the Next – Raymond Moody, Jr., MD, PhD with Paul Perry
(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) “… these shared death experiences open up an entirely new avenue of rational enlightenment on the question of life after death. They also open a new avenue for scientific studies. And as these studies are completed, … Continue reading
Posted in Non-fiction, Philosophical reads, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged afterlife, death, near death experience, shared death experience
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Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon – Mia Bloom and Sophia Moskalenko
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “In a short four years, QAnon metastasized from a fringe movement on anonymous message boards into a cultlike movement, with millions of followers around the world…and practically seized control of the Republican Party.” What actually is … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, History, Non-fiction, Politics and Social Justice, Reviewers' Top Picks, World Issues
Tagged conspiracy theories, psychology, QAnon, terrorism
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Nine Moons – Gabriela Wiener, Jessica Powell (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Europe is the best place for a Latin American to starve to death and drink good wine.” Gabriela Wiener and her husband originally travelled from Peru to Barcelona on student visas. However, when these two journalists … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Latin American Literature
Tagged childbirth, immigration, pregnancy
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Where Silence Ends – Angela Ruiz, Mary Ruiz
(Reviewed by Jeyran Main) Where Silence Ends is a beautiful story about how a young girl finally breaks silence over all the abuse and trauma she has gone through. Reading through four generations of Mexican American culture, family drama, and … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs
Tagged memoirs, Sexual abuse
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Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer – Marty Essen
(Reviewed by Don Jung) Marty Essen is an interesting personality who went from being in the music industry to becoming a political activist and then a travel writer/lecturer covering seven continents. This autobiography has a laid-back narrative that feels … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction
Tagged autobiography, Business, entrepreneur, travel
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Operation Chaos: The Trump Coup Attempt and the Campaign to Erode Democracy – Kevin James Shay
(Reviewed by JD Jung) It’s bad enough that many Republicans still refuse to accept the validity of the legitimate 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Now congressmen such as Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and others even refuse … Continue reading
Posted in American Politics, History, Non-fiction, Politics and Social Justice
Tagged authoritarianism, book reviews, democracy, insurrection, political history, racism, Republican party, Trump, White-nationalism
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