Underrated Reads

Revisited, but still holds true- Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count – by David Daley

Posted on August 18, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “America is the only major democracy in the world that allows politicians to pick their own voters. And since the 2010 election, the system has been gamed to create an artificial –but foolproof—Republican majority in the House and in state capitals nationwide.” How could this happen? Furthermore, “Now that the…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged American History, American politics, Gerrymandering, house of representatives, redistricting, state legislatures | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Safe: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family – Mark Daley

Posted on August 14, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Jay Gendron) Mark Daley takes us through a courageous, heartbreaking journey in Safe: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family. This book serves as an indictment of the foster care system in California. Mark, a foster parent himself, covers the obstacles created, and sheer incompetence exhibited, by…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged foster care, parenting | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories – Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Posted on August 11, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “In New Orleans, culture doesn’t come down from on high, it bubbles up from the street.” - Jazz Pianist Ellis Marsalis (1934-2020) This quote that opens the book epitomizes these stories, as we meet New Orleans residents of all ages and gender identifications just trying to make it day by day. I…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged gentrification, New Orleans, race relations, short stories, society | Comments Off

Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics – Elle Reeve

Posted on August 8, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) I’ve been amazed how CNN correspondent Elle Reeve has put herself in risky situations to get a story as well as to obtain the perspective of potentially dangerous people. This is even more evident in her latest book, Black Pill. Through these interviews, we see the dangers of the far-right groups…

Posted in American Politics, Bios and Memoirs, History, Non-fiction, Politics and Social Justice, Social Justice | Tagged alt-right, January 6, neo-fascism | Comments Off

Pentimento Mori – Valeria Corciolani

Posted on August 4, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “It’s simply a matter of yellows, figs, vans, and kites…Why can’t I get a nice simple gang murder or an old-fashioned serial killer?” Public Prosecutor Jacopo Bassi has had enough of this murder case, the victim being junk dealer Nando Folli. However, the protagonist in this quirky, cozy Italian mystery is…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Italian Literature, World Literature | Tagged art history, cozy mystery, Italian literature | Comments Off

Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom – Larry Miller with Laila Lacy

Posted on August 1, 2024 by J D Jung

(reviewed by Ann Onymous ) “Should I come clean? I was well aware of the risk of unburdening myself to the executive in a public accounting firm, but all signs indicated I was on the path to landing my first big job...I rolled out the armed robberies, my time behind bars, the community-college courses in…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Business, Non-fiction | Tagged Business, memoir, prison | Comments Off

Tough Rugged Bastards: A Memoir of a Life in Marine Special Operations – John A. Dailey

Posted on July 26, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch) Tough, Rugged Bastards by John A. Dailey is a memoir about the author’s experience helping to form and lead DET 1, a Marine special forces unit that was created after the 9-11 attacks. The book is refreshing and checks some important boxes for me (unlike many other warfare and combat…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs | Tagged memoirs, military, veterans | Comments Off

Liars: A Novel – Sarah Manguso

Posted on July 22, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) When Jane met her future husband, John Bridges, she was ecstatic. Since she was a writer, she was attracted to him being an artist and photographer. What she didn’t realize was that the demands of being a wife and mother take its toll, and the responsibilities and career aspirations are…

Posted in Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged marriage, relationships | Comments Off

Rakiya -: Stories of Bulgaria – Ellis Shuman

Posted on July 19, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) Rakiya is a very interesting collection of eleven short stories that feature various characters in bizarre situations that cover some of the history of Bulgaria. Each story has a protagonist that struggles to find answers to their circumstances. Each is also well written with some of the characters coming back in…

Posted in Historical Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks, Slavic Literature | Tagged Bulgaria, history, Holocaust, short stories, WWII | Comments Off

Blood and Mascara – Colin Krainin

Posted on July 17, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…all the women he had known and loved, the idea of them was there in front of him…and once he had come to love then, had he not carried them about within him forever after, like open wounds?” May 1997 -Private investigator Calvin “Bronze” Goldberg is obsessed with women and is…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged crime fiction, noir, obsession | Comments Off