Underrated Reads

An Important UnderratedRead Revisited: The Least Among Us: Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable – Rosa DeLauro

Posted on September 19, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Morally speaking, the social safety net acknowledges that we are accountable to one another. It originated from our recognition that the vulnerable and the poor are not alien populations; they are us, in certain times and sometimes unforeseen circumstances.” So, what happened? Why did a bipartisan agreement for this safety net…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged ACA, American politics, congress, NAFTA, Obamacare, poverty, Religion, women's rights | Comments Off

Gigolo: Inside the Secret World of the Super Rich – Ben Foster, Clifford Thurlow

Posted on September 12, 2018 by J D Jung

(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 they let go of their inhibitions and submitted to their secret fantasies. Ladies who left…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Politics and Social Justice | Tagged Britain, class, massage, prostitution, rich, society | Comments Off

Poso Wells- Gabriela Alemán (Translated from the Spanish by Dick Cluster)

Posted on September 3, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Something crouches in the streets of Poso Wells, and it attaches the nerves like a persistent drumbeat. Whatever it is haunts the dreams of the residents, panting I their faces, slobbering them with noxious saliva and septic-tank breath, leaving their bodies sticky and dirty when they wake up.” “…if you wanted…

Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Latin American Literature, Political fiction, World Issues, World Literature | Tagged corruption, Crime, cults, Ecuador, noir, politics | Comments Off

The Third Hotel: A Novel – Laura van den Berg

Posted on August 27, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “The foundation of horror is a dislocation of reality, a dislocation designed to reveal the reality that has been there all along, and such dislocations happen all the time. “ That was according to the fictional Yuniel Mata, director of Revolución Zombi , the first horror movie ever made in Cuba.…

Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Horror, Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged cinema, Cuba, death, grief, Havana, Latin America, noir, surrealism | Comments Off

Absinthe: A Thriller – Guido Eekhaut

Posted on August 19, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “His methods are unconventional at best and border on illegal at times. And his opinion of women, well, I won’t go into that topic.” This is what AIVD Chief inspector Alexandra Dewaal has to deal with when she inherits Belgian Chief Inspector Walter Eekhaut. The widower made a lot of enemies…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Political fiction, World Issues, World Literature | Tagged Crime, European fiction, Netherlands, politics, Russia | Comments Off

From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia – Michael McFaul

Posted on August 15, 2018 by J D Jung

(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 by Putin from traveling to Russia—the first U.S. ambassador since George Kennan, in 1952, to…

Posted in American Politics, Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction, Politics and Social Justice, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged cold war, diplomacy, Obama, Putin, Russia, treason, Trump | Comments Off

Serial Killers: Horror and Murder: Scary and True Stories of the Most Terrifying Serial Killers the World has Ever Seen! – Frank C. Chastain

Posted on August 13, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Don’t be fooled by the book cover! You may think it was taken right out of a tabloid headline. No, Serial Killers takes a mostly objective look at some of the world’s darkest and most notorious serial killers. The author first goes into some of the common characteristics and psychological traits…

Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, History | Tagged Crime, murder, psychopaths, serial killers | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Fardwor, Russia!: A Fantastical Tale of Life Under Putin – Oleg Kashin (Author), Max Seddon (Introduction), Will Evans (Translator)

Posted on August 11, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Fardwor, Ruissa!” The girls at the mental hospital mean “Forward, Russia!”, but it doesn't come out that way, and as everything else, is blown out of proportion. That is one aside but amusing part of the political satire, Fardwor, Russia. Amateur inventor, 29 year old Karpov, suddenly urges his wife that they must…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Russia, satire | Comments Off

Crook’s Hollow – Robert Parker

Posted on August 6, 2018 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “You should have got on with it.” Those were the only words that twenty-five year old Thorton “Thor” Loxley remembered from his assailant. But that would not be the only attempt on his life. Thor didn’t think he had any enemies. He just led a quiet life, working at the local…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged England, fiction, mystery | Comments Off

Trump’s Trojan Horse – Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Posted on August 3, 2018 by J D Jung

Legendary poet and long-time defender of free speech, Lawrence Ferlinghetti reads his new poem “Trump’s Trojan Horse”. Check it out below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29N5HqBAkeU When you're in San Francisco, visit City Lights Booksellers & Publishers which he co-founded in 1953. Then wander off a few blocks and check out the Beat Museum. You wont' be disappointed!

Posted in Let's talk, Poetry | Tagged beat generation, poetry, San Francisco | Comments Off