By Laura Preble

Reviewed by Walter G. Meyer

Out is inside-out.

West Hills High School teacher and East County resident Laura Preble has authored a new book, Out, which turns society inside out. The book’s publication is well-timed to coincide with the Supreme Court hearing two cases about gay marriage, because at the heart of her book is an alternate universe in which being gay and same-sex married is the norm and being straight, or as the book puts it, “perpendicular” is the aberration.

Twice Begun, by Reina Lisa Menasche

Book review by Miriam Raftery

March 17, 2013 (San Diego)--Paris Jablonski has a seemingly idyllic life in San Diego with her charming French husband and young daughter.  But that illusion is shattered on her seventh anniversary, when she finds love letters in her husband’s closet from a woman in France.  

Twice Begun, a novel by San Diego author Reina Menasche, opens  with this line: “Before I stepped into the closet, my life felt like an Impressionist masterpiece—filled with elusive light yet made of simple dabs of color that even a child could paint.”

But  Paris is given no opportunity to absorb the shock, caught in the moment not by her philandering husband, Serge, but by the family dog tailed closely by Paris' 7-year-old daughter, who asks innocently,  “Mommy, why are you in the closet?”

Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps, by Greg Palast (Seven Stories Press, New York, NY, 2012, 300 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 23, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)--Greg Palast,author of the New York Times’ best sellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Armed Madhouse, and, most recently, Vultures’ Picnic, has followed up in a similar satirical vein with Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.  An internationally acclaimed investigative journalist, Palast has roots in California; his parents were long-time residents of La Mesa.

Between Boyfriends, by Sárka-Jonae Miller, ATG Publicity, San Diego

Review by Miriam Raftery

February 18, 2013 (San Diego)--Between Boyfriends hit three Amazon best-seller lists the week after Valentine’s Day, ranking #9 for humor books, #11 for humor e-books and #54 for women's fiction.  Written by San Diego-area resident Sárka Jonae Miller, this book is the ultimate chick-lit read—a light-hearted romp focused on the travails of Jan, a college student dumped by her boyfriend, an SDSU student.  The moment proves an epiphany, as Jan resolves to stop dating and find fulfillment as a single woman.

Raised in pampered privilege, Jan’s problems soon get worse when she loses her parents’ financial support and must learn to be a self-sufficient.

After  two days spent  wallowing in a a self-pitying stupor  following  the breakup with her boyfriend, Jan awakens in her apartment. Appalled upon looking in the mirror, she whacks her hair with manicure scissors. Then she clears out the medicine cabinet of souvenirs from losers she has dated, determined to rid herself of ghosts of boyfriends past.

Review By Walter G. Meyer

Infinity Publishing

February 21, 2013 (San Diego)--In her book, Back Off! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, Catherine Mattice knows whereof she writes. At one of her first jobs out of San Diego State, she was bullied at the nonprofit where she was working. It wasn’t that long ago, but bullying, if it was thought of at all, was considered a schoolyard, not a workplace phenomenon.

She decided to do something about it. She got her Masters in Organizational Communications at SDSU, writing her thesis on workplace bullying. For her research, she inverted a survey on workplace bullying and instead of asking targets what they thought of being bullied, she asked why people were bullies. She even dedicated it to “The Post-it Nazi,” to her former co-worker who inspired it.

No Cats, No Chocolate, by Ken Kuhlken and Alan Russell, Hickey’s Books, La Mesa

Book review by Miriam Raftery

February 10, 2013 (La Mesa)--What happens when a pair of formerly acclaimed but now down-on-their-luck mystery novelists hit rock bottom? 

In No Cats, no Chocolate,  local authors Ken Kuhlken and Alan Russell  pen themselves in as the main characters.  Best noted for their literary-quality mystery works,  they resolve to make some quick cash writing a romance novel after an outline sent as a lark lands an assignment from a publisher.  Delilah Bluefeather and Violet St. Claire ( the authors’ noms de plume), are born. Worse, they must complete the task in days, while on a road trip to jump-start their careers  with a coveted appearance on Oprah’s show.

The book  is a sequel to Road Kill, in which the same quirky duo embarked on a journey to convince readers across America to buy their books.  It’s a clever literary trick for the authors to write themselves in as characters in their own works—and create a series to boot.  As a former participant in a writing critique group led by Kuhlken, I can’t help wondering how many quirky traits described in the book are fact – and which are fiction?

Travels With A Road Dog: Hitchhiking Along the Roads of the Americas, by R.K. (Charleston, SC, 2012, 364 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 26, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Reading East County resident R.K.s’ memoir, Travels With A Road Dog: Hitchhiking Along the Roads of the Americas, immediately conjures up thoughts of Woodstock to me, and all things associated with that time and place in American history and lore. It was a time of expression of freedom and adventure, which the author certainly demonstrates in her book.

Baja California Plant Field Guild: 3^rd Edition, by Jon P. Rebman and Norman C. Roberts (Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, California, 2012, 451 pages).

The desert regions of Baja California and Southern California satisfy my need for scientific adventure while providing a sense of excitement towards botany, reverence for nature and its unaltered  beauty, appreciation for the complexity of natural history, and an overall feeling of peace and purpose.  -Jon P. Rebman

Book Review by Dennis Moore                    

December 18, 2012 (San Diego)--Having lived in Baja California for a number of years and traveled all over this beautiful country of Mexico, from Cancun, Cantamar, Rosarito Beach and Tijuana, I have gained a great appreciation of the book written by Jon P. Rebman and Norman C. Roberts; Baja California Plant Field Guild: 3rd Edition.  For those with an interest in the outdoors south of the border, this book, rich with beautiful photographs and descriptions, would make an appealing holiday gift.

Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons – a Dialogue with America’s Young Leaders, by Gregory J. Reed, Esq., (Amber Books, Phoenix, Arizona, 2012, 294 pages).

Update: Obama Talks Back has received an NAACP Image Award nomination for literature. The winner will be announced live on TV from Hollywood February 1, 2013.

Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 17, 2012 (San Diego)--Gregory J. Reed, Esq., CEO and Founder of Keeper of the Word Foundation, has written a poignant and heartfelt book that resonates with me for a number of reasons: Obama Talks Back: Global Lessons – A Dialogue with America’s Young Leaders.

The Quantum Love Gene, by Raymond J. Pilon (Choice MaKer Productions, Victoria, BC, Canada, 2009, 136 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 15, 2012 (San Diego)--The Quantum Love Gene by Raymond J. Pilon has been described as possibly a hotter product than Avatar, and after reading this spellbinding fantasy science fiction novel, I am inclined to agree. The book is based on dreams, which the author’s wife describes as “automatic handwriting.” It incorporates many of the aspects of Avatar, as well as some of those in Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.

The premise of Pilon’s book is that we are all “Spirit Beings” and that we evolved from an ancient alien civilization called the Pleiadians that actually traveled to earth and inhabited our planet some 26,000 years ago. Pilon is a master story-teller in how he weaves together the mysteries of Stonehenge, the pyramids, the most intriguing crop circles, and many other unexplainable structures.

Athenia Torpedoed: The U-Boat Attack that Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic. By Francis M. Carroll. Annapolis, MD. Naval Institute Press, 2012. 254 pp. 41 photographs. Notes, bibliography and index. $29.95

Reviewed by Walter Hall

“It’s the end of the world; the end of everything.” US Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy reported to President Roosevelt on eve of Britain’s declaration of war, Sept 3, 1939.

December 14, 2012 (San Diego)--Very few readers today will remember that the first Americans killed in World War II were not at Pearl Harbor. Almost two years earlier, 30 Americans were among the 112 lost when the German torpedo that opened the Battle for the Atlantic struck and doomed the Donaldson Lines ship Athenia. 

by Laura A. Lewis (Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina, 2012, 370 pages)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 29, 2012 (San Diego) -- Before reading Chocolate and Corn Flour, I did not know that there was such a thing as a "Black" Mexico.” Having lived in Tijuana, Mexico for a number of years and visited a number of Mexican cities, such as Cancun and Rosarito Beach, this book comes as a revelation to me.

Lost Girls, by Caitlin Rother (Kensington Publishing Corp., New York, NY, 2012, 372 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--New York Times Bestselling author Caitlin Rother, a San Diego resident and journalist, has written a true-crime book that I am sure will resonate with all parents: Lost Girls. Pulitzer-nominated author Rother delivers an incisive, heartbreaking true-life thriller that touches our deepest fears. It is the story of John Gardner, who raped and murdered local San Diego teens Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

Rother dedicates her book to the memories of King and Dubois, and all other girls and boys who have been lost to sexual predators. She feels that by shedding light on these dark events, she can only hope that it will help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Hope Begins In The Dark: 40 Lymphoma Survivors Tell Their Exclusive Life Stories, By Jamie Reno (Edwards Brothers Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2012, 246 pages).

Book review by Dennis Moore

October 2, 2012  (San Diego) -- Cancer, in all its forms and manifestations is an insidious disease, that does not discriminate.  It comes in the form of breast cancer, leiomyosarcoma, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), prostate cancer, Askin's Sarcoma, or lymphoma, among many more. PSC, a rare disease that scars the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the small intestine to aid digestion, is the form of cancer that took the life of former NFL star Walter Payton.

Jamie Reno, journalist, singer-songwriter, patient advocate and 15-year survivor of stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, has written an all-new edition of a book that I had earlier had the honor of reviewing; Hope Begins In The Dark: 40 Lymphoma Survivors Tell Their Exclusive Life Stories.

The Necromancers: Or Love Zombies of San Diego, by E.Z. Graves (Contemporary Instructional Concepts, San Diego, CA, 2012).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 12, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--San Diego resident E.Z. Graves, who teaches college English composition at Grossmont College in East County, has written a horror science fiction novel: The Necromancers: Or Love Zombies of San Diego, using El Cajon and La Jolla as a backdrop. Reading like George Romero's Dawn of the Dead or the movie Blade with Wesley Snipes, The Necromancers: Or Love Zombies of San Diego, will certainly keep those who are horror or science fiction buffs entertained.

Novel celebrates Buffalo Soldiers’ historic rescue of the 7^th cavalry

August 2, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – Camp Lockett in Campo, a now-sleepy border town in San Diego’s East County,  was the last home of the Buffalo Soldiers.  Best known as the all-black cavalry brigade that fought valiantly in the Civil War, the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers were also lauded for their rescue of  7th Cavalry soldiers from hostile Indians.  The novel Rescue at Pine Ridge, by Erich Hicks, culminates in this rescue,  also shining light on the heart-wrenching  and often brutal resettlement of Native American tribes 14 years after the massacre at Little Big Horn.

Hicks has completed a screenplay for a film trilogy based on the book, garnering support from acclaimed actor/director Bill Duke.  Tonight at 7 p.m., a stage reading will be held at the Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum, 4130 Overland Avenue in Culver City. The event is open to the public; RSVP at (818)760-9948. 

Starring: Keith David in the role of Sergeant George Jordan / Medal of Honor recipient & Certificate of Merit.
Starring: Richard Gant in the role of Sergeant Thomas Shaw / Medal of Honor recipient.
Starring: Brent Jennings in the role of William Othello Wilson / Medal of Honor recipient.

May 7, 2012 (San Diego) -- Richard C. Atkinson, who served as chancellor of the University of California, San Diego for15 years, was barely four weeks into his tenure as president of the University of California system when the UC Regents voted to end affirmative action in August 1995.

How he dealt with the admissions wars—the political, legal and academic consequences of that historic and controversial decision, as well as the issue of governance—is discussed in a new book by Patricia Pelfrey recently released by the University of California Press entitled The Entrepreneurial President: Richard Atkinson and the University of California, 1995-2003.

Book Review by Dennis Moore  

December 28, 2011 (East County) -- Anat Tour, this East County (San Diego) resident , has done it again – following up her debut publication of  Mama’s Shoe with an enchanting story of friendship and hope,  The Rainbow Animals. She has taken The Rainbow Animals a step further by having it published as a bundled package, CD/DVD and booklet insert.

Veteran/Wrestler pens a poignant memoir

 
Heaven, Iron and I: The Ron Martinelli Story, By Ron Zuccaro (Tribute House Publishing, Macomb County, Michigan, 2011, 145 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 13, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--Ron Zuccaro, a highly decorated former Marine, has written a riveting and at times spiritual memoir of a tumultuous time in our country’s history, the Vietnam War--and how it steeled him to overcome a devastating personal tragedy after coming home.