By Dr. Michael Mantell, San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

December 8, 2020 (San Diego) - One of the many benefits of being a long-time weekly writer for this publication/website, is the opportunity to review books that hold special meaning for me. So when Don Harrison, our beloved editor, inquires if I’d like to review a new book, the title, the content, or the author will interest me, or not. When it came to our friend Ben Dishman, Pharm.D., BCPP and his new book, "I Can Treat That...Well Maybe?” there was no question but that I wanted to read and review this book.

The Sounds Of Silence Are The Loudest, by Cortina Jackson (CoLAB Creative Group, LLC, 2018, 207 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 4, 2020 (San Diego) - Cortina Jackson, with a background in criminal justice and law enforcement, follows up her initial publication; On Earth As It Is In Hell, with her latest fiction novel of a similar genre; The Sounds Of Silence Are The Loudest. As a matter of fact, this latest book borders on the macabre. It is thought provoking and has elements that can have the reader on the edge of their seat.

The Sounds Of Silence Are The Loudest, admittedly by the author, has stories within it that are not scary, but this writer begs to differ! Jackson states that the reality of it is. Jackson says she decided to call the book The Sounds of Silence are the Loudest, because people’s silence about abductions, trafficking, mind-control, and organ-harvesting is deafening. She further states that it is time to make some actual noise, for these issues are no longer a secret for this fiction writer.

Just Mercy: A Story Of Justice And Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson (Spiegel & Grau, New York, NY, 2014, 349 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories told within these pages hold the potential to transform what we think we mean when we talk about justice.”

• MICHELLE ALEXANDER, author of The New Jim Crow

January 24, 2020 (San Diego) - It is ironic that the aforementioned Michelle Alexander would give praise for this book by Bryan Stevenson, as both authors and their books are winners of the NAACP Image Award for their similar takes on justice and redemption. Actually, Michelle Alexander won the NAACP Image Award in Literature shortly after this writer interviewed her in San Diego for my review of her book The New Jim Crow.

Another author giving praise to Bryan Stevenson and Just Mercy is Susan Neiman, author of Learning From the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil, who was recently interviewed on our “East County Magazine Live!” radio show and references Stevenson in the interview here.

This Day In Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia Of Laughter, by Darryl Littleton and Frank Holder (Trineday, Walterville. Oregon, 2019, 491 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“The elixir of life is a bubbling stream of laughter.”

• Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons

December 7, 2019 (San Diego)-Darryl Littleton and Frank Holder, two aficionados of humor and comedy, has written the quintessential book on comedy; This Day in Comedy: The Ethnic Encyclopedia of Laughter. They actually set the framework for this groundbreaking and insightful book in the preface, as they state: “I’ve always wanted to see comedy argued in a barber shop the same as sports is discussed.” After reading this informative and iconic book, they just may get their wish.

My Watergate Scandal Tell-All: How I Unwittingly Caused This Historic Event, by Bruce Givner (ExecuProv Press, Santa Ana, California, 2019, 258 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“This is a story I’ll tell to my students many times. Internships can make history!”

• Larry J. Sabato, Director, UVA Center for Politics

November 8, 2019 (San Diego) - The Watergate story never dies. It has become more and more intriguing (and popular) as time goes by. It has evoked comment many a time when a Washington D.C. official becomes entangled in a self-styled web of deception. Watergate is no longer the name of a hotel and office complex. It is more than a proper noun that branded a piece of property and cemented its “title” in numerous pages of history books. It is now the go-to reference to identify any scandal, though its origin was first reserved for the most sordid political scandal our nation has ever witnessed – at least up until the writing of this book. In that respect, it ranks right up there in significance with Teapot Dome, Wounded Knee and Gettysburg.

Dandy Daddy Long Legs, by Anat Tour (Anat Tour, San Diego, 2019).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

October 14, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - Anat Tour, East County (San Diego) resident and high school math teacher, has written another of her many children’s book which is inspired and sparked by her kids, friends, and animals she meets; Dandy Daddy Long Legs. As a matter of fact, one of the characters in this fanciful book, “Jeanne on a Bike”, is actually inspired by one of her friends; Jeanne (her daughter named her that).

Ancient Romans and their Neighbors: An Activity Guide, by Simonetta Carr (Chicago Review Press, Chicago, Illinois, 2019, 150 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 28, 2019 (San Diego) - Simonetta Carr, an East County (Santee, California) resident, award-winning author of Michelangelo for Kids, Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt for Kids and Christian Biographies for Young Readers, has written another educational book geared towards whetting the instructional and educational appetite of young readers; Ancient Romans and their Neighbors: An Activity Guide.

ATONEMENT AND FORGIVENESS: A NEW MODEL FOR BLACK REPARATIONS, by Roy L. Brooks (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, 2004, 325 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“In my Case for Black Reparations, published in 1973, I called for a national debate on this painful subject. Professor Brooks has responded magnificently to this appeal, with a comprehensive and painstakingly thoughtful analysis of all aspects of this area. His book, in my opinion, will certainly become the standard examination of the issue. I recommend it with unqualified enthusiasm.”

• Boris I. Bittker, Professor Emeritus of Law, Yale University

August 15, 2019 (San Diego) - Roy L. Brooks, Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, and author of over a dozen books, including When Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Controversy over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice (1996), has written this thoughtful and provocative book, Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations, that has renewed a long simmering debate.

By Alan Renga and Katrina Pescador (bottom right), (America Though Time, Arcadia Publishing, 2019, 96 pages)

Book review by Jeff Thurman

June 13, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) - In the interest of full disclosure, I have a confession to make.  I am that guy in the museum who reads every one of the placards and captions on all of the exhibits. This led to a traumatic incident at the Omaha Beach Museum when the tour guide informed us that we had 30 whole minutes to explore the entire museum.  I am still haunted by that dark episode. When I get a new nonfiction book with a photo section, my first action is to turn to the pictures and happily read each and every caption. Twice.

I am also an aviation nerd.  Since grade school, I’ve been in love with anything that flies.  I have a particular passion: all things World War II and firmly believe the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is the most underappreciated warbird of the last 100 years.   This all resulted in my becoming a helicopter pilot in the Army, where I fell in love with a beautiful girl named “Huey.” It was here I learned that life is best experienced at 90 knots, preferably below treetop level.

In other words, I am the target demographic for this book.

Saving Lou, by Linda Loegel, (Linda Loegel, Columbia, SC, 2017, 242 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

May 27, 2019 (San Diego) - Linda Loegel, a born New Englander, and former East County resident of San Diego (El Cajon), now living in Garner, North Carolina, has written a poignant and heartwarming story; Saving Lou.

Having written two earlier reviews of Loegel’s books, Bumps Along the Way and If you Don’t Like Worms, Keep Your Mouth Shut, I can attest to the author being a master story teller. Saving Lou follows suit. She tells this story from beginning to end in her own inimitable and folksy manner, which is characteristic and expected of her from readers such as myself and others that have read her book(s).

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, by Andrew G. McCabe (St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2019, 274 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 18, 2019 (San Diego) - Andrew G. McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI, has written an incisive and titillating story of America at the crossroads of history, an America that seems to be under siege by the President himself. To put this book in historical perspective, McCabe states: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s official mission is ‘to protect the American people and support the Constitution of the United States.”’

To read this book, it does not seem as if the mission statement of the FBI is being allowed. The author lays that at the feet of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America, by Seth Abramson (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2018, 448 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

For the first time, the full, explosive record of the unthinkable: how a US president compromised American foreign policy in exchange for promise of future business and covert election assistance.

January 25, 2019 (San Diego) - Coming at a time when President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is scheduled to testify publicly in Congress on February 7, 2019, Seth Abramson has written a provocative and timely book; Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America.

Looking back at this moment in history, historians will ask if Americans knew they were living through the first case of criminal conspiracy between an American presidential candidate turned commander in chief and a geopolitical enemy. The answer might be: it was hard to see the whole picture. The stories coming in from around the globe have often seemed fantastical: clandestine meetings in foreign capitals, secret recordings in a Moscow hotel, Kremlin agents infiltrating the Trump inner circles.

The Artist Portrait Project: A Photographic Memoir of Portrait Sessions with San Diego Artists, 2006 – 2016, by Jennifer G. Spencer (She Writes Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, 117 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”

• Susan Sontag

August 17, 2018 (San Diego) - There is an old adage that says “A Picture is worth a Thousand Words!” Jennifer G. Spencer, a painter/photographer who creates images using alternative photographic processes and digital imagery, exemplifies that old adage in her groundbreaking memoir; The Artist Portrait Project: A Photographic Memoir of Portrait Sessions with San Diego Artists, 2006 – 2016.

17 Steps: A Federal Employee’s Guide for Tackling Workplace Discrimination, by Tanya Ward Jordan (Tanya Ward Jordan, M.S., 2018, 186 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

June 1, 2018 (San Diego) - Tanya Ward Jordan, M.S., President and Founder of The Coalition For Change, Inc., (C4C), has written an incisive and provocative book about the inner workings of the federal government; 17 Steps: A Federal Employee’s Guide for Tackling Workplace Discrimination, that is a must read.

The Plot To Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election, by Malcolm Nance (Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., New York, New York, 2016, 186 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“I wouldn’t know anything about it. You know, there are so many hackers today and they work with such finesse, planting a trail where and when they need…. It’s difficult to trace, if even possible…. The important thing here is what the public was shown…. One shouldn’t draw the public attention from the core of the issue by replacing it with secondary details like who did it.” – VLADIMIR PUTIN

February 17, 2018 (San Diego) - Coming on the heels of my recent review of former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Donna Brazil’s book Hacks, Malcolm Nance, international expert on counterterrorism intelligence, and MSNBC TV contributor, as well as New York Times Bestselling Author of Defeating Isis, has written a provocative and timely book on espionage and the state of affairs between the United States and Russia; The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies and Wikileaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election.