Book reviews

Book reviews

STAGE READING FOR RESCUE AT PINE RIDGE TONIGHT

Novel celebrates Buffalo Soldiers’ historic rescue of the 7th 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. 

Actors in the production Table Read are:

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.


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BOOK REVIEW: LIVING RESOURCEFULLY, YET VERY WELL

 

Living Resourcefully, Yet Very Well, by Susan A. Mahalick (Amazon.com, 2012).
 
Book Review by Dennis Moore
 
July 15, 2012 (San Diego)--Susan Mahalick, an expatriate who grew up in New Jersey and later lived in Iowa before moving to Baja California,  has written a thoughtful and practical guide to being frugal and resourceful.  Living Resourcefully, Yet Very Well is a book based on her own personal learning and life experiences, starting when she was a little girl. She indicates in this well written and thought provoking book that  she learned to save from a very young age and still remember her “little bank book.”

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BOOK REVIEW: MURDERING THE MOM—A SOUL-SEARCHING MEMOIR

 

 Murdering The Mom: A Memoir, by Duff Brenna (Wordcraft of Oregon, LLC., La Grande, Oregon, 2012, 217 pages).
 
Book Review by Dennis Moore
 
July 9, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Duff Brenna, a long-time East County resident and graduate of San Diego State, where he also taught and garnered several faculty awards, has written a candid and somewhat disturbing memoir of growing up in a dysfunctional family. Murdering The Mom: A Memoir resonates with me, for there are some aspects of this brilliantly written and insightful book that are eerily reminiscent of my mother and how she had to raise 10 of us – basically by herself.

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THE RX FACTOR: A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUSPENSE

 
Book Review by Dennis Moore
 
Warning!
 
Do not start reading this book until you have the time to finish it. Ripped from the headlines, this novel of unrelenting suspense will keep you up all night and have you talking about it for weeks to follow.
 
June 5, 2012 (San Diego)--That is the caveat given by the publishers of this book written by J. Thomas Shaw, who co-founded one of the fastest growing independent mortgage banks in the United States. In most instances this type of hype does not live up to its billing. The Rx Factor is that rare exception! If I didn’t know better, I would think that The Rx Factor was a Robert Ludlum or John Grisham spy novel, reading like Ludlum’s The Matarese Circle. This book has everything that captivates one’s attention – conspiracy theory, sex, murder and betrayal, along with an intense love interest.

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BAJA LEGENDS, BY GREG NIEMANN (SUNBELT PUBLICATIONS, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, 2002, 260 PAGES.)

 
Book Review by Dennis Moore

May 12, 2012 (Baja)--Greg Niemann, author of Baja Fever, and life-long Baja Buff who has traveled all over the peninsula known as Baja California in Mexico, has written a well-researched and easy-to-read history of the people and resorts that make Baja what it is today.
 
What is Baja anyway? “Baja,”  which means “Lower” in Spanish, refers to an 800-mile long peninsula separated from Mexico’s mainland by the Gulf of California – or the Sea of Cortez, if you prefer. The peninsula is comprised of two Mexican states, Baja California (Norte), with Mexicali as capital, and Baja California Sur, whose capital city is La Paz. To make it easy Norte means “North” and Sur means “South.”

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NEW ENTREPRENEURIAL PRESIDENT BOOK FOCUSES ON FORMER UC SAN DIEGO CHANCELLOR ATKINSON

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.


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THE FIVE MEAT SMOKING COMMANDMENTS

 
Chef Ted Reader’s brings on the smoke and the flavor with these tasty tidbits
 
April 29, 2012 (Toronto, Ont.)  --  With Spring already here, and Summer around the corner, people are gearing up to entertain guests during the warm summer months. Meat smoking is becoming very popular in local restaurants this season, and Chef Ted Reader has come up with these five easy tips from his new book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Smoking Foods, to help you get rolling the first time you fire up your smoker, and every time to follow.

 


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BOOK REVIEW: THE MONOGAMY GAP

 
By Walter G. Meyer
 
April 23, 2012 (San Diego)--Comedian Ritch Shydner used to have a line in his act to the effect that, “Men and women will never get along because they are after two basically opposite goals: women are looking for the one man who can satisfy their every need and men are looking for every woman who can satisfy their one need.”  

 


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FOR THE LOVE OF DOG TALES: TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SHELTER PET

 
New book, For the Love of Dog Tales, gives advice on how to choose your new best friend from an animal shelter
 
March 27, 2012 (U.S.) -- Among the biggest victims of the economic recession are the once beloved family pets surrendered to shelters as their owners deal with extended joblessness. The U.S. Humane Society estimates 6 to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters each year – and 3 to 4 million are euthanized.
 
 

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PARADISE PLUNDERED: BOOK REVEALS POLITICAL MISMANGEMENT HAS LEFT SAN DIEGO REGION STILL VULNERABLE TO CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRE

 
By Walter G. Meyer
 
What residents of East County are likely to find most frightening in this book is how the head-in-the-sand attitude left—and still leaves—the entire region vulnerable to the next firestorm. Erie and his co-authors make clear that almost nothing has been done to make the inevitable fire any less cataclysmic. – Walter G. Meyer
 
March 7, 2012 (San Diego)--Paradise Plundered is not a fun read. Far from it. The book will likely leave the reader angry at past mismanagement by San Diego elected officials and frustrated at mistakes that local government seems about to make--with little likelihood that they will avoid the same pitfalls that have dotted San Diego’s landscape like potholes left unfilled due to budget cuts. 

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BOOK REVIEW: DEAD CELEBRITY COOKBOOK IS SURE TO DELIGHT FANS OF CELEBRITIES AND CULINARY DELIGHTS



The Dead Celebrity Cookbook,
By Frank DeCaro (Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, Florida, 2011, 370 pages.)
 
Book Review by Dennis Moore
 
January 15, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)--Best known for his years as the flamboyant movie critic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Frank DeCaro has written a book with wit and humor – packed with celebrity profiles and pop-culture ponderings, party menus, and more – The Dead Celebrity Cookbook pays homage to the departed stars of television, film, radio, and Broadway.


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RAINBOW ANIMALS PROVIDES A COLORFUL AND ENCHANTING CHILDREN'S TALE

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.

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HEAVEN, IRON AND I: THE RON MARTINELLI STORY

 

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.


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'VULTURES' IN THE CROSSHAIRS

An ECM Exclusive Interview with Greg Palast
 
Story and photos by Ron Logan
 
"Last night my story was leading the nightly news [in the United Kingdom], and on the front page of The Guardian. Right? But where it matters, here [in America], it disappears. I hate it." – Greg Palast

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ANZA BORREGO SCULPTOR’S ARTISTIC JOURNEY RECOUNTED IN RICARDO BRECEDA: ACCIDENTAL ARTIST

Ricardo Breceda: Accidental Artist, By Diana Lindsay (Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, California, 2012, 240 pages.)
 
Book Review by Dennis Moore
 
“For weeks, for months, I’d been hearing about this crazy-loco artist who does huge life-size metal sculptures of elephants, giraffes, and dinosaurs. Well, the moment we drove up to Ricardo’s compound off of the 215, I’d, too, begun grinning – I just couldn’t help it, I mean, it’s every kid’s dream to travel back in time and come face to face with gigantic mammoths and huge sloths. And all these metal sculptures looked so real and menacing. Then here came Ricardo himself to greet us. He, too, was all smiles and full of happy crazyloco energy.” – Foreword by Victor E. Villasenor

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BOOK REVIEW: MRS. CUBBISON’S BEST STUFFING COOKBOOK OFFERS SAVORY RECIPES FOR THANKSGIVING AND YEAR-ROUND


By Miriam Raftery

Mrs. Cubbison’s Best Stuffing Cookbook, by Leo Pearlstein and Lisa Messinger (Square One Publishers, 2005)
 


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AUTHOR DAVID HORGAN OFFERS TIPS FOR "WHEN YOUR PARENTS MOVE IN"

Medical Educator Offers Tips for an Easy and Harmonious Living Arrangement 

By David Horgan 
 
 
October 6, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--There is a rising trend of parents moving in with their adult children. All across the country, the return of multi-generational living is having an impact. The pluses include a closer relationship with mom or dad and more time for grandchildren to share with their grandparents. The arrangement can work for both parties, but preparation is the key to harmonious family living.

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BOOK REVIEW: THEY SAY THAT I AM BROKEN

 

Review By Joshua Romero

 

 September 29, 2011 (San Diego) -- At age 8, San Diego writer Terry Angel Mason began his love affair with poetry. And in his latest book, They Say That I Am Broken ($20.00, iUniverse), that affair is inflamed with a passion that illuminates the struggles and triumphs of the gay male of color. A collection of seemingly unrelated stories, essays, and poems reveals the depth and breadth of what it means to be gay in Black America.

 

 


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BOOK REVIEW: MOORE DELIVERS A COURAGEOUS WORK IN "THE CITY THAT WORKS"

By Linda Loegel
 

My how the tables have turned. I have gone from having my books reviewed by Dennis Moore to now reviewing Moore’s courageous book, The City That Works: Power, Politics and Corruption in Chicago, Part One, "Pay to Play."

 


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HOW SAFE IS SAN DIEGO’S DRINKING WATER? “FLUORIDEGATE” TOWN HALL MEETING AUG. 1 TO FEATURE AUTHOR/CHEMIST

 

July 30, 2011 (San Diego) – Effective February 2, a water fluoridation program went into effect in San Diego. All other water districts in the County also have fluoridated water, according to a researcher with Citizens Oversight Panels. Is your tap water more toxic as a result?

 


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CAMPO, THE FORGOTTON GUNFIGHT BRINGS EAST COUNTY'S COLORFUL PAST TO LIFE

 

Campo, the Forgotten Gunfight by Bryon Harrington (www.CampoGunfight.com, 2009 Campo, 372 pp.)
 

Review by Miriam Raftery
 

July 3, 2011 (Campo) –Few San Diegans are aware that a Wild West shoot-out deadlier than the famed O.K. Corral confrontation occurred in our own East County.

 

A patron in a Tecate cantina overheard a notorious group of banditos boast of plans to rob the entire town of Campo, a frontier settlement near the Mexican border. So he rode north and tipped off the Gaskill brothers, owners of the Campo Store. The brothers asked San Diego’s Sheriff to send a posse for protection—to no avail. Left to fend for themselves with their lives on the line, the townspeople planned a defense. Then they mounted a vigil that lasted for weeks, until the fateful showdown on December 4, 1875. 


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2011 CHEF JEFF ROSSMAN'S COOKBOOK TIES FOR BEST COOKBOOK 2011

June 28, 2011 (San Diego) -- Executive Chef Jeff Rossman’s farm-to-table cookbook-come-love story to local growers, From Terra’s Table: New American Food Fresh From Southern California’s Organic Farms (Chefs Press, 2010), adds a new honor to its list of accolades.


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DOLLAR-WISE DIVA: SALLY GARY’S 25+ FREE THINGS TO DO IN SAN DIEGO

 

Have more fun this summer…and spend less money!

By Nancy Clement

 

June 3, 2011 (La Mesa) - Sally Gary is the author of the new $Best Freebies, Bargains, Deals & Steals in San Diego book, 9th Edition. This is a MUST Have book for your home library! Her ideas will enable you to have more fun and to save more money this summer. She generously shared her list of favorite FREE things to do in San Diego. Now you will never be at a loss for what to when out of town company comes to visit you, just open the book and you will find countless, terrific ideas. Enjoy!


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SAN DIEGO BOOKSHELF--DIVINITY OF DOUBT: THE GOD QUESTION



Divinity Of Doubt: The God Question, By Vincent Bugliosi (Vanguard Press, New York, NY 2011, 338 Pages)

 

Book Review by Dennis Moore

 

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)."

 

May 24, 2011 (San Diego)--New York Times number one bestselling author of Helter Skelter and one of America's foremost prosecutors, Vincent Bugliosi, has written a provocative book that indicts organized religion, theism, and atheism alike. In Divinity of Doubt he brings his case for agnosticism.


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EAST COUNTY’S MUSIC MAN, BOB TAYLOR, PRESENTS LESSONS ON LIFE AND BUSINESS IN HIS BOOK, GUITAR LESSONS

 

Guitar Lessons: A Life’s Journey Turning Passion Into Business, By Bob Taylor, (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2011, 230 pages.)

 

Book Review by Dennis Moore

 

April 8, 2011 (El Cajon)--Bob Taylor, co-founder and president of Taylor Guitars in El Cajon, California, has added a new title to his repertoire: author. in Guitar Lessons: A Life’s Journey Turning Passion Into Business, Taylor masterfully crafts a story in which the guitar becomes a metaphor for much more—sharing secrets for success in business and in life.


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OBESITY, THE SOLUTION OFFERS NUTRITIOUS GUIDELINES FOR HEALTHY LIVING

 

Obesity - The Solution, by Max Sturman (Do It Naturally Foundation, San Diego)

 

Book Review by Dennis Moore

February 20, 2011 (San Diego)--There is no more timely or urgent message than that found in Max Sturman's Obesity - The Solution. A February 1st story in the San Diego Union-Tribune states, "In a new attempt to help an overweight nation slim down and improve its long-term health, the government released new dietary guidelines that called on Americans to eat less, cut down on salt, bulk up on fruits and vegetables, and try water instead of sugary soft drinks."

 

Sturman, a 93-year-old San Diego author, has been delivering this message for years in fitness and healthcare books through his Do It Naturally Foundation, a non-profit that he founded.  His longevity is no accident--but, he believes,  the result of healthy living and a diet based on natural foods.


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POWAY WOMAN TRANSLATES GOSPEL INTO WRITTEN SIGN LANGUAGE


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AUTHOR SCORES A HOMERUN WITH HER BOOK, ONE ON ONE: MY JOURNEY WITH HALL OF FAMERS, FAN FAVORITES AND RISING STARS

 

One On One: My Journey with Hall Of Famers, Fan Favorites and Rising Stars, By Jane Mitchell (Sweet Dreams Publishing Of Massachusetts, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, 2010, 638 Pages.)



Book Review by Dennis Moore



January 19, 2011 (San Diego)--The foreword to Jane Mitchell's book, One on One: My Journey with Hall of Famers, Fan Favorites and Rising Stars, by San Diego native and broadcast legend Dick Enberg and San Diego Padres' Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, speaks volumes about fellow San Diego native Mitchell and her book. While giving homage to her hometown, Mitchell explores the lives of some of our most celebrated personalities.


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ARTISTS & THIEVES MYSTERY AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN LA MESA FEB. 12

January 16, 2011 (La Mesa)—Author Linda Schroeder will discuss her novel, Artists & Thieves, a mystery set in the Monterey art scene, in the Friendship Hall of United Church of Christ of La Mesa on February 12th. The novel introduces heroine Mai Ling who, in the words of Editor Mary Holden, is “a new kind of detective on the literary scene: smart, beautiful, respectful of her elders and her cultural history.”


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SATAN’S PLAYGROUND CHRONICLES TIJUANA’S ALLURE TO THE RICH, FAMOUS & INFAMOUS DURING JAZZ AGE & PROHIBITION ERA

 

Satan’s Playground, By Paul J. Vanderwood (Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2010, 392 pages.)

 

Book Review by Dennis Moore



December 23, 2010 (San Diego)--Paul J. Vanderwood’s Satan’s Playground chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous, lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of  San Diego's border with Mexico in the early 20th century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industries flourished in and around Tijuana to the extent that reformers came to call the town “Satan’s Playground”-- unintentionally increasing its licentious allure to Hollywood stars and other celebrities of the era.


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