Author will share her story and sign copies of Delivering Hope on Saturday May 1st in El Cajon

May 1, 2010 (El Cajon) -- Ten years ago, Pamela MacPhee offered to become her very own human biology experiment by carrying a baby for her cousin’s wife, who was devastated by infertility from cervical cancer. MacPhee successfully delivered a healthy baby girl, named Hope, to the couple in May of 2000—born one day after Mother’s Day.

After fielding thousands of questions from friends, family and strangers about surrogacy, she decided to put her surrogacy story down on paper to share her experience with a broader audience.

by Ruth Leyse-Wallace PhD, RD
iUniverse, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2008, 299 pages.

Reviewed by Dennis Moore

April 20, 2010 (San Diego) -- You are what you eat! That is the premise of Dr. Ruth Leyse-Wallace’s book on nutrition and mental health, Linking Nutrition To Mental Health. The book provides a scientific exploration of the correlation between eating right and mental health.

By Susan Wingate (May 2010, Blue Star Books)
Book review by Dennis Moore

April 12, 2010 (San Diego)--If ever the expression, “Love is Blind,” would apply, it would be in the book by Susan Wingate, Easy As Pie at Bobby’s Diner. Georgette Carlisle, the owner of Bobby’s Diner in Sunnydale, Arizona, falls hard for Hawthorne Biggs, and basically everything he tells her. But it turns out that Hawthorne, whom Georgette is engaged to marry, has been leading a clandestine life of murder and corruption, unbeknownst to her. He conspires with others to steal the diner from Georgette, while love blinds her to his true intentions.

“My faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. –Mark Twain’s autobiography

March 19, 2010 (San Diego) – The San Diego State Experimental Theater presents “A Mark Twain Centennial Tribute.” The show runs through this weekend, with performances Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

By Lady Shaunte’ Garrett

 
Book Review by Dennis Moore

By Christian Young
 

GENDER-BENDER BOOK RATED “BEST OF 2009” BY BARNES & NOBLE, SCHOOL LIBRARY SCHOOL JOURNAL, AND ROBOTS AND VAMPS

Anza-Borrego: A Photographic Journey. By Ernie Cowan.
Foreword by Diana Lindsay (Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute).
San Diego. Sunbelt Publications. 2008. Illustrated with full color plates. 80 pages. $19.95.

Reviewed by Walter Hall

Cowan captures the essence of this grand desert Park and shares it with the world in this heartfelt account. Mark C. Jorgensen, Superintendent, Anza-Borrego.

December 17, 2009 (Borrego) -- This is the story of a desert love affair. A romantic journey suitable for all ages. San Diego author Ernie Cowan put his heart on his sleeve for Anza-Borrego many years ago. With this luminously illustrated volume, it is easy to understand why.

San Diego Bay: A Call for Conservation

By the Students at Jacobs High Tech High. Foreword by E. O. Wilson. Preface by Jane Goodall.

University of California San Diego Sea Grant Program. San Diego. 2009. Paperback. Illustrated. 344 pages. $24.95.  Distributed by Sunbelt Publications, El Cajon, CA.

Reviewed by Walter Hall

Part history, part politics, part biology, part artistic reflection and all heart…a remarkable testament to the power of project-based learning in a complex and changing world. -- Allison Alberts, Zoological Society of San Diego.

San Diego teacher Dr. Jay Vavra and his colleagues at Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High have quietly accomplished something extraordinary. Over the past six years, under the rubric of the San Diego Bay Study, they engaged some 250 students in original research leading to ecological assessments that today are invaluable references for San Diego’s civic leaders, policymakers and conservation advocates.

Xulon Press, ISBN # 9781604773200
Available through author’s website at www.hayneskid.com , Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble

Review by Dennis Moore

Book Review: Nugget on the Flight Deck By Patricia Newman

New York, Walker and Company, 2009. Illustrated by Aaron Zenz. Hardback Picture Book, 40 pages, with Target Age: 4-8 years.

Reviewed by Deena While

“Welcome aboard, Nugget…I’ll bet you’ve never been aboard a carrier before…”

October 13, 2009 (La Mesa) -- San Diego may be the nation’s 9th largest city, but it is still a Navy town at heart. The graceful passage of San Diego’s homeport aircraft carriers down the harbor channel, past Ballast Point and out to sea is one of our area’s most awe-inspiring sights. And any one of those ships could have a nugget aboard.  Navy and Marine jargon is often heard in our community. In Navy-speak, a nugget is a new pilot on his first tour of duty. Patricia Newman’s just-released book is a fun-filled introduction to the basics of carrier operations, centered on the heart-warming story of one particular nugget.

October 9, 2009 (El Cajon)--Bette Blaydes Pegas, local author of Chasing a Dream in the Galapagos: A Personal Evolution, will be at the Rancho San Diego Library in El Cajon on Tuesday, October 13th. Pegas will give a slideshow presentation on her life-changing trip to the Galapagos in the library’s conference room at 5:30 PM. She will also be available afterward to sign copies of her book.

I’M IN THE TUB, GONE. By Richard James Carlson

Publish America, Baltimore. 2004. 123 pages.
Available at the San Diego Police Museum and on Amazon.com

Reviewed by Walter Hall

“Today is the final day of this life…”

Only once in a long while do we encounter a book that just won’t let go. This is one of those books. The subject is suicide; the format is simple: a collection of the notes left behind. Identities are protected, but the texts are rendered just as they were found. Unvarnished. No commentary. Just a last wish, an edgy accusation, or a lonely cry against the coming night. Each voice wallops the unsuspecting reader from a different corner of life.

An experienced SDPD emergency negotiator, Richard Carlson introduces the collected letters and notes with a personal appeal not to give up. He is addressing two audiences: those who would consider taking their lives and the rest of us. After absorbing even a handful of these notes, readers will find it difficult to argue.

EAST OF SAN DIEGO. The Lost History of the East San Diego Police Department, 1912-1923. By Gary E. Mitrovich

San Diego Police Historical Association, San Diego, 2008. 112 pages, illustrated.  Distributed by Sunbelt Publications, El Cajon, CA.

Reviewed by Walter Hall