Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, by Valerie Jarrett (Viking, New York, NY, 2019, 305 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

As a woman who went from being a quiet girl in Chicago to one of the most visible and influential African-American women of the 21^st century, Jarrett’s stories will inspire readers to overcome adversity and find their own voices. “FINDING MY VOICE” is an intimate view of Jarrett’s extraordinary life culminating in a hopeful message that is needed as much today as ever before.

July 5, 2019 (San Diego) - More than 30 years ago both I and Valerie Jarrett worked at City Hall in Chicago, one floor apart, me in the Purchasing Department on the 4^th floor and Valerie in the Law Department on the 5^th floor. Never in my wildest of imaginations would I have thought that I would be here in California writing a review of her insightful and thought provoking book; Finding my Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. Perhaps Valerie could say the same about her journey.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics, by Donna Brazile, Yolanda Caraway, Leah Daughtry, Minyon Moore, with Veronica Chambers (St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2018, 316 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

somebody/anybody sing a black girl’s song, bring her out to know herself, to know you, but sing her rhythms … sing her sighs, sing the song of her possibilities, sing a righteous gospel, the makin of a melody, let her be born, let her be born & handled warmly.

-NTOZAKE SHANGE

May 8, 2019 (San Diego) - Ironically, in my earlier review of Donna Brazile’s book Hacks in the East County Magazine in San Diego, she makes the profound statement; “I am not Patsey the Slave.” This was in reference to her involvement in the Clinton campaign and her being chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and despite that fact, Brazile being marginalized by Clinton’s brain trust in New York, with Brazile specifically stating: “Y’all keep whipping me and you never give me any money or any way to do my damn job. I am not going to be your whipping girl!”

This book is rich in history and politics, which includes the personal insight from four fabulous and acclaimed black women!

End Medical Debt: Curing America’s $1 Trillion Unpayable Healthcare Debt, by Jerry Ashton, Robert Goff, Craig Antico (Hoku House, Kauai, Hawaii, 2018, 181 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

Of all the forms of equality,

Injustice in health is the most

  shocking and inhumane.

• Martin Luther King, Jr.

April 6, 2019 (San Diego) - The authors have written a timely and thought-provoking book about healthcare and debt, coming at a time when the Trump Administration is proposing doing away with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or better known as Obamacare.

Jerry Ashton, Robert Goff and Craig Antico, founders of the national charity RIP Medical Debt, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit company based in New York, incorporated in 2014, locates, buys and forgives unpayable medical debt for those burdened by financial hardship. In a phone interview with one of the authors, Craig Antico, he stated to me: “People don’t realize the hardships that medical debt brings.”

Michelle Obama: A Life, by Peter Slevin (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 2015, 418 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“A deeply informed portrait of the first lady and her native Chicago…. Her larger story, told so powerfully in Slevin’s biography, which suggests she will forever be a force with which to be reckoned.” – Chicago Tribune

March 11, 2019 (San Diego) - Peter Slevin, who has written extensively about Barack and Michelle Obama, from his vantage point of being on the staff of The Washington Post, before joining Northwestern University’s School of Journalism, where he is currently an associate professor, has written a uniquely American story of a woman from the Southside of Chicago that changed the course of prior inhabitants of the White House; Michelle Obama: A Life.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left:  Author and historian James D. Newland with his book, Grossmont Hospital: A Legacy of Community Service

August 19, 2018 (La Mesa)—Author and historian James D. Newland’s latest book, Grossmont Hospital: A Legacy of Community Service, provides a fascinating look into the colorful history of East County as well as the hospital itself and the evolution of healthcare in our region.

Newland was honored Thursday at the Grossmont Healthcare District headquarters with a reception attended by the district’s board of directors and community VIPs. Following appetizers and brews served up by Burning Beard brewery, the district’s CEO Barry Jantz and board president Michael Emerson gave welcoming remarks. 

Newland signed copies of his book, noting that the biggest challenge in its creation was handling the controversy over the hospital merging with Sharp Healthcare, a move that kept East County’s major hospital financially viable at a time when rising costs drove some other healthcare facilities under.

Writing and Madness in a Time of Terror: A Memoir, by Afarin Majidi (Barnes & Noble/Amazon, 2014, 325 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“A woman forced to flee Iran with her family … bravely explores three explosive issues—mental illness, racism, and misogyny—with bracing candor … Majidi provides an engrossing and timely look at the way women of color are doubly objectified, as exotic sexual quarry and as individuals worthy of contempt.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS

July 25, 2018 (San Diego) - The very first time that this writer interviewed Afarin Majidi, the author of this memoir, Writing and Madness in a Time of Terror, what resonated with me was her reliance on and speaking of the current and timely “#MeToo” movement, as if everything written in this memoir is symptomatic of what women are experiencing throughout the country.

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.

Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House, by Donna Brazile (Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2017, New York, NY, 268 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

January 5, 2017 (San Diego) - Donna Brazile, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman has written a provocative and timely book about election politics and alleged Russian influence in our political process; Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.

The 7 Commandments for Happiness and Prosperity, by Shari Sharifi Brown (Shari Sharifi Brown, 2017, Los Angeles, CA, 215 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

October 24, 2017 (San Diego) - Shari Sharifi Brown, born and raised in Iran, has written a provocative book on Theology and Religion, The 7 Commandments for Happiness and Prosperity, that on th

e surface, might also appear controversial. It has been an accepted fact that The Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. Therein lies the rub, seemingly a contradiction to an accepted fact or notion.

By Mimi Pollack

October 17, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- If you go to the website of the publication, San Diego Jewish World, you will see the motto, “There Is a Jewish Story Everywhere!” Owner and publisher Don Harrison delights in traveling, meeting people, and sniffing out those Jewish stories.

The New Whistleblower’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right and Protecting Yourself, by Stephen Martin Kohn, ESQ (Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2017, 550 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

“You can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken. That’s just common

sense.”

-          Senator Charles Grassley, July 30^th 2015 – Whistleblower Day Celebration

August 29, 2017 (San Diego) - Stephen Martin Kohn, nationally acclaimed expert on whistleblower law, has written a provocative book on an issue that seems timely in this day and age; The New Whistleblower’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right and Protecting Yourself.

This book resonates with me for a number of reasons, most notably, as Kohn indicates that he dedicates the book to one of his “extraordinary teachers”, A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., whom I met many years ago at an event in my hometown of Chicago, and Mr. Higginbotham signed and autographed his book to me stating; “Keep fighting for justice!” Also, my earlier personal involvement in a whistleblower and retaliation case.

Between the Pages: Where trials become TRIUMPH!,  by Thais Sherell J., (N-Spired Productions, Edison, New Jersey, 2017, 116 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

June 18, 2017 (San Diego) - Thais Sherell J., who characterizes herself as an “agent of change”, has written a provocative and soul-searching book about women and their presumed place in society. The author, who has written and produced television productions, stage productions, film productions, and magazine articles promoting healthy living in and after life’s storms, chronicles the trials and tribulations of Joyce A. McDonald in this riveting and insightful book; Between the Pages: Where trials become TRIUMPH! This well-written and thought provoking book provides plenty of food for thought.

POLITICS: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE – Commentary and Analysis on Race, War, Ethics and the American Political Landscape in the Age of Obama, by Wilmer J. Leon, III, Ph.D. (AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2016, 332 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

May 10, 2017 (San Diego) - Wilmer J. Leon, III, PhD., has written a provocative and well researched book on politics and race relations; Politics: Another Perspective – Commentary and Analysis on Race, War, Ethics and the American Political Landscape in the Age of Obama. When I read Dr. Leon’s book it is like “preaching to the choir”, particularly his take on the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright in my hometown of Chicago. I am well aware of Dr. Wright’s place in history, and especially as it regards the ascension of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States. Former President Barack Obama was actually a member of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright’s church at one time prior to becoming president, as well as Oprah Winfrey.

Five Wishes, by Mollie Moon (Suka Press LLC, Carlsbad, California, 2017, 346 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

When you enter into freedom, possibility comes to meet you.

• John O’Donohue

March 20, 2017 (San Diego) - Mollie Moon has escaped the cold European winters for a life in Southern California, where she lives with a bossy feline and occasional sand in her shoes, to write this fictional account of a young Latina breaking with family and cultural traditions; Five Wishes.