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.

Raúl Alcalá presides over event to promote bike riding

By Dennis Moore

Photos by Eric Regan

October 17, 2012 (Tijuana)--An estimated 3,000 cyclists took to Tijuana streets Tuesday evening “Pedaling Toward Greatness,” as part of Tijuana Innovadora.

The  20-kilometer ride capped a day at the conference focused on the medical industry.

By Dennis Moore

April 19, 2012 (Baja)--Baja, or Baja California, is the northernmost part of Mexico--just across the border from San Diego. Like a hidden jewel waiting to be discovered, the region has many tantalizing facets. Baja includes the cities and towns of Tecate, Ensenada, Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Puerto Nuevo, which is world renowned for its lobster fest.  

By Dennis Moore

“I am thrilled to see how many local author submissions we received this year. It is an honor to highlight the diverse and abundant talent we have in the San Diego region. Thanks to all our authors for sharing your expertise and inspiration with the community. It is this type of sharing that helps the library fulfill its mission! -    Deborah L. Barrow, Library Director, San Diego Public Library

March 5, 2012 (San Diego)--It was with these sentiments that I joined so many other authors at this 46th Annual Local Authors Exhibit on February 3, 2012, many of whom have been profiled in the East County Magazine. I visited with such illustrious writers and authors as Joshua Graham, Linda Loegel, Anat Tour, Sam Warren and Zohreh Ghahremani.

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."

At present, this volume by Moore, a book reviewer for East County Magazine, is an e-book published by Pubit! of Barnes & Noble, soon to be a hard cover book.

Sky Of Red Poppies, By Zohreh Ghahremani (Turquoise Books, San Diego, CA, 2010, 305 Pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 25, 2010 (San Diego)--Zohreh Ghahremani, an artist, writer and gardener residing in the San Diego area, has written a stunning and poetic tale about two girls coming of age in Iran during the 1960s. The theme of the book questions how much can a friendship change your life? Set against the backdrop of a nation forced to mute its profound identity, Sky of Red Poppies is a novel about culture, politics and the redeeming power of friendships.

Black Comedians On Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us To Laugh, By Darryl Littleton (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, New York, NY, 2006, 343 pages.)

Book Review: by Dennis Moore

November 20, 2010 (San Diego)--If laughter Is the medicine that cures all ills, then Darryl Littleton’s Black Comedians On Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us To Laugh will cure any ailment we might have. I was introduced to Littleton and his brand of humor at a comedy club in El Cajon, California in 2009, where I was fortunate enough to win his book in a raffle. Littleton was gracious enough to autograph his book to me, stating: “To Dennis Moore, keep supporting black comedy and keep laughing.” I have been laughing ever since!

Home Made Simple, By Proctor & Gamble (St. Martins Press, New York, N.Y., 2010, 328 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

November 6, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Proctor & Gamble has now delved into the book writing business with Home Made Simple, a how-to book for everyone on organizing and simplifying tasks, be it preparing delicious foods or cleaning window blinds.

Circle The Wagons SDG&E: The Perfect Corporate Cover Up, By Ed Clark (Self-Published, Huntington Beach, CA, 2010, 30 pages.)

Book Review: By Dennis Moore

November 6, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Electrical expert Ed Clark, who formerly worked for Southern California Edison Company, has written a provocative book about corporate cover-up and the role that he contends it played in major fires in Southern California: namely  the 2003 Cedar Fire, the 2003 Paradise Fire , and the Witch Creek Fire in 2007. It is Clark’s contention that these fires were electrical in nature, and very preventable.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, By Michelle Alexander (The New Press, New York, N.Y., 2010, 290 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

October 8, 2010 (San Diego) -- Michelle Alexander, former director of the Racial Justice Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Northern California and a former law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court, has written a provocative and thought-provoking book about race and incarceration, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

Beyond Justice, By Joshua Graham (Dawn Treader Press, 2010, 430 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

September 8, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- San Diego author Joshua Graham has written a riveting and supernatural legal thriller, Beyond Justice, that at times has spiritual overtones. Beyond Justice is the story of Sam Hudson, a reputable San Diego attorney who descends into a hell not of his making after authorities wrongfully convict him of the brutal rape and murder of his wife and daughter.

On Death Row, he awaits execution by lethal injection while he agonizes over the fate of his young son Aaron, who was beaten into a coma during the attacks.

Shadows & Reflections, By Lori Brookes, (Blurb Creative Publishing Service, 2010, 31 pages.)
Book Review by Dennis Moore

August 15, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, San Diego author and photographer Lori Brookes’ book, Shadows & Reflections, says it all. Her compilation of pictures taken along the River Seine in Paris, sailing around San Francisco Bay, at Spanish Village in San Diego's Balboa Park, and atso many other locations provides a pictorial journey of intrinsic emotions and insight. She calls it a life philosophy through words, imagery and imagination. Her work is a bit of poetry and photography, with a smidgen of self-assessment.

She found her passion for photography, ironically, amid the ashes of the 2003 Cedar Fire.

The Bracelet, By Charles A. Bonner (Verily Publishing Company, Sausalito, California, 2009)

Book Review by Dennis Moore

June 17, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Several years ago, my then 11-year old daughter, Brandy, escaped the clutches of a would-be child molester in Chicago, right after she had gotten off the bus from school. Heaven forbid, my daughter could have just as well been one of the victims of a child sex slavery ring, such as Charles A. Bonner writes about in The Bracelet. This is a must-read book that I highly recommend.

Sereni-Tea, By Dharlene Marie Fahl (Transformation Media Books, Bloomington, Indiana, 2009, 209 pages.)

Book Review by Dennis Moore
 

June 9, 2010 (San Diego) Author Dharlene Marie Fahl, a protégé of Mark Victor Hansen (Co-creator, #1 New York Times best selling series, Chicken Soup for the Soul), has an ambitious goal: to become Amazon’s next best-selling author. From what I have read of her book, Sereni-Tea, this East County resident is on her way. She has used tea as a means to examine our roles in life and the spirituality that we all possess. She redefines success from the inside out – all while sipping tea. An upcoming graduate of the East County Leadership program, Fahl will introduce her book at The World Tea Expo, June 11-13 in Las Vegas.

The Franklin Scandal, By Nick Bryant ( Trine Day LLC, Walterville, Oregon, 2009, 652 pages.)
 

Book Review by Dennis Moore

May 23, 2010 (San Diego) –Author Nick Bryant reveals a tragic and sinister tale of a nationwide pedophile ring that pandered children to a cabal of the rich and famous, stretching from Southern California to cornfields of Nebraska and beyond to our nation’s capitol. The Franklin Scandal reveals political powerbrokers who had access to the highest levels of our government and connections in the CIA. One of those powerbrokers is Lawrence E. "Larry" King, Jr. (no relation to the TV talk show host of the same name), identified by other sources as the primary pimp of the nationwide pedophile ring.

This book gripped me and held my attention like none I have ever read; I couldn’t put it down. The Franklin Scandal is riveting!

Governor Dan Walker Tells His Story

By Dan Walker

Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois, 2007, 338 pages. Available on Amazon.com

Reviewed by Dennis Moore

April 25, 2010 (San Diego) -- While sitting on the balcony of Dan Walker’s home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Baja California a few years ago, the former Governor of Illinois asked me a question that would later give me insight into him and his book about Illinois and Chicago politics, The Maverick And The Machine. The book was winner of the "memoirs" category in the San Diego Book Awards in 2008.

By Lady Shaunte’ Garrett

 
Book Review by Dennis Moore

 February 4, 2010 (San Diego) -- Yesterday, I ministered to inmates at the George Bailey Center Jail in San Diego County, reading from Speak to Your Life, a book of daily devotionals by San Diego's Stellar Award-winning gospel radio announcer Lady Shaunte Garrett:  “Today I will have an attitude of peace. I won’t get upset with petty things. I will be pleasant to everyone I come in contact with and will not fall for satan’s attempts to get me upset. I will resist him and he will flee.”

This was followed by the Biblical scripture: Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they will be called sons of God.

These inmates  attentively held on to the words that I read from Lady Shaunte’s book, and later expressed an appreciation for being ministered to as we prayed together.

The Straight-Up Truth About the Down Low

 By Joy Marie

 Book Review by Dennis Moore

December 9, 2009 (San Diego) -- While having dinner at a friend’s home this past Thanksgiving, my friend told me that her friend’s husband had left her after more than 30 years of marriage for a man that he had been having a homosexual relationship with for years. This occurrence, which seems to be more commonplace than previously thought, is the topic profiled in The Straight-Up Truth About The Down-Low, a book written two co-authors using the pseudonym Joy Marie.

By: Dennis Moore

At 82 years of age, most people would be settled down into their twilight years or in a nursing home. But legendary gospel music broadcaster Earnie Miles is still going strong, after celebrating his 30th anniversary as the host of the hugely popular Sunday morning gospel music program, “The Earnie Miles Show” on KNOE-TV in Monroe, Louisiana. There are no indications that this “Man for All Seasons” will be slowing down any time soon. 

East County resident, Nicolas “SK” Shivers  earlier profiled in the East County Magazine (March 1, 2009 – Spiritual Knowledge: Music U Can Live 2), is hoping to jumpstart his Gospel/Rap/Hip Hop career by accepting an invitation to appear and perform on “The Earnie Miles Show,” thereby gaining “SK” some national TV exposure.