Book by Andrew Fitzgerald

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

September 14,2023 (San Diego)  -- In How Did I Get Here? Traveling the Road to Resilience, author Andrew Fitgerald shares his difficulties and determined resilience to overcome health issues. He also recounts how  he and his wife later struggled to settle in the United States. The second time they emigrated, they stayed. Then, after four miscarriages, they had a healthy boy. They live in San Diego County.

Fitzgerald begins his debut story being faced with death. His heart needed to be stopped and restarted. Doctors did this procedure twice before doing surgery on his heart to solve the problem. Over time, Fitzgerald reclaimed his strength and love of sports. 

He and his wife decided to move to the United States but initially had hardships and difficulties that drove them back to Ireland. They recommitted themselves and successfully relocated to the San Diego region, where they flourished in their second move. 

California law seeks to prohibit school districts from banning books

By Branda Gorgies

Images from PEN America and American Library Association

August 13, 2023 (East County) – Recently, book bans have become a hot topic. Some people see them as necessary and others see them as censorship. But if you’re involved in politics, you are more likely than not to have an opinion on book bans.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

July 26, 2023 (San Diego) -- The San Diego Writers & Editors Guild is a nonprofit, member-supported organization dedicated to promoting the writing arts for youth and adults in San Diego. The Guild has been publishing anthologies of its members’ short stories, essays, and poetry since 2012. The 2022 version, New Beginnings, is the Guild’s best collection of stories so far.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

July 27, 2023 (San Diego) -- San Diego resident Henry Herz’s latest picture book is titled I Am Smoke. Smoke is the narrator, relating how it has served humankind since prehistory for signaling, beekeeping, curing and flavoring food, religious rites, and fumigating insects.

Each wave is a nice start.

Novel by Sally J. Pla; reviewed by Pennell Paugh

July 9, 2023 (San Diego) - San Diego author Sally J. Pla has released her fourth novel, The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn.

July 5, 2023 (San Diego) – Most Americans may not know that gun control was common throughout much of America’s history, even in such iconic wild west settings as Tombstone, Arizona. The idea that the right to own guns is a foundational American belief is among the misperceptions shattered in an explosive interview with Thomas Gabor, Ph.D., author of American Carnage: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence, conducted by Anat Tour, new host of the Bookshelf segment on East County Magazine’s radio show.

Dr. Gabor is an internationally recognized expert on firearms and public safety.  A professor of criminology for 30 years at the University of Ottawa, he holds a doctorate from Ohio State University and runs a criminal justice consulting firm, Thomas Gabor LLC, in Florida. His clients have included the United Nations, Canada’s Dept. of Justice, and the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s office. He has authored over 200 publications including articles and books.

His coauthor of American Carnage is Fred Guttenberg, an activist whose 14-year-old daughter was murdered in the Parkland High School massacre. Together, the authors have created a valuable resource book documenting that much of what many Americans believe about gun rights and gun violence are, in fact, fallacies.

Scroll down to read highlights of the interview and find links to audo, video, book review, author's website and more.

By Miriam Raftery

June 21, 2023 (San Diego) -- A desperate race against time to find and save passengers and crew aboard a missing submarine at the Titanic wreckage site is making worldwide news. Knocking sounds have led searchers to believe people are still alive aboard the missing vessel, the Titan. But oxygen will likely run out tomorrow.

The effort evokes memories of  a similar story nearly 50 years ago in August 1973, when two San Diegans, Bob Watts and Larry Brady, were involved in the dramatic rescue of two men trapped above a submarine on the floor of the  Atlantic Ocean.

In  September 2021, Reina Menasche interviewed Stephen McGinty, author of the true-story thriller, The Dive: The Untold Story of the World’s Deepest Submarine Rescue during the Bookshelf segment on East County Magazine's radio show.  You can listen to the full  interview aired on KNSJ, and read highlights below.

By Erik Christopher Martin

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

May 25, 2023 (San Diego) -- The small town of Elderton is in crisis. French fries and other forms of potatoes are disappearing from kitchens. The thief seems invisible in San Diego author Erik Christopher Martin’s latest children’s book, The Case of the French Fry Phantom.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

May 21, 2023 (San Diego) – In San Diego author Matt Coyle’s latest crime novel, private investigator Rick Cahill has become a father and husband. Having lived a tough life as an athlete and P.I., Rick’s repeated head traumas are paying their toll. He now has chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease that gives him moments of fugues and moments of out-of-control rage. Treatments are not working out; he hides his disease from his family.

In this passage,  he shares his troubled thoughts:

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

May 15, 2023 (San Diego) -- Craig Nelson makes a convincing argument that Franklin Delano Roosevelt not only saved America from the Great Depression, but was also responsible for the U.S. winning World War II in his new novel V is for Victory, which will be released May 23.

Most scholars agree that industry was the deciding factor in the war, but Nelson, who wrote bestselling books, Pearl Harbor and Rocket Men, scrutinizes the idea with an expert’s eye. FDR’s administration created an explosive expansion of industry, national infrastructure, and government-business cooperation. Using FDR’s phenomenal managerial talent, he overwhelmed our enemies with weapons, despite jealousies, back-fighting and lack of communication between America’s Army, Navy and private enterprise.

Nelson reminds the reader that FDR took office to overcome unemployment, poverty, and starvation. Unsure how to act, he tried lots of programs. Fortunately, many worked. Reading the book, pages fly by. I could imagine a narrator of an old news reportage in the 1940s, spouting facts in quick succession. To give an idea of his writing style, here is an excerpt:

Story and photos by Shiloh Ireland

March 21, 2023 (Lakeside) -- Lakeside has a new state of the art library. ECM took a preview tour of the 16,000 square foot facility on March 1 during a soft opening, also interviewing librarian Mary Elder. The grand opening is scheduled for March 25^th.

ECM has conducted a photographic and drone history since ground-breaking of this new addition to Lakeside. As part of the San Diego County public library system, it is open to all residents of the county to utilize its services and check out materials.

The library offers a spacious environment with a teen room, children's section with a cave and large screen computer screens, large print section, DVD area, outdoor patio, state of the art computer check-out machine, attractive artwork, Lakeside Friends of the Library’s room that offers books for sale and much more.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

March 12, 2023 (San Diego) -- Sunrise in Saigon is the first book by local author Patrick Greenwood in a new series about cybersecurity, passion, and international espionage.

The main character develops a passion to travel to Vietnam as a youth. Greenwood writes:

On April 30, 1975, eleven-year-old Jack Kendall lay in his bed, listening to a radio program discussing recent events, which included President Nixon’s departure from the White House the year prior, gas shortages, and protests over the long-lasting Vietnam War. “This is WIEE 1310 AM radio—we have confirmed that Saigon has fallen. The Vietnam War has finally ended after ten years. Thank God!”

This newsflash caught Jack by complete surprise. Still, he had no idea how this event would shape the direction of his life, setting a lifelong journey in motion, driving a desire to understand what happened to the Vietnamese people before and after the war.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

February 12, 2023 (San Diego) – Hooker Avenue is the second in the Queen City Crimes series by San Diego author Jodé Millman. Attorney Jessie Martin lives in upstate New York's Hudson Valley. Driving at night, she is on her way home during a violent thunderstorm when she spots something.

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

February 2, 2023 (San Diego’s East County) -- Lederer’s Language and Laughter is Richard Lederer’s sixtieth book. It is full of humor from all sorts of situations from making puns about situations, to quoting signs and newspaper headings. There is humor bound to entertain everyone.

By Pennell Paugh

On January 27, 7 to 9 p.m., San Diego Public Library is proud to sponsor the 2022 Showcase, featuring published works by San Diego's most talented authors. The event is live and in-person! The library will be featuring a stunning collection of display cabinets filled with locally authored books from several different genres. The display will be available for public browsing for the entire month of February, afterwards the books will be prepared to circulate for one year. Books will also be featured in an online exhibit. Please visit the Local Author website for more information and to view previous online exhibits.

Multi-award-winning local author T. Greenwood will be delivering a keynote speech. The evening will feature local jazz musicians, Ria & Aaron, light refreshments, a limited open mike event and a few more surprises.

Registration is highly suggested for authors and their guests.