Jeff Sexton
Intriguing Premise. Fascinating Start. Back Half Marred By Politics And Questionable Scholarship. This book had an utterly fascinating premise, one I've read a couple of other books over the last year in the same arena - the history of wood and palm oil in those prior books. And y'all, the front half of this book, mostly concerned with prehistory, was awesome. Roberts tracks how the development of what we now call in English “jungle” began in the earliest geological eras of plant life, through the time of the dinosaurs, and into the evolution of humanity from our earliest barely-more-than-ape forebears to modern Homo Sapien Sapien.
But then we get into the first millennium ish AD and Roberts turns his focus to the native populations of the Americas - and blaming Columbus specifically and Europe generally for every ill to come since. Even while noting cases where conquest would not have been possible except that certain elements of the native populations betrayed other elements for their own personal power. Ok. Still has some solid points about the interrelationship between humans and jungle here, but even here the politics is quite heavy handed - though admittedly typical for elitist academics and perfectly in line with that level of thought.
Coming into much more recent times - within my lifetime ish, since the 1980s - Roberts goes deeper into the politics, even openly praising Greta Thunberg (a bit ironic, given Roberts' own actual academic pedigree vs Thurnberg's lack of one). But worse than that, he actively gets a bit lax with his scholarship through this point, noting the spread of Ebola into the US during the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak... without acknowledging that it was (mostly) active - and safe (as safe as anything can be with Ebola) - efforts by the US government to bring US nationals back to within the US for treatments. Instead, the implication from the author is that this was more direct results of lackadaisical regulations and rampant environmental destruction. He also (accurately) notes the 3,000 people killed by Hurricane Maria in 2017... without noting that Hurricane Irma had come through many of the same regions as an even stronger storm just two weeks prior, causing quite a bit of damage that ultimately led to a larger loss of life than normal when a second major hurricane (Maria) came through so soon after. (Disclaimer here: I moved to northern Florida in August 2017, barely a month before Irma and barely 6 weeks before Maria. I had a planned cruise in November 2017 to San Juan and St Maarten, among others, moved to Aruba and Curacao due to the combined effects of the two storms.)
Finally, in perhaps the most glaring questionable fact in the entire text, Roberts points to COVID-19 case counts “as of the end of July 2021”. Except that I'm writing this review on July 15, 2021, almost exactly halfway into the month down to the minute, and I've had this book in ARC form since May 12, 2021. (And I should note that this book appeared to be mostly completely print ready at that time, though the publisher and author may claim that there were indeed a few more edits since that point.) Even if one assumes that this particular line was placed in the book by say May 10, at the very latest stages before making it available on NetGalley (where I got it), and even if one assumes that the actual number at hand is accurate (I have no real reason to doubt it, though I personally stopped paying attention to these particular numbers over a year ago), wouldn't it have been better scholarship to note that the case count was “as of the end of May 2021”? Or was the author projecting and hoping this either wasn't noticed, that he would be proven correct prior to publication (still almost exactly two months away, as this book is currently shown to publish on September 14, 2021 at the time of writing this review), or that this particular fact could be updated prior to publication with the actual number? None of those three options point to the same level of scholarship of the beginning of the book, and indeed the fact of their existence brings into doubt all prior points and presumed merits. Thus, including that particular fact ultimately does more harm to the entire text than even the most blatant of political biases displayed earlier in the text.
Still, ultimately this was a very approachable text that even when taking into account its standard academic biases generally presents an intriguing look into the history and development of humanity, and it actually has a respectable bibliography, clocking in at around 26% of the text. Thus the book is still ultimately recommended for that alone. Just... make sure you read other competing books in the same area in addition to this one.
Post Script: While looking for the author's website for the blog version of this review, I found out that the author is indeed a seeming expert in prehistoric jungles, having published several articles in peer reviewed journals over the last decade. But nearly every single article listed on his website deals with the prehistoric era, which perhaps explains the difference in how excellent this particular book was when it was discussing this particular era vs the problems that began mostly when he left it. Which is leaving me, for one, very interested in a follow up book expanding on the first half of this one with even more details, perhaps, of the environments, fauna, and flora of these prehistoric eras the author seems to know so well.
Fun Middle Ground, This Time With Interesting Meta-Commentary. When I wrote my review for the first book in this series last October, I mentioned that it was a “light-ish, women's fiction level mystery”, and that holds true here as well. Maybe a touch more suspensful/ action oriented than a typical women's fiction book, though nowhere near enough to come into the actual suspense/ thriller genres. And funny (and at times outright hilarious), yet ultimately too serious to be a true comedy. Which ultimately makes this series a great “middle ground” of sorts between Snow's bubblegum/ Hallmarkie romances and her dark-as-3AM JM Winchester persona. All of which speaks to just how talented a storyteller she is. And yet here we get enough meta-commentary about the publishing world and authors' lives that one begins to question things. :D Truly a great tale here, again excellently told, and I for one can't wait to see what these housewives manage to get wrapped up in next. Very much recommended.
Excellent Adventure Starter. For those who like their adventures to be Indiana Jones type - including both going into the jungle and facing down Nazis - well, have I got a book for you. This combines that basic style with Grumley's usual science/ science fiction bent to produce much more nuanced characters who have much bigger personal stakes than his “breakthrough” series, to great effect in the closing moments. About the only negative is that the final confrontation... isn't really there. At least not what could have been the really cool parts. Still, while I'm not as intrigued about this new series as I was in BREAKTHROUGH by the end of its first book, I definitely want to see where Grumley goes with this. Very much recommended.
Fun Southern Enemies To Lovers Romance. The title of this review tells you most everything you need to know here. This book has quite a few moving parts, but overall they work together to create a solid, fun Southern romance - in this case, centered on the titular barbecue and the retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The intricacies of barbecue - and no, you damn Yankees and foreigners from other nations (joking, an allusion to Southern comic Jeff Foxworthy's “Redneck Games”), simply putting something on a grill is not “barbecueing”, nor is the grill itself a “barbecue” - are discussed well, but always in context with and service to the overall story and character development. Small town southern life, with all of its greatness and pitfalls, are also shown well - yes, including the one person who claims to be able to speak to ghosts. The pranks are mostly in the past, and it is always quite clear that they were in the past. The reasons for the enmity between the leads are compelling, tragic, and completely “reasonable”-ish for where the characters were at those points, and the slow-burn nature of the romance allows both to see that perhaps there is more to the adult versions of each other than they remember of the kid versions. And that perhaps there was more going on with the kid versions that their own kid versions didn't fully know about. For the clean/ sweet crowd, this has very minor cussing - including a grandma who actively admonishes such words in her presence - and no even fade-to-black sex. (Some heavy kissing though, for those more absolutist against absolutely anything physical.) Oh, and there is a more minor subplot - revealing even its nature would be a spoiler - that is refreshing, accurate... and yet still feels mostly thrown in due to the author's own political leanings. It totally works, and it is nice to see an author defying the normal conventions of the genre to even subtly go there, and yet it also does feel a bit forced, as though this was a wrinkle intentionally placed to draw the eye away from the actual main subject to a degree. Still, on the whole a solid, fun romance novel that does a great job of explaining Southern Barbecue, and very much recommended.
New Wrinkle On Oft-Derided Issue. I don't suffer from kleptomania myself, but as someone who is Autistic and is interested in unique takes on various issues society deems “mental disorders”, I always appreciate books that can take a topic that is often derided and make it much more “human” and much less “other”. Here, King does just this, and she does it in a whimsical manner that has its share of tragedy as well. An excellent book that rarely takes the “conventional” route, and yet tells the story of how one person's “mental disorder” can actually work to be a very positive thing when the person learns to truly harness her power.. Very much recommended.
A Different Kind of Christmas Countdown. What happens when you meet a new person 3 weeks before Christmas and you find yourself falling in love... and yet they have told you up front that they are leaving town again on Christmas Day? Well, in this case... you have a plot (and plot device, as the countdown is given at the start of every chapter) for a romance novel. :D For the clean/ sweet crowd, know that Snow doesn't exactly shy away from the sex scenes here, and they are never of the “behind closed doors” (unless inside a freezer counts? :D) nor “fade to black”. Otherwise, this was a fun Christmas novel of the various parties and sweets that flavor the season while also dealing with a couple of distinctly non-Christmas heavier issues as well. Truly an excellent work that shows Snow's skill of showing off social issues without letting them weigh a story down - and even working them into the overall theme of the given book. Finally, I love the “connective tissue” of the series such that we see the couple from the first book a few times and seem to have an indication of who at least one person in the next couple in the next book will be. Excellent tale no matter the time of year you read it, and very much recommended.
God And Football. This is Mark Richt, and this book is being published by a publisher that is a division of Lifeway Christian Resources, which originated in the Southern Baptist Convention. (I am unsure at this time of Lifeway's connection to the SBC. I know there has been news of it in the years since I left the SBC, I just haven't followed it.) Which is to say, you gotta know up front that you're getting a lot of talk of both football and God. In the 20 years I've been following the man, since his first games as Head Coach of the University of Georgia's football team - when I was 18 and fresh out of high school, but attending another school just outside of Atlanta -, the man has never shied away from either topic, virtually any time you hear him speak away from the sidelines of a game.
Within that context, and particularly with the timing of this book's release - the week of the traditional opening of the College Football season -, this book is almost a sure fired hit. Particularly within Georgia and UGA fans, but even with FSU fans,(since an equally large part of the book, maybe even slightly more, is dedicated to his time as an assistant at FSU under the legendary Bobby Bowden), Floridians, and even in Miami, where he ended his coaching career as the Head Coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes - the very team he had played on in college.
But really, even if you don't overly like Football or God, this book has a lot of strong life lessons, lessons Richt learned along the way either from meetings or, sometimes, the hard way. Lessons that are strong enough that as long as your disdain for those two topics is only mild ish, you should read this book to see anyway. Granted, if you have an utter revulsion to either topic... eh, you're not going to like this book. Pretty well literally every single page has both topics, and at minimum one or the other.
Fans of FSU in the 90s, you're going to get to relive some of the best highlights of that era of FSU football with a man who was on the sidelines and even calling some of the very plays.
Fans of UGA from 2001 - 2015 - arguably its best 15 year run in the history of the program - you're going to get to see a lot of the highlights - and some of the lowest of lows - here as well. From Hobnail Boot - and man, I still miss hearing Larry Munson's voice on that play - to Blackout I (against Auburn, a W) and Blackout II (against Bama, a L where the “can't win the big games” narrative that would ultimately get him fired from UGA really began) all the way through the meeting that made his departure from UGA at the end of the 2015 season official. (For the record, I still say UGA was insane for this move, though CMR himself, as expressed in this book, is at peace with it.)
Fans of Miami will get to see both his view of the program as a player in the late 70s and early 80s and as Head Coach in the late 2010s and how much had changed.
And along the way, Christians will get to see the growth and maturity of a Christian man many - many more than he will ever know himself - have respected and looked up to for many years.
Ultimately this book will play and sell better in certain circles and areas than others, but I suspect that it will do at least as good as similar books by other Christian football legends such as Tony Dungy and Tim Tebow. Which seems to be decently well indeed, given that both of those men are almost constantly on Christian bookstore shelves and often even on chain and sometimes independent bookstore shelves, period.
Very much recommended.
PS: The reason for only 4 stars after praising this book so heavily? Prooftexting. Unfortunately all too common in Christian books, including this one. And an automatic one star deduction every time I see it, no matter how strong the book may otherwise be, in my own war on the practice.
Solid Women's Fiction With Historical Elements. This is one of those books where the description perfectly sets up what you're actually getting here - a tale of siblings finding each other after their father passes away and sets in motion a plan for the three of them to meet. Along the way, they discover their still-living grandmother and get to hear the stories of her activities in WWII - including meeting and falling in love with their grandfather. On these elements, this is a solidly written women's fiction tale with historical fiction elements - but I personally would not market this as a “historical fiction” title. So if you're a reader that only reads historical fiction... I'd still say this one is worthy of your time, just know that you aren't getting a true tale of that genre here. Indeed, along the story of one of the sisters in particular (and to a lesser extent another of them), this could be marketed as a romance - though the women's fiction side is still the dominant side of the tale. The titular Inheritance? Well, that's actually the best part of the tale... when you realize what Ross intends it as. Overall a strong book filled with strongly developed characters among is main and primary supporting cast, and a very well told story. Very much recommended.
Beware The Mathivores. And Stewart's Myopia. Ok, so the title of this review is a bit of a spoiler, as a “Mathivore” is a creature Stewart describes in the final chapter while summarizing the book. But it doesn't actually give anything away, and it makes for an interesting title to the review. (One suspects it wouldn't have worked as well for the title of the book, though I think it would have been awesome. :D) Beyond that, I also find it interesting that the only other review on Goodreads for this book at the time I am writing this one is from a historian with a bare knowledge of mathematics, and I am actually a mathematician (though nowhere near as degreed as Stewart, having just a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and lacking a handful of classes for separate Bachelor's degrees in both Mathematics and Secondary Mathematics Education) with a fair knowledge of history. More than a “normal” person, likely much less - at least in some areas - than the other reviewer. ANYWAY, y'all care about what this book is about, not about me. :D But my background does play a bit into my own experience with the book, so I thought a brief summary was warranted.
With this book, Stewart mostly does a truly remarkable job of showing the history and current uses of math, in many ways many may not be aware of or at minimum fully aware of. With my background, I knew that there was some form of math in the background of most of the techs and issues Stewart discusses, but Stewart goes full-bore on the details, yes, quite often showing samples of the actual equations - or at least types of the actual equations - involved. And these are far beyond E=MC^2, y'all. ;) But still, Stewart's explanations, at least to my own mathematically inclined brain, were straightforward enough, and there is enough humor (of the British variety) sprinkled throughout to make the overall text much more palatable to the average reader.
But there are a couple of weaknesses even from my own perspective, and they combined to knock the book down a star - neither by themselves was quite enough, but combined they are.
The first is that while Stewart does a remarkable job of showing how math is integral to so many fields from elections to medical scanning to photography to fingerprinting, he doesn't do so well in showing how it shapes everyday life outside of the tech people use and the things going on around them. He doesn't show how people actually use math every day, from calculating how much a trip will take to estimating their grocery bill or restaurant tab to deciding any of the numerous factors related to personal finance and building or maintaining any form of home. Perhaps a follow-on book could explain how these maths shape even more people's lives.
The second is Stewart's Myopia. By this, I mean those issues where the Professor. At several key points - likely not caught by someone less familiar with the mathematics of the fields - Stewart dismisses advances in mathematics that oppose his positions. In one, while there is indeed still much work to be done, Stewart's disdain for autonomous cars belies the stunning advances made in mathematics related to the field. In the other big one, Stewart seems completely ignorant of the emerging mathematics showing the many varying holes in the current “Climate Change” “science” - including some written by a man who quite literally wrote one of the first textbooks on climate modeling with computers. Another, more obscure one, was where Stewart mentions numeracy and Bayesian statistics, but seems ignorant of Bernoulli's Fallacy (or at minimum dismissive of those who pursue that line of mathematical thinking).
Overall, this is a strong book with quite a bit to be commended. It could simply have been a bit stronger. Very much recommended.
Unanswered Prayers. This is another solid continuation of this loosely-coupled series where the couples in each book may show up in the others, but the focus of each story is its leading couple. Here, we get a great and fun forced proximity / fake relationship romance... that of course (because it is a romance novel) becomes a real one. Solid fun in the Alaskan setting, including getting out on the multitudinous waterways of the region and even some climbing and other more adventuresome activities. For the clean/ sweet crowd... ummm... maybe sit this one out. ;) For those that like intense sex scenes (nothing particularly kinky, just enough steam to drive a dang electric generator), I think you'll like this one. :) Snow knows her genre very well, and this is a perfect example of that. Very much recommended.
Compelling Drama of Grief. This is a very compelling drama/ mystery of a woman's struggles in the years following the death of her husband. The grief is all-encompassing, felt in nearly every letter on every page - which can make this book a bit dreary at times, but the mystery and mental struggles Phoebe faces are compelling enough and fast paced enough (in this short-ish, 252 page book) that the plot never really has the time to become truly overbearing in the grief. Revelations begin to stack up late, and much is made clear - to both Phoebe and the reader - even as the book chooses its path to be the less expected, more atypical one. Which I found quite remarkable, as this particular path allows Banner to plumb Phoebe's fragile psyche that much more and kept the overall tone of the book solidly in place. Truly an excellent work, and very much recommended.
Love > Fear. Growing up in the trailer parks of the 80's, moving out of them in the 90s, and becoming the first person in my immediate family (and only the second person in my triple-digit-numbering extended family) to go to college at the turn of the Millenium, I was one of those kids that saw George Zimmer's famous “You're going to love the way you look. I guarantee it.” commercials all over Atlanta TV. (And I think they even ran on radio? Though Zimmer never mentions those campaigns in this text. So maybe I'm wrong there. 20+ yr old memories at this point. ;) ) But being that (even former) trailer park kid... Mens' Wearhouse prices of $250 and up were a bit too rich for my blood, so I actually shopped at some of the competitors Zimmer mentions late in the text about buying out. :)
With this background, I found this memoir from a man I recognized from TV in my childhood to be quite fascinating. In many ways quite honest - even at times brutally so - and astute, Zimmer openly admits to his luck, sometimes brilliance, and several of the key mistakes he made along the way. He also makes quite clear that he is still hurt by his 2013 ouster from the company he created - and its continual efforts to keep him from becoming a competitor. But in the end, this is a story about a truly remarkable “fortunate son”. A hippie who grew to become one of the titans of industry in America. (And who used his money to get the first Medical Marijuana legalization passed.) A progressive who is absolutely dedicated to capitalism. And a man who firmly believes that a paradigm shift from fear to love is what is needed in both industry and society as a whole.
An utterly fascinating read, and a shortish one to boot - I finished it in about 4 hours or so. Very much recommended.
Awesome Yet Also Problematic. This story is Beck's usual excellence as far as storytelling itself goes. Beck sucks you in with the aftermath of almost a Hangover (movie) type night (though to be clear, not that wild) where three women - two sisters and their friend - have made life-changing decisions... and now have to handle the repercussions. We open the story the morning after, and only ever get the high level details of what happened that night - the story is about life after. And for two of the three women, Beck does amazing work showing that even in screw-ups, good things can happen. The other lady's story is the more problematic one, and it comes from Beck's own unfamiliarity with the growing subculture of the childfree. Seeming without meaning to, Beck confronts this particular issue as much of society at large does... and unwittingly causes many eyes to roll. Having been a part of this community for several years (I'm a 38yo DINK - Dual Income No Kids and happily childfree), know that if you're a part of this community and in particular a woman in it, this storyline is going to make you want to throw this book off the nearest dam or into the nearest bonfire. But don't, because the other two subplots are truly excellent, and even this one is dealt with some degree of realism. Overall an excellent book, and let's face it - even with its growing popularity, the life of the childfree isn't exactly dominant yet. Meaning most readers will enjoy all three subplots very much. Very much recommended.
One Book. Two Stories. Both Compelling. This is a story with a LOT going on and a LOT of intricacies that it seems most (at least those on Goodreads so far, about 5 weeks before publication) miss out on touching on. This is effectively both a historical fiction (which I think it will ultimately be marketed as) of a young Jewish girl in WWII who leaves a diary behind (where does that ring a bell? ;) ) and a modern day psychological drama. Valpy does a remarkable job of bringing a sensuous and visceral understanding of both periods of Casablanca and Morocco, and both periods and their relevant issues - WWII / Nazis / Resistance / Operation Torch and modern shipping conglomerates / expats / refugees / immigrants - are shown in a degree of realism not often seen. Truly, either story could have been expanded a bit more - perhaps by extending out the later chapters of both - and stood equally well as standalone books. Which is high praise, as few dual timeline historical fiction books can pull this off, in my own reading experience at least. Truly a remarkable book, and very much recommended.
Erin Brockovich In Appalachia. This is one of those books where the description from the publisher really does tell you pretty well exactly what the book is about: One town's, and really one man's, courtroom war against a coal company that was polluting its water supplies. There are the requisite dives into the various histories of the prominent people, including the lawyer, the CEO of the company, and the general region itself - home of the infamous feud between the Hatfields and McCoys - but mostly this is a tale of how the courtroom drama came to be, how the war was waged, and its ultimate outcomes. If you're looking for a more general examination of Appalachia and its issues... this isn't that. But if you're interested in “Little Guy vs Big [Insert Industry]”... this is gonna be right up your alley. Very much recommended.
The Master Turns To Horror. With this book, Jeremy Robinson – The Modern Day Master of Science Fiction – again attempts a horror book... before bringing it back to the scifi action that is his bread and butter. He first establishes a loveable galoof of an anti-hero: an Army veteran who has PTSD from his experiences in Afghanistan who can't quite fit in with his suburban civilian “normal” life. Then, he begins building in the mystery and the horror, slowly ramping it up to truly horrific levels across several different types of horror, finally culminating in a truly utterly horrific sequence that, arguably, hard core fans of Mass Effect who are familiar with Mass Effect 2 in particular may be at least somewhat jaded to. And then, the actual scifi action conclusion – almost as though Robinson has made us see hell, and now wants to leave us on a more interesting/ happier note. Long time fans of Robinson may see at least a few similarities to his 2010 “Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God” retelling, TORMENT, though for me that particular book was so horrific because it was essentially a modern day version of that famous sermon (which was, in itself, essentially a then-modern retelling of Dante's Inferno). For those like me who literally had nightmares for years after reading that book, I can tell you that this one isn't anywhere near that bad – at least not in the same ways. It truly is utterly horrific in a couple of sequences in particular, and these new horrors may indeed haunt your nightmares for quite some time. But dammit, that is what makes Robinson the Master.
(Mostly) Solid Examination Of History And Current Events. This is a fairly well documented - nearly 100 pages of its 400 are bibliography, in addition to at least a few paragraphs of footnotes at the end of every chapter - examination of both the history and current events of why both commercial and military control of the oceans is so important to human advancement. Some of the facts presented are truly mind-boggling, such as the sheer size of the Maersk Madrid - a ship used as a recurring case study, where if its full load of possible shipping containers were transported in a standard 2-high rail configuration, the train just to load this singular ship would stretch for 78 miles. Others are more “standard fare” for most anyone who knows anything about the history of ocean travel or oceanography. Still, the book is current through March 2021, which is remarkable considering that I acquired this ARC in early June 2021. A must-read on a wide variety of issues from the complexities of modern logistics to the root cause and practical implications of modern military struggles to even the loss of American manufacturing jobs and the rise of Donald Trump, this book shows how control of the oceans has impacted all of these topics and many, many more. Really the only more “YMMV” section is the emphasis on global warming/ global cooling / climate change/ whatever they're calling it these days alarmism in the final section, but even here there are enough actual facts to warrant close examination. Very much recommended.
Another Maddie Miracle. When I read my first Maddie Dawson book last year as an ARC, I knew I had found an author that will be able to give me a satisfying tale in a way I might not think at first is satisfying, but who can make it work and make it be truly magical. Thus, I was waiting for her 2021 release to hit my ARC channels... when suddenly it showed up out of the blue as a Kindle First Read instead. So I didn't even look at the others, I automatically picked up this book. Then when Amazon began their Kindle Summer Rewards beta program and included me in it, it turned out I needed to read an actual book - rather than my “normal” (these days) ARCs, which come into the Kindle as “personal documents” - and thus I automatically turned to this book to read.
And again, Dawson crafts a quirky, off beat tale unlike any I've ever encountered, essentially a coming-of-age tale... at damn near the time most people are beginning to have their mid-life crises. Not quite a true dual-timeline book, and with quite a bit of time elapsing “off screen” both in the remembered history of our main character and in her current life we're following, this book manages to explain where she is right now emotionally and how she got there. For those readers, like me, who often straddle the line between two worlds, Dawson does an excellent job of showing at least one version of how our lives look and the dichotomies we face, and she does it remarkably well. The finale, featuring our primary character despairingly trying to resolve both halves of herself, is something we all face at some point, and Dawson plays it with the sincerity, sweetness, and cathartic laughter that such moments tend to so desperately need. Yes, this tale is absolutely off-beat, and yes, it may arguably be better presented as women's fiction rather than romance, but it does serve well to highlight the real-world romantic realities of being single in your mid-30s (not that I've experienced this directly) and does quite well in showing both how jaded it can make you... and how oblivious. Very much recommended.
Sweeping Revelations And Generalities Need Better Documentation. As narrative nonfiction where facts are presented without documentation in favor of a more stylized, narrative based approach, this book works. And it does pretty well exactly what its description promises- shows the entire logistics industry from the time a product is assembled overseas through its travel to the port of origin to loading onto a ship to being offloaded from said ship onto trains and trucks into the very heart of fulfillment centers and delivery services all the way to your door. It uses a blended reality approach of the emerging COVID crisis, wherein Mims claims to have actually been in Vietnam as it was beginning to a more hypothetical “this is where this item was on this date”... right as global shipping began its “holiday everyday” levels of the early lockdown period in particular, and this approach serves it well as a narrative structure.
That noted, it also uses its less-documented, more-editorial nature to have constant political remarks, where YMMV on the editorial pieces and the documentation checks in at just 13% of the overall text. (More common range for bibliography sections in nonfiction ARCs tends to be in the 20-30% range in my own experience.) It is also questionable in its facts at times, for example when it claims that the US military's efforts in Vietnam were the drivers of ship-based containerization... which Bruce Jones' To Rule The Waves, to be released on exactly the same day as this book, shows in a much more documented fashion isn't exactly the case. For a reader such as myself that was growing interested in logistics and related issues even before the insanities erupted and who, in fact, read an ARC of Emily Guendelsberger's On The Clock (2019)- cited extensively when this text looks to Amazon and their fulfillment centers directly, among many other similar works such as Alex MacGillis' Fulfillment (2020), the aforementioned Jones text (2021), Plastic Free by Rebecca Prinz-Ruiz (2020), Driven by Alex Davies (2021), Unraveled by Maxine Bedat (2021), and even What's The Use by Ian Stewart (2021)... this book touched on a lot of issues I was already familiar with, mostly from more fully documented texts, but placed them in a comprehensive narrative structure that indeed flows quite well.
Read this book. It really is utterly fascinating, and many of the books referenced above face similar issues regarding their politics, to this one is hardly alone in that regard. But also read those other books to see their particular pieces in quite a bit more detail. Still, in the end this one was quite readable and is sure to generate much conversation among those who do read it. Very much recommended.
Multi-Generational Coming Of Age. This is an interesting review to write, particularly for a man, as Dugoni explicitly notes in his author notes at the end of this book that he sought to write a book about that transition period where the world expects a boy to suddenly become a man. Thus, any man's thoughts on the book will likely be tangled with his own memories of that period in his own life, and mine are no different - for me, it was the summer I graduated HS... that ended with the Sept 11 attacks.
But the story Dugoni plays out here is with generations before and after my own, with the earlier Boomers - those old enough to fight in Vietnam in the late 60s-, Gen-X - Vincent here, and Dugoni in real life, graduated HS the summer after my own parents did -, and Gen-Z - the son here is in college just a couple of years ago as when the book is published in Sept 2021. And he captures each period and their own idiosyncracies well, despite using only really a couple of perspectives - an 18yo soldier in Vietnam, mostly told through letters and other remembrances, and an 18yo construction worker in 1979 who is also the parent in the 2010s era.
Still, the raw emotions and the conflicts and turmoils Dugoni captures here are visceral. The hits land like haymakers, and there isn't really any levity to be found. Yet even throughout, this is a story of hope, of the idea that no matter the struggles you're facing in your immediate world, things will get better. And it is this hope that is also so prevalent throughout the text and provides the gravitas that allows the haymakers to hit as hard as they do without the story becoming too depressing.
Truly a remarkable work, and very much recommended.
Solid Military Romance. This is a fairly standard romance / Annabeth Albert romance with one guy in uniform and the other not... and eventually, neither is. ;) She's done the virgin thing at least once or twice (I fully cop to not reading her full back catalog, and I seem to remember her covering this even in the books I have read from her), and here it works just as well as it did the last time. For those looking for “clean” / “sweet” romance... Albert uses the virgin trope to explore as many successive sex acts as she can squeeze into a book. So this won't be something that fits those definitions, but will work well within the more general romance/ gay romance reader crowd. The family dynamics are fun, some of the situations border on silly yet work, and the military scenes are accurate enough for someone who is only vaguely aware of US Navy operations. Looking forward to seeing where this new series will go. Very much recommended.
Anther Critical Book For Those Seeking To Understand The American Justice System. This is yet another critical book for those seeking to understand the full scope of all that is wrong with the American justice system and how we got here, along with Radley Balko's Rise of the Warrior Cop, Michelle Alexander's New Jim Crow (referenced herein, with solid points about where Alexander goes wrong in her presumptions), and Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law's Prison By Any Other Name. Whereas Balko looks at police militarization, Alexander looks at mass incarceration, and Schenwar and Law look at probation and parole, here we look at the critical phase between arrest and conviction - the various and severely punitive pre-trial punishments and plea bargains. It is within the scope of this particular problem that Hessick shows just how large and pervasive this particular problem is - to the level that even as many often acknowledge its shortcomings, it is often protected as a means of not “overburdening” the courts! (A tip for “lawmakers”: Rescind 10 laws for every 1 you pass. That would go quite far in reducing the burden on the courts. #ijs ;) )
Truly a remarkable and shocking work, and one that every American needs to read. Very much recommended.
I made it a point to get this one in during #AutismAcceptanceMonth, even though it doesn't actually release until August.
This is apparently officially a “collection of essays”, but the organization works such that it never feels disjointed, as other efforts of this vein I've read tend to do. But that could just be my own #ActuallyAutistic mind working similarly to Bowman's.
If you've ever heard of the late great Rachel Held Evans, and particularly if you like her style, you're going to enjoy this particular book. Bowman has a roughly similar background to Evans (and thus even rougher similar to myself) in that he has experience in the Baptist church and now finds himself in a more progressive mainline church, and in both of their cases are more academic-oriented to boot. Thus, even while explaining his own version of the intersection of faith and Autism - and on being Autistic more generally, but through that lens - his words really do evoke the same kinds of tones Evans' work did.
This was enjoyable for me due to the lack of constant “Autistics need government intervention” diatribes that so many books make their central point of Autism - even from among fellow Autistics (such as Eric Garcia's We're Not Broken, which publishes a week earlier and which, IIRC, I posted about here roughly a month ago). Instead, Bowman's life and thoughts flow more closely to my own, with key community members becoming mentors over the eras and helping him naturally become all that he now is.
Indeed, if I have a criticism of the book - and I do, though it isn't large enough for a star deduction - it is the emphasis on an “official” Autism diagnosis. I trust docs as much as I trust politicians these days - which is to say, I don't trust them to accurately tell me the color of the noontime cloudless sky, and verify it myself. And one does not need someone else to dictate a word based on their own understanding of it, particularly when that person isn't even living with the thing in question. And this ignores the very real, sometimes very negative, real world repercussions of having such an “official” label.
Still, for anyone interested in knowing more about what life is really like as an Autistic, this truly is one of the better books I've come across in my own readings. Very much recommended.
But A Reliable Author. This was my first time reading this author, which makes me a bit different from most of the other ARC reviewers on Goodreads just under three weeks before publication. And I can tell you without hesitation that this is a perfectly fine first-for-you book, so long as you don't mind coming into a world where at least some of the characters have already had other adventures with each other. (Though the way this one reads, one presumes even the first book was written such that the reader is coming in to already-established relationships.) The crime at the heart of this one is particularly grisly, and worthy of a capital trial (for those that believe murdering a murderer is something anyone, let alone a government, should be allowed to do). The personal dramas among the lawyers are compelling. The courtroom drama as the lawyers fight with and against each other is at least as compelling as any other factor. And the outcomes are satisfying within the realms of the world and particular story - though that in no way gives you any hint as to what they actually are. :D Basically, if you like courtroom dramas, you're likely going to like this one. If you like compelling mysteries, you're likely to like this one. If you like just good stories period, you're likely to like this one. So if you're open to any of the above at all, you should read this book. ;) Very much recommended.
Strong Romance - With A Couple Of Issues. As a romance book, this one works. It has the all the requisite parts and even a couple of the optional ones - clean/ sweet crowd, you're not going to like all the XXX sex in this one, and there is more of it here than many romance novels, even those that include such scenes. As a bit of a psychological drama, it still kind of works, with the female lead clearly having issues she needs to work through. As a suspense... well, the only actual action here occurs in the last few chapters, the rest of the suspense here is more of the “looming threat” variety. Which works well enough here, but never really makes the pulse pound.
No, there really are two primary issues, one of which has been mentioned by at least one other reviewer and the other of which no existing review on Goodreads mentions: First, this is a female who it is made quite clear fairly early on (to the reader) has been assaulted. While there is indeed a fair amount of studies and even anecdotes of this turning the woman a bit promiscuous - for a variety of reasons - the more general feel seems to be that women become much more closed off to sex after this, particularly when still struggling with dealing with the events - as our female lead here is. And yet, the sex scenes here start pretty damn rapidly once she and our male lead connect. Again, in-story, it works well enough. This is mostly a “wait a second” level observation after the story, at least for this reader. (For others, it may well be a true game-stopper.)
The other issue, that hasn't been mentioned in a Goodreads review yet, is the constant mention of a gun's “clip”. NO! It is a “magazine” or “mag”. It is NOT a “clip”, and a former Army Ranger and current US Marshall would damn well know this! Still, even with this rather glaring example of complete unfamiliarity with the subject, it is one that readers similarly unfamiliar with the subject would think works reasonably well within the story.
And then there is the whole thing about this being titled as a cowboy story... and yet there is very little cowboy'ing happening here. Other than a ride inspecting fence posts, the rest of the “ranch” scenes could pretty well have any other location as their base of operations and the book would both read and work the same, almost without any even word changes.
Still, these are mostly more observational level issues that didn't really detract from the book - other than the “clip” / “magazine thing - and the story itself, even with the magazine issue, is pretty solid with an action packed ending. And despite being marked as “Book 3” here, it actually works quite well as a standalone, which is how I read it.
Very much recommended.