DWD's Reviews

To be published by Amazon Original Stories in February of 2025. If you have Amazon Prime, you get to choose from a limited selection of soon-to-be-published e-books every month. I am a big fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books, so I jumped at the chance to get this short story by Lee Child. I believe I have read every book and every short story that Lee Child has written about Jack Reacher, but I don't think I've read anything he's written that didn't feature Reacher. In fact, I didn't know he wrote about any character but Reacher. This is the story of a mathematician - a college professor. He's kind of a nobody, except that he has a specialty, some would say a gift, in an obscure little corner of mathematics. Not many people have even heard of it, let alone know anything about it.  Then, one day, he gets a call from the White House... My review: This was a quick story. It is well-written and takes several twists and turns that I did not see coming.  It'...

Published in October 2024 by Hourly History. Hourly History has published a large catalog of short histories and biographies. The idea is that each book can be read in about an hour. That's not enough to make the reader an expert, but it is enough to make the reader more knowledgeable than most people and it lets the reader know if this is a topic they want to delve into more deeply. I thought I was pretty well-informed on the topic of the Incas when I started Inca Empire: A History from Beginning to End . I am a Spanish and a history teacher, so I know way more than most people. However, that's not saying much. Let's face it, the average American hasn't heard of the Incas and the ones that have are likely to confuse them with the Aztecs or the Maya. A short history is not much of a problem when it comes to the Incas. Their Empire existed for only about 95 years before the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in 1532. The Spanish arrived with small numbers (less than 200 sol...

This is a "best of" list based on the 89 books I read and reviewed in 2024. I do not focus on new books, so there are books on this "best of" ranging from being published in 1953 to being published in October of 2024. The titles are active links to my reviews. *** = Best of the best in that category. HISTORY/MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY/NON-FICTION This is a tough category every year. Every one of these is great, but Tim Alberta's book just stuck with me. His look into the world of Christian Nationalism was an alarm bell in the night for all American Christians. *** The Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta. Attucks! Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team that Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose.  Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick. Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith by April Ajoy. The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family ...

Originally published in 1960. Read by Tom Weiner. Duration: 10 hours, 55 minutes. Unabridged. Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel, 1961. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a Golden Age of sci-fi novel that originally started out as three related short stories that were published in  The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction   in 1955, 1956, and 1957. The author, Walter M. Miller (1923-1996) was convinced to rework them into a single novel - the only novel he published in his lifetime (a sequel to this book was published after his death.) Synopsis: The story is set in a dystopian future. During the late 1950s or early 1960s the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union became a nuclear war called the "flame deluge." Human life was nearly destroyed and genetic mutations are fairly common in man and nature.  Six hundred years later the only surviving constant from the pre-war times is the Catholic Church. The story focuses on an abbey of monks in New Mexico w...

Published by Tantor Audio in June of 2024. Read by Khalid Abdalla. Duration: 2 hours, 26 minutes. Unabridged. Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer, human right advocate, and author. Shehadeh grew up as a Christian and Palestine has been occupied his entire life. This short book is an extended essay of sorts on the state of Palestinian/Israeli relations.  The book is often critical of Israeli policy and actions, especially under Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is hardly a justification of the October 7 attacks. Shehadeh does question the sincerity of Israel's attempts to work out something with Palestine - be it a two state solution, a common government with Israeli and Palestinian representatives, or some other system. Ignoring the situation does not make it go away. There are more than 5 million Palestinian refugees and they are not going anywhere - mostly because they are not really allowed to. It was an interesting listen, providing a lot to think about. It was read very well by Kha...

Published in 2024 by Hourly History. Hourly History  publishes short histories biographies and histories that are designed to be read in about an hour. Most are pretty good, but this one came up as a middling biography for me. Chester Nimitz was the Admiral of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. He was appointed to the position just 10 days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and he led the Navy throughout.  This biography is excellent when it comes to personal details of his early life and even details of his early career. That is great, but this book is too sparse when it comes to the controversies and strategies of World War II. He was there for all of the important decisions and events from 10 days after Pearl Harbor until the signing of Japan's formal surrender on one of his ships and this book just gives the bare facts details that anyone can find on Wikipedia. They aren't incorrect, but they don't tell any sort of compelling story. I rate this e-book 3 star...