THE WATCHMAN (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike 11) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Published in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by James Daniels.
Duration: 7 hours, 52 minutes.
Unabridged.

Synopsis

Usually, books in the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series focus on Elvis. Elvis is a private detective with a smart mouth. He catches a case, does some digging and his partner, tough guy Joe Pike, comes in when things get hairy. It's an old formula. You see it in Perry Mason, the Spenser series, and even Magnum, PI because it works. 

The Watchman is different. It starts with Joe Pike. He is on the run with a girl and a hit squad is after them.

Joe Pike is asked to babysit a witness because a Mexican drug lord wants her dead. Multiple hit teams have come after her. What makes it more complicated is that she is very rich and she has makes the newspapers regularly for being a party girl. If you were alive pre-social media, think Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. 

Joe is using every trick he has and barely escaping. He reaches out to Elvis Cole for some detective and logistical help and what they find doesn't make things any easier...

My Review

The action comes on fast and is mostly maintained throughout. The reader is also treated to some a great deal of Joe Pike's backstory. It does explain a lot and helps the series as a whole, if not this particular story.

The reader is okay. He is good with voices, but I am not a big fan. In the end, he did not add or detract from the story. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Watchman by Robert Crais.

WHEN BOOKS WENT to WAR: THE STORIES THAT HELPED US WIN WORLD WAR II (Audiobook) by Molly Guptill Manning

Published by Blackstone Audio in 2014.
Read by Bernadette Dunne
Duration: 6 hours, 49 minutes.
Unabridged.

When Books Went to War looks at the deliberate effort by the government of the United States to put books in the hands of its soldiers as they went off to fight in World War II. 

There were multiple reasons behind this idea. The first was simple: Reading books is a practical way to help soldiers pass the time. "Hurry up and wait" is a common refrain from soldiers of all eras and books helped fill the time.

Another reason was to remind the soldiers of what they were fighting for. Being on the front has a way of making life seem cheap and disposable, but reading a good story might help keep soldiers attached to the good things from back home. This may seem corny, but so many letters from the soldiers and sailors were written to the authors of these books that emphasized this very point.

Betty Smith, the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn wrote and spoke about all of the letters she got from soldiers that told them how her book reminded them of their home in any big city in America - Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, or wherever. She said she received 10 times more mail from soldiers than from civilians. 

One of the most important reasons to put books in the hands of soldiers was that being anti-book was a trait of the Nazis. They were infamous for holding massive book burnings and emptying libraries of books they disagreed with. The American program to put books in the hands of soldiers was the opposite - and it was intentionally designed to be that way. The bad guys take books away from you - the good guys want you to read and think for yourself and give you books to do just that.

Note: This philosophy contrasts strongly with the Trump Adminsitration's choice to ban nearly 400 books from the libraries of the various military academies. For example, here is an article from April of 2025 about 385 books banned from the Naval Academy. 

These books were designed to be as small and lightweight as possible. They were intended to go along with a soldier no matter where he went. The print was tiny, the margins were almost non-existent and they were usually stapled together. They could slide into a pack, a pocket, or in the nooks and crannies of any vehicle. They could bend to the counters of a pack.

Men read and re-read them. When books were handed out, men would be strategic about their choices in order to guarantee a wide variety of reading choices. Men from different units traded and some units created portable libraries in crates that went right along with the unit no matter where they went. Men were assigned to be the caretakers of the books.

Their was a lot of debate about the books they picked. They weren't policed too much when it came to content. Southerners were irritated at books that were critical of their Jim Crow laws. Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath made the cut and it is hardly politically conservative. Some were strictly educational - books that explained science or math or philosophy. A great many were Westerns and there were a number of murder mysteries. By the time it was over, the U.S. government had printed 1,225 different titles and had given away 122 million books to its armed forces for free!

Here is a list of every book they printed.

This audiobook was interesting from beginning to end. As a book lover, it was inspiring to hear about men reading to their buddies in foxholes and men discovering that they actually liked reading. As a person that always has a book on hand, I understood completely.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II. 

THE PRICE of HONEY (Deadly Ambition Collection #1) by Liane Moriarty

Published by Amazon Original Stories in 2026.
Book 1 of the Deadly Ambition Series.

Synopsis

The Deadly Ambition Series is a collection of six short stories about people who push too far in pursuit of their ambitions and reap the tragic rewards. 

Honey Becket is the fourth wife of a naracistic tech billionaire. Technically, she is his widow. The story begins with Honey Becket riding in an Uber on the way to her husband's elaborately staged funeral. 

This is a near future sci-fi story - there is discussion about how rare it is that the Uber driver is an actual person and not a self-driving car. Artificial Intelligence is clearly a much larger part of day to day life than it is in early 2026. 

Honey Becket is not against technology, but she still enjoys doing things for herself. When she gets to the funeral, she goes against the plan and invites the other three ex-wives to sit with her up front.

And that's when things get interesting...

My Review

What I like best about this story is the character of Honey Becket. She was a makeup artist before they were married. He frequently referred to her perfect breasts. She was the latest "type" of woman in a series of women. She was supposed to be the pretty one - a trophy wife.

And she is so much more.

This story surprised me - I was expecting a sappy emotional story and it was so much more.

I rate this short story 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Price of Honey by Liane Moriarty.

REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING (audiobook) by Malcom Gladwell

Published in 2024 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by the author, Malcolm Gladwell.
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

Malcolm Gladwell delivers another immensely entertaining and informative rambling discussion of, well, so many things in Revenge of the Tipping Point.

Ostensibly, this is a look at the opioid epidemic, but Malcolm Gladwell's style always reminds the reader that the world is inter-related and complicated and so very interesting.

I plowed through this 8 hour audiobook in just a couple of days. I listened whenever I could and, honestly, I forgot that this was supposed to be a book about the opioid crisis during the 2nd hour and I did not remember he directly came back to the topic during hte 7th hour. In the meantime we had discussed medicare fraud in Florida, Cheetahs in zoos, the dangers of monocultures, Los Angeles as the country's epicenter of bank robberies, COVID superspreaders, vehicle emmissions, and more.

It was all so interesting and he does tie it all together. Also, we learn about unintended consequences in the last half hour.

This is my 8th review of a Gladwell book and I rated them all as 4 or 5 star books. I always think hard about listening to a new one because I know I am about to be immersed into a complicated, riveting set of stories and that's a commitment.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: REVENGE of the TIPPING POINT: OVERSTORIES, SUPERSPREADERS, and the RISE of SOCIAL ENGINEERING by Malcolm Gladwell.

THE DIRECTOR SHOULD'VE SHOT YOU: MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE (audiobook) by Alan Dean Foster

Published in 2024 by Tantor Media.
Read by Stephen R. Thorne.
Duration: 7 hours, 1 minute.
Unabridged.

Alan Dean Foster is a prolific sci-fi author. He has written over 50 sc-fi novels, but he is probably most famous for his numerous novelizations of sci-fi movies and TV shows, such as the original Star Wars movie (ghost written for George Lucas), Alien, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Krull, and The Last Starfighter.

The Director Should've Shot You is the story of Foster's experiences as the man who Hollywood turns to to write novelizations of sci-fi movies. He talks about how that system (usually) works, the odd experiences, his interactions with directors, producers, and faceless stuidio executives, and his various thoughts of the strengths and weaknesses of the various projects. 

My experiences with Foster as a young reader start with his two Star Wars books that he wrote when George Lucas  and his team were finishing the original movie.

As I noted, he ghost wrote the novelization of the first movie for George Lucas. He  also wrote the original sequel to the original Star Wars movie - a book called Splinter of the Mind's Eye. George Lucas asked Foster to make Splinter of the Mind's Eye a smaller story when compared to sweeping epic of the original story just in case the first movie turned out to be a bust. Lucas hoped to make a cheaper movie and recycle some of the original props and costumes in order to eke out a little profit. The runaway success of Star Wars made that plan unnecessary. 

We were so starved of Star Wars material back then. I must have read the novelization of the original Star Wars movie more than 10 times. This was back in the days when you could only see Star Wars in the movie theaters. It hadn't been played on TV yet and there were no VHS, DVD, or streaming releases. But, we had the books, the collectable cards, the toys to remind us of the story and it was an endless source of conversation.

I remember reading and discussing Splinter of the Mind's Eye until Lucas released the eventual sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. We were searching for any indication of how the stories might continue and we were trying to figure out how the Star Wars universe worked and all we really had were two little paperback books writen by Alan Dean Foster. That cover was excellent.

I must have read all of his novelizations of the Star Trek animated stories because I read everything Star Trek that I could find when I was in high school.

If you are looking for a complete autobiography of Foster, this isn't it. He offers a decent autobiography up to the point where he starts writing the movie novelizations and then it's pretty much all about those novels. That was fine by me - Foster is a critic and a fan at the same time and it was a fun listen.

The book is almost worth reading just to see what 1970s TV show paid him to write a novelization of a very special two episode story arc. It was certainly out of his normal area of expertise.

Now, I am seriously thinking about re-reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE DIRECTOR SHOULDVE SHOT YOU MEMOIRS of the FILM TRADE by Alan Dean Foster.

GRANT and LEE: VICTORIOUS AMERICAN and VANQUISHED VIRGINIAN by Edward H. Bonekemper III

Originally published in 2007.

Edward Bonekemper was a Civil War historian who came to the game kind of late in life - after he retired as an attorney for the federal government. 

However, he brings his skills as an attorney to this book. Imagine a regulatory attorney bringing all of his research to bear in order to win a case by simply  overwhelming the other side with binder after binder of evidence. In this case, the evidence is almost 200 pages of appendices, endnotes, and a bibliography. 

Bonekemper makes an argument in this book that Grant was undoubtedly the superior general when compared to Lee. In fact, he makes the arguments that Grant was the best general in the Civil War by far and Lee squandered his soldiers and his resources by going on the offense almost all of the time.

Being the best general does not mean Grant made no mistakes. It does not mean Grant was perfect. Bonekemper acknowledges mistakes by Grant in every campaign and gives Lee his due from time to time. 

Grant and Lee is really a dual history of these two generals, comparing their pre-war careers and then various stages of the war itself. For example, there is a chapter called May-July 1863 where the Vicksburg campaign is compared to the Chancellorsville/Gettysburg campaigns. 

A constant refrain is that Lee's biggest weakness is that he did not conserve his resources by falling back on the defensive. His argument is that Lee did not grasp the strategic fact that the North had to literally conquer the South while the South just had to stay alive until popular support collapsed in the North and the Europeans recognized the Confederate government. 

Instead of building a series of fortifications and compelling the Union forces to destroy themselves in useless attacks, Lee kept lashing out at Union forces and invaded the North twice only to lose both times and discourage European intervention after both failures.

Lee rarely lost more soldiers than the Union forces he fought, but he did not have a constant supply of new soldiers coming to the front - and the North did. Not only did the North replace soldiers at an amazing rate, they also managed to create all new armies when needed.

I found that I basically agreed with Bonekemper. Grant was the better general. Lee was too focused on Virginia and too eager to go on the offense. He did not save his resources and did not share the ones he had with other theaters of the war.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: GRANT and LEE: VICTORIOUS AMERICAN and VANQUISHED VIRGINIAN by Edward H. Bonekemper III.

THIS BOOK WON'T BURN (audiobook) by Samira Ahmed

Published by Little, Brown Young Readers in 2024.
Read by Kauser Mohammed.
Duration: 10 hours, 34 minutes.
Unabridged.

Book summary

Noor Khan is a senior in high school and she is devastated. Her father walked out on her family and moved back to his native England. He gave no warning and the family is reeling.

Noor's mother decides that a change of location would be best. Noor, her little sister (a freshman), and her mom move from their diverse upper middle class Chicago neighborhood to a downstate Illinois small town so that her mom can work at a small college. 

Noor hates it. She misses her friends and the vibrancy of Chicago. She also feels like an oddity because she is Indian and Muslim in a school that is very white and very Christian. 

She determines to gut out this one last semester of high school and then head back to Chicago to go to college. She decides she doesn't need friends or even to enjoy this small town - she just needs to get in, get the diploma and then get out.

But, she finds friends - the only Muslim/Indian boy in the area and his best friend - an proudly out-of-the-closet feisty lesbian. Together, these three comprise the diversity of their high school. They hang out in the school library whenever possible.

The library seems like a refuge until Noor notices that the stacks are missing lots and lots of books. The local chapter of a Moms for Liberty-type group has demanded that dozens and dozens of books be removed due to content. Like most of the large scale book bans across the country, this book ban has focused on books with LGBTQ+ characters, books with black and brown authors, and books that focus on America's troubled racial history. The local school board President is using his support of the high school library's book ban as the springboard to a run for the state legislature.

Can Noor stick to her original plan and just be quiet and graduate? Or, does she speak up in defense of her ideals of free speech and the freedom to read? 

Also, she is very much intrigued by the Indian/Muslim boy. But, she is also strangely attracted to a very nice white boy - he's an athlete, he's polite, and he thinks Noor is great - and his stepdad is the school board member that initiated the book ban...

My Review

The author, Samira Ahmed

The author, Samira Ahmed, has written several books that have been added to the seemingly never-ending book ban lists. She was inspired to write this book when a small town teacher spoke with her about her experience. The teacher was using one of Ahmed's books in her class when the book was banned. The teacher was caught in a bind - small town politics meant that her school administration would not support her and she feared for her job if she pushed to her hard. Her colleagues didn't fight for the books because they were about people who were different than those who lived in their town. They refused to fight for books written by and about people who were unlike themselves (NOTE: I am a public school teacher and I am so unbelievably disappointed that literature teachers would respond to a book challenge like that.)

The author changed that story a bit - instead of a teacher, she created a fiercely independent high school student with a strong sense of right and wrong when it comes to the First Amendment. 

I liked this story a lot. It drew me in - Noor and her friends are great characters. The love triangle aspect of the story works to make the consequences of Noor's actions even more powerful.

The reader was Kausar Mohammed and she did a fantastic job with a wide variety of voices and accents. Excellent work.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed.

JOHN WESLEY HARDIN: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

Published by Hourly History in October of 2025.

John Wesley Hardin (1853-1895) is the archetype of the Old West gunman in so many ways:

a) He was most active in the immediate post-Civil War era;

b) His violence was not really directed for any larger cause, mostly just family beefs or perceived personal insults;

c) Eventually, his violent ways caused his death.

Hardin was credited with more than 20 murders, although he claimed he killed 42 men. He wasn't fighting to prove a point, like Billy the Kid claimed to. He wasn't fighting as an extension of the Civil War, like Jesse James claimed to be doing. Instead, Hardin was literally running and gunning as he fled from one jurisdiction to another. He hid among an immense extended family network, eventually killed someone, and then fled to another location to hide among another set of cousins.

I found this to be an interesting read. Hardin was clearly some sort of sociopath - anyone who kills 42 people in multiple settings in less than 10 years is not normal.

I thought this quote about Hardin's father was amusing, but I am not sure if it was intentional: "Pastor Hardin didn't quite know what to make of his troubled son's life. But of one thing he was certain: there was no way that this rough-and-tumble renegade was going to follow in his footsteps and become a Methodist minister."

I rate this short e-book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: John Wesley Hardin: A Life from Beginning to End by Hourly History.

DRAGONS of AUTUMN TWILIGHT (Dragonlance Chronicles #1) (audiobook) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Originally published in 1984.
Audiobook published in 2013 by Audible Studios.
Read by Paul Boehmer.
Duration: 20 hours, 0 minutes.
Unabridged.

Way back when, I read every book in this series from cover to cover as quickly as they came out. I did the same with at least two other follow-up series from these authors and, if I remember correctly, I read other books that were connected to this series - but not by the original authors. I proudly had about a dozen related books on my book shelf.

That was 40 years ago. I sold those books along the way and had largely forgotten about them. I was reminded of them and I decided to listen to the audiobook version of the first book just to see if they were as good as I remembered.

Synopsis:

Krynn is a mostly peaceful place years after a calamity caused the people to turn away from the old gods. Cynicism abounds and the people worship new gods that may not after much comfort, but at least they didn't turn away from the people at their time of greatest need.

There are elves, humans, multiple types of dwarves, Kinder (halflings with zero impulse control), and humans of all sorts. Honorable knights still serve, but the people doubt their sincerity. Strange barbarians live out in the wild spaces and magic users can memorize spells to do any number of miraculous and dangerous things. 

A group of brave of explorers can make a small fortune exploring the ruins of the world before the destruction came - if they can fight.

The book starts with just such a group of explorers who are reuniting after splitting up to look into rumors of strange new armies arising, clerics serving gods no one has heard of, and possibly even the return of the ultimate creatures of the legends of the olden days - dragons!

Once the group assembles back in their home town the action starts almost immediately and they have to flee into the wilderness. As they work their across Krynn they find out that the rumors are much more than idle stories.

My review:

The original cover that I remember. 
Check out the $2.95 price!

This series reads exactly like a well-run Dungeons and Dragons campaign - because that is what it was designed to be. The creators of D&D released a campaign you could buy to go along with the book (or do something completely different than the characters in the book do.)

Back when I first read the series I was a regular player of D&D and this book felt very comfortable. Experienced D&D players will see the obvious NPC characters and even the little escapes the dungeon master will have built in to make sure the players have a successful campaign. 

The characters are pretty standard fantasy characters - a grumpy old dwarf, haughty elves, a mostly brawn fighter, a mostly brains magic user whose only loyalty is to himself, a paladin with an unbending code of honor, enthusiastic but unskilled newbies, a conflicted leader, and more.

Does it work?

After a slow start, it really does work very well. The first 3 or 4 hours of this 20 hour audiobook were slow, but once it gets going, it's worth it.

The characters make it work, as it is with all good books. In this case, two minor characters make the second half of the series fun and touching: Fizban the befuddled old wizard and Flamestrike, the grieving and senile old dragon. Excellent characters make for memorable scenes. Once I was reminded of Flamestrike, I immediately remembered her touching and dramatic final scene that I read 40 years earlier. 40 years later it was as good as I had remembered. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

LINCOLN'S GENERALS (Gettysburg Civil War Institute Collection) edited by Gabor S. Boritt

Published by Oxford University Press in 1995.

Lincoln's Generals is a collection of 5 essays written by scholars of various aspects of the Civil War. In this case, they focused on how Lincoln worked with his various generals, mostly the generals of the Army of the Potomac. They are organized in roughly chronological order.

The first essay was very well-written. It was by Stephen W. Sears and concerned Lincoln and McClellan. The weakest, for me, was the second essay, ostensibly about General Hooker. It's focus was really the macho culture of the time that required men to prove themselves manly by exposing themselves to fire. It wasn't a bad essay, but it really was not about the relationship between Lincoln and Hooker.

The other three essays were about Meade, Sherman, and Grant. 

I got an appreciation for the difficulties of Lincoln's political position, especially as the election of 1864 approached. Viewing things from 161 years later, it seems like it was all pre-ordained. The reminder that it was a close thing was welcome.

I rate this collection 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Lincoln's Generals (Gettysburg Civil War Institute Collection) edited by Gabor S. Boritt.

KING RICHARD I: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY of AMERICA'S GREATEST AUTO RACER by Richard Petty with William Neely

Originally published in 1986.

Richard Petty is NASCAR's winningest driver, with 200 wins. He raced from 1958-1992. He won seven championships, he won the Daytona 500 7 times and is one of the few drivers to win at every track he competed on during the course of his career. In 1967 he won 10 races in a row (!) on his way to winning 27 races for the season. 

He also won the very first NASCAR big time car race I ever saw at Michigan in 1981. 

I was already a fan - and I was sure that he would win every race I attended from the point forward (he didn't).

The Petty family raced in stock car races back when they really were stock cars - you could buy replacement parts at local dealers or in junkyards. They raced when you could drive the car to the track - but that was a bad idea if you were caught up in an accident and couldn't drive it back home.

They got in on the ground floor of NASCAR, with Richard Petty's dad winning 3 of the early championships and Richard, his brother, and his cousin serving as his underaged pit crew and car builders.

Petty's story is interesting enough, but because his story coincides with so much of the early history of NASCAR, it also tells their history as well - especially from the beginning to the mid-1970s. One could easily say that Richard Petty and NASCAR grew up together.

I found this to be an enjoyable well-told autobiography/history. Very well told. The cover quotes Playboy magazine as saying that King Richard I was "The best sports book of the year." They may have been right - it is very good.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: King Richard I: The Autobiography of America's Greatest Auto Racer.

OUR SUBWAY BABY (audiobook) by Peter Mercurio

Published in 2020 by Listening Library.

Read by the author, Peter Mercurio.

Duration: 7 minutes.

Unabridged.

I first heard about this story and the book Our Subway Baby in a social media post so I searched out the book. I didn't realize it was a book for children when I started searching, but it's a sweet little book.

The book starts with Danny Stewart spotting a newborn infant boy that was abandoned in the corner of a New York subway station. Stewart contacts the police, but also his boyfriend, Peter Mercurio, wondering if this was somehow fate. After all, they could never have children, but here is a child in need.

The couple keeps tabs of the baby and eventually adopt him. Their families and friends help them gather all of the things parents would need and baby Kevin finally joins his family.

The story is told from the point of view of Peter, as if he were talking to a young Kevin and telling him how Kevin found his way to his home. The language is simplified and the tricky details of an adoption are glossed over. The events in the story actually took place in the year 2000, so Kevin is a grown man nowadays.

This is a super heartwarming story. I give it an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.

Unfortunately, there are people that are against this book. It tied for the 12th most banned picture book in 2023-2024. Some people are not happy that an abandoned baby was saved and found a family. They are upset that the parents are gay men. Ugh. 

This book can be found on Amazon.com: Our Subway Baby.

BATMAN: ONE BAD DAY - MR. FREEZE (graphic novel) by Gerry Duggan

Published in 2023 by DC Comics.

Written by Gerry Duggan

Art by Matteo Scalera and Deron Bennett.

Synopsis

Inspired by the "spirit of Christmas," Batman, Robin, and Alfred discuss the possibility that a hardened criminal can actually reform. Batman and Robin decide to reach out to Mr. Freeze and offer to fund his research. 

Mr. Freeze has always justifies his crime sprees with the rationalization that he needs the things he steals for his research. He put his wife in a frozen stasis in order to stop the progression of a fatal disease and the research to fight this disease is incredibly expensive and sometimes requires exotic materials. 

Now, Batman has provided everything Mr. Freeze needs in an old LexCorp lab. Theoretically, this should put an end to Mr. Freeze's criminal career, right?

It turns out that Mr. Freeze is far more complicated and far more creepy than anyone knew...

My Review

I read all of the graphic novels in the One Bad Day Series this summer and I think that this one was the best of a strong collection. It made me see Mr. Freeze in a completely different light and made him seem much more human - a profoundly mentally disturbed human with a lot of scientific and technical skills, but human.

The art is dark and moody, but also very clear. You can see when Robin smirks in a hopeful way at a comment Batman makes and you can feel the Batmobile fishtailing on a icy street. 

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman: One Bad Day - Mr. Freeze.

SUPERMAN '78 (graphic novel) by Robert Venditti

Published in 2022 by DC Comics.

Written by Robert Venditti.

Art by Wilfredo Torres and Jordie Bellaire.

Synopsis

Superman '78 is a short series (sadly) based on the Christopher Reeves movies that were released from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. Like the movies, the plot is pretty simple and everything follows a very traditional Superman storyline - red shorts, sassy Lois Lane, bald Lex Luthor, and so on. That's fine by me - I really like traditional Superman.

Brainiac saves the city of Superman's Kryptonian home from ultimate destruction when Krypton explodes by shrinking them and storing them safely on his ship in a glass jar. He keeps them stored away because they are the remnants of "a careless, dangerous civilization."

When Brainiac discovers that Earth has a Kryptonian (Superman), he seeks to save Earth by eradicating Superman because he is an infestation of an alien civilization that has already destroyed their own world. Kryptonians are dangerous and must be collected and stored away in their little glass jar.

Because he believes all Kryptonians are dangerous, Brainiac sends his robots to collect Superman. He is surprised when he finds that the citizens of Metropolis are more than willing to defend Superman - with arguments and weapons. One resident yells out, "ALL of us come from somewhere else" and another follows up with "Superman couldn't BE more Metropolis."

Brainiac decides that the mere presence of Superman has tainted the humans in Metropolis and they might have to be removed to one of his collection jars. Superman offers himself up willingly - as a trade in order to protect his city only to find out that Brainiac has other plans for Metropolis...

My Review

I really like the clean and simple lines of the art in this series. The spirit of the Reeves movies is obvious throughout. Quite enjoyable.

Funny note - Lex Luthor is on parole for one of his many crimes. Part of the condition of his parole is getting a job. The sight of Luthor in an unemployment office and being offered a job in a cafeteria is a hoot.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman '78.

THE INSTINCT for COOPERATION: A GRAPHIC NOVEL CONVERSATION with NOAM CHOMSKY (graphic novel) by Noam Chomsky and Jeffrey Wilson

Published in 2018 by Seven Stories Press.
Written by Noam Chomsky and Jeffrey Wilson.
Art by Eliseu Gouveia.

Jeffrey Wilson interviewed Noam Chomsky for The Instinct for Cooperation and the results probably would have been a typical interview with Chomsky. The interview was about the Occupy Wall Street Movement and the little groups that organically formed within the protests, such as the food tent, the medical tent, and the library. 

Wilson wove in interviews that he had done with people who participated in the Occupy Movement, students and teachers who had bad interactions with education "reform" movements, and other topics like student loan debt. 

This could have easily been a mess, but Wilson does a very good job of weaving together all of the interviews so that it felt more like a natural free-flowing conversation. The illustrations helped move everything along to make this very digestible. There is a lot of food for thought.

Well done.

5 out of 5 stars.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: The Instinct for Cooperation: A Graphic Novel Conversation with Noam Chomsky.

COMMEMORATIVE HISTORY of the GEORGE ROGERS CLARK BICENTENNIAL EXHIBIT by The Indiana State Museum

Published in 1976 by the Indiana State Museum Society.

1976 was the bicentennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence and if you were not alive in 1976, you have no idea how much went into that recognition. Every store had special decorations, every town had commemorations, everyone had red, white, and blue clothing and this went on for a long time - not just on the Fourth of July in 1976.

Part of this ongoing celebration took place in museums. The Indiana State Museum had a 3 year exhibit on Indiana's role in the American Revolution. People remember the original thirteen colonies and correctly note that Indiana was not one of those colonies. None of Indiana's immediate neighbors were, either.

But, the modern states of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois were on the front line of a different kind of war zone during the American Revolution. There were no great ships, no massed armies, and precious few soldiers even wearing an actual uniform - but there were pitched battles. Commemorative History of the George Rogers Clark Bicentennial Exhibit tells one of the most dramatic parts of that story.

During the fighting, White towns and settlements were wiped out. Indian villages were burned to the ground. much of the fighting was due to the encouragement and financing of the British government. The British Lt. Governor in Detroit was ordered to finance Indian attacks on white settlements in an effort to start a wide ranging guerrilla war in the Ohio River Valley to distract the American colonies from the main fight on the Atlantic coast.

This was not hard to do since a low grade fight had been going on for more than a decade. In order to keep up their side of the fight, the Indians needed supplies to feed their families and weapons and the British could easily supply those. The supplies were shipped out of Detroit to a network of smaller forts in Illinois and Indiana.

George Rogers Clark figured that the way to shut down this fight was to take those British forts. He did some preliminary reconnaissance and found that they were lightly defended, depending mostly on the vast spaces of friendly Indian territory between them to protect them. He secured funding from Virginia Governor Patrick Henry to buy powder and supplies for 350 frontiersmen to attack two forts in Illinois near the Mississippi and Vincennes on the Wabash.

Clark got together about half the amount of men he thought he would need and launched his attack in 1778. He was so successful that Lt. Governor Hamilton personally led an expedition to retake Vincennes. From there, he planned a reconquest of the Illinois forts.

Clark decided that a bold move had to be taken before Hamilton could bring in more supplies, equipment, and men. Clark led a 180 mile march across southern Illinois in February of 1779 in order to surprise Hamilton. 

If you do not live in the midwest, you may not understand how truly miserable it can be in February. It may not snow much, but it will be very wet and very miserable - and it was in 1779. It wasn't cold enough to freeze, but it rained for days on end and the rivers came out of their banks. Imagine hiking nonstop through a sloppy mudhole in 35 degree weather with no dry land to be found for days on end with no modern clothing to keep you warm.

At one point their drummer boy had to cross a flooded area by using his drum as a flotation device while he kicked with his feet. The expedition ate all of their food because the floods drove away most of the wild game.

There was a reason that Hamilton felt secure in Vincennes - no one was crazy enough to march through this mess!

Clark's 170 man force surprised Hamilton and convinced him they were a much larger force through some trickery. Hamilton to surrender on February 25, 1779.

Clark's surprise attack cemented America's claim to what is now called the Old Northwest and was one of the factors that helped convince France to support the Colonies in the Revolutionary War. Clark described it this way: "Great things have been effected by a few men well conducted."

This book has a lot of photographs of items displayed in the exhibit. It also includes the illustrations commissioned for them. I found the illustrations to be helpful and interesting, although a bit retro. The strength of this small book does not lie in the pictures, however. The text is the real strength of the book. The story of the entire campaign is told in well-paced bite-sized bits. 

I rate this history 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Commemorative History of the George Rogers Clark Bicentennial Exhibit.

A completely horrible scan of this small book can be found here: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED139709. The text is legible, and that's about all that can be said for it.

FREE FALL (Elvis Cole #4) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Originally published in book form in 1993.

Published as an audiobook in 2008 by Brilliance Audio.

Read by Mel Foster.

Duration: 8 hours, 13 minutes.

Unabridged.

I found the Elvis Cole novels years ago, but somehow I have been reading them as a I found them rather than trying to trying to read them in chronological order. So, here I am going back more than thirty years to book 4 out of a 20+ book series, depending on how you count some of Crais' other books.

Synopsis

Like all classic detective novels, in Free Fall we find our intrepid main character in his office when a beautiful young lady enters looking for help with a desperate problem. 

This young woman is concerned about her fiance. He is a relatively young member of LAPD and part of a rapid reaction team because he is a promising young officer. When crime pops up in a neighborhood - such as new gang activity or more drug sales or a series of home invasions, this team is sent out to supplement regular officers in the neighborhood.

She is worried that her fiance has changed. He has become secretive and closed off and he never was that way before he joined this rapid reaction team. Elvis agrees to start looking into things and it turns out that the police don't really like it when they are being investigated...

My Review

This is a good story all around. Lots of smart comments from Elvis Cole and we get to learn more about his partner Joe Pike and his background. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Free Fall by Robert Crais.

LULLABY TOWN (Elvis Cole #3) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Book originally published in 1992.

Audiobook published by Brilliance Audio in 2008.

Read by Mel Foster.

Duration: 8 hours, 33 minutes.

Unabridged.

Anthony Award Nominee for Best Novel (1993)

Shamus Award Nominee for Best PI Hardcover (1993)

Synopsis

Elvis Cole is hired by a very successful young Hollywood director in Lullaby Town to find his divorced wife and his son that he hasn't seen since he was an infant. It has been ten years since the divorce. His ex-wife hasn't been kidnapped or gone missing - she just moved away and the director has lost track of her. Now, he'd like to meet his son. 

The director has to be the single most annoying client that Elvis Cole has ever had. He is pushy, obnoxious, and completely self-absorbed. Elvis notes early on that almost every sentence the man utters starts with "I" as in "I think this" and "I did that." It's pretty obvious why the ex-wife left him and just kept on going with no forwarding address.

So, Elvis takes this job and starts searching. When he finally finds her he discovers that she has a lot more problems than a super-annoying ex-husband coming back in her life...

My Review

The first third of this book is a real lesson in the step by step research and follow through of basic detective work. You'd think it would be boring, but it isn't. The last third has a ton of action.

All in all, this is an excellent detective story.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Lullaby Town by Robert Crais.

BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: CATWOMAN (graphic novel) by G. Willow Wilson

Written by G. Willow Wilson

Art by Jamie McKelvie

Synopsis

The One Bad Day series is a look at some of the biggest Batman villains in a book just dedicated to that villain. A lot of them, but certainly not all of them, take a sympathetic look at that villain.

Batman - One Bad Day: Catwoman is one of the more sympathetic takes. 

Catwoman is looking through an auction catalog for high end jewelry when she finds an unusual listing for a piece of post-World War II French jewelry that commemorates the end of Nazi occupation. It is a rare piece with a message of a return to freedom for France's artists its reserve price is $30,000.

It is also a piece her mother sold to a pawn shop for only $200 when Catwoman was a child in order to attempt to make her rent money that month.

Catwoman decides to take back the jewelry and right a wrong...

My Review

This one was interesting because the stakes, in reality, are really pretty low - a piece of jewelry that is worth thousands instead of millions and a long-forgotten bit of family pride. 

But, because it's so personal, the stakes are actually very high for Catwoman.

The heist story was good. For once, this did not involve the worn-out plot device of Catwoman cutting glass with her claws and slinking around laser security systems in order to steal a priceless diamond from a museum. 

The art was clear and easy to follow and there was no need to be aware of some obscure plot point from a comic published decades ago. All that is required is a basic knowledge of Catwoman and her relationship with Batman. 

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman - One Bad Day: Catwoman.

BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: PENGUIN (One Bad Day series) (graphic novel) by John Ridley

Published by DC Comics in 2023.

Story by John Ridley.

Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, and Arif Prianto.

Synopsis

Batman - One Bad Day: Penguin finds the hero (!) of the story, Batman's infamous foe Penguin, completely down and out. He has $20 and is sitting on a park bench in the rain. He is taped and bandaged up from a beating. He is unshaven and disheveled. He is waiting for a is waiting to meet a young person to sell him a gun.

He has been pushed out of his role of crime boss of Gotham by a former subordinate. He plans to go into the city and take back his organization - but all he has is one little snub-nosed pistol, one bullet, and no friends.

Turns out he didn't really need to pistol or the bullet - it's your friends that count.

My Review

I truly liked this comic. The way the story went surprised me and I really enjoyed it. Penguin can be a surprisingly sympathetic figure for a super-villain. His origin story isn't the roughest, but just about everyone has experienced a little bit of what made Oswald Cobblepot into the Penguin.

The tense confrontation/conversation that Penguin and Batman have in the middle was an interesting take on this version of Penguin. If this Penguin were in a Dungeons and Dragon campaign, he would be Lawful Evil, and that really shows throughout. No one likes a crime boss, but when the alternative is a chaos agent that actively enjoys the city being burned to the ground, you just end of rooting for the guy.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: BATMAN - ONE BAD DAY: PENGUIN by John Ridley.