Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany: June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 (audiobook) by Stephen Ambrose

Beautifully told - in all of its splendor and horror

5 CDs
Approximately 5 Hours

Abridged.
Also includes a tiny 6 panel map of the war zones.

Cotter Smith masterfully narrates a wonderful re-telling of Ambrose's favorite topic - the Western European theater of World War II. Citizen Soldiers would serve as a fantastic introduction to this topic, but also is told well enough that someone who has read it all before, like me, found it interesting, informative and entertaining.

Ambrose spices up the story with a lot of stories about regular soldiers at the front. We learn about the challenges, the humor, and the horrors of the fight. Some are soldiers you've never heard of, others are more famous such as Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-five) and Jimmy Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Stephen Ambrose

). Some stories make you laugh out loud, the Vonnegut Christmas story was so sad that I turned off the CD player and drove the rest of the way home in silence because it just didn't seem right to go on.

Highly recommended.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Citizen Soldiers.

Reviewed on March 24, 2010.

Mary S. Peake, The Colored Teacher at Fortress Monroe (a Kindle book) by Rev. Lewis C. Lockwood

More interesting as a piece of history than as a piece of literature

Originally published in 1862.

This kindle e-book was most likely published as a missionary pamphlet during the American Civil War (1862). The author describes himself as the "first missionary to the freedmen at Fortress Monroe" in Virginia and was published by the American Tract Society. It originally had 64 pages (the Kindle edition that I read has accidentally transcribed the page numbers into the text).

Mary S. Peake

This tract is akin to those late night TV commercials that Sally Struthers used to do (and now done by a gentleman with a beard) but with a much more low key appeal - in fact there is no direct appeal for money. It is an update on the success that these missionaries have had in reaching out with the gospel and education to the newly freed slaves. It is also includes a story that is intended to pull at the heartstrings - the story of Mary S. Peake, a moderately well educated lady of mixed racial heritage that taught the young newly freed slaves in Hampton, Virginia.

The text provides an interesting overview of the experiences of the slaves and their masters as the Union armies approached and an idealized version of the experiences of those slaves after they were freed.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Mary S. Peake, The Colored Teacher at Fortress Monroe by Rev. Lewis C. Lockwood.

Reviewed on March 30, 2010.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Greece by Eric D. Nelson

Published in 2005.

The problem is that this book is trying to be two things at once - a resource book to be used as a quick reference (When was Alexander the Great born? What did the Epicureans believe?) or is it a basic history of the Ancient Greeks? Other books in the series that I have reviewed, such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to World Religions were clearly meant to be a quick reference guide.

So, as a history, this is sort of a frustrating read. The story of the Ancient Greeks is told in fits and starts. As a quick reference, it is good. The facts are solid and told in an understandable, interesting manner.

I wasn't using it as a quick reference, rather I was reviewing the topic so as to be better prepared for the next time I teach ancient history. You can never tell what interesting tidbits you can pick up to spice up your presentations - even from the most basic of sources. For example, I learned that King Pyrrhus - the king that inspired the term "Pyrrhic victory" was killed by a woman that threw a pot out of her window during a street battle (although further research shows that some claim he was only stunned by a roofing tile and this allowed him to be killed by a soldier. Either way, it's a good story).

So, as a narrative history - this is a 3 star book. As a reference, it is a 5 star book. So, split the difference and call it 4 stars out of 5.

Reviewed on March 30, 2010.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Ancient Greece by Eric D. Nelson.

Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution (audiobook) by Robert H. Patton

A tedious listen.

Published by Tantor Audio in 2008.
Duration: 10 hours, 25 minutes.
Read by Alan Sklar.
Unabridged.

I am an avid reader of history. I also enjoy listening to histories as part of my daily commute. I thought Patriot Pirates would be a fantastic diversion since I knew relatively little about the naval history of the Revolutionary War besides the story of Bonhomme Richard and the fact that the Continental Congress authorized the use of privateers.

Unfortunately, Patton's dry, overly wordy text coupled with Alan Sklar's (the narrator) ironic, almost mocking tone made me both both bored and irritated at the same time. If it can be said in 50 words, Patton uses 500. He tells the same stories over and over again. After listening to 5 of 9 discs I refused to force myself to slog through another chapter - partially because it was so poorly narrated, partially because I was becoming a public safety hazard - I was literally nodding off. I listen to CDs to make my drive more interesting but there was nothing there to keep my attention.

Patton freely admits that he is not really a devotee of the Revolutionary War which may have contributed to the dry tone of the book. The battle scenes are described to great effect but the rest of it is just not told in an interesting way. I have no problem with the facts presented, but this book is even less interesting than the history textbooks that this history teacher despises.

I rated this audiobook 1 star out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Patriot Pirates: Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution.

Reviewed on April 13, 2010.

The Third Rail (Michael Kelly #3) by Michael Harvey

A Solid Crime Story

Originally Published in 2010.

The Third Rail is the third book in a series about Michael Kelly, a hard-boiled former cop turned private detective. Lots of action and lots of tension build throughout the book as Kelly investigates a series of seemingly random attacks on Chicago's famed Elevated Train system.

For me, this was a welcome change of pace from the seemingly endless books about crime in NYC and LA, cities that I know only from television. I am a Midwesterner and I am familiar with the Windy City so I had no problems envisioning the neighborhoods and the city skyline.

That being said, the plot was not terribly original (the TV show Castle ran a similar premise as an episode while I was reading this book) and the old saw with the Catholic Church being corrupt and more worried about PR than anything else has been played too often as of late.

Photo by Kelly Martin

Chapter 26 features an especially clever point of view on victims of a shooting on Lake Shore Drive - it's rare when someone has a new way of looking at things in an overcrowded genre such as the crime novel.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Third Rail by Michael Harvey. 

Reviewed on April 21, 2010.

Neil Young's Greendale by Josh Dysart and Cliff Chiang

Unfocused, does not really stand alone from the album

Published in 2010 by Vertigo.

I'd never heard of Neil Young's Greendale album before I picked up this graphic novel, but I decided the premise was interesting enough that I gave it a chance.

"Greendale" might be your cup of tea if you like your reading material to touch upon tons of ideas but develop none of them. This book is a coming-of-age, anti-war, anti-importing-oil, anti-drilling-for-more-American-oil-so-we-don't-have-to-import-it, anti-big-electricity, anti-media, super-hero book in which our heroine uses some of her powers to control people's minds (?) and change their opinions about all of these topics by speaking a bunch of platitudes at the end of the book while the devil character (who wanders in and out of the book and is making deals with the Bush 43 Administration and big energy on his cell phone) is beaten.

I'm not really if she uses her super powers to control peoples minds, but they do point out that herd animals follow her naturally (sheep, caribou, cattle) and the only way her sophomoric rantings at the end of the book (chock full of meaningless phrases like "We are breathing in new ideas, the collective progressive tendency of the nation is becoming stronger!") would not have had an effect on anyone unless she backed them up with her power to control herds of animals.

None of these themes is explored in very much depth. I suppose the book is really about the women in the Green family of Greendale, California. Nature-based superpowers are inherited by the women in the Green family but the book doesn't look into (in any detail) what these women have done with those powers. The powers are clearly nature-based but are they guardians of nature? Do they use their powers to thwart development, aid it or are they neutral towards it? Why does the boyfriend turn into some sort of goat-thing? Why do some of the women become deformed while others look normal?

There were so many interesting stories that could have been told here. Instead, they have decided to tell them all at once and in so doing, they have told none of them at all.

I rated this book 2 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Neil Young's Greendale.

Reviewed on April 24, 2010.

Split Image by Robert B. Parker

A good ending to both series.

Jesse Stone #9
Sunny Randall #7

Published in 2010.

Robert B. Parker couldn't have scripted a better ending to the Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall series if he had tried. Sadly, there will be no more of this series due to the death of Robert B. Parker but, happily, both end on a strong note.

Split Image is really two books wrapped up in one. There is a small Sunny Randall mystery that is semi-independent of the main investigative line of Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone. Both are good and throw in the interactions between Randall and Stone you have the makings of a strong addition to both series. I won't go into plot details here, but I can say that I do recommend this one for followers of either series.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Split Image.

Reviwed on April 26, 2010.