THE WORLD ACCORDING to STAR WARS (audiobook) by Cass R. Sunstein

Published in May of 2016 by HarperAudio.
Read by Kaleo Griffith
Duration: 5 hours, 44 minutes
Unabridged

Besides being a Law Professor at Harvard and a former member of the Obama Administration, Cass R. Sunstein is a massive fan of all things Star Wars. 

The World According to Star Wars is a wide-ranging and mostly interesting discussion using Star Wars as a way to explain aspects of the American and world political scene, economics and family dynamics. 

He starts with a little history of how Star Wars came to be, including George Lucas's struggles in writing the screenplay, the way the actors all thought they were acting in an interesting movie that was certain to be a big flop and the reluctance by the studios to really push the movie.

But, despite the odds, Star Wars became a massive phenomenon - the series is the all-time leader in multiple categories and the hits just keep on coming. Sunstein explores why it became a big hit, looking at the timing of its release, what was going on in American culture and the like. This part was a little too long, in my opinion.

But, the rest of it was great. He discusses what the Galactic Empire symbolized, what the Rebellion symbolized and even how Richard Nixon, the USSR and mechanization are possible inspirations. He also talks about Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Fathers and sons and how Star Wars incorporates Christian themes like redemption and how the Jedi incorporate Buddhist themes.

The reader, Kaleo Griffith, keeps the book moving at an enjoyable pace. If you are a super-hardcore fanboy you probably heard a lot of this already, but if you're merely a fan you will find this book to be an interesting take on Star Wars.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The World According to Star Wars.

THOSE GRAND OCCASIONS at the END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

Published by Random House Audio in 2009
Read by the author, Tom Bodett
Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Abridged

This book focuses on town celebrations, thus the references to "Grand Occasions" in the title. The quirky town of End of the Road, Alaska puts its own twist on everything. If you follow this series, that is no surprise. If you have not followed this series, do not start with this one. It is excellent but it depends on the listener actually knowing who the characters are beforehand.

Adolescent Norman Tuttle struggles with being treated like a kid when at Thanksgiving and in other family activities. Meanwhile, the town gets a town Christmas tree thanks to finally getting a public park and, of course, this somehow becomes controversial. New Year's celebrations become more than a bit weird due to the weather. 

Perhaps the funniest story is about how the town tries to open a safe that was used as a time capsule. Why? In their excitement to put important documents in it decades ago someone put the only copy of the plans to the city water system in it and now no one can get the capsule open. In their defense, they were asked to put important documents in the time capsule and the water plans are certainly important and no one needed them for years.

Tom Bodett's voice and the piano accompaniment are perfect for these stories. I cannot recommend this series enough.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Those Grand Occasions at the End of the Road. 

THE END of the ROAD (audiobook) by Tom Bodett

Originally published in 1989.
Audio edition published in 1999 by Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio
Read by the author, Tom Bodett
Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Abridged

This is the first of Tom Bodett's excellent "End of the Road" series and it is a joy to meet the quirky people who live in this small town in Alaska.

It starts with the annual town parade and festival in the local quarry (it's easier to clean up a quarry, at least that's the theory), complete with fish tossing and a pistol shooting contest and ends up with a great story of two friends who travel from Alaska to Florida to pick up a brand new fire truck and then drive it back to Seattle to ship to Alaska by ship. It is the road trip of a lifetime.

Great quotes from the book:

"Men share some of their most intimate moments leaning against vehicles with their arms crossed, looking at anything but each other." 

"I don't think there's a man in America who didn't spend at least a year of his young life sure that he'd grow up to be a fireman"

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: The End of the Road.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

DIES IRAE: DAY of WRATH: A Novella by William Forstchen

Published in 2014 by Spectrum Literary Agency

William R. Fortschen notes in his introduction to Dies Irae: Day of Wrath that he felt compelled to write the story after a long discussion with a couple of friends about ISIS and the porous nature of America's southern border. What he came up with is this novella that is jam-packed full of action and very short on things like character development and a real resolution. But, it was written as a warning more than anything else.

The main characters are Bob Peterson and his wife Kathy who live in Maine. Bob is a middle school teacher. ISIS-backed terrorists have invaded America to launch a series of attacks on schools in smaller towns across the country, including Bob's.

Bob breaks school rules and state laws by carrying a pistol on his person in the school, and on this day that is a good thing...

Fortschen's descriptions of the ensuing death and mayhem are over the top but effective. To be honest, this book reminded me of Stephen King's orgies of blood and chaos in books like The Stand and Cell and I think that Fortschen would welcome the comparison.

Is this book a great book? No. It is over-the-top and alarmist.

That said, it is a compelling read, even though this public school teacher is very much against arming teachers in a school setting.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Dies Arae: Day of Wrath.

ENDANGERED (Joe Pickett # 15) by C.J. Box

Published in 2015 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Technically, Endangered is a Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski novel but they have no interaction throughout the book. Nate has been released from prison because of a complex deal between the feds and Joe Pickett's boss, the Governor of Wyoming. But, one of the conditions of his release is that he cannot have any contact with Joe Pickett - a part of the deal that was tossed in out of spite by the FBI agent that negotiated the deal.

Romanowski agrees and heads off to a new life with his new love interest.  They have opened a business in which he will use his hunting falcons to clear out smaller birds from barns and the like. But, Romanowski soon discovers that he was mostly let out of prison to become bait for the people that he testified against in prison so that the FBI can have a chance to nab them - maybe before they kill Nate, maybe not.

Meanwhile, Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is dealing with troubles of his own. His adopted daughter April has returned to Twelve Sleep County, unbeknownst to her family. They find out when she is discovered on the side of the road nearly beaten to death. Pickett has his suspicions of the real culprit even though the clues are pointing to a strange loner who lives on the edge of town...

This is an exciting, suspenseful addition to the series. Lots of action, lots of drama and multiple story lines. The ending was satisfying, if not a little too pat for my tastes. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Endangered (Joe Pickett #15). 

61 HOURS (Jack Reacher #14) (audiobook) by Lee Child

Published by Random House Audio in April of 2011.
Read by Dick Hill
Duration: 13 Hours, 43 Minutes
Unabridged

Jack Reacher is on a tour bus in 61 Hours with a lot of retired folks who took advantage of a discounted tour price to tour South Dakota in the winter time. Reacher paid the driver to hop on the bus, ride along, and skip the tour. They are on their way to Mount Rushmore when the bus skids on an icy patch on the interstate and gets hung up. Normally, that is not such a big deal, but a massive series of snowstorms is coming in and the temperature is dropping in a hurry.

Photo by DWD

The tourists, the driver and Reacher are evacuated to a small town with a big problem. A little old lady witnessed a local biker gang member selling meth to a big-time dealer and the trial is quickly approaching. But, the old lady has been threatened and the local police are expecting an outside hit-man to come to town and kill her so she can't testify and they suspect Reacher just may be that man.

Meanwhile, the snow is piling up, the temperature is dropping, the biker gang is acting stranger and stranger, an abandoned military site is suddenly the center of activity and the real hit-man is on the prowl...

There is a lot of action and lot of bone-shaking cold in this Reacher adventure. Ultimately it is a whodunnit and Lee Child does a great job of dropping clues that lead the reader to suspect all sorts of people. In the end, my first suspect was the real culprit, but I did doubt my suspicions from time to time.

Dick Hill is one of my all-time favorite audiobook readers and he does a solid job here. His tone adds to the ominous nature quite well.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: 61 Hours (Jack Reacher #14).

1944: FDR and the YEAR THAT CHANGED HISTORY (audiobook) by Jay Winik

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2015 by Simon and Schuster Audio
Read by Arthur Morey
Duration: 21 Hours, 10 minutes
Unabridged

The premise of 1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History is that 1944 is the most important year of World War II - the year that the Allies grew certain that they were going to win the war, the year that post-War plans were laid out, the year of the D-Day invasion and more.

This effort by Jay Winik is very readable and was an informative and entertaining listen. There are times when he creates fabulous images in the listener's mind that are worthy of any novelist. His description of the extent of anti-Jewish operations throughout Europe and particularly in Auschwitz and other death camps are so vivid and so striking that I can readily recommend this book as a good place to start for anyone who wants a serious look.

The book focuses on FDR, his personality and how he shaped the war effort and post-War institutions like the United Nations. Winik details Roosevelt's health problems and points out how Roosevelt's health affected his efforts and possibly affected his judgment.

However, there is a problem with the book and that is the title - what he wrote about does not match the title.

Josef Stalin (1878-1953), FDR (1882-1945) and Winston
Churchill (1874-1965) at the Tehran Conference in 1943.

He has written an excellent book, but I don't think that he proved his assertion of the title that 1944 was THE YEAR. The book covers all of FDR's life and spends a lot of time in every year of the war but 1944. The topics he covered were important and he covers them well. A great deal of the book covers the holocaust and FDR's response to the proof that the "final solution" was underway. I have no problem with this as a topic (I already noted this above) but I do have a problem with a book that purports to talk about the importance of 1944 to world history and goes on to literally spend more time talking about Anne Frank than the entire Pacific Theater of World War II. I am not kidding. Don't get me wrong - Anne Frank's story is compelling, but it is not, in and of itself, worthy of more mention than all of the fighting in Korea, China, the Philippines, the attempted invasion of Australia, the use of the atomic bombs, the war atrocities throughout the theater and the millions of soldiers and sailors involved in fighting throughout the theater.

The reader, Arthur Morey, did an excellent job, even going so far as to mimic the voice of FDR when he read quotes from him.

This is a well-written and immensely informative book that is simply mistitled. 

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 because of the misleading title.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: 1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History.