STEVE McQUEEN: THE SALVATION of an AMERICAN ICON (audiobook) by Greg Laurie and Marshall Terrill

Published by Christianaudio.com in 2017.
Read by John Pruden.
Duration: 7 hours, 2 minutes.
Unabridged. 

In the 1960's to the 1970's, Steve McQueen (1930-1980) was the epitome of "cool" in Hollywood. Movies like The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt and The Great Escape made him one of the most sought-after actors in the world.

But, there was a long back story to Steve McQueen and his tragic death due to cancer had a surprising twist for a man who seemed to be out to take as much out of life as possible.

Greg Laurie, a super-successful California pastor (who I had never heard of, but his Wikipedia page is something else) wrote Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon in order to investigate a rumor that Steve McQueen became a Christian before his death. He decided to be methodical and investigate McQueen's life from its beginning in Beech Grove, Indiana to its end at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

McQueen was born at St. Francis hospital in Beech Grove, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. His family struggled from the very beginning and he never knew his father. His mother struggled with substance abuse and often brought home "boyfriends" who abused both Steve and his mom. 

The author grew up with similar struggles (single mom who moved a lot, abused a lot of different substances and brought unsavory men into the household) and he uses this similar background as a starting point of the book. In reality, this book is both a biography of McQueen and an autobiography of Laurie. I found both of their lives to be interesting and Laurie's observations about his own experiences growing up shed light on Steve McQueen's life as well.

Laurie follows McQueen from his childhood (including a stint in a group home for young men that was similar to a low-intensity jail) to his stint in the Marines to his beginnings as an actor in New York City and then on to Hollywood.

The question that Laurie was investigating was whether McQueen became a Christian before he died. Yes, he did - several months before he was diagnosed with the aggressive cancer that killed him.

I am not a particularly great fan of Steve McQueen, but this biography was pretty interesting as a look at popular culture 50 years ago. This book could've have used a little less about Greg Laurie and a half hour of repetitive storytelling could have easily been edited out of this audiobook. Despite those caveats, this was still an enjoyable listen.

John Pruden read the audiobook and he did an excellent job. It truly sounded like he was reading his own story.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STEVE McQUEEN: THE SALVATION of an AMERICAN ICON (audiobook) by Greg Laurie and Marshall Terrill.

ETHAN FROME by Edith Wharton

Originally published in 1911.

Way back in high school in the 1980's I had to read Ethan Frome. I didn't remember anything about it except that it is set in New England and it involved an accident in the snow (no spoilers - this is laid in the first four paragraphs.)

I decided to revisit this book and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Ethan Frome is a New England farmer who limps around town due to a 24 year old injury. He is sad man who almost never has visitors to his struggling farm. He makes up the difference by doing odd jobs, such as ferrying visitors around. The narrator of this book tells us the story of Ethan Frome, as it was told to him (or her?) by Ethan Frome himself when the narrator was forced to stay the night in the Frome house during a terrible snowstorm.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

This is a story of regret, love, temptation and obligations. I have no idea why we read this book in high school because there is simply no way that a high school reader would be able to identify with the situations in the book - an older person who has experienced the ups and downs of life can empathize with Ethan Frome even if he or she wouldn't have made the same choices. 

I found the book to be very interesting. Actually it turned out to be a real page-turner for me, much to my surprise. I have had this book in my to-be-read pile for a long time and I picked it just to get it out of the pile only to find out that it was a great book.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. 

CIVIL WAR: THE CONFLICT THAT CREATED MODERN AMERICA by Peter Chrisp

Originally published in 2013.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman
near Atlanta in 1864.

This book is aimed at 4th-8th graders. It tells an abbreviated history of the Civil War, featuring a lot of pictures and text boxes. It makes for a disjointed read, but it is really designed to be a kid version of a coffee table book.

I was not fond of its description of slavery vs. abolitionism argument on page 6. It takes a neutral stand, meaning that it makes an equal space for the argument for abolitionism and point of view of the slave owners. Really?

The description of the Springfield Rifle on page 18 makes it sound like it could be fired accurately up to 500 yards. In reality, it was a lot less than that for the average soldier. Sure, it could kill someone at 500 yards, but in the hands of the average soldier that would be the shot of a lifetime - or an accident.

On page 39, it pronounces that Sherman intentionally burned Atlanta. He may have, but if he did he kept it to himself. He did order the cotton in storage burned - and that spread to the rest of the city. Intentional? Maybe. Maybe not. To be sure, Sherman didn't spend a lot of time crying over Atlanta.

What does it do well? It gives biographies of the major commanders, includes both Confederate flags (not just the more famous "battle flag"). It also includes a section on "Lost Cause" revisionism, the KKK and sharecropping, rather than just ending with Lincoln's assassination as so many books do.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: CIVIL WAR: THE CONFLICT THAT CREATED MODERN AMERICA by Peter Chrisp.

SIMON BOLIVAR: THE GREAT LIBERATOR (World Landmark Series) by Arnold Whitridge

Published in 1954 by Random House.

In the 1950's and 1960's Random House created an extraordinary history series for children called Landmark Books. There were 122 books in the American history series and 63 in the World Landmark series. A very solid description of the series can be found here: link. When I was a kid my little hometown library had what seemed like an endless shelf of these books. I loved these books - I even remember where it was in the library nearly 40 years later! Undoubtedly, these books are part of the reason I am a history teacher.

Simon Bolivar (1783-1830)

This book is part of a subset of the Landmark Books series. If the book took place outside of the United States the book belonged to the World Landmark Books series.

Simon Bolivar was born in the Spanish colony that is now Venezuela. He was educated in Spain but was keenly aware that the government of Spain considered the colonies to be inferior to Spain and incapable of self-government. He doubtless shared that belief until he began to spend time with the children of the Spanish ruling class (including the future King of Spain) and discovered that they weren't all that impressive. Once Napoleon conquered Spain and put his brother on the throne, Bolivar pushed for a revolt. Some, like Bolivar, were pushing for independence no matter who was on the throne, but others who joined him simply wanted to revolt as a part of a general resistance to Napoleonic rule.

Regardless of the initial motivations, Bolivar soon led a multi-colony revolt that went on for 11 years. Eventually, Bolivar helped to liberate the colonies that make up the modern countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.

Many have compared Bolivar to George Washington, including Arnold Whitridge, the author of this book. There are surface similarities, but Bolivar's fight was much longer and (I would say) much more of a geographical challenge. Bolivar crossed the Andes range multiple times with armies that suffered horrific losses simply from the geography. In fact, while doing a bit of research on Bolivar while writing this review, I found that the Wikipedia page for Bolivar does a much better job of stating the sheer monumental scope of his accomplishments than this book did. For example, he fought in 79 major battles, traveled 10 times the distance of Hannibal, 3 times the distance of Napoleon and twice the distance of Alexander the Great. If you can be can be compared favorably to that crowd, you are truly a military genius. In this respect, Washington certainly comes up short.

Sadly, Bolivar was not a political genius and he could never figure out a way to unite the former Spanish colonies into one large country that he wanted to call Gran Colombia. This is where Washington's strengths come into play. Not only was he able to win the military fight, he was able to help establish the concept that the colonies were going to become one country and the military would not lead that country.

This book is aimed at students from 3rd to 8th grade. It is a simple read with line drawings. It could use a few more maps. To be fair, it was merely an "okay" introduction to Simon Bolivar and his accomplishments (see above about the Wikipedia page).

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: SIMON BOLIVAR: THE GREAT LIBERATOR (World Landmark Series) by Arnold Whitridge.

THREE MILITARY SF NOVELLAS (audiobook) by Kevin J. Anderson

Published by WordFire Press LLC in April of 2019.

Read by Charles Kahlenberg.

Duration: 5 hours, 22 minutes.

Unabridged.

The title of Three Military SF Novellas says it all - this audiobook is actually a collection of three novellas. Nothing about any of these stories was particularly original, but I enjoyed two of the three immensely.

Story #1 is called Comrades in Arms. It is set in an asteroid belt that is actually the front line of a war between humans and a insect-like species. This story has a familiar vibe - think Robocop meets Enemy Mine. I rate this novella 5 stars. Very entertaining.

Story #2 is called Escape Hatch. It is set on a future earth in which a water-based alien species has invaded. They are sort of like eels and jellyfish. They combine together to create massive sea monsters and they are destroying Earth's combined navies. This story has a clever twist and has a very satisfying ending. I rate this novella 5 stars.

Story #3 is called Prisoner of War. This story is set in a world at war. No one really remembers why the war started and soldiers are literally being bred and raised just to fight the war. Several species of animals have also been adapted to fight. This story seemed like a missed opportunity. It hinted at being critical of our seemingly endless wars against "terror" and the toll they take on our soldiers - but it misses the mark and the story just fizzles. I rate this story 2 stars out of 5.

The stories were read by Charles Kahlenberg. He has an interesting voice - a change of pace from the typical voice stylings of most readers.

The average score is this collection is 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THREE MILITARY SF NOVELLAS (audiobook) by Kevin J. Anderson.

STRANGE FRUIT, VOLUME II: MORE UNCELEBRATED NARRATIVES from BLACK HISTORY (graphic novel) by Joel Christian Gill

Published in 2018 by Fulcrum Publishing.

In a little more than 100 pages this graphic novel tells the story of eight little-known African Americans who lived trailblazing lives. I had heard of three of them, which made me feel a little more pretty good - a little more informed than the average reader might be.

As Gill tells these stories he confronts racial issues head on. However, he does have a clever way of dealing with the word n*****. Whenever that word is used, a stylized caricature of a man in "blackface" is inserted instead. It makes the point and it shows how out of bounds the word is when a picture is used instead of a word.

The art is simple and interesting and the stories move at a quick pace. This book would be a great addition to a classroom library.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STRANGE FRUIT, VOLUME II: MORE UNCELEBRATED NARRATIVES from BLACK HISTORY.

THE LONG CON by Dylan Meconis, Ben Coleman, E.A. Denich, M. Victoria Robado, Aditya Bidikar

Published by Oni Press in February of 2019.

The phrase The Long Con has a double meaning this story. Traditionally, a "long con" is a long-term swindle that is being pulled on someone, like a long-term investment fraud.

Meaning #1: In this graphic novel, The Long Con is the biggest Pop Culture Convention in the world. It has been an annual event for 50 years and it lasts a long time. Five years ago, it was location of ground zero of a horrible (unspecified) "cataclysmic event" that destroyed everything in a 50 mile radius. Everyone assumed that the convention hall was destroyed.

Meaning #2: Reporter Victor Lai was sent to cover The Long Con before the disaster - a duty that he considered a punishment. Now, the outside world has noticed signs of life in the convention center and Victor Lai is sent back into the convention center to see what's going on. 

Surprise! The convention hall survived! The people inside it survived! And...the attendees are still having the convention - 5 years later! (thus making this a really longconvention). They believe that the rest of the world was destroyed because if you head out for 50 miles in any direction it's all obliterated.

Well, to be fair, they are not really having a traditional convention any longer. They are living in a pop culture little world because they are, well, cosplayers, fanboys and supergeeks (I mean that as gently as possible).  Their world is broken up into fan bases - and they are literally fighting for control of what they think is the only bit of livable real estate on the planet - the convention center.

No real-life TV shows, movies or comics are actually mentioned but there are stand-ins that any comics or sci-fi fan would immediately recognize. There's a Star Trek-type show, gritty comics, cosplayers everywhere, commentary on pointless "boob window" outfits (like D.C. Comic's Power Girl), a guy with a t-shirt about how someone "shot first", creepy comic book guys and D-list celebrities.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The art was easy to follow, the characters were likable and the world of The Long Con was interesting to explore. This graphic novel would be an interesting basis for a video game or a board game. I am going to keep an eye out for more books in this series.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Long Con.