THE FEARLESS BENJAMIN LAY: THE QUAKER DWARF WHO BECAME the FIRST REVOLUTIONARY ABOLITIONIST (audiobook) by Marcus Rediker

Published in 2017 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by Cornell Womack.
Duration: 7 hours, 2 minutes.
Unabridged.

As the title states, Benjamin Lay (1682-1759) was indeed a Quaker and a dwarf. He grew up in the Quaker faith in England, learned how to spin cloth and sew gloves and then took those skills to see and became a sailor. Eventually, he settled in Barbados and became a merchant. Barbados was a plantation colony and Lay got to know several of the slaves and their owners and the experience turned him into an abolitionist, a concept that was nearly unknown in a world where slavery was commonplace.

Lay moved to Philadelphia and naturally joined the local Quakers. Lay had always been an agitator back in England and was often in trouble with local church officials for questioning what they were teaching. Now, he ramped things up considerably in the hopes of convincing the Quakers that slavery was an evil that should not be tolerated in their midst.

He published an anti-slavery book that was published by Benjamin Franklin - a fact that Franklin kept secret because being anti-slavery was a radical idea. Later, Franklin himself became a public face for anti-slavery but Lay was far ahead of him.

Lay also protested physically and verbally at every Quaker meeting (service) that he attended. He called out the slave owners by name and was often punished for it.

He ended up living in a little hut on the edge of Philadelphia where he refined his beliefs ever further and became a vegan because he did not want to harm any living creature.

This bare bones outline of his life seems radical and interesting, but the presentation in the book was not. This is one of those biographies that seeks to include every detail of its subject's life and in doing so becomes his or her definitive biography. It's a worthy goal, but the first 2-3 hours of this book featured a whole lot of citations of church paperwork about whether or not Benjamin Lay was in good standing or not and what he would have to do to return to good standing. It was tedious. 

The reading by Cornell Womack was subpar. He has a distinctive voice, but he often reads mundane things (like lists) as if they are dramatic moments. It got old, especially when combined with the excessive detail.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by Kurt Vonnegut and Ryan North.

Adapted by Ryan North.
Illustrated by Albert Monteys.

Graphic novel published in 2020 by Archaia. 
Original novel published in 1969.

This is my third review of Slaughterhouse-Five. I've reviewed the audiobook, the written novel, and now the graphic novel. 

All are different, of course. I've given 5 out of 5 stars to every version, but the graphic novel is the weakest of the three. It's a good graphic novel, but it seemed a little thin when compared to the novel. It's good for its medium.

I'm not going to review the plot of one of the most famous anti-war books of the last century - it's too well-known for that. Vonnegut can be weird, but he's always approachable. He writes in an friendly, easy to follow style, no matter if it is the audiobook, the written novel, or this graphic novel.

But, if the very idea of reading this book intimidates you, read the graphic novel. It hits the main plot points and it would certainly support you if you went ahead and read the novel at some points afterwards.

I very much enjoyed the style of the art in this graphic novel. I think Albert Monteys did an exceptionally good job of making the art clear, clean, and easy to follow. Let's face it, the story goes all over the place - the art did not need to add to the confusion. I really liked the way he drew the Tralfamadorians.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Slaughterhouse-Five: The Graphic Novel.

Note: This book has been challenged multiple times over the last 50 years for sexual content, foul language and teaching principles contrary to the Bible. Amazingly, it has stayed on "banned books" lists for more than 50 years. The graphic novel is no different. It made a banned book list in Florida and in Missouri and other places as well (Texas, Utah, and Iowa - to name a few.)

Note: This book was put on book ban lists in Tennessee in multiple counties in 2025. The article has a searchable database because the list has more than 1,100 unique titles

To its credit, the Vonnegut Museum in Indianapolis has a history of sending free copies of Slaughterhouse-Five to students at schools where the book has been banned.

THE BIG EMPTY (Elvis Cole/Joe Pike #20) (audiobook) by Robert Crais

Published by Brilliance Audio in 2025.
Read by Luke Daniels.
Duration: 8 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

My synopsis:

Elvis Cole is back on the case in The Big Empty. This time around he is working for a social media personality that specializes in making muffins and making people who watch the videos feel included, like they are talking to the girl next door. 

This social media star wants to hire Cole to figure out why her dad went missing about 10 years before. She hired an quality Private Investigations firm earlier, but the results were inconclusive. Her handlers are not enthused about reopening old wounds, but she overrules them.

Cole heads out to the small town (by L.A. standards) where her father disappeared and finds lots of stuff - including people who are determined to keep the secrets of the past buried in the past...

My review:

This was a complicated mystery with an ending that leaves a lot of moral questions about what is best for just a few people vs. what is best for everyone. Also, there is a heckuva plot twist in this one.

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

BRIAN EPSTEIN: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END (kindle) by Hourly History

Published by Hourly History in 2024.

Brian Epstein was a record store owner from Liverpool that heard the Beatles play in a local club and decided that they were going to be really big and he knew how to make that happen. He asked for a meeting to discuss being their manager and about two months later they had an official deal.

The young Beatles were impressed by Epstein. He dressed well, had polished mannerisms, drove a nice car, and had the most successful record store in Liverpool.  Not much about Epstein's earlier ventures would have indicated that Epstein would have had any success at managing the Beatles. He was a college dropout and had bounced around from one thing to another until his father let him use part of the family store to sell records. He parlayed that into a stand-alone store and became well-known in the Liverpool music scene. 

To be fair, this was a different music scene than what followed from the 1970s. It was very much a bottom up industry - a band could become big in a relatively small market, like Liverpool and, based on local record sales, could explode out into the world. Tommy James and the Shondells (not in this book) did a similar thing out of Pittsburgh, as detailed in his autobiography that I have previously reviewed. 

From left to right: George, Paul, Ringo, Brian and John.

Epstein cleaned up the Beatles and made them in his own image. He put them in suits and made them be very polite and polished (but still fun) young men. They rocketed to the top, and Epstein managed it all - the TV appearances, tours, the hotels, the venues. He did it all with no prior experience and it seemed to take a massive toll on him, leading to drug abuse and his eventual death in 1967 at the age of 32.

This little biography (it takes about an hour to read, as does everything from the publishers at Hourly History) covers a lot of detail. The reader learns about the original Beatles drummer (Pete Best) was pushed out in favor of Ringo Starr, Epstein's semi-closeted homosexuality, the drug abuse, all while presenting Epstein in a humane light. Some of Hourly History's biographies fail to give the reader a sense of the person behind the story. This one succeeded.

I rate this short e-book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Brian Epstein: A Life from Beginning to End.

VICKSBURG, 1863 by Winston Groom

Originally published by Knopf in 2009.

Winston Groom will always be best known as the author of Forrest Gump, but he should be equally well known as the author of a series of well-told American histories. Included in those histories is a trilogy of Civil War histories that focus on the Western Theater of the war.

Vicksburg 1863 is the second book in the trilogy, but it can be easily read as a stand-alone history. After a short introduction to the war itself, it follows Grant's campaign to take the Mississippi River away from the Confederacy, beginning with a mess of a battle in Missouri that proved nothing of any importance except that Grant was game to fight and push forward, even if the conditions were not perfect.

That, it turns out, was pretty much the key to Grant's eventual success in this campaign and in the war.

From there, we follow Grant through Kentucky, into Tennessee and the terrible Battle of Shiloh. Although ultimately successful, this marked a low point for Grant because he nearly lost his army. His immediate superior came to Shiloh to supervise him and killed most of the momentum of the campaign

Eventually, Grant regained his command (his superior officer was promoted to a desk position in the Eastern Theater) and began his campaign to remove the last major obstacle for Union control of the Mississippi River - Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Vicksburg was a challenge due to its location on an imposing cliff on a massive bend in the Mississippi River. The Confederate military placed cannons on the cliff that threatened any ship that dared to try to pass by. This book details the many efforts he made to bypass Vicksburg, including attempts to build a canal to reroute the Mississippi and an attempt to go through the swamps around Vicksburg. Eventually, he crossed the river south Mississippi and quickly moved his army to cut off Vicksburg, lay siege to it while also engaging and driving away any Confederate troops that could have helped to lift the siege.

Some people will argue with Groom's assertion that Grant did have bouts of drunkenness during the campaign. He describes a rather wild bender featuring Grant cruising through the swampy rivers north of Vicksburg during a lull during the siege, switching boats, and looking for more and more booze. Grant's defenders will deny it all, Grant's detractors will claim it was probably even worse. I go with the simple knowledge that addiction is powerful and Grant often brought along people that kept him accountable. If those people weren't around, I can easily imagine him falling off the wagon. Whether it was a wild run through the swamps or a binge drunk in the corner of a cabin...well, that depends on who told the story back then and who is writing the story now.

I rate this history 5 stars out of 5. It reads as easy as a novel. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Vicksburg, 1863 by Winston Groom.

See my review of Groom's Shiloh, 1862 here. 

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

Published in January of 2025 by Hourly History.

Hourly History specializes in biographies and histories that take about an hour to read. 

In this case, Hourly History has a history of a favorite in my household as I grew up - John Denver.

The book gives a good accounting of his early life, his early struggles as a musician, and his impressive drive that just kept pushing him forward until he made it. Once he made it, there was no one bigger than John Denver - He had a series of number one songs, number one albums, multiple awards, and movies and TV show appearances. But, it all seemed to come at the expense of his personal life.

This little biography covers the timeline of his life pretty well, but skimps on any sort of analysis on his uneasy position as a Country Music artist. For example, he won their official awards, but many mainstay country music artists considered him an interloper - a folk artist who was sort of assigned the title of "country artist."

Still, this was an enjoyable read for longtime fan. I rate this e-book 4 stars out of 5.
This book can be found on Amazon.com here: JOHN DENVER: A LIFE from BEGINNING to END by Hourly History.

BEAT the REAPER (audiobook) by Josh Bazell

Published by Hachette Audio in 2007.
Read by Robert Petkoff.
Duration: 6 hours, 49 minutes.
Unabridged.

The premise of this book is very strong - what if a mafia hitman goes into witness protection, becomes a doctor in a hospital, and then runs into a former mafia colleague who has come to the hospital for a serious surgery. They recognize each other and deadly hijinks ensue.

Sounds good, but the follow through leaves a lot to be desired. The main character is unlikeable almost all of the time - deeply unlikeable. The more you learn about him, the worse he gets. On top of that, the parade of horrible events that happened to him is simply ridiculous - literally stuff stolen from a Timothy Dalton James Bond movie, except even more over the top.

The audiobook reader is great, but the text of the book - not so much.

I rate this book 1 star out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell.