Kids Off the Block, by Diane Latiker

 What would you do if your kid was hanging around with a questionable group of kids?  Most of us would probably keep our kids away from bad influences and protectively forbid our kids from spending time with them.  Not Diane Latiker.  When she saw many in her daughter's peer group getting involved with drugs, gangs, and street crime, she invited the kids into her home and spoke to them--and, importantly, listened to them.  In Kids Off the Block: The Inspiring True Story of One Woman's Quest to Protect Chicago's Most Vulnerable Youth, Latiker tells the story of how she went from being a concerned mom to Miss Diane to a nationally recognized model for outreach to urban youth.

Word quickly spread that Miss Diane's house was warm and welcoming, that she offers help with homework, pick-up basketball, and lots of snack, and that it was a respite from the pressures of the street.  Soon 10 kids turned into hundreds.  She grew in her ability to lead and manage these kids, and never was willing to give up on any of them.  One of the things I love about Latiker's story is that she doesn't sugar-coat it.  This isn't a feel-good Disney-fied version of life in Chicago.  These are kids who live in poverty, who are pressured to join a gang or be relentless bullied, and for whom dealing drugs seemed to be the only option for a better life.  In plenty of cases, she made progress with a kid and then the draw of the streets was too much.  Some kids whom she grew to love ended up dead, victims of a life they couldn't escape.

Latiker looked around her, reached out, and made a difference in countless lives.  Her example is a great reminder that when trouble surrounds us, whatever neighborhood we live in, one can cower or flee, but a better answer is to love our neighbors, take time to get to know them, and help them each to see the potential they have.  After more than a decade of loving the kids in her neighborhood, many have found a life outside of gangs and drug dealing.  Some even help her mentor the younger kids.  Her story will inspire you to embrace those around you who the world would write off.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Doesn't Hurt to Ask, by Trey Gowdy

Trey Gowdy served in the U.S. Congress for 8 years, gaining national prominence for his role in the Benghazi hearings.  Drawing on his years in Congress and his career as a prosecutor, he has written Don't Hurt to Ask: Using the Power of Questions to Communicate, Connect, and Persuade.  While the work of a prosecutor or a congressman chairing a hearing could be described as winning arguments, Gowdy said that in congress he "realized persuasion is not about winning arguments--it's about effectively and efficiently advocating for what it is you believe to be true."  He writes that by asking "the right set of questions," you can direct someone to "arrive at the point you are trying to make on their own accord."

Gowdy's persuasive chops were honed in courtroom and in Congress.  The examples he gives and the stories he tells draw from that experience, including cases he has prosecuted.  He also tells stories from the congressional hearings that made him a household name.  The main thrust of the book, however, is not a memoir of his life as a lawyer and congressman, but to describe principles that we can use in non-lawyer and non-lawmaker settings.

One lesson Gowdy learned in Washington is that South Carolina is a much more conservative place than D.C. and that heading to Congress with an expectation of gaining consensus is "not only a silly expectation, it's a disrespectful one."  He learned not to seek or expect consensus but that "commonality is an admirable and reasonable" expectation.

Gowdy is a funny, self-effacing writer, so you can read this for his personality and stories.  Some of his personal stories, like talking football with his brother-in-law or deflecting political questions from his golf buddies, are hilarious.  But more than that, he really does give tools and ideas for questioning and persuading.  Whatever role we are in, even if not in a courtroom or hearing room, his ideas will help you persuade and communicate.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Murder Bears, Moonshine, and Mayhem, by Luke Harrington

Have you ever been reading the Bible and thought "Well that's strange/ offensive/ violent/ gross/ nasty/ disgusting!"  Luke Harrington, preacher's kid, humorist, and novelist, had those thoughts frequently enough that he's gathered many of those passages into a book, Murder-Bears, Moonshine, and Mayhem: Strange Stories from the Bible to Leave You Amused, Bemused, and (Hopefully) Informed. 

The stories Harrington tells are stories you may have heard before, but by putting them all together in a book, he really makes the Bible look like a nutty book.  This is not a devotional book.  It's not a book you would want to give to a child.  And it's probably not a book you want to give to a new believer or someone who is struggling in his or her faith.

To enjoy this book you have to have a strong sense of humor, especially an appreciation for potty jokes, and strong tolerance for jokes and language that push the boundaries of church talk.  The chapter titles alone give you an idea of what to expect: "I Like Biblical Butts and I Cannot Lie," "And Now for Something Completely Violent," and "Take a Tip from Me (Circumcision and More Phallic Fun)."  In my opinion, even when he's being irreverent, he doesn't cross the line to disrespect for the Bible or corrupting the message of the gospel.  However, there were several points at which I thought, "I can't believe a Christian publisher put this out!"

Harrington's writing is frequently laugh-out-loud funny and, as the subtitle promises, frequently informative.  Yes, he's getting a laugh out of some of the zanier passages of scripture, but he does so in a way that puts the potentially offensive material in context and helps the reader understand how these passages fit into the overall message of the Bible.  This is funny stuff that should find an honored spot on your Bible study bookshelf.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Fauja Singh Keeps Going, by Simran Jeet Singh, illustrated by Baljinder Kaur

How many people have you heard say they could never run a marathon?  Pick your excuse, but someone over 100 could legitimately use age as an excuse to bow out.  But Fauja Singh didn't make excuses, he just become the first centenarian to run a marathon!  The children's book Fauja Singh Keeps Going tells his inspiring story.  The story, written by Simran Jeet Singh and illustrated by Bajlinder Kaur, shows the hardships Fauja had to overcome as a child, talks about his Sikh faith, and, most of all, shows his love of running.  This is a fun, cute book that should inspire all kinds of runners.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Still Right, by Rick Tyler

As the 2020 presidential race heats up, it seems like the divide between left and right in American politics is wider than ever.  We are told this is the most important election of our lifetime.  Well, we've heard that before.  Is it true this time?  An interesting and somewhat annoying byproduct of the Trump administration is the seemingly endless train of long-time Republicans who have turned their backs on Trump.  Rick Tyler is one who has solid conservative Republican credentials and experience, but who doesn't have much good to say about Trump's version of the Republican party.  In Still Right: An Immigrant-Loving, Hybrid Driving, Composting American Makes the Case for Conservatism, Tyler argues that today's Republicans have left behind the conservatism that shaped the party in the latter part of the 20th century in favor of Trumpian populism.

Tyler, a political consultant who has worked in party politics, in political consulting alongside Newt Gingrich, and now as a commentator on MSNBC, says that the "Republican Party has shifted from a pro-immigration, pro-trade, pro-NATO party to one unrecognizable to a Reagan conservative."  His arguments are convincing, to a point, but he ignores half the story on many of these issues.  I can buy a pro-immigration stance, as long as limits are in place and controlled.  How can Americans look at Europe and the loss of culture they are experiencing due to immigration from Africa and the Middle East and get excited about large numbers of immigrants from those areas?  While immigrants are frequently productive and peaceful, what does one say about the large numbers who receive government assistance, or the large numbers of non-citizens in our prisons?

One can be pro-trade while also being circumspect about tariffs and trade balances.  When we are trading with China, with its centrally controlled, heavily subsidized industries, can we expect American manufacturers to compete on such an uneven playing field?  And pro-NATO?  I tend to agree with Trump, that the alliance should be supported by the US, but also proportionately by the other countries.  

Tyler throws out a couple of interesting proposals that he defends from a conservative perspective.  First, he argues that we should add a justice to the Supreme Court.  Democrats have been pushing the idea of packing the court with liberals once they get a D in the White House, but Tyler's proposal is that with one more justice, we won't have a single justice giving the decisive vote.  I like this idea, which would perhaps push some cases back to lower courts with a tie, but would force more deliberation toward 6-4 decisions.  His second proposal is not so cool.  Like many Democrats, he argues for a national popular vote in presidential elections.  As it stands, candidates only consider 8-10 states to be truly in play, so those states get the most campaign spending and candidate presence.  Congressmen from those states are, as a result, seen as more consequential than those from solidly R or D states.  It's an interesting idea, but I'll take the Constitution's formula.

It's true that Trump is not a dyed-in-the-wool conservative.  But he's done more for conservatives than some of his Republican predecessors.  The real question is, what direction is he taking the country?  I have not watched Tyler's MSNBC appearances or followed his social media (I will now), and I don't know, even after reading this book, whether he will support Trump in the presidential election.  It's pretty clear he did not in 2016, but given the choice between Trump and Biden, who better represents the conservative ideas you believe in?  Who offers better opportunities for conservatives to gain influence in policy?  Even if you don't believe Trump is truly conservative, and rightly point out ways he has governed that are more populist than conservative, do you really believe Biden will govern more conservatively than Trump?  I don't think so.  Tyler can help set the path for conservatism after Trump, hopefully without a socialist Biden/Harris interlude.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic copy!

Trump and the American Future, by Newt Gingrich

The more I hear from Newt Gingrich, the more I appreciate him.  Like me, you may vaguely recall that he actually ran for president in 2012, losing in the primaries to the empty suit Mitt Romney.  Romney's incompetent campaign closed the gap a little, losing to Obama by less than McCain had lost in 2012, but one can't help but wonder if Gingrich, with his political smarts and policy chops could have fared better.  Post-2012, Gingrich has remained very active in the political world as a consultant, media and podcast commentator, and writer.  Since Trump was elected, he has written or co-written four policy books as well as a couple of novels.  His latest, Trump and the American Future: Solving the Great Problems of Our Time, should serve as a policy guide for 2020 and beyond. 

I don't know how large a role Gingrich has in the Trump administration.  I suspect it's larger than we know, as he has no official title, but it's probably not as large as it should be.  Trump and the American Future does, to a certain extent, discuss Trump's positions on a wide variety of issues.  But what Gingrich is really doing is laying out what Trump's positions should be.  Looking toward the 2020 election and beyond, Gingrich has policy recommendations that Trump would be wise to implement.  If you know Gingrich at all, you won't be surprised to her that the book is wonky--really wonky.  He gets into a lot of technical details on economy, health care (probably 1/4 of the book is on health care and related topics), the environment, foreign policy, and crime.  He's a smart guy (PhD) but there's no question he made extensive use of his co-author and a team of researchers to come up with some quality analysis and workable proposals.

By the way, it's really impressive how timely and relevant the book is, given the fact that it was submitted for publication in March, when Covid 19 had just hit our shores.  Gingrich may have been a tad optimistic about the implications of the virus, but for the most part his early analysis and evaluations are spot-on.

Gingrich is the conservative's conservative.  His support of Trump has perhaps pushed the limits on that, as President Trump himself has not always read from the conservative playbook.  But to the extent that Trump does listen to Gingrich, I'd say more power to you, Newt!  As he says to start the book, 2020 is vital.  We need more solutions like Newt's, not Biden's left-wing puppet masters.

Born Again and Again, by Megan Westra

Megan Westra was raised in a strong Christian tradition.  Her family and church immersed her in the Christian faith, and she first committed to following Jesus at age four.  Given the young age and her lack of memory, she spent a good deal of her childhood doubting her salvation and seeking to be "born again . . . and again."  In college, she began having revelations that expanded her view of faith, leading to several moments of feeling like she was truly being born again into new understanding.  In her book Born Again and Again: Jesus' Call to Radical Transformation she chronicles her journey and digs into areas of faith and practice in which she has learned and grown.

The strongest theme throughout the book is that we, a church, should be about "connection over consumption."  The modern church, especially in the evangelical tradition in which Westra (and I) grew up has placed a strong emphasis on personal salvation and a personal, individualized faith in Jesus.  That emphasis misses the greater calling of community and communal life.  All Christians can benefit from a reminder that faith is not just about connecting with God, but also about connecting with our neighbor.  She uses this filter throughout the book as she discusses politics, race, economics, and gender.

Westra's book is reactive to the white evangelical faith of her upbringing.  She finds it wholly inadequate in light of her new-found wokeness.  In the areas mentioned above, she provides some historical background in an attempt to discredit American evangelicalism.  Like every human expression of faith in every period of history, culture and sin have played a role in shaping the institutions and expressions of the Christian faith, so correctives and reforms are always necessary.  But she has little good to say about, specifically, American evangelicalism.  Despite its whiteness, American evangelicals led the charge in eradicating slavery, in establishing institutions such as hospitals and schools that continue to serve humanity, planting churches and leading revival movements that brought faith to many across the US, and creating a foreign missions movement for spreading the gospel around the world.  To the extent that these positive contributions are mentioned, she is dismissive of them due to racist elements of the movements. 

Like many of her ilk, she is critical of capitalism and American democracy.  This shouldn't be hard for her to see, but if she truly is interested in addressing poverty, history and experience have shown that this is best done through capitalism and free markets.  And it should go without saying that socialism and communism have inevitably led to repression of religious expression everywhere they have been tried.  Her recommendations for community action are fully on board with socialistic and anti-capitalistic tendencies which, in the long run, create more poverty and less religious freedom.

As much as I appreciate Westra's commitment to being the presence of Christ in her community, which, as she tells it, is quite diverse racially and economically, and has plenty of needs, her solutions are feel-good but ineffective.  I would love to see more people who have her commitment to know the poor not as subjects but as friends and neighbors, but who will offer solutions that lead away from dependency and toward increased participation in the free market system and the free society, toward connection with their communities by providing goods and services in mutual exchange.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures, by Jennifer Hofmann

I was very much looking forward to reading Jennifer Hofmann's The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures.  It sounded like a Kafka-esque story of a bureaucrat caught in the cogs of his own bureaucratic system.  That is true of the story; it definitely hearkens to Kafka, especially in the early going.  Bernd Zeiger established his place in the Stasi with his manual "The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures," but now at the end of his career, his relevance is tenuous. 

Zieger uses his resources to try to track down Lara, a young lady with whom he crossed paths and became obsessed with.  Like many East Berliners, she is missing.  The government doesn't want to admit that East Germans are fleeing the country, but the allure of the West is too strong for many living under communism.  The story of his search becomes flashbacks, and flashbacks during flashbacks, building a twisted chain of events that eventually will turn Zeiger's methods back on him.

In the same vein as Kafka's fiction, Hofmann's story give a glimpse into life in East Berlin in the post WW2 era, right up to the fall of the Berlin wall.  The story itself didn't grip me, and the cultural and historical material took a back seat to the story.  There were some interesting twists, but ultimately I was disappointed.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Abled: Same But Different, by Cathleen Morita

The genetic disorder EBF3-HADDS was only identified a few years ago, but there is already a children's book that features a child with HADDS.  Chase was one of the first kids diagnosed.  His mother Cathleen Morita has written about Chase in a new children's book Abled: Same But Different.

By showing bits and pieces of Chase's life and experiences, she shows that he's a little boy like so many little boys, and loves to do the same things many little boys like to do, but he does things differently and experiences things differently.  The cute illustrations show him at home in Hawaii, enjoying the beach, his dog, and many different activities.

Abled is a great resource for kids with HADDS and other disabilities, as well as their care providers, teachers, and families, to get a glimpse into life with HADDS.  What a joy for a child with this newly diagnosed, rare disorder to see, in storybook form, a child with the same diagnosis he or she has!

My daughter is delighted to read a book about a child
who has the same diagnosis she has!

My wife's blog review:
https://ebf3blog.wordpress.com/2020/08/07/abled-the-hadds-book/

Men to Avoid in Art and Life, by Nicole Tersigni

Nicole Tersigni's idea for Men to Avoid in Art and Life is fun and silly and sure to bring a smile to the women in your life.  She takes classic art and adds captions to bring some more modern sensibilities to the fore.  She divides the book into sections dealing with mansplaining, sexperts, and misplaced concern.

This is funny stuff, even if it does base its humor on stale stereotypes about male attitudes and behaviors.  Only the thinnest skinned man will be offended, and men and women alike will get a chuckle about the familiarity of the scenarios.  (But it's other men, not me. . . .)

By the way, for the art lover, she provides a listing of the works and artists, as well as the museums where the are found.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

American Crusade, by Pete Hegseth

If you watch Fox News, you have likely seen Pete Hegseth on TV.  He's a passionate conservative voice, an Army vet who calls his fellow Americans to defend our freedom and way of life.  In American Crusade: Our Fight to Stay Free, Hegseth hits conservative hot-button issues, showing the distinctions from liberalism, and calling on Americans to join his crusade.

Despite the militaristic language, Hegseth's fight is not with arms but with ideas.  The ideas he's fighting against are familiar to conservatives: globalism, genderism, socialism, secularism, environmentalism, elitism, multiculturalism, and Islamism.  His examples and explanations of conservative positions are simple without being simplistic.  His passionate defense of freedom and conservative ideas is clear and solidly argued. 

Hegseth is worth reading and worth listening to for his common-sense, well-reasoned conservative positions.  If you are on the fence, trying to decide between blue and red, conservative or liberal, Trump or Biden, give Hegseth a read.  Whatever your starting point or presuppositions, he's sure to make you think.


Thanks to NetGalley for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Minutes to Die, by Susan Sleeman

I always appreciate when a follow-up book exceeds its predecessor.  Minutes to Die is Susan Sleeman's second book in her "Homeland Heroes" series.  Minutes to Die is set shortly after Seconds to Live, but focuses on a difference set of main characters.  We see cameos from the characters from the first book, but Sleeman changes the focus to FBI Agent Kiley Dawson and ICE Agent Evan Bowers.  They are working together to prevent an attack on the anniversary of 9/11 that, their intel has said, will kill millions of Americans.

Kiley and Evan have some history they have to work through.  Evan is crazy about her, but Kiley has yet to forgive him for some of his past failures.  Reluctantly, she brings him into the investigation and they work closely throughout the book.  Over time, she grows to appreciate him and forgive him.  My main criticism of Seconds to Live was that he suspense portion of the book took a back seat to the romance.  In Minutes to Die, I was pleased to see that it was the opposite.  Yes, the budding romance is a theme throughout, but it is easily overshadowed by the investigation and tension building up to the anticipated attack.

This is an example that I just thought was funny.  Call me sexist, but I don't see scenes like this written in suspense novels written by a man.

He released her and stepped back.  "As much as I want to kiss you right now, I think it would be a good idea for us to put whatever this is going on between us on the back burner." . . . He knew she needed to succeed so she never had to live with the guilt of failing to stop the most deadly terrorist attack even perpetrated on American soil.

I know it sounds like I'm making fun.  Maybe I am, a little, cynical, un-romantic guy that I am, but seriously I was quite pleased that this passage was not typical of the book as a whole.  Minutes to Die is told in a straightforward way, focussing on Kiley's leadership and giving details of the investigation coming together with the team's various investigative skills and a little bit of luck.  It seems like Sleeman paid more attention to the technical, tactical, and logistical details of the investigation than she did in Seconds to Live--another plus.

Given the improvement of book 2 over book 1, I look forward to the anticipated book 3, to be released next year.  Romance or not, I am sure, like book 1 and 2, will be an enjoyable read. 


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Calling Bullshit, by Carl T. Bergstrom

Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West's Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World could not have come at a better time.  Well, maybe about three months ago would have been a better time.  The year 2020 has, so far, been primarily marked by Covid-19 and the response to it.  If you're like me, you are frustrated by the conflicting information given out by the media and the array of "experts."  Yes, a few of these folks have been studying contagious diseases for years, but then all these other "experts" chime in with their newly minted charts and graphs and "science" and "data" and we are left not knowing who to believe.  Politicians and the press say "listen to science" and "follow the data" then scientists disagree, data changes, and settled science suddenly becomes yesterday's news.

Bergsrtom and West, both professors at the University of Washington, bring some much-needed level headedness into the data-saturated, 24/7 news, social media world we live in.  (But due to the date of publication, Covid-19 is not part of this book.)  As they define it, b.s. (they use the word throughout, and call me prudish, it's just not a word in my vocabulary, so I'll use the short version in this review) "uses the language of math and science and statistics to create the impression of rigor and accuracy. . . .  New-school b.s. can be particularly effective because many of us don't feel qualified to challenge information that is presented in quantitative form."  A side comment about TED talks cracked me up.  So many people think a TED talk is the gold standard of authoritative, but they write "the TED brand of b.s. is just a cocktail of sound-bite science, management-speak, and techno-optimism."

We have access to more data than ever, but much of it is not reliable due to its source or presentation.  Bergstrom and West cover the various ways we are presented with b.s. and offer guidance to resist being taken in.  A favorite is numbers.  They "feel objective, but are easily manipulated to tell whatever story one desires."  Even better when data is presented in chart form.  Their section on charts and graphs may be the most useful part of the book.  They show the many ways an easy-to-read graph that seems to make a clear point may be concealing the very information you need.

In spite of their pretty clear lean to the left, they are balanced in their examples across the ideological spectrum.  Suffice it to say that no ideological group is exempt from the desire or habit of manipulating data and information to make a point.  Whether you are reading a Twitter post, watching the evening news, or even reading a paper in an academic journal, you will be better equipped to evaluate the information--and spotting b.s.--thanks to Bergstrom and West.  If someone starts a sentence with "studies say," "according to science," or something like that, put up your b.s. detector.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!