Review: The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers [With Earbuds]

The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers [With Earbuds] by Pete Earley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I was interested in the idea that a young man with brain injury essentially homebound develops correspondence with serial killers because it was intriguing to discover the payoff, the tranformation, the confession or slipped clue that closed a cold case when matched with forensics and an FBI profiler. Instead the excessive focus lurid details of thrill kill sec crimes ornamented only in Shawcross lies and failure to find the supposed cache of photographic evidence makes the book just an obscure stripe of pornography. ... So why did his parent support and allow a confused young man to become buds with wicked wretches? I dunno...



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Review: Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings From the Road

Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings From the Road by Willie Nelson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die is a road journal that has the feel of Reader’s Digest and the faint aroma of ganja. Half road diary, half autobiography, half lyrics reprints, this ManBearPig tome can be read anywhere. The jokes, thoughts (including some on Occupy Wall Street), and memories range from the wry observations (“do it wrong until it feels right”) to enlightened advice (a vaporizer is better on a singer’s lungs than smoking marijuana).

Yes, Willie beats the re-legalization and Farm Aid drums (as well he should) and also waxes wistful about a spiritualized Christianity and how things were better when he was young. But, even in this mode, Willie never sounds like an old man telling stories. However, he does repeat himself, as on poker with Ziggy Marley and Woody Harrelson in Edenic Maui.

Many of the vignettes that introduce us to Willie’s family and organization are written by others, which adds variety and often seem to shed more light on Nelson than he himself will reveal. Introduced by Texas troubadour Kinky Friedman, this small whimsical and wise review of Willie’s greatest influences (Django Reinhardt!) and journey will fit in the smallest room of your house for regular reading.




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Review: The Road Most Traveled

The Road Most Traveled by Chuck Ragan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Short pieces from road warriors, mostly indie rockers, about life on the road. Each authored their own vignette. Very few decided to go in for the salacious or extrene. Instead, most waxed philosophic along the lines of The Golden Rule and keeping priorities straight while not getting distracted by minor annoyances. This ends up making the points of view mildly repetitive, but taken in small doses, this collection is enjoyable, even enlightening. It is interesting to see how from vans to busses, they all end up with a Stoic to sanguine philosophy from [b:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius|1920125|The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius|George Long|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1190334670s/1920125.jpg|1922271] to [b:Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life|170548|Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life|Richard Carlson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172378911s/170548.jpg|164688].



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Review: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life by Richard Carlson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This is one of the few non-technical books I keep in my office. I've had it since it first came out and as a guiding, calming quick-check reference it has been well worth investment and matched the hype as a mental health life preserver.



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Review: The Road Most Traveled

The Road Most Traveled by Chuck Ragan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Short pieces from road warriors, mostly indie rockers, about life on the road. Each authored their own vignette. Very few decided to go in for the salacious or extrene. Instead, most waxed philosophic along the lines of The Golden Rule and keeping priorities straight while not getting distracted by minor annoyances. This ends up making the points of view mildly repetitive, but taken in small doses, this collection is enjoyable, even enlightening. It is interesting to see how from vans to busses, they all end up with a Stoic to sanguine philosophy from [b:Meditations|30659|Meditations|Marcus Aurelius|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1349003692s/30659.jpg|31010] to [b:Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life|170548|Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life|Richard Carlson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172378911s/170548.jpg|164688].



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Review: The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time: Complete

The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time: Complete by Will Durant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Great Mind Will Durant is speaking to my fantasy with his great description of a dream library:

“If I were rich I would have many books, and I would pamper myself with bindings bright to the eye and soft to the touch, paper generously opaque, and type such as men designed when printing was very young. I would dress my gods in leather and gold, and burn candles of worship before them at night, and string their names like beads on a rosary. I would have my library spacious and dark and cool, safe from alien sights and sounds, with slender casements opening on quiet fields, voluptuous chairs inviting communion and reverie, shaded lamps illuminating sanctuaries here and there, and every inch of the walls concealed with the mental heritage of our race. And there at any hour my hand or spirit would welcome my friends, if their souls were hungry and their hands were clean.”

(The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time, p. 64)

I read, partly, to someday be able to speak, or if alone, think like Durant writes: broadly scoped over the breadth of human accomplishment and err, he retains an entertaining wit, fascination, and hope.

While this is a short work, it's breezy delivery of a hundred books to read, a dozen dates to remember, the most important minds, and more beies the scholarship and erudition of the content.



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Review: Not Only Women Bleed, Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock Musician

Not Only Women Bleed, Vignettes from the Heart of a Rock Musician by Dick Wagner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



In a series of short, easy-to-read vignettes, Dick "The Maestro" Wagner tells us of when he scored ... and when he "scored". Along with the sex & drugs tell-all, the classic triumvirate is complete with lots of rock-n-roll from Michigan roots with The Invictas and The Bossmen and on to superstar success with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Tim Curry, and more.

One can really hear Dick's voice. I heard that voice when he announced on my radio show this book. It is great to hear that voice coming through on the finished product and hear what it was like being a J.D. in my own hometown area of Waterford-Union Lake in Michigan.



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Review: Revelations: Diaries of Women

Revelations: Diaries of Women by Mary Jane Moffat

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is an interesting collection of excerpt from womens' diaries. Thye go from known memoirists, like Anne Frank and Anais Nin to one, at least to me, lesser known: Henry James sister and the sister of William Wordsworth, for instance. The introductor, explanatory material is minimal but helpful. Overall, the women are left to speak for themselves, and whether it is the rigors of war (American Civl War and WWII) or finding a place to part a broken-down caravan or (in the case of a memorable "Unknown Japanese Woman) make an arranged marriage work despite frequent miscarraiges, the women do that very well.



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Review: Stoned Like a Statue a Complete Survey of Drinking Cliches: Primitive, Classical and Modern

Stoned Like a Statue a Complete Survey of Drinking Cliches: Primitive, Classical and Modern by Dean Martin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I think the authors were stoned when they came up with this idea, and carried it out. The slim paperback is B&W images of statues and statuettes, often pornographic with cartoon balloons holding weak comical observations on imbibing and cocktail parties, often with a snide attitude.



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Review: So Far...

So Far... by Kelsey Grammer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I was never more than mildly interested in "Cheers" and as such I was only dimly aware of his Frazier character and don't think seen nary an episode of the later "Frazier" sitcom. Still, I saw such positive reviews of this autobiography, I thought I'd give it a try. I am glad I did, especially with this audiobook effectively read by the author. It's a great performance and a honest and revealing assessment of a life full of tragedy, hope, and triumph.



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Review: Mathematical Mechanics: From Particle to Muscle

Mathematical Mechanics: From Particle to Muscle by Ellis D. Cooper

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The author is a retired high school teacher and Mathematical Mechanics is aimed at AP-level high school calculus students and their teachers to undergraduates and on to those graduated into research fields. It cannot be said that the author succeeded entirely in reaching both such a wide audience and covering such a constellation of topics for all of them. However, in being so boundless Cooper writes in a personal, wandering forward fashion that brings to mind a notebook, a type of scientific memoir. Asides, favorite quotations and improvements to proofs and theorems give the text that flavor and make it something that can be dipped into by the enthusiast at any point.

[See my full review at MAA Reviews.]




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Review: Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Roughly three quarters of the book is given to American relations wiht the Middle East from 1776 to WWII, about 175 years. Post-WWII to the War on Terror is the final quarter, roughly three quarters of a century. As result, tying in where we are now seems rushed, almost glossed over.

However, the author does succeed in documenting his case that from birth of this nation until know the relationship of America to the Middle East has been a contradictory blend of exotic allure and Islamophobic revulsion.

I found it most interesting that even back in the terms of Thomas Jefferson the nation struggled with waging war or seeking peace, claiming acceptance of all beliefs while reviling the Islamic faith. Over that time, it is sad and disappointing that the Western/Xtian and Muslim civiilzations couldn't get past their own prejudices from that day to this: Muslim lens of "Christian dogs" having Satanic motivations and aspects while powerfully placed extreme right factions in America and beyond seeing a Jewish homeland and war with Islam as a necessary and sought precursor to messianic return.

Also, the narrator has an occasional but distracting habit of putting the wrong syllable emphasis into a word.



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Review: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I resisted reading this book for a while since the garish cover and title made me think of books that are generally consumed only via “executive summary” and aren’t worth much more than that. However, I am glad I have read for it I found a fascinating overview of anthropological applied psychology and neuroscience that belongs on the shelf next to the works of [a:Malcolm Gladwell|1439|Malcolm Gladwell|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224601838p2/1439.jpg] and [a:Steven Pinker|3915|Steven Pinker|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235758085p2/3915.jpg].
Particularly interesting where the marketers at Procter & Gamble figuring out how to sell a Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history, by leveraging the habit of adding smells rather than eradicating them.
The CEO of Alcoa reaped marketplace gains by laser focus on safety, affecting and aligning worker habits and other corporate-scoped examples include Starbucks and the famous example (I heard it before of Target data mining for pregnant customers). Activism by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rick Warren (Saddleback Church) along with the power of weak links in Rosa Parks’ movements adds a socio-political dimension.
I was somewhat disappointed by the denouement, where [a:Charles Duhigg|5201530|Charles Duhigg|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1349273209p2/5201530.jpg] seeks to compare a sleepwalker’s murder to a woman who hides and finds enabled a multi-year million dollar gambling habit.

I think he intimitation of a theory of aspect - perceptional differences was both the most intriguing and least developed part of the book...



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Review: The Accidental Anarchist

The Accidental Anarchist by Bryna Kranzler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was a delightful read about a Russian Jew's comical flirtation with anarchist terrorism and fighting in the Czar's army in The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905). Captured for his politically motivated crimes and being doubly persecuted as a Jew, the diarist that was the source of this biography teams up with a good-hearted, optimistic thief and escapes from a Siberian prison camp. The story nicely ends with the meeting and marriage to the headstrong woman that delivered his cast off message and saved him from execution.

The Kindle edition has nice hyperlinks to explanations of Yiddishisms and historical facts as clarified by the family members that boiled down the diaries to this book and their small afterword material about that journey really completes this history.



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Review: Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Roughly three quarters of the book is given to American relations wiht the Middle East from 1776 to WWII, about 175 years. Post-WWII to the War on Terror is the final quarter, roughly three quarters of a century. As result, tying in where we are now seems rushed, almost glossed over.

However, the author does succeed in documenting his case that from birth of this nation until know the relationship of America to the Middle East has been a contradictory blend of exotic allure and Islamophobic revulsion.

I found it most interesting that even back in the terms of Thomas Jefferson the nation struggled with waging war or seeking peace, claiming acceptance of all beliefs while reviling the Islamic faith.

Also, the narrator has an occasional but distracting habit of putting the wrong syllable emphasis into a word.



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Review: Death Be Not Proud

Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



"As a professional writer, Johnny's father was capable of incarnating the spirit and intelligence of his ardent and precocious son. I am really convinced the world lost a brilliant inventor-scientist, but through this book we can all meet this atheist old soul and travel with him through 1940s cancer treatment.

Inlcuded in the book is many letters, quotes, and writings of Johnny. Among this impressive intellectual output, signifying an accomplished and seeking mind, is Johnny's list of chess tips, which I am saving.



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Review: The Story of the Second World War

The Story of the Second World War by Katharine Savage

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



A good, quick read about thi epic European struggle that consumed so much of the world. I always pick up something new. This time I was appalled by Hitler's strategic use of German lads raised by charitable Norweigans to effect the invasion and occupation of that country.



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Review: Son of Harpo Speaks!: A Family Portrait

Son of Harpo Speaks!: A Family Portrait by Bill Marx

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I am not sure if this audiobook is the same content as the printed book, but it is the potential differences that are the charm of this edition: music interludes, a cast of voices, etc. So, this is more an audio production than a straight reading of a book's content.

Don't execpt any diry on the Marx borthers, although Bill does divulge some of Groucho's penis problems and Harpo's casual nudity. Rather, this is an open and easy-going recollection of talented musician adopted into the Harpo Marx family and soon at an early age prop assistance and msuic arranger to his "Dad".

As such, this life story goes beyond Harpo's life (although Harpo audio-communes with Bill from a reverberated beyond-the-grave) presenting Bill's recollections of being in the wings as Harpo performed for film, TV, and stage onto Bill's own music career, such as touring the U.S. and Canada with Carol McLaughlin resurrecting Harpo's music.

There are also anectdotes about having Jack Benny for a neighbor, dealing with Marx family legal issues (recast as a complex plot for a Marx Brothers film treatment), how Zeppo was apt to swing a fist, and more.



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Review: Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin

Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Well, this well-researched, fasinating book puts in the final nail in the coffin of MLK assassination consipiracy theories, IMHO.

It ends up that James Earl Ray/Ramon Sneyd/Eric Stavro/Galt/etc. was a petty criminal from a family of them with a murderous bent born of neo-Nazi thoughts, George Wallace worship and a specific loathing for MLK.

His basic false identity skills kept him on the run long enough to get almost half-way to Rhodesia where he hoped to be an Afircan-slaying merc.

It wasa bit confusing for the author to always call Ray/Galt/Sneyd but he then current alias, but I can understand his reasons.



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