Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley

As much as I enjoy history, I just don't get around to reading very much of it. I'm pleased at this exception. Suggested by a customer, it is amazing to see how warfare and attitudes have changed, and not changed, in 500 years.

I'm more into rock and blues than heavy metal, so other than their top 40 hits, I never followed the Scorpions much. Still, with their former drummer & lyricists signing at our store (11/6/11) I thought I'd give the book a shot. Wow! This guy is a riot (errr...not Quiet Riot). He realizes he has lived a dream and that he is playing with house money. He has a great sense of humor, and if you can handle his straying from topic to topic and then back again, you're in for a treat. A rock 'n roll memoir made fun ... just like its suppose to be.

"Powerful, disturbing, moving, chilling."  I'm not sure what words describe this, the most amazing book I've read in quite some time.

Although I was born 22 months after the JFK assassination, this book still resonates.  The first half is a fascinating look behind the scenes on how the Secret Service operated in the late 50s / early 60s.

The emotional roller coaster then takes off as the agents assigned to protect JFK on November 22, 1963 break their 48 year silence.

When the authors visited Russo's, the large Bakersfield crowd, including myself, gave Mr. Hill a standing ovation. 

Having now finished the book, I have but one bone to pick ... the chapter entitled "Don't Call Me Hero."  Sorry, Mr. Hill you are the embodiment of the American Hero.  God bless you.

This is an amazing concept for a biography. The author, who is 2 years younger than me, tells his life story of growing up in the 1970s in terms of various baseball cards. Having grown up in this era and with these very cards, I was mesmerized by this book.

Our lives have many parallels while young, although his bizarre family life and eventual drugs, unemployment, and drifting soon have us parting ways. Still, I related to this book on many levels. Highly recommended, especially if you love baseball, 1970s culture, and/or coming of age tales.

Mark Arax has a reporters nose for sniffing out the untold story and a strong sense of "place".  One of the premier chronicler's of California, this book takes us throughout the state, such as it is, in the early 21st century. 

One of the disturbing trends of the internet is the concept of "overshare."  Here, for example, we learn of a multi-generational love for baseball and bad haircuts (despite the best efforts of the hats).  Either way, I am very much enjoying this book.

In Volume Two (1982 - 1984), Breathed is in top form.  A fantastic collection of every Bloom County ever published, made even more entertaining via publisher sidebars and author recollections of various strips.

My all-time favorite strip: July 4, 1983.

Speaking of humor, few authors can top Lane Smith.  This children's picture book is a hilarious look at the eBook craze.  Traditionalist rejoice ... if you can't (or won't) join them, laugh at them.

That said, the very next book I review is an eBook.  So the joker laughs at me, I guess.

I enjoyed Twenge's Generation Me, and once again she and her co-author go a long way in diagnosing society's ills. Very enlightening.

Ever play "telephone" with 5 people?  Notice how the message gets garbled?  With 2000 years of human history between Jesus founding the Church to today, a lot of misconceptions and misinformation gets disseminated.  Avoid all the confusion of "what the Church believes and teaches" ... go straight to the source. 

Warning:  Reading this book may lead to Earthly contentment and Eternal bliss.

During my wife's medical problems (she thankfully is doing fine), this book provided me comfort and guidance on the eternal blessings God has in-store for us.