Category: Book Review

White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman

White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman

The book “White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy”  by Tom Schaller and  Paul Waldman brings together a huge amount of information to discuss rural areas, their problems, and potential solutions as well as the current political situation which contributes to these problems and presents a threat to American democracy.   I think that may be the longest and most complicated sentence I’ve written lately, so let me explain.

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I Never Did Like Politics

I Never Did Like Politics

Both my parents grew up in New York City while Fiorello La Guardia was mayor. I can remember them talking about Mayor La Guardia when I was growing up.  He seemed interesting but I never got around to learning much more about him.  This book fixed that problem.

The book is  “I Never Did Like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America’s Mayor, and Why He Still Matters” by Terry Golway.
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Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country by Adam Kinzinger

Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country by Adam Kinzinger

After the shock of the January 6, 2021 insurrection (https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2021/07/02/insurrection-based-on-a-lie/ and https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2021/12/06/a-national-disgrace-or-6/), I followed the news about it closely. I was very impressed by the 2 Republicans who sacrificed their positions in the Republican party and ultimately their seats in Congress to serve on the committee investigating this.
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Tightwads and Spendthrifts by Scott Rick

Tightwads and Spendthrifts by Scott Rick

Tightwads and Spendthrifts by Scott Rick is a very good book. Some people are extremely tight with money (tightwads) and others spend freely, sometimes excessively (spendthrifts). Others combine these traits in various ways.

I enjoyed Tightwads and Spendthrifts for many reasons. It is a science-based guide to understanding our sometimes complicated relationship with money. Scott Rick is a behavioral scientist and this might make some hesitate to give this book a try. But have no fear, the writing style is very informal and non-judgmental. Not the dry, complex style one might expect. I appreciated his explanation of his methods as well as the discussion of the work of others. I also enjoyed his discussions of the various approaches to understanding our financial decisions.
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God Save Benedict Arnold  by Jack Kelly

God Save Benedict Arnold by Jack Kelly

Benedict Arnold was a hero and General in the American Revolution before he became a traitor late in the war. Why did he do this? Most of us may know little but his treason. This book fills in all those details of what came before the treason and discusses possible reasons why he became a traitor. The full title is God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man.
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The Ferry Port Mystery by David Pearson

The Ferry Port Mystery by David Pearson

I liked The Ferry Port Mystery by David Pearson. For the first few chapters I was not sure I would. There seemed to be just enough to keep you reading and I was unsure how long I would continue but things got much better. But I am getting ahead of myself so I’ll go back to the beginning.
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Past Lying: A Karen Pirie Novel

Past Lying: A Karen Pirie Novel

I’ve been fan of Val McDermit for several years now https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/tag/val-mcdermid/ .

Past Lying: A Karen Pirie Novel is her latest.  DCI Karen Pirie heads Police Scotland’s Historic Case Unit (HCU). We Americans would call it cold cases.  The Scots prefer the “Historic” designation for reasons  given in this book.
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Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point

I just finished reading “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point” .

It is by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt whose earlier book “How Democracies Die” I had reviewed about 4 years ago. They are professors of government at Harvard University. They like many other Americans were shocked by the violent insurrection of January 6, 2020.
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Abandoned Scotland

Abandoned Scotland

I liked it but it is very different than anything I had reviewed previously so I am a bit unsure of how of proceed. So I’ll get the easy part out of the way first and them added a short bit on what I thought about the book.

The book is “Abandoned Scotland” by Alastair Horne. I thank Netgalley and Amber Books for allowing me to read the book before publication.
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The Fight to Regulate American Capitalism

The Fight to Regulate American Capitalism

The book reviewed is Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques.  It was a great history of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s struggle to level the playing field for ordinary Americans interested in investing and saving.

Diana B. Henriques is a financial journalist and well qualified to tell this story.  I’d like to thank both Netgalley and Random House for allowing me to read Taming the Street before publication.
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President Trump–Again?

President Trump–Again?

President Trump–Again? by Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a short book. I read it in one evening. For a short book it does cover a lot of ground. And I should mention that my review copy was very current, covering events that happened just a few weeks ago. I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the privilege of reading this review copy.
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Eyes That Do Not See

Eyes That Do Not See

I liked this book. The book is Eyes That Do Not See by Kent Kearney, I thank Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for letting me read it in return for an honest review.

The story reminds us of the types of things many of our ancestors endured to find a better life for both them and their descendants.

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American Whitelash

American Whitelash

First of all, I think this is a really good book.  It is also an important book.  The book is “American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress” by Wesley Lowery

Whitelash may not be a term familiar to all. Slang.net defines it this way:

Whitelash is a political term that refers to a resistance by white voters against social progress among minority groups.

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