DWD's Reviews

  Victor Davis Hanson Delivers Another Quality Book Published in 2013 by Bloomsbury Press Victor Davis Hanson, best known for his works on Ancient Greece, looks at five different generals from five different time periods and discusses how these generals became what he calls "Savior Generals". This book is very similar in structure to his 2003 book Ripples of Battle . Hanson picked five generals to discuss. All are from the West and he notes that this is not an all-inclusive list. They are not even particularly spread out well over history. One is from Ancient Greece, one from the early Byzantine Empire and three of them are American generals. In my opinion, not all of them fit the mold perfectly. In fact, I think only two of them do. To be a Savior General you have to have been on the outs with the establishment and then, when everything has fallen apart and the situation is about as dire as possible, the establishment command structure looks to you to come in with y

THE BEST OF 2014 This is a list of the best of the best of the 72 books and short stories that I read or listened to in 2014. They did not have to be released in 2014. I broke the books into several categories. The reviews are linked.  * indicates the best book in that category. Fiction books: The Black Box (Harry Bosch #18)   by Michael Connelly Steelheart (The Reckoners Book #1)   by Brandon Sanderson Republic: A Novel of America's Future by Charles Sheehan-Miles Short Story: The Big Trip Up Yonder by Kurt Vonnegut Noose by Ernie Lindsey Mildred by Sean Ryan O'Reilly Hard Place by Ernie Lindsey Non-Fiction books: * R ipples of Battle: How  Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think   by Victor Davis Hanson Game Plan:  How to Protect Yourself from the Coming Cyber-economic Attack   by Kevin D. Freeman An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America by Nick Bunker Crazy is Normal: A Classroom Expose by Lloyd Lofth

A Lightweight Version of The Case for Christ I picked The Case for Christmas  up for free on Amazon.com as a Kindle e-book. For a freebie, this is a solid introduction to Lee Strobel and his style. But, if you purchase this book as a stand-alone book at the regular price of $1.99 it has issues. A mosaic from the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople Issue #1. This book is a essentially an edited, truncated version of Lee Strobel's signature book, The Case for Christ . Now, I like The Case for Christ  because it is very thorough and includes a lot of detailed arguments as to why Jesus is not who the Church claims he is and then proceeds to counter them. The Case for Christmas is almost exactly 1/3 of the length of The Case for Christ  and the editing hurts. Issue #2. Regularly priced at $1.99, this kindle e-book is 2/3 the price of the original source text it comes from. Right now, you can buy The Case for Christ  for $2.99. Spend the extra dollar and get the much more

   Posadas County Mysteries Not the Same Without Bill Gastner First published in 2002. Synopsis: The Posadas County Sheriff's office is short-handed when it gets word that a pilot spotted a body that has been shot in the middle-of-nowhere. Literally, in the middle-of-nowhere - not near a road, a train track, a business or anything. The bullets were fired just in hearing range of a gravel pit but no one thinks twice about bullets being fired in the New Mexico countryside because people hunt or shoot at varmints on a regular basis. So, new Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman and her team start to dig into what they have - a body in the desert and no other clues. Soon enough, they discover more, including a local connection to what may be an international crime spree (although, it's not hard to be international so close to such a porous border). With the addition of the sudden death of a suspected animal trafficker in a fiery explosion, the new Undersheriff has her hands full

Published in 1953 and 1959 by The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc Intended for mid to upper elementary students. Thirty-five years ago books like  Narcissa Whitman: Pioneer Girl  filled my library's book shelves in Hope, Indiana and I went through them like a hot knife through butter. I am sure they are a big reason why I enjoy history so much today. I remember enthusiastically reading about the adventures of young Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln and even about Martha Washington and other "yucky" girls as I worked my way down the shelf. Narcissa Whitman (1808-1847) I have next to my computer a 1959 hardback copy of  Narcissa Whitman: Pioneer Girl,  part of the  Childhood of Famous Americans  series .  I am happy to note that  Patria Press  out of Indianapolis is re-publishing some the series, which is a good thing in my mind. This book focuses on Narcissa Prentiss (who later in the book marries and becomes Narcissa Whitman), a young pioneer girl on the frontier

  Did Not Have the Same Spirit as the First Book in This Trilogy. Published by Simon and Schuster Audio in 2007. Performed by Gerald Doyle Duration: 13 hours, 31 minutes. Unabridged It is the year 794 and Jack, the 13-year-old Bard-in-training from what is now the United Kingdom is on a new mission. Having recently returned from his adventures with the Vikings and the Frost Giants (detailed in Book #1 of this trilogy,  The Sea of Trolls ) Jack's new adventure begins with a mid-winter ceremony led by his teacher, known simply as The Bard.  The ceremony is supposed to symbolize renewal by ridding the village of all fire. Then, the village gathers in one place and creates a new fire and re-ignites everyone's hearth fires from this new fire. The ceremony has few hard and fast rules, but Jack's self-absorbed sister, Lucy, breaks one of them by bringing metal to the ceremony in the form of a beautiful silver necklace that she was given during their trip to the Viking hom