“The decision to serve needs to be independent of your politics.”
——Pete Buttigieg

I have watched most of all four debates and can’t help but wonder if any of the candidates can play the role of “Superperson” and save us from our man-made destruction. I believe they all mean well, and if I was forced to chose today I would probably vote for Mayor Pete because he seems to be leading with his head rather than his heart, but his age and lack of Washington experience/connections might stand in the way of success.

I fear that even if one of the progressives were to garner enough votes to win, their radical ideas would never get pushed through a congress peppered with radicals on the opposite spectrum. I do like Kamala Harris’s strong humanitarian heart and take-no-prisoners attitude, but some of her ideas are a bit too progressive for me. I don’t see conservatives or wealthy people as my enemy and would like to find that happy place where we can compromise to make a better world.

Elizabeth Warren is a strong woman with a good heart and a proven track record, and I believe that she could do a good job as president, but I fear that she might turn off the same voters that refused to vote for Hillary Clinton. If Democrats want to win this time, they need to pick a candidate who can appeal to all factions in some way and then support that candidate completely.

Bernie Sanders is a bit too radical and way too grumpy for me. I know he means well and has always been a hero for those in need, but I believe age has worn away some of his tolerance for those who think differently then he does, and being president means working for the betterment of everyone. Joe Biden, on the other hand, definitely shows tolerance for both sides of the aisle, but I fear he somehow fits the mold of all those who preceded him, and we need to bring in a little fresh air if we want to save ourselves from stagnation.

I was a Beto fan when he was opposing Cruz and thought he might be the one to bring both sides together, but his performances during the last two debates were lackluster, and his platform lacked the strength I am looking for in my next president.  The rest of the group is made up of  obviously intelligent men and women who each have one or two planks in their repertoire, but there is not enough substance to build a real platform.

So I am brought back to, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the  37 year old Harvard/Oxford educated war hero with a platform most closely aligned to my beliefs whose uphill battle seems to be strengthening him. I heard him speak on the Bill Maher show several months ago and was impressed with what he said and his manner of speaking. I have followed him closely since then and believe that with a strong vice president to help him face the battles ahead in a split congress, he might just be the hero that we are seeking.

It is early though, and there are many rough days ahead for all of the candidates, but there is one thing that I know for sure. If the democrats want to win this election, then they need to get behind the chosen candidate whether he/she is their original choice or not. Proving a point to a world who couldn’t care less by not voting because your candidate didn’t make the cut is both childish and dangerous. Find the candidate, Democrat or Republican, whose platform most closely matches your beliefs and do your patriotic duty and vote in November 2020.

The book I read/reviewed this week, Spiky by Ilaria Guarducci(author) and Laura Watkinson (illustrator) was as confusing as this year’s democratic choices. It is a well written children’s book with a good message, but there is enough darkness in it for me to offer a warning. I am not sure I want my little one to read about pulling the wings off of butterflies, even if there is a happily ever after ending.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​​​Genre: Children

​​​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

Author Guarducci had a good idea when she decided to write Spiky with an important message for children of all ages, but the graphic descriptions of Spiky’s bad behavior was troubling to me. The animal was trained to be bad. “His father, Mr.Spikington, had sent him to the best school for badness in the whole world.” He used his spikes as protection, and he soon became a bully. Although a bit dark, I realized it was building to a moralistic point, but then it went a bit over the top for me to recommend it without a warning. Before he learns to be good, Spiky pulls wings off butterflies and captures robins and chickadees in glass jars. I worry that this is a bit much for young children to read or be read about.

Spiky does learn the pleasures of being kind when he loses his spikes and is accepted as a friend to other animals, and the illustrations were well done. Children do experience other children behaving badly at times, and this book could definitely be used as a discussion starter, but mom or dad needs to pre-read this story and make sure that they present it in a way that their child learns the correct lesson.

- Beverly
​

Publisher - Amazon Crossing Kids
Date of Publication - ​​​July 1, 2019

“Strong families serve society by bringing forth healthy children and maturing young adults, by being a rich source of compassion for a sick member, of support for others in time of crisis and of care for the elderly and the dying.”
—-Vincent Nichols


It has been a hectic few weeks for my family as we try to transition my dad into an assisted living facility. He was hospitalized for several days before being sent to one rehab and then another. He is fortunate enough to be living in a lovely apartment that affords him the ability to move to an equally lovely assisted living facility on the same campus. Not everyone is quite as fortunate.

We need to do better with the elderly in our country. As Bill Maher often proclaims, the elderly are the last group standing that people make fun of without interference from the politically correct police. They are often ridiculed, and even worse they are almost always ignored. While many countries revere their elderly, Americans tend to dismiss them.

Here of late my sister or I have been accompanying my dad to his doctor appointments. More and more the physicians turn to us with their questions and explanations rather than speak directly to my dad, who while hearing impaired still remains intelligent and capable of discussing his own issues. While it might be annoying for a doctor to speak loud enough for my dad to hear, it is certainly less annoying than my dad having to watch himself be treated like a ten year old child.

Many countries have invested time and money into creating villages for their elderly to live out their waning years with dignity. Other countries help subsidize people who chose to care for their elderly relatives at home. We need to work on similar programs here, rather than warehousing so many of our aging population in understaffed facilities where they languish in bed without the dignity they deserve.

Years ago I used to show my students a Bill Cosby video on prejudice. It was a stand-up routine that exposed the many aspects of bias that we live with, but none so well as bigotry against the elderly. He questioned how we can make fun of the one group that we hope to all be a part of one day, as the alternative would be an untimely death.

It is the responsibility of all of us to help our parents and grandparents live safe and comfortable lives when they can no longer care for themselves. They spent many years seeing to our needs before we were able to be independent and holding our hands when the world around us was frightening. If it is our turn to return the favor, then we need to do it with the love and respect that they earned.

Hopefully, the politicians can show them respect, too and realize that instead of cutting back on the so called “entitlements” that these people actually contributed to during their lifetime, it is time to find ways to ease the life of the elderly in every way possible. The years go by quicker than one might think, and the people making the decisions today will be living with those decisions sooner than they think.

J. L. Brown helped me relieve tension this week with her novel, Rule of Law (A Jade Harrington Novel). This book, the second in the Jade Harrington series, allowed my mind to get lost in a world of intrigue when I needed to escape the most.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​​​Genre: Thriller

​​​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

Unfortunately, I picked up the second in the Jade Harrington series, Rule of Law, and quickly got involved in it. There were a great deal of references to the first in her series, so I  know how it ended before ever picking it up. That is too bad, because I really enjoyed this book and would have loved to begin at the beginning.

Jade is an FBI special agent who gets involved in a bullying case. A high school baseball team seems to be plagued with a serial killer, yet there is a seemingly obvious connection with bullying among team members. Jade is a strong character who is fun to follow.

We find that she has a connection with President Whitney Fairchild who enlists her help in keeping her agenda going forward. The President is also a strong female character, and I enjoyed the author’s style of alternating chapters featuring alternating women. Brown does give us a peek into the personal lives of both protagonists, but I would have liked to have gotten a bit more of their back stories. Maybe if I read the first book, Don’t Speak, I will catch up to their histories.

Meanwhile, book 3 is sitting in my Kindle, and I will probably read it over the following week.

- Beverly


Publisher - JAB Press
Date of Publication - ​​​​March 11, 2017

“Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
And they can't take that away.”
....Lee Greenwood


Our political arena has become so ugly that it is difficult to dig through the dirt and find something to hold on to. Lee Greenwood’s song, "God Bless the USA", used to bring tears of pride to my eyes. The tears still flow, but now they are mixed with a fear that we a losing the very essence of what we have always stood for in a very scary world.

We have another presidential election coming up next year, and voters from both parties need to pay more attention to this one than any I can remember. The hateful rhetoric on both sides cover the real issues. The far left, as well as the far right, bring hate to the forefront, and I, for one, am sick of it. I understand the instinct to fight fire with fire, but we as a country are better than that and must show this at the ballot box.

Now, more than ever before, we must research each candidate and stand behind the one who best represents us. We can not hide our head in the sand. Our current administration has shown itself to support an ethnocentric America with a fear of losing their vision of the American identity. It makes sense to vote to continue with this administration if your feelings align with theirs. Although I don’t agree with those voters who say that since their desires have been met with this administration they will overlook the hatred, I understand that they are looking after their own interests.

Who I don’t understand are those people who claim to see no hatred or bigotry in our administration and dismiss those who worry when supremacy groups are becoming part of the fold. It might be easy to say that these voters are all “deplorable,” but that is a dangerous mistake. We all have intelligent and educated friends, neighbors and relatives who are casting their votes for people throughout the country who represent various forms of hatred, and many of these voters are not bigoted or xenophobic.

They are believing what they want to believe. They are listening to a media that exploits their fears while it skews its information, because it allows them to support beliefs that would ordinarily scare them. They are being educated by those who share only half truths, and this allows this hatred to grow.

Their counterparts have fallen into the same rut, listening to information that highlights only the worst of an administration that has shown some progress in certain areas. We are all following the lead of a dysfunctional Congress filled with senators and representatives who would rather go against their own core values than compromise with the other side. It is enough! We each need to use our vote wisely and repopulate Washington with people who see us as a whole country rather than two feuding halves.

I realize that I have said similar things in past blogs, and I know I will say similar things in future blogs, because this is important enough to be repeated until we are once again the “United” States of America. Your educated vote will make a difference, so no matter which way you lean, please take the time to learn the truth about the person who earns that precious vote. This is urgent because if history hast taught us anything Mr. Greenwood, they can take our freedom away if we allow ourselves to ignore the facts.

The book that I read/reviewed this week, Nondisclosure (A Medical Thriller) by Geoffrey M. Cooper is a medical thriller that will keep you interested without bogging you down with technicalities. When Brad Parker, department chair at a top medical research institute, learns that one of the professors in his department is being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a student he is mentoring, he realizes he must find out the truth. Author Cooper does a good job taking us on this journey for the truth through the pages of his latest novel.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly
​

Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​​​Genre: Medical Thriller

​​​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

 Author Geoffrey Cooper is a retired scientist and academic administrator whose protagonist in Nondisclosure (A Medical Thriller) is a scientist and academic administrator. His knowledge of research in an academic setting is evident and gives the reader a window into a fascinating world that few are lucky enough to inhabit.

Protagonist Brad Parker, department chair at a top medical research institute, is horrified when one of the professors in his department accuses a colleague of drugging and sexually assaulting a female student he is mentoring. Brad realizes that he must investigate, but finds the girl is unable to remember what happened. He begins working with University detective Karen Richmond, but there is a complete lack of forensic evidence, even as they begin to suspect a cover-up at the highest levels.

Cooper did a good job making scientific theories and discoveries interesting, and I was able to learn a few things while being thoroughly entertained. While I figured out the “bad guy” rather early on in the story, it was fun watching the main characters weave their way through the maze and find the truth. I would have liked to see a bit more character development, but the author definitely had me rooting for both protagonists in their personal as well as professional lives. I truly did not want to put the book down once I started and ended up finishing it in two days.

I recommend this as a somewhat light read centering on some very heavy material.  I will definitely be on the lookout for Cooper’s next book.

- Beverly

Publisher - Captain Thomas Publishing; 1 edition
Date of Publication - ​​​July 15, 201

“It is not true we have only one life to love, if we can read, we can live as many lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”
― S.I. Hayakawa


When I was a young child, my grandmother, Rose, always had books around her house. She wasn’t the one who introduced me to reading, but she fostered my reading in a wonderful way. Whenever I would visit her, which was as often as I could, we would walk down to the neighborhood Horn and Hardart’s restaurant for lunch. Everyone loved the comfort food of H & H, and I was no exception, but my real comfort came in the little Doubleday bookstore that was several doors down.

It was there I found my first Nancy Drew book, The Hidden Staircase, and I became hooked on reading. From then on, after each lunch, I could pick out one book from this never ending series to add to my collection. We would go back to my grandmother’s house and read together until it was time to cook dinner. These memories always bring a smile to my face as I think of this woman who shared her joy of reading with me so many years ago.

When I became a mother I felt that sharing my grandmother’s joy of reading would be the perfect gift for Mike and Beth. Arthur and I read to them while they were in the womb and continued that practice, daily, until they could read on their own. I remember taking Mike to Toys R Us when he turned four. He picked out several toys, games and books for his birthday. Later that day, as we sat together I offered to read one of the books to him. He brought one over, climbed next to me and with a smile proceeded to read the entire book to me. Apparently he had been paying very close attention to Sesame Street and had taught himself to read.

When his little sister was two Mike set up a classroom in our house and went to work teaching her to read, too. “Come on Beth,” he would yell, “ you don’t want to be the dumbest kid in kindergarten.” Beth was three when she read her first words, and she quickly became obsessed with reading. Her pre-school teacher used to have her read to her class each day and rewarded her with time on the “big kid’s playground.” Grandma Rose’s legacy runs through the generations in our family, but it didn’t stop there.

When I became an English teacher, I was determined to share my love of books with my students. My classrooms always had bookshelves with “just for fun” books that the kids could borrow. As I used to tell them, there is no such thing as a person who doesn’t like to read. There are only those who have yet to find the right book to turn them on to reading. That was my job, and I took it seriously. I may not have reached them all, but I am pretty sure that I hooked a few more students to the vice that has given me years of joy and comfort.

So you see, reading and reviewing books became a natural progression for me. I am never without a book, and my electronic devices make carrying around my entire library a breeze. This blog allows me to share my finds with you, and I hope, in turn, you are sharing these suggestions with others. Yep, I can imagine the smile on my grandmother’s face if she knew the domino effect her love of reading has had on people through the years. Here’s hoping you all find the same comfort that I do in the written word.

David Rosenfelt is definitely one of those authors whose books allow me to escape for a bit, and his newest Andy Carpenter novel, Bark of Night is no exception. This book, due out this month, will allow you another visit with Rosenfelt’s sarcastic attorney and his eccentric team as they solve yet another dog populated mystery.

As always, a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order a title mentioned in today's blog

​​​Genre: Mystery

​​​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

David Rosenfelt’s protagonist, Andy Carpenter, always pulls me into his stories with  something related to a dog, who becomes a vital part of the mystery. Bark of Night is no exception. When Andy takes Tara, his golden retriever/best friend, to the veterinarian’s office, he doesn’t expect to find another case. In fact, Andy never wants to find another case...he finds being an attorney an annoying interruption from spending time with Tara.

His Vet introduces him to Truman, a dog who has a problem. A man recently dropped him off with money and instructions to euthanize him immediately. The problem is that Truman is perfectly healthy and killing a healthy dog seems cruel. When the Vet checks Truman’s chip, he finds that the man who dropped him off wasn’t the owner. He asks Andy for help, and being a sucker for all dogs, Andy agrees.

This leads Andy to a murdered man and another man who is being accused of a murder he might not have committed. Andy reluctantly calls his crew together and agrees to defend the hapless young defendant. As always, the fun is in the crew. His chronically pessimistic partner, his office administrator who doesn’t want to administer and his accountant/computer guy all bring humor to the story and help Andy get out of (and into) many tight spaces.

Of course his wife Laurie, an ex-police detective, proves invaluable, as does Marcus, his large and intimidating investigator/bodyguard. Between them they keep Andy safely on the correct path, and eventually he saves the day. This is Rosenfelt’s 19th addition to his Andy Carpenter series, and while the stories aren’t quite as fresh as they used to be, the characters and humor still have me anxiously looking for his next offering.

- Beverly

Publisher - Minotaur Books
Date of Publication - ​​July 16, 2019

​“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
—-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Should we be defined by our worst moments?

We all have those moments we desperately wish we could take back. We have moments when we show cowardice rather than bravery, heartlessness rather than compassion or prejudice rather than acceptance. These moments are fleeting and they do not, generally, represent the complete person that we have grown to be.  In fact, these moments haunt us when we think back on them and often turn us into better individuals than we might have become without them.

Then there are some people whose worst moments are so despicable that it is difficult to believe that their acts don’t define them. I was so horrified at the actions of Brock Turner, the young college man who drunkenly raped an unconscious coed behind a dumpster, that it was hard to think of him objectively. His sense of entitlement disgusted me, and when his father wrote a letter asking for leniency, his statement appalled me. He explained that his son was a good boy who made a mistake while drunk, and said that a long prison sentence “ is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."

Apparently the judge agreed, and he was in and out of prison in the blink of an eye, which was a slap in the face of his victim and a stain on our justice system, but in reality those twenty minutes probably did not define Brock Turner. If he would have served a reasonable amount of prison time, I could have accepted that he might return to society a good man intent on living a worthwhile life as the young man that his family and friends believe him to be.

Some people need to be defined by their worst moments though, because those moments reflect a lifetime of unacceptably vicious moments. Two years ago James Alex Fields Jr. plowed his car into a group of counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, not accidentally, and not in a moment of rage, but rather in a carefully planned display of his hatred. Several people were injured and a young woman died because of the hatred of this remorseless young man who proudly displays a picture of Adolf Hitler on his nightstand. His attorneys speak of his mental illness and traumatic childhood, and I am sure these things shaped him, but he has become a hateful man with a history showing years of documented racist and anti-Semitic behavior. These attorneys ask for an “expression of mercy” and a “conviction that no individual is wholly defined by their worst moments.” In this case, I believe that Mr. Fields’ worst moments most likely do define him, and his serving a lifetime sentence could protect society from anymore of his defining moments.

Yes, there are those whose worst moments are just representations of who they are and what they believe, but for most of us our worst moments, much like our best moments are just small pieces that make us complete. I used to tell my students that if you are about to do something, and your tummy starts to feel funny (and you are figuring ways to hide it from your parents) then you are probably entering one of your “worst moments.” This would be a good time to make another choice.

I believe in second chances. I believe that there are very few, if any, times when the death penalty is warranted. I believe that generally life in prison with no chance of parole is a harsh sentence that should be delivered with the utmost of care. When an individual loses all respect for the society that surrounds him though, I believe that the rest of us must be protected from him/her. Hatred is a destructive force that destroys the hater before it destroys the hated. Once the very fiber of a person has been so eroded by hate, then yes, he/she should be defined by worst moments and punished accordingly.

Speaking of our justice system, I enjoyed this week’s book, Mirror, Mirror, A Legal Thriller (The Warrick-Thompson Files Book) by Deborah Hawkins very much. Ms Hawkins does a masterful job fleshing out her characters, and in this novel her protagonist, Jeff Ryder, grows in leaps and bounds. Great story.

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

- Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​​​Genre: Legal/Thriller

​​​Click book cover for Amazon.com

Mirror, Mirror, the third in Hawkins’ four part series, shows the author’s ability to develop her characters as well as her plot line. When I first picked up the book I found the protagonist, Jeff Ryder, so unpleasant that I put it aside for a bit. I went back to it because I am a fan of Ms. Hawkins’ writing, and once I got into it I was hooked.

Jeff is a very successful attorney working in a  prestigious firm when the story begins, but on the day he is about to make partner he is accused of encouraging a client to falsely testify, enabling the conviction of the wrong man for the attempted murder of police rookie Chris Rafferty. As the attorney’s world crumbles around him, he desperately tries to prove his innocence and regain his life, but his own personality seems to be working against him.

Chris is now a quadriplegic recovering from the six bullets that ended his career. Hawkins features Chris and his wife Beth in some chapters and Jeff in other chapters, taking the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. When Jeff decides to represent Chris in a lawsuit proving negligence in this tragedy, he develops relationships and emotions he never saw coming, and Hawkins begins showing her strong talent in character development.

From the captivating prologue, through the strong story-line and finally bringing us to a satisfying conclusion, Deborah Hawkins showed me once again why I anxiously await the next book in this well thought out series.

- Beverly​

Publisher - Deborah Hawkins
Date of Publication - ​​August 29, 201