Category: Non-Fiction

TITLE: Forever and Ever, Amen
CHARACTERS: Randy Travis
AUTHOR: Randy Travis
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/14/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The long-awaited, deeply personal story of one of American music’s greatest icons, a remarkable tale of the utmost heights of fame and success, the deepest lows of life’s sorrows, and a miraculous return from the brink of death—told as only Randy Travis can.

Beloved around the world, Randy Travis has sold more than 25 million albums in both country and gospel and is considered one of the finest performers of his generation, admired by superstars across the musical landscape, from Garth Brooks to Mick Jagger.

From a working-class background in North Carolina to a job as a cook and club singer in Nashville to his “overnight success” with his smash 1986 album Storms of Life–which launched the neotraditional movement in country music–Randy’s first three decades are a true rags-to-riches story.

But in 2009, this seemingly charmed life began a downward spiral. His marriage dissolved, he discovered that his finances had unraveled, and his struggles with anger led to alcohol abuse, public embarrassment, and even police arrest in 2012.

Then, just as he was putting his life back together, Randy suffered a devastating viral cardiomyopathy that led to a massive stroke which he was not expected to survive. Yet he not only survived but also learned to walk again and in 2016 accepted his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame by singing the hymn that explains his life today: “Amazing Grace.”

Filled with never-before-told stories, Forever and Ever, Amen is a riveting tale of unfathomable success, great joy, deep pain, and redemption that can come only from above.

REVIEW:
I have been a fan of Randy Travis since the 80’s when he turned country music back to what it once was.

Randy Travis gave us back that Hank Williams, Sr. feel and country music changed into the 90’s and even now.

I enjoyed reading his story. Many things I already knew but hearing it first hand seemed different. And I enjoyed the stories that I had never heard. It gave me a new perspective on the legend.

Any fan of country music and especially Randy Travis should pick up this story. It will be a great read for any fan.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: The Last At-Bat of Shoeless Joe
CHARACTERS: Shoeless Joe Jackson
AUTHOR: Granville Wyche Burgess
PUBLICATION DATE: 05/01/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
1951. Greenville, South Carolina.

Jimmy Roberts is the best hitter in this little mill town, and maybe in the whole Textile Baseball League.

He’s got major league potential, and then some.

But to get there, he’ll need a miracle. Or maybe the help of a local drunk and liquor store owner … who just happens to go by the name of “Shoeless Joe.”

“Granville Wyche Burgess is such an amazing talent.” — Patzi Gil, nationally syndicated radio host, Joy on Paper

“In Granville Wyche Burgess’ new novel, Shoeless Joe Jackson of Black Sox fame comes alive in a most ingenious way. He becomes involved in a struggle between good and evil, and in the end you root for him to become the hero he might have become had dark forces not ended his baseball career. If you love baseball, you’ll love this book. If you love books with satisfying endings, you’ll give Joe (and Granville) a standing ovation.” — Peter Golenbock, New York Times bestselling author of Dynasty, The Bronx Zoo (with Sparkly Lyle), Number 1 (with Billy Martin) and Idiot (with Johnny Damon)

“Joseph Jefferson ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson passed away in December 1951, three decades after he was laid low by the Black Sox scandal. But the mystique of Shoeless Joe has never left us…. [H]e is now the subject of a remarkable new novel by Granville Wyche Burgess. With a grand slam plot wrapped in lyrical and whimsical prose, Burgess gives us the grit and glory of old time baseball, poignantly reviving the spirit of a fallen hero.” — Raymond Arsenault, author of Freedom Riders, The Sound of Freedom, and Arthur Ashe, A Life

REVIEW:
4.5 Hearts I had never heard of Shoeless Joe until I watched Field Of Dreams. Whether it was his story or Ray Liotta I will never know but I became a fan of Joe Jackson that very day. Then of course I went and watched Eight Men Out (which had come out before Field Of Dreams) and thought I knew the story. But now I have a different take on what happened.

Some of this is fact and some fiction. Sort of like the Titanic movie. The part of the ship and its passengers were real except Rose and Jack. Will the story of Joe Jackson seems to be real while the story of Jimmy Rogers is fiction.

Jimmy’s story is really good but the parts of Shoeless Joe was what kept me wanting to read this book. Wonderfully written and engrossing. Hope someone sees it and makes it into a movie (hint hint).

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Assassins’ America
CHARACTERS: Various Presidents
AUTHOR: Jessica Gunderson & Joe Tougas
PUBLICATION DATE: 03/01/18
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Lincoln watched a play. Garfield walked through a train station. McKinley shook hands with his public. Kennedy smiled and waved from a motorcade. In these moments shots rang out and four presidents suffered mortal wounds. Some say their assassins were calculating killers. Others say they were madmen guided by strange notions of the world. Assassins’ America examines the life of each killer and his victim. Their stories are full of twists and mysteries, and even today Americans live with lasting effects of these terrible crimes.

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts This is an interesting read. There are sections on each president that are quick reads and give you some background into each one. But the sections also explain the assassination of each and why the author believes the assassinations happened.

I have been on a bit of a kick about real life and death of presidents and celebrities alike and I found this book very interesting. Especially the parts about Lincoln and Kennedy since we have heard so much about them already.

Interesting read for any history buff.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: The Lost City Of The Monkey God: A True Story
CHARACTERS: Douglas Preston
AUTHOR: Douglas Preston
PUBLICATION DATE: 01/03/17
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A five-hundred-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world’s densest jungle.

Since the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and they warn that anyone who enters this sacred city will fall ill and die. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having found the Lost City of the Monkey God-but then committed suicide without revealing its location.

Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a rickety, single-engine plane carrying the machine that would change everything: lidar, a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but an enigmatic, lost civilization.

Venturing into this raw, treacherous, but breathtakingly beautiful wilderness to confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, disease-carrying insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. But it wasn’t until they returned that tragedy struck: Preston and others found they had contracted in the ruins a horrifying, sometimes lethal-and incurable-disease.

Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, The Lost City of the Monkey God is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

REVIEW:
Well this is a big difference from the books Preston usually writes. It is a true story about his journey. I enjoyed it mostly. Some parts were a big winded for lack of a better word. There is a bit too much conversation about things like disease and it gets to be too much.

Now that being said it is interesting. Knowing it is true makes it even more so. But I look forward to Preston heading back to his regular genre.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

TITLE: Al Capone
CHARACTERS: Al Capone
AUTHOR: Deirdre Bair
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/25/16
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
From a National Book Award-winning biographer, the first complete life of legendary gangster Al Capone to be produced with the cooperation of his family, who provided the author with exclusive access to personal testimony and archival documents.

Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York, to poor, Italian immigrant parents, Al Capone went on to become the most infamous gangster in American history. In 1925, during the height of Prohibition, Capone’s multi-million-dollar Chicago bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operation dominated the organized-crime scene. His competition with rival gangs was brutally violent, a long-running war that crested with the shocking St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929. Through it all, and despite the best efforts of law enforcement and the media elite, Capone remained above the fray. Federal income-tax evasion was the strongest charge that could be made to stick, and in 1931 he was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After serving six-and-a-half years, mostly in Alcatraz, a severely impaired Capone, badly damaged by neurosyphillis, was released to live out his final years with his family in Miami. From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone’s life has gripped the public imagination, and his gangster persona has been immortalized in the countless movies and books inspired by his exploits.

But who was the man behind the legend? Capone loved to tell tall tales that perpetuated his mystique; newspapers loved him and frequently embellished or fabricated stories about him to sell copies. While some remember him as fundamentally kind and good, others speak of how frightening he was, a vicious, cold-blooded killer. Was Al really such a quotable wit? Did he really shower the poor with hundred-dollar bills and silver dollars from the window of his bulletproof car? Did he really keep a bevy of mistresses ensconced in his hotel headquarters in Chicago? Writing with exclusive access to Capone’s descendants, Deirdre Bair finally gets at the truth behind this eternally fascinating man, who was equal parts charismatic mobster, doting father, and calculating monster.

REVIEW:
I have had an interest in Al Capone for years. I have no idea what it is about him but I really think he is a fascinating person. He was bad and yet he was a really good guy to those he felt deserved it.

I believe this book did a really good job showing what his family, friends and conspirators felt about the man. There were a number of things that I didn’t know about him in this book and of course there were things that I did know already that were not a part of the book.

I would say if you don’t know anything about the man this is not the only book you should read but it is one that gets a portion of his life as told by his closest people out to the world.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.