“Hillbilly Elegy” is an insightful social commentary about the struggles currently being faced by members of the white, Appalachian working class. Its author, J.D. Vance, is uniquely qualified to provide this commentary because he was raised in this socioeconomic group and overcame serious obstacles to attend Yale law school as well as build a strong, healthy marriage. Continue reading
Category Archives: Nonfiction
“The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain”, by Bill Bryson
“The Road to Little Dribbling” contains Bill Bryson’s most recent humorous musings about his travel experiences. This time he is back in Great Britain and he has a lot to say about a lot of things, much of it having nothing to do with travel. Continue reading
“Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror”, by Michael V. Hayden
“Playing to the Edge” is a memoir of General Mike Hayden’s stint as Director of the NSA and then CIA from 1999 until 2009. These were challenging times for intelligence agencies as they fought elusive terrorists in a post-9/11 world and sailed the uncharted waters of new and rapidly growing technologies and all the legal and moral issues associated with accessing and using it in an effort to protect our nation. Continue reading
Book Review: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
The Boys in the Boat is the amazing, true story of the team that won the gold medal in eight man crew at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It’s an inspirational story about hard work, resilience and perseverance set in the middle of the Great Depression and on the cusp of World War II.
Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
In Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, author Erik Larson chronicles in great detail the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine during World War I. Lovers of history should really enjoy this Dead Wake. It is loaded with facts about events leading up to the tragedy, the details of the sinking and some of its aftermath. Continue reading
Book Review: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
The Big Short was both eye opening and riveting. Wow! In the interest of full disclosure, I often don’t make it all the way through nonfiction books because I frequently find them dry and repetitive, Continue reading
Book Thoughts from Bed 