Category Archives: Books

Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? by Rodger Cragun and Thomas Kessler (2014. Outskirts Press. ISBN 978-1-4787-2082-9) Just as he did in his solo effort, The Ultimate Heresy, theologian Cragun takes on modern Christianity with a fervor and resolve in this new … Continue reading →

Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke (2014. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-1079-2. I read Burke once before. It was so long ago, my review of his novel set in Montana, Bitterroot, isn’t archived on this blog but on Amazon.com under … Continue reading →

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (2015. Harper. ISBN 9780062409850) A confession. I didn’t read To Kill a Mockingbird as a teenager, as part of my sophomore English class like so many white American kids did. I didn’t dissect … Continue reading →

Hillsider: Snapshots of a Curious Political Journey by Don Ness (2015. Hillside Publishing. ISBN 9780692490129) Political memoir can be a tricky thing to pull off. Oft times, the author, who also happens to be the subject of the writing, lets … Continue reading →

The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg (2015. Lake Union Publishing. ISBN 9781477830819) I disagree with the reviewers of this new Holocaust novel who claim that Rosenberg’s story is bogged down by too many historical details, facts, and digressions. I … Continue reading →

Custer: Lessons in Leadership by Duane Schultz (2010. Palgrave. ISBN 9780230617087) General Wesley Clark provides the forward in this tightly written snapshot biography of the military career of General George Armstrong Custer. From the beginning, it’s clear that this volume … Continue reading →

Zenith City: Stories from Duluth by Michael Fedo (2014. University of Minnesota Press. 9780816691104) I was looking for a linear memoir so I bought this book. Why? Like all writers of a certain age, I am thinking about what my … Continue reading →

Symmetry: The Talking Stick Vol. 23 (2014. Jackpine Writer’s Bloc. ISBN 9781928690269) Every year, I have a table at the Northwoods Arts Festival and Book Fair held in Hackensack, MN. Over the span of a decade, I’ve met many members … Continue reading →

A Stricken Field by Martha Gellhorn (2011. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226286969) Known as a brilliant war correspondent who covered the Spanish Civil War with her lover and eventual husband, Ernest Hemingway, as well as the Winter War in … Continue reading →

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (2013. Ballantine. ISBN 9780345526113) It was a wonderful gift my son Dylan gave me last Christmas. My hardcover version of this massive chronicle of Henson’s life is inscribed “Here’s a book about … Continue reading →