Category Archives: Books

Imersion by Verse

The Gold Shop of Ba-‘Ali by Yahya Frederickson (2014. Lost Horse Press. 9780991146529) A chance meeting with the author of this volume of English language poems set in Yemen led me to buy a signed copy of The Gold Shop. … Continue reading

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Too Much Inside Baseball

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richard (2012. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292719644) Before my now-departed law clerk, Rachel Bell, a bright young lawyer who graduated from the University of Texas Law School, gave me … Continue reading

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Another Arrowhead Classic

The Road Back to Sweetgrass by Linda LeGarde Grover (2014. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816692699) Normally I’m up by 5:00am writing or managing my little press. This morning, images from Linda Grover’s latest novel bouncing around in my head … Continue reading

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Living History with Stephen Ambrose

  Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose (1996. Simon and Schuster. ISBN9780684826974) On a recent trip to visit my son Dylan and his wife-to-be Shelly out on the prairie (Williston, ND), my wife and my son Jack and I toured … Continue reading

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Two More From the Road (Reviews that is!)

Stella Baine by Anita Shreve (2013. Hachette (audiobook). ISBN 9781478953647) Unfortunately for fans of Shreve’s fiction her latest effort is no Pilot’s Wife or The Weight of Water, both well written, thoroughly engaging literary novels depicting human relationships and emotions. … Continue reading

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2 From the Road

Grasp: Making Sense of Science and Spirituality by Jim Trainor (2010. UpNorth Press. ISBN 9781456354084) This is second of three books given to me by my evangelical friend, Vicky. All of the books, two novels and this nonfiction treatise examining … Continue reading

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Hasidim in Rural Iowa

Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen G. Bloom (2000. Harcourt. ISBN 9780156013369) My mom loaned this book to me because: 1. Though a life-long Episcopalian, she is fascinated by Judaism; 2. She thinks I need to … Continue reading

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Birdsong that’s a bit flat

The Nightengale’s Song by Robert Timberg (1995. Touchstone. ISBN0684826739) Hmm. Well, what to say about a book that one of my brother judges gave me to read with the recommendation that it’s “one of my favorite books”? Granted, Dale Harris … Continue reading

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Another Hawai’i Read

Letters from Hawaii by Mark Twain (1966. University of Hawai’i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0288-2) I bought this book on my way home from Hawai’i. I spotted it in the airport bookstore on Oahu and I was intrigued, after reading Jack London’s … Continue reading

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Five from the Road

The Queen of Tears by Christ McKinney (1999. Mutual. ISBN 9970400595) These five “quickie” reviews involve books I read on my recent trip to Kaua’i and Oahu, Hawai’i. The first of the selections, The Queen of Tears, is a mass … Continue reading

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