December 2023 MBR Reviewer's Choice

Reviewer's Choice

We Lived In Danger
Victor Hepburn Small, Ph.D
Independently Published
9798987227107, $17.99, HC, 138pp

https://www.amazon.com/We-Lived-Danger-Rifleman-Canadians/dp/B0CD4WKBN3

Synopsis: "We Lived In Danger: From True Prairie Boy to Royal Regina Rifleman: A Western Canadian's WWII Memoir" is a deeply personal and inherently interest story about a small-town Canadian boy from Saskatchewan, Victor Hepburn Small, that unveils a rare and fascinating slice-of-life vignette of the World War II era. "Vic's" formative years in Big Sky country, and his love affair for prairie culture, prepared him for an extraordinary life event: to serve his country during WWII. Vic enlisted in 1942 at age 18, "to fight the Germans. Every living body did the same thing."

Published by his wife, Joanne Wolf Small, after his passing in 2021, this memoir is not only a labor of love it is also a remarkably unique anthology. Vic's transcribed, word-for-word, "Blue Bombers" leave letters are both gripping and eloquent. They reveal, with endearing intimacy and authenticity, vivid details of his experience as a young man at Sandhurst Royal Military College and serving in the European Theatre from 1943 to 1945. Not unlike many Canadian soldiers, Vic kept his film camera strapped to his side - all the way from military training in Alberta and British Columbia, across the pond on Cunard Line's Queen Mary - to Great Britain, Holland, and Germany. He left behind an emblematic photo collection for his memoir, delicately captioned by hand, and lovingly preserved in his family for over 75 years.

Vic's story is truly a tribute to the undeniable resolve of his generation, a rare, historic fingerprint of an analytical, light-hearted, yet curious young Canadian man extending his view of the world around him, and finally, an insight into the heart-breaking reality for soldiers of war back then, and the few WWII veterans left today.

Critique: An invaluable contribution to the growing body of World War II biographies and memoirs from a generation now largely gone from this world, "We Lived In Danger: From True Prairie Boy to Royal Regina Rifleman: A Western Canadian's WWII Memoir" is an extraordinary tribute to one man's personal experiences as a soldier in that global conflict. Nicely illustrated with B/W photos, "We Lived in Danger" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library World War II History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Homesick
Brendan O'Brien
Chicago Review Press
www.chicagoreviewpress.com
9781641609692, $19.99, PB, 336pp

https://www.amazon.com/Homesick-Why-Housing-Unaffordable-Change/dp/1641609699

Synopsis: Nobody who sits in traffic on Sedona, Arizona's main stretch or stands shoulder to shoulder in its many souvenir shops would call it a ghost town.

Neither would anyone renting a room for $2,000 a month or buying a house for a half-million dollars. And yet the people who built this small town and made it a community are being pushed further and further out. Their homes are being sold out from under their feet.

In studying the impact of short-term rentals, Brendan O'Brien saw something similar happening in places ranging from Bend, Oregon, to Bar Harbor, Maine. But it isn't just short-term rentals, and it's not just tourism towns. Neighborhoods in Austin and Atlanta have become rows of investment properties. Longtime residents in Spokane and Boston have been replaced by new, high-salaried remote workers.

Across the country, a level of unaffordable housing that once seemed unique to global cities like New York and San Francisco has become the norm, with nearly a third of all US households considered housing cost burdened.

This situation has been abetted by the direct actions of developers, politicians, and existing homeowners who have sought to drive up the cost of housing. But it's mostly happened due to a society-wide refusal to see housing as anything more than real estate, another product available to the highest bidder. This trend of putting local housing on a global market has worsened in recent years but is nothing new. Housing in the United States has always been marred by racial and income inequality that mocks the country's highest ideals.

Deeply researched and deeply felt, with the publication of "Homesick: Why Housing Is Unaffordable and How We Can Change It", O'Brien argues that we can be so much better -- and we can start where we live!

Critique: Impressively well researched, written, organized and presented, "Homesick: Why Housing Is Unaffordable and How We Can Change It" by Brendan O'Brien is a seminal, groundbreaking, eloquent, and informatively fact laden contribution to our present national dialogue with respect to homelessness and the crisis of inadequate affordable housing in America. While also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.49), "Homesick: Why Housing Is Unaffordable and How We Can Change It" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Urban Sociology, Contemporary Social Issues, and Real Estate Investment collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Brendan O'Brien (https://www.bobrien.us) spent three seasons working for federal public land management agencies in California, Montana, and New Mexico. He observed the influx of short-term rentals and non-primary homes alongside rising rents and prices. Studying this link became the basis of his master's thesis from Northern Arizona University as well as the article "When Boom Towns Become Ghost Towns in the New West."

The Gunner and the Grunt
Michael Kelley, author
Peter Burbank, author
Casemate Publishers
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636243436, $34.95, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Gunner-Grunt-Michael-Kelley/dp/1636243436

Synopsis: Effectively co-authored by Michael Kelley and Peter Burbank, "The Gunner and the Grunt" is written in the voices of two soldiers who fought in the same battles as members of the same recon unit but from different angles. Michael Kelley, the "Gunner," was flying in an armed helicopter above the jungle providing suppressive fire support, while Peter Burbank, the "Grunt," was down in the jungle on foot patrol involved in fire fights with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops.

"The Gunner and the Grunt" follows these two Boston boys from army training through deployment to the Vietnam war zone and the shock of first combat missions, to helicopter air assault "Search and Destroy" operations from the Cambodian border to the sands of the South China Sea.

Critique: Enhanced for the reader's benefit with a section of photos, "The Gunner and the Grunt" is a riveting read and one that will be of special and particular interest and recommendation to personal, community, and college/university library Viet Nam War History/Biography/Memoir collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It is interesting to learn that Burbank and Kelley remained lifelong friends after meeting in Vietnam as members of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile). It should also be noted for student, academia, military history buffs, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Gunner and the Grunt" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).

Editorial Note #1: Michael L. Kelley served in the United States Army from 1964 to 1967, met his wife Ruth in late 1967, helped her raise three children while he participated in dual careers with the Federal Government and the United States Army Reserve. Kelley retired as a Master Sergeant from the 3rd Battalion, 18th Infantry in 1990 and from the Defense Logistics Agency, DPRO Raytheon Missile Division, in 1994.

Editorial Note #2: Peter Burbank grew up in Hull, Massachusetts, a city south of Boston, and as a young boy, ran a paper route and read about World War II history, especially small-unit actions on the battle fronts. He dreamed about being a soldier, but not just an ordinary soldier, an "Airborne Infantry" soldier, where he could be at the "Tip of the Spear" for combat action. He got to live his dream and was sent to Vietnam and served as an Infantry Rifleman at the forefront of the action. After two combat tours he joined the Portland Police Department and saw action once again as a city patrol officer. Alongside his police career, Burbank joined the US Army Reserve, retiring as a Sergeant First Class after serving for twenty years.

Keeping Your Seat at the Table
Nori Jabba
1st World Publishing
www.keepingyourseat.com
9781421835365, $21.95 Paper/$14.95 Audio/$9.97 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Your-Seat-at-Table/dp/1421835363

Keeping Your Seat at the Table is about women aging, facing agism, and defeating the self- and society-inflicted mindsets and perceptions about the process and its impact on their lives. It's a book that should have been written long ago, but which arrives now with a timeless message - that women can not only claim a seat at the table of empowerment, but can sit at its head as stronger, more resilient leaders. With Nori Jabba's collection of research, stories, and insights, not only that position but the table itself falls under close inspection.

This is especially vital for professional women used to power's presence, but not to interpretations of its meaning and importance. Chapters evolve a series of "table-talk" sessions about purpose, redefining it in a series of discussions which encourage readers to begin their own internal and external dialogues about its presence and importance. Jabba's blend of research and her own reflections creates a synthesis of personal and political insights which are easy to digest and encouraging in their presentation: "Shifting the function of the table from career pinnacle to life purpose provides an opportunity to revitalize your goals, your career path, and your life path. Imagine if hiring managers asked questions that get to the heart of a person and what value they can add to the organization with questions about the table, such as, 'What does a seat at the table mean for you? Who's at your table?' or 'Tell me about a time when you felt pulled under the table and how you handled it.'"

No one has ever asked me these questions in a job interview, but they became central questions I explored in my journey to get my seat back at the table." All women interested in middle-age growth and involvement will find Keeping Your Seat at the Table relevant and important; but perhaps nowhere else is the audience of professional women so important to reach. These individuals have already worked hard to sit at the table. Now they need to absorb discussions on how to not just keep that seat, but reinforce it through transformative thoughts and actions. Jabba has created many original approaches to address all facets of this process.

One example is her program PURGE, designed to address the promises and failures of maintaining a social media presence: "PURGE helps me create a shield from intimidation and being saddled, bogged down by social media, bullied, or caught up in an uproar. It reduces anxiety and mitigates regret. It helps me leverage my voice strategically instead of worrying and wondering. The purpose of a social media policy is threefold: to keep you out of trouble and protect you, to give you a framework for sound decision-making, and to keep everyone on the same page."

Her creative yet reality-based approaches to addressing key obstacles in middle age that tends to thwart or reduce women's power in various ways makes for a series of important lessons. These ideally won't be limited to women's book clubs alone, but will expand into discussion groups for everyone from professional women to psychology self-help reading groups. Libraries will find Keeping Your Seat at the Table an interactive, power-promoting, important read that should be on the table of any aging woman interested in being proactive about her future.

As Jabba says: "No one wants to grow old, and while we cannot stop it, we can heed the early warning signs and manage them as we age so that we don't wake up one day depressed, perplexed, and shocked at how we got there. What I have learned from my mother's frustration, distress with aging, and head-in-the-sand mentality is this: do not let old age creep up on you. Take it by the reins when the signs start to appear and manage it." Reading and sharing Keeping Your Seat at the Table is the first step to doing so.

Creative Genius You
Patti Dobrowolski
Creative Genius Press
www.upyourcreativegenius.com
9780983985655, $21.99 Paper/$8.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Genius-You-Equation-Makes/dp/0983985650

Creative Genius You: The Equation That Makes You Great! pairs drawings by Scott Ward with exercises and insights into the foundations of intuition, creativity, and choice. This encourages readers to think outside the box of expectation and set patterns to reach a greater level of creative insights. From the importance of cultivating inner dialogues to optimizing ambition by reviewing progress in a new light, Patti Dobrowolski creates an inviting set of easy routines and insights about how belief systems can combine with artistic drive to create new pathways of opportunity. While outlining a path forward, Dobrowolski admits that history and training too often must be set aside in order to let in a different approach.

Peppered with examples, case histories, and inviting methods of re-envisioning past and present to hone better future opportunities, the exercises and advice in Creative Genius You outlines a road map of new possibilities. Of necessity, of course, these involve restructuring one's expectations, ideals, and approaches to life. Interactive formulas throughout the book streamline and encourage this process of discovery. Libraries and individuals interested in revised growth opportunities will welcome this approach, but Creative Genius You will truly shine in group settings where opportunities for contrast, discussion, and success can be shared and fine-tuned. Books clubs thus will find it an inspirational, actionable set of new ideals for fostering and tapping creative roots.

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