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reviewed by: June

Good Harbor is by Anita Diamant who is also the author of The Red Tent, an earlier book based on the women in the book of Genesis. This newer story is about the importance of female friendship. It takes the reader into the once-in-a-lifetime friendship of two women in Gloucester, MS. Both in their middle years, they meet by accident and realize they have a common love for the beach at Good Harbor. Unfolding events in their lives recall their sorrows, guilt and their resolutions in a realistic honest sharing.

This is a very human story, containing all the elements and foibles that readers will recognize and identify in themselves.

Raising the Hunley is by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf. The authors have thoroughly researched the history and legends of the first attack submarine. It was the inspiration of Horace Lawson Hunley and was built during the Civil War with the hope that the little boat could break the Union's blockade of Charleston Harbor. It was suc-cessful in sinking the USS Housatonic in February 1864 but vanished the same night. It was found 132 years later and was finally raised in 2000. Most of it was intact but the cause of its loss is still undetermined.

Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles is a historical novel based on journals and diaries of the Civil War. It is set in southeast Missouri, whose women citizens are assumed to be the enemies of Union forces. The principal character, Adair Colley, is a young girl whose father, a judge and teacher, is arrested by the Union militia and charged with treason. Adair and her two younger sisters escape but are later separated. Adair, in trying to rescue her father, is herself imprisoned for three years. While a captive, she meets and falls in love with a Union officer. Most of the book is taken up with her escape, and her efforts to survive in the wilderness while trying to make her way back home.

The only drawback to an otherwise interesting story is the publisher has hampered readers by choosing to eliminate the formality of using quotation marks within the dialogue.

George Orwell - Battling Big Brother, is by Tanya Agathocleous. Orwell is best known for his books, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-four. The latter was written in 1948. He simply reversed the numbers for the title. That book is a classic and has added words to our language. Such words as newspeak and doublethink were originated by Orwell.

Born Eric Arthur Blair, he was a man ahead of his time. He was well educated--but pretty much a loner because of his unconventional ideas. He and his wife and one adopted son remained poor most of his life because he refused to compromise his integrity. He died of tuberculosis at forty-six.

Max Perkins; Editor of Genius, was written by A. Scott Berg. For many years Perkins was chief editor at Charles Scribner & Son, Publishers. He worked with such notable authors as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Taylor Caldwell and James Jones.

The author takes the reader behind the scenes and shows the difficulties some of these writers fought. Fitzgerald and Wolfe, especially, suffered bouts of depression and self-doubt and relied heavily on their editor. Perkins was a surrogate father, a source of strength and a trusted confidante to his list of authors. Max, and his wife Louise, had five daughters but no sons. In many ways that void was filled by some of the young men he published.

This is an excellent book. Berg has done a thorough job of research and written a story that flows easily.

Original Self by Thomas Moore is a collection of meditations on knowing oneself.

The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw contains stories about the well-known and the unknown heroes of World War II. He also covers the people on the home front, including the discrimination against Japanese-Americans. Courage was a common commodity in those times.

Joseph McCarthy by Arthur Herman. The infamous Senator Joe McCarthy and McCarthyism was a prominent subject in the post World War II era. He was sometimes careless and indiscriminate in his accusations of people he suspected of being Communists or "Reds" as they were called. Many careers were ruined by innuendo alone. McCarthy was chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the Senate and held hearings for several years.

Though he was flamboyant and reckless, he was often right in his assessments. However his own destructive behavior was his downfall. He died of alcoholism.

Survivor by Mark Burnett. This is a behind-the-scenes running commentary on the first "Survivor" TV series. It is interesting but it doesn't add a lot to what we know from viewing the show. I liked it because it was a character study of human nature-- a microcosm of life.

All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos. The author worked on the first presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. After Clinton was elected, Stephenopoulos served on the White House staff in several different roles. The book offers a look at some of the inner workings of politics and is somewhat self-serving. It begins with the author having a sort of hero-worship of Clinton but that appraisal evolves into one of self-protection. Much of his work was in spin control and presidential image protection from the media. It brings to mind the words of Marshall McLuhan: ...the media is the message.

Self Matters by Dr. Philip McGraw. I like the author's "tell- it- like- it- is" style of writing. I had enjoyed his earlier book, Life Strategies and when I heard of this book and his concept of "10 defining moments" of one's life, I wanted to identify my own. I am working on that now. It involves going into old memories and recalling my feelings and emotions. McGraw also says there are 7 critical choices that put one on one's current path--and 5 pivotal people who have shaped one. I am eager to turn the pages.

True North by Kimberly Kafka. This is the story of a woman who lives alone in Alaska. She is a bush pilot and an environmentalist. A white woman, she has a tentative peace with the Eskimo tribe eighty miles downriver. Then a young couple, Easterners, arrives and upset the delicate racial balance. This is the young author's first fiction, and it's a good one, even though it has some technical flaws. There are vague hints of a dark tragedy in the main character's past but the author's writing style and lack of expertise in transitions make it hard to follow in places. While it places an unnecessary burden on the reader, it is well worth the time-spent reading.

Hometown by Tracy Kidder is a story about the author's own hometown. It is rich in nostalgia as he weaves together a tapestry of a place and its residents. He relates the history of the town and its social patterns. The reader follows the thoughts and routines of a hometown police sergeant as he deals with the grittier side of its petty criminals and the victims of poverty. Kidder's love for his town is evident and it strikes a chord with the reader

A Separate Place is by David Brill. The author chronicles his journey from a hectic, stressed-out life in suburban Knoxville, Tennessee to a cabin in the woods on the Cumberland Plateau on a wild and scenic river. A veteran of the 2100 miles of the Appalachian Trail twenty years earlier, he instinctively seeks out the peace and oneness with nature that he had somehow lost. His marriage of eighteen years is falling apart, and caught in between are his two young daughters who cling to him as they sense the coming break. Brill slowly but gradually comes to terms with his conflicts and his Higher Power in the simple sanctuary in the wilderness.

Lazy B is by Sandra Day O'Connor and H. Alan Day. This brother and sister team grew up on a sprawling ranch in the Southwest. Their story is a loving intimate memoir of their family background, of their pioneering parents and grandparents. It is a very human, easy to read account of daily life in isolated high desert country, and the hardships and rewards that formed their characters.

As the authors grew to maturity, their lives took different directions. Day took over the management of the Lazy B from his father and carried on for thirty years until the family decided it was time to sell it. O'Connor went to law school at Stanford University and then took up the practice of law. She served six years as an Arizona State Senator and later was a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals for twelve years. In 1981 President Reagan appointed her an Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve in that capacity.

Talking to Heaven is by James Van Praagh. Van Praagh is a noted medium who communicates with the spirits of those who have died. This is a moving account of how he first discovered his unusual gift. He shares his experience and wonder with the reader as he comes to understand his psychic powers. Included are many stories of families and loved ones who have had their fears allayed as to the whereabouts and happiness of those they have lost. Van Praagh passes on to his clients any bits of trivia that "come through" because they are often the means by which their identity is verified to the client's satisfaction. The author also gives insight and guidance to readers who may want to contact the spirits on their own. He offers an inspirational view of the world beyond.

June adds this comment, "Books! Books! What would we do without them? I figure books I own that are still unread represent hope. I intend to read all of them. There is no such thing as too many books. The ones I don't want to keep, I donate to the (public) library, so it is not a waste."