On My Radar:

 A Change for BookSpin

by BookDude

Before my previous Twitter account was cancel cultured by Jack, I had a decent following for a part-time book blogger.  I never fooled myself into believing I was any kind of influencer, I merely hoped that readers sometimes found out about books from my humble little blog.

I was very political on my Twitter feed and that had its benefits and its pitfalls.  Some people followed me for my political views, but I probably lost some book people along the way.  When Twitter suspended my account, all that work was for naught in the end.

It took me awhile to feel like book blogging again.  I missed it.  I remembered I had created a backup account in case my primary one was suspended.  (It took me longer than it should have to remember the old account, though.)  Even though I am not the typical blogger, I am nothing but persistent. I don't have time to review much...I work 70 hours a week and am the caregiver for my 83-year-old mother.  However, I post well over 300 books a year consistently.

I know that my political (and sometime use of profanity) has cost me following from publishers.  I wish I could change that, but I have never begged for followers in my life, and will not start now.

Having said all of that, I am in the process of scrubbing my "new" account of all the non-book tweets.   This account will now be "all books, all the time," as stated in my Twitter bio.

I appreciate the friends I have made along the way.   Please rest assured that my political views have not changed.  However, over time I realized I was getting weary of hearing everyone else's opinions all the time, and it would be hypocritical of me to continue posting my own.

All the best,

Tim

In My TBR Stack:

What the Hell Are They Thinking? The 100 Debates That Govern Your Life, Written in a Way That Tells Both Sides of Every Story

Edited by Daniel Ravner

Perspective Media LTD

Trade Paperback


From the book publicity:



When was the last time you saw a politician or a protestor on television pushing their agenda on climate change, parenting, gun control, or (fill in the blank), and thought to yourself: What the hell are they thinkiing?

The Perspective came into the world in 2017 to answer that question. It is based on a unique psychological writing methodology designed to open minds by showing readers what they're missing due to media biases and filter bubbles. Our "Big Debates" are written with the goal of circumventing total rejection of opposing points of view. Our methodology was proven effective through academic research conducted in 2019 and 2021 by the interdisciplinary Center Herzilya.

What The Hell Are they Thinking is the first book from the multi-award-winning website The Perspective and is a collection of the site's most popular, most engaged-with "Big Debates" —with 30 new ones added exclusively for the book's release.

On My Radar:

Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers
by James Andrew Miller
Henry Holt
Hardcover


From the publisher's website:

The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, The Wire, Succession…HBO has long been the home of epic shows, as well as the source for brilliant new movies, news-making documentaries, and controversial sports journalism. By thinking big, trashing tired formulas, and killing off cliches long past their primes, HBO shook off the shackles of convention and led the way to a bolder world of content, opening the door to all that was new, original, and worthy of our attention.

In Tinderbox, award-winning journalist James Andrew Miller uncovers a bottomless trove of secrets and surprises, revealing new conflicts, insights, and analysis. As he did to great acclaim with SNL in Live from New York; with ESPN in Those Guys Have All the Fun; and with talent agency CAA in Powerhouse, Miller continues his record of extraordinary access to the most important voices, this time speaking with talents ranging from Abrams (J. J.) to Zendaya, as well as every single living president of HBO—and hundreds of other major players.



Over the course of more than 750 interviews with key sources, Miller reveals how fraught HBO’s journey has been, capturing the drama and the comedy off-camera and inside boardrooms as HBO created and mobilized a daring new content universe, and, in doing so, reshaped storytelling and upended our entertainment lives forever.

Coming Soon:

All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business
by Mel Brooks
Ballantine Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny.

All About Me! charts Mel Brooks’s meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers’ room in history, which included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. After co-creating both the mega-hit 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and the classic television series Get Smart, Brooks’s stellar film career took off. He would go on to write, direct, and star in The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs, as well as produce groundbreaking and eclectic films, including The Elephant Man, The Fly, and My Favorite Year. Brooks then went on to conquer Broadway with his record-breaking, Tony-winning musical, The Producers.
 
All About Me! offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for his outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and offers details about the many close friendships and collaborations Brooks had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Alfred Hitchcock, and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft.
 

Filled with tales of struggle, achievement, and camaraderie (and dozens of photographs), readers will gain a more personal and deeper understanding of the incredible body of work behind one of the most accomplished and beloved entertainers in history. 

In My TBR Stack:

The Adventurer's Glossary
by Joshua Glenn & Mark Kingwell
McGill-Queen's University Press
Hardcover


From the publisher's website:

Adventure is always escapist and often utopian, yet we find solidarity with others and Kafkaesque existential rabbit holes within the words we use to celebrate high-flying escapades. Even when adventures are small in the cosmic scope, the terminology of thrilling exploits promotes a life lived at a high pitch. This go-to glossary for the philosophical explorer delves into these contradictions and insights through more than five hundred terms, from A-OK to zoom. Semiotician Joshua Glenn sourced terms from Shakespeare, military and biker jargon, hip hop and surfer slang, survivalist and gamer subcultures, comic books, extreme sports, and beyond to ask questions about meaning and selfhood. This diverting survey, paired with copious illustrations by the acclaimed cartoonist Seth, is introduced by Mark Kingwell in a thought-provoking essay.

The Adventurer's Glossary extends the entertaining and incisive critique found in the trio's previous books, The Idler's Glossary and The Wage Slave's Glossary. This third installment turns its lens to the language of risk, excitement, and journeying into the unknown, taking readers on their own semantic adventure.

On My Radar:

The Dark Side of Memory: Uruguay's Disappeared Children and the Families That Never Stopped Searching
by Tessa Bridal
Invisible Ink Publishing
Trade Paperback


From the publisher's website:

The Dark Side of Memory by Tessa Bridal examines the largely unknown history of the state-sponsored kidnapping of children in Uruguay and Argentina during the Cold War. The author interviewed parents, family members, and the children (now adults) for first person accounts detailing the circumstances of the kidnappings and the illegal adoption of newborns from the torture centers where they were born. Mothers and grandmothers, often involved in decades-long searches for their missing children and grandchildren, shared their determined and courageous confrontations with the kidnappers and with the governments and military forces that protected them.

In My TBR Stack:

Daughters of War
by Dinah Jefferies
Harper Collins
Trade Paperback


From the publisher's website:

In an old stone cottage, on the edge of a beautiful French village, three sisters long for the end of the war.

Hélène, the eldest, is trying her hardest to steer her family to safety, even as the Nazi occupation becomes more threatening.

Elise, the rebel, is determined to help the Resistance, whatever the cost.

And Florence, the dreamer, just yearns for a world where France is free.

Then, one dark night, the Allies come knocking for help. And Hélène knows that she cannot sit on the sidelines any longer. But secrets from their own mysterious past threaten to unravel everything they hold most dear…




The first in an epic new series from the #1 international bestselling author, Daughters of War is a stunning tale of sisters, secrets and bravery in the darkness of war-torn France…

On My Radar:

The Devil Pulls the Strings
by J.W. Zarek
Trade Paperback


From the author's website:

Boone Daniels burns with guilt. Stalked by the wendigo that murdered his parents, his every waking minute bleeds with terror and regret. But now doused in a new fire of blame for almost killing his friend Flynn in a Ren Faire joust, Boone fills in for Flynn at his New York City big break gig.

And as soon as Boone arrives, things get weird. He catches Paganini sheet music in the air. Then a stunning girl clutching a violin case barrels into him. Her summer thunderstorm expression interrupted by the patron Professor Stone who Boone’s to meet falls three stories to the sidewalk—splat, along with a piano. Then the place explodes with gun fire and Boone helps the girl escape. She introduces herself as Sapphire Anjou, Stone’s Student Assistant, then drags Boone to meet Professor Wickhamby, where Boone uncovers a sinister plot to perform a rare Paganini piece that summons the Devil, Boone races through time to capture the cursed melody. But when steampunk vampires, a crazed Romani immortal, and Baba Yaga herself set the stage for war, he’ll have to risk death for redemption.

On My Radar:

Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black
by Naomi Parry
Abrams Books
Hardcover


From the publisher's website:

Amy Winehouse left an indelible mark on both the music industry and pop culture with her soulful voice and bold 60s-inspired aesthetic. Featuring stories and anecdotes from a wide range of characters connected to Amy, specially commissioned photography of memorabilia, styled and dressed themed sets incorporating Amy's clothing, possessions, and lyrics, and previously unseen archival images, this volume presents an intimate portrait that celebrates Amy's creative legacy.

Interspersed throughout are personal reflections on Amy's life and work, provided by her friends colleagues, and fans. These include Ronnie Spector, Vivienne Westwood, Bryan Adams, Little Simz, and Carl Barat, as well as goddaughter Dionne Bromfield, and DJ Bioux. Each one has a personal story to share, and together their anecdotes and reflections build into a complex picture of a much admired but troubled star. Vice Culture Editor Emma Garland puts these insights into context with an introduction that highlights the principal events and achievements in Amy's life and work, and the key characters that played a part in it.

Organized broadly chronologically, the book features newly shot lyric sheets, sketches, and ephemera together with contextual photographs and video stills, including album, single, and promotional artworks and outtakes. Punctuating the story are photographs of dressed room sets each created, designed, and styled especially for the book by Naomi Parry to evoke a period or aspect of Amy's life or personality, incorporating Amy's clothing, possessions, lyrics, and other memorabilia.

On My Radar:

Leonard Cohen: On a Wire

A Graphic Novel
by Philippe Girard
Drawn & Quarterly
Hardcover


From the publisher's website:

Leonard Cohen opens in Los Angeles on the last night of the man’s life in 2016. Alone in his final hours, the beloved writer and musician ponders his existence in a series of flashbacks that reveal the ups and downs of a storied career.

A young Cohen traded in the promise of steady employment in his family’s upscale Montreal garment business for the unlikely path of a literary poet. His life took another sharp turn when, already in his 30s, he recorded his first album to widespread international acclaim. Along the way he encountered a who’s who of musical luminaries, including Lou Reed, Nico, Janis Joplin, and Joni Mitchell. And then there’s Phil Spector, the notorious music impresario who held a gun to Cohen’s head during a coke-fueled, all-night-long recording session.

Later in Cohen’s life, there’s the story of Hallelujah, one of his most famous songs, and its slow rise from relative obscurity when first recorded in the 1980s to its iconic status a decade later with covers by John Cale and Jeff Buckley. And then there’s the period when Cohen went broke after his manager embezzled his lifetime savings, which ironically sparked an unlikely career resurgence and several worldwide tours in the 2000s.

Written with careful attention to detail and drawn with a palette of warm, lush colors by Quebec-based cartoonist Philippe Girard, Leonard Cohen is an engaging portrait of a cultural icon.

Leonard Cohen: On a Wire is translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle.

On My Radar:

The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World
by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet
Hardcover


From the publisher's website:

Get ready for a journey through every country in the world.

In this fourth edition of The Travel Book each country features an all-new profile that includes details of when to visit, what to see and do, and how to learn more about the country’s culture from its film, music, food and drink.

All brand new, incredible photography illustrates each country, depicting what life is like in each nation from photographic portraits of people, to beautiful landscapes and vibrant scenes of street life. Supported by colourful and detailed mapping, this title will bring the world to life for a new generation of travellers. As a premium 416-page hardback package it will inspire wanderlust and make an impressive gift!

In My TBR Stack:

WWII POWs in America and Abroad: An Astonishing Guide to an Unknown Chapter in World War II History
by Gary Slaughter with Joanne Fletcher Slaughter
Fletcher House Publishing
Trade Paperback


From the book jacket:

Little has been written about the six million people interned in prison camps around the world between 1939 and 1945.

We are aware that the Allies and the Axis powers held one another's armed forces as military prisoners of war (POWs).

The Axis powers also confined millions of civilian prisoners in death or concentration camps. In addition, the Axis imprisoned Russians, Slavs, European Jews, Gypsies, medically or physically handicapped persons, non-Jewish intellectuals, and religious leaders.

Even the United States interned its own citizens in camps throughout America. Over 125,000 Japanese Americans and 11,000 German Americans were held in the camps. Most were naturalized American citizens. Like military camps, these civilian sites were also surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers.

In 1944 when a German POW camp was built in his hometown, the author, as a young boy, became fascinated with POWs. During the last two decades, Gary Slaughter has authored five Cottonwood novels set on the American home front during the last five seasons of World War II, each containing POW storylines. Following book talks, most attendee's questions related to POWs. His extensive research resulted in this captivating book.

In My TBR Stack:

A Way Back to Health: 12 Lessons from a Cancer Survivor
by Kelley Murray Skoloda
She Writes Press
Trade Paperback


From the publisher's website:

Kelley Skoloda was the healthiest person she knew—until the day she became a cancer patient.

During her first, routine colonoscopy—without having experienced any symptoms—Kelley received a shocking diagnosis: colon cancer. Based on the true story of her subsequent cancer journey, A Way Back to Health reveals how surprising lessons paved the way for her recovery, shares helpful action steps for those who find themselves in a similar situation, and illuminates how personal stories can powerfully motivate and heal. In addition to telling her own story, Kelley also features examples of how other, amazing survivors have learned to manage, survive and thrive in the face of cancer. She also explores how often overlooked actions, such as trusting your instincts, speaking up, getting a second opinion, and watching for miracles, can have a profound impact on recovery—lessons meant to help patients advocate for themselves and help friends, family, and caregivers as they wrestle with cancer and its treatment.

Much more prevalent than COVID-19, cancer will affect one in three people directly, and many more indirectly, in their lifetime. A Way Back to Health, with its real-life stories and unexpected lessons, is a helpful and relatable guide to the most important information you need to know about cancer—for the time you need it most.