That's Me In The Middle

 

By Donald Jack

5 Stars

Historical/Humour

Adult

I'm a little biased in that I absolutely loved the whole series while I was in high school. I'm slowly adding the series to my personal library and, of course, reading them at the same time all over again. This is the second book in the series, and it does not disappoint.

I've spent some time studying creative writing since my first read-through, and I'm noticing more about the structure of the writing itself. The first three books in the series were clearly written as a trilogy. This is the second act. The word middle in the title is no accident. It's the middle of the trilogy, the middle of the First World War and the middle of Bandy's character arc. Despite his stumbling and bumbling his way through the war a reaches a kind of personal high. He's an ace pilot. He marries the love of his life, and he gets promoted along the way. I appreciate that the author spent a great deal of effort fitting the story within an accurate historical context. I have a greater appreciation for that now than I did when I first found this series.

Our anti-hero Bandy continues to be honest, heroic and oblivious. Frustrating and angering his superiors as he stumbles his way through the war, politics and his own personal life. The wedding night scene (completely clean) is hysterically funny.

I recommend that anyone who wants to read this book should read the first three books in order. They really do belong together. If you liked the first one you'll like the others as well.

Lagrange Five

 

By Mack Reynolds

3 Stars

Science Fiction

Adult

This is a mystery story set on a utopian space colony. The story opens with a guy going on a bike trip/picnic/campout within the confines of this orbiting space colony. Of course, I'm right into this. He falls prey to a mysterious illness and has to be rescued by the authorities, sedated and sent back to Earth. The illness is some kind of claustrophobia on steroids. For some reason, it is worse on this particular colony than on the others. 

Rex Bader is a private investigator and is hired to solve the mystery here. He is typical of the genre. He has a love interest, Susie Hawkins, who is a doctor but seems more like a secretary. The book does get accused of sexism from some, but if you take the time to read the private eye genre from the 1970 and 80s, you wouldn't expect anything less.

Whip Ford is the red herring in the story. He is a caricature of an angry black man. It's not intended to be racist, but his race is pointed out every time he comes on the stage. I was a little uncomfortable with that at the time, and would be even more so today. Along with that is the minimum intelligence requirement to become a colonist. A minimum IQ of 130 is needed. The author absolutely beats those two elements to death. In that regard, the book has not aged well.

The bad guys in the story are all Middle Eastern. At the time this was written, there had been the 70s oil crisis, and when it came out, there was the Iran hostage crisis. I don't think that too many people in Western nations were bothered by that at the time.

After saying all that, I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than the three-star rating would seem to indicate. I'm not going to go out of my way to read more of his work, but I don't regret reading this one. He put a lot of effort into writing something scientifically plausible, and in regard to world-building, the book is excellent. 

The Weekend Novelist

 

By Robert J Ray

5 Stars

Non-Fiction/Writing

Adult

I'm going to start this review by clarifying exactly which edition I read and used. The cover was exactly like the one pictured, and there were no co-authors. The primary companion to this edition was Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist. It also makes references to The Great Gatsby, which at this point I have not read.

This book proposes a fifty-two-week program to help you write a novel while you still have to live the rest of your life. It is filled with useful exercises. I did not rigidly adhere to the program. At the same time, had I not read and used what I learned from this book, I would not have completed a single manuscript. That is the primary reason it gets five stars from me. I used this book, the inspiration of National Novel Writing Month and help from others on Writing.com to write my first novel manuscript. I found a publisher. It didn't make me rich, but I can call myself a real writer. I did not pay someone to publish my book. Getting this book is really where it started.

The program outlined in the book does work, and I continue to refer to its pages to help me continue with my writing. Just remember you don't have to hold to it like it's cast in concrete. Writing is a creative process, and everyone is different. Even when you seem to have found the perfect way to get the words flowing, there'll come a day when it isn't working.

History of the Seventh Day Church of God

 

By Richard C. Nickels

4 Stars

Religion/History

Adult

I read this book between semesters at the end of 1985 and the beginning of 1986. One of my classes in the coming semester was Church History, and this was part of my personal study leading up to that. This book covers the period from the time of the split between the Seventh Day Adventists and the Churches of God Seventh Day until recently. The current edition available as a PDF online features changes and additions that were not there when I read it. I have the newest edition downloaded to my own computer.

For me, this book was a treasure trove of information and inspiration. It allowed me to put my own experiences in the Worldwide Church of God into a historical context. I would venture to say that this book is the primary reason for me staying with most of my beliefs, along with some of the other studying on the subject that I did at that time.

The history recorded here is a little bit dry. It is heavily footnoted. A great deal of effort and care went into the research for this book. Had I not been so very interested in the subject, I'm not sure I would have ploughed all the way through it. I found it to be a challenging read. That is my only real criticism of the book: the readability. If the subject is important to you, it is a worthwhile read. It's worth downloading your own copy.

Link for anyone interested: 

https://www.friendsofsabbath.org/Further_Research/History%20of%20the%20Sabbatarian%20Movement/historysdcog/index.htm

Please note the cover illustration is my own making based on what I remember. The fonts are probably wrong the colour is probably off. I could not find an actual cover image online.

The Chrysalids

 

By John Wyndham

5 Stars

Science Fiction

Young Adult/Adult

This review comes after a reread. This book was used in school curricula in some places. Not where I grew up. I originally found it in my school library back in the mid-to-late seventies. I loved the book then. Recently, I visited a local used book store and found a hardbound copy and decided to buy it. I started rereading it to check to see how well I remembered the story, and couldn't put it down. The other book I was reading got put on hold so that I could zip right through this one again. In my view, it is a great book. Easily one of my all-time favourites. As a writer myself, I appreciated how the story was put together. The story's beginning and ending resonate superbly. The pacing is excellent.

This is one of a few post-apocalyptic stories that I read in the same basic time frame. This is the one I remember the best. It's also the one I like the most. It is set in the town of Waknuk in what is now Labrador in Canada. Same end of Canada I live in right now, although it certainly isn't close. It is projected several hundred years in the future, when, for whatever reason, the climate is a great deal warmer than now. Society is rebuilding, and one of its major problems is mutation. Plants, animals and people have difficulty breeding true. They have made a religion out of trying to maintain purity. Terrific believable world building.

Our protagonists are David Strorm, Rosalind Morton and David's younger sister, Petra. They are telepathic, and they are not alone. Unfortunately, telepathy would be regarded as a deviation, and if their secret is discovered, they would be sterilized and banished to The Fringes. I won't spoil the story. You'll need to read it for yourself. I think it would be worth your time. 

For me, a great book. I'm very pleased to have a copy of this classic in my personal library and highly recommend it.

Stand By for Mars!

 

By Carey Rockwell

4 Stars

Science Fiction

Children/Young Adult

This was the first science fiction book I ever read. It was part of my parents' library at home, and I have no idea how they acquired it. I don't know why they had it. I don't know if anyone else in the family ever actually read it. The illustration at the beginning of this review is not the cover. It was the first illustration inside the book. The memory of that picture, for some reason, always stuck with me. The cover itself was blah.

This series of books is from an old TV/Radio series: Tom Corbett Space Cadet. This book is the first in a series of, I believe, nine books. This is the only one I've read. The author is a pseudonym, and the book was written by in-house writers, much like other more successful and enduring series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

The story starts with three stock characters arriving at the Space Academy to train for and join the Solar Guard. Tom Corbett is the perfect leader/hero. Roger Manning is the brilliant but arrogant jackass. Astro is the big galoot. They have the talent for greatness and the personality friction to spice up the story. All the other characters come across as stock characters as well, and this is really my only complaint about it. The three main characters gain depth as the story progresses and end up being memorable. They eventually become the crew of their own ship, the Polaris. Without spoiling the story, which is a good one, this book is their first big adventure together. The adventure helps them overcome their differences and pull together as a team.

In the US, this book is in the public domain and is available for free here:

 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19526

It was kind of fun to find this and skim through it. It's amazing how much of the story I retain after almost 55 years. That's also probably the best endorsement I can give.

Mao's America A Survivor's Warning

 

By Xi Van Fleet

5 Stars

Political

Adult

I consider myself publicly apolitical, but I do have opinions and thoughts on the subject. I just choose to keep a lot of that to myself. This is my first review of a political book, and I will try to be objective. It is interesting and well organized. I had no trouble maintaining interest as I read. I appreciated the endnotes because personal-experience books usually don't include them. It gives a clear picture of how she comes to her conclusions.

Xi Van Fleet experienced the communist takeover of China and lived through the various stages of the revolution. She eventually came to America for schooling, married an American, and settled in the USA. She noticed parallels in leftist American politics that reminded her of her experiences in her native country. In many ways, she sees the same progression and thinks that they are leading to the same bad results. I think she analyzed those parallels very well and made a compelling case. I definitely believe it is worth reading and thinking about. 

One of the main things I draw from her account is the sheer level of corruption that exists in politics, both left and right. The dividing of people so that they can be manipulated. I see it on both sides of the political divide.