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‘It was very difficult for the Americans to tell the good guys from the bad guys.’ Would the United States allow a man to take the fall for a CIA agent’s murder? Would the government be complicit in the cover-up? These are the overreaching questions directing Michael Pullara's book The Spy Who Was Left Behind.... Continue Reading →
I've read several memoirs about North Korea. Some by visitors, and a couple by escapees. Ishikawa's story is unique not only in the circumstances but in the telling. He was born in Japan to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. During the economic downturn following WW2, N Korea offered a homecoming or repatriation of... Continue Reading →
Do you bank online? Do you use social media? Do you have a smartphone? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are vulnerable to cyber attack. As much as we depend on technology in our lives, it's important to think about the implications of these choices we are making as individuals, and... Continue Reading →
I write this review on the night my Oakland A’s clinch a berth in the 2018 playoffs. Yes, MY Oakland A’s. My father made that decision for me. He said it was easier to drive from Marin County across the Richmond - San Rafael bridge to Oakland than over the Golden Gate and through San... Continue Reading →
In the fall of 2010, I decided to start reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series. I knew that HBO was going to make a show based on the books, and I thought it would be the perfect time to dive into the land of Westeros. My first move was buying... Continue Reading →
At its heart, Ghettoside is a page-turning account of a murder investigation in South Los Angeles, but this book dives deep into many issues. Leovy presents a balanced account of the issue of black on black crime in Southern California, throughout the United States, and its history in our country. The case presented is a... Continue Reading →
“Any successful escape... would need to be a four-stage event: intense preparation, a foolproof breakout, an evasion scheme, and a bid to cross the border.’ From getting shot down in dogfights to being caught spying in the trenches, prisoners were rounded up in a multitude of ways during The Great War. And once locked up... Continue Reading →
Sarah Smarsh's Heartland is a telling memoir about growing up in a working-poor family in and just outside of Wichita, Kansas during the 80s and 90s. It's a piece that is built on powerful storytelling, and a unique voice in which the writer addresses her future daughter throughout the narrative. She shares the stories of... Continue Reading →
A panic attack is crippling. All the body's defense mechanisms are triggered at once, leaving a person frozen and in utter fear. Combine that with the fact that the stigma of mental health continues to plague our society, and dealing with these issues can be nearly impossible. Scott Stossel, current editor of The Atlantic magazine,... Continue Reading →
