What exactly does a high school basketball coach do? Roll the balls out? Draw some Xs and Os on the whiteboard/ clipboard thingy? Rehearse halftime speeches? Perception vs Reality. Marc Skelton has made teaching and coaching his calling. From choosing to teach at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School in the Bronx to the relationships... Continue Reading →
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (Mini Review)
I'm going to start this review off with the verdict: A must-read for those spy novel fans who want to find out the truth behind those twisty plots. The ultimate 'truth is stranger than fiction' Cold War spy story. Oleg Gordievsky is a man who grew up in the world of the KGB. His father... Continue Reading →
The Curse of Oak Island: The Story of the World’s Longest Treasure Hunt by Randall Sullivan
First off, I will admit to never having watched the show on the History Channel, but I love a good treasure hunt. And that is what I wanted to find in this one. Oak Island is a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia, which has been home to a mystery for several centuries.... Continue Reading →
The Spy Who Was Left Behind by Michael Pullara
‘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 →
A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa (Mini Review)
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 →