Books
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Iran’s New Strength, Trump’s Weakness: “Please, Please. It’s Too Much Winning. We Can’t Take It Anymore”
My first favorite author was Allen Drury, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Advise and Consent. As a teenager, I ate his books up, thrilled by their political and international stories with a continuous batch of colorful characters. But nothing…I mean nothing…that Drury could make up in his brilliant writing comes close to a plot line… Continue reading
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Book Journey Through History
Every summer, since the mid-1990s, I have selected a topic to read and explore. One year, it was Catherine the Great, then Russian history, and another year, Mao Zedong consumed my attention. This year, I am not sure which direction to head. So, over the past couple of weeks, I have spent time on the… Continue reading
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Chaos In The Republic: What President McKinley’s Assassination Revealed About A Fractured America
Eric Rauchway’s Murdering McKinley situates the assassination of President William McKinley within a nation deeply divided by the forces of industrial capitalism. I probably did not need to pull another book from the shelves this weekend, but I was in the mood for something different, so the slim volume of just over 200 pages fell… Continue reading
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Humphrey History Minute: Mirza Saleh, A Persian With The Love Of Learning
If you want an uplifting, quick slice of history, here it is. I encountered this story today, and must share it with others. Continue reading
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Exhaustion From Hypermasculinity In (Ted Bell) Books
I was reading a book in the parking area at the Middleton Post Office this afternoon as James ran some boxes in for mailing. I was 300 pages into Ted Bell’s second Alex Hawke book, Assassin, and abruptly closed it and threw it in the back seat. I had come close to calling it a… Continue reading
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Stuart Kaminsky: Inspector Rostnikov Series Has Characters Striving For Moral, Ethical, Humane Outcomes
This week, the last two books in the Inspector Rostnikov series by Stuart Kaminsky arrived from Amazon. As I took them from the package, I wondered what suspense they would hold. Over the next few months, they will land in my hands, and then there will be no more to anticipate. I was crowdsourcing in… Continue reading
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Letter From Home: “Turning Pages In The Sun” 2/15/26
There’s a particular kind of joy that arrives the moment winter finally loosens its grip. That is what happened this weekend in places around Wisconsin. It’s not loud or dramatic. It’s quiet, like the soft sound of a book page turning. Sitting for the first time this year at the table and chairs on our… Continue reading
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Living The Imperial Presidency In 2026
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.’s The Imperial Presidency was designed to be a warning flare fired across the bow of American democracy, but revisiting it as the new year started in light of Donald Trump’s actions gives it an even sharper edge. I first read this book when living in Sturgeon Bay, during President Reagan’s second term.… Continue reading
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Letter From Home: Heartstopper And Hancock 1/23/26
Last fall, at Barnes & Noble, thanks to a large display near an entrance to the bookstore, I first became aware of Alice Oseman, and the Heartstopper series. Several books of her work were prominently displayed, and I spent a few minutes reading a bit and exploring the overall tone and mission of them. Heartstopper… Continue reading
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What Must Be Done To Face Our Current Crisis In America?
While reading the newspapers today, I thought about a book I had read decades ago by Arthur Schlesinger. I read it in my 20s while in Door County, a decade after it was published. The Imperial Presidency was written following the twin debacles of Vietnam and Watergate, with an emphasis on what should be the… Continue reading
