THE POWER OF THE DOG and THE CARTEL were both excellent. I've been looking very forward to this one. Great review!

Currently reading American radical by Kevin Maurer. It's an real life story about an FBI agent going undercover inside of a jihadist cell...very good!

NEVER PLAY DEAD

I had the opportunity to meet Tomi Lahren recently. Honestly, I just went to meet her and get a picture with her (I had no intention of reading her book). But it was short enough, just 10 chapters and 233 pages, so I decided I could find the time and see what she had to say. Honestly, whether you agree with her politics or not, this book isn't about that. It's about her life experiences that have shaped her into the woman she is today and it also serves as an inspirational/motivational book. Unfortunately, because so many people have this idea of her and hate her politics (which they're allowed to), many will discount this book simply because of that. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and some of the chapters really spoke to me. If you're looking for something to motivate or inspire you, I would give this a shot as Tomi is definitely wise beyond her years.

Interesting

Button Man
by Andrew Gross
I thought that this book was a bait and switch. A button man is of course an older term for mobster, or specifically a hitman/enforcer/bodyguard. As the fictional Willie Cicci told us "The boss says to push a button on a guy, I push a button". Later, as the term button man fell out of use, someone who had his "button" was someone who was a full and formal member of an Italian-American organized crime family. This book's title and intro made me think this book would be about early organized crime.

Well it was and wasn't. What this book really is a fictionalized hagiography to the author's deceased grandfather, a Jewish garment district business owner and later tycoon.
This story follows the life choices of Morris Rabishevsky (Raab) and his brothers. The Rabishevksy brothers grow up in horrible poverty on New York's Lower East Side at the turn of the century. Their father dies early; another brother dies in an accident.

The brothers must provide for their family. The youngest, most driven and toughest, Morris, apprentices in the garment business. Morris soon becomes a major player, eventually opening up his own firm. The oldest, Sol, becomes an accountant and bookkeeper. Sol's nowhere near as aggressive or as tough as his youngest brother but he does have a way with numbers. Harry feels responsible for the childhood death of their brother Shemuel. As a result Harry becomes a ne'er do well. He associates with criminals and rarely keeps honest jobs.
Morris rises in the garment trade and crosses paths with the unions. The gangster Lepke Buchalter has become a labor racketeer and the power behind the various garment district unions and business organizations. You either play ball with Lepke or you don't play at all.
I would have enjoyed the story more if it hadn't been so thoroughly centered on Morris. We see everyone from Morris' point of view. Harry is hapless.
I did enjoy a lot of the Yiddish, including some phrases that my high school chemistry teacher for some reason never shared with us.

Invisible
by Stephen L. Carter
Author and Yale law professor Stephen Carter wrote this biography of his paternal grandmother, Eunice Hunton Carter, in part because of his annoyance at ugly responses to HBO's Boardwalk Empire's depiction of a black woman prosecutor in 1930s New York City. Some viewers mocked the idea of a black woman prosecutor, viewing it as hyperbolic political correctness. Untrue. Eunice Carter really was a prosecutor who worked for Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey during his 1930s racketbuster days. She was the only member of Dewey's team who wasn't a white man. Eunice Carter, initially shunted away to taking complaints about streetwalkers and brothels, was the first to realize that the Mob, directed by the most powerful boss, Lucky Luciano, had started organizing the prostitution business. Eunice Carter conceived the legal strategy that saw Luciano convicted and sentenced to a thirty to fifty year prison sentence.

Though the Mob hook gives this book its subtitle, Stephen Carter said he had long wanted to write this biography. Eunice's story influenced his previous fiction. This is not, repeat NOT a story, about the Mob. It IS a story about Eunice Carter. If you're looking for a book on organized crime, look elsewhere. I can't emphasize that enough.

Eunice's younger brother, Alphaeus , became a Communist, something which almost certainly damaged Eunice's career in the prosecutor's office and beyond. Eunice certainly believed it did. When Alphaeus (along with the novelist Dashiell Hammett) was imprisoned for refusing to name names, his sister disowned him.

Eunice was interested in or least tolerated the various Black Harlem society galas and intrigues and rivalries. She was temperamentally conservative. She almost certainly stayed in an unhappy marriage because of societal expectations. Alphaeus on the other hand didn't give a good god**** about what anyone else thought, something which endeared him to his friends W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robseon, even as it strained relationships with his family. If the book has a weakness it is the author's tendency to conclude what his grandmother thought about this or that life event. I thought Carter too often wrote definitively of something about which, absent family stories or diaries, we don't know what his grandmother thought.

Great reviews Lilo, I just put both of these on my list.

The Institute
by Stephen King

The Old Man has lost a little speed off his fastball but when you are as good of a writer as King is, it doesn't make all that much difference. There are certain repeated themes, phrases and subplots that are recognizable in The Institute from several of King's other works as well as a few deliberate callbacks to creations or adaptations that King liked, or in the case of Kubrick's The Shining, did not like at all. King remains a master at quickly creating realistic characters with minimal description who nonetheless feel as if you've known them for years. So you care when good or more often, bad things happen to them. At a little over 500 pages in hardcover this is not a short time investment but because King is such a compelling storyteller I think most readers will feel that time flies past while reading.

Well, what's it about? I don't want to talk too much about that. In some respects it's a mashup of King's previous novels Firestarter and Dead Zone, with a little Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort thrown in with a hefty base of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series--that is Harry Potter if an even more sadistic Dolores Umbridge was in charge of everything. Might be some Nurse Ratched elements as well. Twelve year old Luke Ellis is a certifiable genius whose intelligence is off the charts. Even by gifted standards, he's an anomaly. But that's not his most unusual trait. No, Luke has telekinesis. His telekinesis is weak but it's noticeable. When Luke concentrates or is under severe emotional strain, he can move things with his mind. His parents know about this but just accept it as part of his gifts. They are more surprised to learn just how smart their son is.

In the same week that they discover that Luke at twelve, is ready to simultaneously attend MIT and Harvard, Luke's parents are murdered. Luke is kidnapped and taken to an unnamed remote facility in Maine. There, doctors and guards watch over a number of preteen and young teen boys and girls, all of whom, like Luke, have either psychic powers or potential.

The Institute's staff ruthlessly train, torture, and brainwash the children to get them to express this power. This is all done in the Front Half of the facility. Once they either show potential or show that they are incapable of certain actions, the children are moved to the Back Half. Nobody ever comes back from Back Half. The facility's boss is the dour and quiet Mrs. Sigsby, who has the same sympathy for children that a lab scientist has for her rats or monkeys.

They are quite deliberate allusions to Abu Gharib, Mengele, and Guantamano. The real question though is the same one King posed at the end of The Stand, --Do we think people ever learn anything?

Although King dedicated this book to his grandsons there is , as with many of his recent works, an elegiac sensitivity that suffuses the entire narrative. In the afterword I wasn't too surprised to discover that in part the book was also dedicated to one of King's best friends of forty years and the only person besides King's wife who read and vetted King's original manuscripts. That fellow just recently passed away.

This was a worthwhile read.

IN HOFFA'S SHADOW by Jack Goldsmith

This book is highly relevant, given the current craze for the movie, "The Irishman." Goldsmith, a law professor who was a government lawyer, is the stepson of Chuckie O'Brien, who was Jimmy Hoffa's acolyte and almost a son to him. Chuckie supplied Goldsmith with hundreds of hours of reminiscences about Hoffa, the Teamsters and the Mob, most of them very interesting because Goldsmith is a solid writer who added plenty of history to his stepfather's reminiscences. And, although it's not a comprehensive biography of Hoffa, there's plenty-enough detail about Hoffa's life to keep you interested and informed.

To cut to the chase: The FBI for decades harassed Chuckie, believing he was with Hoffa on his last ride, and may have been part of the plot to kill him. Chuckie steadfastly denied both. Half-Sicilian (on his Mob-connected mother's side), Chuckie, claiming to revere Omerta, didn't reveal who really killed Hoffa, though he said Anthony (Tony Pro) Provenzano "was highly involved." However, the FBI not long ago told Goldsmith that they now believe that Chuckie wasn't involved. They also believe that the actual assassin was a low-level Detroit Mafioso who rose steadily after the murder, and died as consigliere last January. By a process of elimination, that would be Anthony (Tony Pal) Palazzolo,

As for Frank (The Irishman) Sheeran, the central character in the movie: Chuckie never even mentioned Sheeran''s name in his sessions with Goldsmith. That could have been jealousy on Chuckie's part, and he isn't exactly a neutral observer or an upstanding character. Neither was Sheeran. In his biography, "I Heard You Paint Houses," the author, Charles Brandt, wrote (if I recall correctly) that Sheeran told him he was with Hoffa on his last ride, and was in the house where Hoffa was killed, but he said he wasn't the killer, and declined to identify the killer. His claim to be the killer happened later.

Sounds pretty good T, I will look for it and see if available on my kindle.

Its on kindle for 15 bucks..... will finish the Sam Giancanna book then get In Hoffas Shadow.

If I wait it may go down in price.

Here is a cool video I found on Youtube called: Top Six Mob Books (West Coast). Click on the link below to view the video. Enjoy.😀

https://youtu.be/k7oO74NF2ww

Just finished The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. I didn't like it as much as The Big Nowhere - the characterisation wasn't quite as good and the world he constructed wasn't as engrossing. That's two out of the four LA Quartet books read. I've already read The Big Nowhere, but I'll read that again before moving on to LA Confidential as I want to read the LA Quartet sequentially.

I always feel dirty reading an Ellroy book, like I need a cold shower.

So next on the agenda is Mobfather by George Anastasia.

That will get me warmed up for Blood and Honor, which I really need to finally read.

UNCHAINED MELODY: THE FILMS OF MEIKO KAJI

A very short and non-in depth look at the film career of Meiko Kaji. I'm a huge fan of LADY SNOWBLOOD and the FEMALE PRISONER SCORPION series. As such, I was looking forward to reading this since there's not much literature available to her fans here in the western hemisphere. The book chronicles her film career mostly and briefly discusses her TV and music careers as well. While the book is enjoyable with a lot of photos and a few behind the scenes stories, I would have liked to have had more of a background on Meiko herself. The book picks up when she began modelling at 17 and started her film career shortly thereafter. However, with so little material available to her English reading fans, I guess you take what you can get.

150 GLIMPSES OF THE BEATLES by Craig Brown

The author, a British humorist and journalist, selected 150 vignettes of the Moptops' upbringing and career. Some on familiar themes--did manager Brian Epstein have sex with John? How did Dylan introduce them to pot? What really happened when the lads went to India to commune with the Maharishi? How did the famous meeting with Elvis go? (after the awkward session, John asked, "I wonder who's more full of s..t? Me or Elvis?" Elvis to one of his entourage: "With all the money they have, why don't they get their teeth fixed?" A lot of wit and humor: Ed Sullivan warming up the crowd at the lads' first US broadcast "looking like he was reading an announcement of a fatal car accident"'; John's beloved Aunt Mimi, who raised him after his mother was killed by a truck, commenting on the naked "Two Virgins" album cover: "You're both so ugly. If you want to use a nude photo, why not have two people who aren't ugly?" Lots of inside info. Brown is sardonic at times, and doesn't miss any ironies, but he doesn't indulge in the nasty, corrosive snobbery and sarcasm that so many Brit authors use in writing about celebs. I liked it, but, at 575 pages, it was awfully long. I liked his shorter, "99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret" better--even though I knew next to nothing about her, I laughed out loud on almost every page.

I've been on a Baldacci kick. I finished the Will Robie and Amos Decker series and the first two of the Puller series. They're good, but you almost get exhausted reading them, they're so long. Just got President Obama's book and can't wait to start it.

I'm about 30 pages in on the Obama book, but stopped because I'm currently reading READY PLAYER TWO. As soon as I finish that one, I'm diving back in.

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

The sequel to Cline's hugely popular debut, Ready Player One. The book has received mixed reviews, with critics citing the story is far too similar to the original (both books contain an elaborate Easter egg hunt). I agree that the stories have a similar set-up, but RP2 is different and fresh enough to stand on its own. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and would highly recommend it, both to fans of the original, and anyone who has even the tiniest bit of nerdiness in them. The book is chock full of 80's pop culture references (music, fashion, movies, video games). If you haven't read the original, I HIGHLY recommend reading it before this one, both for the many references and for the fact that it is an all around outstanding novel.

Nice review XDCX. I loved the movie but haven't read either book yet. Glad to know they're worth the price of admission and will have to get around to them one of these days.

Thanks! Definitely check out RP1 first. I rank it in my top 5 favorite novels. I think they did a great job with the film, but, as is usually the case, the book is much better, at least IMO.

True, books are always better. Although I heard the movie they used in the book was BLADE RUNNER whereas in the movie they used THE SHINING during the second task. Can you confirm if this is true without giving away too much?

That is correct, I think Spielberg used THE SHINING in the film because it is a more recognizable film to most people. But without spoiling anything, I think the BLADE RUNNER scene would've totally worked in the film.

There are some other differences, too. Some of the tasks from the book were changed, probably because they wouldn't have translated well to film. Spielberg also messed with the timeline a little, but overall, the film was very faithful to the book.

THE WITCH

Author Brandon Grafius does a really good job at bringing a historical background and context to this deconstruction of THE WITCH. The first chapter itself deals primarily with the Puritans and early settlers religious beliefs and how this shapes each family members role in the film. Another chapter deals, rather exceedingly extensive in my opinion, on how the film fits into the folk horror subgenre and how that influences the film as well. While this was somewhat interesting, too much time was spent here. Only about the last third of the book deals with analyzing the film. However, there is a chapter dedicated to each character in the film and this is where Grafius is really able to engage the reader with a breakdown of the film. Overall, an enjoyable read and again, I appreciate the background information the author brought to the table to put the film in its proper context. It would have been nice to have a little bit more of an analysis however, and not rely so much on the other information.

THE NINE LIVES OF PAKISTAN by Declan Walsh
The author, longtime correspondent for The Guardian and later for NYTimes, lived in and covered Pakistan for more than a decade before being ousted as a "security risk" (meaning that he pissed off the regime). He claims to love Pakistan, attest his years living there. I don't see why: The Pakistan he describes isn't so much a nation as a loose agglomeration of tribes, each hating the others and killing each other in the name of Islam, running suicide bomber schools, shaking down the population, carrying out "honor" killings, and otherwise behaving badly. But, he offers in-depth interviews and bios of Pakistani politicos, police, generals and some fairly ordinary citizens that are insightful and well rounded. Worthwhile read.

True enough TB. I am surprised that its population exceeds 200 million in a about 310k square miles which is not that much larger than Texas.

Yes, Olli, I was also surprised that their population is so large. They also have a nuclear arsenal.

GAMBLING WITH ARMAGEDDON by Martin Sherwin

I read everything I can about the Cuban missile crisis (1962). This book has lots of detail culled from secret tapes JFK made of the ExComm discussions, plus notes made by various participants in those and other meetings. The detail is fascinating, and reinforces just how close the world came to total destruction. However, Sherwin is not a neutral or disinterested writer--he uses his facts selectively to demonize Eisenhower and later, the Joint Chiefs, and to deify Stevenson--neither of whom deserved that treatment. Still, the more facts and analysis that emerge from formerly secret sources, the better the understanding of this fearful event.

(N.B.: I was riding a subway home from work in NYC during the middle of the crisis. The train stopped at a station and the doors opened just as a bunch of emergency vehicle sirens were going off outside. No one ever makes eye contact on NYC subways, but this time everyone looked up from their newspapers and gave each other terrified looks.)

I read Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy.

I'd put it third behind The Big Nowhere and The Black Dahlia in terms of books of his that I've read.

He hadn't found his groove yet.

ROSEMARY'S BABY

Finally got around to reading the book one of my favorite horror movies of all-time is based upon and after doing so, Polanski nailed it! The film follows the book practically verbatim and Ira Levin made such an incredible and memorable classic. There were a few subplots and characters that Polanski snipped for the film, which I agree with. In the end, they didn't serve much purpose to the overall story and it helped with the film's runtime. I heard in an interview Polakski's first version was almost 4 hours and with the film being near identical to the book, I'm very curious what else he had in there for an extra hour and 45 minutes? Other than the minor characters who were cut, there are some extended scenes, particularly at the end, as well as a few minor scenes Rosemary has thinking or talking to family I would have liked to have seen in the film. However, the overall benefit of this book is you get to read some of Rosemary's thoughts and feelings that don't come across in the film. As stated before, the movie is so close to the novel that unless you really love the story and wish to dive more into it, you can get away with just watching the film. I wish director's took heed of this more nowadays when adapting movies: if the story's good enough to turn into a film, leave it alone instead of trying to put your own spin on the source material.