Books

Determining the Greatest Players in Golf Using Sabermetrics

Bill Felber

Review on Golf:

“This exercise is fun and well-written. Whether it will convince you which golfer is better at or over a given time period remains to be seen (we have our favorites, right?). That’s not really the point. The Hole Truth is proof that there is indeed truth in numbers, whether you want to believe in them or not.”

Be With Me Always

Randon Billings Noble

Praised in Pop Matters:

“Be With Me Always works its magic in profound, subtle, seamless ways. The meticulous craftsmanship in the construction of these essays is equally matched by Noble’s beautiful, confident, assured vision.”

Standing Up to Colonial Power:

The Lives of Henry Roe and Elizabeth Bender Cloud

Renya K. Ramirez

Reviewed by The Progressive:

“Yet there are those who understand that to improve the lives of our people it is critical to risk exposure and ridicule. In her new book, Standing Up to Colonial Power, Renya Ramirez chronicles the activist lives of her Ho-Chunk and Ojibwe grandparents Henry and Elizabeth Cloud.”

Here’s the Pitch:

The Amazing, True, New, and Improved Story of Baseball and Advertising

Roberta J. Newman

Review from Fartheroffthewall:

“Add up all the ads, and you’ve got what’s likely the definitive project dedicated to hardball and hawking, where ‘Mad Men’ meet yesterday’s Max Muncies.”

The Third Degree:

The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice

Scott D. Seligman

Recommended by the International Examiner:

“I leave this book wishing that others will read this and educate themselves on institutional biases that existed back then and still need to be addressed now and in the future. And it also demonstrates how media can be an incredibly powerful tool in shaping a society’s beliefs and biases.”

Bourbon Justice:

How Whiskey Law Shaped America

Brian F. Haara

Review by Leo Weekly:

“The court cases that ensued, clearly and concisely recounted by Louisville attorney and bourbon blogger Brian Haara, offer a fascinating perspective on how whiskey played a major role in shaping American consumer protection and trademark laws, among others. Even if you are a teetotaler, bourbon litigation has had an important impact on your life.”

Bloody Sixteen

The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War

Peter Fey

Noted as “gripping” by the Michigan War Studies Review:

“Bloody Sixteen offers a gripping introduction to the naval air war in Vietnam, well suited to stimulate fruitful discussions in undergraduate classrooms.”

African American Officers in Liberia

A Pestiferous Rotation, 1910-1942

Brian G. Shellum

Reviewed by Strategy Page:

“African American Officers in Liberia should be read by anyone interested in the creation of effective armed forces in corrupt ‘Third World’ countries, and for the light it throws on America’s quasi-official protectorate in Liberia as well as on the careers of black officers in the segregated army, two of whom, Young and Davis, were outstanding soldiers.”

The Horse Lover:

A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs

H. Alan Day

Review in Bismark Tribune:

“What I enjoyed most about this book was the way Day described the various horses and their attributes. He remembered the names he gave them and the mutual affection and respect they gave one another, and how he trained them and they trained him. These are very nice and sweet remembrances revealing much about the kind of man Day is. This book is an easy and enjoyable read.”

War Flower

My Life After Iraq

Brooke King

Recommended by the Military Times:

“War Flower is full of such frank emotion and explicit intimacy, the story of an Iraq veteran whose perspective is alternately chilling and charming. She bares all, starting with the cover image that is an enlargement of her wrist tattoo with hash marks a publicist says tally ‘her seven confirmed kills’… ‘Nothing good survives war,’ she writes. Except books such as this.”

Typically Jewish

Nancy Kalikow Maxwell

Review in Lilith:

“I can’t imagine a more accessible or fun book for a Jewish book club to discuss than this one—and Maxwell, knowing the biggest audience for books is Jewish women, has helpfully provided a great and entertaining discussion guide in the back.”