#Revolution – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews-December Recap

December always sweeps in on an icy blast with more activities to accomplish associated with the holidays than can be easily handled.

Frosty, our Bichon Frise Despite the winter chill, the CE and I managed to get out for a couple walks and one or two additional short rides (around the block) before the bikes had to be left to cool in the garage for the winter. The frigid storm that hit near Christmas dropped outside temps to -0F with a wind chill factor of -34F, which alarmed me sufficiently that I felt I needed to protect Frosty’s little ears and put booties on her little paws for potty time. The CE is always very good at shoveling a small path for her as it’s too difficult to try and keep little booties on her paws in several inches of snow.

I worry about the wild critters in those conditions too and wonder how they manage to survive–much less the homeless—more than 16,000 in Chicago according to the news. It’s a blessing to have a roof overhead with food in the fridge and I think that’s Christmas gift enough—that and our health—knock on wood.

Reading in December took a back seat but we still managed ten books and audiobooks. A hard look at my schedule had me paring one post per week and I’ll keep that schedule into the new year with an occasional extra post. The current schedule is ebook reviews on Sunday and Tuesday and an audiobook review on Thursday. As I mentioned before, I took on (Amazon) Vine reviews that have proven to take more time than expected as well as a new preview club the CE and I are participating in as well. The latter is interesting but of course appears to also take more time than we expected. Have you heard of the Netflix Preview Club? Are you a member?

December book reviews

The Trackers by Charles Frazier (CE review)
Swamp Story by Dave Barry (my 5*)
Keep Sharp by Dr Sanjay Gupta (audiobook)
Hemlock Hollow by Culley Holderfield (CE review)
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (book club selection)
Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T Matthews (CE review)
The Devil You Know by P J Tracy
Borderline by Nevada Barr (audiobook)
Revolution by Mike Bond (CE review)
Guild Boss by Jayne Castle (audiobook)

Swamp Story was super and too short. A laugh out loud silly storyline that has you shaking your head while gobbling up the next chapter. It will be on my favorites of the year list and is totally recommended!

Reading Challenges

My challenges page has been caught up through December. As mentioned before, that page will undergo a change for 2023. My 2022 challenges have been achieved and I will take a look at the new schedule and adjust the challenges as well. I hope to have the new Reading Challenges page updated for the 2023 challenges some time in mid-January.

How did you do on your 2022 TBR? What titles have you already pegged for your January reads? Have you planned your first read of the year? I’d love to know the title—show me the cover.

I do so appreciate my followers. A special shout-out to those who like, share, and comment! Hope you all have a happy, healthy 2023!

Happy New Year - 2023

Book Blurb:

The 1968 Tet uprising plunges America deeper into the abyss of Vietnam. Martin Luther King is shot, and riots rage in 130 burning American cities. Students protesting the War take over American universities, and street battles in Paris nearly topple the French government. Senator Eugene McCarthy enters the Democratic presidential race against Lyndon Johnson, followed by Bobby Kennedy, who goes on to win the California Democratic primary.

Mick joins the Paris student street battles, then returns to the US to work in Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Daisy leaves Stanford to work also in Bobby’s campaign. Troy faces increasing dangers as the Vietnam War widens into Cambodia and Laos. American astronauts land on the moon and safely return to earth.

Tara and her band shine at Woodstock. The My Lai massacre is revealed, further darkening the tragedy in Vietnam, and America teeters on the edge of revolution.

His Review:

The draft is actuated in the mid-1960s and deferments were hard to get. Troy has re-upped for a second hitch in Vietnam because he is in love with a Vietnamese woman named Su Li. (For the life of me, I could not understand why our country went from the Korean War directly into the conflict in Southeast Asia! The French had lost that war at Diem Bien Pu!)

The political climate was supercharged with political parties split between following the French into Vietnam or allowing the country to unify under one communist government. The justification was to forestall the entire Asian continent become communist. John F. Kennedy tried to stop it as did his brother Bobby. Both were killed for their trouble. Meanwhile, the flower of American youth are being sent to this war with no opportunity to say no.

Mike’s older brother Troy is listed as a casualty of war. Mike does not want to go into the military although he has been issued a summons to have a physical examination prior to being inducted. His avoiding this summons results in his arrest and potential ten-year sentence in a maximum federal prison for draft evasion.

The author likens the activities of our military akin to the atrocities leveled by Hitler. The casualties on both sides are exaggerated with death tolls of the enemy being enhanced and the American casualties minimized. Meanwhile, the fighting soldier has nowhere to go and is fighting a determined enemy in their own country.

This novel is a long overdue diatribe regarding the Vietnam War and the way that the American people were duped and lied to. Anti-war sentiments at most major universities highlighted the angst born by the average draft-age citizens. Read this enlightening exposé of corporate America making billions on the sale of war material. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Political Fiction, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Big City Press
ASIN: B09ZQ7ZTD3
Print Length: 316 pages
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Revolution [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Called “master of the existential thriller” by BBC, “one of America’s best thriller writers” by Culture Buzz, and “one of the 21st century’s most exciting authors” by the Washington Times, Mike Bond is a best-selling novelist, war and human rights journalist, and environmental activist. He has covered guerrilla wars, death squads, and military dictatorships in Latin America and Africa, Islamic terrorism in the Middle East, and ivory poaching and other environmental battles in East Africa and Asia.

His critically acclaimed novels take the reader into intense situations in the world’s most perilous places, into wars, revolutions, dangerous love affairs and political and corporate conspiracies, making “readers sweat with [their] relentless pace.” (Kirkus) and drawing them “into a land and a time I had not known but left me with my senses reeling.” (NetGalley Reviews)

His books have been named among the best of the year by reviewers and readers alike. He speaks multiple languages, has climbed and trekked over 50,000 miles on every continent from the Antarctic to Siberia, and is at home in some of the most primitive and dangerous places on the planet.