Books - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

A Word on Words: The Best of John Seigenthaler’s Interviews

By Scott J. Pearson | March 15, 2023March 12, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This book is hard to categorize or to compare to other books. It is comprised of interviews with authors spanning several distinct subjects: the civil rights movement, literature, music, sports, and presidential histories. Because the interviewer John Seigenthaler read these books in detail, he asks smart questions and drew out deep answers. And because the interviewees wrote the books, you have expressive, informative answers. When added is the fact that these are the best of…

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Favorite Books of 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | November 28, 2020November 28, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Find a book for the holidays for someone else or even yourself! (Links take you to my full review.) Fiction The Silent Patient – A murder mystery that excites to the last page. An impassioned read for those who love psychological thrillers. Kids The Odyssey – A graphic novel on the classic Homeric text. Exposes kids to a classic plot while enhancing their imaginations through pictures. Biography His Truth is Marching On – A biography…

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Books I’m Reading in September, 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | September 1, 2020September 1, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of HopeBy John Meacham This book was on my “To Read” list before Lewis’ well-reported death last month. His passing moved this book onto my high-priority list. John Lewis impacted history with his personality like few others in American history. He went from oppressed outcast to respected congressman throughout his life. That type of ascent is something that we all can learn from. But his…

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What I’m Reading in July 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | July 3, 2020July 3, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This month, I’m going to highlight a few of the books that I’ve been specifically asked to review. I get these books ahead of release or with a request to promote. So I download them, read them, and review them. This process is a lot easier now that we have the Internet. One does not have to physically mail a book in order to send it to a reviewer. Thus, procuring a book review is…

Books

Five Books I’m Reading in June, 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | June 7, 2020June 7, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich Often, I read National Book Award winners from yesteryear, but I don’t follow great writers who are currently alive. I decided that I wanted to buck that trend by reading this work. It tells about an everyman’s search for social justice amongst Native Americans. The story spans the distance from North Dakota to Washington, D.C. Personal Memoirs by Ulysses S. Grant While reading a previous biography on Grant, I…

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Five Books for Summer 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | May 23, 2020May 23, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The Great Influenza by John Berry There is no book more appropriate for our time. This is the best history of the last major pandemic – and the deadliest in history. If you want to learn what will help us overcome COVID, first figure out what helped us overcome H1N1 Influenza. The Plague by Albert Camus One of the modern era’s greatest takes on a pandemic, Camus’ work reminds us what life is really about.…

Books Personal Essays

Solitude Under Quarantine (An Essay)

By Scott J. Pearson | April 19, 2020April 19, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

What do you do with your life now that you don’t have to travel to and from work? Do you exercise more? Do you read more? What do you do with the time vacated by your commute? I suggest that we can use this time to lay down our plows of effort, to nourish ourselves, and to become better people. Under our new circumstances, many of the things that have driven us towards market spending…

Books

What I’m Reading in April, 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | April 4, 2020April 4, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Pandemics, Research, Writing, Visualizations, and Mental Illness The Plague by Albert Camus Given our current COVID-19 pandemic, this classic by a Nobel Prizewinner seems appropriate to re-read. This work explores the meaning of life amongst an fictionalized new outbreak of the plague in North Africa. Camus is one of my favorite writers and thinkers of all time, so I should immensely enjoy my time in this tale. Managing the Research University by Dean O. Smith…

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Three Books about Public Health Measures

By Scott J. Pearson | March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The Great Influenza by John BerryBest account of the Spanish Flu of 1918 – the last major pandemic. A History of Public Health by George RosenPublic Health measures over time. The classic history of Public Health. A History of Global Health by Randall PackardDoes for the field of Global Health what Rosen did for Public Health.

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What I’m Reading in March, 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Old English, Computer Software, History of Science and Technology, and Writings about Writing Out with Winter, in with Spring! Old English Poetry: An Anthology by R.M. Liuzza I’ve been getting into Old English recently – that is, how English was spoken until around 1150. Think Beowulf. I’m kind of hopeful that the book will include the original language so that I can work on my translation skills. Sir Gawain and the Old Knight; Pearl; and…