Welcome to Issue 102 of the SUPERIOR BOOK PRODUCTIONS newsletter!
Happy Summer, Everyone!
Summer has finally come. Even though we had the mildest winter I ever remember in Upper Michigan, all of us Yoopers know summers are short and need to be treasured.
If you’re in Upper Michigan this month, I’ll be giving a talk at the Thunder Bay Inn in Big Bay on Thursday, July 25, at 7 p.m. I’ll be discussing the once-famous but now almost unknown Teddy Roosevelt Libel Trial which took place here in Marquette County in 1913 when former President Roosevelt sued a local newspaper editor for calling him a drunkard. This trial was the inspiration for my novel When Teddy Came to Town.
The following weekend, I’ll be selling books in my usual place at the annual Outback Art Fair in Marquette at Shiras Park/Picnic Rocks on Saturday, July 27, from 10-6, and Sunday, July 28, from 10-5. I will have copies of all twenty-four of my books for sale. I am always happy to autograph books or just talk to visitors about local history or writing and publishing. I hope to see you there!
Now, enjoy exploring the books below. This month we have three great non-fiction books, two geared to help you in your career as a leader and keep you from feeling trapped or burnt out. Then there is a terrific Vietnam memoir. A lot of soldiers have written memoirs, but this is a rare one by an Xray technician. Finally, there are three novels that will totally blow you away with their humor, creativity, dramatic plot twists, quirky characters, and truths about the human condition.
Have a wonderful rest of the summer. Read as many books as you can whether at the beach, in the hammock, or by the pool.
Tyler Tichelaar
This Month’s Great Book Quote:
“The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods.”
— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Are you surrounded by clueless managers, tired of pointless meetings, and ready to gouge your eyes out at the thought of another year in the same place? Then look no further. Tammy Alvarez is ready to teach you how to escape the career trap. Filled with spot-on advice, no-nonsense truths, and a healthy dose of humorous common sense, Escaping the Career Trap: Turn Your Apathy into Ambition and Never Hate Mondays Again will have you rethinking your career and making dynamic moves that will take you to new levels of success and happiness.
If you dread Mondays, but feel you can’t leave your current career or position because you have bills to pay, you might be surprised to learn it’s easier to make a change than you think. Tammy has been in corporate America more than twenty years, but she was able to transition to running her own business, and now she shows others, including CEOs and high-level managers, how to do the same.
Escaping the Career Trap is divided into four parts: Reveal: The Dynamics Behind the Dysfunction, Align: Prioritizing Your Vision, Disrupt: Breaking All the Rules, and Thrive: Becoming The CEO of Your Career.
To read more, visit Escaping the Career Trap.
Israel Hernandez’s new book Dynamite: Powerful Principles to Strengthen Your Team and Culture offers straightforward and valuable advice on how to create a team that will take your business to new levels of success. This book, the first volume in Hernandez’s planned Dynamite series, is centered on four simple principles—the importance of leadership, accountability, culture, and team building in creating a successful organization. A chapter is devoted to each principle, and besides the discussion of the principle, Hernandez shares personal stories of his business experiences, plus exercises for readers to apply what they have learned.
Hernandez has worked in the hospitality and customer service industry for more than thirty-five years. He began by working in his mother’s taco shop and learning about leadership from her. Since then, he has worked in numerous restaurants in various roles and also operated his own business and served as a consultant to others. The advice he shares is based on his observations of the many leaders he has worked under and beside, plus his experiences training teams and leaders.
Hernandez believes the biggest issue with many organizations is that they lack principles and standards. Too often, they default to hard “Do this” and “Don’t do that” rules that turn their businesses into prisons.
To read more, visit Dynamite.
Gary Saunders’ new memoir, Hold Your Breath: An X-Ray Technologist’s Vietnam MASH Experience is a much needed and illuminating look at the medical careers of those who served in the Vietnam War. Gary was stationed in Vietnam from December 12, 1970, to September 9, 1971. During that time, he served at the 27th Surgical Hospital, 91st Evacuation Hospital, and briefly with the 23rd Medical Company.
Gary begins by recounting his Vietnam training in the wilderness of Colorado and his last days at home with his family in Ohio before leaving for Vietnam. During those last days, besides spending time with his fiancée, who later became his wife, he saw the film M*A*S*H, which he loved and felt helped to prepare him for what to expect in Vietnam.
The trip to Vietnam was epic in itself. It took nineteen days for Gary to travel from home to the 27th Surgical Hospital. He details his flight there with his friends, one of whom was nervous and ill. They had a layover in Alaska and Japan, then arrived in Vietnam and began the drive to the hospital in Chu Lai. Gary had one companion, Lonnie, who was a conscientious objector. When they were riding to the hospital, Lonnie asked the driver, “How safe is Chu Lai?” The driver replied, “Last week, we were hit by a rocket attack and five medics were killed.”
To read more, visit Hold Your Breath.
Ron Elgin’s The Pay Day reintroduces us to Megan Santucci, an advertising whiz who overcame alcoholism and homelessness to launch a successful ad campaign in Elgin’s earlier best-seller, Hucksterville. Not only is Megan back in this book, but so are most of the zany characters we met in the first book. Lotta Foreskin is now the head of Tight Fit Athletics after the mysterious death of her brother Max by crocodile. While Detective Richard Hard investigates Max’s death, Lotta convinces Megan to come back to Tight Fit Athletics and form her own advertising agency, which she names Hucksterville, to help Tight Fit advance in the athletics business, including coming out with a new shoe line. Soon all the old team is back together, including Carmen and her muscle-bound boyfriend Meat, Megan’s best friend Helen, Stu Pedd, Possibly Peter (who has a bad case of Tourette’s), and The Herman—two creative geniuses named Herman who are brothers from different mothers.
But be prepared also to meet several new characters, including Mr. Dudley, who calls himself Mr. Smedley to keep his identity secret. He has a great idea for a new product—noise-making devices to install in electric cars so pedestrians and animals aren’t killed by the quiet cars sneaking up on them.
To read more, visit The Pay Day.
Alex Kay’s Sea of Dust is the first novel in an exciting new science fiction series. The main character, Damian Hirsch, is a young man about to begin training for his new career in Infrenus. Infrenus and its sister country, Vitis, were once one country that split in two for reasons Damian and most, if not all, people no longer remember. No one is even sure about the specifics of why their world is full of crumbling buildings or how the air became so toxic and full of haze that they need to wear haz-suits for their own protection.
Despite these flaws in his world, Damian is looking forward to a career as an eco-technologist so he can help to make his world more livable. But Damian is in for a rude surprise when an emergency order is given that all graduates will, instead of following their chosen career fields, be forced to become protectorates, members of Infrenus’ military. The reason for this severe decision isn’t clear at first, but not long after Damian begins training, the training headquarters are attacked by insurgents looking to overthrow Infrenus’ government. Damian soon becomes aware of how many people are unhappy with the status quo in Infrenus.
To read more, visit Sea of Dust.
David Edwards’ new novel, Sing for the Lonesome Messenger, is a mix of history, the supernatural, and quirky characters the reader will never forget. The story begins with Maggie Maise, an alcoholic reporter who finds herself taking a job at the Messenger, the local newspaper for Ore Town, a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Having no idea what she is getting herself into, Maggie soon becomes acquainted with Tracker McKie, former editor of the Messenger, when he first criticizes her reporter skills, then tells her he has a story to tell her.
Before Maggie knows it, she’s listening to Tracker’s rambling tale about life in Ore Town with his childhood friends from the Great Depression years, and sneaking in cigars and alcohol to him where he resides in a nursing home. Worst of all, Tracker has a series of audio recordings he wants Maggie to listen to and compile a story from.
The situation becomes increasingly more complicated and Maggie’s willingness to be involved deteriorates. Eventually, Maggie’s drinking leads to her being fired from the Messenger. She moves to Chicago where she develops a newspaper column about World War II veterans. She finds the subjects for her columns by attending veterans’ funerals.
To read more, visit Sing for the Lonesome Messenger.
