Reviewer's Choice

Corporal Cannon: A Female Marine in Afghanistan
Savannah Cannon
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636241661, $34.95, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Corporal-Cannon-Female-Marine-Afghanistan/dp/1636241= 662

Synopsis: Not even old enough to drink, Corporal Savannah Cannon is a young=
enlisted United States Marine deployed to support Operation Enduring Freed=
om in Afghanistan in 2010. As a tactical data networking specialist, she is=
sent away from everyone she knows and attached to a Regimental Combat Team=
where women are not allowed to repair communications. Her experiences over=
the next few months shed light on the unique and difficult positions women=
are placed in when supporting combat roles, while offering a raw look at t=
he painful choices women must sometimes make.

Cannon finds herself in a combat zone, ostracized from family, friends, and=
even her fellow Marines as the men are told to avoid her. The connections = she makes are born from trauma and desperation and the choices she makes wi=
ll echo throughout many lives.

"Corporal Cannon: A Female Marine in Afghanistan" is not the story of a her= oine; it is the hard-hitting account of just one of the flawed individuals = who make up the United States' fighting forces. Mistakes in the battlefield=
can have dire consequences, personally and professionally. Reflecting on h=
er time in service, Cannon deftly weaves a story of past and present, and t=
he healing that can come with admitting our mistakes and moving past them.

Critique: A simply riveting and impressively candid military memoir from co= ver to cover, "Corporal Cannon: A Female Marine in Afghanistan" will be of = special value to readers with an interest in the subject of women in the Am= erican military, America's involvement in the Afghanistan War. While especi= ally recommended for community and academic library American Military Biogr= aphy/Memoir collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that=
"Corporal Cannon: A Female Marine in Afghanistan" is also available from C= asemate Publishers in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.95).

Editorial Note: Savannah Cannon spent five years in the United States Marin=
e Corps, leaving in 2012. She spent years ignoring what she endured in Afgh= anistan before deciding to write her story as a way to process the events. = She currently works as a network engineer on unmanned aircraft for the Unit=
ed States Navy.

Nonwhite and Woman
Carla Crujido, editor
Darien Hsu Gee, editor
Woodhall Press
https://www.woodhallpress.com/books
9781949116694, $19.95, PB, 278pp

https://www.amazon.com/Nonwhite-Woman-Micro-Essays-Nonfiction/dp/1949116697

Synopsis: With the publication of "Nonwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on = Being in the World", collaborative co- editors Darien Hsu Gee and Carla Cru= jido have assembled 131 personal narratives, each one of which was written =
by established and emerging women of color.

In 300 words or less, these true stories speak to otherness, familial relat= ionships, impossible beauty standards, ancestral heritage, coming of age, a=
nd owning one's place in the world. This singular collection was inspired b=
y Lucille Clifton's luminous poem "Won't you celebrate with me", sings to t=
he beauty of how these women live and thrive in the world, and how they mak=
e their lives their own.

Included are author commentaries, discussion questions for further explorat= ion, resources for additional reading, and a guide to writing micro essays.

Critique: Insightful, memorable, thoughtful and thought provoking, "Nonwhit=
e and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on Being in the World" offers an assemblage o=
f unique and yet universal experiences with respect to being a woman of col=
or within the context of a still white dominated culture. Simply stated, "N= onwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essays on Being in the World" is an especially=
and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community=
, and academic library Women's Studies collections in general, and suppleme= ntal Black Studies curriculum reading lists in particular. It should be not=
ed for students, academia, women's rights activists, and non-specialist gen= eral readers with an interest in the subject that "Nonwhite and Woman: 131 = Micro Essays on Being in the World" is also available in a digital book for= mat (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note #1: A short story writer and essayist, Darien Hsu Gee (www.d= ariengee.com) is a novelist with Penguin Random House and a recent Poetry S= ociety Chapbook Fellow. Her craft book, Writing the Hawai'i Memoir, won the=
Hawai'i Book Publishers' Ka Palapala Po'okela award. Darien has received a=
Sustainable Arts Foundation grant as well as a Vermont Studio Center fello= wship.

Editorial Note #2: Carla Crujido is a hapa writer of Filipino, Norwegian, M= exican, and German descent. She is a graduate of the MFA program at the Ins= titute of American Indian Arts.

Shopomania
Paul Berton
Douglas & McIntyre
https://douglas-mcintyre.com
9781771623346 $28.95

https://www.amazon.com/Shopomania-Obsession-Possession-Paul-Berton/dp/17716= 23349

Synopsis: Sassy and satirical, Shopomania is an economic, environmental and=
social study. This light-hearted, dark-souled dictionary of coined words, =
or "shoponyms," takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of avaricious antics=
and outrageous profligacy.

Shopping in one form or another has existed for millennia but, aside from a=
few slumps, each generation has outdone the previous one. In the past fift=
y years, shopping - and its associated carbon footprint - has grown exponen= tially.

Berton argues that if we invented today's consumer culture, then we can inv= ent something to replace it. We can do a better job of making the cycle of = stuff truly circular rather than linear. We can be more environmentally, so= cially and politically conscious of what we buy and how it comes to us - an=
d where it will go after we are finished with it. A species that has made s= hopping ubiquitous can figure all these things out with little more than co= -operation and creativity, and by asking if it is really necessary to "own =
it now" as we have been told - endlessly - since childhood. Must we possess=
a thing to enjoy it? Do we really need all that stuff?

Critique: Shopomania examines the modern first world's obsession with shopp= ing and consumerism. Although author and award-winning journalist Paul Bert=
on has engaged in extensive research, cited in a substantial section of not= es, Shopomania is expressly for lay readers of all backgrounds; indeed, any=
shopper may see themselves described in the anecdotes and unique examinati=
on of today's shopping-centric society. Shopomania does not follow a typica=
l chapter structure, but rather describes the many different aspects of ret= ail consumption in its own unique vocabulary of newly created words derived=
from the verb "shop". Each definition is itself a brief "chapter". For exa= mple, one chapter is devoted to the word "unshop", which Berton uses to des= cribe either returning a purchase or selling it at a profit; another is dev= oted to "deshop", which Berton uses to describe selling or discarding a pur= chase at a loss; "convershopping", which Berton uses to describe socializin=
g about purchases; and much more. Amid all these definitions are countless = insights into human impulses; stories of both celebrities and commoners sho= pping; and serious philosophical ponderings. At its heart, Shopomania poses=
questions worth every reader's time - why are our lives so shopping-centri=
c? Are there ways to tame endless shopping- incitements in our lives? Do we=
really need to buy so much stuff? Shopomania is highly recommended, and si= nce it encourages the reader to carefully reconsider their own consumption = habits, it's one shop purchase that effectively pays for itself!

Untangle
Angela McKinney
DartFrogBooks
https://dartfrogbooks.com
9781956019414, $3.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9CHNYS8

Untangle: How to Create Big Possibilities Through Small Changes introduces = self-help readers to process of working through confusion, entanglements, a=
nd feeling stuck to come out the other side of a conundrum stronger than be= fore. While many self-help guides seem to have addressed this approach, Ang= ela McKinney adopts a different perspective through not just exercises and = admonitions, but a discussion of links between seemingly-small stressful si= tuations and their connections and contributions to bigger patterns of habi=
ts that trap.

Clarity comes not from a singular path, but from a blend of lessons and exa= mples from others and the analysis and direction McKinney provides to illus= trate how individuals can untangle themselves from self-destructive or limi= ting patterns. McKinney acknowledges that this process may initially seem c= onvoluted or challenging.

Notes based on the Untangle Workshops that McKinney conducts, provided by t= hose who successfully employed specific strategies to improve their lives a=
nd modify their reactions to life, make important connections between tappi=
ng creative potential and understanding self-limiting messages and approach=
es that have held that possibility at bay. Without such creative solutions,=
untangling unconscious reenactment patterns can be challenging. Reality ch= ecks cover such disparate entanglements as overwork, aggressive energy, and=
self-limiting internal messages, offering methods to overcoming these in t=
he form of play and creative problem-solving engagements, and venturing int=
o new, unfamiliar territory on many different levels.

McKinney's proven strategy allows participants and readers to move ahead in=
to their best lives. All that's required is a willingness to absorb the mes= sages, experiences, and guidelines in Untangle, which ideally will be readi=
ly available in both general-interest and self-help libraries.

California Land Use & Planning Law, 38th edition
Cecily Talbert Barclay, author
Matthew S. Gray, author
Solano Press Books
www.solano.com
9781938166389, $130.00, PB, 693pp

https://solano.com/products/california-land-use-planning-law-38th-edition

Synopsis: For more than 30 years, "California Land Use & Planning Law" has = provided a succinct and definitive summary of the major provisions of Calif= ornia's land use and planning laws and has been cited by the California Sup= reme Court and numerous appellate courts as an authoritative source. Now in=
a fully updated and expanded 38th Edition, "California Land Use & Planning=
Law" by Cecily Talbert Barclay, Matthew S. Gray, and seven other contribut= ors, continues to be the essential reference on the subject and a criticall=
y essential addition to professional, community, governmental, and academic=
library Land Use/Urban Planning judicial and strategic collections.

Critique: Comprehensive, authoritative, exceptionally well organized and pr= esented, this 38th edition of "California Land Use & Planning Law" from Sol= ano Press Books is an essential and core addition to California land use re= ference collections both public and private.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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