By Jamie H. Vaught
Special to NKyTribune
First of two parts
Are you ready to browse for entertaining new books, which seem to be more plentiful during the holiday season? Now just in time for Christmas shopping for your loved ones who are avid readers, here’s a new list of recently published nonfiction books, in no particular order, with many of them highly reviewed:
“Above The Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season” by Urban Meyer with Wayne Coffey (Penguin Press, $27.95) delivers real-life examples in leadership and team building. Meyer, who played college football at the University of Cincinnati where he received his bachelor’s degree in psychology in the mid-1980s, is the head coach at Ohio State. In the 262-page book, Meyer also talks about the 10-80-10 principle, which is a powerful strategy for getting most out of your team.
“The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention Of Christmas in New York” by Alex Palmer (Lyons Press, $25.95) is a fascinating story about an eccentric guy named John Duval Gluck who played Santa Claus for the children in the big city, beginning in 1913, and became a celebrity who rubbed elbows with movie stars and politicans. Gluck, however, had a dark secret: He was a cheater. This well-written book is a warm and heartbreaking holiday tale. The author, by the way, is Gluck’s great-grandnephew.
“Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” by Jon Meacham (Random House, $35.00) is a lengthy and intimate biography about the 41st president. Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who had access to the Bush diaries and extensive interviews with the former president, paints a surprising portrait of a very private man who led the country through tumultuous times. The author also presents Bush’s candid assessments of many of the major figures, ranging from Richard Nixon to Nancy Reagan; Mao to Mikhail Gorbachev; Dick Cheney to Donald Rumsfeld; Henry Kissinger to Bill Clinton. Wrote retired NBC broadcaster Tom Brokaw of the 837-page hardcover, “Meet the George Bush you didn’t know.” Historian and author Michael Beschloss added, “…. Meacham takes us behind closed doors to show us what this sometimes misunderstood leader was really like.”
“Sinatra: The Chairman” by James Kaplan (Doubleday, $35) is a sequel to “Frank: The Voice” which was published in 2010. The story of “Ol’ Blue Eyes” continues with this new massive volume (980 pages) picking up the day after Sinatra claimed his Academy Award in 1954 and had reestablished himself as the top recording artist in music. The author goes behind the legend to give an inside look of his life. Sinatra also was a powerful actor, business mogul, tireless lover and associate of the powerful and infamous. The famed singer, who died in 1998, would’ve been 100 years old last week.
“Kentucky’s Governors” by editor Lowell H. Harrison (University Press of Kentucky, $35.00) is a historical account of the lives of each Kentucky governor from Isaac Shelby in 1792 to Ernie Fletcher in 2004 when the 294-page hardcover was published in an updated edition. While it is not actually a new book, this volume would be of great interest to many Kentuckians especially after following the recent governor’s race. Nevertheless, history buffs would enjoy a copy even though former-Gov. Steve Beshear and new Gov. Matt Bevin are not included in this particular editon. If you go to KentuckyPress.com, you can get a huge discount of 80 percent as part of its holiday sale which continues until Feb. 1.
“Two Minute Warning: How Concussions, Crime, and Controversy Could Kill the NFL (And What the League Can Do to Survive)” by Michael Freeman (Triumph Books, $25.95) is a look into the growing threats (such as drug use, domestic violence and health of the players) to NFL’s popularity and what the league can do to avoid collapse. Despite its massive earning power, the league is at its most pivotal moment since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966. Top NFL athletes, coaches, and executives as well as economists and scientists were interviewed for this new volume.
“Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story Of A Message That Made A President” by Betty Boyd Caroli (Simon & Schuster, $29.99) is a fascinating story about the former First Lady, who was often portrayed as nothing more than a shy bystander. The author, an accomplished biographer who was in Louisville recently for a book signing, paints a different picture, describing Mrs. Johnson as lively and opinionated businesswoman who was her husband’s true politcal partner. Well-known author David Maraniss wrote, “This inside look at the marriage of Lady Bird and Lyndon provides stunningly fresh insights into the well-examined political soul of Lyndon Johnson. But the star of this story is Lady Bird, and out of Caroli’s strikingly original portrait of this strong, smart woman emerges an irresistible tale of politics, ambition, and the power of unconditional marital love.”
“Outsider in the White House” by Bernie Sanders with Huck Gutman (Verso, $16.95) is an autobiography of the current presidential candidate. The 346-page paperback is a compelling read of Sanders’ passionate and principled political life. Representing Vermont as an outspoken independent, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 as an independent after 16 years in the House of Representatives.
“Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few” by Robert B. Reich (Alfred A. Knopf, $26.95) reveals the falsehoods that have been bolstered by the corruption of our democracy by huge firms and the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street. It adds that power and influence have created a new American oligarchy, a shrinking middle class and the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity in nearly 100 years. And the author discusses what it will take to fix the country’s economic system. Wrote Chicago Tribune in a review, “Like any good teacher, Robert Reich knows that making a simple yet crucial idea stick often takes much time and many presentations of the concept. In Saving Capitalism, Reich drives home a basic fact that, if widely understood, could lift America from today’s destructive political standoff.” Currently a professor, Reich served as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton during the 1990s.
“Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-year Losing Streak” by Travis Sawchik (Flatiron Books, $26.99) is a behind-the-scenes look with stories of the key figures who changed the way the small-market Pittsburgh Pirates played the game. In other words, it is the story of how the baseball franchise adopted big-data strategies to the end the losing streak and make the playoffs. The 242-page hardcover is similar to highly-acclaimed “Moneyball” which was published in 2003.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime columnist in Kentucky, is the author of four books about UK basketball. He is the editor of KySportsStyle.com online magazine and a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via e-mail at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.