Current Authors:
Currently, Dr. Bill Pritchard is reading several authors: Eric Hoffer, William Barclay, C.S. Lewis, Sinclair Lewis, and Max Weber. So many books, so little time.
Latest Book - The Heart and the Fist
by Eric Greiten
Periodically, I come across a person who literally knocks me for a loop, someone who throws a kink in my mindset, an individual who has set or raised the bar of life incredibly high. This time, that person is a new hero in my life. I want to introduce to you, Lt. Commander Eric Greiten (USN Retired).
Greiten is a young man, not yet creeping into mid-life; yet, he has accomplished so much in his life, (I'm looking forward to observing his future accomplishments). He has the kind of resume that looks like it's complete fiction - the kind of early life that seems totally made up.
As a young man, he set off for college, with noble goals. At Duke University, with an emphasis on public policy, he set out to learn how to shape a better world. After Duke, Greitens went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. But it was during his college breaks that Greitens’ experiences led him to refine his vision for his life.
Greitens interned or volunteered in major areas of need around the world - Bosnia in the early 1990’s, Rwanda in the mid-1990’s, Bolivian and Mexican orphanages, and in India with Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Mercy. It was at Oxford that he received both his masters and PhD degrees; his thesis was on “Children First: Ideas and the Dynamics of Aid in Western Voluntary Assistance Programs for War-Affected Children Abroad.”
Do you get the impression that Greitens is an unusual person? He is. All of this is in his personal memoir, “The Heart and the Fist." And these observations are just the start of the book. I say the start, because it was on his “mission” experiences that he came to the realization that the only way to help the sick, poor, orphaned, starving, and the suffering of innocent civilians, was to protect them. He understand that humanitarian aid can only be dispensed after tragedies like wars, famines and violence.
“Yet for all the compassion and power and beauty I had witnessed, I continued to believe that aid alone was not enough.” And this is the heart of Greitens’ story: “Sometimes you have to be strong to do good, but you also have to do good to be strong.”
Greitens followed the intention of the Rhodes Scholarship in creating public servants who would “fight the world’s fight.” Upon graduating from Oxford, he made the decision to be part of the power to protect: he joined the U.S. Navy, went though Officer Candidate School, and then trained to be a Navy Seal. He purposed in his heart that he would live with no regrets.
With the international news of the involvement of the Seals in stopping Osama Bin Laden, America has come to appreciate more what a great asset it has in the talents, skills, and dedication of a Seal team. Bottom line: to be a Navy Seal requires the total dedication of the heart, mind and soul - and that's just to get into the training. The culmination of Seal training is in the final week, referred to as “Hell Week.” It's estimated that during Hell Week, the trainees burn 8,500 calories a day.
There's virtually no sleep, at least no sleep lasting more than two hours. For an entire week, they're cold, wet and sandy. Hypothermia is a real test. Anyone can learn to tie a knot, but can you tie a knot when your hands and fingers are completely numb from the cold, when you're 50 feet underwater, in complete darkness, holding your breath? You get the idea. The Seals are trained to do what ordinary people cannot do. Get anything done, and done well, under impossible physical, mental and emotional conditions. Greietens describes it as “the best time I never want to have again.”
Between the storyline of Greitens memoirs’ is the heartfelt theme of helping mankind make the world a better place and for the duty and honor of the strong to protect the weak. He says, “Ultimately, we’re distinguished by our values.” What makes us different from the Taliban, El Qaeda, Somali pirates, ruthless dictators, and drug kingpins and warlords? Our honor and our values.
Throughout his memoirs, Greitens quotes Sun Tzu, Homer, John Stuart Mill, George Marshall, Mahatma Gandhi, Henry Drummond, William Penn, Albert Camus and Viktor Frankl. This book isn't about war, violence, or destruction. It's about courage and compassion - two sides of the same coin.
If you highlight your books, or underline the good quotes, when you're done reading “The Heart and the Fist," you'll have a very colorful, worn book. On Greitens' last pages, in detailing his themes and message, he says, “Every warrior, every humanitarian, and every citizen is built to live with both (courage and compassion). In fact, to win a war, create peace, save a life, or just live a good life, requires us – every one of us – to be strong and good. For each of us, there's a place on the front lines.”
Greitens is in the Navy Reserves now. He's started a non-profit to help wounded veterans build a life for themselves. I look forward to whatever he does in the future. America is fortunate to have men of his strength, courage, honor and vision.
The Whole Five Feet (What the Great Books Taught Me About Life, Death, and Pretty Much Everything Else)
Since I've spent considerable time in my life doing educational pursuits, I've tried to round out my knowledge with my own personal reading. In pursuing a professional career, my school experience was required to be focused on the sciences. Therefore, my personal reading has revolved around many of the gaps in my education - and my own personal entertainment and interests.
What peaked my interest in Beha's book is my inclination toward the Harvard Classics. For years, I'd heard of the mythical "Five Foot Shelf" - the perfect library for self- education, or, as Beha puts it, this encapsulates "the world's greatest textbook."
In 1909, after 40 years of leading Harvard University, retiring president William Charles Elliot was asked to select works of literature that when the volumes were put on a shelf, would measure to be five feet of books; and when read, would provide the best of what higher education had to offer.
Beha's connection with the Five Foot Shelf started when, as a child, he'd seen that long row of red books on the bookshelves in his parents' and grandparents' homes. While in the course of one year, he endured several major events: changing jobs, being diagnosed with cancer, the death of an aunt, and dealing with the effects of Lyme disease, Beha set out to read through that five foot row of books.
This book is a personal memoir about Beha's life in that one year, how he dealt with major life challenges, and how he related to what he read, as well as how the books changed his life - how he looked at the past, to the future, and at his every day life as he completed his reading quest.
Much of what drives college curriculums today is the need for colleges to graduate students for a technology-driven world. The number of good, old-fashioned English or English lit majors is on the decline. Unless the student is seeking a degree in teaching, or writing as a career, today's student doesn't have the time to take in the classics, particularly with any depth of thought or discussion.
Beha deals with this educational dilemma and how it will effect us as individuals, a society and a culture. After all, why does a future plumber need to know of Dante's Inferno? What does a social worker do with Milton's Paradise Lost? What does an orthopedic surgeon need to find in Shakespeare's Hamlet? All are reasonable questions.
The answers are dealt with in The Whole Five Feet. After reading through that long row of red books, Beha realizes we ignore the classics at the loss of our connection with the past, at the loss of expanding our ideas and concepts to dealing with our society today, and breaking into the future, as a somewhat rudderless society, of not knowing where we're heading - let alone what direction to take. While somewhat harsh, I agree we break these connections to our culture's foundations at our peril.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
The crash of the financial markets in fall 2008 is something that will be studied and discussed for a long time. The resulting Great Recession has affected every American in one way or another. While most Americans were innocent bystanders - simply part of the American economic system - many were also part of the process that led to the Wall Street banking meltdown.
The story of the crash is a tale of failure. But while most were negatively affected, Michael Lewis writes about those who were astute enough, wise enough, and gutsy enough to do their financial homework and make a fortune - while almost everyone else lost money.
This small group of people make for very interesting reading; if financial geeks can be interesting. By writing the story of these financial experts, a wider story of how Wall Street works is really with what the reader comes away.
If one word defines the story, it's 'SCARY.' It's very easy for simple people like me, for my eyes to glaze over when American banking and financial system details are explained. But Lewis does a good job walking the line between too much and too little information. He achieves a balanced look at Wall Street - and what led up to the events of that fateful fall.
The Big Short will impact the way you think about the American banking system and Wall Street. I think you'll agree that a more than few changes must be made.
Dead Stuck
by Vancouver endodontist Dr. Richard Mounce
I just finished reading the second edition of Dr. Mounce's book, "Dead Stuck." His book is proof that everyone has a story to tell the world. All parents want to provide their children with whatever it takes to be successful in life. Richard's book is built around a letter he wrote to his twin daughters, making this book a n absolutely great read for parents.
The title of his book is based on Richard's experience as a cave diver; that's right, not only is he an experienced diver, but he's taken his skills to the skill level and dives into water-filled underwater caves. This experience epitomizes the point in our lives where we, as individuals, become "stuck." When it seems we can't go forward, or go backward. Literally deined as "stuck."
As a reader, I related his story back to when I read Scott Peck's book, "The Road Less Traveled." You'll have to read Dr. Mounce's book to relive his diving experience and enjoy a heartfelt message from a father to his daughters.
The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence that Points Toward God
by Lee Strobel
As we enter a new millennium, the theory of evolution is being questioned like never before. Proponents of "intelligent design" claim the evolution theory cannot account for the beginning of life from non-living matter, and that the diversity of life is such that unguided "blind" evolution cannot explain it adequately.
Although the general public has not yet been informed of this, the theory is in crisis, not only through those that criticize its faults and weaknesses, but also from scientists themselves who no longer find adequate explanation in it. Strobel's book takes up these issues and presents a logical discussion on evolutionary theory weaknesses and the case for intelligent design.
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman
Friedman describes how modern technology and telecommunication advances, such as outsourcing, are configuring the world to be a flat battlefield for international company relations. Prior to this technological boom, American companies, large and small, were for the majority, stationed mainly on American soil. But, because of the world flattening described, the world is quickly becoming a one-world commerce center, and America's chances of being the wealthiest nation is becoming more competitive.
1776
by David McCullough
Disease, loss and barely staying alive are three things often not associated with the United States Revolutionary War. However, McCullough demonstrates the truth of the war in 1776. He gives his readers the insight into what the war was like for a soldier, or one of its leaders. Though this book only provides a vivid description of the first year of the war, it's clear all the battles fought in the north far outweighed those of the south. 1776 conveys to the reader how truly close we were to not having a country at all - and how, without General Washington, the war would have never been possible.
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution
by Michael J. Behe
It was once well known by mankind that the perfect motion of our solar system reflected the perfect celestial hand of its divine creator. But a wicked triumvirate of anti-religion zealots - Galileo, Copernicus and Newton - foolishly attempted to remove God from the equation with "naturalistic" explanations of a Heliocentric universe and Newton's laws of motion and gravity.
Much as evolutionists have pulled the wool over the eyes of decent men for the past century, so did these three "gravitationalists.” That is until the great Albert Einstein rebuked their false model. Einstein proved Newton's theory wrong with his new General Relativity explanation of gravity. I'm no expert in relativity, but believe it's best summed up by Einstein's famous quotation: "God does not play dice with the Universe.”
Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution
by Kenneth R. Miller
Miller's book is a highly concise, readable and timeless exploration of the evidential issues involved in the evolution/creationism debate. Unlike many others who try to rebut creationists, Miller doesn't let himself get caught up in the theological and philosophical trivialities that usually obscure the debate. Instead, he provides a methodical case based on observational evidence. He's not vague, and he does not pull any punches.
Intellectuals
by Paul M. Johnson
This book is clearly an attack on liberal philosophy, voiced through Johnson's criticizing of the hypocritical lives led by the 12 intellectuals he examines. Those who generally adhere to the philosophies of some of these liberal thinkers are likely to disappreciate this work as a conservative dogmatist’s desperate attempt to uproot liberal philosophy. However, if you're more conservative, you might think Johnson has finally exposed all the lies and impracticalities of liberal philosophy.
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcome Gladwell
Why are some of us good decision makers, and others very poor? What are the hidden skills and instincts that let some folks excel at snap judgments? What are the key bits of information that go into a correct decision, and how do they differ from popular misconceptions about how people really decide? With a wealth of real-world case studies, Gladwell takes us from food tasters to the insurance industry, to the military. You'll enjoy this book and may not be able to put it down.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcome Gladwell
Learn how social movements become epidemic from Gladwell's observations. He isolates a common thread in social movements, from Paul Revere’s night ride to Blue’s Clues; and he extracts three simple elements:
- The Law of the Few: To catch on, social epidemics need a few people with special qualities. Gladwell calls them Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. These are people who, respectively, are connected with a great many people, are regarded as sought-after experts or thought leaders, and who project great and compelling enthusiasm for the new thing.
- The Stickiness Factor: With all the clamoring for our attention, only a few, rare messages will "stick." What qualities make a message stick?
- The Power of Context: This is probably the most compelling dimension of Gladwell's work. It's akin to the old saying, "Timing is everything." But there's a lot more to it. Of the many examples he cites, my favorite and clearest is cleaning graffiti from New York subways. When the context changed, the perceived tolerance for crime and social disorganization declined, and the NY crime rate dropped.
How to Ace Your Way Through College and Still Have a Life!
by David Kennedy
Where was this book when I was in college? After reading it, I have to say this book rocks! Did anyone ever teach you how to take tests? The advice about preparing and taking exams, and the tricks for taking true/false and multiple choice tests, is worth the book price. Kennedy's "memory dump" method works. It's refreshing and new, and filled with very useful advice that I hadn't read in any of those other books. Advice like:
- How to get your professors to give you the benefit of the doubt when grades are due - basically, you need to develop a dialog with your professor by visiting their office every so often; the more they get to know you, the more they'll be willing to help you out.
- How to research and write term papers - for example, there's a big difference between writing research papers and writing reports.
- How to add focus to your studying, so you're not wasting a lot of time studying the wrong stuff.
- One of the best chapters was on nutrients to help improve cognitive functioning - it was very well researched and cited all the scientific studies. You won't find this info in any other college book.
Send this book to every person you care about who's in school!
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
I was expecting this book to be a little more amazing/surprising than it was. It was more like, "Gee, that's a neat coincidence." I understand the point of the book was to show unexpected connections proven through statistical and economical modes of analysis; but it just didn't hit home with me. This book is more for the layperson than the critical reader used to dealing with scientific matters. It’s a good read, nonetheless, bringing up some points to ponder. It will make you look twice at all the research journals, as to how relative statistics are to you, a practicing dentist. (“Evidence-based” sound familiar?)
The March: A Novel
by E.L. Doctorow
Read this book for fun and education. This is an amazing view of the march that changed history - Sherman's march. The author gives us an in-depth, emotional understanding of what those in the march must have experienced. It was unlike any warfare to that point, an advanced technology in an agrarian society. To this day, the world feels the impact of this march. The south truly feels it. It shaped the southern culture, which can be understood in a book called The Greatest White Trash Love Story Ever Told.
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Okay, I know everyone and his brother and sister has read this book. But I finally couldn’t resist it any longer. The historical writing is exquisite! And as a thriller, Brown has composed a taut, compelling, proverbial page-turner. Yet, it's written so simply. And, as a bonus, it's frosted with decent descriptive detail and character development that can stand proudly beside the output of any author with which I'm familiar. Once I started to read, I didn’t put it down until I finished. Enough said.
East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
A true American classic. East of Eden is the story of three generations of the Trask family, who live, love and farm in the Salinas Valley in Northern California. What's amazing about this book is the plot sequences progress like a daytime soap opera. It's got affairs, shootings, family betrayal and more. The writing is of such high quality, the story never feels melodramatic.
The weight and implications of people's actions will pull at your every emotion without ever feeling over the top. The characters are complex in the sense that they grow over the course of the book and are surprisingly unpredictable, if you're able to experience this book without much prior knowledge. This is one of those rare classics that could actually be considered a "beach book," as it can be a serious page-turner.
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
by Stephen R. Covey
The 8th Habit will take you from effectiveness to greatness. Covey creates the road map that will expand your mind to a higher level of thinking. Leaders will be challenged to "find their voice and inspire others to find theirs." Covey does a great job using a mix of personal experiences, inspirational quotes and short stories to convey his points.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - Which the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
by Robert T. Kiyosaki & Sharon L. Lechter
Rich people make their money work for them. Rich people build a portfolio of cash-producing assets. You must be willing to take risks to be successful. You need to learn to become financially independent. Learn about investing. That's the message in this book, and it's very well said.
Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
by Joel Osteen
TV pastor Osteen offers an overblown and redundant self-help debut. Many Christian readers will undoubtedly be put off by the book’s shallow name-it-and-claim-it theology. Although the first chapter claims that "we serve the God that created the universe," the book, as a rule, suggests the reverse: it’s a treatise on how to get God to serve the demands of self-centered individuals.
Theologically, it's materialism and superficial portrayal of God as the granter of earthly wishes will alienate many Christian readers, who can imagine a much bigger God. I'm proud to say my spirituality and relationship with God is deeper than this book.