"Double No-Hit: Johnny Vander Meer's Historic Night Under the Lights"
By James W. Johnson (University of Nebraska Press, $15.95)
In this wonderful retelling of one of baseball's great accomplishments - back-to-back no-hitters pitched by Cincinnati left-hander Vander Meer - Johnson weaves together biographies, details and an inning-by-inning account of the second game, June 15, 1938.
In the second game, against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, Vander Meer pitched into the ninth inning with two out, bases loaded. And who came to bat? Leo Durocher, "Leo the Lip," who flied out to center field. Frosting on the cake.
Johnson is an emeritus professor of journalism at the University of Arizona. Every acolyte of balldom will be grateful for Johnson's research, which allows him to re-create the world of baseball in the late 1930s and 1940s.
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"The Tucson Tragedy: Lessons from the Senseless shooting of Gabrielle Giffords"
By John Newport (Outskirts Press, $16.95)
With doctorates in psychology and public health, Newport, a Giffords supporter, is qualified to pull together all the little bits and big pieces that surrounded this terrible event of Jan. 8, 2011.
It is remarkable how many facets there were and Newport has done an admirable research job. It will be an exercise in reliving history for many readers and a good introduction to others.
"Dan Powell: The Making of an American Cowboy"
By Debbi Weitzell with A.L. Karns (Booklocker.com, paperback, $16.95; Kindle, $2.99)
This biography covers the time period from 1860 to 1879 and follows Powell from his youth in Ohio to his final establishment as a rancher in what is now South Dakota. His own dates are 1852 to 1929. He founded Powell, S.D.
The factual material for this long, productive and often hard life is furnished by Karns. Weitzell provides the "creative interpretation."
"Destroying Demons on the Diagonal"
By Jeff M. Sambur (Self-published, paperback $13.95, Kindle, $5.99)
After 28 years as a firefighter and emergency medical technician in Fort Collins, Co., Sambur decided to bike across the country from San Diego to Bangor, Maine. This is an account of that journey, which went off pretty much without a hitch. Wonderful maps at the beginning of each state.
"Heart's Blood"
By Elizabeth Zinn (Self-published, paperback,$13.95; Kindle $9.99)
Former University of Arizona administrator Zinn writes, as does one of her central characters, "literary fiction ... describing 'meaningful relationships,' and 'human drama.' "
Set along the Arizona-Mexico border beginning in the third quarter of the 20th century, "Heart's Blood," follows rancher Tyler McNeil and his extended family through the social and legal issues generated by modern border life.
"Making John a Soldier: A Nebraskan Goes to War"
By John Malloy Sr. (Outskirts Press, $29.95)
Four years of research added onto a full life brings octogenarian Malloy to writing a 600-plus page book about his family and his own experiences in the European Theater in World War II (as well as an overview of the whole conflict). His book contains notes, a bibliography and an index. Successful both in academia and the business world, Malloy has compiled a valuable book for his extended family.
"Second-Chance: A Memoir"
By Denise Roessle (Red Willow Publishing, $14.99, Kindle, $2.99)
As a pregnant, unmarried teenager Roessle gave up her newborn son for adoption and 25 years later they were reunited. Her dreams of a happy ending were dashed as problems began to arise in their relationship. Roessle records them all resolutely in this brave account.
"Fly Me: Story of a Female Fighter Jock"
By Robert O. McCartan (Wheatmark, $13.95)
In this adventure fiction tale, McCartan delivers an admirable heroine. Lynda Blake, a Salpointe High School and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, is a calm, cool, collected athletic beauty whose life is filled with challenges both in battle and on the home front.
"Unpredictable Outcomes: A Military Memoir from Blue Water Navy to Red Mud Seabees"
By Fred K. Taylor (Pennywyse Press, $12)
When Taylor was 17, his father signed him up for the U.S. Navy. As unpromisingly as it began, it worked out well and for the next five years both on sea and land (Mobile Construction Battalion 5 - the famous Seabees for short) Taylor accommodated and survived, winding up in Vietnam. His recollections are often candid. The heroics are understated. The account is well worth reading.
'Country of the Bad Wolfes'
By James Carlos Blake (Cinco Puntos Press, $16.95)
The history of a family of very bad, but lively and handsome, entrepreneurs. The startup is in Ireland at the beginning of the 19th century with the birth of a successful, ambitious Wolfe. It goes resolutely downhill ever after, winding up in Mexico during the tumultuous days of Juarez and Diaz.
This is a real coup for El Paso-based Cinco Puntos as Blake, winner of a 1997 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, is an outstanding writer of historical fiction.
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