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This week’s offerings in Newsmax Rising Bestsellers highlight history, American, world, recent and long past. One gives insight into one of America’s most innovative founders in his own words while another notes that gridlock and division in American politics is nothing new. A third will describe the unwavering courage of a young Dutch woman who rebelled against the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands over its treatment of the Jews, and a final tome will reveal that not all Civil War regiments that wore blue uniforms were Yankees. But there is also a lighter look at the world, a humorous fictional tale of a grocery store employee trying to do what’s right during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Patron Saints of Grocery,” by Adam Jonathan Kaat (Inspired Forever Book)
This follows the life and struggles of Daniel, an employee at a high-end grocery store as he moves up the corporate ladder from working the checkout line to assistant manager of the deli during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is Jonathan Kaat’s second humor-driven novel, and picks up where his first, “Life on the Grocery Line,” left off. In this one the “heroes” are confronted with the ever-changing, challenging, and sometimes conflicting “rules” established by federal and state public health officials. “The story takes the reader into this world where friendships are built fast amongst coworkers. These friendships are what keeps the coworkers sane in an environment that can be hostile from privileged customers and their demands,” said Carol, reviewing for Amazon. “Overall, it was a story worth reading and may just change the reader’s attitude toward the service industry and those who are just trying to make a living in those fields.” [Fiction]
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“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” by Benjamin Franklin (Fingerprint! Publishing)
Benjamin Franklin was perhaps the most interesting of America’s Founders. Although never elected president or congressman, he was a writer, publisher, businessman, inventor, scientist, statesman, and one of the greatest thinkers of the 18th century. This work offers the reader a rare glimpse into mind of the man who rose from humble beginnings to achieve wealth, acclaim, and eventually represent his new country as ambassador to France. “‘The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin’ … is one of the must-read books for all, and considered by most to be the most influential autobiography ever written,” wrote Tharindu Dissanayake for GoodReads. “As one of the founding fathers of United States, and titled ‘The First American,’ Benjamin Franklin was one of the most ingenious men in the recorded history.” [Nonfiction]
“Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics,” by H. W. Brands (Doubleday)
If you think partisan political quibbling and gridlock are recent phenomena, this book will be a real eye-opener. Flaring tempers fueled by political division was something we inherited from England, where debate and argument sometimes devolved into caning and fisticuffs. Remember the Burr-Hamilton duel? In an address to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued that gridlock is what makes America an exceptional nation. Americans “should learn to love gridlock,” he said, to prevent “an excess of legislation.” “The author writes with a sharp and absorbing style, turning what could be a fairly dry topic into a highly readable tale worthy of a cable miniseries with backstabbing characters, high drama, shady deals, and huge egos all clashing to determine the course of the new country, wrote Jerry Lenaburg, in his New York Journal of Books review. [Nonfiction]
“The Hiding Place,” by Corrie ten Boom, with John Sherrill, & Elizabeth Sherrill (Chosen Books)
This is Corrie ten Boom’s memoir of her experiences in the Netherlands when it was German-occupied during World War II, and her time in prisons and concentration camps — despite the fact that she wasn’t Jewish. She was a Christian who protested acts of cruelty and hate committed by the Third Reich. Ten Boom was Holland’s first licensed female watchmaker, and she, along with her family, risked their lives and freedom to assist Jews and underground workers escape their Nazi occupiers. “Every human being should be required to read this book. I guarantee it will change forever the way you look at life,” said Meg Sherman, reviewing for GoodReads. “Unimaginably horrible things happen… and yet it’s told as a wonderful story of forgiveness, faith, and gratitude for the constant miracles and mercies of God.”
“Silent Cavalry: How Union Soldiers from Alabama Helped Sherman Burn Atlanta – and Then Got Written Out of History,” by Howell Raines (Crown)
As Howell Raines writes in the book’s introduction, “History is not what happened. It is what gets written down in an imperfect, often underhanded process dominated by self-interested political, economic and cultural authorities.” “Silent Cavalry” is the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist’s attempt to set the record straight: There was more to the American Civil War than simply courageous northern Yankees overwhelming the Confederates in the South. This is the story of the First Alabama Cavalry of the United States Army, who valiantly fought alongside Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s famous March to the Sea and the burning of Atlanta to the ground. “This book required an enormous amount of research, and the author is to be commended for his persistence in searching for the facts,” wrote Samuel Webb for Amazon. “Raines points out that during the Civil War it required great courage to fight the secessionists, but thousands did so. Unfortunately, the ‘Lost Cause’ historians attempted to hide the truth that large numbers of Alabama’s people did not march in lockstep to the tune of ‘Dixie.’” [Nonfiction]
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