Book Reviews

Title: Echoes from the Infantry: A Novel
Author: Frank Nappi
Genre: Fiction, Literary
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B000VYVCM0

Frank Nappi is a school teacher on Long Island who, over the last several years, befriended aging World War II veterans in his community. As he heard their reminiscences he became absorbed in their stories of simple heroism--and of trying to recapture what they'd left behind when they returned home. They are the stories of men who never asked for recognition or adulation, only a place in the free and prosperous society they'd built with their own blood, sweat and tears--men who could never entirely leave behind the horrors of the battlefield, or explain them to their own children . . .
Now, Nappi has synthesized those reminiscences and crafted them into a heartwarming and at times harrowing novel: Echoes from the Infantry. It is the fictionalized tale of one Long Island veteran, the misery of combat, and the powerful emotional bond that connected him to his fiancée back home and that allowed him to survive the war with his soul battered but intact.
It is about a father and a son, and their ultimately redeeming struggle to understand the worlds that shaped each one--one a world at war, the other a world shaped by its veterans.

Title: The Wallace Dream – The Adventures Of The Baby Seekers
Author: Marc C B Maxwell
Genre: Children's, Under 12
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1591139333

The Wallace Dream - The Adventures of The Baby Seekers is a story about a husband and wife, Sam and Finley Wallace, who decide to make their family whole. Upon realizing that a baby is what they need, the couple sets off on a journey of fantastic adventures that will take them around the world.

The Wallace Dream is for children and parents alike. It is a fantasy fairytale about becoming a family.

The Wallace Dream is a modern version of the stork by mixing myths and familiar stories in an exciting new way.

So join Sam, Finley, their Saint Bernard dog Kitty, Hans Dieter the tour guide, and an assortment of other characters as they look for the ultimate treasure. A Family.

Title: Space Egg
Author: Brian Wizard
Genre: Fiction, Sci Fi
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to Brian Wizard's store): Space Egg

If change is as good as a rest, and you're not tired, do you really want a change?

This is the question Ayre Light, pilot, poet and finder of the alien space debris he and his best mate, Billy, dub the Space Egg are forced to ask. Curious as to the makeup of the strange material, Ayre takes a long, strange journey down a path that leads him to discover the half-twist of a Mobius strip, perpetual motion, alien Gathers of such material, and has a short metaphysical visit with Ima Gawd, the Toymaker and creator of Divine Energy. Yet, this truly is a love story.
Space Egg, A Half-Twist of Fate, is Brian Wizard's first Science Fiction story.

This ebook is the original Space Egg story before its two sequels.

Title: Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel
Author: William C. McCoy
Genre: Spiritual/Religious
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1933150130

Under Orders is written for you in the military services who seek to nurture and sustain your faith in the face of war, deployments and the troubling questions of faith and life.

Chaplain Bill McCoy's work is inspirational-- it guides soldiers as they struggle with the questions surrounding their service and their faith...a great book for soldiers to read several times throughout their careers, because while the questions he poses will always remain the same, the answers will change with age, experience, and in a deepening conviction.

Under Orders should be in every rucksack for those moments when Soldiers need spiritual energy.

Title: The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan
Author: Matthew Currier Burden
Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
Reviewer: Bill McDonald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): I0743294181

Matthew Currier Burden founded www.blackfive.net, one of the most popular military blogs on the Internet. His blog began as an homage to a friend killed on duty in Iraq and quickly became a source of information about what was really happening in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In The Blog of War Burden presents selections from some of the best of the military blogs, the purest account of the many voices of this war. This is the first real-time history of a war, a history written even as the war continues. It offers a glimpse into the full range of military experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, from the decision to enlist right through to homecoming. There are powerful stories of soldiers in combat, touching reflections on helping local victims of terror and war, pulse-racing accounts of med-evac units and hospitals, and heartbreaking chronicles of spouses who must cope when a loved one has paid the ultimate price. The Blog of War provides an uncensored, intimate, and authentic version of life in the war zone. Dozens of voices come together in a wartime choir that conveys better than any second-hand account possibly can what it is like to serve on the front lines.