Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Mr. Mulligan: The Life of Champion Armless Golfer Tommy McAuliffe is a work of non-fiction in the biography subgenre and serves as the opening installment of the McAuliffe series. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was penned by author Tom Patrick McAuliffe II. The book shares the story of Tommy McAuliffe, who was one of the most accomplished golfers of his time despite not having arms to hold the clubs. Painting a vivid picture of the era and its changing attitudes toward the disabled, the book recalls the journey McAuliffe undertook to become one of the most skilled golfers of his generation.

This was a delightful love letter to a colorful character in the author’s life, aimed squarely at celebrating the spirit of a man who refused to be defined by a disability in an era before society paid much heed to ideas of accessibility. Tom Patrick McAuliffe II shares many wonderful stories about his grandfather and namesake, and some are recalled as anecdotes from the man himself whilst others are reconstructed through painstaking research. It’s a fitting tribute to a man who served as a role model for so many to have his story so lovingly revisited today, and the warmth of the writing gives the reader an immediate sense of the character of the subject. Overall, Mr. Mulligan is an essential read even for those of us without much experience or knowledge of the golf scene. The message it conveys about not letting adversity stand in the way of happiness and the pursuit of one's passions is timeless and universal.

Reviewed by Lesley Jones for Readers' Favorite

While awaiting trial in Poland between 1946-47, Rudolf Höss, the man referred to as the greatest mass murderer in history, wrote his memoirs. Höss systemically executed 1.1 million men, women, and children with a chilling lack of empathy or culpability. As the prisoners entered the camp, only 20%-30% of them would survive the first day. Throughout his account of the atrocities, Höss denied any involvement in the mistreatment of prisoners, simply stating he was following orders regarding Hitler's Final Solution. Architect of Death at Auschwitz by John W Primomo is a detailed analysis of Höss's journals as well as accounts from Auschwitz survivors. How did a young boy who was destined to enter the priesthood become the head of all the Nazi death camps and develop such a warped mentality regarding human life? Discover what instigated Hitler's hatred of the Jewish people and where the infamous sign on the entrance of Auschwitz, 'Arbeit Macht Frei,' derives from.

The content of this well-written book is extremely disturbing but absolutely compelling. The accounts from the survivors of the concentration camps regarding the treatment and torture will stay with me always. The book is extremely well researched and includes details about the prisoners' degradation, torture, and humiliation that I was unaware of. The accounts of the standing cells, dusting out the cells, and roll calls were particularly horrendous. Höss's attempt to exonerate himself and paint himself as an innocent bystander was astounding. Architect of Death at Auschwitz by John W Primomo is an excellent in-depth look at how humanity can turn on one another to survive; the behavior of the Sonderkommandos is a perfect example of this. Höss's narcissist attitude left me speechless throughout; his pride in deceiving those as they entered the gas chamber, his belief he was just following orders, and the lack of empathy for anyone but himself. This analysis of Höss from childhood to execution is a superb, non-biased factual account that dissects Höss's memoir and highlights the inconsistencies such as his belief that he was powerless to stop the atrocities. Joseph Stalin regarding the mass murder once said, “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.”

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Made in Hollywood (The Scott Morrow Story) by Jennifer Vaughn is a non-fiction biography that would appeal most to a mixed audience of young adults and adults with an interest in Hollywood actors. Scotty Morrow began his career as a mere toddler as he and his brother enchanted Hollywood studio officials, even at their young age. He started out with parts in commercials, TV shows and movies, with each part giving him more attention until he and his brother became known as A-list child actors. While his role as an actor could be considered nothing less than auspicious, his decision to enlist in the Air Force during the Vietnam War led to him becoming well known for his photography skills as well. Are you ready to learn about Scott Morrow, not just as an actor, but also as a soldier and a photographer?

Made in Hollywood (The Scott Morrow Story) by Jennifer Vaughn was a well-written biography that followed the life of a unique person. Before reading this book, I did not know who Scott Morrow was, but as I turned page after page, that slowly changed and I found myself fascinated by him and his life. As a Marilyn Monroe fan, I enjoyed reading about his sibling-like relationship with her. I enjoyed reading about his development as he went from actor to soldier to photographer. The author did an amazing job highlighting the way these roles changed him both professionally and personally. Overall, I really enjoyed learning about Scott and I found the book to be an interesting and informative read.

Reviewed by Sheena Monnin for Readers' Favorite

Witness For My Father: A World War II Story Of Loss, Hope, and Discovery by Barbara Bergren tells the true story of her father’s harrowing and historic experience as a survivor of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz during WWII. The author opens the story with her father’s peaceful childhood in Poland and then describes the gradual dehumanization of Jewish Poles during the first year of German occupation, followed by the rapid decline in human rights they experienced before being sent to concentration camps. The brutality, cruelty, and abuse each member of the family experienced are soul-crushing to read. Mietek, the author's father, was the only survivor of his family. At the end of the war, he was liberated from the camp and was lucky enough to meet some American soldiers stationed in Poland who helped him recover and offered him a job. One of these soldiers was named John. He was instrumental in building up Mietek’s spirit again after years of unspeakable brutality. Decades later the two men reunited before Mietek's death.

Each chapter of Witness For My Father by Barbara Bergren is written with care and compassion. She tells the story of her father’s life with beautiful detail, love, and respect. Mietek’s experiences during WWII are harrowing to read but speak of a man who was determined to live for the sake of his family, his people, and his future. He is a man to be admired and honored for the way he lived his life being kind and considerate to all people, despite the experiences he had to endure. My heart was touched by this incredible story of one man’s journey to overcome the hatred of others and not allow it to tarnish his soul. Everyone should read this stunning portrayal of Mietek’s life. It is powerfully written and full of inspiration!

Reviewed by Tom Gauthier for Readers' Favorite

With layers of intrigue and deep background of the Nazi 1930s on through WWII, Jo Sorochinsky reveals the poignant reality of her father’s hidden past and her own heritage in Dancing With My Father. The title evokes the delicate process that Jo focuses on to coax her father to reveal his past to her. It was this dance with him over many years that helped him come to terms with the horrors of what had happened to his family, his friends, and himself. Jo’s father, Ansel Horwitz, spent his early life up to his late teens in Vienna. He was a baptized Catholic because his parents had converted from Judaism to Catholicism. Many Viennese Jews had done the same, thinking it would protect them from the growing Nazi threat when they took control in 1938. But the Nazi rule stated that if you had Jewish grandparents, you were a Jew. So Ansel Horowitz became a young refugee from Nazi-controlled Austria as his parents arranged a move to Ireland through connections in the Catholic Church. His father, believing in his Austrian traditions of honor, refused to leave and his mother stayed with him. They were swept up and killed in the early Holocaust. For young Ansel, called Ans, it was supposed to be a two-week layover before going on to the United States. But weeks turned into years. During that time he found a trade and a girl, building a life and a family with Noreen.

The United States closed itself to more Jewish immigration, and the family finally moved to Canada and established a new life. Jo grew up believing herself to be an Irish Catholic girl who migrated to Canada with her parents. As time passed, she began to sense that something was amiss in the family lore. Based on hints, anomalies, and intuition, her curiosity about her own roots grew and she became interested in her father's early life. Her Irish mother fended off her growing inquiries, saying that it was not her story to tell. And her father stonewalled her at every turn. But Jo grew stronger in the belief that her father’s story was also her story, her heritage, and she pressed on. Jo relates the journey of patiently coaxing her father, getting him to give her peeks into his past. Slowly, the twists and turns of events and the vivid scenes of the horror and cruelty that was Austria under Hitler resurfaced. Dancing With My Father is masterfully written by Jo Sorochinsky as she allows us to join her journey to learn the long-kept secrets of her father’s experiences. It will keep you reading long after the intensity has exhausted you.

While reviewing, I harkened to my own writing of the stories of my immigrant family wrapped up in the intrigues of early immigrations to what became America. But when the family history carries the weight of the mayhem, chaos, suffering, and death that the Nazi regime imposed on an entire society and her family, Jo moves the mission to an entirely different level. Jo relates her complex research and findings to us while revealing deep abiding respect and love for her father. She mixes gentleness with tenacity and grace with tender aggressiveness as she lays bare the experiences that had haunted her father all his life. Jo’s story peels back the layers of history with skill and depth. In multi-layered, skillfully researched reporting, she builds the history of her father and his family while also building the history of the Jews in Austria and Austria itself as it sank into Nazi control. Jo Sorochinsky delivers the shocking facts and the deep feelings of one man’s story that reflects the story of a generation with the highest skill and sensitivity. Dancing With My Father is well worth your reading and reflecting on her message.

Reviewed by Shannon Winings for Readers' Favorite

On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. was abducted from his crib in his parents' New Jersey home. His nanny, Betty Gow, was the first to notice his disappearance. This stirred a massive hunt for baby Charles and the kidnapper(s). The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away by Lise Pearlman starts by introducing the Lindbergh family and their history before describing the now-infamous kidnapping. Following the disappearance, readers are then taken on a journey to search for the suspect(s). Ten weeks later, this turns into a manhunt for the killer(s). Lise Pearlman takes readers on an adventure behind the scenes and delves into what the evidence says to reveal a shocking conclusion. Was Bruno Richard Hauptmann's execution for this crime a mistake?

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away by Lise Pearlman is a must-read for any true crime aficionado and those fascinated with this highly publicized case. I was thrilled to read this book and am sure others will like it as well. The book is meticulously organized and filled with information. Clearly, the author did an extensive amount of research. The author even provides a cast of characters, photographs, end-notes, sources, appendices, and an index. In addition to this wealth of information, I enjoyed the author's writing style. I felt like I could truly get into the story and picture what was happening. I'm excited to see what other books the author has written and what they are up to next.

Reviewed by Joanie Chevalier for Readers' Favorite

Hidden in Berlin by Evelyn Joseph Grossman is a riveting Holocaust memoir. Evelyn Grossman tells the story through the eyes of her mother and father, Lilo and Ernst, and her own research about the tragic era of Hitler’s evil regime. We all know the history, but to read about this family and how they survived and persevered, through terrifying bombs dropping, hunger, loneliness, and living in small quarters, is something we all need to be reminded of to be grateful for every moment of our own lives. Seeing the photos of the author’s parents and family are a personal touch and made this terrifying era come to life. With grit and determination, Lilo, Ernst, and Ernst’s mother survived.

I was amazed by Evelyn Joseph Grossman’s research in her Holocaust memoir, Hidden in Berlin. Growing up, she recalls her parents not talking much about their ordeal during Hitler’s regime and their suffering. As Jews, they were forced to hide for nearly two years. They heard about others leaving and never coming back. In fact, every other member of their families didn’t survive, except Ernest’s mother, who stayed with him in a small room for almost two years. Evelyn and her mother, Lilo, traveled to Germany in 1995 after it extended an invitation and they met up with long-lost childhood friends of Lilo, as well as the daughter of the woman who helped keep Lilo alive in 1943 through 1945. It was Evelyn Joseph Grossman’s mission then to nominate Hannah Sotschek and her daughter, Eva Cassier, to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, an honorary title bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Hidden in Berlin is a story you won’t soon forget.

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

When I received a request from Luke G. Dahl, author of Daddy’s Curse 2 to review his second book on child trafficking in Mongolia, China and Thailand, I didn’t hesitate to select it once it became available. I hadn’t forgotten how hard his first book, Daddy’s Curse, had hit me: he’d kept me glued to that true story, which I read in one sitting. Daddy’s Curse 2 affected me the same way: I couldn’t stop reading it. If you’ve read the first book, you might remember Od, whose story is told here. Od was sold by his grandmother when not quite a teen, then kidnapped along with three other very young girls by sex traffickers. In the first book, we followed the story of Yuna, one of the girls. Dahl now picks up the rest of the story of these unfortunate children but centers the tale on Od’s experience.

Initially, Od is beaten and sexually used by a wealthy, ruthless man who not only prostitutes the young girls, but is a major distributor of all kinds of drugs. Escape from this perverted magnate is near impossible: the children are constantly under surveillance and corrupt police turn a blind eye. Od lives with and serves his “owner” for several years during which time he sees disobedience punished by death and his fellow female companions becoming accustomed to but hardened by their horrid life. But all the children, including Od, never stop hoping to escape. One beautiful young girl even gives up and hangs herself. When his master takes on a new young boy as his sex toy, Od is kept on as a trusted servant. Once the master takes them all to his other grand accommodations in Bangkok to continue his sex and drug trafficking, a now nearly adult Od’s desire to escape and help a couple of the girls do the same becomes overwhelming. To escape, he needs someone to trust but who can he trust?

In these days of the enlightening “MeToo” movement, it’s amazing there are still thousands of people who don’t believe sexual abuse happens. Yet, young boys and girls are constantly disappearing from the streets of our own North American cities. The true stories Luke G. Dahl shares in Daddy’s Curse and Daddy’s Curse 2 did indeed take place in faraway lands, but it’s highly likely that what these unfortunate children experienced could happen to our children any time, anywhere. Increase your awareness: read both books. They are short in length but long on impact. Daddy’s Curse 2 is another engaging but heartbreaking read.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

What defines a single person’s life? Is it the number of people they reach out to? And how they reach out to them? The memories of award-winning author Rachel Field speak of her humble ability to love and show compassion, to care about others, and, most poignantly, her “welcoming smile.” But, sadly, the memories of this person speak little of the writing that earned her some recognition. She wrote poetry, prose, children’s books, plays, and won awards for her work, most particularly the esteemed Newberry Medal, but there was so much mystery surrounding this woman and, sadly, a compelling sense of loneliness. How could someone so loved and revered by others be so painfully lonely?

When Robin Clifford Wood purchased Field House on an island off the coast of Maine, little did she realize that she was walking into a time capsule of an early twentieth-century woman’s life, an icon in American literature who has been sadly forgotten over the years since her passing. Memorabilia from the author’s time spent at this special summer get-away were scattered around the house and the island on which it sat, memorabilia full of stories in themselves. Robin felt a connection and was compelled to do research on this fellow author; the end result was an in-depth, much-needed biography of Rachel Field, The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine. The intention was to write a biography, but the book took on a story of its own: a creative nonfiction story combining the lives of Rachel Field with that of her biographer, Robin Clifford Wood.

Chapters include detailed accounts of various time periods in Rachel’s life while also including the biographer’s experience in researching these snippets, written cleverly as a letter to Rachel explaining her intention and focus. In her very compassionate Prologue, the biographer concludes: “Rachel Field gave me many gifts. One of them was a reminder to embrace life with the heart of a child and the soul of a poet. Another was the inspiration to write.” This is a powerful biography/memoir/work of creative nonfiction about an icon in American literature.

Reviewed by Astrid Iustulin for Readers' Favorite

Christine Bennett’s Medical Missionaries in Turkish Arabia tells the wonderful and sad story of her grandparents, Arthur Bennett and Christine Iverson. Two graduates from the University of Michigan’s School of Medicine, Bennett and Iverson joined the Arabian Mission and set up a hospital in Mesopotamia between 1904 and 1916. There, they worked for the sheiks and common people, fought diseases, traveled, and learned the Arabic language. At last, the outbreak of the First World War forced the missionaries to face a different situation. Written with quotes from letters, memoirs, and other personal and published documents, Medical Missionaries in Turkish Arabia is a biography that will delight readers fond of history.

Medical Missionaries in Turkish Arabia has all the charm of a book set in a different era, environment, and culture. Christine Bennett has been able to create a precise and compelling image of Turkish Arabia before the discovery of oil. Through Bennett and Iverson’s story, the reader will discover a cross-section of a world that does not exist anymore, and that is fascinating for its exoticism. Through informative details and first-hand accounts, the narrative is fluid and enthralling. The contextualization of the events makes use of in-depth historical research. A wonderful set of pictures familiarizes the reader with people and places. But the best thing about Medical Missionaries in Turkish Arabia is that this is not just an exhaustive piece of history. This is Christine Bennett’s magnificent tribute to her family, and she has made it enjoyable for everyone who reads her book.