Kate’s 2¢:  “The dirty tricks department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the masterminds of World War II secret warfare” by John Lisle

“The dirty tricks department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the masterminds of World War II secret warfare” by John Lisle

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

   I’ve always thought of war as a lose-lose situation. This book brings to the forefront the lengths people will go to get the upper hand. A sad commentary on our culture and society. Who is to say it is the best man who will win?

   I don’t think our country can continue to be the police force of the world on its own. We are spread too thin and are unable to protect our own borders.  

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John Lisle is a historian of science and the American intelligence community1. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas and has taught courses on U.S. history, cyberspace, and information warfare at the University of Texas, Louisiana Tech University, and Austin Community College1. Lisle is the author of the book “The Dirty Tricks Department”, which tells the story of the scientists who developed secret weapons, documents, and disguises for the OSS during World War II2

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The dirty tricks department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the masterminds of World War II secret warfare DB114602

Lisle, John, (Historian) Reading time: 8 hours, 4 minutes.

Pete Cross

War and the Military

Government and Politics

History, Juvenile

Bestsellers

U.S. History

World History and Affairs

“In the summer of 1942, Stanley Lovell, a renowned industrial chemist, received a mysterious order to report to an unfamiliar building in Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he was led to a barren room where he waited to meet the man who had summoned him. After a disconcerting amount of time, William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the head of the OSS, walked in the door. “You know your Sherlock Holmes, of course,” Donovan said as an introduction. “Professor Moriarty is the man I want for my staff…I think you’re it.” Following this life-changing encounter, Lovell became the head of a secret group of scientists who developed dirty tricks for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Their inventions included bat bombs, suicide pills, fighting knives, silent pistols, and camouflaged explosives. Moreover, they forged documents for undercover agents, plotted the assassination of foreign leaders, and performed truth drug experiments on unsuspecting subjects. Based on extensive archival research and personal interviews, The Dirty Tricks Department tells the story of these scheming scientists, explores the moral dilemmas that they faced, and reveals their dark legacy of directly inspiring the most infamous program in CIA history: MKULTRA.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.

Kate’s 2¢: “The making of another major motion picture masterpiece” BY Tom Hanks

“The making of another major motion picture masterpiece” BY Tom Hanks

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

   This was one of the books included on the cartridge NLS sends. It contains books that I don’t down-load myself. This book is one I probably would have down-loaded due to its being Historical Fiction, Humor, Human Relations, and a Bestseller.

   Hanks is, of course, a master narrator and having multiple voices added to the over all listening appeal. I enjoyed this book.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early life and family

Hanks was born in Concord, California,[10] on July 9, 1956,[11] to hospital worker Janet Marylyn (née Frager) and itinerant[12] cook Amos “Bud”[13][14] Hanks. His mother was from a Portuguese family; their surname was originally “Fraga”.[15] His father had English ancestry,[16] and through his line, Hanks is a distant cousin of President Abraham Lincoln[17][18][19][20][21] and children’s host Fred Rogers, both of whom he would portray in film roles.[22][23] His parents divorced in 1960.

Their three oldest children, Sandra (later Sandra Hanks Benoiton, a writer),[24] Larry (who became an entomology professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign),[25] and Tom, went with their father, while the youngest, Jim (who also became an actor and filmmaker), remained with their mother in Red Bluff, California.[26] In his childhood, Hanks’ family moved often; by age ten, he had lived in ten different houses.[27]

Although Hanks’ family religious history was Catholic and Mormon, as an adult he converted to Greek Orthodox Christianity after his marriage to Rita Wilson.[28]

One journalist characterized Hanks’ teenage self as being a “Bible-toting evangelical” for several years.[29] In school, he was unpopular with students and teachers alike, later telling Rolling Stone magazine, “I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who’d yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn’t get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible.”[30] Hanks acted in school plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California.[31]

Having grown up in the Bay Area, Hanks says that some of his first movie memories was seeing movies in the Alameda Theatre in Alameda, California.[32] Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California,[33] and transferred to California State University, Sacramento after two years.[34][35] During a 2001 interview with sportscaster Bob Costas, Hanks was asked whether he would rather have an Oscar or a Heisman Trophy. He replied that he would rather win a Heisman by playing halfback for the California Golden Bears.[36] He told New York magazine in 1986, “Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant. I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn’t take dates with me. I’d just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, and all that.”[37]

During his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.[13] At Dowling’s suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the festival. His internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, prompting Hanks to drop out of college. During the same time, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.[38] In 2010, Time magazine named Hanks one of the “Top 10 College Dropouts”.[39]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The making of another major motion picture masterpiece DB114593

Hanks, Tom Reading time: 16 hours, 0 minutes.

Nasim Pedrad; Connor Ratliff; Natalie Morales; Peter Gerety; Ego Nwodim; Rita Wilson; Tom Hanks; Holland Taylor

Historical Fiction

Humor

Human Relations

Bestsellers

“Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for twenty-three years. Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero. Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie. Cue the cast: We meet the film’s extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller.

Kate’s 2¢: ”Seaworthy: a swordboat captain returns to the sea” by Linda Greenlaw  

”Seaworthy: a swordboat captain returns to the sea” by Linda Greenlaw  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Into…

      This was one of the books included on the cartridge NLS sends. It contains books that I don’t down-load myself. I might have opted for this story as it contains the topics of a biography, Adventure, and Women.

   I enjoyed this story as it encourages older people to keep on trying to be their best, despite their age, especially if they have a passion for it.

   Marilyn Rae Beyer did a great job of narrating this story. I like the timbre of her voice.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linda Greenlaw (born December 22, 1960)[1][2] is a best-selling author of books with maritime themes and the only female swordfishing boat captain on the East Coast of the United States.[3] She was featured in the 1997 book The Perfect Storm and the film The Perfect Storm.

Greenlaw wrote three best-selling books about life as a commercial fisher: The Hungry Ocean in 1999, The Lobster Chronicles in 2002 and All Fishermen Are Liars in 2002.

Her books have climbed as high as No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list, with The Hungry Ocean remaining on the list for three months.[4][5]

Greenlaw lives on Isle au Haut, Maine, and was the first female sword-fishing boat captain on the American East Coast.[6]

Early life[edit]

Greenlaw was born in Connecticut, the daughter of Jim and Martha Greenlaw. Her father was an information systems manager for Bath Iron Works. She was raised in Topsham, Maine, and her family spent their summers in Isle au Haut, a village of 71 people off the coast of Maine. Greenlaw attended Colby College, where she majored in both English and government. To help pay her way through college, Linda worked as a cook and deckhand aboard the sword-fishing boat Walter Leeman during her summers. She continued working on the boat during free time and vacations and, after her graduation in 1983, continued working for the boat’s owner, Alden Leeman, who installed Greenlaw as a swordfish captain in 1986 when he acquired a second vessel.[7]

Greenlaw wrote in The Hungry Ocean: “Being a woman hasn’t been a big deal. I never anticipated problems stemming from being female, and never encountered any. I have been surprised, even embarrassed, by the number of people who are genuinely amazed that a woman might be capable of running a fishing boat.”[7]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Seaworthy: a swordboat captain returns to the sea DBC03778

Greenlaw, Linda Reading time: 7 hours, 57 minutes.

Marilyn Rae Beyer A production of Perkins Library, Perkins School for the Blind.

Biography

Adventure

Women

The author of the bestselling The Hungry Ocean and the only female swordboat skipper in America, Linda Greenlaw chronicles her return to the treacherous waters of Newfoundland’s Grand Banks. Contains strong language.

Kate’s 2¢: “Rolling in the deep” by Mira Grant

“Rolling in the deep” by Mira Grant

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

      This was one of the books included on the cartridge NLS sends. It contains books that I don’t down-loadmyself. This book is one I probably wouldn’t have down-loaded due to its being in the science fiction genre.

   Having said that, I enjoyed this tory although it was rather gory. Maybe NLS sends these out to broaden our horizons. I’m glad they did.

   I enjoyed listening to Teri Schnaubelt narrate this story.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mira Grant is the pseudonym of Seanan McGuire — winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for best new writer.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Rolling in the deep DB112663

Grant, Mira Reading time: 3 hours, 8 minutes.

Teri Schnaubelt

Science Fiction

Supernatural and Horror Fiction

“When the Imagine Network commissioned a documentary on mermaids, to be filmed from the cruise ship Atargatis, they expected what they had always received before: an assortment of eyewitness reports that proved nothing, some footage that proved even less, and the kind of ratings that only came from peddling imaginary creatures to the masses. They didn’t expect actual mermaids. They certainly didn’t expect those mermaids to have teeth. This is the story of the Atargatis, lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the bathypelagic zone in the Mariana Trench . . . and the depths are very good at keeping secrets.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Kate’s 2¢: “Antimatter blues” by Edward Ashton

“Antimatter blues” by Edward Ashton

 NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares her thoughts about what she reads. Inho…

   This was one of the books included on the cartridge NLS sends. It contains books that I don’t down-load myself. This book is one I probably wouldn’t have down-loaded due to its being in the science fiction genre.

   Having said that, I enjoyed this tory with its humor and drama. Maybe NLS sends these out to broaden our horizons. I’m glad they did.

   Having John Pirhalla and Katharine Chin sharing the narration of this story added a dramatic element to the story. Well done.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mickey7 is a 2022 science fiction novel by Edward Ashton. Its sequel, Antimatter Blues, was released in March 2023. A film adaptation directed by Bong Joon-ho is scheduled to be released in 2025.

   I didn’t find much about the author, just his books.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Antimatter blues DB114605

Ashton, Edward, (Science fiction writer) Reading time: 9 hours, 30 minutes.

John Pirhalla; Katharine Chin

Science Fiction

“Summer has come to Niflheim. The lichens are growing, the six-winged bat-things are chirping, and much to his own surprise, Mickey Barnes is still alive—that last part thanks almost entirely to the fact that Commander Marshall believes that the colony’s creeper neighbors are holding an antimatter bomb, and that Mickey is the only one who’s keeping them from using it. Mickey’s just another colonist now. Instead of cleaning out the reactor core, he spends his time these days cleaning out the rabbit hutches. It’s not a bad life. It’s not going to last. It may be sunny now, but winter is coming. The antimatter that fuels the colony is running low, and Marshall wants his bomb back. If Mickey agrees to retrieve it, he’ll be giving up the only thing that’s kept his head off of the chopping block. If he refuses, he might doom the entire colony. Meanwhile, the creepers have their own worries, and they’re not going to surrender the bomb without getting something in return. Once again, Mickey finds the fate of two species resting in his hands. If something goes wrong this time, though, he won’t be coming back.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.