Saturday Spotlight ~ The Write Reads Blog Tour: Good Trouble by Forest Issac Jones

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TWR Blog Tour Spotlight: Good Trouble by Forest Issac Jones

Good Trouble will show the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland – specifically the influence of the Montgomery to Selma march on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews of events leading up to both marches and afterwards. This is close to the author’s heart as both of his parents marched to integrate lunch counters and movie theatres in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1963 as college students. His mother was at the 1963 March to Washington where Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Award winning author Julieann Campbell (On Bloody Sunday) wrote the introduction for Good Trouble, looking back at her times growing up in Derry, in the heart of the Catholic Civil Rights Movement. Jones travelled to Dublin, Belfast and Derry to conduct interviews for the book. In all, he did fifteen interviews with people who were involved in the movement in Northern Ireland (including Billy McVeigh – featured in the BAFTA winning documentary, Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland) and in the United States (including Richard Smiley and Dr. Sheyann Webb-Christburg – both were at Bloody Sunday in Alabama and on the Selma to Montgomery march among others). Jones was also able to talk with Eamonn McCann (he took part in the Belfast to Derry march in 1969; he was the John Lewis of Northern Ireland).

Unlike most books on Northern Ireland, this goes into detail about the connection and the influence between the two movements. Also, most focus on Bloody Sunday and not the pivotal incidents at Burntollet Bridge and the Battle of the Bogside. Building off of unprecedented access and interviews with participants in both movements, Jones crafts a gripping and moving account of these pivotal years for both countries.

Irex

In the harsh winter of December 1889, the sailing vessel Irex leaves Scotland bound for Rio de Janeiro. She carries three thousand tons of pig iron and just three passengers for what should be a routine voyage. But Captain Will Hutton discovers that one of his passengers hides a horrifying secret.

When the Irex is wrecked off the Isle of Wight six weeks later, it falls to the county coroner, Frederick Blake, to begin to unravel the events that overtook the doomed ship — but he soon finds that powerful forces within the British Establishment are working to thwart him. Locked in a race against time and the sinister agents sent to impede him, he gradually discovers that nothing aboard the Irex is what it first seemed...

Irex is an atmospheric mystery, set in a rich Victorian world, packed with intrigue, twists and colourful characters — the spellbinding first novel by Carl Rackman.

Crochet and Cauldrons

Book source ~ Kindle Lending Library

Crochet and Cauldrons

Vampire Knitting Club, #3

Nancy Warren

25 October 2018

Cozy | Mystery | Paranormal

207 Pages

The Pandora Room

Book source ~ NetGalley

The Pandora Room

Ben Walker, #2

Christopher Golden

23 April 2019

Horror | Paranormal

320 Pages

On Tyranny

Book source ~ Library

On Tyranny

Timothy Snyder

28 March 2017

Non-Fiction | Historical

128 Pages

Romance Readers Guide to Historic London

My Kindle Reviews will consist of:

Kindle Lending Library

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle First

Freebies

The 9/11 Report

*Book source ~ Library

The 9/11 Report

Sid Jacobson, Ernie Colón

11 January 2007

Graphic Novel | Non-Fiction | History

117 Pages

Anne Frank (GN)

*Book source ~ Library

Anne Frank: The Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography

Sid Jacobson, Ernie Colón

14 September 2010

Graphic Novel | Classics | History

148 Pages

Serial Killer Saturday

*Book source ~ Library

Title ~ Jack the Ripper

Series ~ Treasury of Victorian Murder

Author & Illustrator ~ Rick Geary

Publisher ~ NBM Publishing

Published ~ 28 February 1997

Genre ~ Graphic Novel | Non-Fiction 

Pages ~ 64

VABT Tour ~ John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

*Book source ~ Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author.

Title ~ John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars

Author ~ Roland Hughes

Publisher ~ Logikal Solutions

Published ~ 30 May 2013

Genre ~ Post-Apocalyptic

Pages ~ 274

My Rating ~ 3 bites out of 5

Susan Krowley is a reporter in the town of Fieldspring (population approx. 5,500) and she goes out in search of a story. Two days on horseback bring her to 79-yr-old John Smith, the last known survivor of the Microsoft Wars. She asks him what seems a fairly straight forward question: “Can you tell us why they were called the Microsoft Wars and were there really more than one?” John’s answer? “You don’t have any frame of reference to ask that question.” And thus begins a long and detailed explanation going back to 20,200 B.C.

Written in interview form between Susan and John there is no simple explanation John can give to Susan since she has no frame of reference. After the polar shift and subsequent apocalypse where the majority of the population and human knowledge was lost, Susan’s question, while seemingly simple, is actually extremely complex. At first, I had no idea what the Ice Age in 20,200 B.C. had to do with a modern war, but it slowly came together with John’s explanations. The information is diverse and interesting and the journey to the answer kept the plot flowing inexorably to the end. Oh, and the very end? It came as a surprise, but really it shouldn't have. Overall, a fascinating read.

VABT