East County Magazine
A Requiem for Reading?
Printer-friendly version by Craig S. Maxwell The memorial service for my grandfather, Vernon Wahrenbrock, was sparsely attended; the inevitable consequence, I suppose, of his having lived nearly a century. All his friends and much of his family were gone. We, his survivors, were there of course. And so were a few of the folks he’d come to know at
BOOK REVIEW: HOWARD DEAN’S PRESCRIPTION FOR REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM: HOW WE CAN ACHIEVE AFFORDABLE MEDICAL CARE FOR EVERY AMERICAN AND MAKE OUR JOBS SAFER
Printer-friendly version By Howard Dean, M.D. Chelsea Green Publishing Reviewed by Miriam Raftery The free market just doesn’t work in medicine. You can’t be an informed consumer. I never saw someone with severe chest pain jump off the table and say, Doctor, I’m going to the cheaper guy down the street.” — Howard Dean. M.D. , on a
LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND: THE SAGA OF COMBAT SEARCH AND RESCUE
Printer-friendly version George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips. Minneapolis, Zenith Press. 2008. 642 pages. Reviewed by Walter Hall August 15, 2009 (San Diego)–This is a remarkable and opportune book. San Diego-based authors George Galdorisi and Thomas Phillips – both with significant operational experience in multiple theaters – are not poets. But they have given their narrative an epic quality.
EXPLORE 7 MILLION YEARS OF EVOLUTION AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO
Printer-friendly version Author of New Book on Anza-Borrego Desert’s Fossil Treasures Featured at Aug. 15 Event July 29, 2009 (San Diego)—Lowell Lindsay, co-author of Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert: The Last Seven Million Years, will be at the San Diego Zoo’s new Elephant Odyssey Exhibit on Saturday, August 15. He will be discussing, in a hands-on presentation, one of
HOPE BEGINS IN THE DARK
Printer-friendly versionBook Review by Dennis Moore Jamie Reno, an award-winning journalist and an 11-year survivor of stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has written a book about the resilience of the human spirit. Hope Begins in the Dark chronicles the lives of 50 lymphoma survivors, revealing their exclusive stories. The book speaks of the frailty of our existence as human beings and
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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting — not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine’s local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

REFUGE ON THE MOUNTAIN: SURVIVAL AFTER AN APOCALYPTIC DISASTER
Printer-friendly version Local author has series of events coming up. Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 17, 2024 (San Diego) — Ocean Beach resident Cornelia Feye writes a post-apocalyptic story. After a massive solar storm causes a catastrophic global blackout, Greg and Vega escape with their extended family to their solar powered, self-sufficient mountain cabin. Their survival is

REFUGE ON THE MOUNTAIN: SURVIVAL AFTER AN APOCALYPTIC DISASTER
Printer-friendly version Local author has series of events coming up. Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 17, 2024 (San Diego) — Ocean Beach resident Cornelia Feye writes a post-apocalyptic story. After a massive solar storm causes a catastrophic global blackout, Greg and Vega escape with their extended family to their solar powered, self-sufficient mountain cabin. Their survival is

REFUGE ON THE MOUNTAIN: SURVIVAL AFTER AN APOCALYPTIC DISASTER
Printer-friendly version Local author has series of events coming up. Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 17, 2024 (San Diego) — Ocean Beach resident Cornelia Feye writes a post-apocalyptic story. After a massive solar storm causes a catastrophic global blackout, Greg and Vega escape with their extended family to their solar powered, self-sufficient mountain cabin. Their survival is

THE SQUIRREL AND THE MOON
Printer-friendly version Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 8, 2024 (San Diego) — The Squirrel and the Moon, a picture book, is beautifully written by Jacob Haffner and illustrated by Clarissa Janeen. It’s perfect for the young reader who loves to explore a book through its pictures. The book tells a warm and tender mother/child story. The squirrel tells his mother

THE SQUIRREL AND THE MOON
Printer-friendly version Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 8, 2024 (San Diego) — The Squirrel and the Moon, a picture book, is beautifully written by Jacob Haffner and illustrated by Clarissa Janeen. It’s perfect for the young reader who loves to explore a book through its pictures. The book tells a warm and tender mother/child story. The squirrel tells his mother

WALLED-IN WEST BERLIN: A WEST BERLIN GIRL’S JOURNEY TO FREEDOM
Printer-friendly version Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 9, 2024 (San Diego) – San Diego author J. Elke Ertle was born and raised in West Berlin during the aftermath of World War II, when the city had become the focus of an escalating Cold War between East and West. In her memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, she

WALLED-IN WEST BERLIN: A WEST BERLIN GIRL’S JOURNEY TO FREEDOM
Printer-friendly version Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 9, 2024 (San Diego) – San Diego author J. Elke Ertle was born and raised in West Berlin during the aftermath of World War II, when the city had become the focus of an escalating Cold War between East and West. In her memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, she

WORLD BOOK DAY: FEBRUARY 23
Printer-friendly versionBy Jonathan Goetz February 19, 2024 (La Mesa) — World Book Day is an annual event organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The main purpose of World Book Day is to encourage people of all ages to discover the joy of books and reading. It also aims to support

HONEYMOON AT SEA: HOW I FOUND MYSELF LIVING ON A SMALL BOAT
Printer-friendly versionBook by Jennifer Silva Redmond Reviewed by Pennell Paugh February 15, 2024 (San Diego) — In 1989-90, Jennifer and Russel Redmond set off from San Diego for Baja California on their 26-foot sloop, Watchfire, shortly after they married. After traveling through the Panama Canal, they sailed all the way to Canada, before turning around to end their honeymoon

ALL THE BAD GIRLS WEAR RUSSIAN ACCENTS: POEMS OF A UKRAINIAN JEWISH REFUGEE GRANTED ASYLUM IN THE U.S.
Printer-friendly versionBy Jane Muschenetz Reviewed by Pennell Paugh February 14, 2024 (San Diego) — Written with humor as well as heart ache, Jane Muschenetz touches on her raw feelings of becoming a refugee. At the age of 10, during the pandemic and the Russian invasion of her home country, Ukraine, she was transplanted to San Diego. Muschenetz
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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting — not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine’s local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
East County Magazine

Pretty Happy: healthy ways to love your body
Printer-friendly versionBook by Kate Hudson Review by Heidi Hope October 5, 2025 (San Diego) – Pretty Happy is a New York Times best-selling self-help book written by my favorite actress, Kate Hudson. She thoughtfully researched each area and provided a variety of questions to ask, as well as suggestions to reference and ideas for carrying out each lesson to take

Lucas and Emily’s Food Bank Adventure by Dave Grunenwald
Printer-friendly versionReviewed by Pennell Paugh September 28, 2025 (San Diego) – Lucas and Emily’s Food Bank Adventure is a children’s book for 5- to 10-year-olds. It is designed to inspire children and their families to volunteer in community programs that help those in need. In the book, two friends and a grandparent visit a group that make and deliver sandwiches. Next,

Author Tanya Harris hosts book signing Sept. 21 at Grossmont Center to benefit domestic violence survivors
Printer-friendly versionEast County News Service September 5, 2025 (La Mesa) — Local author, domestic violence survivor and advocate Tanya Harris will host a powerful community book signing and awareness event on Sunday, September 21, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the gazebo at Grossmont Center mall (5500 Grossmont Center Dr., La Mesa). The community-focused event is designed to

Blood in the Water: an A.J. Hawke legal thriller
Printer-friendly versionNovel by Donald McInnis Reviewed by Pennell Paugh September 4, 2025 (San Diego) —Blood in the Water, though fictional, exposes a flaw in the United States’ tripartite federal government structure as established in the Constitution. The third branch of government, the Judiciary, cannot enforce its rulings, even when those rulings are necessary for protecting an individual citizen’s rights or the constitutional powers of