JAMIE'S BOOKSHELF: Popular Books For Your Spring Reading List

Updated March 12, 2022

Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught

--Better Capitalism: Jesus, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and MLK Jr. on Moving from Plantation to Partnership Economics by Paul Knowlton and Aaron E. Hedges (Cascade Books, $28) provides a study of how we can move toward a more profitable and ethical capitalism. Whether you're in school preparing for the world of work or have experienced multiple careers, whether you're part of a major corporation or a small business or a ministry or a government, this volume demonstrates how you're affected by plantation economics. It then gives you the more profitable and beneficial views of capitalism through the framework of Partnership Economics.

--Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein (Henry Holt and Company, $29.99) is an extraordinary memoir of his very early days when he reported the going-ons or activities in the nation’s capital for the Washington Evening Star, the afternoon newspaper. As a 16-year-old, he began his journalism career as copyboy in 1960 and eventually became a reporter by the time he was 19, covering the Kennedy era, the civil rights movement and crimes. Bernstein is best known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of All the President’s Men and pioneer of investigative journalism.

--The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It by Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague (Atlantic Monthly Press, $28) uncovers never-before-told accounts from the election officials fighting to do their jobs amid outlandish claims and threats to themselves, their colleagues, and their families. The 300-page hardcover provides in-depth reports on what happened during those crucial nine weeks and a portrait of the dedicated individuals who did their duty and stood firm against the sustained attack on our election system and ensured that every legal vote was counted. Bowden, a longtime reporter, has written many books, while Teague is a contributor to National Geographic, The Atlantic, Esquire and other magazines.

--Days of Trump: The Definitive Chronology of the 45th President of the United States by Tim Devine with Amanda Decker (Devine Company LLC, $19.99) is a lengthy look back of Donald Trump's controversial presidency. The book gives the reader and historians the chance to better see how these significant and secondary events of the Trump era all fit into place and where we are left as a nation. A former executive in the music industry, the author is an award-winning news and editorial writer who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Political Science and Media.

--The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan (Harper, $29.99) tells a remarkable story about how an international team -- led by a retired FBI agent -- has finally solved the mystery that has troubled generations since World War II: Who betrayed Frank and her family? And why? As you'll recall, teen-aged Frank had kept a journal (which eventually published as The Diary of a Young Girl) while living in an attic with her family and four other people in Amsterdam for over two years during WW II , until the Nazis arrested them and sent them to a concentration camp. The author has written many books, including Stalin's Daughter.

--Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted by Jeremy W. Peters (Crown, $28.99) is a story of party establishment that believed it could control the dark energy it helped foment -- right up until it suddenly couldn't. The author wondered how did conservative values that Republicans claimed to support -- like small government, fiscal responsibility, and morality in public service -- get completely battered as an unwavering faith in Donald Trump grew to define the party. With new reporting and firsthand accounts from the people who were there, the answer is an account traced across three decades of populist uprisings that destabilized the party. A political contributor for MSNBC, the author has been a correspondent for The New York Times for nearly two decades.

--How Are You Going To Pay For That? Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics by Ryan Cooper (St. Martin’s Press, $28.99) is an economic argument that is filled with engaging discussions and detailed strategies that policymakers and citizens alike can use to attack even the most deep-rooted lines of neoliberalism, and start to undo these long-held misconceptions. Equal parts economic theory, history, and political debate, this is an essential roadmap for winning the key battles to come, providing an alternative view of the relationship between our politics and our economy. The author is a national correspondent for The Week.

--The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy by Christopher Leonard (Simon & Schuster, $30) is a shocking story about one of our country’s most mysterious institutions – the Federal Reserve – and how its policies directed by Chairman Jerome Powell over the past 10 years have accelerated income inequality and put our country’s economic stability at risk. The author is a business reporter who has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek.

--Radical Nation: Joe Biden & Kamala Harris's Dangerous Plan for America by Sean Spicer (Humanix Books, $27.99) paints a gloomy picture that the Biden Administration is presenting a radical change to the American economy, values, national security and freedom. The author, who served in the Trump White House as the press secretary, features powerful stories to encourage the conservatives into meaningful action to keep our country free and strong. Before joining the White House, Spicer served as communications director and chief strategist of the Republican National Committee, and worked for several members of Congress.

--The Modern Christ: A Contemporary Retelling of the Story of Jesus by Dan Hambright (Purpose Press, $14.99) is an interesting 329-page softcover that explores a world where Jesus is born in the modern-day United States rather than over 2,000 years ago in Israel. What would that world look like? How would it differ from our own? You can take an imaginative trip that will help you connect with the life of our Savior in a new and profound way. Hambright is a Christian writer from Oklahoma.

--Raise A Fist, Take A Knee: Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports by John Feinstein (Little, Brown and Company, $30) is an urgent examination of racial inequality in professional athletics. The bestselling and award-winning author of this remarkable 367-page volume uncovers how pro sports continue to perpetuate racial inequality even 75 years after Jackie Robinson had broken baseball’s color line.

--Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win by Peter Schweizer (Harper, $29.99) reveals the alarming findings about the secret deals wealthy American citizens -- including Presidential families, Silicon Valley gurus, Wall Street high rollers, Ivy League universities, among others -- have cut to help China build its military, technological and economic might. Equally as astonishing, many of these elites quietly believe the Chinese dictatorial regime is superior to American democracy. The author and his team of forensic investigators spent over a year scouring a massive trove of global corporate records and legal filings to expose China's hidden transactions. Schweizer states this is the scariest investigation he has ever conducted.

--Putin's World: Russia Against the West And With the Rest by Angela Stent (Twelve, $17.99) examines the country’s turbulent past, how it has influenced Putin, the Russians’ understanding of their position on the global stage and their future ambitions — and their conviction that the West has tried to deny them a seat at the table of great powers since the USSR collapsed. This volume looks at Russia’s key relationships — its downward spiral with the United States, Europe, and NATO; its ties to China, Japan, the Middle East; and with its neighbors, particularly the fraught relationship with Ukraine. The 447-page paperback is written by a renowned foreign policy expert who has served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. The author is a professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of five books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Chasing the Cats: A Kentucky Basketball Journey.” He is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine, and a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.