Briar Patch Books

Category: Contemporary Nonfiction

  • Man’s best friend, explained

    Getting a dog to lie still for an MRI is a daunting task. Trying to explain dogs’ love for humans may be an even greater one. Paul O’Connor’s latest listening adventure has been an audio book that tackles those challenges. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor HOW DOGS LOVE US: A NEUROSCIENTIST AND HIS ADOPTED DOG…

  • Who we were, who we are

    It’s worthwhile to learn history, and to learn from history, and especially, as Paul O’Connor observes, to see how yesterday’s mistaken attitudes persist today. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE BROTHERS: JOHN FOSTER DULLES, ALLEN DULLES AND THEIR SECRET WORLD WAR. By Stephen Kinzer. Read by David Cochrane Heath. Blackstone Audio. 13 hours, 28 minutes.…

  • The Civil War – and more

    Paul O’Connor observes that even if it shouldn’t be judged by its cover, this book is good reading nonetheless. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE WAR THAT FORGED A NATION: WHY THE CIVIL WAR STILL MATTERS. By James McPherson. Read by Grover Gardner. Audible.com. 7 hours and 29 minutes. $19.95. You have to be careful…

  • A sense of duty, a desire to win

    Amid the sound and fury of the presidential campaign, Paul O’Connor finds that the new biography of George H.W. Bush presents a thought-provoking contrast. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor DESTINY AND POWER: THE AMERICAN ODYSSEY OF GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH.  By Jon Meacham. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Paul Michael. 25 hours. 20 CDs.…

  • Fighting back

    Tom Dillon put off reading this book for quite a while, but after he picked it up, he was glad he did. Reviewed by Tom Dillon FACTORY MAN. By Beth Macy. Little, Brown and Company, 2014. 451 pages. $28. You know that bricked-up abandoned factory down the street, the one you remember from the golden…

  • The inside story

    Much has been written about the morality, efficacy and safety of drones. But what about the pilots of those unmanned killer planes? Paul O’Connor reviews a first-hand account about what it’s like to be the person who flies deadly drones for the Air Force. Reviewed by Paul T. O’ Connor HUNTER KILLER: INSIDE AMERICA’S UNMANNED…

  • Deprivation, survival and life lessons

    Paul O’Connor takes a break from his readings of history to review a book about something that, unfortunately, is as contemporary as it is terrible: life in North Korea. By Paul T. O’Connor IN ORDER TO LIVE. By Yeonmi Park. Penguin Audio. 9 hours and 30 minutes. Read by Eji Kim. 8 CDs. $40. Download…

  • Extraordinary courage

    Paul O’Connor has been reading and thinking about spies this summer, and he’s developed high standards. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor AVENUE OF SPIES: 
A TRUE STORY OF TERROR, ESPIONAGE, AND ONE AMERICAN FAMILY’S HEROIC RESISTANCE IN NAZI-OCCUPIED PARIS. By Alex Kershaw. Random House Audio. Read by Mark Deakins. Seven hours. $35. Also available in…

  • A spy tale, stranger than fiction

    Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE BILLION DOLLAR SPY: A TRUE STORY OF COLD WAR ESPIONAGE AND BETRAYAL. By David E. Hoffman. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Dan Woren. 11 hours and 54 minutes. $20. Also in hardcover from Doubleday. 262 pages. $28.95 Adolf Tolkachev despised his government, and for 35 years the American…

  • Look around you

    Paul O’Connor’s summer reading is not for the faint of heart. Here he moves from military history and politics to drug cartels. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor ZERO, ZERO, ZERO. By Roberto Saviano; Translated by Virginia Jewiss. Penguin Audio. Read by Paul Michael. 16 hours, $45. Also available in hardcover from Penguin Press. 416 pages.…