Now Available: Maelstrom, A Civil War Novel!

 

The story of the greatest rivalry in American History.

Buy at Amazon

Is a Gift Card an Appropriate Gift?

My kids called to find out what I wanted for Christmas. When I asked for a gift card from Amazon, they said that would be impersonal. I didn’t argue, but it made me wonder why they asked.

Their response made me think about the appropriateness of gift cards. I think they’re great. If emailed, shipping costs are nil, they arrive at the speed of light, and I get to pick my own gift at the time of my choosing. What could be better?

Then I thought about it. What would be better is a present the giver enjoys giving. A gift is not one-way social exchange. Fathers used to be effusive when they received ugly ties. There was a reason. The giver was a loved one … perhaps a loved one with lousy taste, but a loved one nonetheless. You don’t make someone feel crummy because you didn’t like their gift.

That said; I’m getting an Amazon gift card for Christmas. How did I convince my kids? I told them I would email them a thank you each time I bought a book for my Kindle and send them my review when I finished the book. That promise overcame the biggest negative of gift cards; the giver never knows what the recipient does with it ... or if it's lying in a drawer somewhere.

Gift cards are becoming ever more popular and they are changing the ebb and flow of book sales. Print sales are best before the holiday and ebooks are better after the holiday. You can almost feel people using gift cards to load up their electronic devices.

By the way, if you expect a gift card for Father’s Day, download samples of my books now so you can decide where to spend your largess.

Take a vacation from all this nonsense with a good book.

Top 10 Tips for Book Gift Giving

A book is unique. Reading fiction is like taking a mini vacation without leaving home. An engrossing story makes a person’s worries fade to the background. Reading nonfiction can entertain while learning how-to tips, gaining perspective, adding to knowledge, or finding enlightenment.

At times, friends and relatives can be hard to buy for. Some seem to have everything. Due to age or illness, others may be less mobile than in years past. Some don’t really want much. Families scatter across this huge country and selecting a gift, packaging, and shipping can be a chore. 

A book is always a great gift … especially if you take the time to match the recipient’s taste in fiction or nonfiction. There are books about every hobby and interest in the world. Picking the right book shows you care, and your thoughtfulness becomes part of the gift. Whether your relatives or friends are interested in the Civil War, literature, romance novels, westerns, paranormal fiction, railroads, guns, cooking, collecting old comic books, antique automobiles, or anything else, there's always a book that will bring a smile to their face.

Here are my Top 10 Tips for Book Gift Giving

1. Write a personal message on the flyleaf that won't get tossed out like last year's holiday card. 
2. Write surprise messages in the margin of random pages. If you don’t like writing in books, use yellow sticky notes.
3. Create an eye-catching bookmark that reminds the recipient to call or write.
4. Search out an author signing for your recipient’s favorite author or give a collector’s edition of the recipient’s favorite book.
5. Shop at an independent bookstore to receive personalized professional help.
6. If shipping is not free, mail books early to take advantage of media class at the U.S. Post Office.
7. Give a book as a piece of art, like a fine print book, unique coffee table book, favorite childhood book, or collectible cover art.
8. College students will appreciate cash or a gift card tucked into the flyleaf. 
9. If your friend or relative already owns piles of books, consider a unique set of bookends to hold them in their proper place.
10. Give a bookseller gift card for e-book and audiobook enthusiasts.

Children's books are also great gifts. We search for autographed storybooks for our grandkids. Bookstores always have children book signings around the holidays, and this is one area where we join the crowd. The icing on the cake is that we get to read from one of these books when we visit.

Books are a great entertainment value. They provide hours upon hours of personal pleasure, and then can be passed on to another person ... or even another generation. What could be better?

Give the real story of our Constitution

Now Available: Old Haunts, A Steve Dancy Tale

 

Honest westerns. Full of dishonest characters.

Old haunts is now available in hardcover, trade paperback, and Kindle. Get a copy while they're still hot off the press.

The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry

When writing a historical book, sometimes you need a recess from hard history. I thought The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry would provide an appropriate break. Instead of relaxing, I found the book annoying. The Lincoln Myth interlaces Mormon history and a trendy premise about Abraham Lincoln into a modern-day thriller. The premise probably came from The Real Lincoln by Thomas J. DiLorenzo, a popular 2009 book that contended that the South had a right to secede, and the Civil War was unnecessary. DiLorenzo went further stating that eliminating slavery was not a goal of the conflict and only afterwards used as a justification. I believe this premise an over-simplification, but I’ll postpone explaining why until I review The Real Lincoln.

What drew me to the book was the Lincoln and Constitution history interwoven into the story. I wrote my own Lincoln mystery/thriller (The Shut Mouth Society) and a novelization of the Constitutional Convention (Tempest at Dawn), so I found it jarring to read Madison’s convention notes and finding material I knew wasn’t present. Berry had a viewpoint with little evidence to support that his viewpoint was correct, so he altered existing documentation and invented entirely new documentation. I objected less to the invented documentation because it disappeared with a novelist sleight of hand. Perfectly legitimate. Altering Madison’s notes, however, seemed lazy and unnecessary to support his plot. Berry was making a political point by modifying the historical record. If omitted, the plot could have moved along the same path without a jarring interruption that defiled Madison's notes.

As a thriller, The Lincoln Myth succeeds but not as well as Berry's other novels. 

A Short History of the Confederate States of America

 

After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis spent two years in prison without trial. He was released on bail and a year and a half later, the government finally dropped the treason charges against him. In 1877 he retired to Beauvoir, where he wrote, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government. This was a two-volume tome of over 1,500 pages. I did not read this book. I tried, but I kept following asleep. Luckily, ten years later, Davis wrote A Short History of the Confederate States of America. Roughly one-third in length, “A Short History” covers the same ground and is more readable.

Davis writing style is clear for modern readers, but I would recommend a good understanding of the war to provide context for his narrative. That said, for a thorough understanding of a major historical event, it always best to get the story from the horse’s mouth. The Davis perspective may be biased, but those perspectives did not change between the war and the writing of his memoir. That consistency makes this book valuable for understanding the motivations for war.

Davis extols victories and offers strained excuses for errors and failures. In Davis’ mind, nothing was his fault, the Confederacy was always honorable, the Union always vile. For those not imbued with The Cause mythology, this heavy-handed prejudice can be off-putting, but I found it helps understand the ethos of the period.

Most history books are written by winners. If you don’t study the losers, then you have an incomplete picture. An example would be the hallowed Federalist Papers. There is a collection of opposition opinion pieces called the Anti-Federalist Papers. I suggest reading both and I highly recommend Jefferson Davis’ A Short History of the Confederate States of America.

(This is a research book for Maelstrom, a sequel to Tempest at Dawn.)

Perfect Gift for Constitution Enthusiast

The real story of our nation's founding.

Tempest at Dawn

Buy at Amazon

"The best novel EVER on the U.S. Constitution."—Larry Schweikart, author A Patriot's History of the United States and over a dozen other history books

"I find hope and confidence in the wonderfully written Tempest At Dawn, by James D. Best" Allen Ball, Beaufort Observer

"The novel captures the real drama that ensued behind closed doors as they hammered out what is now the oldest living constitution and the foundation of the nation. Read it for its historical value. Read it for its dramatic value. But read it!"—Alan Caruba, Bookviews

"Thanks to James Best’s masterpiece, Tempest at Dawn, I felt like the 56th delegate at the Constitutional Convention. Using vivid narrative and expressive dialogue, Tempest at Dawn presents all the major issues the Founding Fathers struggled with."—Michael E. Newton, author of Alexander Hamilton and other history books.

"This book was absolutely fabulous. If you want a terrific historical fiction book, I recommend you start with this one." Selbrede 40 Book Challenge

"This is an important story told in a lively fashion. Tempest at Dawn might be the ideal way of introducing the American public to the gripping story of how our Founding Fathers gave birth to our constitution."—Jon Bruning, Attorney General, Nebraska

Tempest at Dawn Review

I normally don't post Amazon reviews to my blog, but this one highlighted one of my favorite aspects of the book. In researching Tempest at Dawn, I read multiple books about lifestyles in the 1780s. I wanted to not only reflect what happened in the Constitutional Convention, but how the delegates lived. Separate state currencies were only one element of daily life that I wove into the political story.

Being a tremendous fan of early American history, this book immediately appealed to me. After reading it, I found there were several things I still hadn't realized about early America. The biggest was that every state had their own currency (which I'm sure restricted travel further than the fact that it could conceivably take days to travel from Connecticut to New York by wagon, depending on where in Connecticut you lived) and that there was an exchange rate between states that was figured out by...? All states still took British currency, which I suppose makes sense but I figured states frowned on dealing with British currency after the war.

At any rate, even though this is a fictional story of a real event, it held my attention and it wouldn't surprise me that all of the back room deals in the story actually happened. That was politics then as it is now.

It was also sad that with the country's imminent demise, there were politicians who still refused to give up their perceived power. Again, fictional story aside, I highly recommend this book if you like reading about early American history. Great job!

You can read the 216+ reviews (4.4) for Tempest at Dawn here.