Award-winning nonprofit media in the public interest, serving San Diego's inland region

Award-winning nonprofit media in the public interest, serving San Diego's inland region

East County Magazine

Edit Template

BOOK REVIEW: NAVY STRATEGIC CULTURE

  Navy Strategic Culture: Why the Navy Thinks Differently. By Roger W. Barnett. Annapolis. Naval Institute Press. 2009. 223 pages. Notes, bibliography and index. $28.95   Reviewed by Walter Hall   “Seapower is our heritage…Seapower is not merely a fleet of ships and planes. Seapower reaches into every phase of our national life.” –Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz   April

Read More ...

BOOK REVIEW: EASY AS PIE AT BOBBY’S DINER

  By Susan Wingate (May 2010, Blue Star Books) Book review by Dennis Moore April 12, 2010 (San Diego)–If ever the expression, “Love is Blind,” would apply, it would be in the book by Susan Wingate, Easy As Pie at Bobby’s Diner. Georgette Carlisle, the owner of Bobby’s Diner in Sunnydale, Arizona, falls hard for Hawthorne Biggs, and basically everything he

Read More ...

NEED FREE INTERIOR DESIGN TIPS? AUTHOR OFFERS FREE DESIGN SESSION AT BOOK SIGNING APRIL 17 IN LA MESA

  April 7, 2010 (La Mesa) — Author, interior designer and local store owner Laurie Ann McMillin Ray is encouraging the ‘interior design challenged’ to bring in pictures of living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms or home offices that need a makeover. Picture providers will be given a free five-minute ‘design-on-a-budget’ consultation at her book signing at the Grossmont Center Barnes &

Read More ...

MARK TWAIN CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE THROUGH MARCH 21 AT SDSU

    “My faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. –Mark Twain’s autobiography March 19, 2010 (San Diego) – The San Diego State Experimental Theater presents “A Mark Twain Centennial Tribute.” The show runs through this weekend, with performances Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 2

Read More ...

JAMES JOYCE’S ULYSSES—AND WHY EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT

  A St. Patrick’s Day reflection on a writer’s own odyssey   By E.A. Barrera   "We may now imbibe freely of the contents of bottles and forthright books" Morris L. Ernst, Co-Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. December 11, 1933.   March 13, 2010 (San Diego) — The same week this country ended Prohibition, America opened the doors

Read More ...

BOOK REVIEW: SPEAK TO YOUR LIFE: DAILY DEVOTIONALS

  By Lady Shaunte’ Garrett   Book Review by Dennis Moore   February 4, 2010 (San Diego) — Yesterday, I ministered to inmates at the George Bailey Center Jail in San Diego County, reading from Speak to Your Life, a book of daily devotionals by San Diego's Stellar Award-winning gospel radio announcer Lady Shaunte Garrett:  “Today I will have an attitude of

Read More ...

SUNBELT CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF INK AND IMAGINATION

    by Walter Hall   January 16, 2010 (El Cajon) – Sunbelt Publications, El Cajon’s award-winning regional press, observes 25 years of hard-won success in the book trade this month. The anniversary is a remarkable achievement by a singular couple – Diana and Lowell Lindsay – who have the mischievous look of people who know they’re onto something special. 

Read More ...

SAN DIEGO BOOKSHELF: ROUNDING THIRD–A DASH FOR EAST COUNTY

By Christian Young   January 15, 2010 (San Diego)–Drawing on his own experiences, San Diego author Walter G. Meyer embarked upon a decade -long journey to create his recently published novel, Rounding Third. This book is much more than a fictional account drawn together from adolescent memories. Wthin the story’s characters can be found, according to Meyer, “a bit of everyone.”

Read More ...

BOOK REVIEW: POLICE AND PUBLIC SECURITY IN MEXICO

  Edited by Robert A. Donnelly and David A. Shirk   Book Review by: Dennis Moore January 13, 2010 (San Diego’s East County)–Yajaira Mota Orozco,a San Diego mother of two children, lost her life while eating at a restaurant in Tijuana. During December, she became the 88th victim of alleged gang and drug violence in a single month, underscoring the

Read More ...

Search by Specific Date

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.

SUMERLAND: A HAUNTNG NOVEL SET IN SAN DIEGO

Novel by M. Lee Buompensiero Reviewed by Pennell Paugh March 6, 2025 (San Diego) — Long-time San Diego resident, M. Lee Buompensiero has released an award-winning novel, Sumerland. The story is full of romance, unusual hauntings, heart-warming dog crises and mishaps. Kate Post inherits the San Diego historical Liebersohn mansion after her mother, whom she rarely saw and barely knew,

Read More ...

THE INSIDIOUS DISEASE OF CANCER AND BRAIN TUMORS!

  Brain Surgeon: A Doctor’s Inspiring Encounters with Mortality and Miracles, by Keith Black, MD (Wellness Books, trademark of Hatchette Book Group, Inc., New York, NY 2009, 226 pages). Book Review by Dennis Moore                                                    

Read More ...

SOUNDS OF YESTERDAY: NOVEL CENTERS ON AUTISTIC MAN’S TROUBLED ROMANCE

By Jacob Hubbard Reviewed by Pennell Paugh February 24, 2025 (San Diego) – Long-time San Diego resident Jacob Hubbard has written a debut novel, Sounds of Yesterday, about a romantic relationship during COVID as experienced by an autistic man. For five years, Rob and Ana overcome career challenges, achieve emotional stability, and survive a global pandemic. Though they each achieve

Read More ...

COUNTY BREAKS GROUND ON NEW CASA DE ORO LIBRARY

 By Shauni Lyles, County of San Diego Communications Office   Video by James Kecskes   February 20, 2025 (Spring Valley) – County officials and community members broke ground Wednesday on a project that will bring a new library branch to Casa de Oro to meet the growing needs of the community. The new library will be located at 9610 Campo Road

Read More ...

CAITLIN ROTHER TO RELEASE UPDATED EDITION OF BODY PARTS FEB. 25

East County News Service January 21, 2025 (San Diego) – New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother, an investigative journalist and former San Diego Union-Tribune reporter, will release an updated edition of her true-crime book, Body Parts, on February 25.  The book takes a deep psychological look at serial killer Wayne Adam Ford, a trucker who confessed to killing four

Read More ...

TOUCHING INFINITY: A JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF A SUPERNOVA

Novel by Mark O’Bannon Reviewed by Pennell Paugh   January 19, 2025 (San Diego)—San Diego resident Mark O’Bannon has released a new science fiction romance, Touching Infinity  (Imperium Prequels). In a society where arranged marriages are considered more sensible and enduring, Alastronia DeTroyes, a young planetary scientist, is excited to find herself traveling into a system that she has predicted

Read More ...

PAPER TARGETS: ON FRIENDSHIP THAT TRANSCENDS TIME AND TRAUMA

Novel by Patricia Watts Reviewed by Pennell Paugh December 8, 2024 (San Diego) — San Diego author Patricia Watts writes in her novel Paper Targets about Roanne, who never got angry — until the night she killed her ex-husband and herself. Roanne and her best friend, Connie, went to high school together and became suburban wives at the same time.

Read More ...

CRIME UNDER THE SUN: SISTERS IN CRIME ANTHOLOGY

  Edited by Matt Coyle, Naomi Hirahara, & Tammy Kaehler Reviewed by Pennell Paugh December 5,2024 (San Diego) — Crime Under the Sun is the second anthology to be offered by Partners in Crime, the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime. Out of 60 entries, the editors selected the best 15. You will meet a beguiling bail bondswoman hanging

Read More ...

CHARIOT CANYON: A RENT BEACHAM MYSTERY

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh November 25, 2024 (San Diego) — Award-winning San Diego author Larry M. Edwards involves investigative journalist Rent Beacham in another mystery. In Chariot Canyon, Rent looks into reports of welfare fraud. His investigation not only becomes more dangerous, by a twist of fate, he becomes personally connected to people involved. When horseback riders discover a body

Read More ...

Search by Specific Date

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.

Pretty Happy: healthy ways to love your body

Book 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 better

Lucas and Emily’s Food Bank Adventure by Dave Grunenwald

Reviewed 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, they

Blood in the Water: an A.J. Hawke legal thriller

Novel 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 the