Outside the Beltway

Regnery Reviewing

James Joyner · Friday, August 6, 2004 · 1 comment

Aside from a handful of good students and a lighter summer schedule, the thing I probably miss most from my teaching days is a steady supply of free books. That has now been partially rectified, as Regnery has decided to start sending books out to bloggers, including yours truly, in hopes that we’ll review them on our sites. You’ve likely seen some reviews of Michelle Malkin’s book, In Defense of Internment, around the blogosphere this week. (She has!)

I got my first batch early in the week and just got two more in today, with Malkin’s book included in today’s shipment. Among those I’ve received:

William F. Buckley, Jr., Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography. I’m about 2/3 of the way through this one and will review it soon.

Michelle Malkin, In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror. I’ll get around to this one reasonably soon. It’s a worthy topic but I’m unlikely to be able to add much that other reviewers haven’t said, since I’ve got less expertise on the history than some who have gone before.

Rep. Denny Hastert, Speaker: Lessons from Forty Years in Coaching and Politics. I’m not sure I’ll read this cover-to-cover. Hastert strikes me as a genial but dull guy. If nothing else, I’ll skim it and concentrate on the IRS reform business.

Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson, Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security. The title rather turns me off and I am unlikely to read this cover-to-cover unless a cursory glance finds some reason to change my mind.

Gov. Mitt Romney, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games. Not likely to wind up near the top of my reading list but a potentially interesting book.

We’ll see how long Regnery continues this practice and whether the books dry up if reviews are less than favorable.