Book Review: A Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard

A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back
by Kevin Hazzard (Biography Hazzard)

After 9/11, Atlanta, GA local reporter Kevin Hazzard wanted to prove something to himself so he enrolled in an EMT course (Emergency Medical Technician). After working as the junior partner in the ambulance in the worst parts of Atlanta for a couple of years he decided to upgrade his skills to that of a Paramedic. As the Medic he’d be in charge and completely responsible for the outcome of the emergency call. He graduated at the top of his class and worked the night shift for an ambulance company in Atlanta for 10 years.

Hazzard flat out admits he’s dedicated to the adrenaline rush. If you remember the 1970’s TV show “Emergency!” that followed a firehouse and the paramedics attached to it, this is a more fast-paced, very realistic, gritty look at life working an ambulance in the inner city –

“Most times my wife doesn’t know what I’m doing and is left to guess, drawing on a mental grab bag of all the calls I’ve run and found strange enough or scary enough to tell her about. Like the time a dispatcher came over the radio to say we’d passed the address and we responded by saying we knew but that they were still shooting, so if she could ask the caller to put down his gun, we’d be glad to go back.”

You can see his burnout on the horizon. He finally quits the job after 10 years, but the stories he tells are fascinating.

[ publisher’s official A Thousand Naked Strangers web site ] | [ official Kevin Hazzard Twitter feed ]

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Fantasy Mapmaker by Jared Blando

Fantasy Mapmaker: How to Draw RPG Cities for Gamers and Fans
by Jared Blando (743.87 Bla)

Throughout the 20 years that my Dungeons & Dragons gaming group regular got together to chart out our adventures in the land of K’Thyra, I used a lot of grid paper (box hexagon grids and standard 1/4″ scientific grid paper), to map out the world my players were moving through. Those players visited innumerable encampments, towns, and cities over the years. But never in those 20 years did I ever try to create anything as…artistic…as the fantasy maps that Jared Blando creates in this this marvelous fantasy art guide.

Blando takes us on an incredibly detailed journey through how to create fantasy maps of towns and cities in made-up gaming worlds. Using pen and ink, colored pencils, watercolors and more, he shows you how to create exquisite guides to communities of every size in faux medieval times. Everything from castles/forts to vineyards to harbors bristling with the masts of ships – to temples and churches and cliffside lighthouses. All in tiny, colorful detail. He explains the logic of how medieval towns were laid out (based on waterways and terrain).

If you are a Role Playing Game enthusiast, and are the DM (Dungeon Master) for your campaign, AND you have even the slightest artistic skills, this book will show you how to provide your players with highly-realistic geographical guidelines on their adventures.

[Check out the online history of Scott’s K’Thyra gaming group (1983-2003) — they used D&D rules versions 1 and 2 during their active sessions, but there was a lot of material pulled from the pop culture realm (TV shows and comic books), and a lot of science fiction concepts that came to life in their adventures.]

[ official Jared Blando web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: What If...? Then We: Short, Very Short, Shorter Than Ever Possibilties by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

What If…? Then We: Short, Very Short, Shorter Than Ever Possibilities
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (jP Dotlich)

This book was great when I needed a quick set of story-starters for young children. We used our imaginations to discuss what could happen if every crayon in the world melted, if the clocks stopped tick-tocking, and a few other scary scenarios. We discussed the author’s answers to the questions, and I reiterated that there are many possibilities besides the ones published. This book is hopeful, and for that reason it could be helpful to children worried about the effects of our current pandemic.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try One Day, The End: Short, Very Short, Shorter-Than-Ever Stories also by Rebecca Kai Dotlich.]

[ official Rebecca Kai Dutlich web site ]

Recommended by Naomi S.
Eiseley and Williams Branch Libraries

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!