Russell J. MacMullan Jr.

Russell J. MacMullan Jr.

Russell “Rusty” MacMullan lives in southwest Virginia with his wife and golden retriever. As a former English teacher and head of several independent schools, he has written extensively to school communities about education, developmental issues, and cultural trends that affect children and parents. He spends his free time sculling, sailing, hiking, reading, and writing.


23 entries by Russell J. MacMullan Jr.

Book Review

Hammer to Fall

By John Lawton

Hammer to Fall

The third installment in the series is entertaining but gets weighed down with too much backstory.

Book Review

The Gimmicks

By Chris McCormick

The Gimmicks

The Armenian genocide serves as a philosophical backdrop for this story of survival, identity, and wrestling.

Book Review

First Cosmic Velocity

By Zach Powers

First Cosmic Velocity

This powerful story about the Soviet space program sheds light on the notion of coming home.

Book Review

Hammer to Fall: A Joe Wilderness Novel

The third installment in the series is entertaining but gets weighed down with too much backstory.

Book Review

Holy Lands

By Amanda Sthers

Holy Lands

A family separated by an ocean tries to span the distance between them in this epistolary tale.

Book Review

The Gimmicks: A Novel

By Chris McCormick

The Gimmicks: A Novel

The Armenian genocide serves as a philosophical backdrop for this story of survival, identity, and wrestling.

Book Review

First Cosmic Velocity: A Novel

This powerful story about the Soviet space program sheds light on the notion of coming home.

Book Review

Holy Lands: A Novel

By Amanda Sthers

Holy Lands: A Novel

A family separated by an ocean tries to span the distance between them in this epistolary tale.

Book Review

The Last Castle

By Denise Kiernan

The Last Castle

Edith Vanderbilt shines in this history of North Carolina’s famed Biltmore Estate.

Book Review

The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home

Edith Vanderbilt shines in this history of North Carolina’s famed Biltmore Estate.

Book Review

The Day I Died: A Novel

By Lori Rader-Day

The Day I Died: A Novel

This psychological thriller unravels the mystery of a disappearance and the inner-workings of one woman’s mind.

Book Review

The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World

Journey through time and space in search of an unlikely salve for idiosyncratic collectors.

Book Review

Norte: A Novel

By Edmundo Paz Soldán; translated by Valerie Miles

Norte: A Novel

A somber story of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. struggling with life, death, and a feeling of foreignness.

Book Review

Rampage Nation: Securing America from Mass Shootings

An even-handed assessment of a modern-day scourge.

Book Review

Beer Money: A Memoir of Privilege and Loss

The sobering tale of the family behind one of America's best-known brews

Book Review

The Unfortunate Englishman: A Joe Wilderness Novel

A taut espionage tale set amid the grittiness and despair of Cold-War Berlin

Book Review

Grant Park: A Novel

By Leonard Pitts Jr.

Grant Park: A Novel

Dual narratives drive this ambitious tale of race relations centered on both MLK’s assassination and the election of Barack Obama.

Book Review

Hollowed Out: Why the Economy Doesn’t Work without a Strong Middle Class

How we lost our middle class and why we need it back.

Book Review

Orhan’s Inheritance: A Novel

By Aline Ohanesian

Orhan’s Inheritance: A Novel

A powerful, fictionalized account of a family haunted by the Armenian genocide.

Book Review

Small Mercies: A Novel

By Eddie Joyce

Small Mercies: A Novel

A sharp portrait of a family’s history and its pain.

Book Review

The Global War on Morris

By Steve Israel

The Global War on Morris

A satire of post-9/11 national security stirs empathy but not outrage.

Book Review

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life

A look at the United States' time-honored tradition of lurching ineffectively from one trend to another.

Book Review

Stephen Crane: A Life of Fire

By Paul Sorrentino

Stephen Crane: A Life of Fire

This comprehensive biography allows readers to rediscover an extraordinary American realist.