Up Front by Martin B. Deutsch for 2018 WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MARTIN Martin B. Deutsch created Frequent Flyer magazine in 1980 and was editor-in-chief and publisher for 15 years. He also wrote a column called "Up Front" for Frequent Flyer during those years. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has published and edited dozens of other magazines, including Travel Management Daily and Travel Age. For many years, he also wrote columns for Argosy and Travel Agent magazines. After Joe Brancatelli created JoeSentMe.com in 2001, he called on Deutsch, his former boss at Frequent Flyer, to create its noncommercial format. He is based in New York. December 21: ALL MY FAVORITES WEIGH LESS THAN A HARDCOVER I can access thousands of my favorite music, movies, TV shows and books anywhere I roam. I can download them to a laptop, tablet and/or smartphone, tech tools that may weigh less than one best-selling hardcover. December 13: GREAT BOOKS FOR HOLIDAY GIFT-GIVING The year-end holidays are here, so I have once again compiled a list of suggested books for your last-minute gift-giving convenience. October 18: U.S. GRANT MADE AMERICA WHOLE AGAIN While President Trump blithely lionizes Robert E. Lee and speculates about the drinking habits of Ulysses S. Grant, the historian and biographer Ron Chernow has produced a masterful epic that revisits a man who made America whole again. The massive work will require several flights to consume, but it is a fascinating study of a remarkable man. July 19: A STEAKHOUSE WITHOUT THE STEAKS What happens when three New Yorkers go to a Manhattan steakhouse for lunch, forgo the beef and order the famed venue's legendary mutton chop and two seafood dishes? They pretty much get what they deserve: a mixed bag. June 28: SOCIAL MADNESS BECOMES UTTER DESPAIR A new book about the Civil War reminds us that the dreams of glory of leaders and their citizen followers often result in utter despair and utter destruction. May 24: THE LEGACIES OF A WORLD AT WAR The legacy of World War II still haunts us all, something made crystal clear by several new books on global spymasters and devastated, post-war Germany. April 26: GENUINE DIALOG AND UNUSUAL PLOTS I've come to appreciate the novels that Ann Patchett turns out with surprising regularity. Her dialogue is sharp and her plots are unusual. March 8: EXIT WEST THROUGH DOORS UNKNOWN Sometimes big surprises come in little packages and we have irrevocable proof of this adage in Exit West, the realistic yet otherworldly little novel by Mohsin Hamid, a 46-year-old Pakistani writer. January 11: INTRIGUING DIVERSIONS In my long-ago youth, I fed my ever-growing appetite for thrillers and great potboilers by turning to the incredibly prolific John D. MacDonald. These columns originally appeared at JoeSentMe.com. Copyright © 1962-2018 by Martin B. Deutsch. All rights reserved.