The Wapshot Chronicle – By John Cheever. One sentence book review = “Maudlin, mid-century vocabulary test.” I feel bad about not loving this book. Especially as it is based in Massachusetts, where I have been born and bred. He even attended one of our rival prep schools – Thayer Academy. And Cheever is a lauded […]
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The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman One sentence book review = “Kipling’s Jungle Book, except in a graveyard.” This was an easy read. It’s a well crafted story about a boy who’s parents get killed and he is taken in by the denizens of a graveyard. I know there is a grand kerfuffle about Gaiman
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The Calamity Club One sentence book review = Entertaining Harper Lee fan fiction. Picked up The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (her follow-up effort after The Help) on audio as a suggestion from my daughter as we formed our own ad hoc book club. We both liked it and we had similar impressions. I think
Book Review – There is no Anti-memetics Division I am a fan of high-concept science fiction. I like the way the genre explores imaginative thinking and concepts. I enjoyed my experience with this work. But, it’s probably not for everyone. I suspect there will be some that tap-out early because of the non-linear nature of
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Book Review – Sandwich In 1960, Random House Co-founder Bennet Cerf bet Dr. Suess $50 that he couldn’t write a book using only 50 words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. I think someone bet Catherine Newman $50 that she couldn’t write a book that included a vagina reference on every page. Although, I
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Authority By Jeff Vandermeer I finished the second book of the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. Yes, indeed, I fought my way through the fetid, cloying swamp of Area X, once again, and returned. Not unscathed, but certainly in better shape than the first expedition with the Biologist in Book 1, Annihilation, which I
Review – Annihilation – by Jeff Vandermeer First in the Southern Reach trilogy. I read this book. I have no idea what it was about. Was it a parable or some sort of metaphor for a life journey, ala the Odyssey or Dante or Pilgrim’s progress cloaked in a bunch of sci-fi words? Was it
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Life Design I’ve been listening to an audio book called “Designing Your Life” written by Dave Evans and Bill Burnett, two guys from the Stanford Design School that was published in 2016. This is one of those ‘when the student is ready the teacher will appear’ moments for me. I find myself in a transitional
Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood I read this book as part of my summer of reading, but in reality I had to put it down halfway through and let it sit for a few weeks before I could take it back up again. I found it powerfully written and profound and deeply disturbing.
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Book Review – Starquake – Robert L. Forward – 1985 Well folks here is the 5th book of the armful of old sci-fi novels that I picked up at my local used store, Valley Wild Books in Littleton, MA. And, we have reached a milestone, because this was the first one that I decided to
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