All Purls. No Swine.
I can't review it, because I haven't read it yet. But I'm charmed by a lengthy excerpt which the author himself has posted on Lapham's Quarterly. It's the story of an unlikely friendship that developed towards the end of Blake's life, and one which reminds me--as do so many biographies and vignettes of eighteenth century… Continue reading Not A Book Review: William Blake Verus The World, by John Higgs
The dreadnought battleship was an iconic technology in the first half of the twentieth century. Nations poured millions into their construction. Despite – or perhaps because of – the money spent building them, they were rarely used. Clash of the Capital Ships: From the Yorkshire Raids to Jutland, by Eric Dorn Brose, presents one period… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter–Dreadnoughts at War
Jack “Rattler” Owen had a dream when he was growing up--to become a US Navy fighter pilot. He is now a Navy pilot in today’s US Navy, but he is flying the E-2C Hawkeye, not fighters. Treason Flight, a thriller by T. R. Matson opens with Owen discovering flying the Hawkeye can be every bit… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: Adventure in the Persian Gulf
We read Aesop’s Fables as children or re-read them aloud to our children. Their lessons resonate today. But how accurate are the depictions of the animals in the fables? Can crows add pebbles to a pitcher to raise the water level? Are wolves cruel and rapacious, foxes wily, or donkeys stubborn and stupid? Could a… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: Zoology as Seen Through Fable
The sprawling science fiction series involving Honor Harrington started in 1993, with On Basilisk Station. Nearly thirty years later it is still going strong with nearly thirty novels and six anthologies in five different threads. To End in Fire by David Weber and Eric Flint is the Honorverse’s latest arrival. Part of the “Crown of… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: The Hunt for the Mesan Alignment
Jake August writes pulp fiction. He was a Navy Criminal Investigation Division officer, before he got shot in a brothel in Occupied Japan and was invalided out of the service. Now in 1952, he writes paperback novels for Rattlesnake Books. Deadline: New York, a mystery by Jim Lester, explores the emerging world of paperback publishing… Continue reading Book Review By Seawriter: A 1950s -Style Noir Mystery Set in 1950s New York
Before my husband, Mr. Right, died last year, he spent many years (probably well over a decade, now that I reflect on it with the benefit of hindsight) slowly succumbing to dementia. It's a cruel disease, as many of you know. But also looking back on it, and--indeed--since he died, I've found humor in some… Continue reading An Autocorrect Fail, or Just the Funniest Book Review Ever?
Where did the universe come from? How does it work? When did it begin and when--and how--will it end? People have asked variations on these questions since people started asking questions. Where Did the Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions, by Chris Ferrie and Geraint F. Lewis examines those questions. The authors show how… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: Answering Cosmic Questions
Daniel Carter is a London copper. It is today’s London, but a London inhabited by clans of underground monsters. They run criminal rackets: the Frankenstein Clan with its surgeries; the seductive Vampire Clan; the drug-dealing Clan of Mummies; and the Werewolf Clan, which serves as hit men and enforcers. Jekyll & Hyde Inc., a fantasy… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: A Fresh Take on an Old Classic
No, one of them isn’t Worcestershire Sauce: “There are four things that lead to wisdom. You ready for them?” She nodded, wondering when the police work would begin. “They are four sentences we learn to say, and mean.” Gamache held up his hand as a fist and raised a finger with each point. “I don’t know.… Continue reading The Four Hardest Things to Say in the English Language