Blood Communion by Anne Rice. (Vampire Novel, 2018). Okay, here’s another installment of another long-running book series–the fifteenth novel in Rice’s famous Vampire Chronicles. As is so often the case, Lestat, the recently crowned Prince of the Vampires, narrates yet another epic undead adventure. Following hard on the heels of the game-changing Prince Lestat and the Realms […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Blood Communion"War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Novel, 2018). By my count this is the eleventh novel in Cornwell’s sprawling Saxon Tales series. As usual, the main character, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, narrates the book with a keen eye and ever-growing self-awareness. And yet, as ever, he remains dedicated to the cultural imperative central to his […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: War of the Wolf"This is an update on the financial challenges faced by the Windber Public Library. The good news is that, through cost savings, renewed and continuing fundraising, and ongoing grant applications, our library is not in danger of closing in the near future. It will be able to stay open into next summer at least. Thanks […]
Read more "Saving Windber’s Public library"Trajectory by Richard Russo (Story Collection, 2017). The latest book from Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo is a collection of four novella-length works. Three previously saw publication elsewhere, while the fourth is new. They all display Russo’s skills in characterization, as well as deftly presenting their various settings. In “Horseman,” a young college professor confronts plagiarism from […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Trajectory"Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris (Supernatural Horror Novel, 2009). Yep, picked up another one. Reading these in no particular order (but I’m weird and bounce around so much between genres/favorite authors, etc.). This one is the 9th novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series (basis for the True Blood TV series) with human telepath and fun lead character […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Dead and Gone"Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower’s Final Mission by Bret Baier, with Catherine Whitney. (Historical Biography, 2017). The title of this fascinating and generally insightful book refers to the last 3 days of Mr. Eisenhower’s Presidency and the dual-purposed personal mission he set for himself over that time. On the one hand, he was intent on […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Three Days in January"Chasing Space by Leland Melvin. (Memoir, 2017). Leland Melvin has led an interesting and high-achieving life. How many people have played pro football (no matter how briefly), become a top-flight engineer, then joined NASA, eventually becoming an astronaut (with two space flights to his credit) and later moving on to a career as a tireless education […]
Read more "REVIEWED: Chasing Space"