Ian McKellen: A Biography by Garry O’Connor (Biography, November 2019). Garry O’Connor is a writer from the UK, best known for books about the lives of notable theatrical performers, playwrights and authors. He’s been around the theater world for years and, in addition to his personal experiences and contacts, he always does extensive research into […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Ian McKellen: A Biography"Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (Fantasy Novel, 2019). Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the immediate sequel to Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, which won the 2019 Hugo Award for the Best Young Adult novel and was a New York Times #1 best-seller. I should mention first-off that I haven’t read that previous […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Children of Virtue and Vengeance"A Long Time Ago in a Cutting room Far, Far Away. . . . by Paul Hirsch (Movie Industry Memoir, 2020). This one is a little different from what I usually read/review for this blog. You probably have never heard of Paul Hirsch; I hadn’t before reading this book. But he has spent the last […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: A Long Time Ago, in a Cutting room Far, Far Away. . . . ."Across the Void by S.K. Vaughan (SF Novel, 2019). Vaughan is the pseudonym of an author of a trio of thrillers that achieved international best-seller status. Now the writer turns to near-future space-faring adventure with Across the Void. Commander Maryam Knox was in command of the first science expedition to explore Europa. She falls critically […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Across the Void"Under Occupation by Alan Furst (WWII Spy Novel, 2019). I haven’t previously read Mr. Furst, but he’s a leading figure in the historical espionage genre. The people of 1942 Paris are under the thumb of the Nazis. Some locals collaborate with these ruthless invaders, others actively resist, while most people just try to stay out […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Under Occupation"The Bitterroots by C.J, Box (Mystery/Crime Novel in Modern American West, 2019). A best-selling and multiple award-winning author, C.J.Box here tells yet another uncompromising and disturbing, even brutal yet ultimately thrilling tale of crime and punishment in modern-day Montana. This is his 4th Cassie Dewell novel. Cassie is a former deputy sheriff who quit in […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: The Bitterroots"The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Historical Fantasy Novel, 2019). A winner of the National Book Award for one of his highly respected and best-selling non-fiction books on the black experience in American life, Coates takes a magic-informed look at slavery and the Underground Railroad in this, his fiction debut. It’s a fine and successful […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: The Water Dancer"Whiskers in the Dark: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown (Talking Animals/Cozy Mystery, 2019). Rita Mae Brown and her feline companion/co-author have offered up another multi-era cozy featuring Mrs. Murphy, the wise crime-solving cat, her various non-human sidekicks and the assorted clueless humans they routinely assist. In this charming […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Whiskers in the Dark"From Sea to Stormy Sea edited by Lawrence Block (Short Story Anthology, 2019). Lawrence Block, the best-selling and much-honored author of numerous crime novels and stories, turned anthologist a couple years back. The above title is the 3rd in a series of anthologies he’s edited. In each case, he’s used paintings by famous artists as […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: From Sea to Stormy Sea"This very ambitious and largely successful debut novel is a thick (532-page) and generally very well-paced blend of alternate history and hard-science-based space adventure. In this book’s universe, humanity had early space shuttles as early as World War I (!), astronomers discovered an Earth-like planet in one of the nearer star systems years later and […]
Read more "BOOK REVIEW: Do You Dream of Terra-Two?"