Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: Bones of the Earth by Michael Swanwick

I have great respect for Michael Swanwick’s writing.  His short story collection “Tales of Old Earth” is one of my favorite collections, and stories in it such as “Scherzo With Tyrannosaur”, “Wild Minds”, and “Radiant Doors” are among the best … Continue reading

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Book Review: What Language Is (And What It Isn’t and What It Could Be) by John McWhorter

At the science fiction convention ConDor 2013 I attended a panel on linguistics by David Peterson, who created four languages for the TV miniseries “Game of Thrones”.  His presentation fascinated me, and I kept interrupting to ask questions.  At the … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Best American Short Stories 2010 edited by Richard Russo

I’m going to let you in on a little secret of how I choose what I am going to read.  I knew I wanted to read a recent volume of “The Best American Short Stories”, just to get an idea … Continue reading

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Book Review: The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman

Before I talk about this book I want to explain to you how I’ve been making money lately.  Unfortunately, my novels, short stories, and memoirs do not yet pay a sufficient amount of the bills.  In addition, nobody is falling … Continue reading

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On Abandoning the Reading of United States: Essays 1952-1992 by Gore Vidal

I always like to be reading a book.  I usually alternate between fiction and nonfiction, and I usually plan my reading at least one or two books ahead so I always have something on hand.  But having finished a novel, … Continue reading

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Book Review: Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler

This book was recommended to me by a friend.  Let  me somewhat amend that:  it was not exactly recommended, but she mentioned that she had started reading it.  Curious, I looked it up, perused reviews; I had heard of the … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Nebula Awards Showcase 2011 edited by Kevin J. Anderson

Being in the mood to get back into writing short fiction at the beginning of the year, I decided to read some to get in the mood.  Perusing my trusty book-buying website I came across this volume at a special … Continue reading

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Book Review: Becoming Ray Bradbury by Jonathan R. Eller

I suppose I should preface this by saying that this book was not what I expected.  I found it by chance browsing at the public library in the new book section.  It intrigued me because I love the short story … Continue reading

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Book Review: Plexus by Henry Miller

“Plexus” is the second book of Miller’s “The Rosy Crucifixion”, a trilogy which is comprised of “Sexus”, “Plexus”, and “Nexus”.  A few years ago, when I decided to re-read some of Henry Miller’s works, I started with “Tropic of Cancer”, … Continue reading

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Book Review: On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett

My reading this book came about as the result of a frustrated search.  For years I have been trying to find a DVD copy of the miniseries “On Wings of Eagles”, which I first watched somewhere in the East and … Continue reading

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