Tag Archives: adventure

Book Review:  A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko

This book reminded me of Bill Bryson’s classic A Walk in the Woods in more ways than one. There is the title, of course, which is meant to be ironic, as Bryson’s was. The expression “a walk in the park” … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides

I love a well-written true life historical adventure, and this is a great one. It tells the story of Captain Cook’s third and final voyage, a voyage on which he was killed in the Hawaiian Islands. The depth of research … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy

At the heart of this account of a compelling tragic adventure in the far north is a comparison of two very different styles of leadership: one single-mindedly selfish, and the other heroically self-sacrificial. Empire of Ice and Stone tells the … Continue reading

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On Reading The Lord of the Rings for the Fifteenth Time, Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring

The last time I read (and commented on) The Lord of the Rings was in 2011, and you can read those reviews of The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King in my blog’s … Continue reading

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A Christmas Gift for My Blog Followers

As a Christmas gift to readers, I have enrolled electronic editions of some of my books and stories in the Smashwords End of Year Sale, which runs through January 1st. Complete books are half price, marked down from $3.99 to … Continue reading

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A Glimpse of the Cosmic Dance and Other Stories Is Now Available!

My 35th book and 12th short story collection, A Glimpse of the Cosmic Dance and Other Stories, is now available as a paperback and as an ebook at various online outlets. Links to these are below. In a world whose … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann

The title of this book confused me at first; I thought it referred to a bet. In fact, however, The Wager refers to the HMS Wager, a British man-of-war named after Admiral Sir Charles Wager, which left England in 1740 … Continue reading

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Book Review: Small Game by Blair Braverman

This novel is fairly short, fast-paced, and very entertaining. It concerns a woman named Mara who teaches survival skills at a facility called Primal Instinct. She is approached by a casting team of a new reality show, Civilization. Together with … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Although John Scalzi is a best-selling author in the science fiction field, I have never read any of his novels until now. I remember reading and enjoying the occasional short story or novelette I encountered in an anthology, but that’s … Continue reading

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Book Review:  River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard

River of the Gods is a powerful, well-written book about some fascinating historical characters on adventurous journeys. Although the central focus is the expedition of Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, and Sidi Mubarak Bombay through East Africa from Zanzibar to … Continue reading

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