As a historical romance novel, The Queen of the Night is engaging and serious. As literature in a historical setting, it is somewhat less appealing, though certainly interesting enough to provide some insights into the period – European high society in the late 19th century era of the Franco-Prussian War – and stir interest in the Read More …
Tag: Book reviews
Review of The Gangster by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott
I see a historical suspense book like this as a sort of palate cleanser between more substantial courses of reading, and in that role The Gangster serves very nicely. It’s historically accurate to the extent it needs to be, the plot moves along briskly, the characters are believable if somewhat one-dimensional and it builds suspense nicely Read More …
Review of Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
This is my third or fourth reading of this book over the course of the past 40 years or so, and I find it amazing how much of it I still enjoy, how much more clearly I understand it all this time and how much the clarity diminishes my general favor for the book. Actually, I Read More …
Book review: Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving
I’m not sure what to think of John Irving anymore, but I will say this was the closest of his more recent books that I’ve read to those early ones that I loved. Of the three most recent that I’ve read – Until I Find You, A Widow For One Year, and Avenue of Mysteries – this is the Read More …
Review: The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. This is not one of my favorite books. It’s definitely not one of my favorite Bill Bryson books. I suppose that is because I am more a fan of Bryson the quirky history writer or witty autobiographer than of Bryson the clever travel writer. Had I read Notes From Read More …
Book review: Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
It would be very difficult for this book to live up to my hopes considering how strongly I feel about the BBC Television series it spawned, but it came close. To write prose with the elegant power that would be required to make the written word as moving, emotional and thought-provoking as the beautifully written Read More …
Book Review: “The Secret Chord” by Geraldine Brooks
In this largely chronological story of the life of King David, Brooks clearly aims to write a book that is historically plausible, true to the biblical events and interesting to any contemporary audience. She largely succeeds on all three levels, so why am I not more enraptured by the book? David’s tale is certainly one Read More …
Book Review: Medieval Christianity by Kevin Madigan
It’s a little awkward to give this book a star rating, because it’s kind of more like a textbook than a book one normally reads for pleasure or even to learn from in a casual historical context. But all that said, I got a lot out of Medieval Christianity. My greatest interest as it relates Read More …
Book Review: How We Got To Now by Steven Johnson
It’s a real pleasure to take a look at the world through the prism of someone who has taken time to reflect deeply on the historical foundations of advances so ubiquitous that we may not realize the role they’ve played in the development of our comfort and our culture. Johnson’s book takes this approach to Read More …
Book Review: The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
How do you make two self-effacing, quiet Ohioans who do almost nothing in the prime of life but work on a wild dream interesting? Give them over to David McCullough and let him tell their story, that’s how. As with everything else of his that I’ve read, McCullough manages through the simple description of events Read More …