tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61658952253299570792024-03-19T02:47:22.295-06:00The New Northern Rambler<i>A book review site. Enjoy! Comments are welcome (but they are moderated).<br>If there is a book you'd like to suggest I read please let me know by checking out my reading criteria via the button below.</i>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.comBlogger331125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-25241606160124294212023-12-25T00:00:00.045-07:002024-01-01T13:34:47.709-07:00Going on Hiatus<p> Greetings,</p><p>I have decided to put a hold on doing further book reviews for a while. In fact I'm not sure if I will resume doing reviews in the near future, change to something different, or simply take this blog off-line.</p><p>My decision comes from the facts that 1) I'm rather tired of writing reviews & 2) There aren't many people reading them to make it worthwhile. I dropped doing the fiction reviews a couple months ago, and have since concentrated on doing non-fiction ones, but the reading of non-fiction (at least the kind I read) takes a lot longer to read which means I am constantly playing catch-up.</p><p>I have thought about doing movie reviews, as I do watch a fair number of movies, but there are lots of sites that already do this, so maybe something different is in order. To the three or four of you who actually do read this blog let me know if you have any ideas for any suggested restructuring. </p><p>TTFN</p><p>Howard</p>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-87004187881754984342023-12-11T00:00:00.010-07:002023-12-11T07:14:48.734-07:00"Rationality: what it is, why it seems scarce, why it matters" by Steven Pinker<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPxHKElHN7I9-YXAqzG6knM_g320sSIkhSAyExR-Ml35fjCU0jlpmrK_rCRlssJZD0wZ3WJcIFHvAQpdinGDj5BY-S2I45aEqkUEiy1ifXkTEi4pVAWQCydgI-u6dUpQOCqynGrGpW77-OI8d6KBbivt3Ux7s9Bc8IihJxLXlokP3ogtnp1NnrVrVCFY/s400/rationality.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPxHKElHN7I9-YXAqzG6knM_g320sSIkhSAyExR-Ml35fjCU0jlpmrK_rCRlssJZD0wZ3WJcIFHvAQpdinGDj5BY-S2I45aEqkUEiy1ifXkTEi4pVAWQCydgI-u6dUpQOCqynGrGpW77-OI8d6KBbivt3Ux7s9Bc8IihJxLXlokP3ogtnp1NnrVrVCFY/w264-h400/rationality.jpeg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Viking</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2021</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780525561996</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is an extremely interesting read that takes the reader on a journey that ultimately explains what rationality is and like the title suggests why it matters and why it seems so scarce in today's world.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Pinker does this by examining how rational an animal humans are, then give us examples of both rational and irrational behaviour - of which there are a lot in today's world. He then goes on to a discussion of how logic and critical thinking work, Probability and randomness and then explores beliefs and evidence, risk and reward, hits and false alarms, game theory and finally correlation and causation.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">He concludes by examining what is wrong with people in general and why they believe these things and then recaps by examining why rationality really matters.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is an excellent book that should be required reading for pretty much every first year university student, as well as the majority of people in big business, government, and who knows what else.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Highly recommended.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-59474257119526344352023-11-27T00:00:00.042-07:002023-11-27T00:00:00.154-07:00"Living The Secular Life: New Answers to Old Questions" by Dr. Phil Zuckerman<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3ZnD9SgmZCRAD9hruIahziVcXtcj5YUawvRrjsMdPgdt9PzJNwn4jnYj_heYJbLweYPqKFOMkUdw6AOGyjRjtnAuHBLs7YHr6P_I1c-yfc3e86om-XmJjkxpcSvys0XinAEzevT96hNYubt11sGQSyC8xJDz4Svudx0cBsKRoHvCJ6l4K08gZzi0_Yk/s400/living.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3ZnD9SgmZCRAD9hruIahziVcXtcj5YUawvRrjsMdPgdt9PzJNwn4jnYj_heYJbLweYPqKFOMkUdw6AOGyjRjtnAuHBLs7YHr6P_I1c-yfc3e86om-XmJjkxpcSvys0XinAEzevT96hNYubt11sGQSyC8xJDz4Svudx0cBsKRoHvCJ6l4K08gZzi0_Yk/w266-h400/living.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Penguin Press<br />ISBN: 9781594205088<br />Copyright: 2014</span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is essentially a review of what it means to be secular, but it also juxtaposes this with what many people seem to think a secular person is. The book itself is oriented with a very American focus, which is understandable both because the author is American, but also due to America promoting itself as a christian nation, even though there is a large number of people with no religious affiliation down there.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Other countries are mentioned in contrast to America, such as Canada, Norway, Finland, and many more who are very secular and have crime rates that are essentially nonexistent, while the United States and numerous other religious nations have ridiculously high crime rates.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Zuckerman gained a lot of the material in this book from interviewing both secular and religious people and this gives the reader a very good overview of how people see those who are secular.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">These interviews also give the reader into other areas that show how secular people deal with such topics as Morality, Society, The Rise of the Non-religious, Raising Secular Children, Creating Communities, Dealing with Hardship, and Death.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">A very good book, that I think all should read.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-76750434350846073922023-11-13T00:00:00.010-07:002023-11-13T00:00:00.168-07:00"The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works" by John Truby<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgucb3TVKQo3sRk9d8oiCfobY1xOPhqY_6aqC6RKg13WFhqowwfKJghtLR5jlGxGq0XCXGBqx8uHFGErwNHKvgSivnWuI4CI0bcl_GILvRIlvs8QpihGiAQ5kR43qqakcIldeYwVvaS_DJ3PmBQ-ydLTboSTelSwOiK-lJojjEYMAM9hBM1CU70Zpo4eE/s400/genres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgucb3TVKQo3sRk9d8oiCfobY1xOPhqY_6aqC6RKg13WFhqowwfKJghtLR5jlGxGq0XCXGBqx8uHFGErwNHKvgSivnWuI4CI0bcl_GILvRIlvs8QpihGiAQ5kR43qqakcIldeYwVvaS_DJ3PmBQ-ydLTboSTelSwOiK-lJojjEYMAM9hBM1CU70Zpo4eE/w260-h400/genres.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Picador Farrar, Straus and Giroux</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2022</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780374539221</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I picked this book up to give me some assistance when I was writing a seminar on oddly enough writing - go figure. He breaks writing down into fourteen distinct genres: Horror, Action, Myth, Memoir, Coming-of–Age, Science Fiction, Crime, Comedy, Western, Gangster, Fantasy, Thriller, Detective, and Love. The book itself is quite well written, and easy to follow, but unfortunately while it gave me a fair amount of good information it wasn't wholly applicable to my project as Mr. Truby's examples are drawn primarily from movies, and not from books. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is understandable as he does coach and teach people writing, but does focus on the Hollywood end of things. He is the director of Truby's Writers Studio and "has an ongoing program where he works with students who are actively creating shows, movies, and novel series. He regularly applies his genre techniques in story consulting work with major studios including…"</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Now while a good number of the techniques are the same, the lack of examples drawn from the written word I found to be a particular disadvantage. Reader's of this column (both of you) will see my point when you take into account my lack of enthusiasm for pretty much anything Hollywood puts out, as they seem to routinely ruin anything that is adapted from a book.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In any case if you are writer have a look at this book you may find fits your niche very well.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-40473251464953667212023-10-30T00:00:00.017-06:002023-10-30T00:00:00.164-06:00Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier by Neil deGrasse Tyson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzykOuhp6z-pK5ncMsxZWyhK5diBs33XuYFVjtXOfMbrUfEh_fvK6zT1_jQ3Z4gYw28cHyO6Qk6nozM16v0oM_tVd9PEdCd1vHH1WOHePs30B0Qe7NjSlGPQ6JBV9dda_tR089Z_lS4KRSoJdL1YYSQZqtpI5y3rGn0AJ7oSHVEYu-M6LpOa01N-MhZRg/s400/space%20chronicles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzykOuhp6z-pK5ncMsxZWyhK5diBs33XuYFVjtXOfMbrUfEh_fvK6zT1_jQ3Z4gYw28cHyO6Qk6nozM16v0oM_tVd9PEdCd1vHH1WOHePs30B0Qe7NjSlGPQ6JBV9dda_tR089Z_lS4KRSoJdL1YYSQZqtpI5y3rGn0AJ7oSHVEYu-M6LpOa01N-MhZRg/w263-h400/space%20chronicles.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2012</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780393082104</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is a collection of Dr. Tyson's various articles, columns, commentaries, op-eds, some very pertinent tweets all of which give an interesting and very eyes-wide-open look at the American space program. He does this with his signature style which I believe is what makes him one of the most popular science presenters and public science figures today. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Tyson is an excellent writer that doesn't belabour a topic and is able to get his point across clearly.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The thirty-six essays cover a wide ranging from such things as killer asteroids, the next fifty years in space, comments on extraterrestrial life, the physics of propulsion, the politics of space travel, how to prove you have been abducted by aliens, the Hubble Space Telescope, and much more. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">A great read, highly recommended.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-3710216536802297932023-10-16T00:00:00.010-06:002023-10-16T00:00:00.349-06:00"Once Upon Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller" by Oliver Darkshire<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX5Mpua_jBwAVESwTax4Yko-9nqrec2PWDkpOtYreX4gOj3UbQOvnET903A_I3LrpjFhLVWnIyR6XMtW2Fax1dXOBoeqb9qanvPHp0Y8MZuLZ46ZmYtIOBo6zIgw3yk0vtcbWzLySwRU2UTqfLA3NKSB9h3_HF9rEaQ5h1-VXI2oKNkBKDUMGWYxSjww/s400/Tome.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="246" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtX5Mpua_jBwAVESwTax4Yko-9nqrec2PWDkpOtYreX4gOj3UbQOvnET903A_I3LrpjFhLVWnIyR6XMtW2Fax1dXOBoeqb9qanvPHp0Y8MZuLZ46ZmYtIOBo6zIgw3yk0vtcbWzLySwRU2UTqfLA3NKSB9h3_HF9rEaQ5h1-VXI2oKNkBKDUMGWYxSjww/w246-h400/Tome.jpeg" width="246" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company</div><div>Copyright: 2022</div><div>ISBN: 9781324092070</div><div><br /></div><div>This was extremely interesting book to read that gives the reader a rare perspective into the workings of antiquarian bookstore, in this case Sotheran's in London which was established in 1761.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've always been fascinated with books, and I can blame my parents for this as my mother especially was one of the people who encouraged my reading. Not sure how this exactly it morphed into my becoming a book collector myself, but it did and after reading this book one of the first things I want to do is go visit Sotheran's in London and spend a few days looking through their collection. I only really envision two possible problems with this first it's in London which is in a different country, and second I have to take a rather large suitcase (or more likely a large trunk) with me because I'm very sure that I would be bringing a vast number of books home. Not that I need any more books at home but I would bring them back. For those who have read this book I am definitely a <i>Smaug</i> (a general collector of books), propose to a <i>Dracula</i> who has very specific interests.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, back to the book review. As I stated above I found this book extremely interesting to read, and some of the adventures that Mr. Darkshire has been through while employed at Sotheran's make his profession all the more interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is definitely a book worth reading, especially for any one interested in books, and especially antiquarian bibliophiles.</div><div><br /></div><div>A great read, highly recommended.</div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-61755260450540708162023-10-02T00:00:00.009-06:002023-10-02T00:00:00.154-06:00"Healthy Brain, Happy Life: A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain and Do Everything Better" by Wendy Suzuki, PhD<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3grcAs5ijMtq6fYle_7bhgU0w8GchJjwUIgB0iH00b4elabe3Zh8tuthoj01lWNZxB8VtsNwqa292K6aXrG4o_OLGMmV7vgvtvziIm0ZEFjDsdgdC6I4nkA7wC3fN-CkN-rdfFLsF6rEwGBMgLMVooOeRBQWv_KRwqBS0kO-HkKaymjca2YTItYU1kc/s400/healthy%20brain.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="262" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3grcAs5ijMtq6fYle_7bhgU0w8GchJjwUIgB0iH00b4elabe3Zh8tuthoj01lWNZxB8VtsNwqa292K6aXrG4o_OLGMmV7vgvtvziIm0ZEFjDsdgdC6I4nkA7wC3fN-CkN-rdfFLsF6rEwGBMgLMVooOeRBQWv_KRwqBS0kO-HkKaymjca2YTItYU1kc/w263-h400/healthy%20brain.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Dey St.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2015</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780062366788</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Suzuki is a neurologist based in New York who has made great strides in understanding the way exercise, meditation, lifestyle changes, etc. can influence and essentially change the way your brain works. I first came across her while watching some videos on YouTube, and I have seen a number of her talks there.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As the title states this book is a personal program that she undertook to change her life, and as far as I can tell from the book it has succeeded tremendously. It's been 18 years since his book was released so I can only assume that everything is still working good for her as the information she gives in the book is something that should work for everyone.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">She takes us on a journey that started when she was in University and has continued throughout her life. It started when she fell in love with the study of the brain, and as far as I can tell from this book it has never waned at all. All of the information she gives is related back to how it is affecting the brain, and she sites numerous articles to back up her conclusions and show that the research is very valid. Some of the topics covered are: how memories are formed, how exercise really affects the brain, a look at how extra size can make you smarter, stress responses, your brains reward system, insight and divergent thinking, and meditation.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">There's an excellent book that gives a lot of very good information that should assist virtually everybody who reads it.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Highly recommended.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-90104425019464716992023-09-18T00:00:00.087-06:002023-09-18T00:00:00.161-06:00Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life by Jason Hanson<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLdlpH4BriMtA8jHUqpwAJbyn-eSRi4DIEq7ntoEM3hXbWzqg_pTNiw0m1wVZefkBQo6d5fxFdgvPrZO-MHSX6vITK1LpAj83gez35bPFHPio2SRQ_HEzyuZ92Z01P_y9wqNKfcUnqiKFrGyaj2fgHuPmhzsCY5IzL5OeeQVDTqB9RPiHjOa651g9HtY/s400/Spy%20Secrets.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLdlpH4BriMtA8jHUqpwAJbyn-eSRi4DIEq7ntoEM3hXbWzqg_pTNiw0m1wVZefkBQo6d5fxFdgvPrZO-MHSX6vITK1LpAj83gez35bPFHPio2SRQ_HEzyuZ92Z01P_y9wqNKfcUnqiKFrGyaj2fgHuPmhzsCY5IzL5OeeQVDTqB9RPiHjOa651g9HtY/w264-h400/Spy%20Secrets.jpeg" width="264" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Perigee Books</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2015</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780399175145</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a rather interesting books to read, and not one I would normally pick up however I was ding some research for a story and needed some material for one of my characters who is a reluctant spy. The book itself definitely has a lot of practical information, but it is geared towards an American audience, as a number of the tips and suggestions would be illegal up here in Canada.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The author Jason Hanson is an ex-CIA officer and has assuredly seen and been involved in some rather disturbing incidents, some of which he relates in this book. He goes into a lot of detail about topics of survival intelligence such as being adaptable, being self-reliant, not being a hero, how movement can save your life, your perception of a situation, establishing what is normal so you will know when something is wrong, and being aware of situations). This last topic he devotes entire chapter to as it is important.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">He then talks about making an escape and evasion kit, how to escape from various situations, criminal proofing your home, and travelling safely. Other topics include counter surveillance, social engineering, detecting people who are lying to you, disappearing, driving, and defending yourself.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As mentioned some of the information he gives would only be applicable in the United States such as going around armed, carrying concealed weapons, etc. So depending on where you live some of this information may not of any use to you. On the other hand the information that is not weapons based would be valuable to virtually anybody.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">He makes a number of references to his website, however it doesn't seem to be too up-to-date as there are a number of broken links.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">All in all a very interesting book.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-84338190154782489642023-09-04T00:00:00.015-06:002023-09-04T00:00:00.192-06:00"A Brief History of Black Holes and why Nearly Everything You Know About Them is Wrong" by Becky Smethurst<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2F8L13W-yQj9Qc27-vUx6UQVyQCuuNNc8Hft7WnP8H8f-1F23aUdjN_qChsRaIHgT-w64Cpg_m71MHXzqeAtZYMWXZ1t2wCHH2n2d3VeEYDuDVdCUohbU8ojWZHdjVtZ19GAbgpaACg_ckWa5nzYvJ9Nsu0FnWJsEBKoaFGQzHZek0tj6EiO1rVrdmok/s400/black%20holes.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2F8L13W-yQj9Qc27-vUx6UQVyQCuuNNc8Hft7WnP8H8f-1F23aUdjN_qChsRaIHgT-w64Cpg_m71MHXzqeAtZYMWXZ1t2wCHH2n2d3VeEYDuDVdCUohbU8ojWZHdjVtZ19GAbgpaACg_ckWa5nzYvJ9Nsu0FnWJsEBKoaFGQzHZek0tj6EiO1rVrdmok/w260-h400/black%20holes.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: McMillan</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2022</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9781529086706</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is an excellent overview of the history and current state of knowledge of Astronomy, Astrophysics, and black holes in particular. It is well written, very informative, and should appeal to many readers.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Smethurst takes the reader on a historical as well as contemporary look at how black holes were discovered, and the people who did the discovering. She also takes the reader on an astrophysical journey that explains numerous other concepts that are barely touched on in a lot of other books.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Her first book "Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time" I reviewed back in November 2021, and this book is a great companion that will hopefully lead numerous students towards careers in astronomy and astrophysics.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Highly recommended, a great addition to any library.</span></div></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-13161983303673250512023-08-28T00:00:00.049-06:002023-08-28T00:00:00.245-06:00"The Hitchhikers Guide the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (1952-2001)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqDF4dd9A0gV2nRcJN2f_94IWkNFbOS5TyE4hHoyYHjbcVazEEuSUh2Sc8CM1l_bCgoYWo5o3W9bRAfq624KBONGtcL2mK-5D1INpmKze8WAo1BkptsTCytdMWKh7SNn3ZH_KMszyIETWpJopyhMQA6vccb1VBS_cD90LDl1Y7XHPigHtAkmSQik8pfA/s599/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-80s.jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="404" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqDF4dd9A0gV2nRcJN2f_94IWkNFbOS5TyE4hHoyYHjbcVazEEuSUh2Sc8CM1l_bCgoYWo5o3W9bRAfq624KBONGtcL2mK-5D1INpmKze8WAo1BkptsTCytdMWKh7SNn3ZH_KMszyIETWpJopyhMQA6vccb1VBS_cD90LDl1Y7XHPigHtAkmSQik8pfA/w270-h400/hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-80s.jpg.webp" width="270" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Pan Books</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1979</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 0330258648</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It started off as a BBC Radio program and has since grown into a phenomena that millions have heard about and read.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The story for those who haven't read it revolves around Arthur Dent who woke up one morning to find his house was going to be demolished, this was generally speaking the least of his worries, as a few minutes after it happened the Earth ceased to exist as it was in the way of a hyperspatial bypass.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dent along with a friend by the name of Ford Prefect hitch a ride off Earth just in time and have a number of rather amazing adventures as they do their utmost to survive.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This book has been described by some as the blueprint for humorous science fiction, and I believe this designation is well deserved.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So grab your towel, get yourself a nice hot cup of tea, and sit back and relax.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But Don't Panic!</span></div><p></p>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-62866523091445961792023-08-21T00:00:00.006-06:002023-08-21T00:00:00.145-06:00"Minimalism: live a meaningful life" by Joshua Fields Melbourne and Ryan Nicodemus<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh823JluMO2CdU-bgWyCNmPhfISQSvQijyvl7ZLuD8Ykc-p9RfFIK5qwLvhnJFWC6tt63OQw047Ghgu-TW_JyrlKizGPtrc7WPzGGJTMrjgG2kkgGlI6v3J9I1fYOT3suL-gpEV4p0AqVUIDi_VvnE-_XFbCrGhzRFFnqdz0Wyxqhcd5HzPkLTMvyUrXh4/s400/Minimalism.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh823JluMO2CdU-bgWyCNmPhfISQSvQijyvl7ZLuD8Ykc-p9RfFIK5qwLvhnJFWC6tt63OQw047Ghgu-TW_JyrlKizGPtrc7WPzGGJTMrjgG2kkgGlI6v3J9I1fYOT3suL-gpEV4p0AqVUIDi_VvnE-_XFbCrGhzRFFnqdz0Wyxqhcd5HzPkLTMvyUrXh4/w250-h400/Minimalism.jpeg" width="250" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Publisher: Asymmetrical Press</div><div>Copyright: 2016</div><div>ISBN: 9780615648224</div><div><br /></div><div>I stumbled across the concept of minimalism while on YouTube and it seemed like an interesting concept and one that has worked for many people. With this in mind I picked up the book minimalism by Joshua Fields Melbourne and Ryan Nicodemus to see what it was all about.</div><div><br /></div><div>While this book does address the concept of minimalism to a point it is not the main focus of the book at least as far as I can tell. It is more of an explanation and an exploration of how these two men became minimalists. Both were were employed in the corporate world and earning six-figure incomes but we're extremely unhappy with their lives, and this book details how they made changes to their life. Unfortunately it doesn't really have a whole lot to do with minimalism for somebody who is trying to investigate the concept. They do refer to their website a fair bit <a href="http://minimalists.com/" rev="en_rl_none" target="_blank">minimalists.com</a> and I think this is where you should go to find more in-depth information.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was however a very interesting book to read, and I would recommend it to anybody who is searching for a change in their life, or possibly their career etc.</div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-69285391716542224722023-08-07T00:00:00.000-06:002023-08-07T00:00:00.173-06:00"Sacred Origins of Profound Things: The stories behind the rites and rituals of the world's religions" by Charles Panati<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIU2PyPFPm8P_sp7JT3wM7SbXhvmg2Oqcsu1h7jfjMMyQVV28lg0xi7KBOAp5pbmRq6y_h62IoB6Rofa98wtlVdyrILCoGpBuiujwj7NjFMFyxHIXpQ-peb_UnthaY3vn_Ga7bJC2HYEsX3WVT6Mxt0sSXhEvpLvJfVtkAKErijx7pZtDi7KgaBVDt/s500/sacred%20origins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="328" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIU2PyPFPm8P_sp7JT3wM7SbXhvmg2Oqcsu1h7jfjMMyQVV28lg0xi7KBOAp5pbmRq6y_h62IoB6Rofa98wtlVdyrILCoGpBuiujwj7NjFMFyxHIXpQ-peb_UnthaY3vn_Ga7bJC2HYEsX3WVT6Mxt0sSXhEvpLvJfVtkAKErijx7pZtDi7KgaBVDt/w263-h400/sacred%20origins.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Penguin </span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1996</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 0140195335</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Sacred Origins is an interesting book to read that goes into a lot of detail about the origins, rights, rituals and general beliefs of the various major religions in the world. It concentrates primarily on Christianity with Judaism second and a little bit of Islam thrown in for good measure.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The detail covered in this book is quite amazing actually it starts off with talking about popular piety which are things such as prayer postures, etc. It goes on to talk about the various heavenly hosts, then wise words which is all about moral codes. Mr. Panati then talks about the actual rights and rituals, feasts and festivals, the saints and their bones, celestial persona, marriage, evil, things you shouldn't shouldn't do, the various religious realms, and acts of faith.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As I said earlier it is an interesting book to read, but i believe it could do with a second edition as it is 27 years old. Since this time we have gone through many events such as 9-11 and other crises that have stemmed from religion.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">All in all an excellent book, and one that should be more widely read by a lot of people I believe.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-30693983195533634812023-07-31T00:00:00.006-06:002023-07-31T00:00:00.150-06:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9mDA1lMJHn4TxNp3EfqrR7-FI1LvOT7Mcuh122iRCMW2xuB5QunBXXGc7iGMk5vVYM_FXXCXgthee1Kn_gYiTenMwFwSfEsasAMrLINA_xgQbfW0bYd7hHy1VcHXt0qNqpND5Ezi4Q3rK_QfjgJMoErRTLu6cLJP2AHczfWv1MtV66cCKhFMBNwJPHQ/s1000/dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="592" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9mDA1lMJHn4TxNp3EfqrR7-FI1LvOT7Mcuh122iRCMW2xuB5QunBXXGc7iGMk5vVYM_FXXCXgthee1Kn_gYiTenMwFwSfEsasAMrLINA_xgQbfW0bYd7hHy1VcHXt0qNqpND5Ezi4Q3rK_QfjgJMoErRTLu6cLJP2AHczfWv1MtV66cCKhFMBNwJPHQ/w236-h400/dark.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Publisher: Del Rey</div><div>Copyright: 1990</div><div>ISBN: 0345358074</div><div><br /></div><div>"Dark hand…" Is the third book in the Sun Wolf trilogy, and complements the other two books very well. In this installment sun wolf is still on this quest to find a teacher to help him with his magic, however the teacher he finds wants to enslave him rather than teach him. Sun Wolf therefore has to find this teacher, prevent him from enslaving him, and hopefully learn from him. Not an easy task.</div><div><br /></div><div>To add to this, Sun Wolf's old mercenary troop contacts him as they are in the middle of a campaign, but seem to be hexed in such a way that nothing goes right for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once again this is a very good addition to the trilogy, and while Miss Hambly didn't write any further stories in the series she does leave it open at the end so that it Sun Wolf and Starhawk could come back.</div><div><br /></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-84570204787637673402023-07-24T00:00:00.000-06:002023-07-24T00:00:00.172-06:00"How to Find Out Anything: from extreme Google searches discovering government documents…" By Don MacLeod<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHA9QJ8c5d_GisY_gL9cizjteXxIwuYsp9FVgf0tdDsw8LZY9G88OGtXmK7ew08V2Ju80krI3JzSmqhGzOoI3Nnm_Q0IDs3AOGu4l29ELqEj83HHAlZjonF8JTVTivLSfpl5Bvxaw3AR09vIr0j-RZKbHOnT9iO9Sb7NyE-pOT1GqsWQK3HZNOSJr/s1000/how%20to%20find%20out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="665" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHA9QJ8c5d_GisY_gL9cizjteXxIwuYsp9FVgf0tdDsw8LZY9G88OGtXmK7ew08V2Ju80krI3JzSmqhGzOoI3Nnm_Q0IDs3AOGu4l29ELqEj83HHAlZjonF8JTVTivLSfpl5Bvxaw3AR09vIr0j-RZKbHOnT9iO9Sb7NyE-pOT1GqsWQK3HZNOSJr/w266-h400/how%20to%20find%20out.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Prentice Hall Press</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2012</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9870735204676</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is an extremely interesting guide to various forms of information that are available to pretty much everybody, but which very few people know about.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Mr. McLeod starts off talking about how to think like a researcher, then goes into the realm of Google, does two chapters on libraries, then moves onto associations, finding people, information on companies, the public records, and concludes with a chapter and putting it all together.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I found this to be an extremely interesting and useful book however, it is based pretty much entirely on the United States and no other countries are really mentioned except in passing. In addition it is now 11 years old, so definitely needs to be revised and updated.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">However it is still a valuable resource for any beginning researcher, as long as they understand that things will be different in other countries such as resources, contact information, what is available in the public record, etc.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-42950671853218180722023-07-17T00:00:00.010-06:002023-07-17T00:00:00.142-06:00The Witches of Wenshar by Barbara Hambly<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPEJ4rAgTMbplj_aEn5kDn5U804aXCGllMSnIJwqYgYxWTFfRPbpXuWNeBNJPaQ_CVQwv8EjsaVJ7wT9DC0RmZJFJcYhZXPpmFOxY2Ym2VdC6T03pt3LEHfZ337h1PEcMMFbnDT3hE8oaq_T5aiYhI377h5RzQVoC693FQm64JGqycvgk9g7dGbVHTUI/s2846/witches.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2846" data-original-width="1770" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrPEJ4rAgTMbplj_aEn5kDn5U804aXCGllMSnIJwqYgYxWTFfRPbpXuWNeBNJPaQ_CVQwv8EjsaVJ7wT9DC0RmZJFJcYhZXPpmFOxY2Ym2VdC6T03pt3LEHfZ337h1PEcMMFbnDT3hE8oaq_T5aiYhI377h5RzQVoC693FQm64JGqycvgk9g7dGbVHTUI/w249-h400/witches.jpg" width="249" /></a></div> <p></p><div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Del Rey</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1987</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 0345329341</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"The witches…" follows directly timewise after the Ladies of Mandrigyn and once again is following the ex-mercenary Sun Wolf and is ex-lieutenant and now lover Starhawk in his quest to be trained in the magic he has acquired. Unfortunately Sun Wolf's luck has not really been a blessing to him, as he hears of a wizard named Kaletha who has supposedly found a series of books written by the witches of Wenshar, but who specialized in summoning and controlling demons for their evil machinations.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Suddenly people around sun wolf, Starhawk, Kaletha begin dying, or rather being murdered rather gruesomely and of course Sun Wolf is blamed.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a very good book that is the second part of the of the Sun Wolf trilogy. It has been many years since I first read this series, and I had forgotten a lot about it so it was very good to be able to remind myself of how well it had been written, and plotted.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Well worth the read.</span></div></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-42764696402923335472023-07-10T00:00:00.000-06:002023-07-10T00:00:00.169-06:00"The Middle Ages: A Graphic History" by Eleanor Janega<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00tN4h6Uag7PcV6005JM48G0KXN7ZDTt2iZUHgP7nPChDoPrWoW_Lmt6WJ--0M2PfeQnte4r1EcppB3oSjUyj-CNO8hf5-WWmMaNGKAczG-NwmlZLALtYptnKlFmzMvcQKkjFB2qMvGxZ5SO03CbZJ_r9zKtPJodf88dbPqwmJjUpxzHnJ6riRRtc/s400/middle%20ages.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00tN4h6Uag7PcV6005JM48G0KXN7ZDTt2iZUHgP7nPChDoPrWoW_Lmt6WJ--0M2PfeQnte4r1EcppB3oSjUyj-CNO8hf5-WWmMaNGKAczG-NwmlZLALtYptnKlFmzMvcQKkjFB2qMvGxZ5SO03CbZJ_r9zKtPJodf88dbPqwmJjUpxzHnJ6riRRtc/w280-h400/middle%20ages.jpeg" width="280" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Icon Books</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2021</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9781785785917</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As the title suggests this is essentially a graphic novel, however with the double twist that it is both drawn in the style of the middle ages, and it's real!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book takes the reader on a guided tour of some of the many topics that would be part of a mediaeval history course.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In part one Dr. Janega covers such topics as common misconceptions about the middle ages, the mediaeval period and what it was, myths of the dark ages, the fall of Rome and how that affected neighbouring countries. Part two deals with early religions including Christianity Islam Judaism, the various saints etc. Part three deals with the rise of empires. Part four is about the life around the year 1000 and how the majority of christians expected the world to be ending in the immediate future, Which led to various atrocities such as the crusades, the Norman conquest, and a lot of antisemitic violence.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Part five deals with the high middle ages. Part six with the role of women and other groups of people who were and still are marginalized such as sex workers, homosexuals, Jews, Heretics, and lepers in the medieval period.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Part seven deals with the late. Mediaeval period which was dominated by the black death, the 100 years war, the schism in the Catholic Church and various peasant revolts. Part eight deals with the end of the Middle Ages.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Janega makes the whole of mediaeval history very easy to understand, and this would make this book a valuable addition to any school's library. </span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-33306572622855037602023-06-26T00:00:00.008-06:002023-06-26T07:00:30.236-06:00The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSadp_8waQmhD70W5A_0mbhZMM1MpcKTuD2IXc-cxCMow7pi1MfPwP87e7JuQzRzyAgGyXVtghOPKqfwumJ2XcxvhBZo5Mn955tK3UcKUYMceNtMJFV8l9FvsUX-14uGkd9hss7IL4AglSn3zgNfJnLsMJA1xr5H5EpBntvK9HyPjvH5m41l7dlycFSo/s3021/ladies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3021" data-original-width="1886" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSadp_8waQmhD70W5A_0mbhZMM1MpcKTuD2IXc-cxCMow7pi1MfPwP87e7JuQzRzyAgGyXVtghOPKqfwumJ2XcxvhBZo5Mn955tK3UcKUYMceNtMJFV8l9FvsUX-14uGkd9hss7IL4AglSn3zgNfJnLsMJA1xr5H5EpBntvK9HyPjvH5m41l7dlycFSo/w250-h400/ladies.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Del Rey</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1984</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 0345309197</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The Ladies of Mandrigyn is the first book in the trilogy that tells the tale of a mercenary captain by the name of sun Wolf, who is kidnapped by the aforementioned ladies to assist them in reading themselves of the wizard king Altiokis Who has essentially enslaved their people of their city, and a good portion of the country itself. Add to this that he's essentially immortal and you have a bit of a problem. Originally the ladies had offered to hire Sun Wolf and his mercenary army to fight Altiokis, however he refused.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The ladies back up plan was therefore to kidnap him and have him train and leave the ladies in the fight against him. Has a little bit of an incentive thing they give him a slow acting poison of which only they had the antidote.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Unbeknownst to both the ladies and Sun Wolf this poison has some rather interesting side effects, that changes his life a fair bit.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a very good novel, which I first read many many years ago, and one of Barbara Hambly's earlier ones. She goes on to write the second in the series "The Witches of Wenshar" (1987) and the third "The Dark Hand of Magic" in (1990), which I will be reviewing in the future.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-6702694632740914802023-06-19T10:15:00.019-06:002023-06-19T10:15:00.139-06:00"The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society" by Eleanor Janega<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iiaGcLQ2PvOKFKryjV4YBhnDFNXjeN6BHM10WcZ1M23MbjqpZ9dYdENUhasMGWp_G8YOHrJYdcJRv_bAC08VDzmx2fBZ6o6KZ2Skb00abvXB3-c8QChj7bsNNl7tDOZ1l4C7ackektnWYRxWzfhaefQb5AEVmBnwPNZRIICMykzR0fHsNryhBeja/s400/once%20and%20future.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2iiaGcLQ2PvOKFKryjV4YBhnDFNXjeN6BHM10WcZ1M23MbjqpZ9dYdENUhasMGWp_G8YOHrJYdcJRv_bAC08VDzmx2fBZ6o6KZ2Skb00abvXB3-c8QChj7bsNNl7tDOZ1l4C7ackektnWYRxWzfhaefQb5AEVmBnwPNZRIICMykzR0fHsNryhBeja/w263-h400/once%20and%20future.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2023</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780393867817</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a very enjoyable and extremely informative book to read. It gives the reader whole new insights into how women have been treated over the centuries and the reasons behind why they were generally treated so badly. Primarily this was due to the influence of the various flavours of the Christian church, Which essentially blamed women for everything because of the mythology surrounding the original sin.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">As a humanist I will freely admit that I do not understand the concept of original sin, and the various other concepts and myths that are listed in the Bible, as for the most part they seem to simply take a concept or an event and find someone or something to blame it on. And while this seems to comfort a large group of religious people in the world it seems like a rather shortsighted way to justify the way society as a whole treats 1/2 of our population.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Dr. Janega goes into a lot of detail as she investigated the various roles that women filled in medieval times, and looked at how real women lived in that era.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I first encountered Dr. Janega on the History Hit YouTube channel where she does the occasional episode on medieval history, which I would highly recommend if you're interested as she gets into some very interesting topics. She is also the creator of the popular "Going Medieval" blog and the author of "The Middle Ages: A Graphic History".</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">An excellent read with lots of fascinating information. Highly recommended.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-84812094282421541022023-06-12T00:00:00.009-06:002023-06-12T00:00:00.158-06:00"Support Your Local Wizard" by Diane Duane<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zUQ5aadJ77ctgvXHf90wo9RfZVLGfAkldfjXrenvt3EdzgByrrgdGapezKFfLibh4pEpaAbfxqflW3bLkB2J8HllEGnUvTMgVE-CF9fILqaPQmt0cBxV06cWmH3IApPnVH301ER4XLvYUU-h560beHax2VmJ2VOKFKEhuJI0VnS8wz_GHvlpQesz/s475/sopport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zUQ5aadJ77ctgvXHf90wo9RfZVLGfAkldfjXrenvt3EdzgByrrgdGapezKFfLibh4pEpaAbfxqflW3bLkB2J8HllEGnUvTMgVE-CF9fILqaPQmt0cBxV06cWmH3IApPnVH301ER4XLvYUU-h560beHax2VmJ2VOKFKEhuJI0VnS8wz_GHvlpQesz/w268-h400/sopport.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Guild America Books</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1983</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: None listed</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">"Support Your Local Wizard" is a compilation volume of the first three stories (So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardry, & High Wizardry) in the "Young Wizards Series", and tell the tale of two grade school children who discover they are wizards, and are recruited into the local wizards union (for lack of a better term).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Juanita "Nita" Callahan is a young girl who is constantly being bullied by few other girls in her school, and who finds a book (or does it find her?) in her local library when she hiding out from the gang. She teams up with another young wizard Christopher "Kit" Rodriguez, and have a series of interesting adventures.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Now while some people may be inclined t equate these stories with another tale of wizardry about a boy with a scar on his forehead, these stores were written many years before so banish the thought.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I found these stories to be very well written, and while the second is somewhat darker that the first it allows for significant world building, and the three novels work well together. When I first read these I though this was all there was to the series, but I have since discovered that Ms. Duane has written seven more in the series, which I now have to go and find.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">A great series.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-60981812902698815372023-06-05T00:00:00.000-06:002023-06-05T00:00:00.134-06:00"The Long Ships" by Frans G.Bengtsson (Translated by Michael Meyer)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Tn7Cd9vNZO__K5lcCuw0PaZ9sU7r-PUrveiLUOVgqsTWhTo8oPRP0V6Pm_uu8F10U_ZRrAY6aBkbNep0VmSf1tmMeo5UrtN9KyHPDmQOcV9iLhAqYv0akKzAyblh7w1OkrVzmrUK1_d44Yeu5EaZ2qPc0IqRNWtJz5Xdaur8XO3LpFWVhfj3jd48/s360/TheLongShips.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="249" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Tn7Cd9vNZO__K5lcCuw0PaZ9sU7r-PUrveiLUOVgqsTWhTo8oPRP0V6Pm_uu8F10U_ZRrAY6aBkbNep0VmSf1tmMeo5UrtN9KyHPDmQOcV9iLhAqYv0akKzAyblh7w1OkrVzmrUK1_d44Yeu5EaZ2qPc0IqRNWtJz5Xdaur8XO3LpFWVhfj3jd48/w276-h400/TheLongShips.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: P. A. Norstedt Soner Forlag</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1954</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: None</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The Long Ships is a classic tale of the Vikings and is quite reminiscent of the Icelandic Sagas which I had to read during a course at University, and which I absolutely loved, as they and this book as well give a very good interpretation of what life must have been like in the 10th century. It is said to be one of the best historical novel ever written</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book follows the life of Orm Tostesson who became known as Red Orm or Orm the Far-Travelled, and the expeditions he sailed on from being an novice sailor, to his time a s a slave in the service of Moors, a marriage into royalty. The expeditions he was involved with took him to many lands from England, Spain, and Russia. Along the way he relates tales of King Harald Blue Tooth, the Jomsvikings, and the various attempts made to convert the Vikings to christianity.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is an excellent book, well worth reading.</span></span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-35451402940560242662023-05-29T20:31:00.029-06:002023-05-29T20:31:00.146-06:00"Elder Race" by Adrian Tchaikovsky<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcr2mNTVeu9AKhx_zxVlFiSUfd9VMlmioO_spsdnU4vjyalMcj01JyCknck4YTR3aBMtjRdc7Fd6j9QX7Pv-K5TN5t3RW7GdmNXWbMPVFg64GqwIFW5IL5dMaz7fhJgKyjns4X52Y9X3f2Tp4VywbHaX668DuNyivvx3ylGuE8A-SU7B055I-p0VC/s400/Elder%20Race.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcr2mNTVeu9AKhx_zxVlFiSUfd9VMlmioO_spsdnU4vjyalMcj01JyCknck4YTR3aBMtjRdc7Fd6j9QX7Pv-K5TN5t3RW7GdmNXWbMPVFg64GqwIFW5IL5dMaz7fhJgKyjns4X52Y9X3f2Tp4VywbHaX668DuNyivvx3ylGuE8A-SU7B055I-p0VC/w250-h400/Elder%20Race.jpeg" width="250" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Tor Books</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2021</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9781250768728</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Elder Race was a fun book to read, and while it was relatively short at 198 pages it was well worth the read. Mr. Tchaikovsky has written a very interesting story that explores both the anthropological idea of participant observation, as well as exploring the supposed non-interference directive which was part of the backstory of the Star Trek universe, and which was something they routinely violated in virtually every episode.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The elder in this case is a cultural anthropologist by the name of Nyr Illim Tevitch of the Earth Explorer Corps, who is on the planet many light years from Earth in the far distant future. He was left alone on this planet by the other anthropologists and scientists in his team when they were recalled to earth. He has been out of contact with them for over 300 years.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">In the distant past he assisted the colonists of this planet in defeating an invading forces, and made a pact with the then ruling monarchy that he would do so again if another crisis arose. Another incident does require his assistance, but it has been well over 100 years between the two events.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">This was a very good book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in stories that deal with internal conflict and such. I would've liked to have seen more exploration of the anthropological concepts, but that's likely because I have an anthropologist myself.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Mr. Tchaikovsky has written a number of other books, and I will be definitely keeping my eye out for them.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-83746022607034959992023-05-22T00:00:00.013-06:002023-05-22T00:00:00.150-06:00"Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes" by Rob Wilkins<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaM2un1yYW5E8pBpAZ-X1g_8OKVSInhj3xvQ1-i_9hPXa6INtahCJfBQbfXzPTu2rx50zi0OdGheFo3fTZtm7U_iT0_FMNqjbStDyIMsD-gya4fzhBmOdmfBCCk4xbxc4gNGAjbjMTFxa6_pVSBRqa9OpReO6uwi32z3JSKYrRDPlNV7z0HJyEMf0Z/s400/Terry%20Prachett.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaM2un1yYW5E8pBpAZ-X1g_8OKVSInhj3xvQ1-i_9hPXa6INtahCJfBQbfXzPTu2rx50zi0OdGheFo3fTZtm7U_iT0_FMNqjbStDyIMsD-gya4fzhBmOdmfBCCk4xbxc4gNGAjbjMTFxa6_pVSBRqa9OpReO6uwi32z3JSKYrRDPlNV7z0HJyEMf0Z/w260-h400/Terry%20Prachett.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Doubleday</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2022</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780857526632</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I purposely do not read a lot of biographies and especially autobiographies primarily because for the most part they're boring.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book about the life of Terry Pratchett the author of all the Discworld novels, and many others by Rob Wilkins is the exact opposite. It is interesting well written, and essentially keeps you wanting more. Yes, I know that's another way of saying interesting but I'm treating it as two different things because a story should keep you wanting to read more just to find out what happens whereas to be interesting and wanting to keep you reading is more of a challenge.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">To say that Sir Terry Pratchett had a interesting life is an understatement. He started his writing career as a journalist, and quickly moved on to be the best selling author of many books. Mr. Wilkins, who was Sir Terry's personal assistant for over 20 years gives fans a detailed insight into his life, one that I'm sure all will want to read.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Highly recommended.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-36095106514691195592023-05-15T00:00:00.019-06:002023-05-15T00:00:00.197-06:00"One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnXwLRzJxGPboTzrCzlRTHHMFffeXR0QeaYrQXjvznlKkJQEXJi6M1syvqmxE5y-o7dQ1Gho3T0kKq6SG9lZBHJ6LMDKkyeRvmcq7j2uT8VYColtDw1oH8bl2SbvAPvFGqWl1gne6WhzR58LXrajoMetu8arys5EL3jE1WwE8e9OUW4tl2xPDtfQb/s2122/one-for-the-money.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2122" data-original-width="1400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnXwLRzJxGPboTzrCzlRTHHMFffeXR0QeaYrQXjvznlKkJQEXJi6M1syvqmxE5y-o7dQ1Gho3T0kKq6SG9lZBHJ6LMDKkyeRvmcq7j2uT8VYColtDw1oH8bl2SbvAPvFGqWl1gne6WhzR58LXrajoMetu8arys5EL3jE1WwE8e9OUW4tl2xPDtfQb/w264-h400/one-for-the-money.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Harper Collins</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 1998</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9780684196398</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the first novel in the Stephanie plum series. Stephanie is a bounty hunter, A job she fell into when she was in rather desperate circumstances. She works for her cousin Vinny who runs a bail bond company and he takes her on as a fledgeling agent.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Her first case turns out to be quite complicated, but very rewarding in the end even though she put herself in a fair bit of danger throughout the novel.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is an excellent book, And I wish I had read it years ago when it first came out. It is very well written, and holds your attention throughout the entire book which is full of plot twists, interesting characters, and realistic situations.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This first novel was made into a movie in 2011, but no other ones were ever made, which I thing is a shame as it was very well done.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The only real drawback to both the book and the movie is that it tends to reinforce the stereotype that all Americans carry guns. Now whether this is actually true or not I don't know as I haven't been in the United States for close to 34 years.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Well worth the read, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Although this will take a while as Ms. Evanovich just released book 30 in the series. Before you ask though, no I won't be reviewing them all, but might do them in batches if there is an ongoing theme.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-79410498856973929272023-05-08T00:00:00.047-06:002023-05-08T00:00:00.152-06:00"Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human" by Siddhartha Mukherjee<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2ExFnkL1MDPwk6rtyypQI8hN6BRieYwPSRctpt8MgGIW1c2Xm1mV-WDetpPhNWaHrGYldDntIJrUhIuOBvBgwHK-J2rBVSIVZD0bVgkR9Y4Viw3IWXBbjhP8BGL968U9yKXIHSpwIf6yQvgWgFWNjkFewABVmud54s8qGplMkXjWlm-0vZE0Ii44/s400/song.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw2ExFnkL1MDPwk6rtyypQI8hN6BRieYwPSRctpt8MgGIW1c2Xm1mV-WDetpPhNWaHrGYldDntIJrUhIuOBvBgwHK-J2rBVSIVZD0bVgkR9Y4Viw3IWXBbjhP8BGL968U9yKXIHSpwIf6yQvgWgFWNjkFewABVmud54s8qGplMkXjWlm-0vZE0Ii44/w263-h400/song.jpeg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Scribner</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Copyright: 2022</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">ISBN: 9781982117351</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a very detailed but also extremely interesting history of medicine, and disease and how the discovery of the cell, antibodies, and many other things have been discovered. Dr. Mukherjee tells the story in six main sections and in each gives a historical account of how things were believed to be, and the discoveries that were made. He also includes his own experiences as a graduate students, doctor, and researcher that gives the reader a very good grounding on the subject.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This book while relatively long, is extremely interesting to read as it gives the reader so much information. It is also very engrossing and you will find that the time spent reading passes very quickly.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the type of book that I would think would make an excellent read for anybody interested in the history of medicine, and especially for any first year biological science or medicine students as the information is very relevant to their studies.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165895225329957079.post-91177806652655581422023-05-01T00:00:00.020-06:002023-05-01T00:00:00.144-06:00"The Ink Black Heart" by Robert Galbraith<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0KuIeR03rpqF7PH0nBWzUTNkwKp3rnzlzOp4yHP4VWyZkRM_UF35X_RM_1bOz-Nn6QPq0VoCH7eL0fZDwEX4JC0F5B5j2IhuKXqZCv9DJYBValjVNsTydAIG2nZrHHV5BRBZLcKzTn01mGh8F3HbAOuRoP9IhXJnTLeL51UFBWBvqEHFdZkk6AC_/s400/inkblack.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="256" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0KuIeR03rpqF7PH0nBWzUTNkwKp3rnzlzOp4yHP4VWyZkRM_UF35X_RM_1bOz-Nn6QPq0VoCH7eL0fZDwEX4JC0F5B5j2IhuKXqZCv9DJYBValjVNsTydAIG2nZrHHV5BRBZLcKzTn01mGh8F3HbAOuRoP9IhXJnTLeL51UFBWBvqEHFdZkk6AC_/w256-h400/inkblack.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Publisher: Mulholland Books<br />ISBN: 9780316413039<br />Copyright: 2022</span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This novel is the sixth book in the Cormoran Strike detective series by Robert Galbraith, and once again the author provides the reader with a well crafted story that keeps you glued to the page throughout the entire novel, all 1012 pages.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The Cormoran Strike series is one in which the characters develop over time, and it therefore necessitates being read in the correct order (primarily to avoid confusion regarding the underlying plots). In this instalment, the duo of Strike & Ellacot are on the trail of a what at first seems to be a random act of violence against the developer of an animated show, but this soon turns out to only be the beginning.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The plot is intricately woven, and character-driven which lends authenticity to the events portrayed. The real world details of London where this story is primarily set (as are the others) adds to the story even more. Both the lead characters have their flaws, but this makes them seem so real that you'd almost expect to see them doing their jobs if you visited London.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">A fantastic mystery, that is the work of a master storyteller.</span></div>Howard Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14975714295148969227noreply@blogger.com0