What does it take for a novel to become iconic—to embody the essence of an era and become a classic in its genre? Clearly, a book needs to feature some aspect of style, characterization, or plotting that sets a new trend. For example, take The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. Sam Spade and Philip...
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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes I should have guessed. The signs were all there. A strangely troubled 11-year-old girl who talks to an imaginary twin. A retired professor of religion who’s written a bestselling book about God’s connection to quantum physics. Yes, I should have known...
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Alan Furst has written fifteen novels to date in his Night Soldiers series, which he began writing late in the 1980s when he was nearly 50 years of age. While attending general studies courses at Columbia University, he became acquainted with Margaret Mead, for whom he later worked. Before...
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For thousands of years, the history of what is India today has been shaped by large-scale population movements. Ever since the arrival of anatomically modern humans tens of thousands of years ago, the subcontinent has been wracked by periodic invasions and flows of refugees. Among the most...
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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes In The Secret War, his revisionist history of intelligence in World War II, British historian Max Hastings insists that spies, special forces, and resistance fighters had little impact on the outcome of the war. He makes the case that the Allies’s decoding...
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Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review,
with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review,
with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.
Mysteries & Thrillers Tuesday includes my latest mystery and thriller book review, with links to other science fiction content.
Nonfiction Wednesday includes my latest nonfiction book review, with links to other nonfiction content.
The Weekly includes summaries and links to all the previous week’s three to five book reviews, including some that don’t appear in any of the other newsletters.