Like a lot of Americans, I do my utmost to avoid talking, or even thinking, about death and dying. Maybe I’m just too close to the inevitable at 73 years of age as I write. Atul Gawande, the brilliant Indian-American physician and New Yorker writer, is clearly nowhere near my age, but in...
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This book is proof that you don’t need bug-eyed monsters or little green men to convey a sense of strangeness. Jeff VanderMeer achieves that in Annihilation, conjuring up a setting that abounds in all the usual terrestrial flora and fauna. The impression of alienness is heightened by a...
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Ever since the days of Sherlock Holmes, most mysteries and thrillers have been part of series that develop characters over time—sometimes decades. But there are also superb examples of the genre that stand by themselves. Here are more than 100 I’ve found and reviewed in the last eight years. The...
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If you’re old enough, think back to the 1960s, that decade of endless turmoil and revelation. Though the CIA had been established in 1947, it wasn’t until 1962 that the agency came to the attention of most Americans, as a result of its disastrous handling of the US-backed Bay of...
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Here’s Nick Hornby again, writing about a gorgeous, buxom blonde who flees a beauty pageant in Blackpool without accepting the crown she’s won. She is also very, very clever. All she wants is to be the second coming on TV of her idol, Lucille Ball, and make people laugh. (Note to young...
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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.