A review of The Oracle of Stamboul, by Michael David Lukas. @@@@ (4 out of 5). A brilliant young girl, daughter of a Rumanian-Jewish rug merchant, becomes an adviser to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire at the age of 8 in 1880s Istanbul.
Read More
When we think today of an English Queen, we tend to conjure up the benevolent figure of Elizabeth II, waving from the balcony at Buckingham Palace or from the back seat of a car. Of course, if we read English history—or if we’ve watched the popular Netflix series, The Crown—we know more than...
Read More
During the last ten years of his life (1966-76), Mao Zedong shut down China’s schools and universities, denying an education to a generation. At his urging, millions of Chinese teenagers and young adults turned instead to revolution. They upended life throughout their country in a frenzy of...
Read More
Here you’ll find my candidates for the ten best among the more than three dozen techno-thrillers I’ve read and reviewed. Of course, you might ask what qualifies a novel to be called a techno-thriller. Definitions seem to vary. But mine is that it’s a story in which technology is at the root of...
Read More
When we think of the Warsaw Ghetto, our minds turn to the four months early in 1943 when starving Jews fought back against the Nazis with smuggled and makeshift weapons. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising vividly displayed heroism and desperation in equal measure, and it has deservedly entered history as...
Read More
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.