Book Review: You Can’t Eat Peanuts in Church and Other Little-Known Laws by Barbara Seuling Laws have a purpose. It is not always a good purpose, but track them to their passage and you will usually see the reasoning behind them. With the passage of time, that purpose is obscured, and many laws passed to… Continue reading Book Review: You Can’t Eat Peanuts in Church and Other Little-Known Laws
Tag: California
Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow
Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow by Howard Fast There have been several books titled The Edge of Tomorrow, none of which have anything to do with the recent Tom Cruise movie, which borrowed most of its plot from the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill. (I think you can see why there was a… Continue reading Book Review: The Edge of Tomorrow
Magazine Review: Saucy Romantic Adventures August 1936
Magazine Review: Saucy Romantic Adventures August 1936 by various This was one of the “spicy” pulp magazines, sold “under the counter” to readers wanting something more titillating than the standard action fare. By modern standards, this is pretty tame stuff, mostly consisting of descriptions of women’s naked bodies (minus genitalia) and strong hints that the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Saucy Romantic Adventures August 1936
Magazine Review: Detective Fiction Weekly April 8 1939
Magazine Review: Detective Fiction Weekly April 8 1939 (Formerly Flynn’s) by various Detective Fiction Weekly started publication in 1924 as “Flynn’s”, after its first editor, William J. Flynn, who had previously been director of the Bureau of Investigation before it became the FBI. It ran regularly under various titles until 1942, when it became a… Continue reading Magazine Review: Detective Fiction Weekly April 8 1939
Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness
Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord Once upon a time, there was a psychiatrist named Hector, who was very good at his job. But he didn’t feel that he was as good as he needed to be, because he had patients who were unhappy, and he didn’t know how to… Continue reading Book Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness
Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume 9: The Millennium Express (1995-2009)
Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume Nine: The Millennium Express (1995-2009) by Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (1935-still alive as of this writing) is one of the longest-running science fiction authors, having made his first sale in 1953. Especially in his early years, Mr. Silverberg has been prolific, with his non-series short fiction… Continue reading Book Review: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume 9: The Millennium Express (1995-2009)
Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu
Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu edited by Ross E Lockhart Fantasy and horror author H.P. Lovecraft wasn’t a big seller during his lifetime, but the loose setting he created of the Cthulhu Mythos, where humans are only the most recent inhabitants of a cold and chaotic universe, and many of the previous inhabitants are… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu
Book Review: Octavia’s Brood
Book Review: Octavia’s Brood edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha One of the many uses of science fiction is to talk about current issues in a speculative setting. One can posit a world in which current trends have become exaggerated to dystopian levels, or where a solution has been found to a current… Continue reading Book Review: Octavia’s Brood
Book Review: The Perfect Horse
Book Review: The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. The year is 1945. The war in Europe is almost over. American troops learn that a stud farm in Hostau contains horses looted by the Nazis from… Continue reading Book Review: The Perfect Horse
Book Review: Merton of the Movies
Book Review: Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson Simsbury, Illinois might just be a wide spot in the road, but twice a week, the Bijou Palace shows movies made in far-off Hollywood. Perhaps the most fanatical attendee of these showings is young Merton Gill, assistant shopkeeper at Gashwiler’s Emporium (general store.) Merton has studied… Continue reading Book Review: Merton of the Movies