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Aesthetics vs. pragmatism – what really matters?
Bob Moyer is back, taking a thoughtful look at a novel that depicts the travails of Germans and others caught up in the horrors of the cataclysm that was World War II. By Robert Moyer THE LIFE OF OBJECTS. By Susanna Moore. Alfred A. Knopf. 240 pages. $25. Beatrice, a bright young Irish girl, yearns…
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A most dangerous woman
A historical novel based on a real character, a rollicking tale of adventures across four continents, and a heroine who’s as charming as she is incorrigible – there’s a lot to like in this highly entertaining first novel by a psychologist whose first writing credentials were earned in scholarly publications. By Linda C. Brinson PARLOR…
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Danger at Windsor Castle
As readers of this blog know my now, I love historical fiction, especially novels set in the early 20th century. World War I and its aftermath in England have long been a particular interest of mine, partly because that conflict wrought such profound changes on the world as the British knew it. Charles Todd’s novels…
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When reality and conscience collide
I somehow missed reading Tracy Chevalier’s international best-selling novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring, which became an Oscar-nominated movie. Missing such books that everyone else is reading is one of the perils of being a book-review editor; if someone else is reviewing a book for me, I often feel that my reading the book would…
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French food, light mystery – what’s not to like?
Tom Dillon was almost apologetic when he inquired about reviewing Peter Mayle’s latest mystery novel for Briar Patch Books. The book is “light stuff,” he acknowledged. Never fear, I replied. Light is good, too. And on this blog, the only rules are the ones I set. Besides, how can someone whose most recent review was…
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Jefferson: No more Mr. Nice Guy
Paul O’Connor takes a look at – and a listen to – the latest re-examination of Thomas Jefferson, one of our greatest presidents (or was he?). By Paul T. O’Connor THOMAS JEFFERSON: THE ART OF POWER. By Jon Meacham. Read by Edward Herrmann. Random House Audio. 15 CDs. 19 hours. $50. Also available in hardback…
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The casualties in industry’s assault on science
The book Denis DuBay reviews here was published in 2008, but it is, unfortunately, just as relevant today as it was then. By Denis DuBay. DOUBT IS THEIR PRODUCT: HOW INDUSTRY’S ASSAULT ON SCIENCE THREATENS YOUR HEALTH. By David Michaels. Oxford University Press, 2008. 384 pages. $29.95. Once upon a time, seemingly in another galaxy…