August 2020 – Looking For a Good Book

August 31, 2020

THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE – Kim Stanley Robinson

I don’t know of any other author currently writing science fiction on environmental themes and yet our environment (cause and effect of global warming) is such a current hot topic. It is the year 2025. A new worldwide agency, called The Ministry for the Future, has been created to look after world issues and ensure Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Nature, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 28, 2020

THE PENGUIN BOOK OF MERMAIDS – Cristina Bacchilega and Marie Alohalani Brown, editors

If you are like me, when someone says “mermaid” images of Ariel from Disney’s The Littlest Mermaid film, or Daryl Hannah from the film Splash come to mind. Though lately the other image might be a creature looking half human, half fish, with piranha-like teeth – from Mira Grant’s excellent book Into the Drowning Deep. Continue reading

MYTHOLOGY, OTHER, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, Short Stories

August 26, 2020

THE GIRL IN RED – Christina Henry

Ooooohhhh … I really salivate when I see there’s a new Christina Henry novel out! And could I have read anything more topical right now? In the same way that Ms. Henry took the Alice in Wonderland stories and reset them in a darker world using different (but recognizable characters) and retold the action and Continue reading

Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 24, 2020

MISADVENTURES OF A MAGICIAN’S SON – Laurie Smollett Kutscera

There aren’t many twelve-year-old’s who know magic, but Alexander Finn was trained by the best … his father. But right now, Alex can’t see how magic could possibly help him. His father has died and his mom has moved them to her hometown of Orchard, Maine. Things couldn’t look bleaker and Alex doesn’t even want Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 21, 2020

THE PHOENIX AND THE CARPET – E. Nesbit

Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb, who were last seen in Five Children and It are back for another adventure in The Phoenix and the Carpet. This adventure starts as the children are playing in the nursery with some fireworks and they accidentally burn the rug. (Wait a minute … children Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

August 19, 2020

THE CITY OF MIRRORS – Justin Cronin

Justin Cronin finishes off his epic, The Passage, trilogy with The City of Mirrors. Time has passed since ‘The Twelve’ got their butts kicked. Life is good and the sense of real community is growing again. Amy is missing but she is being seen in peoples’ dreams. And we get to know Zero. We really Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 17, 2020

CORPORATE GUNSLINGER – Doug Engstrom

Thank you, Doug Engstrom! Corporate Gunslinger is a tremendously unique, remarkable literary experience. Kira Clark is an aspiring actress. She has financed her education through loans. And with acting being what it is, she borrowed just to pay rent or to pay the premium on her school loans. with debt compounding, Kira faces a grim Continue reading

OTHER, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

August 14, 2020

FIRST YOU WRITE A SENTENCE – Joe Moran

Has ever more been written about less? I am always on the lookout for new, clever books about writing (and believe me, there is no shortage of such books) and this one definitely caught my interest. But reading it was sometimes a long, slow journey through Alphabetland. It wasn’t until I was nearly halfway through Continue reading

NON-FICTION

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews

August 12, 2020

I, CRIMSONSTREAK – Matt Adams

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, by now you must know that I enjoy superheroes and superhero fiction. Finding books, as opposed to graphic novels (essentially book-length comics) was, at one time, relatively rare, though there’s been a bit of a boon in such titles. I read the follow-up Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, superheroes

August 10, 2020

TORTURE OF THE MOUNTAIN MAN – William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone

In Audubon, Texas the sheriff, Andrew Peabody, is out of commission when, while trying to arrest a criminal, a bullet rips through his chest. The local doctor says it doesn’t look good – the bullet is too close to the heart and he knows he doesn’t have the skill set to remove it safely. But Continue reading

Uncategorized, WESTERN

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, Western

August 7, 2020

THE MORTAL WORD – Genevieve Cogman

“Peace” is the word as the dragons and the Fae are negotiating for a peaceful accord between the two nations. But the talks are being challenged when a key diplomat in the process is killed, stabbed in the back. To investigate, both sides agree to bring in Irene Winters – a bit of a rogue Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

August 6, 2020

MONSTERS & CREATURES – gaming

I first played Dungeons & Dragons (or “D&D” as it’s commonly known) back in 1977. A number of the people I first played with are still good friends (some have passed on, with others I’ve simply lost touch). And while I was never able to get my own children interested in playing D&D with dad, Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

4 stars, Entertainment, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult