4 stars – Page 56 – Looking For a Good Book

April 20, 2017

STORIES ON STAGE – Aaron Shepard

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEWING A REISSUE Reader’s Theatre is a bit of a lost art. From the late 1970’s through the mid-1980’s I participated in a number of reader’s Theatre programs – usually through church groups but also in my university theatre program. It’s quite likely that some of those scripts I performed in were written… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, ENTERTAINMENT

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Entertainment, Reviews, Theatre

April 19, 2017

POP TRAVEL – Tara Tyler

Take the Star Trek transporter/beaming device (and call it “Popping”), toss in a missing person, and add the creator/inventor of the ‘popper’ and you get the thrilling sci-fi/mystery book, Pop Travel, by Tara Tyler. A transporter-like device allows for convenient, near-instantaneous travel from one location to another by ‘popping.’ But just as with any other… Continue reading

MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY

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

April 18, 2017

IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW – Lawrence Block, editor

This is a brilliant concept – let writers create stories based on paintings by a well-known artist. In this case writers use the works of Edward Hopper for their inspiration. Editor Lawrence Block has pulled together an impressive list of authors but as with nearly any anthology, there are some stories that really stand out… Continue reading

SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Art, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews, Short Stories

April 17, 2017

OF CATS AND MEN – Sam Kalda

Of Cats and Men by Sam Kalda is a simple and charming book of brief biography/profiles of famous men of history and their association/appreciation/love of cats. The book is attractively illustrated with a painting for each profile. The book is entertaining and informative, and for all men out there who loves cats, affirmation that we are… Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, OTHER, Uncategorized

4 stars, Art, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, History, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews

April 13, 2017

WILL BRADLEY’S GRAPHIC ART – NEW EDITION – Clarence P. Hornung, ed.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEWING A REISSUE I really appreciate how Dover Publications is re-printing a large number of art books that otherwise might be forgotten. I was not familiar with the name of Will Bradley but his work and his style is very familiar. Bradley was one of the early graphic artists who recognized the opportunities… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, OTHER, Uncategorized

4 stars, Art, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, History, non-fiction, Reviews

April 6, 2017

THE TUMBLING TURNER SISTERS – Juliette Fay

I’ve found that I really enjoy historical fiction and there have been some really outstanding titles in that category in the last few years. And when I saw that there was this book, The Tumbling Turner Sisters by Juliette Fay, which centers around some performers in vaudeville, I knew this was something I had to… Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Reviews

April 3, 2017

THE CLUE IN THE PAPYRUS SCROLL – Gertrude Chandler Warner

When I was growing up and first started reading books (as opposed to picture books), The Boxcar Children were a real staple in my reading diet, so I was pleased to see that their adventures continue in this updated series. The Alden children (Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny) are now globe-hopping with the family dog,… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews

March 23, 2017

GIRLS & MONSTERS – Anne Michaud

Girls & Monsters is a collection of short, dark tales from the very talented, Anne Michaud. Michaud’s is not a name with which I am familiar, but then other than the occasional book, I don’t read a lot of dark/horror fiction. I don’t haunt the magazines the way that I once did, so I shouldn’t be… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, SHORT FICTION

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews, Short Stories

March 21, 2017

GHOSTS FROM OUR PAST – Erin Gilbert and Abby L. Yates, with Andrew Shaffer

Well, this was a lot of fun. Although this is a media tie-in to the new Ghostbusters film, there has clearly been a great deal of effort put in to this book to provide as thorough a read as possible. In fact, there were often times I had to remind myself that this was satire… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, HUMOR, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Humor, Reviews

March 13, 2017

THE WORLD’S GREATEST CHOCOLATE-COVERED PORK CHOPS – Ryan K. Sager

Twelve-year-old Zoey Kate is a cooking prodigy, born with an innate skill to combine unlikely foods to create a mouth-watering, savory meal, young Zoey takes out a massive bank loan in order to open her own restaurant and compete against local, world-renowned chefs for a cooking award. Helping Zoey is her friend Dallin, a large,… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Reviews, Young Adult

March 3, 2017

STRANGE HISTORY – Bathroom Reader Institute

I love trivia. My head is full of useless knowledge but I’m always looking to add a little more. In that vein, I love this sort of book (you might not want to play trivia games against me). This book is appealing because of the vast amount of trivia packed into it. Most stories are… Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, OTHER

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, essays, History, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews

March 2, 2017

THE EXECUTIONER SERIES, BOOKS 1-3 – Don Pendleton

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEWING A REISSUE Open Road Media has reissued The Executioner series in digital format and have bundled the first three titles in one digital book. I’d already purchased books one and two and reviewed them, but for convenience sake, I’ll reprint those two reviews here. Book One: War Against the Mafia As… Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Thriller