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Category Archives: Reviews
COVID Reviews #4: Persians, Nukes, and Bugs
On Wednesday I will have my COVID retest, annnnd I hope to have an answer by Thursday or Friday if I am fit for public consumption. I hope so: being in quarantine is a bit like being in a nursing … Continue reading
COVID Reviews #3: Romans, Dogs, and Saudis
I don’t know if anyone misses my usual chatty, sometimes florid reviews, but they’re impossible to do on a phone. More mini-reviews it is! Continuing my onslaught of the TBR pile, I finished Lives of Famous Romans, by Olivia Coolridge. … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged animal domestication, Arabia, Central Asia, history, Islam, Middle East, Persia-Iran, Rome
4 Comments
COVID Reviews #2: Afghans and Turks and Austrians, oh my!
Khaled Hosseini’s third book is also his most unusual. His previous two books followed friendships which which were forged, broken, and tested over the years as Afghanistan reeled from one chaotic event to another. And the Mountains Echoed is more … Continue reading
Posted in historical fiction, history, Reviews
Tagged Austria, historical fiction, history, Middle East, Turkey
2 Comments
Of Putin, Hamilton, wars, and corona
I entered quarantine on Tuesday, immediately after having my COVID test done. Since then my physical condition has improved (coughing is minimal, energy levels are much better) although until I test negative I’m still locked away from the public. I’ve … Continue reading
The Forest Unseen
In his Becoming Wild, Carl Safina remarked, “How long and rich a morning can be if you bring yourself fully to it. Come to a decent place. Bring nothing to tempt your attention away. Immerse in the timelessness of reality. … Continue reading
What Judgments Come
Star Trek Vanguard: What Judgments Come© 2011 Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore354 pages For three years, Vanguard Station’s mission of facilitating the exploration and colonization of the Taurus Reach has been sidetracked by its covert attempts to come to grips … Continue reading
Becoming Wild
Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace© 2020 Carl Safina375 pages In Becoming Wild, ecologist Carl Safina recounts his time spent with field scientists studying cetaceans, macaws, and chimpanzees, to share insights and speculation about … Continue reading
Selections from “Becoming Wild”
“Until now, culture has remained a largely hidden, unappreciated layer of wild lives. Yet for many species, culture is both crucial and fragile. Long before a population declines to numbers low enough to seem threatened with extinction, their special cultural … Continue reading
A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns© 2007 Khaled Hosseini372 pages “There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they don’t teach it in school . . . Only one skill. And it’s this: … Continue reading
Posted in historical fiction, Reviews
Tagged Central Asia, historical fiction, Middle East, women
5 Comments
The Vanishing American Adult
The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming of Age Crisis , and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance© 2017 Ben Sasse320 pages Why are teenagers and young adults floundering into maturity? Ben Sasse believes that much of the problem is … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture
Tagged Ben Sasse, education, marriage and family, Society and Culture
4 Comments
