The Armor of Light by Ken Follett, Viking, 2023 - Ken Follett’s latest book is the fourth in the series that began with ‘Pillars of the Earth’, set in medieval times and continued with ‘Column of Fire’, set in Elizabethan times. ‘The Evening and the Morning’ came next as a prequel to ‘Pillars of Fire’ …
DUNE PART ONE
DUNE PT. 1, 2021 - directed by Denis Villeneuve - It seems reasonable that if you pay $165 million to make a movie and collect $407 million in box office receipts, you can consider yourself successful. The profit may not be quite as good as Star Wars, which cost only $11 million to produce and made …
THE HALF-WAY HOUSE OF STUDENT PROTESTS
We haven’t seen student protests like those now underway on the campuses around North America since the American military was dropping bombs, napalm and agent orange on the Vietnamese. Fair enough, it is difficult to watch the brutal attack on Gaza without wanting to run around waving Palestinians flags and calling for an end to …
THE SECRET CHORD BY GERALDINE BROOKS
THE SECRET CHORD BY GERALDINE BROOKS, Viking, 2015 - In essence, The Secret Chord is a fictionalized account of the life of King David from the viewpoint of Nathan -in this book David’s counselor and prophet. The Old Testament, with its vengeful, hairy thundering god is a tough sell for me at the best of …
NEWS FROM ‘MURICA
Collapsing bridges, continued mass shootings, abortion laws from the 1800’s revived… MEH! What’s happening with the GHIT? Yes, nobody cares about much except following the best continuing entertainment show in ‘Murica. I speak of the world’s greatest comedian, the one and only Ronald Rump (former PREZ and Grand High Imperial Twitterbug), who is attempting to …
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN BY LOUISE PENNY
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny, 2013, Three Pines Creations - The Inspector Gamache series was recommended to me some years back by my friend Peach and, since then, I’ve spent a few enjoyable hours with Louise Penny’s sleuth. It’s a popular series with ‘How the Light Gets In’ the ninth in what …
AT THE COFFEE SHOP OF CURIOSITIES BY HEATHER WEBBER
At The Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber - Tor Publishing, 2023 - In reading contemporary fiction, I was coming to the conclusion that dystopias, crime, murder and mayhem were the only things on the menu - obviously far easier for writers to imagine than utopian bliss. It appears now that I wasn’t reading …
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WARLIGHT BY MICHAEL ONDAATJE
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje - McClelland & Stewart, 2018 - If you have fond memories of ‘The English Patient’ you will likely enjoy this book by Ondaatje. It’s written in the style of a memoir with the main character, Nathaniel Williams (called Stitch by Rose, his mother), reflecting on his life when he was a …
A FIELD GUIDE TO ‘MURICA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Heading into the fall, ‘Murica is now facing a Prez election - a prospect that has voters in the country headed off in droves to their favorite watering holes to kick back a few brewskies. In fact, a large part of the electorate is hoping the ballot will offer a box with ‘Neither Candidate’ in …
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MOVIES FROM THE UK – AN ODD COUPLE
The Duke - 2020 Netflix based on a true story from the 1960's and The Bank of Dave - 2023 Netflix based on a ‘true-ish’ story from the 2010’s England has a long tradition of eccentric nonconformists and their stories are often as entertaining as the characters are colorful. These aren’t the kind of nitwits …
Richard's Left Bank 