As a teenage reader, my book choices broke down into two categories: Tolkien and everybody else. (Yes, there was also required reading for school, but books like The Scarlet Letter and The Mill on the Floss had their own place, and it certainly wasn’t among the books I would ever read if given the choice as a 15-year old. But […]
Archives for 2013
Review | Calculating God by Robert J Sawyer
I lucked out when I found Calculating God. It was one of those I’m-bored-and-I-have-nothing-to-read-so-I’ll-browse-the-shelves-and-randomly-pick-something finds. I was in for a treat. Winner of the Nebula Award, Robert Sawyer presents an interesting thought experiment: what if Earth were discovered by an alien race, or rather, TWO alien races, and they informed us that, contrary to popular […]
Review | The Diviners by Libba Bray
As a punishment, Evie O’Neill has been sent to live with her uncle in New York City–and she is ‘pos-i-toot-ly’ thrilled. Evie’s Uncle Will is the curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult–also known as “The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies.” Soon after her arrival to NYC, Evie’s uncle is called […]
Review | Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 by Charles Murray
I have friends who remind me, regularly, that wealth is becoming more and more concentrated among the wealthy. Further, the “not rich” are making less than they used to, relative to the wealthy. In other words, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. There is a divide growing in America, argues Charles […]
Review | World War Z by Max Brooks
I am not a zombie lit fan. Not at all. But it’s getting hard not to turn around without running into it. With The Walking Dead an evening drama on AMC, blockbuster movie star Brad Pitt taking the lead role in a movie based on World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, […]
Daniel’s Favorite Non-Fiction Reads of 2012
Last year was a great year for good books, and with Britt’s example (check her favorites last year here), here are a few of my favorite non-fiction reads. I tend to prefer history over other topics, but this year’s non-fiction picks included sociology, economics, and literature…but all, still, with a link to history. In […]
Review | Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri
Description: Dragons love parties. Dragons love tacos. Most of all, dragons love taco parties. But beware, if you throw a taco party for some dragons, then do not put spicy salsa on the tacos. Dragons do NOT like spicy salsa! Story: The first time I read this book to my daughter I thought, “Meh.” But […]







