Fun Facts Friday: Stieg Larsson
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / November 9, 2012

On t his day, Swedish author Karl Stig-Erland “Stieg” Larsson (15 August, 1954 – 9 November, 2004) passed away before he could witness his books becoming an international phenomena. Books by Stieg Larsson 1) Larsson lived with his grandparents Skelleftehamm in N. Sweden while his parents moved to Stockholm to pursue better job opportunities. Larsson joined his parents and brother in the early 60s. 2) According to Gabrielsson, Larsson set most of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in northern Sweden because that’s where he spend his childhood (Gabrielsson calls the area the “godforsaken places at the back of beyond”). 3) Larsson worked as a graphic designer and an investigative journalist focusing on right-wing extremists. 4) While on vacation with his companion, Eva Gabrielsson, Larsson started writing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He completed the manuscripts for what would eventually become the Millennium Trilogy over the next 3 years later. 5) The original title for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was Men Who Hate Women (Man Som Hatar Kvinnor). 6) A month after he submitted the manuscripts to a Swedish publisher Stieg Larsson – age 50 – a notorious junk food fanatic and heavy smoker, died of a massive heart…

Book Review: The Liberator by Alex Kershaw

Joining the Army to get away from the depression, 25 year-old Felix Spars arrives in Italy as a captain in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division – the Thunderbirds. Sparks proves to be a natural leader and a man of high intelligence, moral and respectability leading his men in 4 amphibious invasions, through the rough mountainous terrains of Italy and France and winter combat against the SS on the German border.

Book Review: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
4 Stars , Fiction , Latest Posts / November 7, 2012

Article first published as Book Review: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal on Blogcritics. About: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal is the second book in the author’s fictional series about Maggie Hope. As in the first book, Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, this book also takes place in London during World War II. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post. 384 pages Publisher: Bantam Language: English ISBN-10: 0553593625 My rat­ing for Mr. Churchill’s Sec­re­tary — 4 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format* More Book by Susan Elia MacNeal Check out this & more World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (web­site | Face­book | @SusanMacNeal) more personable and entertaining than the first novel, maybe because the first was an “origin story” with a series in mind while in this one the large cast of characters has already been introduced. The protagonist, Maggie Hope, grows more in this book, still feisty and strong, but also sensitive – fumbling her way through the castle. I liked the mystery and the story, but I think that the way Maggie Hope progressed as a character is the true success of this…

Fun Facts Friday: Stephen Crane
Fun Facts Friday , Latest Posts / November 2, 2012

On 1 September 1871, author Stephen Crane was born (d. 5 June, 1900). Crane is best known for his book The Red Badge of Courage. I must say that of all the books I was forced to read in high school, this is one of the few books which I remember. Books by Stephen Crane 1 ) Crane was born in Newark, NJ and was the youngest of 14 kids. 2 ) When his father died, the family relocated to Asbury Park, NJ. 3 ) Crane’s first book, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was published independently because it was considered scandalous (Maggie’s decline into prostitution and suicide) and Crane, a journalist at the time, could not find a publisher. The book received critical acclaim but failed to sell. 4 ) A year later, 1895, Crane published a book on a more popular topic, The American Civil War. The Red Badge of Courage was first serialized in newspapers and made Crane an international celebrity at 24. 5 ) Due to his celebrity stature, Crane was sent to Cuba to cover the insurrection against Spain. On his way he stayed at a cheap hotel and met Cora Howard Taylor who became his…

Graphic Novel Review: Escape to Gold Mountain : A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong

Article first published as Graphic Novel Review: Escape to Gold Mountain : A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong on Blogcritics. About: Escape to Gold Mountain : A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong is a graphic novel telling the story of the Chinese immigration to the United States and Canada. Mr. Wong is an Asia Canadian activist and an architect in Vancouver. 256 pages Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press Language: English ISBN-10: 1551524767 My rating for Escape to Gold Mountain – 4 Buy this graphic novel from Amazon.com Thoughts: The graphic novel Escape to Gold Mountain : A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong (website) is laden with dishonor and misery as is the history of Chinese immigration to North America. The Chinese encountered lynches, subjugation racial, cultural and legal discrimination from both countries. I do remember learning in school (but mainly on my own) about Chinese railroad workers in the United States. I did not realize how badly they were treated after they finished working and that the same thing happened in Canada. The graphic novel shows very clearly how badly these workers were mistreated as well as…

Guest Review: Pretty Little Dead Things by Gary McMahon
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / October 31, 2012

Reviewed by Ren Zelen Buy this book in paper format It’s all a bit bleak. Not that I’m saying that horror stories should be a walk in the park, of course not, but sometimes a little bit of light might not be a bad idea, just for contrast if nothing else. McMahon’s depressing tale begins initially as a realistically gritty crime novel. ‘Pretty Little Dead Things’ follows Thomas Usher, a man whose life is both ruined and transformed one night when he is involved in a head-on collision in his car. Tragically, his wife and daughter die in the crash, but Usher survives. He emerges with the ability to see the deceased – all kinds of deceased, except, it seems, his own wife and child. Overwhelmed by grief, guilt and depression, he considers his newly acquired ability as a curse. A sense of sorrow and loss inform all his actions, but gradually, with the help of an old flame, he begins to surface out of his despair and begins working as a kind of paranormal private investigator, hoping to help others that have died, if he cannot help his own wife and child. He investigates the murder of a shady businessman’s…

Guest Review: So Sad to Fall in Battle: an Account of War by Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Guest Posts , Latest Posts , Non-Fiction / October 30, 2012

Few people in America knew who Tadamichi Kuribayashi was before Clint Eastwood’s heartrending film, Letters from Iwo Jima. They wouldn’t have known by name that Kuribayashi, ultimately, was the man responsible for one-third of the deaths in the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater of World War II. So Sad to Fall in Battle is available on Kindle, hardcover, and paperback. Letters from an unorthodox general Eastwood’s work (which is based on freelance author Kumiko Kakehashi’s book So Sad to Fall in Battle) makes clear that Kuribayashi was no ordinary soldier. Interviews with widows of long lost soldiers and the very letters and pictures that Kuribayashi penned to his dying day reveal a man unlike any American-held stereotype of a WWII-era Japanese. Far from the suicidal fanatics portrayed in Hollywood (who did, admittedly, exist, though in greater complexity than typically believed), Kuribayashi refused to allow his subordinates to execute banzai charges. Where many superiors in the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were hyper-sensitive to class distinctions and made their disdain corporally known to all inferiors, Kuribayashi held the view that his men were not expendable. He ate the same rations as his men, drank the same water collected in rainstorms, and walked every inch…

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