Article first published as Book Review: Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus on Blogcritics. About: Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus is a historical fiction novel which comfortably fits in the YA category. This is a well researchedand exciting book despite its intended audience. 304 pages Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 8-page insert of color photos edition Language: English ISBN-10: 1419704249 My rating for Shadow on the Mount...
I was intensely interested in English and world literature throughout high school and college. I devoured every classic and newly published novel that I could get my hands on—from Chaucer to Chabon, Rumi to Rushdie. And during that entire time—what I now consider to be my peak reading period—I somehow managed to forgo reading Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s infamous novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Sure, I knew that it ex...
William Saroyan was born this day, 31 August 1908 (d: 18 May 1981); he was a prolific writer of immigrant parents who based many of his stories on his childhood experiences during the Great Depression as well as the rootlessness of immigrants. Mr. Saroyan is known for his short stories and insightful texts. He won a Pulitzer Prize for for his play The Time of Your Life (1939). Books by William Saroyan 1 ) Saroyan’s was l...
When my son (5) saw his big sister’s summer project and “reading responses” (see here and here) he got jealous and wanted to do one also. Here he is with his first reading response of a book we took out of the library for him. A nice comment would be appreciated 🙂 Buy this book from Amazon.com After he finished the story he was even more excited to find out that there is such a thing as shoo fly pie – b...
Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion is the novel which continues the adventures of the son of Jim Hawkins, protagonist of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Stevenson’s book was originally published in 1883 and is considered a classic which has influenced many authors, readers and adventure seekers alike....
Military Strategy… can books get anymore interesting? Reading about heroics in battle is the stuff which makes books exciting, but strategy is what makes them interesting. Heck, The Hunger Games is about strategy as much as the Killer Angels is even though they are two very different styles of storytelling and genre. Of course there is the grandaddy of all military strategy books, The Art of War which is being talked about today a...
Article first published as Book Review: The Orchardist by Amanda Chopin on Blogcritics. About: The Orchardist by Amanda Chopin is a novel taking place in Washington State at the early part of the 20thCentury. This is Chopin’s first book and is a majestic debut, a new book which reads like an old friend. The pubÂlisher is givÂing away one copy of this book— use the RafÂfleÂcopter form at the end of the post to enter. 448 pages ...
This week I reviewed The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu. As it is with many books which have captured the public’s imagination there are varied covers galore. Below are some of my favorites. I especially like the first one, even though I wouldn’t have minded the leather bound (3rd one down) edition. There are several others Fu-Manchu books, I’m not sure I’ll read them all but I think the covers were certainly better tha...
1 ) The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, the first book in the series, is actually a collection of short stories. The novel was originally called The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu but the title was changed when released in America. 2 ) Fu-Manchu’s goal is to restore the Chinese Empire to its former glory. Even though he uses some despicable and cruel methods, the book does show him as a benevolent man who uses compassion as well as ruthless...
Dr. John Petrie, a physician and our narrator, meets his friend Denis Nayland Smith who served as British police commissioner in Asia. Smith seems to know all things Asia and the innate ability to get all the support he needs from British government officials. Petrie is, of course, knowledgeable in medicine, forensics, chemistry and an ace with a pistol – for good measure....
