Arti­cle first pub­lished as Book Review: ‘March Violets’ by Philip Kerr on Blog­crit­ics About: March Violets by Philip Kerr is the first in a series of noir novels about Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who turned private investigator. March violets refers to Germans who went along with the Nazi violence mindlessly. 256 pages Publisher: Penguin Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0142004146 My rating for March Violets – 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format More Books by Philip Kerr More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: I read a few Bernie Gunther books before this one, but after I read the first one I ran out (meaning inside) to the store (Internet) and browsed (searched) for used copies of the series. Being a single minded Neanderthal, as my beloved wife can attest to, I decided to read March Violets first because… well… it’s first. The novel has a murder/mystery aspect but even more fascinating is the sense of coping with Nazi horrors on a daily base. The sense of the Nazis taking over and destroying souls feels very real in this novel and is an underlying horror which is present on every page. The book’s psychological aspect (intended or not) of just how…

What would you sacrifice in the name of faith? What would you choose when faced with impossible choices—the salvation of your soul, or the lives of millions? I often write about choice and sacrifice, thrusting ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and presenting them with difficult choices. I also wonder what I would sacrifice for another person: money, freedom, my health, even my own life. I especially marvel at people who do give up their lives for others. I had friend, a soldier, who threw his body onto a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. I was in living India at the time—trying to find myself—when I heard this sad but heroic story and gained much-needed perspective on my own quest. I went through most of my life thinking the greatest sacrifice a person can make is giving up their life in service to another. But times and values change. Now it seems that many people have a greater attachment to their faith then their lives; they would more quickly die for their God than their fellow man—regardless of the consequences. Acts of terror, random shootings, myriad crimes that we could hardly imagine a few years ago are not…

The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti is a debut novel by this accomplished woman. The novel looks at the Middle East problems through a pro-Palestinian point of view.

Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (16 August, 1914 – 1 March, 2000) was a beloved writer of children’s picture books. Books by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers The author’s last name is pronounced “drain-yay” One of de Regniers earliest memories is her mother reading folktales and fairytales every night. One of Beatrice’s favorite teacher was the sponsor of the school’s newspaper sponsor and let her be on staff even though she was only a freshman. Soon Beatrice had a regular column (Diary of a Cub Reporter) and by the time she graduated she was editor-in-chief. Until her death, Beatrice considered that time as “the most important part of my school life”. In college Beatrice studied philosophy but wanted to switch to theatre. However, switching to theatre disappointed her parents, so instead Beatrice chose to attend the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. She then went on to attain a Masters Degree in education from Winnetka Graduate Teachers College in 1941. Beatrice went overseas as part of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration to help with Yugoslavian refugees who had landed in Egypt’s displaced person camps during World War II. While in Egypt Beatrice got seriously ill and…

There is no-one perfect in this book, Batman is flawed, Robin is flawed, even Jim Gordon has a mistress. Actually everyone in Gotham City are a bunch of crooks and criminals, with or without a badge or a cape.

After the Wall Street crash of 2008, the richest man in town is the mayor. Billionaires shed apartments like last season’s fashions, even as the country’s economy turns inside out. The young and careless go on as they always have, getting laid and getting laid off, falling in and out of love, and trying to navigate the strange world they traffic in: the Internet, complex financial markets, credit cards, pop stars, micro-plane cheese graters, and sex apps.

John Dryden (19 August, 1631 – 12 May, 1700) was an English playwright, literary critic and poet. Dryden was England’s first poet laureate and was also historiographer royal. Walter Scott called Dryden “Glorious John” A period in which Dryden dominated the literary life was called Age of Dryden Dryden was the oldest of 14 children and a second cousin once removed of Jonathan Swift During his time as a playwright, Dryden maintained that he was never good enough for his audience. Dryden was expelled from the Royal Society for non-payment of his dues. Of Dramatick Poesie (1668) is considered Dryden’s best unsystematic prefaces and essays. Her wrote that work in Wiltshire when London was suffering the Great Plague. Dryden had a long standing conflict with John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. In 1679 Rochester hired thugs to attack Dryden in Convent Garden near his home. Dryden was also known for his satiric verse. Dryden is believed to be the first person to state that English sentences should not end in a preposition. Dryden was buried in St. Anne’s Cemetery in Soho, however 10 days after his burial he was exhumed and reburied in Westminster Abbey. Zohar – Man of la…

An easy to read narrative of two doctors from two completely separate lives who work together by performing cataract surgery in the Himalayas.

Engineer Henri Poincaré works hard to try and bring up the frigate HMS Lutine which went down almost 200 years before with millions worth of gold in its belly. As a reward for his hard work, Henri takes a break and hikes at low tide across the Wadden Sea. Henri gets to know his guide, Liesel Kraus who is a director at Kraus Steel and is still haunted by a violent history and corrupting wealth.

About: Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs is the sixth book about the Lord of the Jungle. Even though this is the sixth book about a character with an established history, it is a prequel. My rat­ing for Jungle Tales of Tarzan — 3 Buy this book in paper or FREE in elec­tronic format More Books by by Edgar Rice Burroughs Thoughts: Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a collection of short stories which tell of the adventures of Tarzan before he met any white people. As the other books, these tales are very readable and make for a quick read. The stories are loosely related to one another and most of them are told in chronological order. In these stories Tarzan learns to love, develops religion, and philosophizes about the moon. Meanwhile, our prolific ape-man analyzes himself in relation to the other jungle animals in general, and specifically apes. The book is filled with fights, it seems Tarzan fights a representative of every jungle animal he encounters as well as the Gomangani tribe. The novel is filled with fast paced action and good characterization. For the modern reader however, the book will seem racist –…