Finally, after years of marriage I made good on my promise to take my beloved wife to the Cherry Blossom festival in Washington D.C. Unbeknownst to her and the kids, I slyly embedded a few history lessons in there as well. How can you not when in such an environment? We all had our own agenda, my wife wanted to see the Cherry blossoms (check), my daughter wanted to go the natural history museum (delayed), son wanted to see Lincoln (check) and Daddy wanted to see the James Bond exhibit in the spy museum (delayed, probably canceled). Enjoying a $5 corn dog (that’s FIVE DOLLARS EACH!!!) My wife grew up in the mid-west so she wasn’t much into history. I grew up on the east coast where American history comes alive. You learn about the Boston Tea Party and go to Boston Harbor, you learn about the Constitution and get to visit Philadelphia’s Constitution Hall, learn about government and get to see Congress in (in)action. JeneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyY!!!! Once I started dragging the family along on historical field trips they started to realize that the figures in books were actual historical figures instead of the equivalent of Grimm Brothers fair-tales. George Washington…

Thank you all for visiting my blog, you make everyday bright with your comments and support. For the hubby who puts on his plaid shirt while watching reality “manly” shows : And Now We Shall Do Manly Things by Craig J. Heimbuch For the friendly neighborhood geek who loves stuff that you don’t understand, want nothing to do with and already has everything: Tarzan The Centennial Celebration by Scott Tracy Griffin For the music lover who insists that books are “lame”: Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap Stories For the trivia lover that can name all James Bond movies in order when woken up from sound sleep at 3 AM: The Music of James Bond by Jon Burlingame For the father who secretly wanted to be a history teacher and practices the profession during dinner: The Liberator by Alex Kershaw For the wife of father above who can’t stand history books but wants to be able to prove her husband wrong at some point: Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal For the musical fanatic who is forced to switch his t-shirt and jeans in order to wear a suite to the office: Conversations with Jimmy Page by Brad Tolinski For your…

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 ruthlessness. 3 ) When MGM adapted The Mask of Fu Manchu in 1932, the assembled group of Asian villains (Chinese, Persians, Indians, Arabs) stated that they must “kill the white men and take their women”. The statement prompted a group from Harvard to petition MGM to stop from making further films based on the novels. 4 ) Before the US entrance to World War II (around 1940), the State Department asked MGM to stop making future films starring Fu-Manch. This was because China was an ally against Japan. 5 ) Once the US entered World War II the books’ publisher, Doubleday, ceased publication of the series for the duration. 6 ) The author, Sax Rohmer, stated in his biography that “Of course,…

Article first published as Book Review: The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva on Blogcritics. About: The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva brings back Israeli spy Gabriel Allon in this seventh installment. This time we find Allon as a weary, tired agent ready to hang up his holster and, unwillingly, accept his fate in management. 385 pages Publisher: Putnam Adult Language: English ISBN-10: 0399154221 My rating for The Secret Servant – 5 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format More Books by Daniel Silva Thoughts: I found The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva (web­site) to be a more current, at least in atmosphere, of the Gabriel Allon series. As usual with the rest of the series, the book is difficult to put down, a fast paced adventure and thriller which brings back familiar characters. The characters age with the books, which I like. None are superheroes, but people with issues and problems who only justify their acts to themselves by holding a high moral ground. However, this high moral ground must be broken from time to time which leaves them feeling confused and filled with regrets. The book is filled with many characters, bumbling politicians, Islamic extremists, non-extremists Islamic people and other hot button issues from current day world. However,…

When you play at it by day with the chairs and table-cloth, it is not in the least alarming, but in the two minutes before you go to sleep it becomes very real As I was watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies I couldn’t help be impressed with the presentation, scope, audacity and vision of the program. While some of my friends didn’t care for the program I thought it was brilliant. The ceremony was not meant to glorify the Olympic Games but for the English to boast about their country, promote tourism and welcome nations while navigating the viewers and guests through exciting numbers which include history, culture and literature all set to a wonderfully rich soundtrack. It was heartwarming to see the program recognize the great contributions to literature which have come from England. Starting with J.K. Rowling reading a favored selection from Peter Pan mentioned above (and doing a beautiful job, by the way) to Danny Boyle, the director, including many children’s books in the segment. I recognized characters from Lord Voldemort – main villain in the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, Captain Hook from Peter Pan, Mary Poppins – heroine of the books by P.L….

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O’Neill, is a wonderful graphic novel which take several famous (and not-so-famous) literary characters and mix them up together for an adventure of a lifetime. I thought it would be fun to read those classic novels and then the graphic novel to see how the creators managed to take such classics and mix them up all together.

Members of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service sent to rescue a group of archaeologists from Iraq they come face to face with several surprises

The detail Nesbø brings to his characters & to Oslo is riveting and compelling. Nesbø takes the reader into nooks of the city where tourists rarely venture

A fictional, fast paced page turner, set mostly in days preceding the Normandy invasion in WWII. The story’s unlikely hero is recruited by Churchill for MI5.

As we all probably already figured out, the publishing business model is in trouble. With the rising popularity of eBooks as eReaders drop in price what profit is there in retail book selling? Learning their lesson well from the faux pas of the music industry, the publishing world does not want to force consumers to buy the products they want to sell. Rather they would like to supply the products consumers want to buy. By no means will printed books go away anytime soon, but the industry has to look into the future and, frankly, face the inevitable. Book sales have steadily decreased for about a decade while production costs have risen steadily, since for many books both a physical and a digital edition must be produced (even though I don’t understand why, at this age every book is digital first). As the music industry found out that at $0.99 song is less profitable than forcing you to buy a $20 CD, book publishers are also learning that a $9.99 eBook is less profitable than their $25 hardcover sibling. Personally, I have no issue with them making less, no-one is entitled to my money. Yes, Virginia – advertisements in books…