Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & technology book reviews, plus social, political, & economic commentary
Back in October, 2020, I mentioned Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey’s memoir that celebrates his 50 years on Planet Earth, his quests for Hollywood success, his family, and the life lessons he has learned along the way. I wondered then if I would be able to get a review copy and write about it here … Continue reading Review Update: ‘Greenlights’ by Matthew McConaughey
Rod Davis’s New Addition to his ‘Jack Prine’ Private Investigator Series Offers Plenty of Action, Gunplay, and Southern Geography Labels can be attached to this new novel, the second book in Rod Davis’s “Jack Prine” private investigator series. For example, you might call it “Southern noir” or perhaps “grit lit.” Whatever. I call it “good … Continue reading East of Texas, West of Hell
A Home for Wayward Boys The Early History of the Alabama Boys’ Industrial School Jerry C. Armor NewSouth Books – paperback, Kindle Early in the 20th century, male juvenile offenders in Alabama sometimes were sent to the Alabama Boys’ Industrial School (ABIS), near Birmingham, rather than put into prison with adults. Their crimes ranged … Continue reading A Home for Wayward Boys: Keeping juvenile offenders in line…with God, rifles and a marching band – #bookreview
Enemies at Home A Flavia Albia Novel Lindsey Davis ( Minotaur Books, hardback, Kindle ) Can a 29-year-old widow make it as a private detective in first century A.D. Rome? Flavia Albia has some friends in semi-high places. And she has one very important family connection: She is the adopted daughter of Marcus … Continue reading Enemies at Home: A Flavia Albia Novel – A cool detective procedural set in ancient Rome – #mystery #bookreview
With my daughter as co-author, I have spun off a micro-budget one-act play from my short science-fiction screenplay DEATH ORBIT. The Kindle version is now available and briefly on sale for $0.99 USD. DEATH ORBIT: A Play in One Act is set in the future, in the seedy courtroom of an ice-mining colony. A young law … Continue reading Book Brief: Short screenplay DEATH ORBIT now on Kindle as a one-act play
Lunch with Buddha Roland Merullo (PFP/Ajar, Kindle, paperback) To be honest, I was not really aware of Roland Merullo until his publisher contacted me offering a review copy of an enticingly titled new novel, Lunch with Buddha. I could blame my “Who?” reaction on my intense focus toward reviewing technology books over the past two … Continue reading Lunch with Buddha – An entertaining, engrossing, thought-provoking American road-trip novel – #bookreview
The Seven Wonders: A Novel of the Ancient World Steven Saylor (Minotaur Books, hardback, list price $25.99; Kindle edition, $12.99) To be honest, until I picked up this book, I had paid zero attention to best-selling author Steven Saylor’s long-running Roma Sub Rosa series of mysteries set in ancient times, in the Roman Empire. The hero … Continue reading Steven Saylor’s ‘The Seven Wonders’ – A fine intro to Gordianus the Finder, famous sleuth of ancient Rome – #bookreview #in #mystery #fiction
Making Embedded Systems By Elecia White (O’Reilly, paperback, list price $39.99; Kindle edition, list price $31.99) Elecia White loves embedded systems. “The first time a motor turned on because I told it to, I was hooked,” she writes in her new book, Making Embedded Systems. “I quickly moved away from pure software and into a … Continue reading Making Embedded Systems (for things that blink & go ‘Beep!’ in the night) – #programming #bookreview
Making Embedded Systems By Elecia White (O’Reilly, paperback, list price $39.99; Kindle edition, list price $31.99) Elecia White loves embedded systems. “The first time a motor turned on because I told it to, I was hooked,” she writes in her new book, Making Embedded Systems. “I quickly moved away from pure software and into a … Continue reading Making Embedded Systems (for things that blink & go ‘Beep!’ in the night) – #programming #bookreview
A Bug Hunter’s Diary: A Guided Tour through the Wilds of Software Security By Tobias Klein (No Starch Press, paperback, list price $39.95; Kindle edition, list price $31.95) If your passion or desire is to find and kill software bugs and fight hackers, you should check out this well-written how-to book. Tobias Klein, an information … Continue reading A Bug Hunter’s Diary: A Guided Tour through the Wilds of Software Security – #programming #bookreview
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