Having just finished the Dark Tower series by Stephen King I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts about it while they are fresh in mind. First off I am glad I waited to read the series after the series ended. The main part of the series the first seven books were released over a twenty-two year period. A couple of them had cliffhangers that quite upset fans of the series as Stephen King relates himself. Overall I reading... Read more
Will Duquette blogs at The View From the Foothills where he can look out over Los Angeles from the idyllic spot he calls home. I have long enjoyed reading his reviews and am very happy to welcome him to the Bookshelf … where he can tell us if real men do read Jane Eyre (although I believe that Jeff may also be able to discuss that topic, now that I think of it). Will reads everything from philosophy to science... Read more
Crater by Homer H. Hickam My rating: 4 of 5 stars Crater Trueblood is an orphan and helium 3 miner on the moon, 100 years in the future. This coming of age story features an annoying best friend, a pretty tomboy, and a sidekick—Crater’s gillie, a sentient and sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells. Crater is chosen by “the Colonel” for a mysterious mission because he feels Crater may succeed where others have failed. All Crater has to do... Read more
I had noticed that TS of Video, meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor had been reading through Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics by Ross Douthat and quoting passages from it. The title and subtitle intrigued me as does the author and so I added it to my wish list and finally got around to buying and reading it. This book is sort of a history and critique of Christianity as practiced by Americans especially in the last seventy or so... Read more
Today being the Feast of St. Josemaria Escriva it is quite appropriate to post a review for Holiness for Everyone: The Practical Spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva, the latest book from Eric Sammons. In the age of speciality where every profession gets narrower and narrower in scope it is easy to apply this to everything. For example when we look at the canonized saints we mainly think of priests and religious since for many reasons related to process they make... Read more
I know. Isn’t Tor about science fiction? Where there’s a will, there’s a way and writer Mari Ness points out that Heyer’s Regency world was really a carefully created fantasy world. I’m gonna say that’s a legit point. Read her introduction here and then let’s all go on to the discussion of The Black Moth. I’d like to remind everyone that I read The Black Moth on Forgotten Classics, where you may download the episodes (free!). Read more
I know. Poetry Tuesday isn’t a thing. At least not around here. But I did want to share something bookish people will enjoy. And Catholic bookish people will enjoy it even more. This poem is from the latest Dappled Things Catholic literary magazine which I got a few days ago. The magazine has original art, poetry, fiction, reviews, and interviews. If you haven’t encountered it, you need to investigate their website and also try a subscrition. Now to the poetry.... Read more
Tim Bray, a fan of [Ray] Bradbury’s writing, is recommending to the Internet Engineering Task Force, which governs such choices, that when access to a website is denied for legal reasons the user is given the status code 451. … 451, Bray believes, would work nicely, as it would provide a tribute to Bradbury as well as reminding users of the dystopian future predicted by the science fiction author. Bradbury died earlier this month, leaving behind an oeuvre numbering hundreds... Read more
In which we get to the bottom of something silver, something gold … literally. Episode 190 from Forgotten Classics podcast. Read more
A special podcast marking the death of scifi writer, Ray Bradburry. The show includes a radio performance of Bradbury’s story, The Veldt from 1951. Read more
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