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Tag: book reviews

What I’m Reading: Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself

Bottom of the Ninth, by Michael Shapiro, is about ex-Pirates/Cardinals/Dodgers manager Branch Rickey and his plan, starting in 1958, to create a new major league to compete with the existing National and Americal Leagues. HIs partner in this effort was New York attorney Bill… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself”

What I’m Reading: Guardian Forest

Are you tired of generic fantasy? Well, here’s a book that feels personal, a true expression of the author’s individual vision. The Guardian Forest, by Sandra Hunter, is a bit rough around the edges. To be honest, it could have used a pass by… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Guardian Forest”

What I’m Reading: Inker and Crown

If you like my Last Days of Atlantis series, I think it’s a good bet you’ll like Inker and Crown, by Megan O’Russell. They’re both multi-character-arc epic fantasies with a flawed scribe as a main character. And they both have multiple related organizations that… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Inker and Crown”

What I’m Reading: To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia

Bruce Kuklick is a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and his book To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia is a labor of love on his part. It’s also the kind of book I personally love–a mix of baseball… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: To Every Thing a Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia”

What I’m Reading: Markos

Markos is better known as the Gospel of Mark, but in Sarah Ruden’s new translation of the Gospels, she hews more closely to the original Greek than most versions. Hence, Mark becomes Markos, Matthew becomes Maththaios, Luke becomes Loukas, John becomes Iohannes, and Jesus… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Markos”

What I’m Reading: The Giants’ Spear

The Giants’ Spear is the final book in Jamie Edmundson’s Weapon Takers Saga, and all the various story arcs come to their final conclusion here. (I also reviewed the first book in the series, Toric’s Dagger; the second book, Bolivar’s Sword; and, the third… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: The Giants’ Spear”

What I’m Reading: Drawn From Life: Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne

Drawn From LIfe is a collection of essays by Michel de Montaigne, a wealthy Frenchman in the 16th century. He was a key early figure in the French Enlightenment and one of the best-educated men of his age. His father decided that Michel’s native… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Drawn From Life: Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne”

What I’m Reading: The Scar

The Scar, by China Mieville, is a sequel of sorts to the dark steampunk fantasy Perdido Street Station, which I have reviewed previously. It’s set in Bas-Lag, the same world as PSS, and we learn at one point that one of the main characters… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: The Scar”