Nicholas Bruner
Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Author
Tag: book reviews
What I’m Reading: In Pursuit of Gotham: Culture and Commerce in New York
In Pursuit of Gotham: Culture and Commerce in New York is a 1992 collection of ten scholarly essays by William A. Taylor, a cultural historian. The essays examine the culture of New York from about 1890 to 1930, when, according to Taylor, America had… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: In Pursuit of Gotham: Culture and Commerce in New York”
What I’m Reading: Overboard
Overboard, by S.C. Megale, is a steampunk humor fantasy, though that description hardly does justice to this incredibly inventive novel. I’m struggling to think of an apt comparison. Is it like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy set on a cruise ship? Or perhaps it’s… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Overboard”
What I’m Reading: Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West
Nature’s Metroplis: Chicago and the Great West, by William Cronon, is a thorough, detailed book about the history of Chicago. Yet it doesn’t give an account of the labor movement, the ward system, mayors or aldermen, or the elevated trains, and only the barest… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West”
What I’m Reading: The Court of Silver Flames
The Court of Silver Flames, by Sarah J. Maas, is a bit of an experimental read for me. I don’t normally listen to recorded books, but I’ve made some long-ish car trips recently and wanted something to listen to, so I chose this, a… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: The Court of Silver Flames”
What I’m Reading: Viper and Steel
Viper and Steel is the third book in the Guilds of Ilbrea series by Megan O’Russell. I have previously read and reviewed both the first one, Inker and Crown, and the second one, Myth and Storm. The series is about the Karron clan, six… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Viper and Steel”
What I’m Reading: Locksmith at the End of the World
High Concept refers to a book or movie plot that can be easily described with one phrase. In Locksmith at the End of the World, a novella by Angela Glascock, that phrase is “zombie apocalypse from a dog’s point of view.” The first line… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: Locksmith at the End of the World”
What I’m Reading: Song of Echoes
Song of Echoes, by R.E. Palmer, is an epic fantasy with well-drawn characters and a classic feel. It starts off slowly but builds powerfully, its sympathetic characters operating in a beautifully-described landscape of rugged mountains and primoridal forests and swamps.
What I’m Reading: The Night Country
The Night Country, by the late Penn anthropologist Loren Eiseley, is a collection of fourteen essays united by the themes of nightime, darkness, or dreams. Some of the essays are memoir-ish, recollecting Eiseley’s strange and lonely childhood with a deaf mother and mostly absent… Continue Reading “What I’m Reading: The Night Country”
