Book Review: Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport

Book Review: Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport by Victor Appleton The Tom Swift series of books are about a young inventor who gets into various adventures involving the technology he works with. They started out relatively realistic, with him as a teenager who tinkers with motorcycles and motorboats that he comes into possession of,… Continue reading Book Review: Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1 by Various Creators Much like DC, Marvel Comics also had dedicated superhero team-up series. Marvel Two-in-One featured perennial favorite character Benjamin Grimm, the Thing of the Fantastic Four–and I’ve never done a review of anything with him before, so first, a bit of character history! Fantastic Four… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1

Movie Review: Champagne

Our heroine fresh from crashing a plane.

Movie Review: Champagne (1928) directed by Alfred Hitchcock The Girl (Betty Balfour) is a spoiled heiress who is in love with The Boy (Jean Bradin.) The Father (Gordon Harker) thinks the boy is a “cake hound” who is after the family money, so has forbidden the girl to see him. The girl promptly hired a plane… Continue reading Movie Review: Champagne

Book Review: The Hunt for Red October

Book Review: The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy Captain First Rank Marko Ramius has in a way been preparing for this moment his entire life. He’s spent decades building an exemplary reputation as a submarine officer and commander, and training a cadre of officers who are more loyal to him than to the… Continue reading Book Review: The Hunt for Red October

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Book Review: Classic American Short Stories compiled by Michael Kelahan This book is more or less exactly what it says in the title, a compilation of short(ish) stories written by American authors, most of which are acknowledged as classics by American Lit professors.  The stories are arranged by author in roughly chronological order from the… Continue reading Book Review: Classic American Short Stories

Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences

Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences by Pere Romanillos “Serendipity” is the good fortune that comes when you discover something useful or interesting while you were looking for something else.  Knowing how to grasp the opportunity offered by serendipity is one of those skills that every scientist and artist should have at their disposal.  This book, originally… Continue reading Book Review: Great Historical Coincidences

Comic Book Review: Essential Ms. Marvel Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 by Various In 1976, Marvel Comics felt the time was right for another try at a overtly feminist superhero to appear in a solo book.  (Their first stab was 1973’s The Cat, who became Tigra.)  Someone, probably Gerry Conway, who would be the first writer on the series,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Ms. Marvel Vol. 1

Book Review: Outlaws of the Atlantic: Sailors, Pirates and Motley Crews in the Age of Sail

Book Review: Outlaws of the Atlantic: Sailors, Pirates and Motley Crews in the Age of Sail by Marcus Rediker Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. During the Age of Sail, the deep ocean sailing ship was one of the… Continue reading Book Review: Outlaws of the Atlantic: Sailors, Pirates and Motley Crews in the Age of Sail

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson One hundred years ago this month, May 7, 1915, the Cunard Lines ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine, the U-20, killing over a thousand crew and passengers (and three German stowaways whose true identities were never determined.)  123 of… Continue reading Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Comic Book Review: Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1

Comic Book Review: Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1 Edited by Stan Lee Namor, the Sub-Mariner, first appeared in Marvel Comics #1 in 1939.  The son of Captain Robert McKenzie, an icebreaker commander assigned to the Antarctic area, and Princess Fen of Atlantis, Namor possessed hybrid vigor that made him stronger than any ten humans or Atlanteans, the… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Sub-Mariner Vol. 1