Book Review: The Windsor Knot

Book Review: The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett Disclaimer: I received an advance reader’s edition through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. Some small changes may be present in the final edition. It is April 2016, and Queen Elizabeth II is in residence at… Continue reading Book Review: The Windsor Knot

Book Review: The Last Victorians

Book Review: The Last Victorians by W. Sydney Robinson Much as we sometimes like to pretend otherwise, historical eras do not have clean breaks. Bits and pieces of the Roman Empire lasted well into the Middle Ages, most of us have met people who haven’t got the memo that it’s the Twenty-First Century now, and… Continue reading Book Review: The Last Victorians

Book Review: Sex with Kings

Book Review: Sex with Kings by Eleanor Herman One of the advantages of being a king is that the rules don’t apply to you the same way as they do to commoners.  For centuries in Europe, this also extended to tolerance of extramarital affairs, to the point that many kings had maitresse-en-titre, the “official mistress.”  This… Continue reading Book Review: Sex with Kings

Book Review: Kings & Queens of Great Britain: A Very Peculiar History

Book Review: Kings & Queens of Great Britain: A Very Peculiar History by Antony Mason For about 12 centuries, the English have been ruled by monarchs, and eventually this form of government spread to all of the British Empire.  That’s a lot of history, and many kings and queens to take account of.  This small… Continue reading Book Review: Kings & Queens of Great Britain: A Very Peculiar History

Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7

Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7 (Winter 2010) Back in the day, the low-cost entertainment option of choice was the pulp magazine.  It contained fast, exciting stories on cruddy paper–a lowbrow art form that is still fondly remembered by some.  “Out of the Gutter” tries to be somewhat in that tradition. This is the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Out of the Gutter #7

Book Review: In the Wet

Book Review: In the Wet by Nevil Shute This is rather an odd book by the author of On the Beach and A Town Like Alice.  It starts as the story of Roger Hargreaves, an aging Anglican priest in Northern Australia in the 1950s.  In the course of his parish duties,  Father Hargreaves meets a colorful local… Continue reading Book Review: In the Wet