Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: Minnesota Vice by Ellen & Mary Kuhfeld As I have mentioned before, Minnesota has many fine mystery and crime writers.  Mary Kuhfeld is probably best known under the pen name Monica Ferris, under which she has written nineteen Betsy Devonshire Needlework Mysteries.  (Thus the subtitle “Monica Ferris Presents” for these self-published books.)  Ellen… Continue reading Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: The Naturalist

Book Review: The Naturalist by Darrin Lunde Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President of the United States of America, was big on nature.  Specifically, he had a strong interest in natural history, and wanted to become/be known as a naturalist.  This new biography focuses on that part of Roosevelt’s life, from his boyhood collection of stuffed… Continue reading Book Review: The Naturalist

Book Review: The Ark

Book Review: The Ark by Patrick S. Tomlinson The generation ship known to its inhabitants as The Ark holds the last fifty thousand humans in the universe.  Er, make that 49,999…and falling.  When brilliant geneticist Edmond Laraby goes missing only a few weeks before the Ark is finally going to reach humanity’s new home in… Continue reading Book Review: The Ark

Comic Book Review: Wonder Woman ’77 Volume 1

Comic Book Review: Wonder Woman ’77 Volume 1 written by Marc Andreyko Back in the 1970s, live-action television series with a woman in the lead were rare creatures indeed, and one of the best was Wonder Woman, starring Lynda Carter.  It migrated from ABC (where it was set during World War Two) to CBS in 1977,… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Wonder Woman ’77 Volume 1

Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 3

Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 3 by Jiro Kuwata Quick recap:  The 1960s Batman television show was popular in Japan as well, and a tie-in manga was done by 8-Man creator Jiro Kuwata.  It was not based on the show as such, but on the Batman comic books of the time, so had a… Continue reading Manga Review: Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 3

Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue

Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue edited by John P. Gunnison Planet Stories was a science-fiction pulp magazine published between 1939 and 1955; it specialized in interplanetary action and daring-do.  (See my review of Planet Comics, its sister magazine that started publishing about the same time.  Covers tended to the formula of busty, scantily-clad… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #143: Planet Stories Issue

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 14

Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 14 story by Eiji Ohtsuka, art by Housui Yamazaki It’s finally out!  To recap for newer readers, the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is five students at a Buddhist college that each have skills or talents related to the dead.  They form a small firm that fulfills the last… Continue reading Manga Review: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol. 14

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter

Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter edited by Mary François Rockcastle This literary journal is published by Hamline University in Minnesota.  The title comes from another name of the Philosopher’s Stone, the transformative agent which turned base metals into gold, in the search for true immortality, as literature turns ordinary words into art.… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 15: Dark Matter

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind edited by Franklin Foer Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  The copy I read was an uncorrected proof, and changes will be made in the final edition.  (Specifically, a second introduction by Leon Wieseltier–an index may also be forthcoming.)… Continue reading Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

Book Review: A Curious Man

Book Review: A Curious Man by Neal Thompson Disclaimer:  I received this volume free from the Blogging for Books program, on the premise that I would write a review. This is a biography of Robert Ripley (nee LeRoy Robert Ripley), the cartoonist who created the Believe It or Not! feature.  I was fascinated by the paperback… Continue reading Book Review: A Curious Man