Sunday, July 25, 2004
Bejing
A novel by Philip Gambone. An excellent, well written gay-theme novel. “Bejing will entertain and amuse many readers who aren’t gay or who don’t often read about travel.”(Quote from the book jacket by Gillian Kendall.) I was truly surprised by how engrossed I became in the story Gambone tells. I had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction and not a real life story. Highly Recommended.
Remembering Trauma
by Richard J. McNally. A very good discussion of the controversal subject of "recovered memory," particularly in the areas of child molestation and incest. Recommended. Click below to order the book from amazon.com
PBY: The Catalina Flying Boat
by Roscoe Creed. Non-fiction. Another book I'm reading for my novel Escape from Eden. This one goes into the history of the development of the PBY more than the war-time service of the airplane. Recommended. Click below to order the book from Amazon.com
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Black Cats and Dumbos (WWII's Fighting PBY's)
by Mel Crocker. Non-fiction. Personal accounts of PBY pilots. Another piece I read researching my novel Escape from Eden. Recommended. Click below to order from Amazon.com
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Blogging: Genius Stratigies for Instant Web Content
by Biz Stone: How-to. Good, easily understood instructions for building your own blog site. He's a bit off-hand in his writing style for my tastes, but once you get used to his silliness, he's easy to follow. Recommended. Click below to order from Amazon.com
Black Cat Raiders of WWII
by Richard C. Knott. Non-fiction. Interesting history of the Catalina PBY flying boats of the Second World War. I read it as research for my new novel Escape from Eden (which you can read about at www.glynnsbooks.com.) I recommend Knott's book highly.
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The Offshore Islanders
by Paul Johnson. Non Fiction. Stuffy and fairly boring, but better than Ungrateful Daughters (See above.) Recommended only if you're a British Isles Junkie. Click below to order from Amazon.com
Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown
by Maureen Waller. Non-fiction. Boooooooring! I didn't think it was possible to make reading about the history of the English Crown tiresome, but Ms. Waller has managed. Not recommended, but you can order it from Amazon.com as a soporific by clicking below.
By the Light of the Moon
by Dean Koontz. Fiction. Yuck! A very good example of why many people no longer bother to read. Bantam Books (and Random House, the behemoth publishing conglomerate that owns Bantam and a horde of associated imprints) as well as the Book of the Month Club ought to be ashamed. I didn't finish it, but this junk ought to encourage anyone thinking of writing a novel. If this junk can get in print, your junk and my junk ought to be able to as well. Not Recommended. You can find it yourself if you want, but I won't be a part of selling junk books.
Who Wrote the Bible?
by Richard Elliott Friedman. An excellent, very accessible discussion of the
authorship of the Bible based on the latest archaeological discoveries. Very illuminating, but a Biblical literalist won't like it much. Recommended.
authorship of the Bible based on the latest archaeological discoveries. Very illuminating, but a Biblical literalist won't like it much. Recommended.
The Neanderthal's Necklace
The Neanderthal's Necklace by Juan-Luis Arsuaga. Non-fiction. "A lively and very personal account of the earliest inhabitants of Europe by the Continent's leading paleoanthropoligist and hominid fossil finder." Quoted from the dust cover and a very accurate description of the book. I enjoyed it very much. Recommended. Click below to order from Amazon.com
The Future of Freedom
The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria. Non-fiction. Excellent book on the origins of liberal democracy and how it can survive in a time of terrorism. The author, now a U.S. citizen, grew up in India and he brings to the discussion a unique perspective of liberal democracy, particularly in North America and Western Europe. He also has an extremely persuasive understanding of the problems with Arab states in the Middle East. His book was written before the war in Iraq, but it ought to be required reading by those in our government who are trying to figure out how to win the peace in Iraq. Recommended. Click below to order from Amazon.com
Benjamin Franklin
by Edmond S. Morgan. Biography. Good book. I enjoyed reading it because Ben Franklin has not had much written about him in recent times. Recommended. Click below to order from Amazon.com
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Virtually Normal
by Andrew Sullivan. Non fiction. This was first published back in 1988 but it has never lost its revelance for homosexuals. Now with the relaxing of laws in the U.S. and elsewhere around civil unions for gay man and women, it is more topical than ever. Sullivan is an unreconstructed libertarian, which allies him (as a Gay man himself) perhaps too often with arch conservatives, but he is a firm champion of liberal constitutional democracy. I recommend this book highly. See the next review for an excellent discussion of liberty, constitutionalism, and democracy.To aroder from Amazon.com click the box below.
The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals our Genetic Ancestry
by Bryan Sykes: Non fiction. A great read! This book describes the author's successful quest using DNA to map both an individual's genetic paths back through the maternal and paternal lines. He can trace your ancestors back 20,000 years. That's right, 20,000. That's a lot of ancestors. If you are a man, you can have your Y chromosome tested and entered into a data base that can possibly connect you with male kinfolks with the same last name. It costs under $200.00 for the first 25 markers. To order directly from Amazon.com,click the link below.
