Paul’s Book Reviews

“like many families, everyone wandered around like children in a funhouse—they could hardly see one another around the corners, and what they could see was completely distorted.” – James Hannaham, “Delicious Foods”   Delicious Foods James Hannaham Seems like everyone wants to talk about the most interesting character in the book: Scotty, the personified voice […]

Paul’s Book Reviews: Memoir, Essays, Fiction

“Rivers perhaps are the only physical features of the world that are at their best from the air. Mountain ranges, no longer seen in profile, dwarf to anthills; seas lose their horizons; lakes have no longer depth but look like bright pennies on the earth’s surface; forests become a thin impermanent film, a moss on […]

Saturday Bag o’ You-Know-What

This election. Someone observed it’s like unexpected guests drop by after work and you’re discussing dinner options. Some want to call for pizza, some want to kill and eat the others. Even if pizza wins, there’s a problem.

You Can’t Read That! Banned Book Review Lookback: A Wrinkle in Time

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. YCRT! News Roundup This is an interesting exchange: Elementary school librarian to author: It’s not that I don’t think heroin addiction is extremely important. Our community has faced its share of heartbreaking stories in regards to drug abuse but fourth […]

Saturday Bag o’ Dryness

Up early this morning. Took a shower, toweled off, put on clean dry clothes, went outside to clean up dog poop and replenish bird feeders. Note to birds: no disrespect intended. Note to self: next time, shower after outside chores are done. You guessed it: a muggy morning in Tucson. You all know the delightful feeling of breaking […]

Paul’s Book Reviews

“People tend to think of military science as strategy and weapons—fighting, bombing, advancing. All that I leave to the memoir writers and historians. I’m interested in the parts no one makes movies about—not the killing but the keeping alive.” — Mary Roach, Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at […]

Saturday Bag o’ Brexit

Q, our grandson, has been here the past week, bunking in our home office. I barged in this morning to check email and update the blog. While I was at it, we took a selfie. It’s been a domestic week, watching young people’s stuff on TV (Battlebots, which was too frenetic to endure; Zootopia, clever […]

You Can’t Read That! Banned Book Review: Beyond Magenta

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. YCRT! News Right-wing conservatives get upset about book banning too. But are schools in Portland, Oregon, actually banning textbooks that deny or call into question climate change? Not really. Texas schools were encouraged to teach Mexican-American history. They’re off to a great start with […]