Paul’s Book Reviews

“We are all part machine, Kaaro. Your phone is a polymer under the skin of your hand. You have a locator chip in your head.” —Tade Thompson, Rosewater Rosewater by Tade Thompson A Goodreads friend said this about “Rosewater”: “This book is one of those discoveries that not only is enjoyable for itself; it’s good […]

You Can’t Read That! Banned Book Review: The Confessions of Nat Turner

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. YCRT! News Many Americans these days are engaged in protest. Reading in public, especially the reading of banned or challenged books, can also be an act of protest. Related: Using Banned Books to Teach Resistance. Not banning by any means, but […]

Paul’s Book Reviews: Vietnam, Old School SF, Radio Days, Tough Guys, Ghost Stories

“Page took the record that was playing on the turntable off without asking anybody and put on Jimi Hendrix: long tense organic guitar line that made him shiver like frantic electric ecstasy was shooting up from the carpet through his spine straight to the old pleasure center in his cream-cheese brain, shaking his head so […]

Trashy Novels, Trashier Opinions

There’s some bullshit meme making the Facebook rounds where you’re supposed to express unpopular non-political opinions. It’s a transparent attempt to get people to roll over and quit complaining about the tainted election of the second-place finisher, but okay, I’ll go along.

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 […]