Alfred Anderson, reportedly the last surviving witness/participant in the World War I Christmas truce died today. If you're at all interested in the intriguing event, I encourage you to check out Stanley Weintraub's excellent book on the truce and its aftermath.
Author John Fowles has died at 79. I read Fowles' novel "The Magus" my sophmore year of college and loved it. It still sits on my bookshelf with a photocopy of the original last chapter tucked in the cover. Fowles rewrote several parts of the book after it first came out and those changes are […]
Robert Jordan's latest book in the Wheel of Time series, "Knife of Dreams" came out today. Blogging will be sluggish until I can finish it. I first started reading this series when I was in college -- and the end is finally in sight. This is the penultimate installment. I'm approximately halfway through, and I […]
No spoilers here. I finished reading the book early this afternoon. It's not quite as bulky as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," but it's still a substantial read for a book ostensibly targeted at pre-teens. The book didn't disappoint me at all and certainly leaves one anxious for the exciting conclusion to […]
Well, last night I finally finished up Daniel J. Flynn's book, "Intellectual Morons." For the most part it's an interesting -- and infuriating -- read. Flynn takes aim at everyone from eugenist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood to Alfred Kinsey a wacko pervert, much adored by the sexually evolved left, to Ayn Rand, the […]
I just got finished reading John Fund's book "Stealing Elections" -- if reading it doesn't cause your blood pressure to go through the roof, then call the coroner, because you're dead. At just over 150 pages, Fund's book goes very fast -- and that's a good thing. Over the course of the book Fund recounts […]
I finished Michael Crichton's latest novel, "State of Fear," a couple of weeks ago. It's certainly not Crichton's best work, it's not going to win any awards, but it's an entertaining read with a message: global warming -- as it is presented by many in the scientific community -- is bunk. If you want to […]
Scientific American has an article on real-world quantum cryptography. It's an interesting article for anyone who's ever had an interest in cryptography. Unfortunately, Scientific American's explanation for the process of quantum cryptography is a little hard to understand. If you're looking for a good book on the subject, I heartly endorse Simon Singh's "The Code […]
I finished reading Kevin Ring's compilation of the writings of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and I came away more impressed by Scalia's judicial philosophy than I was before. Though it is entitled "Scalia Dissents," not all of the opinions contained in the book are dissents. Ring outlines Scalia's judicial philosophy by using his written […]
I must confess that I was a little wary of a book about the aftermath of the Iraq War written by someone who actually acknowledges being an "art critic." By the time I actually began reading Steven Vincent's "In the Red Zone: A Journey Into the Soul of Iraq," any reservations I had quickly vanished. […]