Reach Out for Your Dreams by Susan Schutz My rating: 5 of 5 stars I came across this slim volume (again) while I was reorganizing my books and sat down to look through it, as is the wont of any good reader. Underneath the title “Reach Out for Your Dreams” my English grandmother had written,…
Category: Writings
Articles, essays, stories, etc.
Review: The Grand Design
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking My rating: 3 of 5 stars In The Grand Design, Stephen Hawking along with his co-writer Leonard Mlodinow go beyond A Briefer History of Time, which I reviewed recently, and enter the territory of philosophers. They claim that philosophy is the domain of physicists because philosophers have abdicated their…
Review: Trent’s Last Case
Trent’s Last Case by E.C. Bentley My rating: 4 of 5 stars I think it was an Amazon Kindle group thread on good public domain books to read that I heard of this one. I downloaded it to my iPod Touch and read it using the Stanza app. Apparently Bentley was a newspaperman, who wrote…
Review: Briefer History of Time
Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking My rating: 4 of 5 stars **I’m not really sure you can have spoilers in a non-fiction book and one that was extensively discussed in the press, but if so, there is a tiny bit of a spoiler four paragraphs down and on.** In preparation for my next-next…
Review: Clouded Vision
Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay My rating: 2 of 5 stars This novella by Linwood Barclay was OK. The point of the mystery is only partly to do with whodunnit, which is a good thing as there are little clues all over the place from the get-go. No, the bigger point is what will be…
Review: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson My rating: 3 of 5 stars I studied psychology in university and used to be quite interested in the psychopath, what made them tick, how to deal with them (warily). Back then, there was no scientific or physiological explanation for the psychopath. And…
Review: Instruments of Darkness
Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wilson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was looking for the Canadian author Robert Wilson in the virtual branch of the Toronto Public Library. He wasn’t listed, but this Wilson was. The blurb sounded interesting, and even more relevant, it was available to borrow right away. Most books in…
Review: Sacred and Profane: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
Sacred and Profane: A Decker/Lazarus Novel by Faye Kellerman My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sacred and Profane is one of those infrequent books with a perfect title. The title tells you exactly what the book is about; even better, it is lifted out of a dialogue in which this concept is emphasized. Titles are…
Paradise, Your Name is Canada
Though not my native land, Canada is my home. She was the place my grandparents first felt settled after being kicked out of Burma by the Japanese during WWII and wandering India for decades. She was where my mother’s mother learned about “ice hockey” in her 60s and became an aficionado of Hockey Night in…