And then he became the murder victim in Archer Mayor’s latest novel, Marked Man. Of course “moving up in the world” is a matter of opinion; I don’t mean that he moved north, although he definitely did do that. No… Read More ›
Books
No pirates. And it’s not in Penzance. But it’s nearby: It’s Death in Cornwall.
What, I wonder, draws me to the Celtic languages and Celtic lands, when I’ve never even been there and speak none of those languages? Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish…all are missing from my language repertoire. And I’ve never visited… Read More ›
The books of the century (Which century? The 20th, of course!)
You’re surely wondering which books were the most influential, or most popular, or most important in the 20th Century. Fortunately, Daniel Immerwahr has done the work for you. “Who’s he when he’s at home?” you’re asking. Well, in his own… Read More ›
Another Jersey Girl Mystery
Five days ago I wrote a brief review of E.J. Copperman’s third mystery novel in his Jersey Girl series. I pointed out that I had inadvertently skipped the second novel in the series, Judgment at Santa Monica. I commented that it… Read More ›
Books with linguists
Read that title again: it’s books with linguists, not books for linguists. This thought came from a post on Language Log, in which Barbara Phillips Long asks whether “there are books with linguists as major characters.” Commenters came to the rescue, with… Read More ›
Great fun! This is a truly enjoyable mystery novel!
I am not a big reader of cozies. But this is a worthwhile exception. I’m talking about Witness for the Persecution, by E.J. Copperman. Or is it by Jeff Cohen? Anyway, yes, the word is persecution, not prosecution. You’re probably… Read More ›
The Oxford Brotherhood
If you’re interested in academic mysteries, read this novel. If you’re interested in Lewis Carroll, read this novel. If you’re interested in mathematical logic, read this novel. In all these cases, the novel in question is The Oxford Brotherhood, by… Read More ›
42: From crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life
Another exciting book from A.J. Jacobs! 42: From crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life is not the title of the book. As Lewis Carroll might say, it’s not even the name of the book. Nor is it what… Read More ›
What’s an “app crit”? And why should I care?
Perhaps for some odd reason you have never looked at a modern edition of an ancient or medieval text—whether in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Old Norse, Sanskrit, Old High German, or whatever. In that case, it’s not too late to start!… Read More ›
Back when Heinlein was antifa (really!)
When I was growing up and reading a lot of science fiction, the Holy Trinity of sf writers consisted of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert Heinlein. Often they were called “The Big Three.” They had a number of… Read More ›
Happy Bloomsday!
As you probably know, today is Bloomsday, the annual Irish holiday commemorating the 24-hour period over which James Joyce’s Ulysses took place. As you also know, I had announced in this space last month that I would be (re)reading that… Read More ›
Frogs? Yes, Frogs!
“Brekekekéx-koáx-koáx!” Unless you google it, you probably don’t know what that means or where it’s from. Perhaps it would be easier in the original Greek: “βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ.” No? That didn’t help? Well, I’ll tell you. It might help if… Read More ›
A strange book cover puzzle
You recognize this book, right? A glance at the cover makes it obvious what book this is. But then… You look again and start asking yourself why it says Garri, not Harry. And that reminds you of two things: It… Read More ›
Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to work there.
There’s a fine line between a dystopia and a utopia. Unfortunately, Dave Eggers chose to draw his line with an extra-thick marker. I’m talking about his fifth novel (fifth or so—but who’s counting?), The Circle. The story focuses on the… Read More ›
Index, A History of the
You’re in for a treat—if you read this will book with full focus and close attention. The title of this post is also the title of the book. Right away, you notice its form, and you realize that author Dennis… Read More ›
So you wake up one morning, blind in one eye, and soon you learn that you have a 20% chance of going blind in the other eye too…
No, it has never happened to me. And I hope not to you either. But it did happen to journalist Frank Bruni. I have just finished reading his resilient memoir, The Beauty of Dusk. Bruni’s affliction, non-arteritic anterior optic neuropathy,… Read More ›
A quiz: why can’t you read this?
Yes, I know you can read this, namely this blog post. The question is why can’t you read the passage below this paragraph. OK, OK, so it’s not in English, but that’s not the point. It’s from the Greek Old… Read More ›
“God created the integers…”
No, it’s not about theology. It’s about math! The title of this book, edited by Stephen Hawking, is the first half of a famous quotation from Leopold Kronecker: “God created the integers, all else is the work of man.” Actually,… Read More ›
My next challenge: (re)reading Ulysses!
Perhaps the title to this post is misleading: is it strictly correct for me to say that I am “re”reading Ulysses? Well, in a way. I like to claim that I’ve already read it one and a half times, because… Read More ›
A Pop History of Asian Americans from the Nineties to Now
The title of this post is the subtitle of the book, even though it describes it perfectly. The much more cryptic title is simply Rise. This is not the kind of book you read cover-to-cover. It’s more the type you… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 