Before I begin this post about the Golden Compass, a refreshingly original fantasy by Philip Pullman and a movie that will be released on December 7th, I have to mention that our very own xJane, with her exclusive Hollywood connections, has already seen and pre/reviewed the movie! Listen to tone of Bill Donahue (sort of [...]

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While visiting my in-laws most recently, my step-mother-in-law had occasion to be horrified that I’d not read the “His Dark Materials” series by Philip Pullman. “Could I borrow your copies?” I asked. She became, if possible, even more horrified. “No,” she replied, “I read them too often.” Later that day, I had a set of my own.

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by Brian Halweil The title should perhaps be not “reclaiming” but “exploring” as it is less a discussion of how and why to reclaim “homegrown pleasures” than a description of the changes different communities around the world are making in response to an ever more global food economy.

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Bored in Vernal, just so you know, I’m still working on my answers to your interview questions. GameBoy, CatGirl and I spent the day at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. It’s billed as the “country’s largest celebration of the written word”, and as devout readers, we try to make an annual pilgrimage to [...]

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the Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler I just finished reading this harrowing, gut-wrenching, and emotional book. There were moments that I wanted to throw up, moments that I couldn’t stop crying, and moments that made me want to stand up and [...]

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by Kathleen McGowan When walking through the airport last year sometime, I ran out of airplane activities (I’m somewhat limited these days) and found myself in an airport bookstore. Two books caught my eye: Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse and the Expected One, by Kathleen McGowan. Both appeared to be (in the little time I had [...]

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This is the final half of Elaine Frei‚Äôs two part review and reflection of Krakauer’sUnder the Banner of Heaven. In Part I of this review, I explored the story of Ron and Dan Lafferty and how they came to murder Brenda and Erica Lafferty, the wife and daughter of their younger brother, Allen.¬† While that [...]

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by David Leeming I just finished this. I picked it up at a recent trip to the library where, predictably, I was trapped for hours in the stacks pulling book after book off the shelves and flipping through them. I enjoy reading too much to speed read (I taught myself how in grade school because [...]

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I went with friends to see Elaine Pagels speak on the Gospel of Judas yesterday. The people at Chapman University introduced her by pointing out that her book, The Gnostic Gospels, is one of The Modern Library’s one hundred most influential non-fiction books of the 20th Century. Whatever credence you may give such lists, there’s [...]

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The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Witness the second little fruit of my resolution to review every book I read this year! It’s also evidence of my current Steampunk kick. The Difference Engine is a poster-child of Steampunk, and Steampunk is a visually rich sub-genre. Anime and film capture, for example, the [...]

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