This ambivalence regarding its readership is unfortunate, because How to Beat Your Dad at Chess (the title, alas, is uninformative about the book’s content) is an elementary introduction to tactics – and especially checkmating patterns – that would be very useful for…
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of Pervalism by M.E Ellis
M.E’s skill is consummate. Her voice, consistent and eerie, will ensnare the most reticent reader. An English setting, the backdrop for Brookes’ heinous acts, provides a rich tapestry of British culture that weaves depth and a strong sense of place…
A review of Write, Publish and Sell Your Book by Patricia Fry
Throughout the book are anecdotes from Fry’s own experiences, sidebars, bits of humour, and re-useable templates for everything from queries to press releases. In some instances examples are taken straight from The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book so…
Blue Arabesque: A Search for the Sublime by Patricia Hampl
It is a short book but has a range and depth that is uncommon. The skill of the author is disarming and the orchestration of this personal essay is flawless. Some books we welcome, but this is a book to…
A review of The Visitor by Maeve Brennan
Brennan writes this kind of emotional turmoil with lightness and depth, evoking the wrenching fear and panic that true loneliness induces. Neither excusing nor explaining Anastasia’s heightened sense of self-preservation, Brennan’s is a powerful and compassionate voice, one that haunts…
A review of Why Lasker Matters by Andrew Soltis
Yet surely the chief reason, the darkest cloud obscuring Lasker’s greatness, is to be found in the myths concerning his play. It has been said that he would deliberately play “bad” moves to unbalance the position in a game, that…
A review of The Well-Fed Self-Publisher by Peter Bowerman
Bowerman has a particular strength in persuasion, and if you haven’t bought this book because you’ve already decided to self-publish, the first chapter will convince you why you need to. There are a number of other books on self-publishing, some…
A review of February Flowers by Fan Wu
The moment of transformation comes late in the novel, and is handled so subtly that it is easy to miss. Nevertheless the reader is left with a satisfying conclusion that doesn’t limit the story with overt sensationalism. February Flowers is a beautifully…
A review of Escaping Reality by Geoff Nelder
Well written, clever and full of black wit Escaping Reality is a hard to put down, stylish romp. There are laugh outloud moments, in prison, on the run, and back in prison again, plenty of twists, a compelling cast, an evocative setting,…
A review of The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hall Iggulden
Yes, there’s a halcyon quality to The Dangerous Book for Boys, after all, in the main, children hardly learn history these days, grow up mostly without a well rounded education that includes Latin and grammar, don’t know how to make a…