Category Archives: Books

Hooray! Phil’s long awaited follow-up book to Bad Astronomy hit the shelves last Fall; he doesn’t like to be addressed as doctor. He told everyone last year at the Iron Cactus get-together about it and I bought this at Book People … Continue reading →

Somara and I caught this tidbit yesterday through NPR. How fitting that a new Bond movie will be out this year. It’s a bummer he died so soon though. Then again he was spared seeing the awful adaptations of Moonraker, … Continue reading →

If you read Heir to the Empire right away in 1991 like I did, you may recall Zahn’s earlier novel mentioning the Outbound Flight project: an expedition to the closest galaxy that disappeared without any survivors. It was only important … Continue reading →

Although his body of work is small and his output was terribly inconsistent due to his lifestyle, The Great Gatsby is still one of my favorite novels. I read it again recently because I bought a used copy at Half Price … Continue reading →

History Lessons is really a collection of excerpts from foreign History textbooks and their take on particular events in US History. Namely, how the event affected their nation, what was their participation, how their textbook writers see it, etc. Besides … Continue reading →

I think my wife is more qualified to speak about his writings. He has been more of an influence on the writers I read during my bigger Sci-Fi period in high school. Heinlein definitely left a mark in the character … Continue reading →

Profoundly Disturbing was Joe Bob Briggs’ take on 15 films that changed modern cinema. Was? The book appeared in 2003. I bought it for my friend Doc as a gift then because he’s a Joe Bob fan. Recently, I stumbled … Continue reading →

Years ago I heard of this book on NPR and was intrigued about Rifkin’s exuberence over how hydrogen power could decentralize the grid, end America’s addiction to oil, slow or lessen Global Warming and create whole new domestic industries, ergo, … Continue reading →

Chris Mooney’s book is a frightening wake-up call about the attacks on Science from the Republicans and their allies of Industry and Religious Fundamentalism. Only recently have their efforts been rewarded but it’s a campaign that is 40 years in … Continue reading →

I’ve only read one of his books, Cuba Libre, but I must tip my hat to him because he has influenced other writers I have read at greater length, namely Carl Hiassen and (indirectly) James Ellroy: Hiassen for the cruel humor; … Continue reading →

Welcome to Ethan Jarlewski’s life, the narrator and protaganist of JPod. Firstly, it has absolutely nothing to do with Apple’s iPod. The J moniker is a nickname tagged on to a pod of cubicles all accidentally occupied by people whose last … Continue reading →

(This book review was originally written by my friend Tom.) Imperial Hubris written by Michael Scheuer is a fair analysis of US policy in the “Global War on Terror” and what we are doing wrong. As a former CIA analyst on … Continue reading →