Fans of Comedy Central’s tv show “Drunk History” may be familiar with the story of Dr. William Minor: The Civil War doctor showed signs of struggling with mental health during and after the war (how could one not), and moved to London for a fresh start. Unfortunately, Dr. Minor suffered from the beliefs that all kinds of people were out to get him, and those beliefs led him to shoot an innocent stranger in cold blood. The American was institutionalized. Concurrently, Professor James Murray was […]
You Expect Me to Believe Everything You Say, Well, Okay
I wasn’t planning to review any of these books. I’ve read them all so many times, and they are all hopelessly outdated, especially Neither Here Nor There and The Lost Continent. These are books that I read and adored when I was younger, that helped me dream about a world outside of the small town I grew up in, and that even led to an aborted solo road trip when I was 21. Reading them after many years away brought back sweet memories, but there’s […]
Someone needs to live to tell the story …
I don’t remember how this novel ended up on my radar but it was in my Kindle’s TBR pile, and I figured it was a good time to start slowly working my way through some of the back log. The Weight of Ink is one of those novels with a split time line, with some parts taking place in the early 21st century, while the main story is set in London in 1650s to 1660s. Helen Watt is history professor on the verge of retirement […]
Truth is More Important than Modesty
Roald Dahl was the most amazing storyteller. He had a knack for always using just the right word or turn of phrase to enthrall, amuse, or disgust his reader. Boy is the story of his early life, from birth until leaving school to work for the Shell Oil Company as a salesman prior to World War II. Somehow he turns even a typical British childhood into something truly special. Dahl grew up in Wales but was educated in England, per his father’s wishes. The most […]