Blog — Book Review

I don't usually write about movies, but can we talk about The Dig? It depicts the 1939 discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship burial, which dates from the Old English period. The first part of the movie is intriguing. We see the two lead characters (Edith Pretty who owned the site and Basil Brown who started the excavation) bond over their shared enthusiasm for archaeology. The movie focuses on the characters and their relationships, often at the expense of the archaeology. Carey Mulligan's performance of Pretty is moving, but it's a lost opportunity for a middle-aged actress to shine in...

Stumbling upon a bookish find is wonderful, especially when it is already part of your collection! While I was sorting through my books, I found this little treasure in the bin of books that do not fit on the shelves. I think it must have come from one of those used book sales where the prices are so low that the best tactic is to pile up everything that looks like it could be interesting, buy all of them before anyone else does, and sort through them later. There was (is?) one held at the university, which is particularly good...

Sherlock Holmes is everywhere these days: movies, two recent television series, innumerable memes, online fanfic... In Arthur Conan Doyle's day, the situation was much the same, though the mediums have changed. Numerous Victorian writers picked up their pens to write parodies, pastiches, and even advertisements featuring their own version of Sherlock Holmes. Today we are going to look at Sherlock stories by one of these writers: James M. Barrie. That's right - the guy who went on to write Peter Pan. Barrie and Doyle were friends. In fact, they were on a cricket team together along with writers P.G. Wodehouse,...

A Girl Called Foote falls into the category of books I found while randomly flipping through the ebook offerings of the local library. Isn’t it wonderful how the library lets us take a chance on books we wouldn’t normally consider? In all honesty, I chose the book because of its cover. It stands out from other library offerings in its simplicity. subtle, elegant, as enigmatic as the title, and reminiscent of old books – thus well-suited for a novel about a 19th century bookworm The book begins as an episodic novel, showing glimpses into the childhoods of the two protagonists:...

One might expect this book to be about the famous American aviator who flew solo across the Atlantic. It's not. It's about a mouse, a German mouse who wants to go to America because someone has, in fact, built a better mousetrap. (Cue There are no cats in America.)The cover caught my eye while I was browsing a bookstore in France. I saw a mouse on an airplane, and I was sold. The story is an inspirational tale of inventiveness and perseverance. I did see a review that accused it of being predictable, which is fair, but do we want...