“…Hyam’s book has not aged too well.” I can’t remember when or where I first heard about this book. It certainly wasn’t a personal recommendation. No one I know would even conceive that such a book exists at all! I’m fairly certain it was a reference I came across while reading something completely different online.… Read More Book Review: Empire and Sexuality by Ronald Hyam
“After this storm, I think there’s more in the distance…” I remember the first time I read the fourth book of the Harry Potter series (The Goblet of Fire). Up until then, the books had been fun and brilliantly written children’s books – Narnia for a modern age, if you like. But then the fourth… Read More Book Review: The Roman Mysteries VII – The Enemies of Jupiter by Caroline Lawrence
“…I learned a lot more about McWhorter’s sexual preferences than anything else…” This audio book series is a collection of 36 lectures given by John McWhorter, reputedly a world-renowned expert on language, in the early 2000s (around 2004, I think). Almost immediately, he incurred my wrath while just introducing the topic. He makes a ludicrous… Read More Review: The Story of Human Language (The Great Courses series) by Professor John McWhorter
“…pure drug-like joy to read…” I’ll start by saying that I am not a detective fiction fan. Murder mysteries do nothing for me. I don’t read them, I don’t watch them on TV other than very occasionally or if they are classics like Sherlock Holmes or other such frivolous fun. I say I don’t watch… Read More Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Write Out Loud 