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Continue reading →: Book Review: Neuromancer by William Gibson
“A brilliant, prophetic novel…but not perfect.” In the 70s and 80s I was an absolute confirmed sci-fi freak and loved, not just the new stuff akin to my age at the time – like Star Wars and Star Trek – but also all the old classics such as Asimov, Anne…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries VI – The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina by Caroline Lawrence
“It is no wonder that Lawrence won awards for making Roman history interesting.” Continuing my series of reviews on the entire Roman Mysteries series by children’s author, Caroline Lawrence, I have finally, definitively read the first book I hadn’t read before or knew anything about. My goodness, how good it…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries V – The Dolphins of Laurentum by Caroline Lawrence
“It isn’t where I thought things were going.” For those of you who have been following this series of reviews about Caroline Lawrence’s historical novels for older children, I can tell you: this is the book. By that, I mean, this is the book that features ‘the kiss’ that lead…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries IV – The Assassins of Rome by Caroline Lawrence
“Lawrence writes with superb accuracy, weaving total fiction with documented fact…” Continuing my series of reviews covering a fondly-remembered set of books (see previous reviews for books I, II and III). Book IV is another one I’ve definitely read – I recall the scenes even if I could recall little…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries III – The Pirates of Pompeii
“If tales of destruction and kidnapping of children can be said to be damned good fun – then this is it!” Continuing to work my way through this collection of novels from the brilliant Caroline Lawrence – some read many years previously – and trying to work out what I…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries II – The Secrets of Vesuvius by Caroline Lawrence
“There’s no better way to get into Roman history…” Out of all the books I recall reading from this series long ago, this is the one that remained most lodged in my mind. I could recall the ending before reading and, as I began reading the book, other parts came…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“…Mukherjee speaks with such love, care and humility…he could make the weather forecast sound interesting,,,” There’s something rather special about reading a book by someone you’ve never heard of, loving it, and then finding they are a famous author of several books. It kind of legitimises their success, in my…
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Continue reading →: Book Review: The Roman Mysteries I – The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence
“…exactly the kind of thing older children want and young adults expect in a satisfying book.” On a sudden whim, I bought the entire collection of the Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence just recently. They take me back to my days of teaching in Bangladesh when my children were…
Hello, I’m Ken.
Welcome to Write Out Loud, my blog dedicated to all sorts of things to do with writing.
This page will be updated constantly every week with book reviews and writing-related stuff.
The blog is the baby sister of my personal blog kenthinksaloud where I write ‘Monday Murmurings’—insights into life and philosophy. Get a clever take on politics with ‘Wednesday Banker,’ and ‘Future Friday’ for the latest in psychology, environment, and tech.
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Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing) 