Happy October – Here’s a Pile of Horror

Yep, I'm just throwing these all in a pile. It's Halloween, and I have completed (nearly) the time honored tradition of reading horror novels only for the Season of Spookiness. Since every book is good at something, I'm awarding all the books I read this month with a "Best" something. Everyone gets a participation trophy!...

(Not that) The Deep by Peter Benchley

I'm not sure whether I've actually read Jaws or if I only think I read it because I've seen the movie. I'm pretty sure I've read it, or if not, I have a fever dream memory of how it was underwhelming compared to the juggernaut that is JAWS THE MOVIE BY STEVEN SPIELBERG. If you think...

A View from Nowhere: Becoming Animal by David Abrams

There are two kinds of species in this world: Humans, and everything else. We think we're pretty special, don't we? To paraphrase Gertrude Stein (poorly,) we're aware we're aware that we're aware. We're forever trying to pin down the thing above all else that differentiates us from every other life form that has ever existed. For every...

Hi5: Russian Criminals, Voyeuresses,Vengeful Dads, Psychic Cats, and the OG MPDG

Welcome to the 2nd set of Hi5 for 2019, an eclectic set of books with almost NOTHING in common. As I've mentioned before, my sister Dallas and I have been buddy reading 12 books a year based on specific categories since 2013. This year's challenge, termed Bookwolves, began in January with a classic novel, my...

Hi5: Werewolves, Rude Swedes, Bad Mothers, Addicts, and Seattleites

Since I seem to not be great at posting blogs lately, here's my new venture. Quick and dirty reviews of five books at a time. It just so happens I've read five books this year so far. Fortuitous! Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones (May 2016) Judge a book by its cover: Washed out grainy yellow...

A Walk Through a Burned Forest: The Fire Line by Fernanda Santos

The woods were still but not silent. I stopped and listened. No birdsong, no insects buzzing, not a fly or bee spiraling around my head, no chipmunks scampering across the trail, no rustles in the brush. There was no brush. No safe place for a bird to alight. No flowers for bees to feed on....

Judge a Book by It’s Cover! Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie

It may come as no surprise to you that there are indeed works by Agatha Christie that I do not own and have never read. Unless you know that I have a dog named Agatha Christie. Reasoning goes I should have all the books and know all the things when it comes to my favorite...

My Dog is My Cousin, Two Billion Times removed: Your Inner Fish By Neil Shubin

I take some pleasure in contemplating the relatedness between myself and my dogs. Somewhere, millions of years in the past, we once shared a common ancestor. I like to think there are little bits of DNA that we share in the cells of our very different bodies. Although I often gaze into the eyes of...

L’Elements of a Shipwreck: The Wreck of the Medusa by Jonathan Miles

Like all warm-blooded human beings, I have a certain list of criteria for what makes a good shipwreck story: Incompetent leadership. Selfishness. Cannibalism. Historical context. Drinking your own urine. Lots of lies and conflicting accounts of the event. The Wreck of the Medusa by Jonathan Miles satisfies all of these. More than a tragedy, the...

New Design, New Words, New Name

Hello to both of my regular blog readers (Hi Mom!) I want to introduce my new blog address and a refreshed design to symbolize the constant turmoil and change that boils at the core of man's existential being. Or I just wanted to switch things up. Reinvention is the engine of renewal. Let's all commit...