Messi vs. Ronaldo by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg
I've read two other books by Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg: The Club, which was about the English Premier League, and The Formula, about Formula 1. I'm a novice football fan and I don't follow racing of any kind at all, but in each case, Robinson and Clegg did such … [Read more]
Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror by Ellen Datlow (editor)
In this anthology of psychological horror, we encounter killers, madmen, and twisted families in this presentation of the many shades of human depravity. My preferred subgenre of horror is psychological horror. Here there's no ghosts or curses or demons - just the strange and terrifying excesses … [Read more]
The Puppy Primer (Second Ed.) by Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, and Brenda Scidmore
Recently, someone gave my ex-spouse a puppy, a tiny rat terrier who seems to be composed largely of clever brown eyes and tiny razor-sharp teeth since the remainder of his body wiggles at speeds that make it difficult to fully perceive. Unfortunately, my ex also became very ill, and asked me to care … [Read more]
Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell
Fashion can say a lot about the people that wear it and the places they occupy in time and space. As such, women starting to wear pants is a shorthand for progress in feminism - but, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell argues, the evolution of skirts over the twentieth century too has plenty to say. Like … [Read more]
The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima
Raisa takes the throne as Queen, but there is still much work to be done as well as the threat of invasion. Someone is murdering wizards, political machinations abound, and pressure for Raisa to marry. Raisa and Han are struggling both with the fact that almost everyone seems to be against Han in … [Read more]
Gyo by Junji Ito
Gyo follows the increasingly grotesque misfortunes of Tadashi, a young man enjoying a seaside getaway with his girlfriend at his uncle’s coastal home when an inexplicably foul smell begins to fill the air. This isn’t your standard low-tide whiff — it’s an invasive, putrid stench that sends his … [Read more]
