Oliver Fischer, a self-styled bohemian, boardwalk caricaturist, and student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, enrages his banker father and earns the contempt of Philadelphia’s foremost realist painter Thomas Eakins when he attempts to stage Manet’s scandalous painting The Luncheon on the Grass. Soon after, he is ensnarled, along with Mark Twain and Andrew… Continue reading Review: The Caricaturist by Norman Lock
Freeman's Challenge is an informative and educational piece of historical work that explains the one of the first for-profit prisons and a brutal murder of a family that shook the town of Auburn in New York. I greatly appreciated Robin Bernstein's opening chapter regarding the contextual history of the land that would become Auburn. Bernstein… Continue reading Review: Freeman’s Challenge by Robin Bernstein
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What They Said ABout Luisa by Erika Rummel imagines a backstory for a real 16th century woman named Luisa Abrego, an enslaved woman of "Moorish" heritage in Seville who had been set free upon her master's death. Upon manumission, he also allegedly gave her a sum on which to live. Luisa then journeyed to Zacatecas,… Continue reading Review: What They Said About Luisa by Erika Rummel
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo is an enchanting tale set in 16th century Spain. Luzia Cotado is a scullion of secret Jewish heritage. Protecting her true lineage in a country ruled by the Inquisition requires Luzia to keep a low profile. Although well-read, intelligent, and witty, Luzia must play the part of the illiterate, dull… Continue reading Review: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and The Battle for the United Mine Workers of America by Mark A. Bradley is a non-fiction account of the 1969 murder of Mine union leader in running Jock Yablonski and his family in Clarksville, PA. Bradley's account of the inner political machinations of the Miner Unions in coal… Continue reading Review: Blood Runs Coal by Mark A. Bradley
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn follows the rise of Lyudmila Pavlichenko ,"Lady Death", famed Soviet Sniper of WWII with an official kill tally of 309. I first heard about Lyudmila ("Mila") during my early - mid '00s Russian history obsession phase of my life (everyone has one of those, right...?) A woman fighting on… Continue reading Review: The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
Like many, I know Starship Troopers from the cult classic 1997 movie. Although the movie is campy and satirical fun, the premise and world building is interesting and so I was curious how different the original book would be. While there are similarities in general strokes, the book is a lot less narrative in both… Continue reading Review: Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
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Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse is a fantasy tale set in a world heavily influenced by pre-Columbian cultures. Four great clans reside in the holy city of Tova: Golden Eagle, Water Strider, Winged Serpent, and Carrion Crow. It is the Carrion Crow from which Black Sun's story has its genesis, beginning with a young boy… Continue reading Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
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