In the early 1880s, the city of Austin, Texas was on the rise. The backwater at the edge of the United States was officially a boom town, complete with over 11,000 citizens, an air-cooled ice cream parlor, and an opera house. The town coffers were full, and the new Capitol building (under construction since 1882)…
Category: Reading Challenge
Review: The Martian
When the Ares 3 crew makes an emergency departure from Mars during a windstorm, they do so without their botanist. Mark Watney is killed on the way to the extraction point. But after the dust settles on the red planet, Mark is still alive. For now. He has no way to contact his crew or…
Review: Crocodile on the Sandbank
Miss Amelia Peabody, bluestocking and self-proclaimed “spinster,” has left England to pursue her passion for Egyptology. It’s 1884 — on the cusp of the 20th century — and she’s determined to spend her inheritance doing what she enjoys. En route to Cairo, Amelia meets Miss Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a young woman with a shameful secret. Amelia…
Quickie Reviews: Personal Stories
My 2017 reading started off slow, but I’ve kicked things into high gear in the last few weeks. So of course I have a review backlog. Let’s hit the high (and low) points, shall we? Work Rules! The subtitle on this is a mouthful: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and…
Review: Love, InshAllah
Finding love is hard, no matter who you are. But it might be a bit harder for American Muslim women. The 25 women who contributed essays to Love, InshAllah are planted between two worlds that seem very different on the surface. They are independent American women with careers and ambitions; they are also Muslim women…