This Brobdingnagian book measures about 24cm by 33cm across and has 400 or so pages, pretty much all in colour.
At the very start there is an interview with the great Neal Adams, a comic book artist with a cinematic style who graced Batman with a sinister elegance (his Batman was modelled on Christopher Lee’s Dracula, if I remember aright), paving the way for Frank Miller’s later and even more radical reimagining of the Dark Knight.
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of Vassily Ivanchuk: 100 Selected Games by Nikolay Kalinichenko
Kalinichenko presents a vivid portrait of this brilliant player, still active and creative in his mid-‘40s, and does a good job of making his inspirational games accessible to a wide audience.
A review of Finding Chess Jewels by Michael Krasenkow
Krasenkow’s introduction gives some thoughts and tips on how to analyse a position and calculate variations, both when solving puzzles and in an actual game, and this is followed by about 250 tactical exercises arranged in three sections. Most positions have the neutral instruction ‘White to Play’ or ‘Black to Play’ but very occasionally there is a more specific question for you to answer.
A review of Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld
A welcome reissue, in algebraic notation, of a book that will be familiar to many. For myself, I remember receiving it as a present one Christmas and steadily working through the positions over the holidays.
It is a primer on chess tactics, successive chapters covering topics such as the pin, the knight fork, the skewer, discovered attack, double check and so on; and it is a worhwhile introduction still.
A review of My Journey by Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow’s memoir is an inspirational account of her rise from immigrant poverty and a troubled childhood to a position of fame, influence and respect. It is also about how she found and lost the great love of her life.
A review of Random Acts of Kindness by Lisa Verge Higgins
Random Acts of Kindness is a road trip novel involving three forty-something high school friends, who live on the U.S. west coast. The novel opens with Jenna fleeing her Seattle home with some belongings thrown into a milk crate and her Chihuahua, Lucky, in the passenger seat. She turns up at the rural Oregon home of her high school classmate, Claire, whom she hasn’t seen in sixteen years. Claire, who has breast cancer, is longing for time-out from her ultra-helpful sisters and from an atmosphere of gloom (her mother and one sister died of the disease.)
The Heroism of Pakistani Poetry
The seventy or so poems in this volume appear to have found their best translators in English. The translators and the editor are well-respected scholars and translators, who worked from the original texts; at least three of them are also poets in their own right. It is noteworthy that all four are based in different continents (viz., Asia, North America, and Europe) and have together put their expertise to a most fruitful use, with excellent results.
A review of Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois P Frankel
While a book of “do’s” rather than “don’ts” might have been more positive, Frankel draws readers in with her warm tone, entertaining writing style and assurances that no one makes all of the 133 errors she identifies. The book contains some good general advice for women in or out of the work force; for instance, her admonition to be discriminating about helping others, and not letting people waste our time.
A review of Get it Done — From Procrastination to Creative Genius in 15 minutes a day by Sam Bennett
The book is full of strategies, worksheets, anecdotes, and guidance to help the reader deal with perfectionism, procrastination, lack of focus. Instead of judging the procrastinator, Bennett shows how something valuable and powerful in the procrastinator is causing the delay. She highlights the hidden potential, the perfectionist fears, and the capabilities in such a way that the cynical reader actually believes her.
The Rule of Knowledge by Scott Baker
As Baker takes us between time continuums, a grieving husband, a fierce warrior, supporting characters, and confounding hints, leads, and fast paced action, two things are guaranteed – you will enjoy this book, and you will be surprised. If you saw any of what comes, you’re a much smarter person than me.