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Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of Adventures Of A Waterboy by Mike Scott
The ups and downs of Scott’s career have been honestly explored in this book, and the first person narrative is cozy and accessible. For Waterboys fans, Adventures of a Waterboy is a bracing, utterly enjoyable read that will illuminate the many turns and twists of Mike Scott’s life and music. But you don’t need to be a Waterboys fan to enjoy this book.
A review of The Guardian Angel’s Journal by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
As I read this book, I kept thinking of the films City of Angels and Wings of Desire, both of which focus on the idea of angels walking among us. While Jess-Cooke’s story is actually a bit darker than either of those films, I think the basic premise is the same.
A review of The Modern Reti: An Anti-Slav Repertoire by Alexander Delchev
Perhaps Black’s best response is 2…d4, taking the opportunity to gain space in the centre. In The Dynamic Reti (2004), Nigel Davies recommends 3.g3 with a reversed Benoni set-up. This is how the late Bent Larsen played the position and Jon Speelman has played this way also.
A review of Winning Pawn Play in the Indian Defenses by Henrique Marinho
The rigour of Marinho’s writing is to be commended and his systematic presentation of the plans and possibilities available to both sides is impressive. But his game annotations are too light, leaving one all too often perplexed as to what the turning points in a particular game actually were.
The Crime of Julian Wells by Thomas H. Cook
There is a (slight) postmodern knowingness to it all (Anders, the narrator, is a literary critic after all, and alludes to other writers within his own anxious tale) but Cook delivers a good story, no worries. At one point Anders is compared to Nick Charles, one of Hammett’s PIs, but he was probably named more with Marlowe in mind (and, yes, Heart of Darkness is one of the works that Anders alludes to).
A review of Techniken des Positionsspiels im Schach by Valeri Bronznik and Anatoli Terekhin
Also, it looks at those situations where the king departs from a castled position, either for defensive purposes (e.g. the opposing forces are about to batter on the door and the king does a runner) or as a preparation for attack (e.g. both players have castled on the kingside and one marches their king out of harm’s way, before advancing the kingside pawns and opening lines on that side).
A review of Zurich 1953: 15 Contenders for the World Chess Championship by Miguel Najdorf
The crucial point about Zurich 1953 is that it was an elite tournament before such events became relatively common: 15 leading players participated, none of them weak or decidedly inferior to each other, over a period of about two months. Many of the 210 games played are now considered classics, and all except for a very few have moments of great interest.
A review of Ascending Spiral by Bob Rich
Though the ultimate purpose of the book does appear to be didactic – global warming and impending environmental catastrophe are generally accepted within the mainstream scientific community as proven fact – and the parallels between Dr Lipkin and the author’s own studies are probably the subject of at least a few fascinating interviews, the story reads well as fiction, creating each world entirely so that the reader becomes engrossed in the historical time and place along with the protagonist.
A review of The Long March Home by Zoë S. Roy
This is a historically consistent plot turn, but to make no mistake, it is one Western readers in particular will like. The book is hardly anti-China, but Roy, a Chinese-Canadian, also does not sugarcoat the oppression, fear, and insanity of Mao’s regime.