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book reviews

Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail

 Scurvaceous Sailors and a Medical Mystery Author: Stephen Bown I love everything about independent bookstore book clubs except attending them. I’ll follow the monthly selections, dutifully check them out from the library and read along, finish the book in time for the meeting… and then not go. I like to think of it as my own personal at-home book club, where I can hog all the snacks and I don’t have to wear pants. Anyway, that’s how I ended up reading Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail, [...]

2023-07-11T01:47:29-07:00March 4th, 2014|Tags: , , |

Hild

Middle Ages, Lots of Pages Author: Nicola Griffith If you’re one of those readers who enjoys grumbling about anachronisms and sloppy writing in historical novels, then Hild is the book for you. Or maybe it’s not, because there won’t be anything to find fault with in this vibrant, painstakingly detailed portrait of life in Britain in the Middle Ages. Seattle-based author Nicola Griffith depicts a complex and deeply unfamiliar setting — we’re talking Beowulf times here — in her imaginative reconstruction of the young life of the woman who would become St. Hilda of Whitby. Middle Ages Britain is, if [...]

2016-12-31T17:55:31-07:00February 24th, 2014|Tags: , , , , , |

Freakin’ Fabulous on a Budget

Frugal and Fabulous Author: Clinton Kelly I’m a big Clinton Kelly fan from the “What Not to Wear” days, so while I knew from the show that his fashion judgment was sound, it was a pleasure to read his first guide to entertaining, Freakin’ Fabulous, and realize that we are kindred spirits on matters ranging from thank-you notes to hostess gifts to the importance of proper grammar. Since I’m also a thrifty soul, I was excited to hear that his follow-up book was called Freakin’ Fabulous on a Budget. What kinds of magical, money-saving secrets of fabulosity would Clinton teach [...]

2016-12-31T17:55:45-07:00November 17th, 2013|Tags: , , , |
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