#book-reviews — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #book-reviews, aggregated by home.social.
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A 75-cent billing error. A hacker selling US secrets to the KGB. One astronomer who refused to look away. The Cuckoo's Egg is a true spy story like no other.
#CuckoosEgg #CliffordStoll #CyberEspionage #books #bookreviews
https://thisgrandpablogs.com/cuckoos-egg-book-review/ -
Before NASA had computers made of silicon it had computers made of flesh and bone. Black women did the math that sent men to space. Hidden Figures tells their story.
#HiddenFigures #KatherineJohnson #TruNASAStory #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/05/hidden-figures-book-review-true-nasa-story.html -
In 1984 Hezbollah grabbed the CIA Station Chief off the streets of Beirut. His murder changed American intelligence forever. Beirut Rules tells the full story.
#BeirutRules #WilliamBuckley #CIAHistory #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/05/beirut-rules-book-review-cia-hezbollah-william-buckley.html -
Book Review: King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes
Virginie Despentes’ King Kong Theory is a fierce and foundational text of modern feminism, a Molotov cocktail in book form. Part memoir, part punk manifesto, it is a raw, unapologetic, and deeply personal exploration of gender, power, and sexuality in our modern world.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir, Essays, Feminism
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK, 2020), The Feminist Press (US, 2010)
Review in one word: Joyful
Originally published in French in 2006, this classic feminist work is now available in English. Despentes is a punk iconoclast, rebel writer and confrontational filmmaker. Arguably her most famous book is her first novel Baise-Moi, was later adapted for the screen. She is the author of more than fifteen works, including the acclaimed Vernon Subutex trilogy. Always seeing life from the outskirts, Despentes draws from her own experience as a former sex worker and rape survivor for her scathing and excoriating analysis of surviving in a world mired in misogyny and misandry.
Far from being depressing in nature, this book is irreverant, hillarious and cheeky in its analysis of our world.
There’s a whole range of taboos that are exploded in this book. As she states in the explosive opening, “from the realms of the ugly, for the ugly, the old, the bull dykes, the frigid, the unfucked, the unfuckable, the hysterics, the freaks, all those excluded from the great meat market of female flesh”.
The essays in this book are provocative, explosive and generous in their philosophical reach and insight. Despentes examines concepts of rape, prostitution, pornography and the myth of the ideal woman. She strongly rejects victimhood and refuses to apologise or explain her reasons for doing anything she has done.
The book shows its age in the discussion about the ultimate waif-like beauty of the 90’s – Kate Moss. Despentes joyfully aligns herself not with the unreachable ideal of Kate Moss but instead with the mythological monster – King Kong who is beyond male and beyond female. He is a potent symbol of polymorphic sexuality and raw power before he is captured and destroyed by society.
The overarching themes are of railing against oppressive forces of sexual and societal control in our world are refreshing and interesting. I particularly enjoyed the ethos so closely intertwined with rebelious culture, art and music which showed in her amazing Vernon Subutex series. Despentes argues for a “new punk feminism” that embraces and loves what society deems monstrous or unacceptable in women and any one else who feels marginalised.
She challenges the binary thinking that pits “good” women against “bad” ones, virgins against whores, and victims against aggressors. Her style is blistering, direct, and brutally honest, characterised by precisely phrased rage and a refusal to soften her message for the comfort of the reader.
Despentes’ tone is provocative, warm and unapologetic. King Kong Theory is an essential work that rejects polite discourse in favour of a raw truth about sex and power that is as uncomfortable, liberating and joyful. I cannot tell you how much this book means to me, it is foundational, liberating and life-changing in every way.
Content Catnip
Follow me on Mastodon Watch my videos Donate to my Ko Fi #book #BookReview #BookReviews #bookTag #BookReview #books #essays #feminism #feminist #French #gender #History #manifesto #memoir #nonFiction #Philosophy #power #punk #sexuality #storytelling #VirginieDespentes #VirginieDespentes -
A DAZZLING, EXTRAORDINARY NOVEL: heartbreaking, witty, and thought-provoking look at sisterly love, being multiracial in 1980s Wyoming, pervasive 20th century misogyny, the generational weight of colonialism, and surviving childhood abuse. SOLID A
#book #Books #bookreview #bookreviews #bookstodon #novel #novels #fiction #historicalfiction #desiwriters #Wyoming
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Codebreakers. Spies. Secrets. One agency runs it all. GCHQ by Richard J. Aldrich is the most complete account of Britain's silent watcher.
#GCHQ #SpyHistory #IntelligenceAgency #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/04/gchq-britain-secret-intelligence-agency.html -
Codebreakers. Spies. Secrets. One agency runs it all. GCHQ by Richard J. Aldrich is the most complete account of Britain's silent watcher.
#GCHQ #SpyHistory #IntelligenceAgency #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/04/gchq-britain-secret-intelligence-agency.html -
Personal Journey: A Story That Questions the “Happily Ever After”
In a world where social media often sells perfect weddings and picture-perfect marriages, it takes courage to speak honestly about what happens after the celebration ends. Some stories don’t fit into fairy-tale frames — they challenge them. They ask deeper questions about identity, expectations, love, and personal growth. One such story is centered around author Thandeka Zungu-Sikhundla and her bold debut book, The Scam Called Marriage. Her platform is simple, direct, and intentional — […]https://sowetoapparel.wordpress.com/2026/05/15/a-story-that-questions-the-happily-ever-after/
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Daily Notes From “Dance of Thieves” by Mary E. Pearson
This post is a little different from the usual essay-style ones. This time, I'm sharing my unfiltered, daily thoughts on Dance of Thieves, separated over 8 days as I was reading the book. Keep in mind that this is all just my opinion, so don't take my comments too seriously, and if you have anything you would like to share, feel free to do so. SPOILER WARNING: These are notes I wrote as I read the book, so if you intend on reading Dance of Thieves in the future, check out a different blog […] -
ICYMI: Here are my favorite reads of 2026, so far.
Reviews:
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/71384024-michael-shotter?shelf=read
The Book Radar
https://thebookradar.com/library/19?shelf=83
The StoryGraph
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books-read/shotterwriting#specfic #scifi #horror #thriller #book #books #bookreview #bookreviews #bookrec #bookrecs #booksofmastodon #readersofmastodon #read #reads #reading #readingcommunity #speculativefiction #sciencefiction #booksof2026 #bookstodon #bootodon
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Review: The St. Paul Phantom by Gerard Gibbons
An epic American odyssey, The St. Paul Phantom: The Gibbons Brothers’ Fight for Glory, Volume I by Gerard Gibbons is an exhilarating look back at the guts, glory, and fiery spirit of the early 20th century through the lives of two brothers and boxers. Recounting the story of his larger-than-life grandfather, Tommy Gibbons, and his [...]…
https://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2026/05/review-the-st-paul-phantom-by-gerard-gibbons/#BookReviews #LatestBookReviews #BiographyBookReviews #SportsBookReviews
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From Napoleon to the Holocaust. The Vatican was never just a place of prayer. It was also a center of spies and secrets.
#VaticanHistory #Espionage #SpyBooks #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/05/vatican-espionage-history-spies-secrets-revealed.html -
He named his son Osama. He became friends with a terrorist cleric. Then he turned double agent for the CIA. Morten Storm's story is unlike any other.
#AgentStorm #MortenStorm #CIADoubleAgent #books #bookreviews
https://grandpasbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/05/agent-storm-book-review-al-qaeda-cia-double-agent.html -
The HBO series is excellent. But the book does things a camera cannot. It puts you inside the minds of the men. Read Band of Brothers first.
#BandOfBrothersHBO #StephenAmbrose #WWIIReads #books #bookreviews -
November 9, 1989. The wall fell. The world changed that night. Frederick Taylor makes sure you feel every second of it. A must-read Cold War history book.
#BerlinWallFall #ColdWarHistory #FrederickTaylor #books #bookreviews -
The HBO series is excellent. But the book does things a camera cannot. It puts you inside the minds of the men. Read Band of Brothers first.
#BandOfBrothersHBO #StephenAmbrose #WWIIReads #books #bookreviews -
Why Kids Will Love So You Want To Be a Voice Actor
Many children dream of becoming the voices behind cartoons, audiobooks, and favorite characters. So You Want To Be a Voice Actor by Linda Soules takes that excitement and turns it into something deeper: a fun introduction to creativity and storytelling.
Instead of simply focusing on celebrity careers or funny voices, the book explains how voice actors create emotions and bring characters to life. Young readers learn that performance is more than changing your voice—it is about making people feel something.
What makes the book stand out is its practical advice. Children are encouraged to read aloud, practice emotions, and experiment with storytelling in everyday situations. These simple ideas make creativity feel accessible.
For parents and young readers alike, this book offers a refreshing mix of inspiration and useful lessons.
Read the full review:
#bookReviews #Books #kids #Nonfiction #Review
https://www.bookbelow.com/book-review/so-you-want-to-be-a-voice-actor -
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: "𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿 -
Brilliant scholar Shor's classic on teaching for social justice, part of my research into my next book, and a great accompaniment to Freire, hooks, and others.
#books #bookreviews #bookworm #readreadread #tbr #tbrpile #tbrlist #quotes #reading #irashor #empoweringeducation #socialjustice #teaching #education #nonfiction
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o Pequeno Príncipe de Maquiavel, O livro conta a história de um menino que preferia ser temido do que amado e morava sozinho em um planeta sem água encanada
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T.A.E.’s Book Review – Schiele by Reinhard Steiner
Reinhard Steiner’s Schiele is a compact Taschen monograph, running to 96 pages, and its chapter structure already reveals its interpretive intelligence: “The artist’s self,” “I went by way of Klimt,” “The figure as signifier,” “The visionary and symbolic works,” and “Landscapes of the soul.” That progression suggests a book less interested in exhaustive biography than in tracing Schiele as a sequence of pressures—selfhood, lineage, embodiment, symbol, and inward weather. It reads like an argument about how an artist becomes legible to himself and to history.
What gives the book its force is the way it frames Schiele’s style not as mere provocation, but as a language of perception. The publisher’s description emphasizes his “graphic style,” “figural distortion,” and “psychological and sexual intensity,” and Steiner’s selection of works appears designed to show that these are not decorative shocks but the core of Schiele’s artistic ethics. In this sense, the book is persuasive because it treats the body as an epistemological problem: Schiele’s figures do not simply pose; they expose.
The most memorable moments are those in which Steiner lets the artist’s own voice flare through the commentary. Two lines are especially revealing: “I want to taste dark water and see crackling trees and wild winds,” and “I want to look intently at grasses and pink people.” Together, they condense the book’s sensibility—an art driven by appetite, danger, tenderness, and a restless need to see more sharply than ordinary vision allows. Steiner’s achievement is to make those words feel like a key to the pictures: Schiele is not only painting bodies, but testing how far sensation can be pushed before it turns uncanny.
The book’s limitation is also its defining feature: at 96 pages, it is a lucid introduction rather than a deeply archival study. The publisher explicitly presents it as a selection of “key Schiele works” that introduces his “short but urgent career,” so the reader should not expect the density of a full scholarly monograph. But within those limits, Steiner offers a nimble, visually alert, and thematically coherent account of why this artist remains so unsettlingly modern. It is a book that understands that a creator’s lasting power lies not in scandal, but in intensity disciplined into form.
#art #artBooks #artHistory #BookReviews #EgonSchiele #LiteraryCriticism #ReinhardSteiner #Steiner -
DAZZLINGLY WITTY AND BLEAK Spanish novel of office work and its bleakness skillfully threads the needle between bitter satire and farce. Smart, funny, sour protagonist is both a chaos goblin and a sharp, dispassionate observer of modern life. A MINUS
https://bookshop.org/p/books/discontent-beatriz-serrano/22148740?ean=9798217006762&next=t
#book #Books #bookreview #bookreviews #fiction #novel #novels #satire #Madrid #Spain #Spanishwriters
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My latest read: "Imagine a Friend" by David Quantick
A unique take on a pillar of childhood fantasy. 👍
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8597193682
The Book Radar
https://thebookradar.com/review/5437
The StoryGraph
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5b250244-63a3-4903-99b3-a324291c0a22#specfic #fantasy #bookreview #bookreviews #bookrec #bookrecs #book #books #booksofmastodon #readersofmastodon #read #reads #readers #reading #readingcommunity #booksof2026 #speculativefiction #bookstodon #booktodon
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Review: Where Agency Belongs by Dr. Matthew Weinberg
A thought-provoking dive into the forces that drive us and subsequently move the world, Where Agency Belongs: How Control, Trust, and Authority Broke - And How to Place Them Again by Dr. Matthew Weinberg is a timely testament to individual strength and collective potential. At its foundation, Weingberg's engaging treatise asks us to interrogate the [...]…
https://www.selfpublishingreview.com/2026/05/review-where-agency-belongs-by-dr-matthew-weinberg/#BookReviews #LeadStory #SelfHelpBookReviews #SocialScienceBookReviews
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Loving the Legends of Chaos: My Thoughts on “The Never List” by Jade Presley
The Never List by Jade Presley 18+ Contains Adult Content The Never List is a why-choose, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy romance that follows Rylee, who is an Ashlander and a Demi, 2 things hated by the Kings. After Rylee's sister goes missing, Rylee and her friends decide to attend the choosing ceremony with a forged invitation. The choosing ceremony is for the 4 princes known as the legends of chaos to find their mate, the one woman who can tether them when they come into their full powers. Rylee is only there to see if her sister's name is on the never list; she certainly isn't there to be chosen, but when Jax calls her number, she has no choice but to go and make them fall in love with her in hopes that when they find out she is a Demi from Ashlander, they won't kill her. The imbalance of power became a catalyst for betrayal by their people, so the goddesses wanted to ensure their sons, their only heirs, would never suffer the same fate. They used their magic to call forth for their sons only one mate who would connect them all, to act as their tether to the people of Lumathyst and ground them if their hunger for power ever grew too large. […] -
Unravelling Past Secrets: A Deep Dive into C.J. Tudor’s “The Chalk Man”
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor The Chalk Man is a mystery/thriller that follows Eddie and his friends. In 1986, as preteens, the group came across the body of a young girl, but her head was nowhere to be found. This was all strange enough as is, but what led the boys to the girl's body in the first place was even stranger...drawings of chalk men. Now in 2016, the boys are adults, and not as close-knit as they once were. Eddie knows who they say killed the girl, but he doesn't believe it. It's been 30 years, but maybe they can figure out who actually killed her. It never came. There were extensive searches, questions and appeals but, despite the best efforts of all the detectives and all the town's men, her head was never found, and the girl in the woods was never put together again. […] -
Book Review: The Complete Book of 1990s Broadway Musicals by Dan Dietz
Author: Dan Dietz
Title: The Complete Book of 1990s Broadway Musicals
Other Books Read by the Same Author:- The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals
- The Complete Book of 1940s Broadway Musicals
- The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals
- The Complete Book of 1960s Broadway Musicals
- The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals
- The Compete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals
Publication Info: Rowman & Littlefield (2016)
Summary/Review:The 1990s feels like a transitional decade for Broadway. On the one hand, after a couple of decades of financial decline, the Broadway theater district felt thriving and viable again. On the other hand, many critics – including author Dan Dietz – saw the decade as the Disnification of Broadway.
Disney introduced only two musicals during the decade – adaptations of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King – but the overall effect is that family-friendly megamusicals that attracted tourists edged out shows intended for grown-up audiences and local theater buffs. Revivals of books musicals continued to outnumber new productions, including Chicago, which became more successful than its original run and still plays to this day. Speaking of long running shows, any new production on Broadway had to compete with hits like Cats, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera which occupied theaters throughout the decade.
The decade also saw an increase in adapting relatively recent movies as musicals including My Favorite Year, The Goodbye Girl, Big, Victor/Victoria, and Footloose. There were also a number of revues of songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondhem, Johnny Burke, Johnny Mercer, George and Ira Gershwin and blues and swing by Black artists. This trend presaged the 2000s when movie adaptations and/or jukebox musical rely on reiterating the familiar and nostalgic at the expense of the new. Nevertheless, several memorable musicals made their debut in the 1990s including: Once on This Island, The Secret Garden, The Will Rogers Follies, Crazy for You, Falsettos, Jelly’s Last Jam, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Passion, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Sunset Boulevard, Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, Titanic, Ragtime, Fosse, and Parade. Dan Dietz, who grows crankier with each volume of this series, disliked most of these shows, and trashed Rent and Ragtime (two shows I love). Dietz’s obvious prejudices which manifest themselves in his rents against “political correctness” make this unpleasant read. But I do still enjoy that he’s gathered together so many facts about each show in one place that are hard to find anywhere else.
Rating: ***
#BookReviews #Books #Broadway #Criticism #MusicalTheater #Reference -
From A Marriage of Convenience to Love: Cassidy and Finn’s Story in The Neighborly Thing To Do.
The Neighborly Thing To Do by Addison James 18+ Contains Adult Content I received an advanced copy of this book at no charge. This is my honest, voluntary review. The Neighborly Thing To Do follows Cassidy and Finn. Cassidy is a human living in Hearthstone, a supernatural town. After sending her younger sister off to college, Cassidy is confronted by the town's bylaws, which state that she can't stay in the town unless she is legally connected to a supernatural creature. Finn is Cassidy's neighbour, who is known as the grumpy recluse artist gargoyle. He's watched Cassidy give up everything to raise her younger sister, and he is not going to stand by and let her be kicked out of town. If she is connected to a supernatural creature, she can stay...so if Finn marries Cassidy... There are a lot of differences between us, I remind myself. Age, species-no wonder she didn't immediately jump to that conclusion. […] -
Holiday for Gourmets; ITALIAN BOUQUET: An Epicurean Tour of Italy. By Samuel Chamberlain. Recipes translated from the Italian and adapted by Narcissa Chamberlain. Prints, drawings and photographs by the author. New York: Gourmet. $12.50. https://www.diningandcooking.com/2638787/holiday-for-gourmets-italian-bouquet-an-epicurean-tour-of-italy-by-samuel-chamberlain-recipes-translated-from-the-italian-and-adapted-by-narcissa-chamberlain-prints-drawings-and-photographs-by-t/ #BookReviews #Cooking #HolidayRecipes #Italia #Italian #ITALIANBOUQUET:ANEPICUREANTOUROFITALY #ItalianHolidayRecipes #italiano #italy #SCHAMBERLAIN
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My latest read: "Platform Decay" by Martha Wells
Want to know what I think about the latest Murderbot excursion?
Pick a link:
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8592775456
The Book Radar
https://thebookradar.com/review/5435
The StoryGraph
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/3a65ad7e-7d91-4093-9509-992d34ab0954#specfic #scifi #murderbot #bookreview #bookrec #booksofmastodon #readersofmastodon #read #reads #reading #readingcommunity #sciencefiction #speculativefiction #bookrec #bookrecs #bookreviews #booksof2026 #bookstodon #booktodon
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲" 𝗯𝘆 𝗭𝗼𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱, 𝗲𝗱𝘀. -
A wonderful collection from Wayne State University Press which reveals how the very form/structure of our prose speaks to the status quo. A push into the interlacing of imagination and politics.
#books #bookreviews #bookworm #readreadread #tbr #tbrpile #tbrlist #quotes #reading #prose #nonfiction #lyricessay #creativenonfiction