Opinion: Cost of drugs, price of life
Let there be no mistake about it: The reduction in the price of certain weight control and reduction drugs that was negotiated by Mr. Trump is another gift to the well-to-do. Specifically, the drugs in question are Zepbound, a product of Eli Lilly, and Ozempic and Wegovy, offered by Novo Nordisk. The price of these […]
Book Talk: Sandra Brown, ‘White Hot’
I’m not sure if Sandra Brown knows how to write a novel without at least one steamy sex scene. She is the counterpoint to John Grisham who probably couldn’t write a sex scene if his life depended upon it. But the thing that gets me about Sandra Brown is that she writes great novels, wonderful […]
Opinion: A future without smartphones?
Let me say at the outset that I hate smartphones. But, I’m not a complete technophobe. I’ve had computers for 45 or more years. My hybrid car probably has more embedded computers than I have functioning neurons in my brain. And when I get ready to forward this column to the newspaper, I’ll do so […]
Book Talk: Atwood, ‘The Heart Goes Last’
Having read and been horrified by Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, I was disappointed by The Heart Goes Last (2015, 380 pages in softcover format). Perhaps my review is biased by my own experience when I was a child. My family was poor, living paycheck to almost paycheck. By that […]
Opinion: Where have all the spookies gone?
Ever wonder where the ghosts and goblins go after the evening of October 31? You know, the ones who knocked on your portal or rang the doorbell last night and scared you half to death. The ones who demanded treats or else. Are they swallowed up by fissures in the Earth’s crust? Are they lurking […]
Book Talk: Thomas Perry, ‘Vanishing Act’
I’ve been asked why I generally review crime/mystery/ suspense/thriller-type novels. I suppose that my most direct answer is that I enjoy the genre. But these books are also a break from the books that I needed to read during my professional life. Most of those were in the fields of sociology and psychology, although I […]
Opinion: New York to London via tunnel
Remember Elon Musk? No, not the disemploymentator. The high-tech industrial genius who was born in South Africa and immigrated to Canada in 1989. There, he attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, for two years before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he received a Bachelor of Arts in physics and a Bachelor of […]
Book Talk: Meltzer, ‘The Lightning Rod’
Brad Meltzer is an interesting author who really knows his stuff. In September, 2006, he participated in a brainstorming session with the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and several psychologists to try to figure out new methods that might be used by terrorists to attack the United States. That was quite an honor for […]
Opinion: Eroding the Constitution — Prop. 50
Always stand on principle, even if you stand alone. — John Adams, Second U.S. President Let’s face it. The United States is not and never has been a true democracy. But we began the grand experiment with a document that was close. Only it was not as close as we’ve been led to believe. The […]
Book Talk: E. Lockhart, ‘Girl in a Boy’s World’
Although I review mystery/thrillers for the most part, I read a variety of genres. Since retirement, though, mystery/thrillers are my favorites. However, as a former college prof, I do try to keep up with what’s going on with our nation’s youth. So, if you read this column weekly, you’ve read about a few YA novels. […]