2016: My Year in Books

2016 was the year I reclaimed my reading life: I read almost as many books in one year as I did in the previous three years combined. I credit some of this shift to GoodReads, which allowed me to keep reading as a priority, especially with social media and election news competing for my reading … [Read more…]

Shadow Princess, by Indu Sudaresan

I just finished reading Shadow Princess, the third book in Sundaresan’s series about the women of Mughal India. Unlike the Feast of Roses (which should be preceded in reading by the Twentieth Wife), this one stands on its own. It begins with the death of Mumtaz Mahal, the woman for whom the Taj Mahal was … [Read more…]

Book Review: the Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

This was cross-posted from my account at GoodReads, where I gave it two stars (of five). I would like to note that I did not read the whole book—I got through the fifth chapter before it was due at the library (and I couldn’t renew it because someone else had a hold on it). I … [Read more…]

Spark: Atheist Moments on Colbert

Here. Including what atheists yell during sex, canoeing on a lake of fire for all eternity, the dangers of topiary, why we should have more atheists in the military, atheist storm troopers, the separation of church and town, the Gospel of Cadbury, and the Dead Faith Scrolls. (the second Dawkins vid is a duplicate) If … [Read more…]

Book Review: Thirteen, by Richard K. Morgan

Carl Marsalis is a Variant Thirteen–the result of a near future project to genetically engineered abnormally strong and quick and hyper-aggressive soldiers. His kind are feared as humanoid monsters, and most are kept in camps or exiled to colonies on Mars. Marsalis has been hired to help track down a virtually untrackable renegade thirteen who … [Read more…]

Why Believers shouldn’t be Troubled by Pullman’s Golden Compass

Or, at the very least, an argument that most anti-Pullman activists probably haven’t even looked at the book: The trilogy has the Church as the antagonist. Not religious belief in general. If any “message” may be derived, it’s that powerful religious organisation who is above the law and morally degraded (murder is no problem for … [Read more…]

Why I’m Going to See The Golden Compass (Hint: I was Encouraged by Bill Donahue)

Before I begin this post about the Golden Compass, a refreshingly original fantasy by Philip Pullman and a movie that will be released on December 7th, I have to mention that our very own xJane, with her exclusive Hollywood connections, has already seen and pre/reviewed the movie! Listen to tone of Bill Donahue (sort of … [Read more…]
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