On Reading Tana French’s In the Wood
Jim Bauman
February 4, 2025
Book review of Tana French’s first Dublin Murder Squad series. A good read that offers up more than you’d expect from a murder mystery.
A Nobelist’s Not Best Work
Jim Bauman
February 4, 2025
The Nobelist Kazuo Ishiguro pegged his book When We Were Orphans as not his best book. The jacket blurbs though were heaped with praise. It was an interesting difference of opinion to explore.
A Half Century of Our Discontent
Jim Bauman
February 4, 2025
John Steinbeck published The Winter of Our Discontent in 1961. Like all his novels, it was rooted in the environment and in the time period in which he wrote it. It still speaks accurately, though, to the world of the mid 2020’s.
Black History Month 2025
Jim Bauman
February 1, 2025
Black History Month has a half century history, since Gerald Ford inaugurated the celebration in 1976. Until 2025 the month was actively celebrated by our government. That has changed now in the emerging Trump dictatorship.
Taking Off the Harness and Reins
Jim Bauman
January 23, 2025
A speculative look forward into the rationale and working of the second Trump administration and how it will do its damage through the abetting of his pet billionaires.
Making the Case for Diversity
Jim Bauman
December 18, 2024
Diversity used to be a good word. It expressed ideas of openness, acceptance, fairness. It was something you wanted to support. It was something that defined America. But now diversity is under attack by the Republican party and is actively being legislated against in red states. It’s good vibes are being subverted and replaced by negative connotations.