Silver: Return to Treasure Island by Andrew Motion There are two kinds of classic novels. One is the kind you’re hit over the head with in high school, (or forced to read it a few years too early, if you went to an aggressively academic school), and as an adult, if you remember the book …
Tag: 19th century
Nov 15
Book Review: Moby Dick; or, The Whale
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville I find it cunningly ironic when the entire review of a novel can be summed up in a quote from the same novel. So here it is: “the whale would be by all hands considered a noble dish, were there not so much of him; but when you …
May 17
Book Review: At Home, A Short History of Private Life
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson I have adored quite a few of Bill Bryson’s books, especially In a Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods, which I found both uproariously funny and full of fascinating anecdotes. I expected to like this one just as much, and got the …
Nov 18
Book Review: For All the Tea in China
For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Changed History by Sarah Rose This isn’t quite a book like SALT or THE PERFECT RED that covers every possible aspect of a world-changing commodity. It’s kind of pick and choose about what aspects of the tea trade it covers closely …
Jul 01
Book Review: Waking Giant
Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson by David S. Reynolds If you want a general overview of life in the early 19th century in America, this is a good book for you. Comprehensive and informative, it covers a broad swath of subjects, from politics to religion to health and medicine. Reynolds also includes …