At the beginning of July I was reading a biography of John Calvin by William J. Bouwsma. It was more of a meditation on his beliefs than it was a look at his life. The best thing I can say about this man (Calvin) is that he had flaws and virtues like everyone. I also think I need to read a proper biography. Can you believe this book was at my school? Any kids doing a study on John Calvin will not benefit from this book. What were the librarians of old thinking? This book should have been weeded quite some time ago.
The next books of note are 'The child thief' and 'The joyous cosmology'. Dan Smith wrote 'The child thief' - a harrowing account of kidnapping, murder, and raw determination set in Ukraine during the dawn of the Communist movement. The late, great Alan Watts penned the second book - a treatise on recreational pharmaceuticals and on expanding the mind with said pharmaceuticals. It comes off a little hippy-dippy but considering Dr. T. Leary makes an appearance in the pages, how could it not?
And finally, something a bit on the racy side. Any historical fiction about the notorious Borgias is going to be violent, corrupt, and a bit smexy. 'The serpent and the pearl' is a life of Giulia Farnese - Pope Alexander (Borgia)'s concubine. Weaving fictional characters with the real McCoy is not easy to do but Kate Quinn does a great job of it. Last but definitely not least, I read 'Wrapped and strapped' by Lorelei James. James taps the 'rugged dude and stubborn woman' vein and out comes a well-paced book full of smexy behaviour.
I plan to work on part two of this entry soon. More books to come!
BYE.
