What could be better than cozying up to a stack of grisly medical histories and wincing at the misdeeds of the dirty-fingered, germ-denying butchers that made life in the old days so dangerous?  Much to my delight, I found a new book to add to my beloved genre, “the frightful facts about medical history.”  In The […]

The cover of The Horror on the Links, by Seabury Quinn, is obviously what compelled me to check out this book. The howling man-beast (what kind of beast though?) carrying on in front a gloomy mansion is just the best thing I’ve seen in a while, and when I read the description inside, “Seabury Quinn’s  . […]

March is Women’s History Month and the sturdy pioneer women of Colorado deserve a hearty salute. They worked long and hard by themselves or alongside husbands to make their home in the Colorado wilds. They fought to bring schools, churches, and women’s suffrage to Colorado. In fact, Colorado was the second state in the union, […]

Who knew that marriage was such a treacherous business? Married people, maybe, and anyone who’s read Gone Girl.  It should not be a surprise to anyone that terrible people and their terrible marriages are a large part of the thriller genre; apparently, the gruesome methods these people use to torment each other know no bounds. So, whether […]

Presidents Day is coming soon, and if you’re like me, you like fun facts about U.S. presidents. For example, did you know that Franklin Pierce, our 14th president, is considered to be one of our most handsome presidents?  That “Hail to the Chief”,  the official presidential anthem, first became a tradition because James K. Polk […]

February is Black History Month, with such a wide range of voices and experiences, over centuries and continents, that it is hard to present all the rich variety of history, commentary, and fiction. Here are a few classic books by African-American authors to start with:                     […]