By: Christopher Bartlett I’ve always been fascinated with history and how society shaped itself over time. Getting a feel for the society of the time tells me much more than names or dates. In Isle of Woman, Piers Anthony gives me what I wish I had been given in my history classes for a textbook,... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett I’m sure most of you are looking at the title this month and wondering if I have lost my mind. I can assure you I haven’t, but I was going back to where I started really understanding writing. Two things that pop up every time are wrestling and comic books. Both are... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett When Jim Butcher originally started writing Peace Talks, it was meant to be a self-contained book. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for us, it ended up turning out like a two-part episode of a television show. Peace Talks being part one of the episode. Even this late in the series, Butcher manages... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett I’ve been a member of a service called Book of The Month Club for a number of years, simply because I enjoy discovering new books and authors. Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor is one of the books that has come across my desk in that time. And while it is not a... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett I ran across something I hadn’t seen before when it comes to books, and at first, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I was watching TV/streaming when a commercial for a book came on. It’s the first time I have seen a commercial for a book in any shape or... Continue Reading →
My discovery of a planner working for me.
By: Christopher Bartlett One of the last times we got together, I was telling you about my discovery of the planner that was perfect for me. That experience led to me reexamining what I was using for a notebook, which should come to no surprise to most to being as important as the pen one... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett Most people automatically think of Amazon's Kindle when it comes to reading apps. Mainly because of how good Amazon is at marketing things, but that doesn’t mean the Kindle app is a bad reading app by any means. It depends more on where you are in your journey as both a reader... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett Welcome once more to our humble parlor. We took the time closed due to Covid to make some renovations, including a new fireplace to be more welcoming and efficient. It also brings us gently into our discussion of the month. That being food-themed mysteries versus classical mysteries. Each has their own audience... Continue Reading →
By: Christopher Bartlett Even with it being a rough year, it still always amazes me as I get to the end of the year how fast it has gone. I didn’t get as many books finished as I wanted to, by far, though I did read some interesting things. And, as Christmas is here, I’m... Continue Reading →
Functionally Fictional 