Where Joliffe Gets a New Side Hustle

A Play of Lords by Margaret Frazer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very satisfying novel.

This is book 4 in the series, and I'm glad that they are just getting better--more fun, more interesting, more complex. Joliffe is an actor in a small troupe in 15th century England. He's intelligent, a bit of a smart ass, generally ethical but no saint, friendly but not a pushover. As the series progresses, he's getting more and more focused on solving mysteries he's presented with or involved in; it's not just curiosity and gossiping leading him to solutions, but thoughtful action and deep reflection. The more intentional his investigations become, the more I like it.

[Some light spoilers.]
The players are in London for the first time in the series, playing for their sponsor, when Joliffe is asked to write a play that would help promote propaganda useful to a friend of the lord they work for. The play is a success, helping in a small way to spread a message that will smooth over a trade disagreement with Burgundy, but someone else sends goons to attack them and discourage them from continuing in this way. From that point on, Joliffe is trying to figure out what forces are on what side, and he is enlisted by Bishop Beaufort to do more of that thinking and watching and investigating in his service, pretty much as a spy.

Some of the thinking here, in the form "Maybe it's this faction trying to look like this, or maybe it's this other faction hoping to get a different outcome, or maybe it's a third group thing to make it look like the first group..." was pretty deep and I lost the thread. I'm afraid international trade, beyond the simplest level, does not make sense to me, so I just plowed through some of that, but the story is still entirely clear. The resolution makes sense and is satisfying, though (as I think I've noticed in previous books) I wouldn't mind another chapter fleshing out the consequences and final state for some of the minor characters. Much is implied, but I was enjoying the conclusion and would have liked a bit more of it.

In any case, it's a fun book, and as always the setting is well-researched and beautifully realized. Recommended for mystery readers.

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Where Will Has Some Crazy Luck

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Decently entertaining. Pretty solid C. (IMO, obviously. Thrillers are sometimes exactly my thing, but usually are not. This is right in the middle.) So--not a favorite, but enjoyable enough to look at other books by this author.

I found this slow and vague for the first half, but not horribly so. I kept going. In part, for maybe 100 pages, it's about a journalist having a small lucky streak with unexpectedly well-received stories. Then it's about his wife being abducted and his attempt to find her on his own. That's most of the middle. He follows some clues; he gets beaten up and tortured; he reaches out to people for help; he still doesn't know what's going on. Then, maybe 2/3 of the way through, it becomes bigger than just a kidnapping--and that's when it become quite a bit more interesting. There are religious, spiritual, even supernatural aspects to events that he has become dimly aware of, and we are finally drawn into what I think should have been the center of the plot from the first page.

But that's just one reader's opinion. :)

It's written in a way that is meant to be believable despite the supernatural implications, which in a way are left up to the reader to make up their mind about--is it real? Or is it just belief? I think that part works. However, the number of coincidences in this stack up a bit, and it hurt more than it helped. I would explain more, except that they include serious spoilers, worse than what I've revealed above. IMO, none of the coincidences are necessary for the plot--well, maybe just one, the one that gets him involved--and I feel like a little revision would have improved the story. The many details he basically stumbles onto and the unexpected personal connections to the ancient global mystery at the heart of the story make for interesting moments, maybe, but they're too unlikely to leave the reader easy about it. If the author was committed to the coincidences, some serious lamp-shading would have helped my disbelief a little.

But overall, it's a decent thriller with some scattered exciting scenes, good prose throughout, and a few likable characters that you can root for. TBH, I was prepared to enjoy this novel because it's one of a dozen or so books I held on to from my brother's collection after he died, so I'm glad that it was pretty good in the end, despite my criticisms.

So, Jon, I don't know for sure whether you read this one, or whether you liked it if you did, but I thought it was okay. Maybe I'll read one of those westerns next. Point me to a good one. :)

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Where the Universe Just Keeps On Getting Bigger

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice book about the universe and stuff in it. Well worth reading.

NdGT is a pretty good popularizer of astrophysics and sciences connected to it. His essays are light, generally, and have a very gentle learning curve. That makes sense; his whole persona is that of middle school science teacher with a dad-joke sense of humor, trying to reach bored kids with some profound knowledge. In writing as much as on a talk show, he tends to be jocular and upbeat, but his science still has weight to it. And once in a while, he turns out a pretty deep and affecting bit of prose that gives the whole thing more heft.

His essays are usually pretty straightforward--one on dark matter, another on dark energy, one on the reason big things tend to be round, one telling the history of the discovery of "light" above and below the visible spectrum, and so on. I found many of the essays to be largely filled with things I already knew pretty well, but invariably he adds something that is entirely new in my experience, so that I always found it rewarding and time well spent. Other essays were even more revelatory, adding a lot to my store of knowledge.

My point is that even though other science writers often lean more toward the "technical science for sciency readers" end of communication, and Tyson leans more toward the "make it accessible for a broad audience" end, it's still filled with good stuff worth reading. But he's capable of even more. In the final essay, he's talking about his wish for a future where all of us, especially global leaders, take a broader view of our place in the world, our responsibility to the rest of creation, and though it's about science, it's really about saving ourselves. The essay is a sobering effort, and starts with him recognizing the privilege that allows him to travel the world looking at celestial events:

When I pause and reflect on our expanding universe, with its galaxies hurtling away from one another, embedded within the ever-stretching, four-dimensional fabric of space and time, sometimes I forget that uncounted people walk this earth without food or shelter, and that children are disproportionately represented among them.

When I pore over the data that establish the mysterious presence of dark matter and dark energy throughout the universe, sometimes I forget that every day--every twenty-four-hour rotation of Earth--people kill and get killed in the name of someone else's conception of God, and that some people who do not kill in the name of God, kill in the name of needs or wants of political dogma...

His call for a broader way of seeing the world and our responsibilities toward it and its in inhabitants, with us as stewards, isn't itself new, but placed in the context of not just earth but the full universe, with us a minute part, made up of elements forged in ancient stars, it's very affecting. He takes a big swing and I feel like he connected.

It's a little book, but I liked it, and I recommend it.

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Where Nero Takes a Turn for the Worse

Britannicus: The Complete Plays of Jean Racine - Volume V by Jean Racine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 5 is for the edition--the introductory discussion, the translation, and the extensive notes in the back. The printing, too, come to that, is very nice. This is a beautiful book, one that is ideal for an English speaker wanting to read and understand this text. We get 60+ pages of discussion up front to assist the reader; 75 pages of the actual play, rendered in rhyming iambic pentameter couplets (which I don't prefer, but is as similar as possible to the original French version); and another 70 pages of notes and appendices, which I found very useful.

My take on the play itself? I'm interested in it for historic and literary reasons and am glad to plow through it and get a pretty good idea of the whole thing, but it's not terribly fun to read. Rewarding? Maybe so. Probably more so on repeated readings, which I may never do. But I have never understood the attraction of tragedy or the people who like it. Seeing people praise tragedy is like watching people run barefoot on sharp gravel, smiling.

No exaggeration--I literally (with the literal use of literally) do not understand how people enjoy tragic stories like this. Sure, the set might be cool, and the costumes, etc., and there can be some interesting and arresting language, but for me the story is horrible. That's absolutely not to criticize those who like tragedy (or who enjoy anything else I don't happen to like), but the difference in how our brains work continues to baffle me. I see people enjoying beer, and it looks so pleasant and refreshing that I want to join in, but I hate it.

Don't get me started on Othello. :)

Anyway, all that aside, I'm still interested because I'm curious about what people were watching and hearing at different times and in different places in history, enough to make it worth my while to read a story I don't have an affinity for. Obviously, the author is highly informed and a capable writer, and he makes some assumptions about his audience. I feel like those who watched a performance of Britannicus back in the time Racine was writing would have needed to arrive, and would have been expected to arrive, with a pretty solid understanding of who Britannicus was, who Agrippina and Nero and Junia and Claudius and the others were, as well as what became of them all, if they were to enjoy the play at anything more than a very surface level. Racine trusts that his audience will be familiar with the major figures and the context we find them in.

That's why I think the notes are so helpful. Most of us weren't raised with a strong background in Roman history. Beyond a passing acquaintance with Nero (mostly formed from reading Quo Vadis?), the story was new ground for me, and it would probably be the same for most readers outside of classical studies.

Nero and Agrippina are the main characters. She wants access to Nero so that she can continue to exert control over him. His advisors don't want that, so she is prevented. Nero wants to marry Junia--requiring her cooperation, though she loves Britannicus, and Nero's divorce from a wife we never see. Britannicus is feared as a rival for power and for Junia. Narcissus schemes with Nero while pretending to be friendly with Agrippina and Britannicus. Everybody lies to throw off his enemies, though it also throws of certain readers at times (ahem). Lots of intrigue--but very little action of consequence. So, not terribly exciting, but still good.

How much fun is it to read now, on one's own, for no particular reason? I'd give it maybe a 3 for that. Not super fun. It's a tragedy--people die. No happily ever after. No warm glow at the end. But I found things to like as I read it. If you have some reason to read it, I recommend this edition.

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Where Kit and Lauren Rescue Each Other

A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my second title by this author, and I really liked the book--again--even though this is not my genre or surely didn't used to be. (I've always liked Jane Austen, and more recently have enjoyed Georgette Heyer, so maybe I've been sneaking up on these books over time.)

The first one I read on a sort of whim. It's not condescending to remark that I was very surprised to like it--the criticism is for the reader, not the book. But I did like it, quite a bit, and decided to try others by the same author. I'm glad I did.

I don't know enough about romance in general or Regency romance in particular to say whether or not this is a remarkable writer or book, but I thought it was really good. It was touching, thoughtful (in a "hey, that's kinda wise" way), sexy, and literally laugh out loud funny in places, with a compelling, emotionally satisfying, and appropriately complex plot.

The setup of the story is sort of a stock arrangement, familiar in movies anyway, where the FMC and the MMC agree to pose as an engaged couple for a period of time for reasons that make sense for both of them. This is perhaps the weakest part of the story, a little cliched, but it has sufficient character and plot justifications to make it acceptable. Once past that, the story is fresh and entertaining, with sufficient stakes and secondary plots to make it fun to pick up each time.

Kit is a familiar sort of rake, a complex man with difficulties in his history and his psyche that he disguises underneath behavior bordering on the scandalous. That he is deeper and more consequential than he appears is a given, though his revelations through the course of the story are expertly handled and very believable. Lauren, the FMC, is even more of a surprise and more engaging (for me)--a prim, almost prudish woman in a prudish era who has personal biographical reasons to be that way, though she is hiding even from herself the person she might truly be in a different world. Again, I don't know enough yet to say whether it is the genre in general or Mary Balogh in particular who is behind it, but both books I've read by her are very concerned with characters becoming authentically themselves, and the way they discover what that means is, for me, at least as engrossing as the romantic relationship (which is entirely enjoyable). Trauma and disappointment and fear and hurt stand in the way of many of the characters, and it is the genius of Lauren and Kit both that they are able to untangle many old problems plaguing their families--all in a way that feels genuine and organic.

Happy ending, of course. Also a given. But it arrives in a satisfying way that makes perfect sense. Well done all around. 5 stars.

With recent (2026) Booktok discourse regarding "anti-intellectualism" and the worth of genre fiction being very much on my mind, I have to note that I am not now nor am I ever passing judgment on the value or cultural relevance or intrinsic worth (whatever that means) of any work of art. Not only is that sort of critique beyond me, it's beyond everyone else, too, and I will gladly argue the point with anyone at any time. When I review a book, all I can do is give some indication of how much I enjoyed it, how I subjectively reacted to it. I read for enjoyment, and this was enjoyable, so... mission accomplished.

My recommendation (or prediction, really) is that if you are an Austen reader or a romance reader, you will probably like this book. If you read Heyer or other Regency-type novels, you will almost certainly like it. Everyone else--who knows? Maybe you would, too. Anyway, if I'm wrong I'm wrong, but my opinion is free. : )

I'll soon know if this author can go 3 for 3. Fingers crossed.

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Where the Author Wowed Me

Lord Vanity by Samuel Shellabarger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this on kind of a fluke, and then I loved it. Start to finish. 5 stars.

Published in 1953, it falls in a dead spot historically for me. This isn't a book I would ever have read 40 years ago, or even looked at twice. As a child of the 60s, and becoming a reader in the 70s, I would choose new kids' books (like Charlie and the Chocolate factory) or new science fiction or fantasy (when I found out about those), and sometimes the odd book from another genre, like The Outsiders or something. Except for novels in school, I very rarely read books older than the early 60s. They didn't appeal. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are exceptions, and I can't think of any others from childhood that broke through. And though I read in school, with *some* interest, Hemingway and Steinbeck and some other early 20th century stuff, I didn't like them enough to read for fun. (Still don't, actually.) And I honestly had no idea there would be any books from 1900-1950 that I would like. They were, to my mind, the ratty old books of another generation sitting on the shelves, all dusty and dry, meant to be passed over.

I wasn't surprised when I found I liked 19th century stuff, like Scott and Dumas and Austen, because I had no prejudice against those books. But I didn't think I'd ever want to read stuff from my parents' or older relatives' era. It's only lately that I've developed an interest in books from that time, an interest in hunting for things that I would like that I have never learned about before, or books I simply tuned out because they weren't for me.

All that is to say that I had no idea that this author existed, and I wouldn't care except that this was a really good book in a genre I really enjoy, an author that I should have been reading all my life. Many of the other titles sound great, and I don't want to count my chickens, but I suspect I'm gonna like a least a few of them.

Some spoilers: The story starts in Venice in the 1700s, with a talented young man trying to make his way in the world with just his wits and his talent. He is a musician and a writer and an actor, but he is also nobody special. His talents bring him to the attention of people who do matter, and he is sent off on a chaotic career. He falls in love with a dancer, a young unaffected woman that the reader is pretty much guaranteed to also fall in love with. He has setbacks--a time on the galleys as a convict, sent there on trumped-up charges--but he is redeemed and travels to England where he is recognized by his noble father, but his hopes for a future with the beautiful young dancer are destroyed by his father's wishes and his fear of falling once more into oblivion. He is a dandy; he is a soldier in Canada; he is a spy. He is an actor, and plays all his parts well.

And all of this is written about with tremendous skill. The love story is touching. The social life in Bath and then Paris, the dances and salons and card sharps and merciless lords and scheming ladies, is compelling. The battle scenes, telling the story of England's defeat of France at Quebec, is amazing, riveting. And the intrigue of Richard spying for England in Paris is very well done, almost too clever for me to follow. I loved the pacing and the layers and on-again-off-again love story. Terrific prose. Very satisfying ending.

It was such a great surprise to learn about this book, this author, this prejudice I had without even realizing it. A lot of new reading is possible that I didn't know about.

Highly recommended. I see other of his books have higher scores than this, and I have great hopes.

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Where Neil Schools Us on Some Stuff

Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This has been my before-sleep short read for a few weeks. With forty-two short essays, many of them just 6 or 7 pages long, it's ideal for the sleepy brain. I liked it quite a bit. 4 stars.

These meditations on the big bang, on black holes, on the spaces between stars, and many other physics and astronomy questions are conversational little tidbits that don't break a lot of new ground (especially as I'm reading it 20 years after it was published), but I still found something in literally every essay that was new to me or made me think about something a new way. A scientifically literate reader will already know most of this, and I think I'm pretty well along on that scale, but there are still things he brings into each of his essays that inform me and amuse me and make the reading meaningful. The best fun in non-fiction like this is learning new things.

His voice comes through perfectly clear in the whole thing (which is a plus or minus, depending on the reader's take) and his tone is almost always light, joshing, and, IMO, pleasant. That's the right approach for this kind of popular science. It's not the deadly earnest, erudite tone of Richard Dawkins (who writes great books but is hardly tolerable in person--and has made himself disagreeable the same way JKR has). Nor is it the wide-ranging, surprising, and wandering musings of Stephen Jay Gould (who is greatly missed). Neil deGrasse Tyson is a very smart man in his own right, but he takes a different tack in media, including this book, and I think it's very successful. He wants to explain things to a broad audience in a way that entertains while it educates. He keeps the learning curve very gentle here, the cognitive demand relatively low, but that was his intention, and the way he makes it work may be his genius. In another's hands, this could be a much tougher and much less engaging read.

The only place the author gets a little sharp--deservedly so--and a little less charitable is when he's protecting science from fuzzy religious thought, like creation versus the big bang and similar topics. I think he's earned the right to be just as firm on the topic as he wants. And I don't think it detracts from his amiable, laughs-at-his-own-jokes tone that he gives us though almost every page.

If this fails to dazzle, it nevertheless amuses, and it's full of good science information. I learned a lot more than I would have guessed in these essays on familiar topics. Easy 4 star rating. If you're in the mood for non-fiction but want just bits here and there, just a chunk per day, this is a good choice to put on your bedstand. And if you're lucky like me, you'll find it at a little bookstore for a couple dollars. A steal.

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