Book Review: Kendo, Culture of the Sword

In Kendo: Culture of the Sword, Alexander Bennett follows the technical and cultural evolution of Japanese swordfighting from the days of the samurai warrior class to its current status as one of the “sportified” martial arts (budo). In detailing this history, Bennett also gives an overview of the basics of performing kendo; however, this is not an instruction manual, and the descriptions of the moves, rules, and equipment are very basic and are used mostly to provide the reader with some grounding for the substance of the book.

Book Review: Mortom, by Erik Therme

I was disappointed with this Mortom, by Erik Therme. The set up is definitely interesting: Andy inherits an estate from estranged cousin Craig and goes to look at the property with sister Kate. Upon entering the house, the siblings find a dead rat, which is the first clue in a puzzle that begins to consume Andy.

Book Review: The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (aka, J.K. Rowling)

 

Disclaimer - I’m a huge J.K. Rowling fan.  I loved the Harry Potter books (d’uh), but I also thought that The Casual Vacancy was excellent and very underappreciated.  I enjoyed The Cuckoo’s Calling, but it’s my least favorite out of the three worlds.

 

The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (pen name of J.K. Rowling for the two of you out there who didn’t know) is the second book in the Cormoran Strike detective series.  The story starts with the disappearance of a second-rate but overly dramatic author named Quine, who has recently written an incendiary and potentially libelous book, and ends with all of the entrails everywhere.  In his search for Quine, Strike delves into the publishing industry, which is presented as a dying aristocracy.  Once the gatekeepers to elite intellectualism, the entire industry is now on edge as it suffers through the “new challenges” of ebooks and self-publishing.  The insight into the publishing world, especially coming from such a popular author, was fascinating, and the tension and suspicion surrounding everyone related to traditional publishing made a literary murder that much more believable.