Favorite reads of 2023

Below are my ten most memorable reads of 2023, fiction and nonfiction, out of my 33 first-time reads. Actually I've thrown 11 chariots into the race, and an honorable runner-up. For each book, I've listed some excerpts, not necessarily the "best" -- there are countless great quotes in all of these -- but just a … Continue reading Favorite reads of 2023

Hero, meet your villain; or, never mind

It's a common trope in fiction: a final confrontation between the central hero of a story and its central villain. It's an important trope in Westerns, both on the page and screen -- Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" is just one famous example. And we see it in works of fiction that are too many to count: … Continue reading Hero, meet your villain; or, never mind