All Reviews
Reviews are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent review appearing first in the list.
Psychology
This is the second edition of the book on psychology in the Very Short Introduction collection, which now has surpassed 400 volumes. It was number 6 in t…
Side Effects May Vary
Julie Murphy’s emotionally overwrought debut young adult novel features Alice, who had leukemia and is now in remission. The narrative shifts betwe…
The Star Thrower
One of the virtues of being retired is that I can read or re-read authors who have influenced me in some way or another. Dr. Eiseley is one of those auth…
The Story Hour
Thrity Umrigar’s novel about the relationship between a psychotherapist and her client shows the therapist breaking many ethical rules of her profession,…
The Story Within
I have always been fascinated by stories, and in particular the very personal stories that you get from people while you are sitting on the bus or waitin…
Wrinkles
This animated movie was originally released as “Arrugas” in 2011, and was based on a graphic novel by Paco Roca. This new version has been given an…
Anomalous Cognition
Reading this book is not for the statistically faint of heart. This (over-?)technically written series of twenty-six articles published, where the…
Behind the Gospels
Jesus of Nazareth is the hero of the many stories in the New Testament of the Bible. He is believed by many to be God, or the son of God, or both. He is…
Changes
“Talking does not make the world or even pictures, but talking and pictures participate in making each other and the world as we know them.” …
Curious
At first thought, curiosity might seem like something innate, something we are simply born with, interests come and go, and we become curious about certa…
Hate Crimes in Cyberspace
Arguing that hate crimes and cyber bullying on the Internet is foremost an issue of gender discrimination, Danielle Keats Citron makes a powerful case fo…
Kicking the Sky
Kicking the Sky is Anthony De Sa’s first novel and it is a good one! De Sa uses the real murder of Emmanuel Jaques in 1977 in Toronto (known the…
Kiss of Broken Glass
15-year-old Kenna has been detained in a psychiatric center for young people. She has been held under the Baker Act in Florida, because she was caught cu…
Making Peace with Porn
Allison Vivas is president of Pink Visual, an internet porn company, but her book is aimed at women, helping them accept their husbands’ use of porn, so…
One Hour in Paris
Karyn L. Freedman’s One hour in Paris: A true story of rape and recovery is an account of the rape and violence that Freedman went through as a…
Schizophrenia
Analogous to other mental disorders, schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and historically misunderstood condition. Its long-suffering symptoms, ranging fr…
Season to Taste
The subtitle of the British edition of this novel is “or How to Eat Your Husband,” and the heart of the book is made clear in the first pages. Lizz…
Stay
Suicide has become alarmingly common. As Hecht reports from a recent World Health Organization study, suicide rates have risen 60% worldwide in the past…
The Chemistry Between Us
In The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction, Larry Young and Brian Alexander state that molecules in our brains dr…
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The Feeling Body
In her recently published book The Feeling Body, Giovanna Colombetti advances a unique enactivistic approach, which reintegrates cogni…
The Inessential Indexical
Cappelen and Dever (henceforth C&D) ask whether there is any essential aspect of indexicals that distinguishes them from other linguist…
The Roman Search for Wisdom
One of the reasons I chose to pursue an academic career was, I believe, the influence a certain kind of book had on me. The books I have in mind ar…
Things Tom Likes
Written by health educator Kate E. Reynolds, this book is part of a series on sexuality and sexual safety for boys and young men on the aut…
Twinmaker
Twinmaker is a young adult science fiction story featuring, of course, a teenage girl heroine. Clair is 17 years old, living in a…
What’s Happening to Tom?
This simple, illustrated book is intended to help boys and young men with autism and related conditions understand the physical changes that occur during…