Review of LITERATURE and the CULTURE WARS

LITERATURE and the NEW CULTURE WARS

DEBORAH APPLEMAN

Review by Roy Murry, Author

I do not have a Ph.D., nor am I a teacher of Literature. However, I did have the opportunity in college to take two courses in American Literature which I excelled, and I have read thousands of books, novels, and papers.

In reviewing Ms. Appleman's dissertation on teaching American and English Literature, one does not need to have Critical Race Theory as part of the syllabist. However, she believes the professor must not cater to the whims of the students, faculty, and an uncultured society.

CTR is not Literature. It's seventy-five percent history and twenty-five percent propaganda - not a text to evaluate icons like Mark Twain, Hemingway, Shakespeare, or Toni Morrison. I agree with L.P. Hartley: "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

If you have an Inquisitive Mind, as I do, you will purchase this book. Beforehand, this is written for the literature teacher and is detailed in jargon. 

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3Hia2XP

 

Review of THE BINDING

 

THE BINDING

 BRIDGET COLLINS

 

 Review by Author Roy Murry

 

In the nineteenth century, Emmett is to be a binder - a person who takes an individual's memories and hides them in the pages of a book for safekeeping. His sexual memory is in question.

Reading THE BINDING will put the reader through a gamut of emotions that will self-analyze one's life. Would I like to have some of my life removed from my thought process?

I say no. How about you? However, the concept is written intriguingly by Ms. Collins in novel form.

When Emmett comes of age as a binder, he realizes the enormity of the falseness in the binding process, which includes the book of his male lover. Then, in an explosive and disturbing escapade, Emmett and his lover are free to think for themselves.

But are they? Worth the read for a person with an INQUISITIVE MIND.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3XC2R3P

 

Review ot TWISTED JUSTICE

TWISTED JUSTICE

DENNIS CARSTENS

 

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

TWISTED JUSTICE is my third Carstens novel read and the twelfth in his Marc Kadella legal series. In his writing, he brings out the worst and best of humanity.

Marc, a defense lawyer, and his lover Maddy, a PI, round out a group of characters that propel the series forward by getting to the truth of a crime. In this novel, a friend of Marc's is charged with the horrendous murder of his wife.

The wife's secret life, the group of her friends, and her well-connected clients play a role in this twisted case. Marc and his cohorts develop a plausible defense.

In his deductive evaluation, however, Marc knows the truth and keeps it to himself, which leads to a thrilling closure. The twists and turns of this well-written novel will keep you reading to the end.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3krQdFP

 

Review of A LEGACY WITCH

A LEGACY WITCH

Spellcasters Spy Academy

 

ASHLEY McLEO

 

Review by Roy Murry

 

Merlin, a warlock of the King Arthur fable, is rolling in his tomb laughing - an academy for witches to become spies. However, Ms. Ashley Mcleo pulls off the legacy in a fun way for young adults to enjoy.

Odette Dane is an academy legacy enrollee at Spellcasters, which she gets flack for by young witches who took the test to get into the college-like school. But, during this first in a series book, she passes necessary tests with magical help to the surprise of all.

These adventures involve vampires and monsters taught in school classes. The descriptions are funny and horrific simultaneously - enjoyable, even for an older adult like me.

Ms. McLeo's writing is crisp and flows easily with exciting characters, including Odette's soulmate. In this novel, she leaves the reader wondering what happened in four deadly events for solving in books 2 and 3.

 

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/3XwYUNg

 

Review of PLAYING with FIRE

PLAYING with FIRE

Island Fire Series

AMY KNUPP

 

Review by Author Roy Murry

 

When you love someone, and that person dies in a tragic event, it seems like the world has ended. In PLAYING with FIRE, Derek, an ex-firefighter, withdraws into another existence after his love dies in a fire.

Since childhood, Macey, Derek's friend, is sent by their mothers on a quest to an island in the Gulf of Mexico. Her journey is to help him come out of his self-imposed prison.

Her love for him since she was five, her friendship, and her personal development led to conflicts with him. Their tit-for-tat and underlining feelings come to a head.

Their true feelings explode into an unexpected ending in this well-written friend's romance first book in a series about firefighters and their lovers.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3QC3ms9