Restoring the Classics from Carbonized Scrolls
A computer scientist believes he can reveal the entire library of Julius Caesar’s father-in-law from scrolls carbonized by Vesuvius. It’s a bit complicated!
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Assyrian Women: Letters and Weaving
I hope you’ll be Intrigued, as I was, by these letters of women from 1860 BCE. These women were integral to the international textile trade between Assyria and Anatolia. Or perhaps you’re interested in watching an experimental archaeologist reconstruct what these weaving women actually did with wool.
Author Tales, The Joy of Reading Aloud
My reading at the Avid Reader was great fun. Since the excerpt I crafted for this event is spookily appropriate for the Halloween season, I’m sharing it with you. Amazing what happened when I looked at the first chapter not as the opening for the whole book, but as a place from which to pluck a brief, spellbinding tale for an audience. I hope you enjoy it.
Northern California Book Events
It’s great fun to be participating at author events around the Northern California area, including the Avid Reader Bookstore Oct 17, 6-8pm. For the details about these book events, you may read my post.
Heir of Uncertain Magic, Book Review
A setting in Victorian Boston and a nearby island, an endearing romance, and an intriguing magical system. I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie Holmberg’s Heir of Uncertain Magic. If that sounds fun to you also, here’s my review.
Subtle Art, Translation of the Iliad
A new translation of the Iliad is causing much more of a stir than you’d think. For good reason. Do you enjoy the layers of meaning one word can have and other subtleties of translation? I took a look at what people are saying and put it together for you.
Three Upcoming Book Events
Everything you need to know about my upcoming appearances at the Elk Grove Writers Conference, the Great Valley Bookfest, and the Avid Reader Bookstore. Join me for these celebrations of books!
Special Treatments of the Dead
I noticed two unrelated articles in the recent Archaeology Magazine. Their juxtaposition got me thinking about treatments of the dead. We humans are really good at over-the-top respect on the one hand, and fear on the other. Have a look.
The Carnivale of Curiosities, Book Review
With atmospherically rich effect, Amiee Gibbs’s The Carnivale of Curiosities combines gothic Victorian historical with dark fantasy. She intertwines themes of constructed family, freaks, and the reality of magic. I hope you enjoy my review.
Horses of Fire: A Novel of Troy, Book Review
Like many of the recent Troy books, this latest, Horses of Fire, focuses on women. It consciously departs from Homeric tradition and historical accuracy in ways that may please readers or irritate them. Have a look at my review.