The week between Christmas and the New Year is unlike any other time of year. Hopefully, you have some extra free time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. Why not take this opportunity to open…
This week, Luther and Aubrey have thoughts about Harvard embarrassing itself in the wake of its president, Claudine Gay, being exposed more daily as a serial plagiarizer. The two also consider the Pope’s guidance on blessings and how those relate to…
The etymology of nostalgia traces back to the Greek word nostos, meaning “homecoming.” Sounds nice. However, the suffix algia denotes pain, which is not so nice. Distill the two components, add egg yolk, sugar, and nutmeg, and we have the…
The Last Devil to Die By Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman Books, 362 pages, $29) If I had known that Richard Osman was a producer of television quiz shows and a TV entertainment show presenter before I read The Thursday Murder Club,…
Aubrey and Luther get to talking about Aubrey’s martial arts background, why abortion ballot measures favor abortion activists, and what of value came out of the third GOP primary debate. Aubrey recommends Mary Frances Myler’s “Weed Comes to the Buckeye…
Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World By Richard Cockett (Yale University Press, 464 pages, $35) A few years ago, I read a very interesting book by Arthur Herman entitled How the Scots Invented the Modern World….
Los países de literatura indigente tienen historia desabrida. [Countries with an impoverished literature have an insipid history.] — Nicolás Gómez Dávila It has become something of an autumn tradition. The leaves change their verdant hues, mothballed sweaters come out of…
The Dictionary People: The Unsung People Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary Sarah Ogilvie (Knopf, 384 pages, $30) Sarah Ogilvie is an Australian linguist and lexicographer who, after writing her dissertation on the Oxford English Dictionary, worked for many years,…
Wandering through Life: A Memoir By Donna Leon (Atlantic Monthly Press, 193 pages, $26) When a writer charms, instructs, amuses, or simply mightily entertains us, it’s natural enough to wish to know more about the creator behind the creation. What…
Peel School District — located in Ontario, Canada, and bordering Toronto — is reportedly weeding books from its libraries with publication dates prior to 2008. The district’s school board has yet to respond specifically to parents’ and Ontario officials’ questions,…