Tag Red Rules

Books & Writing, History & Politics

Book Reviews & Comparison: ‘Shashenka’ by Simon Sebag Montefiore & ‘The Revolution of Marina M.’ by Janet Fitch

book covers of The Revolution of Marina M and Sashenka

Both Simon Sebag Montefiore's 'Sashenka' and Janet Fitch's 'The Revolution of Marina M.' are gripping historical novels that will help you understand Russia. Similar in many ways, there are also stark differences.

Tema
October 22, 2024

Books & Writing, History & Politics

Fun With History

Poor old man in Lower East Side ~1915 reading a newspaper (AI generated image)

You get a different sense of history when you read old newspapers instead of just history books.

Tema
October 12, 2023

Books & Writing, History & Politics

Book Review: Darkness at Noon

Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler - new edition book cover

Written in 1940 about Stalinist Russia, Darkness at Noon contains a chilling explanation of the recent trend towards authoritarianism in much of the world. I give it 5 stars.

Tema
September 9, 2023

Books & Writing

ChatGPT is a Lying Narcissist!

ChatGPT and other new AI systems can be good, but also have huge risks (Headline examples)

ChatGPT and its Bing search engine equivalent have an AI version of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. They will tell you lies but sound oh, so convincing.

Tema
February 20, 2023
1 Comment

Books & Writing, History & Politics, Travel

Book Review: Half of a Yellow Sun

book cover of Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A must-read if you want to get a real sense of what war is like for those who live in war-torn countries.

Tema
November 26, 2022
2 Comments

Books & Writing, History & Politics

Book Review: The Diamond Eye

book cover: The Diamond Eye, by Kate Quinn

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn My rating: 4 of 5 stars Both the writing and the story sparkle like diamonds in this historical novel by Kate Quinn, based on the life of WWII Soviet female sniper, Mila Pavlichenko. If…

Tema
October 1, 2022

Books & Writing, History & Politics, Personal Essay

Is Democracy in Danger? (& 2 book reviews)

2021 Storming of the Capitol vs 1917 Russian Storming of the Winter Palace

If you've grown up in a country like Canada it can be hard to imagine that democracies like ours can fall. Historical fiction helps bring the risks to light. Includes book reviews of "A Long Petal of the Sea" and "It Can't Happen Here".

Tema
February 11, 2022
1 Comment

Travel, Books & Writing, Personal Essay

Is the World as Dangerous as the News Makes it Seem?

Am I being naïve in ignoring the disturbances going on in parts of the island?

Tema
January 27, 2022

Books & Writing

A Historical Novelist’s Work is Never Done

Disastrous Fire at Yokohoma - 1919 news headline

When writing a historical novel you can get buried in research and never write the book. Sometimes, though, the research discoveries make you so happy!

Tema
June 23, 2021
3 Comments

Books & Writing, History & Politics

Tema Frank: History Detective!

photo of Boruch Adelson's grandfather, Shmuel

Shmuel, father of Idel, who was the father of Baruch When you hear the words “genealogical research” what comes to mind? For me, it was a little old lady sitting at her computer trying to find out about her distant…

Tema
October 2, 2019
7 Comments

Travel

Back to School 2019

Scrolling through all the Facebook pictures of fresh faced children headed back to school today, I had three thoughts: I miss that excitement. In my mind, September has always been the true “new year”, unlike that middle of the winter…

Tema
September 3, 2019