Posts

Everything I write, all in one place — book reviews, recipes and gardening notes as they happen, travel writeups, and whatever else is on my mind.

Book Review

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

August 18, 2026 · 2 min

I have always been fascinated by mysteries that resist an easy explanation. I’m not entirely sure when I first heard about the Dyatlov Pass incident, but the underlying question of what happened has stayed with me. It connects to the kinds of stories I have been drawn to for years, from The Reader’s Digest Mystery of the Unexplained, a book my grandmother had, to The X-Files in the 1990s. …

Book Review

Grant’s Grim Road to Richmond

August 2, 2026 · 3 min

Ralph Peters’ Hell or Richmond is the second novel in his Battle Hymn Cycle, following Cain at Gettysburg. It offers a compelling and often brutal account of Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, told through the perspectives of the commanders and soldiers who endured it. The novel covers the roughly thirty-day campaign that began in May 1864, moving from the tangled forests of the Wilderness through Spotsylvania Court House and the infamous Bloody Angle before reaching the disastrous Union assault at Cold Harbor. Rather than treating these battles as isolated events, Peters presents them as stages in one relentless struggle. Grant keeps moving south and attacking, while Robert E. Lee repeatedly tries to block his path and preserve the Army of Northern Virginia. …

Travel

The Menger Hotel - San Antonio - Texas

July 9, 2026 · 2 min

On previous visits, we had stayed at the Emily Morgan Hotel. The last time we were downtown, however, we walked through the Menger Hotel and were immediately intrigued by its beautiful lobby, old-world character, and incredible history. We made a note that someday we should stay there. …

Travel

Stagecoach Inn - Salado Texas

July 8, 2026 · 1 min

Ever since I was a kid, my father would point out the Stagecoach Inn in Salado, Texas, whenever we drove between San Antonio and Dallas. Over the years, I found myself doing the same thing with Sergio. It is a place I always wanted to stay. …

Book Review

A Gripping Conclusion to One of the Shattered Legions Story Arcs

February 23, 2026 · 2 min

TL;DR This novella expertly ties up loose ends from the main books in the series. Jonathan Keeble’s narration is top-notch and a major contributor to the story’s emotional impact. If you’re invested in the Horus Heresy series, this is a crucial conclusion that adds depth to the overall narrative. Be prepared for a thrilling conclusion to a significant story arc that will leave you with a new perspective on the series. Body As I finished listening to the audiobook version of “Sons of Selenar” by Graham McNeill, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction at having finally tied up a loose end that had been lingering in my mind since reading “Saturnine”. The novella is part of this larger universe, and it’s clear that McNeill has put a lot of thought into completing this narrative arc. …

Book Review

Cain at Gettysburg

January 31, 2026 · 2 min

Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters steps onto well-traveled ground and, to its credit, finds a fresh path across it. Anyone who has spent time with Civil War literature approaches another Gettysburg novel with hesitation. The battle has been retold in countless books and films, most famously in Michael Shaara’s “The Killer Angels”, and it’s easy to worry that a new entry will simply reshuffle familiar scenes. …

Book Review

Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American

December 28, 2025 · 2 min

I’ve always found William Tecumseh Sherman to be one of the most interesting figures of the American Civil War not just because of his marches and battles, but because he changed the way people thought about war itself. First off, this isn’t a modern book. It was written in 1929, that older lens gives the narrative a very different feel compared to contemporary histories. The audiobook narration does a great job of letting that voice come through without feeling dated or dull. …

Book Review

Dragon Lance Novels

November 14, 2025 · 2 min

I recently revisited two books from my past: Dragons of Winter Night and Dragons of Spring Dawning, and this time around I chose to experience them differently as audiobooks. The narrator, Paul Boehmer, delivered a great performance, and I very much enjoyed the chance to revisit both stories. I read both books a long time ago, so a lot of the details had slipped my mind. Listening allowed me to pick up things I had forgotten — small scenes, character beats, world-building details that faded with time. …

Book Review

Moriarty: The Devil’s Game

October 18, 2025 · 1 min

I went into Moriarty: The Devil’s Game with a fair bit of skepticism. Any time someone reimagines the Sherlock Holmes universe, it runs the risk of feeling forced or gimmicky. But once I got past the initial adjustment, I found myself surprisingly drawn into this darker, clever twist on familiar territory. In this version, Sherlock Holmes is not the paragon of justice we’re used to—far from it. He’s manipulative, driven, and more than a little self-serving. Moriarty, on the other hand, still becomes the kingpin of crime, but now his actions are layered with ambiguity as he’s trying to clear his name. That simple shift in moral balance reframes everything we thought we knew about Baker Street. …

Book Review

Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

September 20, 2025 · 1 min

I picked up The Three-Body Problem. The premise, scientific ideas, and vast scope are intriguing: from the opening I was fascinated by the blend of history, physics, and alien contact. Yet as I moved forward, the book became harder to finish. The pacing slowed significantly. The middle section felt dense: technical exposition, shifting timelines, and multiple characters so far removed that I struggled to keep invested in their arcs. There were stretches where the scientific framing overshadowed the emotional/motivational grounding of the characters. It often felt more like reading to understand ideas than to follow a story I cared about. …