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The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
A book jot from July 2021: I finished reading The Great Brain (1967) by John D. Fitzgerald with illustrations by Mercer Mayer. It’s a children’s novel that takes place in the late 1890s in Utah. The setting and some of the plotlines seem unusual for children’s literature, and it handles some difficult themes in a…
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Tomahawk
Yesterday I read an issue of Tomahawk, a DC comic that ran from 1950 to 1972. The character first appeared a little earlier, in 1947, and has had a few appearances since the title’s cancellation. The comic is somewhat unique in that most of the timeline takes place during the American Revolution. Some of the…
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Electra by Euripides
This is a book jot from June 2021: I just finished reading Electra (c. 420 BC) by Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Euripides, and tend to really like stories about the House of Atreus and any connected in some way to the Trojan War. The fate of those who…
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Robotech Defenders
I received both issues in the Robotech Defenders miniseries in the mail today. I just finished reading the first one and it was fantastic! I haven’t been carried away by a comic for quite a while, and it was so much fun. The various settings briefly glimpsed were exciting, and I really enjoyed the team…
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Athaliah by Jean Racine
I finished reading Athaliah by Jean Racine (translated by John Cairncross), a play first staged in 1691. Athaliah reads much like a Greco-Roman tragedy, although its subject matter and plot are derived from the Old Testament. I am not as familiar with the stories of the Old Testament as I am with many of the…
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Mystery terrarium
My daughter and I made what we’re calling a mystery terrarium yesterday. It’s a mystery because we used dirt from the front yard and some decomposed organic material scooped out of a crevice in the bed of our pickup truck for the soil and didn’t add any seeds or plants. The decayed organic hodgepodge from…