Books and Literature

Vampires for the Atomic Age: Leiber and Kornbluth Short Masterpieces Hey, trick-or-treaters, for some rockin’ good, scary Halloween fun, there’s nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a good vampire story or two.  And whaddya know?  I just happen to have a couple of lulus for you right here in The RGG.  But the terrifying […]

Truman Capote’s “Shut a Final Door”: A Review Today on The Renaissance Garden Guy, we’re checking out “Shut a Final Door” by Truman Capote.  In this chilling short story, the author, with his graceful prolixity, and in his inimitable style, demonstrates that the most terrifying specter you might ever have the misfortune of encountering in

Heloise & Abelard by James Burge: A Review Heloise and Abelard are among history’s most famous lovers, and their lives together – and apart – represent what is perhaps history’s greatest love story.  Author James Burge, through meticulous research, unimpeachable scholarship, and with the help of a 13th century poet and a 15th century monk

The Soulful Adventure of Spencer, the Soft-hearted Seal by Margaret Lepera: A Review With The Soulful Adventure of Spencer, the Soft-hearted Seal, award-winning author Margaret Lepera introduces young readers to a brave baby seal, and to some timeless, universal values which adults would also do well to embrace. Books have existed, in one form or

April Doyle’s Frightening (Near) Future In Hive, the very existence of not only bees, but of all life on Earth, lurches inexorably toward the edge of a grim precipice as a result of the worsening global climate crisis.  April Doyle’s tale of a frightening – and entirely possible – near future hums with suspense, and

A Review of Peter Wohlleben’s Intimate Examination of Earth’s Oldest Citizens and Their Societies Trees as sentient beings, living in cooperative societies and caring for one another?  Ridiculous?  Not so much, writes forester and author Peter Wohlleben in The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, his beautiful and fascinating ode to the

The Girl of the Braids: A True Story by Pepita Rodrigo Enjoy a free download of this lovely autobiographical account of a young girl growing up in post-World War II Catalonia.  In The Girl of the Braids, Pepita Rodrigo recounts her most poignant childhood experiences, and they read more beautifully than any fairy tale ever

A Look at the Short Stories of Raymond Carver In “A Look at the Short Stories of Raymond Carver,” I’ll review the oeuvre of one of the twentieth century’s most gifted – and laconic – storytellers. This article represents my first book review here on The Renaissance Garden Guy.  It’s actually more of a books review.