This is not a history of clothing, of fabric, its manufacturing, its properties, or its evolution. It is an unnuanced screed incoherently stitching together fragments of grievance politics and pet causes into a disjointed fabric that reads like a collection of opinion pieces written for a socialist periodical.
Japanese Tales of Times Past Review
I did not read all thousand-plus stories, but I was intrigued by the collection, and came across a selection of ninety stories from the Japanese parts of the original anthology recently chosen and translated by Naoshi Koriyama and Bruce Allen.
Ruth Review
It focuses on individuals and intimate relationships, specifically women, in contrast to the immediately preceding books, and with a very different feel from the family relationships explored in earlier books.
The History of English (Podcast) Recommendation
Begun in 2012, the podcast is a history podcast about the English language, although it takes dozens of episodes for the host, Stroud, to reach the advent of the oldest English dialects from the start of the proto-Indo-European language.
The Craft of Research Review
It is a valuable book, well worth reading for anyone who is engaged in, or plans to engage in, research in any field – or, frankly, if you plan to engage in any kind of nonfiction writing. The sooner you read it, the better.
Lloyd’s Best Books of 2025
Ultimately, these five books are the ones I considered the best, the most memorable, the most impactful, of the books which I read this year. I wholeheartedly recommend them to you.
The Story of Cole Younger, By Himself Review
Some of this may be deliberate obfuscation, but to say all of it is intentional is probably lending him too much credit. Which would be inadvisable, as he’s apt to run off with it, the contents of your bank account, and your horses, too.
Wheel of Time Series Review
A literature professor claimed the difference between “plot” novels and “real literature” is that plot novels cease to be enjoyable once the reader knows how the story goes, while real literature retains and even deepens in its significance and impact upon successive readings, after the reader knows “how it ends.”
A Memory of Light Review
After so many books spent preparing for the Last Battle and Rand’s climactic struggle against the Dark One, we finally witness it. We witness it for almost a thousand pages, since A Memory of Light is basically a very, very long final battle scene.
The Rhetoric of Fiction Review
Several of the posts you’ve been seeing in recent weeks, and several in weeks to come, are prompted or inspired by the time I spent with Booth’s indispensable text. That’s not a word I select lightly.
IGC Publishing 