A lot of good music showed up in 1974 and some of it is included on Ultimate Seventies 1974. There’s “Help Me” by Joni Mitchell from her best album, Court and Spark. Eric Clapton’s classic “I Shot the Sheriff” never gets old.

Elton John gets two songs: “Bennie and The Jets” and “The Bitch is Back.” Who can forget the odd cover of “The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk? And I’m fond of the suggestive “Midnight at the Oasis” by Maria Muldaur.

Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1	Bad Company (3)–	Can’t Get Enough
2	Al Wilson–	Show And Tell
3	Redbone–	Come And Get Your Love
4	Eric Clapton–	I Shot The Sheriff
5	Joni Mitchell–	Help Me
6	Billy Swan–	I Can Help
7	Al Green–	Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)
8	The Hues Corporation–	Rock The Boat
9	Elton John–	Bennie And The Jets
10	Gregg Allman–	Midnight Rider
11	Lynyrd Skynyrd–	Sweet Home Alabama
12	Grand Funk*–	The Loco-Motion
13	Brownsville Station–	Smokin’ In The Boys’ Room
14	Steely Dan–	Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
15	David Essex–	Rock On
16	Maria Muldaur–	Midnight At The Oasis
17	Carl Douglas–	Kung Fu Fighting
18	Wet Willie–	Keep On Smilin’
19	Dionne Warwick and the Spinners–	Then Came You
20	Elton John–	The Bitch Is Back

Making History is a dark fantasy novella by K.J. Parker (aka, Tom Holt). A group of scholars are forced by a tyrannical King (think Trump) to invent a fake ancient civilization to justify a war with a country that the King wants to invade and pillage. The narrator of Marking History is a linguistics professor tasked with creating a fake language for the invented culture required by the King. The creation of the fake ancient civilization must be convincing enough to lead to war or the scholars will be facing execution if they fail. 

Like all of K. J. Parker’s works, Making History is witty, sardonic in tone, and suggests that history is propaganda. GRADE: B

Just a heads-up for you Star Wars fans: the 10-episode series,Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on April 6, 2026, with two episodes being released each week until May 4.

As you might remember, Maul is a former Sith lord from the planet Dathomir who is trying to find his place following the end of the Clone Wars. You can expect a lot of action and cunning from this new Star Wars saga.

“Gated communities. Home theaters. Private schools. Private jets. Privately run public parks. Private world-saving behind the backs of those to be saved.” (p. 199)

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different. ” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Anand Giridharadas presents a different picture of the Rich in Winners Take All. The Rich spend massive amounts of money trying to convince the world that they are benefactors of the Planet. Their charities project Hope, but many of them are just tax write-offs.

In reality, Anand Giridharadas shows how the Rich are moulding societies to their benefit. Politicians do their bidding in order to get million dollar campaign contributions. The Rich gave an expensive RV to a Supreme Court Justice. Did that affect future Supreme Court decisions?

Currently, Trump’s pal Larry Ellison, who purchased Paramount, now is going to buy Warner Brothers and get CNN in the deal. Will that affect broadcast journalism? Soon CNN will be a clone of FOX NEWS.

Billionaires rule but pretend Democracy still works. We all know it doesn’t. Money is the root of all Evil…and Evil is growing. Winners Take All is a disturbing book by providing examples of the rot creeping over our institutions and governments. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue 3

Chapter 1 But How is the World Changed? 13

Chapter 2 Win-Win 35

Chapter 3 Rebel-Kings in Worrisome Berets 60

Chapter 4 The Critic and the Thought Leader 87

Chapter 5 Arsonists Make the Best Firefighters 129

Chapter 6 Generosity and Justice 154

Chapter 7 All That Works in the Modern World 201

Epilogue “Other People Are Not Your Children” 245

Acknowledgments 265

A Note On Sources 271

Index 277

I’ve read Edward Ashton’s Mickey 7 (you can read my review here) and its sequel Antimatter Blues (you can read my review here). Ashton’s new SF novel, The Fourth Consort (2025), introduces a new series of characters in a First Contact tale with some surprises.

Dalton Greaves, a former soldier, is recruited by an alien organization calling itself Unity to make contact with sentient species. Dalton is paired with a woman called Neera, who seems to have her own agenda. After their starship is destroyed, Dalton and Neera find themselves marooned on an alien planet until a rescue ship arrives.

Unity has a competitor in another alien federation that calls itself The Assembly. Dalton has to deal with a deadly alien he calls Breaker who is also trying to recruit the aliens on this planet to reject Unity and come to the Assembly for membership. As the title suggests, Dalton finds himself selected by the alien Queen as her Fourth Consort. This is not an appealing prospect as Dalton learns the Queen has just eaten the First Consort.

I enjoy Edward Ashton’s droll humor and clever plotting. If you’re looking for an entertaining SF novel with thrills and surprises, give The Fourth Consort a try. GRADE: B+

I’m a sucker for trying new coffee flavors. This limited edition of Starbucks Brown Sugar Cinnamon K-cups are available from now to June 2026. Here’s the nutritional information:

Starbucks Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cold Brew Concentrate (Sweetened) (Per 6 fl oz serving)

• Calories: 60
• Total Fat: 0g
• Sodium: 0mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 14g
• Sugars: 11g
• Protein: 1g
• Potassium: 510mg (10% DV) Starbucks +1

Other Formats

• Ground Coffee / K-Cups: These products contain 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g sugar, and 0g carbs, featuring natural flavors without added sweeteners.

If you enjoy flavored coffee with cinnamon and some sweetness you might enjoy this. Do you have a favorite coffee?

I am a big fan of Pulp Fiction and Will Murray–writer of wonderful adventures of Doc Savage, Cthulhu, Sherlock Holmes, and Tarzan–who brings back a Pulp Hero to take on a Pulp Villain. Secret Agent X is a master of disguise who was once an intelligence agent. Now he has given up his former identity to fight crime as the nameless, faceless Secret Agent X with the ability to impersonate anyone. Secret Agent X was a pulp magazine that ran for more than forty issues from Ace Magazines. Paul Chadwick created the character and the stories were written by Chadwick with various other pulp fiction writers, chiefly G.T. Fleming-Roberts.

Doctor Death is one of the few villains to have his own pulp magazine, a  short-lived pulp science fiction magazine published by Dell Magazines in 1935. Altus Press has reprinted five Doctor Death novels and several short stories. Doctor Death was a former academic named Dr. Rance Mandarin. He is a master of both scientific and mystical arts which makes him incredibly powerful.

Doctor Death is “determined to hurl civilization back to the Dark Ages”! Harold Ward, created Doctor Death and wrote the novels under the pseudonym “Zorro”.

As a master of science and the supernatural, Doctor Death presents problems to Secret Agent X that he can’t overcome by himself. After an almost fatal battle with Doctor Death, Secret Agent X decides he needs help in stopping this super-villain.

Secret Agent X recruits three other crime fighters: The Cobra, Moon Man, and The Griffon. Together, they are the Secret Circle.

Secret Agent X found Doctor Death’s hidden lair in the deadly catacombs. The Secret Circle face Elementals, Harpies, Minotaurs, and Zombies in the assault on Doctor Death’s booby-trapped hideaway!

If you like The Avengers and the Justice League, you’ll enjoy the epic conclusion of Secret Agent X Vs. Dr. Death! The team of crime fighters face many perils in their battle with Doctor Death. You’ll be on the edge of your seat! GRADE: A

With the gloominess of our current situation, we all need some Love and Happiness. This compilation from 1990 brings some of the fun back with songs like “In the Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett and “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers.

Who can resist “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King? Or “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” by Glady Knight and The Pips?

Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1	Jackie Wilson–	(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher
2	Aretha Franklin–	Think
3	Jerry Butler–	He Will Break Your Heart
4	Al Wilson–	Show And Tell
5	Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes*–	If You Don’t Know Me By Now
6	The Pointer Sisters*–	Slow Hand
7	Ben E. King–	Stand By Me
8	Otis Redding–	I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
9	The Staple Singers–	I’ll Take You There
10	The Chi-Lites–	Oh Girl
11	The Drifters–	Save The Last Dance For Me
12	James Brown–	I Feel Good (I Got You)
13	Al Green–	Let’s Stay Together
14	Gladys Knight And The Pips–	Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me
15	Johnnie Taylor–	I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)
16	Bill Withers–	Ain’t No Sunshine
17	Wilson Pickett–	In The Midnight Hour
18	Aaron Neville–	Tell It Like It Is
19	Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell–	Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing
20	The Temptations–	Just My Imagination
21	Junior Walker & The All Stars–	What Does It Take (The Win Your Love)
22	Percy Sledge–	When A Man Loves A Woman
23	Dionne Warwick–	Anyone Who Had A Heart
24	Smokey Robinson & The Miracles*–	You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me

In her revealing “Introduction” Jane Gardam cites James Joyce’s Dubliners as the book that affected her as a writer. Gardam is an award winning writer who shows in this collection of her short stories she likes the best that the people in the background sometimes hold the best story material: the old and shy and reclusive and sheepish, the conservative wives, the stay-at‑home mothers and impoverished ex‑colonials, the dwellers in cottages and suburban villas out of the mainstream.

Take “Grace” as an example.  Clockie loses his virginity while Gardam’s crafty story-telling presents the implications. And in “Lunch with Ruth Sykes” the Past reaches into the Present with startling consequences.

The Stories of Jane Gardam (2014) presents three decades’ worth of her short fictions full of surprise and menace. If you’re looking for a master of short story writing, this is the book for you. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION — 13

• Hetty Sleeping — 21
• Lunch with Ruth Sykes — 41
• The Great, Grand Soap-Water Kick — 57
• The Sidmouth Letters — 65
• A Spot of Gothic — 89
• The Tribute — 101
• The Pig Boy — 119
• Rode by All with Pride — 139
• The Easter Lilies — 159
• The First Adam — 175
• The Pangs of Love — 187
• Stone Trees — 201
• An Unknown Child — 211
• Showing the Flag — 227
• Swan — 237
• Damage — 257
• The Dixie Girls — 293
• Groundlings — 311
• Grace — 325
• Miss Mistletoe — 333
• Telegony (a triptych in three parts: Going into a Dark House; Signor Settimo; The Hot Sweets of Cremona) — 341
• The Boy Who Turned into a Bike — 383
• Missing the Midnight — 393
• The Zoo at Christmas — 401
• Old Filth — 411
• The Green Man — 423
• Soul Mates — 451
• The People on Privilege Hill — 459
• About the Author — 477