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:

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

A while ago, Todd Mason recommended Polar Diet Orange Dry. I’m always looking for new beverage options so I went to Wegmans…and struck out. They had many Polar products on the shelves, but NOT Polar Diet Orange Dry. I went to TOPs. Same thing: plenty of Polar products but no Polar Diet Orange Dry. I then tried our local Consumer Beverage Center. Again, no dice.

So I did what I always do: I ordered Polar Diet Orange Dry from AMAZON. Within a few days, it arrived. Diane initially thought the box was fu ll of books–she was getting The Look ready–but when I opened it and displayed the cans of Polar Diet Orange Dry, she retreated from DEFCON 5.

Over the next few days, I drank a can of Polar Diet Orange Dry daily. I agree with this review: “Polar Diet Orange Dry is widely praised for its crisp, refreshing, and authentic orange flavor, often described as a ‘dryer,’ less-sweet alternative to Orangina or traditional orange soda. It features real orange juice concentrate, a distinct, sharp carbonation, and a ‘fleshy’ citrus taste that makes it popular as a low-calorie, versatile beverage.”

I don’t know about “fleshy” but it sure tastes good to me! If you’re looking for something a little bit different with low calories and refreshing orange flavor, you might consider giving Polar Diet Orange Dry a try. Are you a fan of sparkling water? GRADE: A

Nick Foster, an in-demand consultant to GOOGLE, Nokia, Sony, Dyson and many other Big Tech companies, is a “futurist” even though he doesn’t like that term. Foster’s new book, Could Should Might Don’t (2025), presents a model for thinking about the Future.

The Future business is littered with false promises: flying cars, cold fusion, women’s equality, etc. Foster explores why predictions go wrong…and how they come true.

The reason I’m recommending Nick Foster’s book is that unlike a lot of books I’ve read about the Future, Foster is willing to talk about the risks of predicting the Future. Trump should have read Could Should Might Don’t before he started the disastrous Iran War (or Excursion). “Unintended Consequences” are the bane of prediction.

If you want to think about the Future in a rational, more reliable, and serious way, give Could Should Might Don’t a try. What do you think about the Future? GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Preface — vii
• Just imagine — 3
• The metronome quickens — 9
• A reluctant futurist — 29

Could

• Oh, wow — 47
• Science fiction — 53
• The roots of could futurism — 58
• Could futurism in public — 64
• Commercial could futurism — 78
• Heroic futures and background talent — 87

Should: The Futurism of Goals

Better — 103

Belief — 109

On Prediction — 117

Empirical Futures — 132

Numeric Fiction — 141

The Future is Accretive — 151

Might

1. Futures plural — 167
2. Think tanks — 176
3. Strategic foresight — 181
4. The limits of imagination — 193
5. Regurgitative futures — 203
6. Wagging the dog — 212

Don’t

1. Critique, caution, and fear — 231
2. Algorithmic adversity — 242
3. Toxic positivity and solutionism — 252
4. Dependencies, implications, and ends — 262
5. Extrapolatory futures — 280
6. And so… — 301
7. The future mundane — 305
8. There’s plenty of future left — 323
9. Thank you — 338