::: The Last Witchfinder

Must put in a plug for a book I read this weekend: The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow (he of Towing Jehovah and This is the Way the World Ends). If I had four thumbs they would all be up for this book but I don't so instead I will say "Two thumbs up" twice.* You could think of it as the Forrest Gump of the 17th century but that hardly does it justice. Isaac Newton, Ben Franklin, witch trials, natural philosophy, female scientists, astronomy, Indian attacks and kidnapping; when I say it has it all, I do not exaggerate. All that, plus a lively and engrossing story, characters you enjoy spending time with, and smart -- nay, very smart -- writing. None of your fourth-grade-level reading here, buddy. Go. Read. Now.

*Two thumbs up two thumbs up. Wait, now I've said it three times...