Stella Gibbons, The Swiss Summer (1951), A Pink Front Door (1959), The Weather at Tregulla (1962), The Snow-Woman (1969) Sometimes all I ask from a book is to transport me to someplace different so I can meet and live with another set of people for a while. If the scenery of that place is attractive, … Continue reading Beyond cold comfort: Four by Stella Gibbons
Thanks to all those who weighed in on my Make me read it challenge last month, I successfully knocked at least one book off my longstanding TBR pile! I'd love to ask for your help again, this time to decide what book I should read next in French (which will also count for my Summer … Continue reading Make me read it: French edition
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, 1993 I read Parable of the Sower for my "Make me read it challenge" -- blog readers told me which of five choices on my TBR shelf to complete. I'm not sure I would have gotten through it without the challenge, because this is a helluva bleak dystopian vision … Continue reading You made me read it: Parable of the Sower
If you use WordPress, you know that a while ago they pushed upon us a new way of viewing and editing our posts, called the "Gutenberg Block Editor." I always resist changes in my computerized life, having usually just gotten used to the last innovation by the time the next one appears. So I stuck … Continue reading How are you doing with the block editor?
Last week I reviewed a new UK release over at Shiny New Books: Featherweight by Mick Kitson. It's a historical novel set in the 19th century British midlands, featuring a unique heroine and her unusual talents as a pugilist. It was her voice that really captured me, though ... find out more from my full … Continue reading Shiny Linkiness: Featherweight
The images in this poem were inspired by Goethe's "Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily," a mysterious story with great archetypal resonance. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Mother's Day than to ponder such mysteries -- nothing is more wondrous than the power to gestate, bear and bring … Continue reading Mother: A Poem
How can we travel the world in the time of a global pandemic? Through reading, of course! Last summer, I focused on reading books in other languages - and it was such a great experience, I wanted to do it again. And as with last time, I'd like to invite anyone who wants to join … Continue reading Coming soon: Summer in Other Languages
My reading this month was a little dissatisfying. I've been going through the Uncle Fred books by P.G. Wodehouse, which are amusing, but not my favorites of his, and become repetitive and self-referential by the end. And I tried an Agatha Christie for vacation reading, but did not get on with it -- sorry Christie … Continue reading Month in Review: April 2021
