On our way back from Bivio this summer, we took a jaunt through northern Italy to visit a friend of my husband's for a few days. This was the Sudtirol region, which has close ties with neighboring Austria, and where German is still mixed in with Italian in a lot of places. Interestingly, as soon … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland (and Italy): Two sacred sites
My Summer in Other Languages project for 2022 is now over. I didn't do much, basically just reading one book in French ... but every little bit helps. I'd really like to get back to working on German now. I've actually been quite surprised and pleased that my conversational skills seem to have improved quite … Continue reading A poem in translation: The Rockface by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Literature This month, I really wanted to get back to my Reading Around the World project, and I had some great journeys through Europe with a teenage backpacker, around the Middle East with fictional displaced Palestinians, and to Malaysia via a fantasy novel about ghosts and the bonds of family. The latter was in anticipation … Continue reading Month in Review: August 2022
Here we go with the first month of a Dark Is Rising readalong hosted by AnnaBookBel. Following on the heels of Narniathon, I'm excited to share this journey through another of my favorite childhood series with you. Illustration by Laura Carlin The first book, however, was not one of my childhood favorites, because I never … Continue reading #TDiRS22: An ominous beginning
This year, I've been making a concerted effort to improve my health, especially regarding the digestive issues and migraine headaches that have plagued me for almost half my life. With a number of transitions in my life going on, including a move to Switzerland at the same time as going through menopause , things really … Continue reading #OneWord2022: The health connection
I picked this prompt from the Support Book Bloggers Challenge because my reading is very influenced by other bloggers -- probably at least half the books I read are due to this. The reason can range from individual reviews, to a blogger's love for a particular author, to specific reading events, and even personal recommendations. … Continue reading Support Book Bloggers Challenge: Books I read because of other bloggers
At the start of Europe's heat wave in July, we decamped for cooler climes in the Alps. We stayed in the delightful town of Bivio in Val Surses, just across the Julierpass from the famous Engadin valley where my husband and I had stayed shortly after we were married 18 years ago. We got to … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Val Surses and Engadin
It started when I was about nine years old, feeling lonely and displaced after my family had moved from California to Washington. Food became a major source of solace for me, junk food that I could not stop eating once I took the first bite. Potato chips, of course; I could not eat just one, … Continue reading Uncovering my eating disorder
Literature This month saw the end of the Narniathon, which made me sad. Happily, next month Annabel of AnnaBookBel is starting a readalong of the five books of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence, which will take us through the end of the year. Hooray! I enjoyed doing the Six in Six meme as … Continue reading Month in Review: July 2022
The Classics Club Blog is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and it brings back lots of fond blogging memories. From 2014 to 2019 I participated in this challenge to read and post about 50 books from a self-determined list of classics in five years, and I had lots of interesting experiences along the way. You can … Continue reading Happy tenth anniversary to the Classics Club!
