Fear stalked me for a long time in language learning. When I started learning French as a teenager, I was extremely self-conscious, battered down by criticism of my appearance, and desperately afraid to speak in public. This was not conducive to practicing a new language, where mistakes are inevitable. I limited my utterances to the … Continue reading What am I afraid of?
After enjoying several Slightly Foxed publications with my teenage son, I asked if SF would like us to review something from their set of historical novels by Ronald Welch. The twelve Carey Family novels explore British history through the eyes of members of a single family, from the Crusades to the First World War. It's … Continue reading A brush with history: The Carey Novels
For Top Ten Tuesday, it's a "love freebie" so I'm naming ten book blogs I love (plus one for good luck). These are not my "top ten," because that would be too difficult to pin down, but they are definitely some of the blogs I read the most often and enjoy very much. What's one … Continue reading Ten Book Blogs I Love
January was a difficult month in many ways. The disintegration of the so-called United States reached a new peak with the attack on the Capitol. And terrible things (unrelated to politics) have been happening to people I love. There is so much uncertainty and disruption in the world, and so many questions about how to … Continue reading Month in Review: January 2021
This week's Top Ten Tuesday Topic is "Books published before I was born." But I decided to change it to "Books published the year I was born," because there are so many incredible ones! 1969 was quite a year, in many ways. Here are five books I have read, five more I'd like to read, … Continue reading Top Ten Books Published the Year I Was Born
Are you looking forward to Reading the Theatre in March? I am! In the meantime, I've enjoyed putting together a list of some of my favorite books about the world of the stage (in which I would include puppetry, circus, opera, dance, and other stage arts as well as plays and musicals, by the way). … Continue reading Favorite books about the theater
Chris of Calmgrove asked if I was planning to post some visits to Swiss castles, given the theme of my blog. I thought that was a lovely idea, so I'll try to oblige! At the moment we are not really able to travel, but I was in the beautiful city of Solothurn the other day … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Solothurn
My reading pace varies, but I usually finish between three and twelve books per month. I've gone through phases in my life where I record at least the title and author of every book, and since I started blogging seven years ago, I've kept that up. I've never written a review or even jotted notes … Continue reading Do you write about every book you read?
Congratulations to Raven Garland, winner of a copy of The Best of the Emerald City Book Review! Thanks to all who celebrated my seven years of blogging at ECBR. If you'd still like a copy of the book, it's available for sale now in EPUB, Kindle, and print format (from Lulu or Amazon). The print … Continue reading Best of the Best: My top picks from seven years of blogging
Ursula K. Le Guin, Malafrena (1979) When I was a fantasy-loving preteen, I bought the paperback copy of Orsinian Tales by Ursula K. Le Guin. It looked just like my copies of the Earthsea trilogy and The Wind's Twelve Quarters, and I expected to find more magical and otherworldly journeys within its pages. Instead, I … Continue reading A necessary passion: Malafrena
