Before I started blogging, I hardly read nonfiction. Now I can't imagine my reading life without it. During the last decade, which has been tumultuous for both my outer and inner life, nonfiction books have educated, consoled, and inspired me. However bad things get, I am still given hope and strength when I receive news … Continue reading Nonfiction November
Today, over at Calmgrove the Witch Week post is a discussion of Joan Aiken's The Serial Garden, stories in which magic mixes with modern family life in a way that can be hilarious, creepy, or lyrical, or all of these and much more. I hope you'll enjoy our lengthy but fascinating discussion, which includes my … Continue reading Witch Week Day 5: Magical short stories
Please head over to Calmgrove for my post about Joan Aiken's Felix Brooke trilogy, an adventurous journey that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Rare archival images are included, courtesy of Seven Stories museum in Newcastle, which has an unpublished archive of Aiken material. Please do give it a look!
Head to Calmgrove for the schedule. The theme this year is the wonderful works of Joan Aiken, in all their variety and splendor. I'll be contributing on Saturday (the Felix Brooke trilogy) and Monday (our discussion of The Serial Garden) and will remind you of those posts, but there's so much more. I hope you'll … Continue reading Witch Week is here
Richard Holmes, Falling Upwards Hello there! I've been on a bit of an unannounced blog break, as I was off visiting family and friends in the US (my first time back in 5 years) and didn't have time to do anything else. I did manage to fit in some reading: a book subtitled "How We … Continue reading Nonfiction Reader Challenge: Falling Upwards
Today is the release day for Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew's new book, The Release: Creativity and Freedom After the Writing Is Done. Yes, we're celebrating the release of a work that is about releasing work! Why is that topic necessary to write about? Well, as I have discovered myself, the process is not always easy, comfortable, … Continue reading New Book News: The Release
When I picked Savor as my book for the "Food" category of the Nonfiction Reader challenge, I thought I'd be reading mostly about food. I knew the author, a talented young chef, died far too early, but somehow I thought that before that point, the focus would be on more cheerful and tasty things. I … Continue reading Nonfiction Reader Challenge: Savor
As I've mentioned before, I spent the summer reading Madame Bovary in French, trying to make up for not reading it when I was supposed to in college, along with boosting my language skills. I was very happy to have some company on this challenge, notably Emma of Words and Peace, a native speaker and … Continue reading How To Be Unhappy: Madame Bovary
We've crossed over into September, so it's time to check on how I did with my 10 Books of Summer list (Challenge hosted by Cathy of 746 Books). I think of this as a way to knock off some books from other challenges and reading projects, and it worked pretty well for that, although I … Continue reading 10 Books of Summer 2024
Well, I thought I might read a Moomin book or two for Moomin week but ended up going on an absolute binge where I finished reading all the novels -- six of them this summer in addition to the two I'd read previously. I did it in a completely mixed up order, thus: Finn Family … Continue reading The marvelous Moomins for #Moominweek #WITMonth
