I had some fun while reading this book. I like Victorian literature. I like Charles Dickens (‘ books. I’ve never met the man). And I love A Christmas Carol. So it was right up my alley, especially for the holidays. And when I saw Samantha Silva’s pedigree? I was intrigued, excited even. But it was…
Jane Goodall, at least when I was growing up, was a household name. Because I am not what I term a “creature person” (although I married one and beget one), I didn’t have any special interest in Goodall’s story. My daughter read My Life with the Chimpazees for fifth grade, and so I—as always—followed suit.…
This book is an exception. The vast majority of what I read comes straight from my Best Books lists, even if I have to find a reason to put it there myself. At the library one day, my husband walked up to me and handed me the book, A History of Food in 100 Recipes…
The Once and Future King and The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White. This five-part series (four of which are included in The Once and Future King) was published as a complete novel, in 1958, and The Book of Merlyn posthumously and largely unedited, in 1977. The Book of Merlyn was always meant to be…
The Bronte Sisters: The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, by junior biographer Catherine Reef, and published fairly recently by Clarion Books in 2012. When I ordered this book with pretty good reviews and a charming cover, I had no real idea what it was. I mean, I guess I knew it was a…
Continuing to list the Best Books and breaking it up by genre, we have now made our way to nonfiction and journalism. (Then later I added science, because honestly I love to read in this nonfiction category more than most the others.) Actually, I compiled this one long ago, but the length of the list…
Japanese Soul Cooking, by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat, published in 2013 by Ten Speed Press. This book is the first that I am reviewing from the Best Books: Food and Cookbooks list. I will try to review these books as cookbooks, but also as books. Capice? I just purchased this book with birthday money,…
Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee. I read a Kindle copy given to me on the day the book was released, in July 2015. For further comments and articles on this book, Harper Lee, and the hype surrounding all of it, see these blog entries: Haven Kimmel Month Postponed; What? Harper Lee Is Back…
“Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a Lane cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.” Scout Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird. I am a foodie. I am also, as you know, a writer, publisher, avid reader, and reviewer. Therefore, it is only too appropriate that I dot this literary blog every once in a…
The Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell. First published in 1857 in two volumes. The version I read, bought gently used, is the 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics edition. I read this book for two reasons: one, I am in the middle of a Bronte project for Owl and Zebra Press, and two, it…
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. First published under the pen name Ellis Bell in 1847. Widely considered one of the best novels in the English language, it is Emily’s only novel; she died the following year at age thirty. I read it in conjunction with the other Bronte sisters’ novels. See previous reviews here: Jane…
This is the third Bronte book I have read of the seven total novels the three sisters produced. I still have two of Charlotte’s, one of Anne’s, and Emily’s only one, which is the very next book I am starting. This has been an entertaining ride, so far. Anne is the youngest of all of…
Another Best Books list, this time for the best history books of all time. This is one my husband and father-in-law would really enjoy. Personally, the titles are about to put me to sleep, so I think I’ll keep this list tucked away for when I need to do some research or am traveling somewhere.…
Well, not really. She just happened to write a sequel (back in the day) to To Kill a Mockingbird which she thought little of. She, and the world, believed the manuscript was lost and Lee decided to quit the writing life, all in the 50s. Sure enough, some sixty years later, her lawyer finds the…
Sorry folks, I have been off sick. Pretty sure a fever (how appropriate!) north of 103 gets you off work, even if you work from home. But I don’t need my throat to work, so here I am. Back again. The following review is for Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, published by Simon and…
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell and published in the third edition by New World Publishing in 2008. The original was published in 1949 by Pantheon Books. Before I begin my review of this particular book, I want to answer a question for those of you who don’t know the answer. What…
Magnificent Principia (2013), by Colin Pask, as a way to read–without actually reading–Isaac Newton’s The Principia, or more correctly, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica or Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687 (last edition, 1726). Magnificent contains important chunks of Principia, although what percentage I am not at all clear on, and it digests those chunks for…
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, published in 1847. I read the Barnes & Noble Classics edition, because it was given to me for free, but I did not read much of the front matter. Jane Eyre is a Western classic, easily on any list of top 100 novels of all time. Part of what makes…
Far too quickly, I am writing yet another biographical eulogy for another literary giant. Maya Angelou died last week at age 86. She was another of my inspirations (I started out as a poet, did you know?) and her name is one even the lay-person would recognize. Not all too often does a writer gain…
This is number two of the four-part American Culture Series, in which I point out something in American culture that mystifies me, then apply it to my life (and yours) as a writer/publisher. For the first thread in the series, see What’s So Bad About Generalizations. I had already planned to write this particular blog…
the starving artist 