It’s October, Halloween is upon us, the weather is turning cold, and it’s the perfect time of year to pick up a Gothic or mystery novel. I love it when it’s dark and windy outside, you can hear the cold rain hitting against the window panes, and you’re wrapped up in your favorite blanket lost […]
Today I’ve been thinking about these lines from Roald Dahl’s Matilda: “So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” This […]
I try to only recommend books that I have both read and truly enjoyed. Please feel free to share and post your list of memorable short books and novellas in the comments section below. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future and learns […]
by Laura Vanderkam In 168 Hours, Vanderkam presents a proposal designed to help readers define their life’s “core competencies” and make better use of their time each week, all 168 hours of them. While there are many helpful and practical tips within the book’s pages, Vanderkam’s blinders to crucial considerations like economic class are surprising. […]
Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Medical Science, Young Adult Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers Length: 229 pages Published: August 4, 2015 Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 or 4 out of 5 stars Official […]
This week I’m pleased to feature a three-part interview with my friends Chadd VanZanten and Russ Beck, authors of On Fly-Fishing the Northern Rockies: Essays and Dubious Advice (The History Press, 2015). Chadd is a professional editor in Logan, Utah. His essays appear in the online journal Eat Sleep Fish, the anthology Utah Reflections, and […]
This post survived three incarnations. First, I wanted to write a Top Ten list about the best songs for August. This turned out to be a terrible idea. Songs about the end of summer are endlessly sad and depressing. I would like to make an announcement to the music industry: We are already sad. We […]
I stumbled across a statue of the Greek God Pan and it reminded me of a passage from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. Ratty and Mole are out searching for Toad, but they meet Pan instead: Slowly, but with no doubt or hesitation whatever, and in something of a solemn expectancy, the two […]
I would be entirely remiss if as a teacher, reader, and writer, I didn’t take a post to give a shout-out to the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. During September 25th – October 1st, 2016 this annual event fights for and celebrates reading freedom. Someone once tried to make me feel bad about reading […]
Survival Lessons by Alice Hoffman In this uplifting and inspirational read, American novelist Alice Hoffman offers advice and encouragement for audiences experiencing hard times, particularly those undergoing chemotherapy treatment. After a life of serving as the nurse and caretaker for those around her, Hoffman’s world turned upside-down when she learned she was the one with a […]
Since graduating, I have enjoyed much more free time to read and select books off of the shelves at random. This has been both rewarding and a mixed bag: I encountered new books and authors I loved and others I did not. One of the great freedoms that comes with reading for pleasure as opposed […]
This post survived three incarnations. First, I wanted to write a Top Ten list about the best songs for August. This turned out to be a terrible idea. Songs about the end of summer are endlessly sad and depressing. I would like to make an announcement to the music industry: We are already sad. We […]
by Victoria Schwab Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery Publisher: Scholastic Press Length: 285 pages Published: August 28, 2018 Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble My Goodreads Rating: 2.5 or 3 out of 5 stars Official Book Summary: “Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see […]
Jactionary: 31 Halloween Reads for October
It’s October, Halloween is upon us, the weather is turning cold, and it’s the perfect time of year to pick up a Gothic or mystery novel. I love it when it’s dark and windy outside, you can hear the cold rain hitting against the window panes, and you’re wrapped up in your favorite blanket lost […]