Lots of reading this month, with a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Although about half were also made into movies, I made a point to watch only three. The foolishly banned Maus came in two volumes, and left me especially grieving for the author’s loss of his mother and her journals. Lots of trigger warnings for this month’s batch of books, as Maus – along with any Holocaust story – is deeply disturbing. There’s also language in books written in…
Now that I look back on the list, it’s clear that March was packed with an odd assortment of books. Not exactly “in like a lion, out like a lamb”; the month’s literary arc was not a smooth one. Week 1: Mrs. Astor Regrets by Meryl Gordon What an exhausting read! I vaguely remember this story from the news 15 years ago, when “elder abuse” was a developing term. Mrs. Astor was ridiculously rich. Admittedly, she wasn’t a great mother,…
The madness of banned and challenged books is back. If you’ve followed recent reports of a certain school board, you already know that those who demand book bans haven’t even read the books. I believe that answers the question without it being asked. Demanding Pulitzer Prize-winning books be removed from school libraries without even taking the time to read those books is insane. Three of the four books I read this month have been banned or challenged in the past….
Farmer Gary and I have a tradition. Each evening, he asks me to look up how many readers visited this blog over the past day. It ranges greatly, depending on whether I’ve added a new post that day. Then comes the really good part. “Where are they from?” Blog analytics are fascinating. I haven’t splurged on a deep-dive system (yet), but the one I use lists readers by their nation. Gary never tires of it. Of course, the majority of…
January was a good month for reading books. A very good month. Farmer Gary and I enjoyed a couple of overnights with grandson Cameron, who was delighted to write up the following after he and I finished reading Stuart Little together: Bonus Book: Stuart Little by E. B. White A mouse of adventures, Stuart Little is a brave mouse, always thinking of ideas, and has cool adventures. One weird thing is that he was born by a family of humans…
What do you use to save your place in a book? A piece of scrap paper? An old photo or business card? A piece of toilet paper (we know where you’ve been reading!) or paper towel? Maybe a bonafide bookmark? As long as you don’t – gasp – fold, spindle or mutilate the page of your book, nearly anything will do. While cataloging the hundreds of inherited books from my parents’ collection, I’ve come across many bookmarks. Some stir a…
Shakespeare. Near the top of the list of topics I wanted to talk to Dad about for this family blog was his – and Mom’s – love of Shakespeare. Over the months following Mom‘s passing in 2019, I found it best to introduce a potential story topic to Dad during one of our nightly calls, with the intent to bring it back up three or four times. As Dad reminisced, I scribbled notes madly. Alas, we only talked about Shakespeare…
Alright, so that’s not a direct quote from one of this month’s books, but it’s close. Six books this month, with so many more calling out to me from literally every room in the house. The year 2021 brought with it my first Folio Society (a British company, now employee-owned) purchases, to add to the 550 volumes we inherited from Dad and Mom. This year also included the delightful discovery of Your Brothers Bookstore, an independent shop in downtown Evansville….
November’s books take us on a river, to the Old West, to a deserted island, to London, and more. Week 1: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome This delightfully humorous book seems surprisingly modern, considering it was published in 1889. As the title indicates, three young men decide a two-week boat trip up the Thames River is just what they need to get rid of their aches and pains. They pilot their own boat, they camp, they…
Is there a term for a grandma who buys her LEGO-crazed grandson a set that she fully intends to keep, once built? (He will, of course, be welcome to visit it any time he likes.) I sprung the challenge on Cameron during our Thanksgiving get-together on Saturday. His response was almost poetic: Goose! If you buy it, I’ll build it! Within minutes, our Master Builder was hard at work, with his trusty sidekick, Papaw, at the ready. (Farmer Gary has…