Dahlia Lithwick is a senior editor at Slate Magazine and a nationally-recognized commentator on the law and the Supreme Court. She’s also a former classmate of mine, so I was very excited to read her recently released Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, which was every bit as good as…
This week’s Nonfiction November topic is book pairings, which can be nonfiction books on a particular topic paired with fiction, or with other types of media. Thanks to What’s Nonfiction for hosting this week’s topic. Unintentionally, one of the common themes in my 2022 nonfiction reading was activism. I’m not an activist myself. Though I vote…
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is about series we’d like to start, catch up on, or finish. In this post I’m writing about series I’ve started recently. I should tell you I’m pretty bad about starting series and then not continuing them – I’m the same with TV. There’s just…
I’m participating in Nonfiction November, one of my favorite annual blogging events. The first week’s topic is hosted by Doing Dewey, and I’m already a little behind. Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favorite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have…
Better late than never, here’s my reading wrap-up for October. It was a busy month, as I traveled to Phoenix last weekend to visit my family, plus two of my sisters came out earlier this month to visit my dad. It was wonderful to reconnect with my mom and my three sisters, and we also…
At work recently we had a discussion about where someone might jump into Stephen King’s work if they hadn’t read him before. This led to a conversation about favorite horror novels, old and new. So for this week’s Halloween “freebie” at Top Ten Tuesday, here are some of my favorites. I grew up on Stephen King’s…
I was afraid this book might be a little “sappy” for me. I like emotional reads but rarely read the kind of books described as “heartwarming”, and this book about a friendship between a dying teenager and an elderly woman fit that bill. But it came highly recommended by Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Best Books of Summer 2022,…
I gave up reading historical romances for a little while because they started feeling dated and repetitive. I understand that it’s hard to write about independent women and diverse characters in times that don’t lend themselves to that. I’m grateful to Evie Dunmore – and now Mimi Matthews – for bringing me back to historical…
September was a challenging month, between getting COVID on vacation, getting back to work, family health issues, and just generally easing into fall. I love summer so this time of year is always a bit sad for me. I’m gradually taking down my garden and pulling out my warmer clothes. Of course there are bigger…
This is a humorous and emotional saga of a Vietnamese family in America. Though not a perfect book for me, I expect this book will resonate quite a bit with those who are mothers and who are Vietnamese-American. Generations ago, the family is cursed because a woman runs off with a man who isn’t her…
Plastic may not be the worst issue impacting the environment, but it does feel like one that an individual can more easily do something about. And if you’ve seen the photos and videos of marine life with bellies full of plastic trash, it’s pretty hard to look away. I picked up McCallum’s book as part…
Every year I enjoy participating in 746 Books‘ 20 Books of Summer Challenge. I read all year round, of course, but something about summer reading is special, even though I’m no longer a kid treasuring long summer days to myself. Long-time readers know how much I love summer and feel sad when it’s over. Even…
A skeptic's quest for books, science, & humanism
"From that time on, the world was hers for the reading." - Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
My meanderings through life and writing . . .
Reviews, Recommendations, Discussions and Book Hauls
Travel, adventure, books, life and stuff
Life up close
Based in Romania, reading all over the world. Mostly fiction, some memoires and a little bit of poetry.
Celebrating stories by diverse voices and their impact on the world
The literary journeys of a 20-something, bilingual, elementary school teacher.
The Book Stop 