Almost 12 years ago I began practicing Bookcrossing for the second time, but over the past 2 years I found myself doing hardly any, for many reasons but mostly because I was doing a LOT of my reading in digital … Continue reading
So this will sound like sacrilege, I’m sure, to some but I don’t recall ever hearing about the character Jack Reacher until the year 2012 while working a flood in North Dakota when a former co-worker, Jean Riendeau, was complaining … Continue reading
“Becoming Superman”, by J. Michael Straczynski is the writer’s autobiographical story of his childhood and career, constantly backlit by his desire to emulate the greatest superhero of all time; Superman. Like a lot of children from my generation, which is … Continue reading
A couple of months ago I was reading about a new book coming out titled “The Oracle Year” by Charles Soule (the “e” is silent) and what caught my attention in the review was that the writer was also a … Continue reading
As an avid and voracious reader this statistic, from the Pew Research Center, that 26% of American adults have not read even a part of a book in the past year just blows my mind. Are you part of the … Continue reading
This is, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story when it comes to our history in dealing with Native Americans in the 1800’s as we moved across this land making promises that we broke and signing … Continue reading
A few weeks ago Book Riot ran the results of a survey they took about the “10 Scariest Books You’ve Read” and while the outcome was not all that surprising (Stephen King books grab the majority), I thought I’d throw … Continue reading
Goodreads shared with BuzzFeed their 14 highest rated books of 2015, as voted on by members of Goodreads (I’m one, are you?) thus far this year. Under the Fiction category I’ve already read The Secret Wisdom of the Earth and … Continue reading
Today is Independent Bookstore Day 2015! I don’t have much more to say about it that hasn’t already been written here, here, here and (if you’re in the Central Florida area) here, other than to say visit your local independent … Continue reading
It was on this day 105 years ago that the man who is often quoted as saying “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” did, in fact, really die. What Samuel ‘Mark Twain’ Clemens actually said to the … Continue reading
Neil Gaiman says just write; just get the words down; don’t worry about your first draft, no one will ever see it; get the ideas and the words down. Just write. That is hard advice for me to follow. I … Continue reading
It was on this day in 1850 that “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was first published. I remember my 11th grade American Literature teacher in high school assigning it to us to read and how legalistic in their religious … Continue reading
Do you remember the Book of the Month Club? I can recall that my mom was a member when I was growing up. You could initially join by choosing 3 or 4 books from their catalog of bestselling books and … Continue reading
After reading and reviewing “What Every Author Should Know”, I leapt at the chance to receive an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of Deb Vanasse’s latest book for writers, “Write Your Best Book.” Vanasse begins by dissecting the “exceptional book” which … Continue reading
The following story about James Joyce is told by Stephen King in his famous memoir, “On Writing” (which I need to read again). A friend came to visit James Joyce one day and found the great man sprawled across … Continue reading
Fourteen year old Kevin Gillooly and his mother retreat to her father’s Appalachian mountain home in eastern Kentucky following the horrific death of Kevin’s three year old brother. There, both mother and son heal under the wise and caring influence … Continue reading
Below is a book review I wrote back on February 20, 2006 for a now-defunct blog. It’s hard to believe this was nine years ago. In that time, Morris has written three additional books starring Zack Chasteen; “Bermuda Schwartz”, “A … Continue reading
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on this date in 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin. I have to admit I’ve never read any of her books, though I used to immensely enjoy the TV series “Little House on the Prairie” starring Melissa … Continue reading
It was 78 years ago today that “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck was first published. I remember reading it for the first time in my 10th grade American Literature class 47 years ago and it’s probably time for … Continue reading
Getting this information out there early so that folks have as much time as possible to prepare to take part in International Book Giving Day on February 14, 2015. International Book Giving Day is “a day dedicated to getting new, … Continue reading
