-
Reviewed: “Crossing the River” by Carol Smith
“Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life” is a sort of memoir in the form of a collection of essays. If you are looking for something hopeful and uplifting, this is not the memoir for you. If you are looking for something heavy and oppressive, this is the memoir for you. And is… Continue reading
-
Reviewed: “Valhalla” by Alan Robert Clark
Maybe it’s me, but historical fiction gets tricky when it’s about someone well-known and well-documented. Given that historical fiction is my go-to, comfort genre in reading and that history is the place where I get sucked into the most rabbit holes and want to read all the things… this complicates my Reading Life in rather… Continue reading
-
“The Indomitable Florence Finch” by Robert J. Mrazek
This book is absolutely stunning. I’ve tried to read books about World War II in the Philippines and biographies of General Douglas MacArthur… they’ve been kind of dry and… It seems I needed a biography of an incredible woman to pull me in. This book had battle plans and behind the scenes politicking and lengthy… Continue reading
-
Filling in the gaps…
Well, we’re in Month 5 (ish) of Pandemic Times. I don’t know how things have gone for you, book-wise, but they have slowed to a crawl for me. And you know, that’s fine. Annoying, but fine. I wanted to be the person who clears away a good chunk of her TBR while staying home and… Continue reading
-
Other Adventures… Getting Lost in My Family Tree
Pandemic Times has seriously killed my creativity, probably. Can’t get into anything. Or couldn’t rather. Then one day about a week, maybe ten days, ago I was cleaning out unread emails and saw one from FamilySearch and thought to myself “that’ll be a fine way to waste some time.” And so, as soon as I… Continue reading
-
poetry corner: “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I have a favorite poem of all time, and it is “Solitude” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. It speaks to my introverted soul. Laugh, and the world laughs with you;Weep, and you weep alone;For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,But has trouble enough of its own.Sing, and the hills will answer;Sigh, it is lost… Continue reading
-
Reviewed: “The Roxy Letters” by Mary Pauline Lowry
(I received a copy of THE ROXY LETTERS through NetGalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review.) In this anxious time of social distancing and self-quarantine… Do you need a book to make you laugh out loud? Do you need a story that will make you smile at someone’s goofy but absolutely… Continue reading
-
To Camp NaNoWriMo or No?
I have tried NaNoWriMo twice, and failed at NaNoWriMo twice. I did Camp NaNoWriMo once, setting my goal at either 30k or 35k, and succeeded. Much like being unable to remember what my goal was, I also cannot remember where I saved that document. And so… since life may still be quarantined and isolated and… Continue reading
-
To Blurb or Not To Blurb…
Tell me, fellow readers, do you ever pay attention to the blurbs on books? If Stephen King’s name is listed under a quote on the cover of a thriller, are you more likely to buy that thriller? Have you been left awfully disappointed by the book you bought because John Green said it was good?… Continue reading
-
When History is Fictionalized…
I am a history nerd. There is no debating this. If something seems ever so vaguely rooted in real history, I’ll probably give it a chance. This is especially, and maybe impossibly, more true when it comes to my favorite parts of history to study – Tudor England, World War I, World War II, the… Continue reading
About Me
An English diarist and naval administrator. I served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament. I had no maritime experience, but I rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, diligence, and my talent for administration.
Adventures With Words 