• Books and Reading - Uncategorized

    Reading Report, Vol. 24: January Progress and February Goals

    February 5, 2025 - By 

    It has been an unseasonably warm few days here in our little part of Colorado, sunny and balmy and quite spring-like! The kids and I have been taking our school books outside by mid-morning so that we can enjoy the fresh air and sunshine before more snow and cold returns. This mid-winter thaw finds me in a transition not just between months, but also between books. I finished up a couple of things at the end of January and have yet to fill their places in my reading rotation. Perhaps as I write this post, it will help me decide…

  • Books and Reading

    “The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club” Book Review

    June 4, 2020 - By 

    This past weekend I finished reading The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers. It is one of her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, and it was, of course, an enjoyable read. I seem to be gravitating to an awful lot of mystery stories this year. I guess it is no wonder because with the world in such chaos, I need a good detective book to take all the broken bits and puzzling clues and finally bring everything to a satisfying end. As my friends at the Literary Life podcast have pointed out in the past, mystery novels move from…

  • Books and Reading

    “Seacrow Island” Book Review

    May 12, 2020 - By 

    I seem to be on a roll with the heartwarming family stories here lately. Today I’m writing a review of Seacrow Island by Astrid Lindgren. This book fulfills the category of a “Classic in Translation” for the B2tC Challenge and the “Book by a Minor Author” for 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge. The edition I read was translated beautifully by Evelyn Ramsden. This gem of a book was written by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, best-known for creating the character of Pippi Longstocking. But Lindgren was actually quite prolific, writing many children’s series, dozens of stand-alone novels, and even some screenplays.…

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    “My Family and Other Animals” Book Review

    May 2, 2020 - By 

    If you are looking for some light fiction that is also written in sparkling prose, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell is the book for you. I really cannot say enough good things about this read. It was sheer delight. The book begins with a family of four children and their widowed mother tired of their humdrum average British life. On a whim, they sell their house and move to the island of Corfu and rent a house sight unseen. The story is told from Gerald’s perspective as the youngest brother, describing his family with a loving touch, though…

  • Books and Reading

    “Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories” Book Review

    April 26, 2020 - By 

    Last Sunday I had the great luxury of several hours in which to read entirely for fun, and in that time I finished Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories. This book is a truly enjoyable collection of little self-contained mysteries, each in one chapter, all cleverly solved by the unassuming and unlikely character of Miss Marple. The elderly spinster has a keen mind and a rather uncanny ability to relate seemingly mundane happenings in her small village to crimes on a larger scale. This combination of sleuthing super-powers never fails to take those around her by surprise, given…