Posts

Image
Book Blog Celebrating LGBTQ Literature December 2020 - January 2021  The month of December 2020 was certainly not like any holiday season we had experienced before. Remaining apart from family and friends during what is traditionally the time for gathering together, added to the stress of pandemic and U.S. election, was more than most of us thought we could handle. Yet, we found ways - if only virtually - to reach out and remind each other that better days are coming and we will be together again. I realized that my reading of the LGBTQ genre has been scant, and these last two months was my time to make a start at correcting that. One of my favorite Book-Tubers, Anna at Books on the Go, had recently mentioned Garth Greenwell in an online review, which gave me a good jumping off point in selecting my first book. What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell, (2016) Picador - Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. What Belongs to You a novel by Garth Greenwell was a sensation upon its p
Image
Beautiful Autumn at Home in New England Life has once again stepped in to waylay my plan to blog monthly.  With apologies, this current post is almost a month overdue.   Of the 4 books planned to read in October, I completed 3 and I declared a DNF on the 4th title.  I am not one who will DNF on a regular basis.  I am stubborn and almost always feel an obligation to finish what I start.  However, this strange holiday season, when sequestered at home, hearing reports of Covid-19 death tolls  rising hourly, I, like so many others, am already sad and anxious.  Taking on a read that will concentrate on the Israeli/Palestine conflict was more than I could manage.  "The Almond Tree" by Michelle Cohen Corasanti is a fictional account of one Palestinian family from the early 1950's to current times.  My DNF is no reflection on the quality of Ms. Corasanti's writing, merely the wrong book at this time.       Her Own Place  💖💖💖 A Novel b y  Dori Sanders,  A Fawcett Columbine
Image
Passing by Samaria  💖💖💖  Sharon Ewell Foster, Alabaster Books (div. of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.) (2000) Texas born author, Sharon Ewell Foster, has made a name for herself in Christian fiction circles. When I purchased three of her titles, at a library sale some time back, I knew nothing of Ms. Foster or her writings. The three books I took home had exceptionally beautiful covers in autumn colors.  From a quick scan of the back covers I understood that they were fictionalized accounts of the African-American experience during different periods of the 20th century. That was enough for me. As I began to read "Passing By Samaria" I quickly came to realize that Ms. Foster was an excellent storyteller, who viewed the world through a Christian lens. Not a Christian myself, I wondered if I would grasp the concepts and meanings in each novel. However, I soon found that anyone, no matter their background or religious affiliation, could derive a great deal of inspiration fro

Book Blogger Returns!!!

Image
I am returning to this Book Blog, started in 2011, with a renewed passion for reading & all things book related. In the early days of the Pandemic, I had great plans, but like all good intentions most did not go beyond the first month’s hibernation, followed by a few intermittent attempts over these past 5 1/2 months.  But lucky for me, I found BookTube and have since enjoyed many happy hours among fellow readers and book lovers.   First, I learned BookTube has its own lingo, but after several months, I now can speak confidently using terms like  TBR (To Be Read), DNF (Did Not Finish), Bookshelf Tours (a guided tour of BookTubers' bookshelves), Book Hauls (Whether virtual or in person, book buying), Book Tags (A challenge from one BookTuber to another) by which the reader in accepting the challenge needs to fulfill various criteria in selection of books (usually between 3-5 books).  [For instance, 1.  Choose a book with "Autumn" in the title or a depiction of Au