The Reading Woman

The picture below is a pastel by Louis Comfort Tiffany. It is of his wife Louise. It currently hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Does it remind you of yourself when you fall asleep while reading? This next photo is of a watercolor by Carl Olaf Larsson. It hangs in the Louvre, Paris. Now that I have a kitten in addition to

Where Were You?

Remember July 21, 2020? That is today. The date of July 21 almost slipped by me without my noticing its importance. Remember July 21, 1969? Where were you? I distinctly remember that morning, sitting in my living room in our apartment in Atlanta, GA, on a pulled out sofa bed (we had company at the time who had slept on the sofa bed) watching an

Geraldine Brooks revisited

Geraldine Brooks is an Australian born author who began her professional career as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. She married Tony Horwitz, a fellow reporter and author, and spent many years on the go around the globe. While in Nigeria working on a story in the Niger Delta, Nigerian authorities arrested and jailed her. As soon as she was released, she resigned

Who is Roscoe Turner?

That’s the question I asked when Vanessa Ward, friend and former Kiawah resident, told me about a recently published book by her sister-in-law. The title of the book is Roscoe Turner: Plows to Planes. The author is Boots Hensel. The story of Roscoe Turner centers around a farmer turned aviator who flew wild and risky missions with his pet lion. It is an ideal adventure

What is a ‘Beach Read’

A friend asked me to recommend to her a good ‘beach read.’ I asked her what she meant. First of all, she needed a paperback book she could take to the beach. Didn’t want to take the tablet to the beach, of course. Then she said the story needed to be light. Most books that our book clubs read are NOT ‘beach reads’. Some of

New (Old) Warning

Advice for Wives (circa 1896) (author unknown to me) “The indiscriminate reading of novels is one of the most injurious habits to which a married woman can be subject. Besides the false views of human nature it will impart, it produces an indifference to the performance of domestic duties and contempt for ordinary realities”.

Follow Up on William Kent Kruger interview

I have to say that the my first impression of Kruger was that he reminded me of Mr. Rogers. He did. While doing a little research on his background (after I saw the interview), I read that, before he began his writing career, he earned a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. I knew I loved this man! The subject of the interview was mainly

Timely Book Suggestion for Father’s Day or Any Day

Co-founder of The Carlyle Group and patriotic philanthropist David M. Rubenstein takes readers on a sweeping journey across the grand arc of the American story through revealing conversations with our greatest historians. In these lively dialogues, the biggest names in American history explore the subjects they’ve come to so intimately know and understand. — David McCullough on John Adams— Jon Meacham on Thomas Jefferson— Ron Chernow on Alexander Hamilton— Walter Isaacson on Benjamin

Will Reading Make a Person More Empathetic?

According to Jessica Stillman, a contributing writer to INC.com, a recent meta-analysis confirmed what teachers and others have long suspected. Reading a variety of fiction can build empathy. Obviously, reading about people that aren’t like us and situations that are unfamiliar to us help us understand and relate to experiences we have not personally had. Book clubs on Kiawah and around the nation have routinely