About a week ago, my husband woke me up and said, “You may as well get dressed. We’re going to the emergency room. You’re breathing like you do when you have pneumonia.” I don’t recall the time. Perhaps midnight or shortly thereafter. I was, indeed, having trouble catching my breath. I’ve had pneumonia maybe eightContinue reading “Adventures in Breathing”
Category Archives: nonfiction
Review of “A Fever in the Heartland” by Timothy Egan
The Stuff: This is a nonfiction book about the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s in the Midwest. Their traditional center of power was the South, the states of the former Confederacy. Most of the events it covers transpire from roughly 1921 to 1925, reflecting a rapid rise and a even moreContinue reading “Review of “A Fever in the Heartland” by Timothy Egan”
Review of “Reading Like a Writer” by Francine Prose
In discussing writing workshops and classes, author Francine Prose writes, “But that class, as helpful as it was, was not where I learned to write. Like most—maybe all—writers, I learned to write by writing and by example, by reading books.” (p .2) But using what the author calls “close reading,” a writer can learn variousContinue reading “Review of “Reading Like a Writer” by Francine Prose”
Show and Tell to Remember
Originally posted on Writing Near the Lake:
[“Show and Tell to Remember” was originally published by the Bacopa Literary Review 2022. It earned an honorable mention for humor.] Inside my dress pocket, I had the best thing for show and tell. In 1964, I was new at Pleasant View Elementary, and having started in October…
Spring Clean Books #13
This is my next batch of books for donation, lucky #13. As always, lots of fond memories. I hope these guys find happy homes. The Stuff: The memoir/autobiography is relatively short. Loftus describes himself as one to throw himself into things wholeheartedly. He got into trouble as a teenager but found God and later becameContinue reading “Spring Clean Books #13”
Five Books for Donation Resumed
I’ve decided to take up my five-books-a-week donation to the local library. I think it got derailed a while back when I came down with pneumonia. I never got my act back together. I intend to post this on August 25 and donate the books on September 1. If anyone wants any of these books,Continue reading “Five Books for Donation Resumed”
Review of “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder
On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.
Book Review: “Veiled Atrocities” by Sami Alrabaa
This nonfiction book is a collection of narratives of people who have suffered as a result of policies and practices of the Saudi Arabian government. In his introduction, the author says he collected these stories while he was an instructor in the 1990s at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He claims heContinue reading “Book Review: “Veiled Atrocities” by Sami Alrabaa”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 