Books, Reading, Writing, Telling Stories…They have my heart. They make us human. They connect us with each other and with God.
The Attitude of Gratitude: Hannah Coulter and I
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry has just shot up to the top of my Best Books I’ve Ever Read List. As a librarian, I’m asked a lot (mostly by kids) what my favorite book is. I always hedge. How can one pick a favorite book, when there are so many great reads, so many great books… Continue reading
I Once Promised to Read Middlemarch…
It was the summer between my junior and senior year in college. I was taking one class for summer school–an Independent Study on Women’s Literature. For those unfamiliar with the concept, that… Continue reading
I’ve read a few really good books this summer, and I want to tell you about them before summer is over and you have excuses to not read them. So put up that hammock, make a glass of lemonade, and… Continue reading
If you watched 60 Minutes the other night, you might have seen a disturbing episode on Artificial Intelligence. Anderson Cooper interviewed Yuval Noah Harari, a philosopher and historian of the future (and author of Sapiens) about what technology… Continue reading
Favorite Quotes from C.S. Lewis (Nov. 29, 1898-Nov.22, 1963)
C.S. Lewis died on the same day that President John F. Kennedy was shot, so the news of his death was overshadowed, at least in the U.S. Yet, I owe my faith to this prolific, faith-filled author. Years after Lewis’ Mere Christianity was published, I can… Continue reading
We’ve been watching Charlotte on our porch for the last three weeks. She’s been there. Spinning and waiting. Waiting and spinning. I could learn patience from her. She hasn’t moved more than an inch or two in all these days, unless she goes off dancing midweek and then comes back on weekends to pretend…Continue reading
The Librarian’s 29 Favorite Picture Books of All Time: Part One
Once upon a time… long ago and far away, I was a children’s librarian. But you know, old librarians never retire, they just get reshelved, checked out, or renewed… Continue reading
(Part 2) The Librarian’s 29 Favorite Picture Books of All Time
The next seven books in my favorite picture books series begin with a Valentine’s Day book, #because love wins… Continue reading
(Part 3) The Librarian’s 29 Favorite Picture Books of All Time
This is the third part of the list. For the first fourteen, see Part One and Part Two… Continue reading
(Part 4) The Librarian’s 29 Favorite Picture Books of All Time
And here are the last seven (with one extra)–I hope you’ve been reading and enjoying… Continue reading
I got my first cookbook at age 10–Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Girls and Boys. Can you believe it is still available? Everywhere! With the same cover even. Ah, the joy of retro… Continue reading
Mourning the semicolon; it turned into a wink and was gone…
I’m of an age when I can fondly remember articles, objects, bits and pieces, things that just don’t exist anymore… Continue reading
In Defense of the Much Maligned Adverb
Disclaimer: All adverbs used in this post are used purposefully, joyfully, and ironically.
Adverbs have always been a perfectly acceptable, completely legitimate member… Continue reading
Slipshod or Precise? Messy or Neat? Planned or Random? Just what DOES your dining room table look like? Yes, I know, the only excuse for a messy dining room table is tax time…and, ahem, yes… Continue reading
Ordinary Days: a letter to my future self
Dear You, Remember that rainy September day? The cloud-filled sky and the freedom from the sun’s tyranny? Continue reading
i could live without people
a hermit on a lonely mountain
foraging in fields singing back to the birds and whispering
to the spiders spinning… Continue reading
I was sitting on the porch swing this morning feeling wistful for summer gone and time wasted. But was summer gone really careless use of time? Porch sitting. Listening to bird song. Drinking in the green of creation. Reading. Writing…. Continue reading
The English language is frustrating at times; often, in fact. Can you imagine trying to learn it as a second language?
That you up there? It’s a plural meant to include everyone who is trying to learn to speak English…. Continue reading
the circle of life 