One of the genres I enjoy is mystery, and particularly British mystery. Five women dominated the “Golden Age” of British mystery: Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, and Margery Allingham. Of the five, Christie and Sayers are probably the best-known. Christie and Marsh enjoyed the longest reigns. Sayers… Read more »
Organized Simplicity, by Tsh Oxenreider
Organized Simplicity on Nov. 21, 2010 Genres: House and Home Format: Hardcover Source: the library Add to Goodreads Remove the Mess, Add Meaning Simplicity isn’t about what you give up. It’s about what you gain. When you remove the things that don’t matter to you, you are free to focus… Read more »
Libraries, E-books, and E-Publishing: Recommended Articles
The biggest e-book story of the past few weeks has to be the growing reluctance of large publishers to allow libraries to lend their e-books. The ALA’s meetings with top publishers, while reportedly amicable, did so little to relieve publishers’ concerns that library lending of e-books will reduce e-book sales… Read more »
Spider and Jeanne Robinson
Apropos of my previous post on hope, I’ve been rereading some of SF author Spider Robinson‘s early works, and I noticed something I hadn’t paid attention to when I read them years ago. Robinson doesn’t shy away from the tragedies of life. His characters are often in pain, wounded in… Read more »
The Need for Hope
I’d like to say that I have eclectic tastes when it comes to reading, but the truth is, most of my reading falls along fairly conventional lines. I read a lot of fantasy, mystery, and historical romance, with a sprinkling of science fiction, historical fiction, contemporary romance/women’s fiction and romantic… Read more »
The Science of Kissing, by Sheril Kirshenbaum (review)
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ve been reading Sheril Kirshenbaum’s The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us. As the title suggests, this isn’t a how-to book, at least primarily; instead, it explores the psychology, physiology, biochemistry, evolutionary biology, neurochemistry, and cultural anthropology of kissing. Sound dull? … Read more »
An Open Letter to Kobo
Dear Kobo, I started buying books at Kobo because you were the best of the open-device e-book stores selling ePub books, and your prices usually (though not always) beat those of other ePub retailers. But your website has some drawbacks, especially compared to Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s sites. I… Read more »
Sherryl Woods’ Chesapeake Shores series
The Chesapeake Shores novels by Sherryl Woods tell the romantic stories of various members of the O’Brien clan, a large, somewhat dysfunctional, but loyal Irish-American family living in the fictional Bay town of Chesapeake Shores. The characters are human, individual, and for the most part likeable; their family and romantic… Read more »
“A Discovery of Witches” sequel announced
Browsing the Bloodstained Bookshelf’s list of upcoming mysteries, I was excited to see that a date has finally been set for the sequel to Deborah Harkness‘s riveting (and best-selling) A Discovery of Witches. Harkness’s first novel was a potent brew of academe and the paranormal, true history and fantasy. Her… Read more »
Resolutions
Sometime last year, I made the decision to try to read more “new” books. (To be clear, by “new” I mean a book I haven’t read before. When things are stressful — and sometimes when they’re not — I tend to reread old friends. I think I’ve mentioned this before.) … Read more »