I heard the phrase “Private Eye July” and thought, there is a diversion in this. So this month, let’s discuss fictional detectives. A well-written mystery often features a memorable detective. You root for them to solve the mystery as you attempt to figure it out before they do. So many of these detectives are eccentric and bigger than life. Let’s for a moment imagine some of our favorite literary detectives in real life and fit them into our lives. I would like it if Flavia […]

As summer approaches, people start to think about beach reads. What exactly is a beach read? Does it have to be set in a beach community? Should it have sand on the cover? Does it have to be a light read? Must it be a romance? Does it have to be written by Elin Hilderbrand? Well, I am proposing that we completely rethink beach reads. Read anything you want in the summer. Make anything into a beach read. Now there’s an idea. Let’s create beach […]

April is National Poetry Month. I have so much respect for poets. No writing seems harder to me than writing a poem. I would never, ever attempt to write a poem Although, I must confess that I have written the occasional horrible Haiku. But wait, there is one type of poetry anybody who can read can write: Book Spine Poetry.  The idea is very simple. Create a poem using book titles. Here are a few I wrote:   One Italian Summer Killers of the Flower […]

To celebrate Women’s History Month, let’s discuss books about real women. They can be biography, autobiography, memoir, graphic memoir, historical fiction, or even non-fiction expose. I am going to ramble here about some that I have enjoyed across many of these genres. Let’s start with me as a little girl devouring The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. I loved this book and after I learned about her, I worshiped Helen Keller. I still think she is a wonderful role model for any young […]

Valentine’s Day is upon us. The stores are filled with regular shaped candy in heart-shaped boxes and heart-shaped candy in regular shaped boxes. For us book lovers, it is time to talk about romance novels. This is the perfect topic for me to write about, since I only read romance novels when a book group requires it. Therefore, I am always surprised by the wide variety of types of romance novels out there: Sports Romance – love a jock Regency Romance – love a duchess […]

Groundhog Day is supposed to make us think about spring being right around the corner, but thanks to Bill Murray, it instead makes us think of reliving a part of our lives. I am one of those people who rarely rereads a book–why read something you have already read when there are so many books you haven’t read? However, I know I am in the minority. Many readers go back to their favorites and reread them again and again. It is comforting, you know you […]