The Most Tragic of Tragedies: the Death of a Child This book is an intriguing novel that readers – and book clubs – will love. It is also a lesson in creativity for writers. Indeed, it will give them scads of ideas for novels. And beyond that, it provides a breathtaking description of the magic of writing. Here is the amazing plot: Even though the author never once says the name, William Shakespeare, this is an historical novel about his personal life as seen through the eyes of his wife, ... continue reading...
Search Results for: hamnet
Newsletter – The Fall Fun Edition – September, 2022
Fall is in the air! If you are saddened that the carefree days of summer are over, read along, as I dedicate this Newsletter to FUN and GAMES. Below you will find: Six images with secret messages to decode A crossword puzzle to tell you some of the authors you will find in my book blog A word search boasting of all the “Etsy Finds” that await you in my Etsy shop By the way, if you want to make your own puzzles, I will give you links to the appropriate game generators at the end of the ... continue reading...
The 5th Tuesday of August, 2022
A Special Report for Book Lovers Greetings! It has been my habit to post a new slice-of-life blog on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. But what happens when there are five Tuesdays? It seems like the perfect opportunity to share the top five book reviews from the Book Blog section of my website. Here they are now with a bonus! I have reviewed other books by three of today’s authors, so links to those five additional reviews are also included. Ten books total! See ... continue reading...
I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell
Seeing Where an Author's Life and Fiction Intersect I love it when novelists publish autobiographical non-fiction. I love to see where their real lives intersect with the stories they make up. Thus, after reading a few books by Maggie O’Farrell, I was excited to read I Am, I Am, I Am. Its subtitle is Seventeen Brushes with Death, a Memoir. I guess even without her fiction – the best of which was Hamnet – I would have been interested in someone with so many brushes with death. There ... continue reading...
Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
A family full of secrets I loved Maggie O’Farrell’s book, Hamnet, and so I tried another of her stories. This one has a copyright date of 2013. It is set mostly in London over a four-day period in July, 1976 and is the story of the Riordan family. Gretta and Robert are the parents, originally from Ireland. They have three adult children. Michael Francis and Monica live in England, while Aoife lives in New York. I have to confess that every time I read this child’s Irish name, it tripped me ... continue reading...
Fifth Tuesday of June 2021
A Special Report for Book Lovers Greetings! It is my habit to post a new slice-of-life blog on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. When there is a fifth Tuesday, it’s time for a book bonanza as I share the top five book reviews from the Book Blog section of my website. Today I will offer information on two other books as a bonus of sorts. These are the newly released books by authors I have reviewed in the past. So stay tuned to hear about the latest from Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney and ... continue reading...