I have been rereading How to Read a Book: A Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Adler and Van Doren. This week, I read the chapter on suggestions for reading stories, plays, and poems. While reading the section titled How to Read Stories, the authors discussed the frustration readers sometimes experience when they feel overwhelmed … Continue reading Book Review: The Twisted Circle
Tag: book-reviews
Learning How to Read Again
Back when I was starting this blog, I wrote a short book review of How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. In that post, I mentioned that my first attempt to read the book was in 2009, but I wasn’t ready for it. … Continue reading Learning How to Read Again
Book Review: Slivers
Photo by Ed Ortiz After reading Slivers by Vicki Atkinson, which, by the way, is excellent, I realized it had been decades since I last read a supernatural novel. The last one was The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, which was also her debut novel. As a debut novel, I think Slivers hits … Continue reading Book Review: Slivers
Book Review: Think Again
“The purpose of learning isn’t to affirm our beliefs; it’s to evolve our beliefs.” (p. 26) Photo by Ed Ortiz Think Again by Adam Grant was an interesting read, but I’m a bit on the fence, so to speak, about this book. It offered a lot of good insights about reframing the way we make … Continue reading Book Review: Think Again
Book Review: The Correspondent
Photo by Ed Ortiz - Coffee was nice and hot! Last November, I wrote a post titled When a Story Finally Finds Its Moment, where I discussed an article I read in The Wall Street Journal about the novel The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It took her a long time and a lot of work, … Continue reading Book Review: The Correspondent
Book Review: The Unexpected Abigail Adams
Photo by Ed Ortiz “Abigail was as learned as any man of her time, and she could write like an angel. And Adams kept a diary. When I read Abigail’s letters, I wonder how she ever had time to write them. She was raising a family with four children, running the farm without her husband … Continue reading Book Review: The Unexpected Abigail Adams
Book Review: History Matters
Photo by Ed Ortiz “Happiness—true happiness—is not to be found in vacations or the like. It’s to be found in the love of learning and doing what you really want to get up and get to each day.” – David McCullough I must confess that I have never read any of David McCullough’s work before. … Continue reading Book Review: History Matters
When a Story Finally Finds Its Moment
I read an article this weekend in The Wall Street Journal and immediately thought about all my writer friends in my WordPress community. It’s a story of never giving up and of writing without worrying where your words will land. Maybe one day your book will be discovered and become a hit—but the writing journey … Continue reading When a Story Finally Finds Its Moment
Book Review: Jade’s Broken Bridge
Jade’s Broken Bridge, my notes, and a steaming cup of coffee. I’ve been following Michele Lee Sefton for a while, and her writing has always captivated me. There is depth behind her words, and her growth as a writer shines through in every blog post. Reading her poems and novellas, Her Coastal Cottage and Honeysuckle … Continue reading Book Review: Jade’s Broken Bridge
An Hour with Surviving Sue
Early this year, I read a wonderful book written by Dr. Vicki Atkinson titled Surviving Sue, and you can read what I wrote about her book here. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend an event sponsored by the Cultural and Performing Arts Department of Harper College in Chicago’s northwest area. I spent a little … Continue reading An Hour with Surviving Sue
