Varina is a beautiful book, because Charles Frazier writes some of the most beautiful, lyrical sentences of any author writing prose today. His words force the reader to slow down and savor every lovely description, to open oneself to the metaphors and allegories hidden within. And yet, the book made me uncomfortable. I don’t know … Continue reading Varina by Charles Frazier, a review
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: tangy, tired of using words, accountant, electric lights, hooked on phonics, I found the strangest thing in my pocket “I found the strangest thing in my pocket,” Peter said at breakfast. He pulled out an eight and half by eleven sheet of paper folded into a … Continue reading The Poetry Bunny
This is a re-run from the early days of this blog, but still topical and seasonal. Enjoy! I pledge allegiance to this sand and gravel road that runs between the river and my house, clumps of California poppies rangy stalks of fragrant fennel burgeoning fig trees that grow wild on the river bank. I pledge … Continue reading Happy Birthday, USA
Every summer I go in search of a book I can fall in love with. A book that will capture my imagination with poetic language, fascinating characters, and a compelling story. A book I can’t put down. As the weather warmed, and I became too lazy to get off the couch, the first book I … Continue reading Summer Reading: a few cryptic reviews (no spoilers!)
In early June comes a five-day period when every peach on the tree arrives at a perfect skin-splitting ripeness and you race the birds rushing into the back yard with a blue plastic bucket. You drag the six-foot aluminum ladder from the garage climb tenuously and reach for each round fuzzy piece of fruit with … Continue reading In Celebration of the Solstice: Abundance
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: garbage day is his marker in time (yes, that really was the prompt!), still making that noise, a perfect summer day, lost in the moment, and she lets me know she cares for me when she sinks her teeth in my ankle (that last phrase may … Continue reading Just Like Romeo and Juliet
Greetings Blogosphere! I am excited to announce that I am releasing another book, a brief collection of short short stories (aka "flash fiction") and essays. It's called Wild Imaginings. Currently Wild Imaginings is available only as an E-Book for you to download onto your Kindle, Nook, tablet, computer or other device (even the one you're reading … Continue reading New Book!
Warning: spoilers ahead. I’ll wave a red flag when we get close, but stay alert. This book made me very sad. I don’t know why I’m surprised, it’s right there in the tittle. It’s not that I can’t handle sad—I mean, I’ve never missed an episode ofThis Is Us. But this book made me feel sad … Continue reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (a book review)
After midnight the day-old loaves of bread in the bakery turn into slumbering cats. Some are brown and toasty, some white and fragrant, some calico dotted with black, brown and golden patches that used to be raisins, apricots, and berries. They stretch, blinking their golden eyes, then pad down off the discount shelves to chase … Continue reading Bread Cats
Ursula LeGuin wrote an amazing book called The Word for World is Forest back in 1972. A friend gave it to me sometime in the 80s and it has haunted me ever since. It’s something of an allegorical tale: humans head off to exploit the fictional planet Athshe—to kill the men, rape the women, and … Continue reading The Changing Dreamscape
