If you know me at all, you know I love Oxford. You also might recall that I adore the mysteries of Dorothy L. Sayers. While in Oxford this summer I was determined to put together my own literary walk to celebrate Sayers' Gaudy Night and its two main characters,...
Dear reader, I meant to offer a "Tea and a Book" recommendation for June, but there was just too much to do in preparation for travel. I will try again later this month. In the meantime I thought I'd start a new feature on the blog -- "Literary Walks." I love to...
No doubt I've said this before, but lately the world is too much with me. More than ever I crave the escape of fiction, and today I'm recommending one of my very favorite "escape artists" -- Dorothy Emily Stevenson. I wrote about D.E. Stevenson a few years ago when I...
In the second post of my "Brooklyn travel trilogy" I'm featuring Brooklyn indie bookstores. Books are Magic is located in Cobble Hill on the corner of Smith and Butler. It is owned by author Emma Straub and her husband, Michael Fusco-Straub. I love this from the...
I haven't updated "Tea and a Book" since Christmas! I am determined, however, to mend my ways AND account for April with this post... During a recent chat with my friend and crit partner Brandi, she recommended Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings. (I think we'd...
I'm introducing a new feature here on the blog in which I revisit my oldest blog posts from the archaic platform known as Livejournal. (Shout out if you started the whole blogging thing on LJ. I know you're out there! Do you ever miss those days?) Not so long ago, I...
I read 54 novels in 2018, five of them re-reads (which I count because my memory is terrible and subsequent readings still manage to surprise and delight). Last year I was determined to raise my overall count and I managed to do that by 6 books! Here are my favorites...
I come to you with tidings of tea and holiday reads! For young (and young-at-heart) readers: Christmas with the Savages, by Mary Clive: Seen through the eyes of a prim little eight-year-old, and based on real events and people, this novel perfectly recaptures a...
Quick take: Quirky and endearing. From the book jacket: Jessica Vye introduces herself with an enigmatic pronouncement: "I ought to tell at the beginning that I am not quite normal, having had a violent experience at the age of nine." A revered author has told Jessica...
It's mid-September and each day we draw closer to the season of ghosts, ghouls, and witches (not to mention sugar hangovers). I must confess, however, that I wrote this post not just to celebrate the season. I'm also hoping for a particular sort of redemption. Over...
Quick take: I was in the mood for something light and quirky, and Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce fit the bill perfectly. Goodreads synopsis: London, 1940. Emmeline Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire...
I recently finished Tatiana de Rosnay's Manderley Forever, a carefully researched and annotated biography of Daphne du Maurier that reads like a novel. Some of you might remember my scathing reaction to Rebecca back in 2012. In short, I despised the unnamed heroine of...
Dear old blog o' mine, I've missed you! I'm back from my travels (see my instagram for recent photos) and am eager to get back into the routine here. Lately I've had cozy mysteries on the brain. To be honest, I'm always in the mood for cozy English...
It's nice to have regular topics on the blog, and with this post I recommit to discussing favorite books, films, TV shows, and whatnot in "Friday Favorites." If anything on this list strikes a chord, do let me know in the comments. (I'm also very open to your...
This past fall I decided to update the look of my website. As always I wanted something Gothic and a bit creepy, but I also yearned for warmth and color. Again and again I came back to this image: It struck me as both bleak and beautiful. Moreover it reminded me of...
