Per usual, I bought The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, during a Barnes and Noble perusal of “the classics.” Hailed on its back cover as one of the world’s first detective novels, I was intrigued and a bit confused why I had never even heard of the title. My interest piqued, I bought it. Of course,…
Category: Culture
Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See
I am certain I had looked at All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr on the shelves at Barnes & Noble for years without really considering purchasing a copy. Last fall, I when I saw promotional videos for the forthcoming Netflix mini-series of the same name, I was intrigued to find out more…
Book Review: A Season of Second Chances
When a friend loaned me her copy of A Season of Second Chances by Jenny Bayliss, I was skeptical at best. Despite the saccharine description of a chef hosting a book club in a coastal British town (all things that are near & dear to my heart) and a promise that there wouldn’t be too…
Book Review: The Complete Fairy Stories of Oscar Wilde
The Complete Fairy Stories of Oscar Wilde is a lovely collection of nine children’s stories which were originally published in two volumes. This version, enhanced with intricate illustrations by Philippe Jullian, stood out on a shelf the Winding Stair Bookstore, in Dublin (where I also picked up Virginia Woolf’s “How One Should Read a Book”)….
Book Review: The Artist’s Way
I am a bit shocked that I hadn’t yet written a review on The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, for how profound of an impact it has had on my life this year. Perhaps that is why—it felt too personal or too close or like I was still in the thick of it, even though…
Book Review: We Came, We Saw, We Left
It is quite possible I was first drawn to “We Came, We Saw, We Life—A Family Gap Year” by Charles Wheelan, because of its striking yellow cover and very simple design. It gave “Little Miss Sunshine” vibes with a bright blue van driving off the edge of the book. Then I saw the tag: “Nine…
Book Review: A Country Doctor
I’m writing this book review on a coach bus en route from Prague to Heidelberg, Germany. It’s scheduled to be a six-hour trip so I have plenty of activities to keep myself entertained—although admittedly my favourite thing to do is probably just staring out the window in silence. However, I just finished reading A Country…
Book Review: The Hiding Place
I remember my paternal grandmother recommending that I read The Hiding Place when I was in middle school. At that time, I had a healthy obsession with World War II era stories. I loved reading The Diary of Anne Frank and was fascinated by my grandparents’ French neighbors who had participated in the French Resistance…
Book Review: By Bread Alone
It’s pretty common these days for me to find (and subsequently follow) creatives on Instagram through other creatives I follow on Instagram. For as many negative qualities exist regarding social media accounts, their ability to inspire, connect and positively influence us with new creative stimulation are just a few reasons to stick around. One writer,…
Book Review: How Should One Read a Book?
“Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, or poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that is shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be…
L.M.Beatty 