I hate to admit this, but I haven’t written much since May’s blog entry. I simply must develop better time management skills. Where do my days disappear to? This time of the year I’m busy with lots of extra gardening and yard work. I made three batches of super-delicious strawberry jam. I’m also still working on settling my father’s estate, a time consuming and emotionally draining experience. A good lawyer helps, but it is still a tough time. Our beautiful eighteen year old granddaughter will graduate from high school in a couple weeks–more celebrations coming.We also celebrated a couple family birthdays, hosted a couple small dinner parties, add a few doctor appointments and I ‘m beginning to see where the days went! Maybe I’m not such a slacker after all.
I haven’t posted any reviews on Story Circle since May’s blog post. Earlier this week I finished reading My Autistic Awakening- Unlocking the Potential of a Life Well Lived by Rachael Lee Harris. It is an Uncorrected Page Proof copy sent to me for review; a well written and very interesting memoir. I will write a short blog when the review is posted.
My review of The Nightingale will be featured in Writer Advice, July issue. I loved that book!
I read Lissette’s List by Susan Vreeland, another interesting story about civilians in France during WW II. I learned about art as well as the power of human resilience. Susan V. is a skilled writer, almost in a class of her own.
I also read Sleeping Dogs Lie, Henrietta Fox’s debut novel. It was a real page turner, a southern novel with the charm and suspense of an Agatha Christy mystery.
My book club’s book choice this month was a popular novel that was poorly written and the characters so unlikable that after reading, I took it back to BJ’s and was glad to get my money back. I only wish I could retrieve the time I wasted reading it!
I enjoyed my visit to the beautiful Olean Public Library on May 9th. It is always fun to meet book lovers on these visits, sometimes a perceptive comment from a reader provides me with insight into my own writing that I’d never noticed before. Yikes, you’d think a writer would know her own work!
On Memorial Day we went to the WW II Museum in Eldred, PA. Jan Jarobe Russell, author of The Train to Crystal City read from her book, shared photographs and spoke about the FDR’s secret prisoner exchange and America’s only family internment camp in Crystal City, Texas during WWII. I’ve read half of it and can’t wait to get back to it after dinner tonight. It is a nonfiction page turner that reads like a first class novel. So far, I highly recommend it.
I will be at Friends Library in Kane, PA on Saturday afternoon, June 27th. If you are in the area, please stop by.
The best movie we’ve seen in the last month was The Magic of Belle Isle starring Morgan Freeman. A poignant unforgettable story.
Till next time, keep reading my friends!
Ann