Grand tales of high adventure as northmen go a-viking in pursuit of silver and gold across a tumultuous Europe of the Tenth Century A.D. are spun by Frans G. Bengtsson in “The Long Ships”.  He brings alive this time when the continent trembled at the approach of the men in the dragon ships and people [...]

I pulled out a wonderful book from my ’snowy day’ shelf. The Birchbark House takes place in 1847. It follows the life of a 7 year old Ojibwe girl named Omakayas, which means Little Frog. She and her family live on an Island in Lake Superior. Through their experiences you learn of the
Ojibwe culture and [...]

After hearing a recommendation about this book, I decided to get it to see if someone that has no cooking experience could use it. I must say the book is easy to follow and the recipes are all healthy. I couldn’t believe there was a healthy way to make brownies, but there was and it [...]

Come one, come all, step right up and pay your nickel to meet the freaks in Ellen Bryson’s book “The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno: A Novel” wherein she brings alive the world of P.T. Barnum’s American Museum through the eyes of the title character Bartholomew ‘Barthy’ Fortuno A.K.A. The World’s Thinnest Man. The [...]

If you know Lewis Black, you know that he is very funny and loves to criticize everything and even Christmas can’t be spared. He makes fun of everything related to the holidays; he keeps you smiling hours after you have read it with mixes of his own holiday memories from years past. I found it [...]

This is another behind the scenes look at professional wrestling in the past fifty years. Vince McMahon is the god of wrestling for decades and this book mentions him more than anyone else and for good reason. If your not a wrestling fan you wont enjoy reading this book, but Vince is married to Linda [...]

I love epics. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned that before on this blog, but I love a good epic. Gone With the Wind, (John Jakes’s) North and South, and The Thorn Birds all rank among my favorite books. The coming on of autumn put me in the mood to read a good epic [...]

After reading Leigh’s log about Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin, I had to check out the author for myself and I was not disappointed. Baby Proof was an enjoyable read. Emily has a talent for writing about real relationships and I felt connected to her characters. In fact I noticed a lot of  [...]

Sometimes, when I don’t know what to read next, I will pick up a book by Maeve Binchy. Ever since I read her book, Circle of Friends, I have wanted to read more of her novels. This time I reached for Tara Road. As always, Ms. Binchy has included a cast of [...]

His book is a standout among many of the current books that tell you what and how to eat. In just 112 pages he covers what you should eat, what kind of food you should eat and how you should eat. Some of the rules are short and simple, with just enough humor to make [...]