If prose in all its forms is the basic literary diet on which we humans feed, poetry is the fine wine, the crème brûlée, the caviar that makes the meal memorable. We need novels and non-fiction, magazines and newspapers, reports and essays to communicate, to tell our stories real and fanciful, but in poetry we use ever-so-carefully chosen words to express our hearts.
It’s Cold Outside!
Mid-winter: The holidays have lost their luster and spring has not yet sprung. The familiarity of snow, sleet, slush, and biting winds breeds contempt as we once again tug into our coats, boots, and gloves. Each day now adds precious seconds of light, yet they are still far too short. Desperate times call for desperate […]
To Infinity…and Beyond!
“The Martian” is a fun little page-turner that couples credible science facts: chemistry, physics and geometry, with very clever writing―an unusual combination that can appeal to science geeks or anyone just look for entertaining reading…but more importantly, the book did what good writing should do―it piqued my curiosity and made me THINK―in this case, about modern space exploration.
Listful
There are two types of people―list-makers and the rest of the world. This is the season for the former: cooking lists, gift lists, shopping lists, who’s been naughty and who’s been nice lists, and soon lists of those things that we will resolve to either stop or start, at least for awhile.
Years ago, I wrote down all of the books I had read that year. I tucked it into holiday cards, noting the ones that I thought that person would enjoy. A list tradition was born.
GRATTITUDE
Along the tracks of my Harlem Line commute, I often catch a sight out the train window that seems oddly out of place. A billboard looms over the ever-congested Cross Bronx Expressway, bearing a single misspelled word: “GRATTITUDE.” No matter how early the hour, how bad the weather, or how harried the commute, the sign […]
The Scariest Book?
What is the scariest book you’ve ever read? -Stephen King’s fans swear it’s “Pet Sematary” or “The Shining,” -Perhaps you read “Psycho,” the novel (later made into the epic Hitchcock film), -“The Raven” may still give you goose bumps and, -I challenge you to read Bram Stoker’s 1897 “Dracula,” and then turn out the lights. Despite these noteworthy chillers, […]
Occupation: Reader
The inevitable question gets tossed out early whenever people are introduced: “So, what do you do?”
Most of us devote more of our life’s waking hours to our vocation―our career―than to any other pursuit. With all of those dedicated on-the-clock hours, shop-talk often is often an easy target for pursuit, but not always.
This blog features some great non-fiction books that show whether we love or despise our jobs (or feel something in between,) it is a very real relationship―for better or for worse.
The Dog Days of Summer
Friends often ask me what I recommend for “beach reading.” I know what they mean is, “Give me something that is light and airy and won’t make me think too much. Nothing too sad, or too deep, or too heavy…just a lazy bit of adventure, mystery, romance or fantasy please.” Sometimes we just yearn for the joy of escape.
Long Live the Indies
“When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.” Desiderius Erasmus When I walk past a bookstore, I feel a tug, something lures me inside. For me, it’s an easy temptation: to peruse the shelves, glean the owner’s or clerk’s latest recommendations, curl up […]