Sherrie’s Blogs

A blog that explores books and their relevance to our everyday lives, the value of literacy, and what it means to be a curious person.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “Tis the good reader that makes the good book…" I hope that the same is true about good blogs. Thank you good readers.

The Graduate

May 31, 2015 by Sherrie Dulworth

Commencement addresses are meant to articulate all that pent-up promise. In theory, they should congratulate, celebrate, and inspire; in reality, they are largely forgettable. The amnesiac-quality of those speeches should not be any surprise: they are delivered amidst pomp and circumstance and crowds of incredulous graduates and parents pondering, “I (expletive) can’t believe I (they) actually made it!”

But there are a few speeches with staying power, including those from good authors. Writers may not actually be any wiser than the average bear, but given the amount of contemplative time spent poking around in other people’s (real and fictional) lives, some pearly bits of their wisdom (or at least wit) should withstand all the revelry.

A Poem In Your Pocket

April 19, 2015 by Sherrie Dulworth

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!

February 1, 2015 by Sherrie Dulworth

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!

January 11, 2015 by Sherrie Dulworth

“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

December 21, 2014 by Sherrie Dulworth

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

November 30, 2014 by Sherrie Dulworth

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?

October 26, 2014 by Sherrie Dulworth

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

August 30, 2014 by Sherrie Dulworth

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

August 9, 2014 by Sherrie Dulworth

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.