Reading
-
When I fill in for Trish or Dave on Blog for Iowa I post about what I am reading. In part, I do so to share books I felt were worthwhile. In part to encourage people to read actual books in any format. The sad state of American reading is hard to ignore. 40 percent… Read more
-
Ambient temperature reached 87 degrees on Saturday in Big Grove. On Sunday it dropped to the 50s, and Monday, it was below freezing. Not really Spring, is it? The lilacs appear to be surviving the temperature fluctuation… so far. It is hard to know what will hold. While it’s still cold, I’ve been working on… Read more
-
When I had a newspaper route, I stopped at the corner drugstore and occasionally bought mass-market paperback books. They are characterized by their small size (roughly 4.25 x 6.87 inches), lower price point, and widespread distribution in places like airports, grocery stores, and drugstores. I have so many of them that I built a special… Read more
-
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig is exactly what the title suggests. Descriptions of the author’s rural Montana life are vivid in their presentation of the hard-scrabble ranching life in which Doig came up. Out of that challenging youth — farming, sheep herding, haying, rural community — he became… Read more
-
This January I’m thankful to have gotten back into the writing groove so quickly. I finished the first draft of my book and am a third finished with the first major edit. The narrative and language keeps getting stronger. If I did nothing else, that would be an accomplishment. I managed to get outdoors for… Read more
-
The die is cast for 2026 winter reading. Books in this photo have been recently acquired and they, along with those already read match the number of books I read in January and February last year. I shut off acquisitions for now to focus on reading. The first three books were The Lost Honor of… Read more
-
I decided to call 2025 finished with 71 books read. I set my goal at a book per week and exceeded it. Yay! Goodreads is great for me because it provides satisfaction when I finish each book and rate it. Likewise, I refer to the historical information often. The above chart came via email last… Read more
-
Packinghouse Daughter: A Memoir by Cheri Register is a book I wouldn’t have found except for patronizing an excellent local used bookstore. They have a deal where you set an amount of money to spend, tell them your interests, and they locate books that match. I have yet to be disappointed by their choices. One… Read more
-
Calling this project done for now. I went through all remaining boxes in the two stacks and prepped two more boxes for the library used book sale. There are five empty boxes and a good amount of new stuff placed in old boxes. This was the first major sort of my books since they arrived… Read more
-
For years, my books about North American indigenous culture were tucked away in a box. I decided I was wrong about them and with newly opened space because of The Great Sort, I put them on a shelf. These are in addition to the works by and about Black Hawk which I always kept out,… Read more
You must be logged in to post a comment.