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Endless Ocean ASMR: Fort Bragg, California
I actually have culled through my ocean pictures from our trip, but I just can’t go with any less than these. Even if it’s just for my own benefit of collecting them all in one place. I hope you’ll look through them and find a sense of peaceful joy. We’ve been to the ocean many…
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THE FAMILY by Naomi Krupitsky
It is difficult to believe that this is Krupitsky’s first novel. The Family is both riveting and endearing. I picked up the book casually but held on to it thirstily. After devouring it, I am closing the back cover, satisfied and intrigued for more. Krupitsky is a beautiful writer who seamlessly unfolds a story like…
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ROCK PAPER SCISSORS by Alice Feeney
“Shhhhhhut UP!” That is what I yelled into my empty home. It was just me, alone, reading the twists in this fast-paced thriller. “Wait. What?!”, I continue my one-sided conversation as I rapidly flipped back to the earlier chapters. I still have questions. I’ve never googled, so quickly, to compare plot ending explanations online. 1.…
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commonality
In a world of disconnection, it has felt even more comforting to gather with people all over the world as we circle the same scripture on the same day. That is the beauty of the liturgy, for me. Similar thoughts are being mulled over. Time of year is being considered. The great joining together happens…
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Finding Calm
These are a few books that have meant a lot to me personally during this pandemic season. I find reliance on the liturgy comforting when you don’t feel like praying. Leaning into ancient traditions (even rote memorization) gets you through at times when your heart just isn’t in it. I especially recommend the book, Flee.…
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THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett
I was glad to finally be able to sit down with this Book of the Month feature and all-around popular Bookstagram book, The Vanishing Half. The concept intrigued me. Stella and Desiree are twins and both born light-skinned Black. Both of them wanting to escape the confines of their small town and to live a…
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THE WATERGATE GIRL by Jill Wine-Banks
I’m really excited about this book. Honestly, Watergate was *around* when I was a kid, but I was too young to understand it. I just knew adults were talking about it – when it happened and years afterwards. ⠀ Jill Wine-Banks was an assistant prosecutor during the Watergate hearings. Her house was burgled, her phones…
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My New Life as a Book Reviewer
During the last few months of 2019 I decided I wanted to get serious about reviewing books and working with publishing companies to do reviews for upcoming and newly-released books. I made it my goal toward the end of the year to research and find out as much as I could about the craft before…
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THE GIVER OF STARS by Jojo Moyes
Books celebrating books. Authors paying homage to readers. This enticing concoction of book-celebrating is an intoxicating elixir when it occurs in a storyline and The Giver of Stars is no exception. This book is based on a true story in American history. Historical reference: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Works Progress Administration created librarians – primarily…
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PRAIRIE FIRES by Caroline Fraser
I finished reading a book that left me a little distraught. It was the winner of a Pulitzer Prize, The National Book Critics Circle Award and named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year. But even more than that, it is a subject that absorbed so much of my childhood,…
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A CHRISTMAS MEMORY by Truman Capote
Illustrator Beth Peck elegantly illuminates the words of Truman Capote as he tells the story of the uniquely loving relationship between seven-year-old, Buddy, and his ‘sixty-something’-year-old distant cousin, living in the same house. ‘We are each other’s best friend.’⠀ They make cakes together every year as the weather turns cold and fly homemade kites when…