Month: January 2020
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Loose Leaf Noted
I like the idea of tea. I like the slow, methodical process of tea-making. I like the ritual of afternoon tea. It’s just the tea part I don’t really love about tea. So I did what any good bookstagrammer would do – I took to Instagram and asked for advice. And man!, did I get…
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Currently Reading…
COURTING MR. LINCOLN by Louis Bayard will be coming out in paperback on February 4. Have you read it yet? I received this paperback copy from Algonguin Books this week and got straight to reading it. It’s going to go perfectly with my February read: LEADERSHIP: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin. COURTING is…
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Seasonal Affect Reorder
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ~ Henry David Thoreau With over 3 million cases each year, winter depression is a recognized affliction that many people suffer from. A helicopter crash that takes the future from…
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Honest Abe
In December I met some friends at this coffeehouse – a first for all of us. The chai latte is good, but what drew me in was their clever play on the street on which the coffeehouse rests: Lincoln Street (in Roseville, California.) Fourscore Coffee House is filled with old desks and comfortable sofas, tables…
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Paradise and Growth
I broke down last week and bought a ‘California requirement’. Or at least it seems to be a requirement when living in California. But first a quick backstory. When we lived in Kansas City I bought a Giant Bird of Paradise at our local Walmart. While ‘giant’ is in the name, this houseplant was not…
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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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BROTHER AND SISTER by Diane Keaton
I am so very honored to have reviewed Diane Keaton’s new book, Brother and Sister. Thank you, Alfred A. Knopf for this gifted book.⠀ We know her as spunky, eccentric, quirky and free-spirited. We love her fashion sense and decorating expertise and admire her longevity in film.⠀ Her newest book, BROTHER AND SISTER, gives a…
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WHISKEY WHEN WE’RE DRY by John Larison
UH-OH!! I think I’ve made a terrible mistake. I just finished reading Whiskey When We’re Dry by John Larison and it might be the best book I read in 2020 – and it’s only January 13! ⠀ This book was storytelling at its lyrical best. WHISKEY was a gripping read – Midwestern true grit with…
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SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM by Joan Didion
SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM is the third Joan Didion book I’ve read in as many years. Her relatable voice holds its own unique place in journalism. I am awed at her use of language and her ability to beautifully sculpt a story out of seemingly ordinary beginnings. The title, taken from a Yeats poem, represents…
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Artifact Uprising
Now that Christmas is over and all the gifts have been given, I wanted to share with you some albums I passed out as gifts this year. In May my extended family visited us in California. (Everyone except my daughter who was in the busiest time at work and couldn’t get off.) Scott and I…
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Low-key Organization
Okay, so California Closets it’s not. It’s not even a cool, interlinking IKEA closet. But for me, it’s exactly what I needed. Not to be a pollyanna, but buying this many plastic tubs made me a little sick. And yes I know…your organization isn’t the problem, your STUFF is. Yes, yes. Joy sparked, etc. etc.…
screen door stories 