reading

National Read an Ebook Day

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Any excuse to read!

I almost always have my Kindle with me, and it often has a half dozen or so books on it, available or in some form of partially read and currently reading. The most used app on my Kindle is probably the Libby app and the Kindle app itself. Of the books in the above photo, a screenshot of my Kindle home page, three books are finished, one is not started, and the sample of Fr. James Martin’s newest book is still in the deciding stage of buying or borrowing.

A little bit about some of the books currently pictured:

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to The Hunger Games. It falls between Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds and The Hunger Games, and follows the story of Haymitch Abernathy. Well worth the read, it gives some background and really shows how Haymitch became the man we see when he meets Katniss and Peeta.

The second book pictured, Jesuit Relations, edited by Allan Greer, et al, is a book I bought for research for my own book about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. I am writing a chapter on the Jesuit influence and work in New France that Kateri was exposed to since childhood and certainly contributed to her conversion.

Skipping to the seventh book, How We Learn to Be Brave by Bishop Mariann Budde Edgar was one I had started to read, but then was assigned as a group reading at work, so I’ve re-read the first three chapters and will continue as the group continues. It’s really a good view of Bishop Edgar’s memoir as well as how she put herself out there, to be brave, and to move forward in her life and her career. It offers advice and direction.

Lieutenant Nun: The True Story of a Cross-Dressing, Transatlantic Adventurer Who Escaped From a Spanish Convent in 1599 and Lived was a Man by Catalina De Erauso, the third book pictured tells almost the whole story in the title, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. It’s a wild ride!

Three to Recommend:

  • The Writer: A Thriller by James Patterson & J.D. Barker
  • A Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
  • Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officers Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th by Harry Dunn

Three on My Next Up List:

  • Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson
  • Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
  • Patriot: A Memoir by Alexi Navalny

What’s on your e-reader?

Put your recommendations in the comments!

World Book Lovers Day

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I’m having surgery next week. This is the list of books added to my Kindle for Recovery Reading:

  1. The Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clark
  2. 100 Places to See After You Die by Ken Jennings
  3. War by Bob Woodward
  4. Lieutenant Nun: The True Story of a Cross-Dressing, Transatlantic Adventurer who Escaped from a Spanish Convent in 1599 and Lived as a Man – Gambling, Duels, and Leading Soldiers into Battle by Catalina De Erauso
  5. Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary by Joe Jackson
  6. How We Learn to Be Brave by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
  7. The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America Edited by Allan Greer

As a bonus treat, I discovered this in my emails, and plan to visit the next time I am in Montreal:

Cafe Three Pines – Inspired by the bistro in Penny’s Three Pines novels, their cafe is a haven for book lovers, croissant seekers, and anyone in need of a quiet moment. They can be found at 51 Chemin Lakeside, Knowlton Quebec J0E 1V0 and on Instagram! They are open Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm.

National Biographer’s Day

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Today is one of those made up holidays (aren’t they all) that caught my eye as I was planning the subjects for this month’s writing. I have taken a memoir class for the last thirteen years, and now that I’m working again, I won’t be able to return. This has made me fall into my feels, so I thought that memoir is very similar to biographies, and as it turns out today is National Biographer’s Day, which isn’t as generic as I thought it would be.

It commemorates the anniversary of the first day that Samuel Johnson met his biographer, James Boswell in 1763 in London. Samuel Johnson was an English writer and the biography written about him is said to be one of the most celebrated English biographies. Dr. Johnson himself was a biographer in his own right in addition to his other writing talents.

He is also known to have said that the “best biographers were those who ate, drank, and ‘lived in social intercourse’ with those about whom they wrote.”

In honor of this momentous occasion, a few thoughts, suggestions, and writing prompts:

  • 1. What is the best/most satisfying biography you’ve read?
  • 2. Whose biography would you like to read but haven’t yet?
  • 3. Begin writing a biography of someone you care about or want to discover more about.
  • 4. It’s not biography as much as autobiography or memoir, but write a few paragraphs of your own biography. Start anywhere in your life.

Spend your weekend learning about others and yourself.

May I?

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As I mengtioned on Thursday, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. There’s also May Day, and May the Fourth, and Cinco de Mayo. Plus college graduations, Memorial Day, and the “official” start of summer.

Today is three spcial days that should be acknowleged and observed, each with their own reverences.

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World Book Day

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On this World Book Day, I have three that I want to highly recommend to you:

  • The Writer: A Thriller by J.D. Barker and James Patterson
    This is not generally a book that I would gravitate towards. I don’t know if someone mentioned it to me or if I saw it online. As a writer, I was drawn to the title, although put off by the idea of a thriller – those aren’t really my thing, but I read this, and despite the cliché on the cover – you’ll never forget the ending – I read it, twisted and turned along with the characters, and the ending, well, let’s just say I will never forget it. In fact, I had to read the last two pages twice – it was that unexpected!
  • The Serial Killer’s Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay
    I was drawn to this by the talented Georgia Tennant who narrates the audiobook. I listened to a sample, and I was hooked on the story! I have just begun reading it and will eventually listen to the audio version. What happens when serial killers get married and have a child? This is your answer. Brilliant concept, very engaging, and I anticipate fun.
  • The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
    I read this when it came out last fall, and I am now listening to the audiobook narrated by Jean Brassard. I love his voice, and he really brings out the Quebecois culture and accent which is a large part of the Armand Gamache series. Read the first eighteen books first if you can – this newest book has several call backs and old favorites who return. The next book, The Black Wolf, comes out in October of this year.

What three books would you receommend for this World Book Day?

International Women’s Day – 2

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Book Recs

  • Something Lost, Something Gained: reflections on life, love, and liberty by Hillary Rodham Clinton
  • Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It by Janina Ramirez
  • susan, linda, nina, & cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR by Lisa Napoli
  • Song in a Weary Heart by Pauli Murray
  • Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick
  • Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir by Marie Yovanovitch
  • Set the world on Fire: A 4- Week Personal Retreat with the Female Doctors of the Church by Vinita Hampton Wright
  • The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
  • Reflections from Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling: Finding My True Self in Corporate America by Stephanie Battaglino
  • Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by Jackie Speier

World Book Day

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5 Book Recs for World Book Day

  1. The Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny
  2. How We Learn to Be Brave by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
  3. A Lily Among Thorns: A Mohawk Repatriation of St. Kateri Tekakwi:tha by Darren Bonaparte
  4. Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson
  5. Patriot by Alexi Navalny

Plus a Bonus Book

Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It by Janina Ramirez

Mark Twain’s Study.
Elmira, NY
(c)2025

Gender Queer: A Review

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After all the Republican outrage over banning books, I thought it was time to read one of the more “controversial” ones for myself. I already knew from previous experience that once these book banners got it into their heads that a book was “inappropriate”, there is usually no going back for them. One thing that I’m proud about myself is that I’m willing to make mistakes and apologize for them, and even, heavens to Betsy, change my mind as I grow and evolve. That doesn’t seem to be the case for the immediate future.

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