Nah, that's not right. But read on for two reviews of outstanding new books. A Review of Lucky Red (Claudia Cravens) Released on June 20, 2023 Support Bookish & Preorder on Bookshop Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens helped me linger in that cow(girl) state of mind originally inspired by Yellowstone–then continuously fed by a whole... Continue Reading →
A Woman in the Woods (a Review of Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders)
The snap of the twig bounced the trees, then filtered out in multiple directions. The silence felt louder somehow after that snap. I adjusted the straps of my daypack, pulling them closer to my body. Unconsciously readying myself to run. I looked over my shoulder. At nothing. No one was there. I gazed up at... Continue Reading →
Self-Love & Self-Care: thinking on the words of bell hooks
Using a working definition of love that tells us it is the action we take on behalf of our own or another’s spiritual growth provides us with a beginning blueprint for working on the issue of self-love. –bell hooks, All About Love People talk a lot about self-love and self-care. From a practical standpoint, though,... Continue Reading →
Working Title Gospel
I’ve been itching to write my own gospel. A little bastion of ideas and thoughts so deeply held that they’re woven into the fabric of my life. Kind of like The Gospel According to Shug Avery–something real and true. Something I’ve had to create and live into to dispel all the hurt and ache my... Continue Reading →
The Nitty Gritty: Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
I've been thinking a lot about place lately: how where we are from constructs who we are. And I've been drawn to books that explore place as internal landscape. My mother's family is from South Georgia. Although I grew up in Florida, I always considered myself a dis-placed Southerner. According to my Northern oriented friends,... Continue Reading →
Book Review: Rubyfruit Jungle
The first time I read Rubyfruit Jungle, I was 19 years old, recently out, and head-over-heels in love with my girlfriend. I devoured the book. It was mouthy, cocky, and brash—most of the things I wasn’t but really wanted to be. But most importantly, Rubyfruit Jungle offered me the gift of seeing some of my own life experiences, my... Continue Reading →
Book Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
I pulled this novel out of a stack being cleaned, sorted, and packaged for the bookstore. I try not to do that very often. If I did, we'd be inundated with books (we already are, truthfully). But I've heard about this book since high school, and somehow managed not to have read it yet. So,... Continue Reading →