Credo
Search this blog
-
Twitterings
My TweetsCurrent favorite quote
“Trees are an invitation to think about time and to travel in it the way they do, by standing still and reaching out and down.” — Rebecca Solnit, Orwell’s Roses
-
My last 5 posts
- August brings the sheaves August 3, 2022
- Soup & Salad, July July 28, 2022
- July brings cooling showers July 2, 2022
- Soup and salad, June June 27, 2022
- June brings tulips June 2, 2022
Check out these blogs
Category Archives: History
Mythbusting: Part II
In my last post, I looked behind the curtain to bust the myth of the mid-19th-century “independent pioneer” during the western expansion of the US. Today I uncover the myth of the lonely autobiographer, who delves deep into memories to … Continue reading
Posted in Autobiography, Historical fiction, History, Memoir
Tagged Caroline Fraser, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane
4 Comments
Mythbusting: Part I
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser, 2017 (NYPL e-book) I inherited my love of “prairie fiction” from my mother: Willa Cather, O E Rølvaag, Hamline Garland, Sherwood Anderson. Top of the list, of course: Laura … Continue reading
In the near future
Lory at The Emerald City Book Review recently wondered if her readers had reading plans for the year. Excellent question, if only because it gives me a chance to prep you for what’s to come on this blog. My usual … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Australia, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, New Zealand, Travel
11 Comments
A well-governed shark
It’s time for another progress report on my reading-the-sea project. For this post, I had planned to include notes on Melville’s Billy Budd, but I’ve been busy having fun instead — fun reading other books, that is, so BB will … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, History, Seafaring
Tagged Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Nathaniel Philbrick, Robert Kraske
24 Comments
The voyage so far
As promised, here’s the first of what may be several updates on my tour of books set on water in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Initially I had planned to make these reviews brief, but, well, you know … … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Classic, Fan fiction, History, Seafaring, Travel
Tagged Holling Clancy Holling, Sena Jeter Naslund
19 Comments
Sea cruise, baby!
No need to get excited. I plan to travel virtually, in honor of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday. Over the next few months I’ll be aboard stories set on ships (with perhaps a rowboat or two) that will take me up … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Classic, Fiction, History, Seafaring
Tagged Herman Melville
8 Comments
Super-Tramp!
No, not the 1970s prog-rock group (although their song, “Take the Long Way Home” may be apt for what will become obvious reasons). For this month’s Wales Readathon, Book Jotter has selected William H Davies’ Autobiography of a Super-Tramp as … Continue reading
Posted in Am reading, Dewithon, History, Travel book, Wales Readathon
Tagged William H Davies
4 Comments
Brueghelian Obsession
The fourth and last in a series of novels involving the search for lost art. But a new slant here: this novel is for adults. Headlong, Michael Frayn (1999), Picador, 342 pp. Remember that Rod Serling story, where the Nazi … Continue reading
Posted in Art, History, Mystery
Tagged Michael Frayn, Pieter Breughel the Elder, W H Auden
2 Comments
Unexpected endings
Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses, Bess Lovejoy (2013) Lovejoy gives us a list like no other: what happened to the mortal remains (bones, ashes, or otherwise) of historical figures, from Alexander the Great to Hunter S. … Continue reading