Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten books with numbers in the title this week. That's straightforward enough so let's get started! One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (Tempting as it was, I did decide not to list [...]
Welcome to my weekly update for September 12, 2021! My husband and I shared a wonderful week with my sister. She flew home last night. We did realize that a lot of tours and excursions end on Labor Day in Alaska, so I don't think she was able to visit as many places as she would have liked. But we did take a cruise around Kenai Fjords National Park, take her to the Alaska SeaLife Center, hike quite a bit, and revisit some of my favorite places like The Musk Ox Farm and the Reindeer Farm. Slideshow: All images copyright © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2021 A tufted puffin at the Alaska SeaLife CenterThe town of Seward as seen from across Resurrection Bay (See that mountain in the middle? That's Mount Marathon. Racers run up and down that beast in "the toughest 5K on the planet" every 4th of July. I wouldn't even consider hiking something that vertical, much less running it. Alaskans are a different breed of tough, that's for sure.)Eklutna Lake is actually a gorgeous milky blue color but on this still morning, the fall colors reflected so vibrantly, it was impossible to see the color of the water. It's beautiful either way.Fall color at Crow Pass Posted: Nothing posted last week. Read: I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Reticence (The Custard Protocol #4) by Gail Carriger, read by Moira Quirk Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangeo, & Me by Ellen Forney The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller with John DeSimone Currently Reading: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of…
Welcome to my weekly update for September 5, 2021! My sister arrives for a weeklong visit this evening (Friday)! I'm so excited to see her! We don't have many specific plans but we are going to leave tomorrow to spend the weekend in Seward. She asked to do a sightseeing cruise and to visit the Sea Life Center. Other than that, we'll just play it by ear. She likes hiking, aquariums, zoos, gardens, and museums, which is all the same stuff I enjoy doing, so we'll fit in some or all of the above. Last weekend my husband and I noticed "termination dust" on the mountains--the first snowfall of the season. There may have been earlier snow up there that we didn't notice though. It melted as the day passed but it definitely feels like fall here. We haven't had any snow down near sea level in Anchorage yet and that's just fine by me. We went for a drive Sunday on Hatcher Pass and then hiked to Gold Cord Lake. What a beautiful area! Several people have mentioned Hatcher Pass to us but we read that it was a gravel road so we've been hesitant; we're driving a tiny, low car that I affectionately call "Matchbox Car." We didn't want to drive over any nasty potholes and damage anything. But the road was paved for about 19 miles! All that worrying over nothing. By the time we finished our hike, we decided we should head back to town for dinner, so we never even drove onto the gravel. Oh, and the deadline to apply to be a judge for the Cybils Awards has been extended to September 10. If you review books for children and/or young adults, you should consider applying! Slideshow All images copyright © Jennifer G. at…
Welcome to my weekly update for August 29, 2021! I wrote last week about the flooding that affected so many back home in western North Carolina on August 17. Six people died and lots of families lost their homes. Please continue to keep the region in your thoughts and prayers. If you're willing and able, you can make a donation to assist the flood victims through United Way of Haywood County (the county that had the most severe flooding). My thoughts and prayers are with those in Tennessee who had even worse flooding just days later. On to happier news now. My husband's cousin and his wife visited for a long weekend last week. We had a great time with them! We all splurged and took a "flightseeing" tour to Lake Clark National Park to watch brown bears fishing for salmon. Words can't express how beautiful this park is! Our bear guide took us out on a pontoon boat, where we watched the bears fishing on the shore of Crescent Lake. Lake Clark is the third-least visited national park in the country because there aren't any roads that lead to it. We had reservations for a fancy dinner at Alyeska Resort on Saturday night, at a restaurant named Seven Glaciers because of the view. When we drove home, a huge yellow moon was rising over the mountains and reflecting in the water. It was gorgeous! My husband and I tried to remember the last time we saw the moon. We think it was probably in late May/early June while we were still in Sarasota! But it's been getting dark at night in Anchorage for several weeks now. The sun is already setting around 9:30. And now my sister and her best friend from college arrive for a weeklong visit on…
4 Stars. I'm not a huge fan of Westerns but this book caught my eye when a friend of a friend mentioned it on Facebook. I really enjoyed it. There's no denying the Western background but the themes of family, love, and loss are universal. I would actually recommend this for a book club. Jess's mother died in childbirth and Jess [...]
4 Stars. The Hildegard in these pages was fascinating. She was a strategist but she also had a heart to care for others. She was "only" a woman but she was a woman with connections and she wasn't afraid to use them. As she grew older, she called out hypocrisy and inhumane practices. God was always female in her visions. She was [...]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share "Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time" this week. At first glance the topic may sound weird but there is a difference between re-reading an old favorite and reading a new favorite for the very first time. There's so much excitement as you realize how much you love [...]
Welcome to my weekly update for August 22, 2021! If you've been around here much, you probably know that my husband and I travel with his job. You might not know that our permanent home is in the mountains of western North Carolina (near Asheville). Anyway, on Tuesday, Tropical Storm Fred came roaring up over 500 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and caused catastrophic flooding throughout western North Carolina. It's bad, folks. This kind of event happens sometimes. I think (and I'm not a meteorologist, so this is just a guess) fast-moving storms come in, either from the Gulf or the Atlantic, blow over the relatively flat lands, hit the mountains, slow down, and dump all their moisture. But, like other catastrophic weather events in the 21st century, it does seem to be happening with more regularity. I would guess the last time we saw something like this was with Hurricane Ivan in 2004, a few weeks before our outdoor wedding. As I write this on Wednesday evening, 35 people are missing. Luckily our house, and the houses of our family and friends, are not in flood plains. But plenty of other people lost everything. I've seen videos of mobile homes literally floating away down the street. One acquaintance on Facebook had to evacuate her house when she realized that her private bridge was about to wash away. You can see photos and videos on the Charlotte Observer website. Please keep these people in your thoughts and prayers. This is still pretty early in hurricane season. Hopefully this will be our only flood this season. Posted: Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward--5 Stars Ten of My Favorite Places to Read Read: Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt The Giver (Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry, read by…
5 Stars. As I read this, I periodically thought of that adage stating that to be a writer, “You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed” (I’m going to attribute this to Walter “Red” Smith, citing Quote Investigator). Ms. Ward’s pain and grief comes through in these pages almost viscerally. Growing up poor [...]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our ten favorite places to read this week. I don't have pictures of all of these places but here goes! The beach. Well, now that I've traveled enough to really understand that not all beaches are warm, let me specify a warm, sunny beach. I love to hear the waves rushing in and out, have a cold drink by my side, and lose myself in a light-hearted book.My hammock. Since we're traveling and renting out our house, I haven't gotten to enjoy this spot in a while, but my big hammock in my shady backyard is a heavenly place to read. And nap, if I'm honest. (That's my hammock a few years ago.)My personal library. I had to put my library furniture and books in storage while we're traveling but my comfy couch, beautiful view of the mountains, favorite artwork, and overflowing bookshelves made a perfect place to read.My camp chair. Since we travel in our RV, I love setting up my camp chair in the shade of the awning and digging in to a good book. (The picture above shows our first travel trailer. We have a bigger, drivable RV now.)My kitchen table. When I'm home alone, I always read while eating a meal. (This is a picture of the table in the furnished apartment we're renting right now.)My car. I used to spend every lunch hour reading in the peace and quiet of my car before I quit my job for this travel life. Also, if my husband runs inside a store for a quick errand, I take the opportunity to wait in the car and read a few pages. (I've included a picture of the car we're borrowing while we're in Alaska. I call it The Matchbox…