Links I love

 

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope that everyone enjoyed the day and watching the Super Bowl.  

1. Ten Self Help books ranked.
2. The best books on being kind to yourself and others.
3. Murder in the Blue Mountains
4. Ten offbeat terms of endearment from history.
5. Margaret Atwood has a memoir!

Links I love

 

This past weekend we went skiing here. We had great weather but it was cold! 

1. Brain rot vs. books
2. Romantic gifts for the romantic in your life.
3. Some Disney hotel room essentials.
4. Magic, the Gathering Live Action movie is in the works. Also a Little House on the Prairie reboot.

Review: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

 

This novel is the re-telling of the Illiad through the eyes of 19 year old Briseis, the Queen of Lyrnessus who’s taken as Achilles’s “bed-girl”, his “prize of honour” for mass slaughter.  It seems that Barker's specialty is gender in wars, so I guess it should not be surprise that she's good at it - her descriptions of blood and war and the camps and its inhabitants brings them to life. However, her focus really seemed to be the women's camps, that were behind the army - commonly known as "rape camps." The women are looked at as property - the spoils of war mainly. Breisis is both - initially she's taken as property but then Achilles and Agamemnon fight over her. 

Achilles plays a roll in this novel, but he never becomes THE focus of this novel. While the author did an impeccable job describing what it was like to be a woman during this novel, I had a really hard time getting into the book. It moved fairly slowly for me. I did appreciate that this novel draws attention to the often silent victims of the wars that men (still) wage. I don't know that I will add this one to my library but it is an important book - get from your library. 

Links I love

 

I hope that everyone had a good week! We headed up to ski this week. 

1. This book looks super interesting.
2. How caffeinated coffee helps heart health.
3. Lin Manuel Miranda crashes SNL as Hamilton.
4. The most popular Super Bowl snack by state. 
5. You can now buy ebooks on Bookshop.org.
6. The most anticipated book club reads of 2025.

Have a great week.

Links I love

 

This week, we've had frigid temperatures and some snow, but were also able to ski and watch some good football. I hope that you all had a good week.

1. Eight habits that can help you wind down after work.
2. Some of hemingway's favorite restaurants around the world.
3. Britain's coffee traditions.  I found this interesting as I definitely associate Britain with tea!
4. Pulitzer prize winning history books
5. The books that shaped me, Holly edition.
6. Thin mint frosty? Yes please.
7. Star Wars legos battle.
8. Annual best feminist books.
9. National book critics awards list.
10. Many of these books look great

I'm working on this book and I hope to have a review shortly!

Links i love

 

I hope that everyone has had a good week.  I've been very busy with work and with training for this half marathon.  We also went skiing and have a trip planned for the end ofthe month! 

In honor of MLK and Civil Rights day, I am including a picture I took of the 16th Street Baptist church and the park where there were many exhibits honoring him. 

1. Why Caesar salads taste better in restaurants.
2. 9 instant coffee ranked. Starbucks should be ranked higher than it is in my opinion. Do you have a favorite?
3. These look good.
4. What are the Santa Ana winds?
5. The Dublin Longlist for 2025
6. David Lynch and Bob Uecker pass away.
7. Bookish birthday cards to celebrate the reader in your life. 
8. This book looks fascinating.
9. 6 ways to keep warm while running in the cold.  I have a cutoff - I won't run outside when it's lower then 30 degrees out!
10. What does it mean when a polar vortex grips the country?
11. The books an evacuee took when fleeing the wildfires in LA.  If you are looking to assist, please visit the Red Cross.
12. What does a translator do? I found this fascinating since I work closely with them.
13. Colson Whitehead on the Nickel Boys.
14. Women are more likely to have a sleep disorder.

If you are interested in assisting  those impacted by the wildfires in LA, please visit the  Red Cross.

REVIEW Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian

 

Not going to lie, I'm a big fan of Chris Bohjalian. He's a fellow New Englander and I have enjoyed many of the books that he's written. I've also very much loved the Salem Witch trials, so this book was a no brainer for me. 

In this novel, Bohjalian sets Mary Deerfield in Boston in the 1600's. Mary is the second wife of Thomas Deerfield, who has an adult daughter and a first wife that we learn has died under mysterious circumstances. Thomas, Mary's wife, is as cruel as he is powerful, which means that he is very, very cruel. When Thomas drives a fork into Mary's hand, breaking some of the bones, Mary realizes that she must divorce him for if she does not, she will likely die at his hands. Mary herself becomes an object of suspicion and rumor as she seeks to divorce herself from the abusive man that she married. Mary must fight to not only escape her marriage but escape accusations of witchcraft. 

The book moved surprisingly fast. For me that was important because in my day job, I do a ton of reading, everyday all day, so quick reading is fantastic.  Bohjalian doesn't sacrifice quality however.  He has done his research. I felt that I was walking in Mary's shoes in Boston, on the neck and on Beacon Hill. It was fantastic. It moved quickly and I could consume the book in short spurts.  

Loved this.Highly recommend.