Hello and welcome to my book blog!

I am an eclectic reader of the classics in literature, religion, and natural history. Old books are like a time machine and I love the feeling of being dropped into the past as words fill me with sights and sounds, of thoughts and sensibility, of interiors, food, clothing, customs and so on of whatever time period in which I have fallen. I have a particular passion for the 19th/early 20th centuries.

Some of my favorite authors are Edith Wharton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anthony Trollope, Henry James, Jane Austen and the often anonymous writers in the world of myth and legend. I count Paramahansa Yogananda, Madeleine L’Engle, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Abbie Graham, Thomas Merton and the worlds of Narnia, Nature and the night sky as my spiritual inspirations.

I review books, but I also write posts that are more journal-ish as I muse and question an issue or thought provoked by something I read. So my posts are not always a linear narrative of the story: you can expect some verbal winding roads, a roundabout or two, many multi-lane highways and even a switchback now and then. Because rambling around on a spontaneous Sunday drive is always a literal metaphor for my writing.

One last thing. I wrote a book blog for many years called Relevant Obscurity. At the end of 2023 I deleted it convinced the medical issues plaguing my body would only worsen my ability to sit at a desk and write. Two years on I have reached a point where writing in short spurts is doable and I am anxious to start blogging again. Let’s get started!

I live in a small touristy beach town in Southern California where I read, trail walk and day trip to historic sites often with my canine companion, Jess. Besides reading I am a winter gal and love cold days and dark skies. I count stargazing as a major passion, along with Sunday drives, homemade pizza and the Golden Age of Hollywood.