Author Archives: Barbara Howe

October Sky

Posted on 17 September 2017 by Barbara Howe

  On 5 October 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik, and a 14-year-old boy in a coal mining town in West Virginia began a long journey towards being a NASA engineer. Homer H Hickam Jr’s memoir October Sky, originally published under … Continue reading →

Posted in History (non-fiction) | Comments Off on October Sky

Endurance

Posted on 9 September 2017 by Barbara Howe

Endurance was the name of a ship. The Endurance is the title of a book, American author Caroline Alexander’s spellbinding account of the British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic aboard that ship. On 5 December 1914, the … Continue reading →

Posted in History (non-fiction) | Comments Off on Endurance

Edward Eager

Posted on 1 September 2017 by Barbara Howe

The captivating children’s books by American author Edward Eager are among the classics in children’s literature. I remember being spellbound by them when I was first introduced as a young reader, and my then seven-year-old daughter enjoyed them when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Fiction, Fantasy | Comments Off on Edward Eager

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Posted on 25 August 2017 by Barbara Howe

How often do you get to learn a new word just by reading the title of a book? I love historical mysteries, but I was intrigued enough to read An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears, just to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Mysteries | Comments Off on An Instance of the Fingerpost

Windy Wellington

Posted on 17 August 2017 by Barbara Howe

On a fine day, Wellington is a wonderful place to be outdoors. With the sun shining and the air calm, it’s gorgeous. Occasionally, the wind dies completely, and the harbour is as smooth as glass, not a ripple in sight. … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writer's Life | Comments Off on Windy Wellington

Julie and Romeo

Posted on 13 August 2017 by Barbara Howe

Category: Chick lit for older women. Contains mild sex, violence, and profanity Can you imagine Romeo and Juliet retold with the two lovers being 60-year-old grandparents? I wouldn’t have either, but I’m glad Jeanne Ray did, because her novel Julie … Continue reading →

Posted in Chick Lit | Comments Off on Julie and Romeo

The Witches of Karres

Posted on 6 August 2017 by Barbara Howe

The Witches of Karres, a whimsical space opera by James H Schmitz, is an old favourite. I think I must have first read this in high school, but it still appeals. A young man, Captain Pausert, is on his way … Continue reading →

Posted in Space Opera | Comments Off on The Witches of Karres

Introductions to SFF, again

Posted on 29 July 2017 by Barbara Howe

Going back to a subject introduced in an earlier post, Introductions to SFF, here are some of the speculative fiction works my daughter (and the rest of the family) enjoyed. The age provided is only a guess at a lower-bound … Continue reading →

Posted in On Reading | Comments Off on Introductions to SFF, again

On Reading Aloud

Posted on 22 July 2017 by Barbara Howe

I began reading to my daughter before she could talk. I’d sit her on my lap with the simplest of picture books and page through, describing what we were seeing, just to get her used to the routine. We worked … Continue reading →

Posted in On Reading | Comments Off on On Reading Aloud

Cashelmara

Posted on 16 July 2017 by Barbara Howe

If you love huge multi-generational family sagas, meaty soap operas encompassing love, lust, cruelty, murder, and revenge, Cashelmara by Susan Howatch may be for you. This 700-page novel, covering thirty years and three generations of an aristocratic English family, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Comments Off on Cashelmara