Monthly Archives: July 2017

Introductions to SFF, again

Posted on July 30, 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 →

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On Reading Aloud

Posted on July 23, 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 →

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Cashelmara

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Barbara Howe

Category: Historical fiction Rating: R. Sexual assault, emotional abuse, and some violence. 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, … Continue reading →

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Mercy Thompson

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Barbara Howe

Category: Urban fantasy Rating: R. Violence, a fair amount of it, and a bit gory. No sex in the first two books, sexual assault in the third book. Buyer beware. In the urban fantasy Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs, our … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy | 2 Comments

Reader’s Journal

Posted on July 1, 2017 by Barbara Howe

Years ago, when my daughter, now in university, had just started elementary school, my sister gave me a blank book for Christmas. Physically, it is a lovely object: spiral-bound to lie flat for writing in, about a hundred sheets, with … Continue reading →

Posted in On Reading | 6 Comments