Dee Reads

The annual Texas Book Festival is in the books 📚, pardon the pun.  This past weekend has come and gone, along with the authors and programming from Austin.  I sincerely wish I could report a rousing success, as in my two previous years attending, but I'm going to give you it to you straight.  I trust that it was what you expect.   My brother and I arrived in Austin Friday afternoon with our schedules in hand and our hearts set on some great author panels, discussions with fellow readers, and an eye-opening new books.  Without a doubt we found some of those things, but after eight sessions over the two days, I must admit I was a bit disappointed.  In half of the presentations, the authors never discussed the content of their books, didn't read an excerpt, nor did they promote the purchase of their work.  Instead they expressed their political views, society's failings, and their ideas for remedying those ills.  In fact, in a session with one ...

Hold onto your hats, it's windy 🌬 out there!  You might get blown off your reading course, take a left turn, and land on a stack of graphic novels or comic books.  For this week's blog, I have asked my eight year old granddaughter to join us for a discussion of all things in the arena of graphic novels.  A solid foundation might be the place to start.  Do you know what a graphic novel is?  I didn't until Maggie started talking about it and delving into the stories she enjoyed.   Encyclopedia Britannica defines a graphic novel in this way: "A graphic novel, in American and British usage, a type of text combining words and images—essentially a comic, although the term most commonly refers to a complete story presented as a book rather than a periodical."   That seems pretty simple, straight-forward even, but there’s more to it, as I was so primly informed. In fact, Maggie would dispute the “essentially a comic” phrase. She loves graphic novels and...

Readers, I'm so sorry to disappoint, for the most part myself, but I lost this week's entire blog.  I was giving it the once over before I published and a huge clap of thunder exploded in the sky over my home.  My laptop blipped and a blog on graphic novels was vaporized.  To provide some content, I believe valuable content, here is some additional promotional material for the Texas Book Festival .  I trust you're not tired of hearing about it!   Free to the public!   Yes, FREE, because of these great sponsors , including Texas's own: I'm looking forward to two days of authors talks, books browsing and great informal conversations.  Here's the schedule:  https://texasbookfestival.org/schedule/. My brother and I will be there.  I hope you can join us. "Book friends are the best friends."

Book Festivals/Fairs - What's Not To Love? Prior to this discovery, I must have lived a sheltered literary life!  Other than the Scholastic Book Fair at my elementary school, I had no idea there were book festivals, fairs, or otherwise labeled "reading treats" for much of my adult life.  My first festival was a memorable couple of days spent with a good reading friend, Nancy Taylor. She was my former boss's wife, so you might think it would be awkward to go on, what was basically a social trip with someone that I didn't know all that well, but I've found that books make easy friends.  When you are at a loss for conversation, the obvious starter is, "tell me about what you've been reading".   That simple phrase set us off on several lengthy and interesting hours enjoying our varying reading tastes.       Nancy and I attended the National Book Festival , Washington D. C. together in September of 2012.  My daughter and I had originally plan...

  A Gentleman in Moscow , by AmorTowles If you're counting, it's been about three weeks since I shared a book review with you all. I’ll be honest, this month's book, A Gentleman in Moscow , didn't begin its time on my preferred reads shelf. If had been reading a hardback version, there would probably be a dent in my living room wall where I threw it aside 🤣. Fortunately, I was reading on my Kindle, so no need to patch the sheetrock. I just reopened my Kindle and determinedly gave it one more shot.  Determined I was, because my brother spoke of it often and with such high praise I knew I must be missing something very valuable.  Finishing the book a day before I wrote the original review, and now almost three years later, I’m still not sure I’ve found the gems he did, but it is indeed a book unlike any other I’ve read! Count Rostov, a member of the Russian aristocracy, labeled “unrepentant” by a Bolshevik tribunal, is placed under house arrest in the Metropol Hote...

When I have the good fortune to stumble upon a book that strikes a chord, touches my heart🩷, or through simple good fortune becomes a special favorite, I immediately begin the hunt for more books with the same knack.  If you've been on this quest yourself, you know it can be tough to find reads that have similar voices, settings, plots, etc.  Does this wine pair with that cheese?  Do these shoes go with that dress?  It's a bit more complicated, but celebrities, reviewers, and books sites tend to use a simple phrase.  Something along the lines of, "If you liked Book A, you will love Book B." That absolute doesn't always hold true for me, but I'm going to pair up some "read-a-likes" for your consideration. That isn't to say they will have the same feel for you as they do for me, but I believe I've paired some with commonalities.  I hope you enjoy! Legal thrillers are a favorite of mine and I've read a lot of them by many different authors....

  My life has been interwoven with many wonderful libraries!  I hope your's has too.  To be without such a valuable resource is sad.  When I consider the ways in which libraries have enriched my life, I think of  the librar y of my small hometown, Spencerville, Ohio.  Small town = small library.  Although it was part of a public library system, I don't think it was much larger than a studio apartment, but did it ever open up a bigger world to me. It looks a lot different now, some forty years later, and I haven't visited this new building, but I trust it serves the same home-away-from-home need for current readers that it did for me.  Saturday visits, spending time there researching and writing a term paper on Marilyn Monroe, and reading over and over a true crime book on infamous murders.  I know, today that last one would probably prompt an appointment with a therapist, but I found it utterly fascinating.  Even my backside has a librar...

Let's take some time to talk about a variety of shorter reads; novellas, samplers, or short stories.  As many of these shorts that are out there, there are reasons for reading them.  Some readers I know take on a short as a way of sampling a new author or genre.  Not a bad thought!  There are those of us who select a short story when we need a break, maybe from a big chunk of a book or perhaps from a subject that has been difficult to handle emotionally or absorb intellectually.  Also, a good idea!  Whatever your reason, and I don't believe there's a bad one, let's wade into a little of these three possibilities. Novellas are probably the first thing that jumps to mind when you hear "short read", but what is a novella?  And will a brief piece of writing be able to convey a plot?  A novella is generally described as a piece of narrative fiction, shorter than your "average bear" novel🐻, but longer than most short stories.  How about an idea or...

This being my fourth blog post, I thought a little background on how I plan to choose topics might be of interest. My initial thinking was to write on topics that were "book adjacent" - to share with you some of my perspective, but stay away from more traditional book reviews. Up to this point, that's what I've tried to accomplish.  However,  I've had a slight change of heart.  Afterall, there are so many great books out there, we really need to share.  I think I'll do a book review every few posts.   Introducing the work of Marcie R. Rendon  -  Happily,  I stumbled upon Marcie at the Texas Book Festival (more on the festival in an upcoming post) in November 2022.  Without that happenstance, I might have missed an author that is gifted at writing a piece of fiction, that both entertains and educates. I admire and envy this ability!  What a gift!  Before I delve into my thoughts on her latest, Where They Last Saw Her, let me int...