How reading inspires writing

Ken Tangvik is our Choices guest today. I "met" him virtually through the publisher we have in common, Aberdeen Bay, and read and loved his book, Don't Mess with Tanya: Stores Emerging from the Boston Barrios. Here is my short review: The Boston stories in Don’t Mess with Tanya, by Ken Tangvik, are beautifully and expertly portrayed. I liked every one – especially the story about Tanya, the young black woman, who gets back at a store keeper for treating her with distrust as she looks around his store. I also liked Matt’s story as he waits in a hair salon for his haircut. The women talking in the waiting area give him quite a lesson in how they live their lives. These stories show the cultural and race diversity of the Boston community by portraying immigration difficulties and the violence the people have to contend with. However, it is not all dark. Love is portrayed as well. So I'm very pleased to introduce you to Ken Tangvik and his wise words about reading and writing. The … [Read more...]

What I read in 2019

2019 This is my journey in books for 2019! TOTALS I read 7,023 pages across 27 books SHORTEST BOOK: 64 pages The Love Poems of Rumi by Rumi LONGEST BOOK:  624 pages My Life So Far by Jane Fonda AVERAGE LENGTH: 260 pages MOST POPULAR: 602,483 people also read Educated by Tara Westover LEAST POPULAR: 0 people also read When We Almost Drowned by Jessica Barksdale MY AVERAGE RATING FOR 2019: 4.7 HIGHEST RATED ON GOODREADS: Mindful Dementia Care: Lost and Found in the Alzheimer's Forest by Ruth Dennis it was amazing 5.00 average MY 2019 BOOKS MY LAST REVIEW OF THE YEAR Saving Papa’s Tales by Richard Ebner is an extremely strong example of good memoir writing. His story of a father son relationship that includes conversations about their past history and events of the present times – including the … [Read more...]

Seven days, seven books

I have accepted a challenge from Linda M. Rhinehart Neas to post seven books I love, one book per day, no exceptions, just covers on my Facebook timeline. Each day I'll ask a friend to take up the challenge. Let's promote literacy and share some good reads. Here are the covers for the seven books I'll post.               Of course these are not all the books I've come to love. That would be a huge list. Please share your favorite books here, and let me know if you've read and liked any of the books I've posted above. … [Read more...]