October 2024
-
As book collectors know all too well, we only regret our economies, never our extravagances. ~ Michael Dirda In 1986, I had just moved to St. Paul, was sleeping on a friend’s floor, and looking for work. One day after a job interview in downtown Minneapolis, I wandered into a used bookstore that has been Read more
-
“Isn’t it strange what happens with old books? They choose you. They reach out to their buyer—Hello, here I am, take me with you. It’s as if they were alive.” (cf. Pérez-Reverte, Arturo. The Nautical Chart ) Whether it is at a used-bookstore, a thrift store, a Little Library, or the out-of-the-way corner of a bar Read more
-
Late fall has arrived in the North Country. Experience tells us the first true snowstorm of year is not far off. Frost and cold temperatures have already arrived. In matters of metaphor, Art turns toward Nature for illumination. The laws and rhythms of creation are a teacher worth paying attention to – growth toward death, Read more
-
“Coffee is a beverage that puts one to sleep when not drank.” – Alphonse Allais I like independent coffee shops. The Twin Cities has a lot of them. Today I am featuring a photo from one of my favorites, Cream and Amber in Hopkins, Minnesota. Not only is Cream and Amber a coffee shop, it Read more
-
When I read a poem, I always do it with a pencil or pen in hand. I have a pencil in my hand to underline and mark the lines I like best, the ones that stop me in my tracks, the ones I find myself repeating over and over to myself.. Reading poetry is not Read more
-
“A thousand years makes economics silly and a work of art endures for ever, but it is very difficult to do and now it is not fashionable.”― Ernest Hemingway, Green Hills of Africa There remain hundreds of books on my reading “to do” list, yet sometimes I find myself re-reading an old favorite. With poetry this is Read more
-
“A wild and crazy weekend involves sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar, reading a book.” —Robert M. Gates Here’s to wild weekends! Read more
-
For my last Horror Book Review for October, I am reviewing a book that I am actually a little bit sheepish to admit that I enjoyed, The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon. I am sheepish because it is the kind of book that almost anyone would, or probably should, find offensive. It is gory, Read more
-
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” ~Haruki Murakami With October rapidly drawing to a close, I will be transitioning to Book Reviews of other genres and to Poetry Reviews. I am the kind of person who needs to let things sit Read more
-
In 2017, right after it was published, I read the book Powers of Darkness. Powers of Darkness is a Icelandic adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1899. It was published anonymously in a newspaper and credited to Stoker and an unidentified author. While it shares the same main character, it differs significantly from the original, adding new characters Read more
ClimbingSky 