Tag Archives: book recommendations

Shelf Life: Reading Retrospective, Finale.

Posted on February 11, 2017 by polloplayer

That sound? Sometimes it ticks and tocks, sometimes it whooshes. It was another year, flown by, and me no closer to my goal of reading EVERYTHING. I am as guilty as anyone of reading fluff, ephemera, and the National Enquirer … Continue reading →

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Shelf Life: Reading Retrospective, Part 5

Posted on February 4, 2017 by polloplayer

Nothing good can come from trying to read in a car. And I have the queasy memories to prove it. Among them, “I’m hot, Mom”, moaned my then seven-year-old son, who had surreptitiously hauled a stack of books into the … Continue reading →

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Shelf Life: 2016 Reading Retrospective, Part 3

Posted on January 21, 2017 by polloplayer

It was the fall of 1986 and we had driven from Paris to Dijon. I can’t imagine it now – no Google Maps, no TripAdvisor, no knowledge of the French language and no hotel or dining reservations. We were armed with … Continue reading →

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Shelf Life: 2016 Reading Retrospective, Part 2

Posted on January 14, 2017 by polloplayer

I remember March and April of 2016 for the harsh glare of the California sun. In theory, endless days of sunshine sounds like a good thing, but amid our waning hopes for rain it felt like a dusty curse. Some … Continue reading →

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Beautiful, Beautiful Book Soup, Part III: July through December

Posted on January 24, 2015 by polloplayer

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Mock Turtle sings of “beautiful, beautiful soup”. To me there is none more beautiful than the kind of a little of this and a pinch of that stirred in to make a year’s worth … Continue reading →

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Book Soup, Part II: Stirring the Pot, January through June

Posted on January 17, 2015 by polloplayer

Nothing is yummier than a big pot of Book Soup. My own recipe involves lots of cooks in the kitchen: I’m in three book clubs, so many of the books I read last year were chosen by others. Sometimes that … Continue reading →

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Book Soup, Part 1: My Top Ten Reads of 2014

Posted on January 10, 2015 by polloplayer

Life has recently been throwing lemons my way like a ball machine shoots out tennis balls. Thwack! Boom! Ouch! Every time I turn around, it seems, there’s  another big juicy lemon headed straight for me. Do I make lemonade? Nah. I … Continue reading →

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2013 Bookshelf: Part 3

Posted on January 25, 2014 by polloplayer

I never leave the house without a book. Even if I’m in the car, on the way out of the driveway and realize I am book-less, I will go back to retrieve one. Yes, the reading sickness is that strong … Continue reading →

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2013 Bookshelf: Part 2

Posted on January 18, 2014 by polloplayer

“There is no frigate like a book” said Emily Dickinson. Indeed, my 2013 reading carried me across oceans to Kenya, to Afghanistan and India, Australia and back to the United Kingdom, and even home to the American Northeast, South and … Continue reading →

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2012 Bookshelf, Part II

Posted on January 21, 2013 by polloplayer

Reading is one of the few pursuits that permit you to appear virtuous while you are really just avoiding chores, people or life in general. Pick up a book and you have an instant – and completely legal – escape … Continue reading →

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