I’ve frequently mentioned Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (2009) by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn here on my blog, but I haven’t ever given it a thorough review. This is because the first time I read it, I listened to it in my car, and I didn’t take notes,… Continue Reading →
Jimmy Carter’s new book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power (2014) is like the cliff’s notes version of Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This isn’t meant as a criticism, but instead admiration. I’m in awe that a man in his 90s with much power and influence in… Continue Reading →
I still remember the day in June 2002 when our local news reported the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart. We live in a suburb north of Salt Lake City, where Elizabeth lived, and the state community immediately rallied around her family and searched frantically for her. She had been kidnapped at knife-point from her Salt Lake… Continue Reading →
I read The Painted Bird (1965) by Jerzy Kosinski. At first, I was enthralled. I could not put this book down. The story of a six-year-old boy sent to the Polish countryside by his parents during World War II to save him was intriguing. He was reviled and hated by villagers, but he somehow always… Continue Reading →
Read previous chapters here. Chapter 13 As Leda balances the checkbook, she finds many debits after the holiday season and monthly medical expenses. She knows the holiday expenses are past, but expects to see many more bills paid to doctors and nurses. As these numbers swirl in her head, she remembers that Walt Junior has… Continue Reading →
A new semester starts on Monday, and although I’m looking forward to getting back to campus, settling into a schedule, and seeing my friends and colleagues again, I’m also dreading the fact that my reading for pleasure time will be gone. I really haven’t read much during my break. The pile on my nightstand has… Continue Reading →
My mother threatened to make me walk thirty miles to a piano competition unless I played the piece she liked. For clarity’s sake, my mother did not play the piano at all. She could not read music nor did she play any other instrument. She dabbled in singing as a college student and that was… Continue Reading →
Today is my birthday, and if I could choose to do whatever I wanted, I would choose to be alone with a book all day. Perhaps this is because I have a toddler and I’m tired. Any sort of respite from her antics is much appreciated, despite the fact that I love and adore her,… Continue Reading →
What do you do when somebody loans you a book that you don’t want to read? Has this ever happened to you? It has happened to me a few times, and each time is awkward. It usually goes like this: the person hands me a book and gushes over it. They mention that there are… Continue Reading →
