31 Scary Short Stories for Halloween Month
I love a good scary short story! And even though I don't need an excuse to read them year-round, October (or, Halloween Month) is always a great opportunity to sit…
More Happiness Hints from Around the World
In a previous post, we looked at various approaches to happiness from around the world, including hygge, niksen, and kalsarikänni. But, we're not done yet! Today, we'll be exploring even…
Happiness Hints from Around the World
What is the secret of happiness? Everyone claims to have their own reasoning behind it, whether the secret is helping others, or exercising, or learning, or religion. But, today, we're…
Lost at Sea: Classic Tales of Shipwrecks and Survival
When I was a kid, the thought of being stranded on a desert island was kind of exciting. There would be jungles and caves to explore, maybe even buried treasure!…
STEAM Week: Whale, Whale, Whale!
Celebrate STEAM Week with us by taking a look at some of the coolest animals in the ocean: whales. Your library has a ton of interesting books on whales for…
You’ve Never Read Anything Like This!
Sometimes, you read a book that makes you sit back and go "whoa!". The story is excellent, of course, but it's the writing style that really captures your attention. You…
Even More Lesser Known Works by Classic Authors
If you liked The Scarlet Pimpernel, then try The Old Man in the Corner by Emmuska Orczy I've mentioned The Scarlet Pimpernel in a few of my previous posts (you can…
More Lesser Known Works by Classic Authors
There are some writers who are almost universally acknowledged as "classic". Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton Jane Austen, Mary Shelley...When you hear these names, you automatically associate them with the…
Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver: Readings on Treasure Island
Few tales of adventure quite compare to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic swashbuckling story, Treasure Island. I was introduced to Long John Silver, Jim Hawkins, and Billy Bones as a child,…
Classics Meets Comics with ComicsPlus
It should come as little surprise to all of you that I love the classics. But, I also know the struggles and roadblocks that readers often find concerning these texts.…
Sharing Secrets with PostSecret
Psst! I have a secret to tell you...I love reading the secrets of strangers. If that sounds weird to you, then I bet you've never heard of PostSecret before. PostSecret…
Unlikeable Characters (That We Secretly Love)
There are two types of unlikeable characters in books. The first is the kind that you genuinely don't like-- the kind that leave you gnashing your teeth, tearing out your…
A Summer at Sea: My Three-Month Reading List
Now that summer is upon us, it's time to start thinking about summer reading. This is the time of year when I get the most reading done. I'm not necessarily…
Lesser Known Works by Classic Authors
I'm always on the hunt for a new classic. And of course what I mean by that is a classic that I've not heard of before (or at least one…
A Whale of a Book: Reading Moby-Dick
When I was in college, I met up with a friend and her cousin for coffee, and while we enjoyed our lattes, he waxed lyrical about how Moby-Dick was the…
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!
Summer is almost here! While the official start date of summer is June 20th, for me, the first day of summer had always been when I got out of school.…
All for One and One for All: Three Musketeers Retellings
I read The Three Musketeers with my grandpa back in January, and we had a great time. Even though it was a really long book (we both prefer books in…
A Single Man in Possession of a Good Fortune: Pride and Prejudice Retellings
I was an English major in college, and if there was one book that was more popular than all the others, one title that most of the English majors absolutely…
Relaxing Reading with Laid-Back Camp
We're all stressed right now. I'm stressed, you're stressed, the people behind us in traffic are stressed... So when it comes to reading, I sometimes just really want something uplifting…
My Magical Manga Boyfriend
If you read enough manga (like I do), eventually you'll come across a series that involves a human woman or girl in a relationship with some sort of mythical being.…
Container Gardening: Beautiful Gardens in Small Spaces
Spring is here, summer is fast approaching, and it's time to get out into the garden! Whether you have a house with a huge, sprawling yard or a tiny apartment…
How to Write Horror
There's nothing like a good horror story to really chill your blood. But, these tales don't just crawl out of the primordial ooze fully formed. No, they have to be…
Reading Beyond the Raven: A Poe Sampler
It should come as no surprise to readers here that I'm a bit of a horror fan. Whether it's scary short stories, Christmas ghost stories, Frankenstein picture books, or fictional…
One (or Five) for the Books
I love books. I've loved books ever since I was a little kid, even before I could read them. The fact that you can pick up this block of wood-pulp…