Modern Lit: The Stolen Child, by Keith Donahue

Regarding Henry
These days the changeling myth has lost much of its fearsomeness, although parents who learn of it probably have fleeting thoughts about how terrible it could be. With The Stolen Child, author Donahue takes this ancient scenario out of the fantasy realm and into the real one. To immerse one’s self into [...]

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Christmas Traditions: The World’s Biggest Tree Image

Each year, on the evening of December 7th, the Umbrian town of Gubbio, Italy, lights up the outline of a giant Christmas tree on the slopes of Monte Ingino, which towers over the beautiful city. According to no less an authority than the Guinness Book of Records, it’s the biggest in the world, climbing the [...]

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Christmas Traditions: Early Electric Tree Lights

We now take Christmas lights for granted, but they haven’t been around even for a century yet. I came across this site that tells the story of the earliest ones.
link
There is also a timeline of the development of lighted decorations :
link
And many more fascinating light facts.

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Historical Fiction: The Four Seasons, by Laurel Corona

A tale of two sisters
18th century Venice, in the midst of its long decline. The nobility still hold sway, their lives simultaneously purposeful and decadent. Maddalena and Chiaretta, sisters abandoned as toddlers at the famed Pieta ospedale, are nurtured there and trained to become superb musicians. As a young woman, Chiaretta chooses marriage [...]

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True Crime: Lethal Guardian, by M. William Phelps

Lethal lawyers
“She didn’t pull the trigger but she did pull the strings.” So remarks one of the insiders about the woman who wanted her sister’s child so badly that she was willingly to do anything to get her. Lethal Guardian is the story of a murder for hire and the investigators who were [...]

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Modern Lit: The Third Angel, by Alice Hoffman

Hope and herons
We all make mistakes in our lives. Every one of us. Sometimes those mistakes destroy us, but, if we’re smart enough to learn from them, they can make us better, more honest persons. In terms of mis-steps, the characters in Alice Hoffman’s three inter-related novellas make some whoppers. Some of these [...]

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It’s a Mystery: The Winter Queen, by Boris Akunin

Cleopatra or Lady Bountiful?

Because The Winter Queen was written by a Russian writer and translated for the English speaking market, it should come as no surprise that it’s different from the mysteries that are usually available to us. It’s not exactly exotic, but like the novels of Dostoevsky, the story flows from a [...]

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History News: The Face of Copernicus

This is truly fascinating. Copernicus died at age 70 in 1543, and scientist now say they have found his grave  and have reconstructed the features of his skull. The way they acquired his DNA is especially interesting.
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer Monika Scislowska, Associated Press Writer [...]

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It’s a Mystery: A Killer’s Kiss, by William Lashner

She was the kind of woman who…

If you’re a fan of the classic noir mystery genre, books that begin with the entrance of the sexy dame with a secret, A Killer’s Kiss should please. Victor Carl is no PI, but he is a defense attorney, handsome, smart, and not as successful as he’d once planned. [...]

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Thanksgiving Traditions: Ginger Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Traditions can be started any time, and last year, using a recipe provided by Meg, my DIL, I changed my Thanksgiving sweet potato tradition from lightly candied with brown sugar, to ginger mashed. The pilgrims didn’t have ginger, but we do, and these potatoes were scrumptious, with the added the benefit of less sugar and [...]

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