The partially blank page and the barely read book send chills down my spine. They can be terrifying, and, in a sense, I am writing this out of fear. The past month has seen me run away from both books and writing, two of my lifelong comforts. Why? I think some of you may already know the answer.
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As 2024 draws to a close, I am reflecting on unrealistic expectations and my attempts to address them. For as long as I can remember I have set my sights on goals that weren’t always achievable and almost never led to growth. It has been difficult to learn that starting small is the way to go, but slowly I have begun to discover that I am disappointed less and often find opportunities to achieve those bigger goals that were simply too much. I would like to share some of the things I have learned in this past year in the context of setting reading goals in 2025.
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Have you ever thought about the English language? The language you speak, read and write? If you haven’t, “Righting the Mother Tongue: From Old English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling” will move you along said thinking journey at an astonishing pace!
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A month or so ago I decided it was time for me to become the detective I had always aspired to be. Not just any detective, that is, but a book detective, I wanted to figure out the killer before the main character did. As I embarked on this “Murder Mystery Extravaganza” of mine, I realized that particular method of reading and appreciating a murder mystery is not much fun (it happened once, and I’m not sure I would like it to happen again). So when I received my article deadline, I began thinking about what I had recently read that would receive the honor of a review for all to read, and realized that I had three options. One, write a glowing review about one of my favorite murder mysteries yet, two, write a scathing review about a particular book I highly disliked, or, three, go a bit wild and write them both! As evidenced by the following article, I favored the latter. So let’s get started, shall we?
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A few weeks ago I found myself in a reading slump, and although Goodreads still has me many books behind on my reading schedule (don’t ask, it stresses me out as well), I found myself devouring a certain book I would like to recommend. As I was perusing the historical fiction section at my library, a librarian approached me and noted my interest in the genre. The librarian pulled out a hardcover titled “The War That Saved My Life” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley and, while acknowledging that it would be below my reading level, suggested I give it a try.
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This book encapsulates what it meant to be a woman during the Plague and explores themes of death, self-discovery and what it means to be truly happy. This one took me a while to read, especially because of the flowery language and sometimes slow-developing storyline, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was sad to finish it.
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Sci-fi? Check.
Fantasy? Check.
Romance? Check.
Action and adventure? Check.
“Once and Future” by A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy somehow combines all of those in a well-written, hard to put down story with characters so easy to love, hate and feel something in between the two.
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Bea’s Books Reading a classic is hard. Really hard. Sometimes I just want to throw it down and read something
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Bea’s Books I’m a reviewer, which means I look to the past for my creative inspiration. That’s how I am
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