Book cover of The Professor and the Madman

July 30, 2025 Beatrice Cosgrove 3 min read Bea's Books, Columns

The Murderer Who Wrote the Dictionary

What does a murderer and the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary have in common? Well, everything, according to Simon Winchester.

Jacket cover of “On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson” by William Souder

June 26, 2025 Beatrice Cosgrove 2 min read Bea's Books, Columns

The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson, Part 2

And so we continue our journey with Rachel Carson. Welcome back to my two part review of “On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson” by William Souder. The second part of the book opens as Carson navigates the publication and success of her new book “The Edge of the Sea” while examining the ups and downs of her personal life, including her romance with Dorothy Freeman, the death of her sister, Marjorie and multiple health complications.

May 28, 2025 Beatrice Cosgrove 3 min read Bea's Books, Columns

The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson (Part One)

The opening line of “Under the Sea Wind” underwhelmed me. I wasn’t sure I could make it any further, the next page or so was a jumble of 1940s nature writing I had never previously cared to read. I put it down, staring at the small cover plastered with a giant sticker reading “Interlibrary Loan.” I sat and wondered why I had decided to do this in the first place. The great outdoors was never something that called to me. I like civilization (a lot), but somehow, the seemingly fictional Rachel Carson reeled me in, and I found myself devoted to William Souder’s “On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson.”

February 25, 2025 Beatrice Cosgrove 2 min read Bea's Books, Columns

The Blessing and Curse of Writer’s Block

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.

December 26, 2024 Beatrice Cosgrove 2 min read Bea's Books, Columns

Setting My 2025 Reading Goals

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.

August 30, 2024 Beatrice Cosgrove 4 min read Bea's Books, Columns

A Murder Mystery Extravaganza

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?