Book: A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan Genre: History Publisher: Viking (Penguin Random House) Publication date: 2023 Pages: 404 Source: Hardback from the library Summary: The Ku Klux Klan had a resurgence in the 1920s, inspired by the movie The Birth of a Nation and a general tenor of fear that could easily be turned to anger and hate. The greatest surge came in Indiana where 30% of US-born white males joined the KKK. The leader who orchestrated the movement in Indiana was D.C. Stephenson. To the men in Indi ..read more

Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party! Last week, I reviewed a collection of holiday-themed novellas, A Yuletide Kiss. Tina enjoyed With Our Blessing by Jo Spain, the first book of a new-to-her myster ..read more

When I was eight, my grandfather, Oscar E. Hoover, told me that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan. My brother (nearly age 7) and I were in my grandparents’ kitchen where Granddad was making us caramel popcorn. I don’t recall what prompted me, but I said, “Everyone knows that the Ku Klux Klan is bad.” Granddad said, sharply, “You shouldn’t talk about things when you don’t know what you’re talking about. I belonged to the KKK. I joined to protect my family.” After a pause, he said, “I quit when I realized that it wasn’t about that.” I wasn’t sure, then or now, whether his last statement c ..read more

Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week. How’s the weather? Gray and gloomy. Mostly, I can reframe that as cozy. That effect will be enhanced when I get my holiday decorations up. What are you reading? I finished Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier — review coming on Friday to coincide with an important anniversary in Mary Anning’s life. I’m almost done with A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Ega ..read more

Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party! Last week, I suggested a book to give the British mystery lover in your life: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson a ..read more

Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week. How’s the weather? Cool but sunny — which was perfect for the West County Community Action Network’s annual back-to-back Black Lives Matter vigils. We did one on Black Friday in front of the longest strip mall in America and then our usual Saturday vigil the following day. What are you reading? I’m 61% of the way through A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan. I’m learning a lot about Indiana at the time that my grandparents became adu ..read more

Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party! Last week, I reviewed Dracula Daily, an email presentation of the original novel by Bram Stoker. Tina liked The Truth About Melody Browne by a favorite author, L ..read more

Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week. How’s the weather? We’re well past the fall color stage, except for a few leaves, here and there. For November, though, we’ve had a lot of sun and weather that’s nice enough for fall walks. Lots of my neighbors were out walking this afternoon, too. What are you reading? I’m continuing my book club’s choice, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan. I’m already ..read more

Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party! Last week, I reviewed The Boleyns, a docudrama series about Anne Boleyn and her family. Tina reviewed The Herd by Emily Edwards, a novel that tackles the COVID v ..read more

Happy Sunday! Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at ReaderBuzz. Check out her post and the links to see what other bloggers have been up to in the last week. How’s the weather? I’m enjoying cool fall weather with sunny days. We still have a few trees holding on to fall color — and lots of leaves to crunch through on my walks. The coming week looks just about perfect with highs in the mid-60s and lows around 40 degrees, for comfy sleeping. What are you reading? This was not a good reading week for me, for some reason. Maybe too much time spent watching shows. What are you watching? I watched b ..read more