A New Chapter for OnTheRoad Book Club OnTheRoad Book Club embarked on its literary journey on January 5, 2011 with the poignant words, “We are on the road for most of our life…” Today marks an exciting new chapter for OnTheRoad Book Club as it bids farewell to its previous location and welcomes book enthusiasts to its new space in Rebecca’s Reading Room. This transition signifies a continuation of the vibrant discussions, shared insights, and vibrant stories that have enriched me over the years. On the Road Welcome to the New OnTheRoad Book Club Space in My Reading Room As I reflect back over ..read more

March 12, 1455, was a milestone day for Johannes Gutenberg and his world-altering invention of the printing press, a mechanical way of making books. Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg made after his death. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) A Page from the Gutenberg Bible (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons) March 12, 1455, marks a pivotal moment in history with Johannes Gutenberg’s world-changing invention of the printing press. This highly influential invention brought about the mass printing of books and signaled the start of the “Gutenberg Revolution”. Interestingly, this da ..read more

March 12, 1455, was a milestone day for Johannes Gutenberg and his world-altering invention of the printing press, a mechanical way of making books. Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg made after his death. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) A Page from the Gutenberg Bible (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons) March 12, 1455, marks a pivotal moment in history with Johannes Gutenberg’s world-changing invention of the printing press. This highly influential invention brought about the mass printing of books and signaled the start of the “Gutenberg Revolution”. Interestingly, this da ..read more

Between ingenuity and the analytic ability there exists a difference far greater, indeed, than that between the fancy and the imagination, but of a character very strictly analogous. It will be found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise than analytic. Edgar Allan Poe, The Murders in the Rue Morgue (C. Auguste Dupin, #1) Edgar Allan Poe On April 20, 1841, Edgar Allan Poe published “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” a short story that is widely regarded as the first detective story. The story follows the investigation of a brutal double murder in ..read more

Happy St Patrick’s Day! This day in 432 is the traditional date when Saint Patrick, aged about 16 is captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland. He escaped after six years and returned to Britain, where he studied Christianity and was ordained a priest. He later returned to Ireland to spread the Gospel and convert the Irish to Christianity. St. Patrick is remembered for his missionary work and teaching, as well as for his influence on Irish culture. He is credited with introducing the Latin alphabet, which allowed Irish literature and culture to f ..read more

Any story that begins with “it was a dark and stormy night” promises to be a page-turner! Today on November 29, 1918, Madeleine L’Engle was born. I first met her the day I picked up her book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” I was eight years old. This book changed the way I viewed our planet and the universe. We were not alone. There was a possibility that life came in many forms. In my first reading of “A Wrinkle in TIme”, I was unaware of the controversary that surrounded the themes of religion and science. Some thought it was too religious and others thought it promoted new ageism. Both sides missed ..read more

A Gathering of Friends September 27, 1855, Alfred Tennyson read from his new book Maud and Other Poems at a social gathering in the home of Robert and Elizabeth Browning in London. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of the guests. As Alfred Tennyson read from his collection, Dante Rossetti was inspired to make a sketch of the poet during the recitation. Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti “As we turned over the contents of this volume, a small, hasty, but exceedingly realistic pen and ink sketch, that had nearly got passed over, arrested my attention. It was of Tennyson, 51 seated and reading ..read more

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” Emily Dickinson On August 10, 1847, Emily Dickinson graduated from Amherst Academy, where she studied English and classical literature, Latin, botany, geology, history, “mental philosophy,” and arithmetic. The study of “mental philosophy” according to the research I completed today is the branch of philosophy that studies the idea of existence, being, becoming and reality. The nature of the mind and the relationship and connection with the body flows from these thoughts. Digitally restored b ..read more

May 3, 1915, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, soldier, surgeon, artist, and poet, writes “In Flanders Fields.” This poem is read on Remembrance Day November 11th. Join me in reciting “In Flanders Fields.” In Flanders Fields By John McCraeIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from ..read more

Round about the cauldron go; In the poison’d entrails throw. Toad, that under cold stone Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter’d venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. William Shakespeare, MacBeth According to the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Lit Hub Daily, today in 1611, the first known performance of Macbeth was performed at the Globe Theater. We recognized that William Shakespeare was an extraordinary writer and poet, but he was also politically astute. King James I was known to be a theatre enthusiast ..read more