When you're recovering from the flu and rediscover Aunt Dimity's Death jammed behind other books - that's a lovely moment. It's perfect recovery reading.  Lori Shepherd thought Aunt Dimity was just a character in a bedtime story... ...Until the law firm of Willis & Willis summons her to a reading of the woman's will. Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about to inherit a siazable estate--if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery--and a ghost story--as Aunt Dimity's indomitab ..read more

I do not believe that all books will or should migrate onto screens: as Douglas Adams once pointed out to me, more than 20 years before the Kindle showed up, a physical book is like a shark. Sharks are old: there were sharks in the ocean before the dinosaurs. And the reason there are still sharks around is that sharks are better at being sharks than anything else is. Physical books are tough, hard to destroy, bath-resistant, solar-operated, feel good in your hand: they are good at being books, and there will always be a place for them. Neil Gaiman in a talk about libraries It is true that som ..read more

Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I by François Gérard (1815) via My Daily Art Display Why Napoleon? Because suddenly he is in the background of my reading life in a weird way. I have read half of War and Peace. The "war" part of that book is about Russia's part in the Napoleonic wars. At several points Napoleon is a character, actively influencing the young men whose stories we're following. Now I'm taking a break from War and Peace. I've picked up The Count of Monte Cristo which I have been interested in rereading for a long time (sparked by my desire to rewatch the 2002 movie with Jim ..read more

Truly amazing. This photo did it for me, especially after reading the conditions in which they discovered the coffin and that she hadn't been embalmed. Read the story at CNA. A pilgrim venerates the incorrupt body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, on May 20, 2023. Lancaster was recently exhumed in Gower, Missouri. | Credit: Kelsey Wicks/CNA ..read more

Shiva is a tribal vagabond who lives with his mother in a tiny forest village. He avoids participation in the traditional worship ceremonies due to an unforgettable childhood incident. He is happy loafing around with his friends and doing petty jobs for his landlord. When forest officer Murali enters the scene, it gives a fresh dimension to the man-vs-nature fight. Can Shiva save the forest from Murali?  I loved this, especially the beginning which establishes the deep connection that the people have to their forest demi-god and land. And the end is simply astounding. It makes this film ..read more

You and I are faced with one of those situations (which fortunately are not very numerous in one lifetime) which cannot possibly be adequately judged beforehand. It strikes me as a colossal gamble, or rather, a very great adventure. And personally I am considerably exhilarated by the risks! ... The greatness of the adventure perhaps consists partly in the fact that as a Catholic I can marry only once! But, as with being born, perhaps once is quite sufficient! In the Church, you know, there is a great heightening of every moment of experience, since every moment is played against a supernatural ..read more

Seemingly coordinated attacks began late Monday night on nine northern Nigerian communities. So far, at least 100 people have been killed, and the violence is ongoing. The killings come amid years of violence in northern and central Nigeria, perpetrated by Muslim Fulani herding communities and Islamist terrorist groups, and the victims are mostly Christian farming villages. ... even while the violence went on for hours, police were not immediately on the scene – a common criticism of law enforcement forces in the region, who are often accused of looking the other way during attacks on Christ ..read more

Nibbler taken by Valerie, ucumari photography Some rights reserved ..read more

Lion man, from Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany, 40,000 BC-30,000 BC ..read more

 Scott and I have a prehistoric discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find, Episode 307: West of Eden by Harry Harrison ..read more