I only read one book in June because I started a 700 page novel and I'm not finished yet.  But I did read The Measure.  Imagine this:  On your doorstep one March morning you find a small wooden box with your name on it and the words "The measure of your life lies within."  You soon learn that every adult in the world has found a similar box.  What's inside?  A string.  The strings are varied only in length.  The length of your string tells how long you will live  The novel follows eight characters and how they react to their strings.  I ..read more

 Yes, it's a picture book, but the main character's name is Thelma, so why not.  It's a story in rhyme, perfect to read with pre-k. kids to second graders.  And it's great because it has a lesson and it should lead to discussion afterward.  Enjoy (even if your name isn't Thelma ..read more

S  Some of these are recent reads; some I've enjoyed in the past. ] A Marriage Portrait by Maggie O' Farrell, inspired by the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro Two families; one night.  A constellation of lives changed forever. i'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid   A weird story that begins with a strange phone call. The Thursday Murder Club  by Richard Osman  A group of senior citizens solves murders Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf  A widow knocks on a widowed neighbor's door with an unusual request.  ..read more

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 This is the perfect mother/daughter movie.  Perfect for a middle schooler, older teen or even a daughter of a "certain age."  Long ago, we both read Judy Blume's classic novel about a seventh grade girl whose family moves to New Jersey.  There she is immediately befriended by a neighbor girl and invited to join a secret club.  At their weekly meetings the four girls discuss...what else?  Boys, bras, and their periods. Who will get hers first?  Who will be first to "become a woman?"  On her own, Margaret pours our her concerns about religion to God.&nb ..read more

I discovered the importance of legacy letters, once called ethical wills, from a sidebar in the AARP magazine.  These are documents you write in your own words, often to leave to your family to be read after you're gone.  Or they can be letters to someone on a special occasion--to a newborn, to a new graduate, to a couple on their wedding.  Maybe you've always thought that someday you are going to do this, but somehow you've never gotten around to it.  Don't wait!   I have been giving Legacy Letter workshops for the past several years, and they never fail to ins ..read more

 Monday, Leila Motley, author of Nightcrawling, the youngest Booker Prize finalist ever, captivated the sold-out Alley theater audience with a reading from Nightcrawling, her debut novel about a young, impoverished woman caught up in a sexual abuse scandal involving officers from the Oakland police department.  She gave a short reading but what was really impressive was her own background story. She has lived every writer's dream. Writing from "as soon as I learned to write," probably around seven years old, she sold Nightcrawling when she was 18. When she was enrolled in a li ..read more

 Where have I been these last few months?  Sick most of January (not COVID, an infection), working on a writing project in February and on taxes in March,  But now it's April and I am ready to catch up. First, Happy 60th birthday to my son Michael.  He checked and it's the only time in his whole life that his birthday has been on Easter.  But it's always on Passover.  We're having a family luncheon to celebrate next Saturday. Between bouts of illness and writing and taxes, I watched the Oscars--disappointing. Everything, or Anywhere or Whatever made no sense to me ..read more

Kwanza Christmas                                                                   Chanukah  Whichever holiday you celebrate, may you find peace and joy on these sacred days and may you enjoy a happy, healthy stress-free 2023 ..read more

 Signal Fires. An emotional family story about an unspoken secret that affects the lives of each famly member.  Highly recommended ..read more