I had to look up the definition of fen. A fen is a type of wetland. It’s similar to marshes, bogs and swamps. Not surprisingly, landscape plays a key role in many of the enchanting tales in this collection of short stories from Daisy Johnson. The stories in Fen are anchored in the ordinary and humdrum. … More Fen by Daisy Johnson
This is the first in an occasional series about my 2022 reading project on loneliness. Reading Project on Loneliness I often have some sort of reading project going. I like projects and having a reading project gives me a way to challenge myself. This year one of my two reading projects is to read about … More Reading Project: Loneliness
I Haven’t Stopped Thinking About This Book I read this novel in early January 2022, finishing it over a long, chilly weekend, settled in to the chair closest to the fireplace with my two cats, Jack and Louie, curled up next to me, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Honestly, I haven’t stopped … More I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins
It’s March, a quarter of the way into 2022, and I’m doing my first status check on my 2022 reading goals. Setting Reading Goals At the start of each year I set reading goals. Typically, I set a number of books I want to read for the year, which I base off of the number … More 2022 Reading Goals: Spring Status Check
I loved this book! Loved it. I feel like such a nerd, reading a book – cover-to-cover – about keeping a journal, but I don’t care because this book really, really helped me. Do you journal? If so, have you tried this method? Endless Lists I like writing things down. It makes be feel like … More The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll
I picked up this memoir in the summer of 2020 after listening to an interview with Natasha Trethewey on Fresh Air on NPR (you can find that interview here) and I read it over a long weekend away at the Oregon coast. Natasha Trethewey is a poet, her writing is beautiful and the elegant way … More Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
Anna Wiener writes well. I enjoyed this memoir of her time working in the tech industry in the bay area because it is so well written. On the downside, it felt too long in spots and I was annoyed by her use of lists (key annoyance was including reference to sous vide, a water bath … More Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Wiener
In an earlier post, “The Purpose of The Seventeenth Line is to Connect with Readers Around the World,” I talked about the reasons why I decided to relaunch The Seventeenth Line. At the time I was finding it hard to concentrate on reading and I wanted to start a reading related project. As I started to … More Creating Categories for this Blog
I’m having a tough time getting into the rhythm of writing and posting on a regular basis. I originally started this blog over a decade ago to keep track of what my bookclub, The Seventeenth Line, was reading. Since re-launching this blog in 2020 I’ve spent most of my time reading through my older posts, … More Looking Back and Looking Ahead
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them. Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was my first introduction to reading science fiction. I must confess, I read this book to help a highschool boyfriend write a paper for his English class. A bit of advice, if he doesn’t … More How I Came to Love Science Fiction – or – A Few Thoughts on Ray Bradbury
My Rating 4/5 In Full Flight is a well-research book about the life of Anne Spoerry, a French woman who spent most of her life providing medical care in small villages and remote areas in Africa. This book was difficult read, its dense and can be slow going, but I’m so glad I stuck with … More In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement by John Heminway
When I first started The Seventeenth Line for my bookclub back in 2008 blogging still felt pretty new and I had no idea how to organize things. Categories, tags, posts, pages – who cared what all that meant! I just wanted a space for my bookclub to keep track of what we read and what … More The Purpose of The Seventeenth Line is to Connect with Readers Around the World
While wandering the stacks in my local library I chanced upon the book My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci. It was set out on display and, as any cat lover would be, I was immediately drawn in by the title and intrigued with the book’s cover illustration. A cat in man’s clothes. Not surprisingly, My … More My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Though I spent the majority of my time at home 2020 wasn’t the best reading year for me. Not surprisingly, I found it harder to concentrate on reading and I spent more time than is usual for me watching TV (news, way too much news, plus lots of movies). Since I’ve been working from home … More Review of My Year in Reading for 2020
My Rating – 4/5 Stars Deep down I knew where this story was going right from the start and even though I knew my heart would break, I read on. I read on because Willy Vlautin gifts you with these rich, rough around the edges characters, the type of folks that way too many of … More Don’t Skip Out on Me by Willy Vlautin
The Seventeenth Line 