Seeking Inspiration at the Plains Indians Exhibit (Nelson Atkins Museum of Art)
As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to see the Plains Indians special exhibit at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. After all, I’m writing novels about travel across the plains in the 1840s—my visit to the museum would be research. So my husband and I set out for an […]
You Do Have My Nose!
In every family, there are traits and physical features that no one wants to own. For example, I have my father’s ears. So does my sister. So does my daughter, who calls them “the Claudson ears.” Our ears all stick out at the top. I suppose we should be glad that most of us are […]
Haunting Book: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, by Anthony Marra
I had another novel in mind for my last haunting book review this month, but then I read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, by Anthony Marra, and it immediately became the most haunting book I’ve read this year. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is the story of the impact of the Chechnyan wars on the […]
California Grows Quickly Despite Slow Communications
Throughout 1848, fortune-seekers streamed into California, even though the U.S. government had not yet acknowledged the discovery of gold. By October 1848, there were 8,000 men mining for gold in California, doubled from the 4,000 in July of that year. William T. Sherman made his second trip to the gold fields in the fall of […]
Haunting Book: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
I’ve posted about other haunting books set during wartime (see here and here). The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is as haunting as any of those featured in my earlier reviews. A writer friend of mine gushed one day, “You’ve got to read The Book Thief. It’s so wonderful. And I am the Messenger. Zusak’s […]
Halloween Costumes: Making Good and Making Do
My husband and I have been invited to a Halloween party requiring costumes, and we are panicked. What will we wear? I’ve seldom put a lot of effort into Halloween. As I’ve written before, I am the pumpkin carver in the family, and we usually have a jack o’lantern for the front porch. I buy […]
Haunting Books: The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
I’ve mentioned before that I wasn’t fond of the Harry Potter books. But I read all seven of them, if only so I could talk to my nieces and improve my crossword puzzle performance. Despite my indifference toward the Harry Potter books, when all the hoopla arose around J.K. Rowling hiding her identity to publish […]
Seeking the Familiar in the New: The Columbia and the Rhine
I think it is human nature that we try to make sense of our world, to organize what we encounter in life so it makes sense with what we already know. I had this experience on our recent cruise along the Rhine River. Each place I saw, I thought, “This is like . . . […]
Haunting Book: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, haunts me because I hated it so much. I know it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014. I also know I hated it. Earlier this year, I wrote a review of the book on Goodreads that read “While this book is well written, the only character I cared […]
On Baking Cakes: Generations of Life Lessons
My mother’s death brought to mind many memories for all her family members. My son sent my father a letter describing one of his memories–a time when my mother instructed him in how to bake a cake. He was a Cub Scout at the time, and the pack was holding a fundraiser. The fundraiser was […]