The Wide Range of Books I Read in September 2023

Although September gave me 30 days in which to read, I had more books on my list to read than time allowed. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the three novels and the one nonfiction book I managed to squeeze into my schedule.

You Can Run, by Karen Cleveland

Karen Cleveland is a former CIA analyst. She writes spy thrillers now. You Can Run, like the other books of hers I have read, Need to Know (see my April 2, 2018 blog post: More March 2018 Reading) and The New Neighbor (see my October 10, 2022 blog post: Spy Thriller, WWI Novel, Nonfiction, and Historical Mystery Read Last Month are real page turners. When you read one of her books in bed at night, don’t plan on getting any sleep. You’ll have to read “just one more chapter.”

In You Can Run, the protagonist, Jill, works for the CIA. She is being blackmailed. To save the life of her young son, she does something illegal. She spends the rest of the novel looking over her shoulder. Saying she spends the rest of the novel “looking over her shoulder” hardly does the plot justice. One bad thing after another happens, as she and her family and others get pulled deeper into the spiral and they can’t get out. No matter what you do, do not under any circumstances read the “Epilogue” until you have finished reading the entire book, including the last chapter. The “Epilogue” will ruin the story for you. I didn’t see it coming!

The Wind Knows My Name, by Isabel Allende

I usually don’t enjoy novels that flip back and forth between protagonists, and when I got to page 67 in the large print edition of The Wind Knows My Name, I was so invested in Samuel Adler that I was quite jolted when a turned the page and found myself reading about a new protagonist.

But… Isabel Allende is a masterful writer, and I was soon just as invested in the little girl who illegally crossed the Rio Grande and into the United States on her father’s tired back. The story of that little girl took me directly to the Mexican-US border of today and the desperation the “illegal aliens” experience in their home countries. How desperate must they be to risk their lives to try to get themselves – or even only their children – into the United States?

And how desperate did Samuel Adler’s mother feel when she put her young son on a train to get him away from the clutches of the Nazis and to relative safety in England?

In The Wind Knows My Name, Isabel Allende weaves compelling stories about these individuals and then makes a connection between the characters. I recommend everything that Isabel Allende writes.

And on top of that, she is a very nice person. She donated an autographed copy of one of her novels to the Friends of the Harrisburg Library for our autographed book sale a decade or so ago.

Falling, by T.J. Newman

Falling is T.J. Newman’s debut novel, and it’s a good one! My sister read it and recommended it to me and our book club.

I recently read that one of the keys to writing good fiction is to give the protagonist an impossible choice. Falling fits that perfectly. In a nutshell, a commercial airline pilot is forced to decide whether to crash the plane and save his wife and children, or not crash the plane and let his wife and children be murdered.

This novel takes you minute-by-minute through the scenario. There are red herrings and there is a surprise twist. The author is a former flight attendant, so she knows the inside of a commercial jet and protocols well.

What will the pilot decide to do?

According to her “About the Author” page on Goodreads.com, Universal Pictures is making a movie based on the novel.

The Author Estate Handbook: How to Organize Your Affairs and Leave a Legacy, by M.L. Ronn

I mention this book in case other writers out there are interested in its topic. By reading the book, I discovered that I have done some things right but I’ve overlooked other things I need to take care of before I die.

The author explains how an author’s estate is different from everyone else’s estate. As an author, you own “intellectual property.” You own copyrights that will live on for 70 years after your death. If those things are not properly addressed in your will, you are leaving a mess for your heirs.

I’m not just talking about published books here. If you blog, your blog posts are “intellectual property,” so you need to tell your heirs what you want done with your blog when you die.

Each chapter lists specific tasks you need to take care of, if you’re a writer. I highly recommend this book to writers.

Since my last blog post

Our first shipment of author copies of The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes arrived and the book is now available at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC as well as on Amazon! Plans are being made to have a book event on November 4 at the bookstore! Stay tuned.

I got the new Covid vaccine and am happy to report I had no ill effects. Those people who insist on belittling Covid 19 have obviously not known someone who has died from the virus or been severely sickened by it. I’m growing weary of Covid jokes by the fortunate few who have escaped it or have not known someone who has or is suffering through it. I thought we had gotten beyond the jokes, but I learned differently last week.

Until my next blog post

Have you ordered my American Revolution e-ghost story? “Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story” is available from Amazon, along with my other books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH7JCP11/. Don’t let October slip past you without reading my ghost story!

**“Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story,” by Janet Morrison**

Have you ordered The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes? I think it would be a wonderful present for a friend’s birthday or other special occasion, but it’s impossible for me to be objective. If you’re in the Charlotte area, it’s available at Second Look Books, 4519 School House Commons in Harrisburg. If not, you can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJLKFDPR/.

*The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes,* by Janet Morrison and Marie Morrison

Don’t forget to subscribe to my e-newsletter at https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and receive a free downloadable copy of my southern historical short story, “Slip Sliding Away.”

Make time for your friends and family.

Remember the people of Ukraine and Israel. Terrorism cannot be tolerated.

Janet

Four Books I Read in August 2023

Here it is, the first Monday in September. Where did the summer go? We still have some warm – probably even hot – days ahead, but school is back in session, today is Labor Day in the United States, and for all practical purposes, today marks the unofficial end of summer. I always hate to see it go, but that’s just me.

I read an assortment of books in August, and today I’ll tell you about them. I hope at least one of them will pique your interest. If you’ve read any of them, I’d like to know how you liked them.

The Paris Agent, by Kelly Rimmer

I get excited when Kelly Rimmer writes a new book. She’s one of my go-to authors when it comes to historical fiction. The first novel of hers that I read was The Things We Cannot Say. I blogged about that novel September 9, 2019 (#BringBackOurGirls.) The next month I read Before I Let You Go (see my October 7, 2019 blog post: Thrillers and a Dark Novel I Read Last Month.)

I listened to Rimmer’s novel, Truths I Never Told You in March 2021, but I failed to blog about it after I finished it. I blogged about The Warsaw Orphan in my July 12, 2021 post, 4 Other Books I Read in June 2021. I read The German Wife by her last August and blogged about it on September 5, 2022 (Four of Eight Books Read in August 2022).

I didn’t realize I’d read six of Kelly Rimmer’s novels until I did a search of my blog posts. I guess you could say I like her writing.

I listened to The Paris Agent on CD from the public library. In her latest historical novel, Kelly Rimmer weaves a story involving two timelines. I usually don’t care for books that yank me back and forth between two different eras, but The Paris Agent was masterfully written and the format worked for me.

Noah Ainsworth was a British spy in France during World War II. In 1970, he is still struggling to make sense of his memories and the gaps in his memories caused by a head injury in the line of duty. His daughter, Charlotte, is determined to unravel the bits and pieces of his memory, official records, and memories of her father’s contemporaries.

The book takes the reader on a journey of questions, hope, love, misunderstandings, dead ends, and answers. As with Rimmer’s other novels, I recommend this one.

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, by William Styron

You might be familiar with the author William Styron. He wrote Sophie’s Choice, which was made into a movie. What you might not know is that he had a life-altering battle with severe depression.

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness is the story of his depression. I have relatives who have and still are battling depression. It is a serious illness and deserves a more serious-sounding name. I have heard depression described by the people in the throes of their battles and I have read about it, but nothing has brought the wide scope of symptoms the disease can cast on a person’s mind and body like this book did.

Being a professional writer, Mr. Styron was able to express some of the things he endured with style and grace and carefully-chosen words. It is not a pleasant subject, but it is an illness that affects more people than we probably realize.

I encourage you to read this book, especially if someone you love is suffering with depression. Each case is unique, so the symptoms Mr. Styron had are not necessarily the symptoms your loved one has. But maybe reading this memoir will enlighten you and help you understand just a little of what your friend, co-worker, or relative faces every day as they try to put on a happy face and act like nothing is wrong.

Don’t ever belittle anyone who is depressed. Don’t ever say, “He is just depressed.” Don’t tell a depressed person to “just snap out of it.” Don’t ever minimize their suffering. Mr. Styron gives hope in the end. He got the professional help and medication he needed, and now he can look back on that horrible time and write about it.

Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy From the Next Trump, by Miles Taylor

I was reading this book on August 14, 2023 – the day the indictments came down from Fulton County, Georgia against Donald Trump and 18 others. The author, Miles Taylor, worked in the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump Administration. He hoped from the beginning that Donald Trump would “rise to the occasion” or that some adults would influence him. Neither happened.

Taylor thought by staying in the administration but publishing warnings under the pseudonym “Anonymous” he could bring enough exposure to the corruption in the Trump White House to prompt Congress and others in high positions of authority in the government to reign in the extremist radical ideas Trump espoused. It didn’t work out that way, and in October of 2020, Taylor went public and Trump was openly out for revenge.

Among other things, as “Anonymous,” Taylor had made it known that behind Trump’s back various Cabinet members were saying how incompetent he was.

Taylor explains in the prologue that “blowback” is the term used in national security circles “to describe unintended consequences, the failure to anticipate the repercussions when we make a choice.” Hence, the title of his book.

He says our generation of Americans will be known by future generations by the words, “They did not listen.”

He wrote the book to warn the American public about what is at stake if Trump is elected in 2024 or a more competent Trump-wannabe is ever elected. He addresses the various “guardrails” in place to safeguard our democracy and how they were weakened by the actions of Trump and his supporters.

I know what I write here won’t change any minds. Mr. Taylor probably knows his book won’t change any minds. The people who still support Trump apparently aren’t going to change their minds no matter what he says, does, or is convicted of. And they will go to the polls in 2024 and vote for him again even as they must hold their noses to shield themselves from the stench of his behavior – behavior they would not tolerate from their own family members or an employee.

If you want an inside look at what went on in the White House during the Trump Administration, you might be interested in this book. It is incumbent upon every American to pay attention to what has happened, what is happening, and what will continue to happen in the political arena. It is our responsibility. After all, ours is, to quote the Gettysburg Address, “…government of the people, by the people, and for the people….” We are the government.

Educate yourself before you vote. The depth of Trump’s incompetence illustrated by example after example in this book is mind blowing. From asking if hurricanes really spin to wanting to tell people in the path of a Category 4 hurricane to stay home and ride it out, to suggesting that fire trucks could be parked near the border with Mexico so cows could climb the ladders on the trucks to get over the border wall and graze along the Rio Grande…. You can’t make this stuff up.

Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats, by Jane K. Cleland

*Mastering Suspense Structure & Plot*, by Jane K, Cleland

In this book about the craft of writing, Ms. Cleland starts out by remind writers to know their readers and give them what they want. She suggests that a writer look at six or more bestsellers in their genre and then analyze them based on such things as sexual content, violence, setting, and pace. She writes about the overarching thematic question posed at the beginning of a novel that must be answered by the end of the book. In terms of structure, she writes about linear and nonlinear structure, and she recommends that a writer select the best structure for the story they’re telling.

In the section of her book about creating suspense, she gives numerous examples of how that can be done. She says “The most common way to create suspense is to let your reader share a character’s anxiety.” It’s easier said than done, but she offers a lot of pointers.

In talking about settings, Ms. Cleland encourages writers to only include the things your point-of-view character sees, hears, touches, smells and only the kinds of places that character would go.

In the fifth chapter, Ms. Cleland writes about how to layer in two subplots. This was a helpful chapter for me, as I have a couple of subplots in one of the novels I’ve drafted. I hope I’ve woven them in appropriately.

She writes about isolating your characters. Each person reacts differently to be physically or socially isolated. She touches on red herrings and how to use them.

You get the picture. If you’re still learning the art and craft of writing fiction, I recommend Jane K. Cleland’s book.

Since my last blog post

I edited one of my short stories, created the cover for it on Bookbrush.com, finished formatting it on Atticus.io, and submitted it to Amazon for publication as an e-book only. It should be available today for $2.99. The name is “Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story.” I’m not a believer in ghosts, but please read the Author’s Note at the end of the story to find out what prompted me to write a ghost story.

My sister and I finished proofreading the recipes in and wrote the introduction for The Aunts in the Kitchen: Southern Family Recipes. Getting the photography done for the front and back covers is next on our list. We hope to have the paperback and e-book available on Amazon by November.

I finished writing my September newsletter. I hope you’ve subscribed. It comes out every other month. When you visit my website, https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com, you can click on the subscribe button and receive a free downloadable copy of my short story, “Slip Sliding Away.”

Until my next blog post

I hope you’re reading a book that is so engrossing you didn’t want to put it down to read my blog.

Don’t forget to order “Ghost of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse: An American Revolutionary War Ghost Story” on Amazon!

Make time for friends and family. They won’t always be here.

Remember the people of Ukraine, Maui, and Florida.

Janet

Books I Read in July 2023

Although it’s already the seventh day of the month, it’s the first Monday of August. Therefore, it’s time for me to tell you about some of the books I read in July. I didn’t read as many books as I do some months, but I read one by Jennifer Coburn that I’m eager to tell you about.

Cradles of the Reich, by Jennifer Coburn

If you follow my blog, you know my favorite genre is historical fiction. I happened upon the title of this book quite by chance and was prompted to investigate it. I checked it out of the public library and read it on my Kindle.

Cradles of the Reich, by Jennifer Coburn is a wonderful piece of historical fiction research and writing. It brought to my attention a secret baby breeding scheme conducted in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. It started in 1935 and was called Lebensborn, which translates in English as Spring of Life.

In an effort to bring about the master white race Hitler dreamed of, young German girls and women were put in maternity homes where they had sex with German Army officers and other officials of the Third Reich.

There were at least 10 such Lebensborn homes were also where pregnant girls and young women who were not married were taken to be cared for and indoctrinated about the Reich, to be wined and dined, to be trained to be perfect German women, and to deliver their babies to be put up for adoption.

Cradles of the Reich follows the lives of three diverse girls and women whose paths cross in one of those maternity homes. The chapters move from one character to another, which at times pulled me out of the story.

A statement the author makes in her “Author’s Note” in the back of the book sent a chill down my spine as I immediately thought of the loss of autonomy women in the United States have experienced in 2023: “It is my hope that this novel about three German women provides fodder for discussions about the social environments that allow women’s bodies to be politicized and commoditized.”

Along those same lines, I found the following words in her “Dear Reader” section in the back of the book where she addressed questions early readers of the novel had asked her to be a chilling reminder of how it is incumbent upon us to stay vigilant: “Writing about man’s inhumanity to man was sobering…. But once I learned about this horrific program, I felt compelled to write about it because the most effective way to prevent the rise of fascism is to recognize its early warning signs. A key move in every dictator’s playbook is to control women’s reproductivity either by mandatory abortion or forced childbirth.”

I would add that it doesn’t have to be a dictator; it can be the US Supreme Court or a state legislature. Such government actions are insidious and usually presented under the guise of being for your own protection or for the protection of someone else.

Silver Alert, by Lee Smith

I heard Lee Smith interviewed about her new novel on “Friends and Fiction” on Facebook on May 24, 2023. I love to hear Lee Smith’s buttery southern accent. It was hilarious to hear her tell what inspired the novel and the fun she had writing it.

The book is about a senior citizen in Florida taking a road trip with a much younger woman.

It hurts me to write my honest reaction to Silver Alert. There were so many “F-bombs” in the first two chapters that I decided to just return it to the library. The language distracted from the story and was excessive. I was very disappointed in Lee Smith’s latest novel. She is a better writer than this book demonstrates.

Granted, there are people out there who have such a limited vocabulary that they depend on expletives and F-bombs to communicate with others. Lee Smith is not one of those people.

52 Small Changes for the Mind, by Brett Blumenthal

I must be losing it! I read this book. It all sounded new to me. I took some notes. Last week I found I’ve read the book and taken notes not once but twice before. Perhaps three times will be the charm.

The book contains a lot of sound advice that ideally the reader will put into practice one small change every week for a year. I keep reading the entire book in a few days. That must be why it’s not sticking with me.

Books I read to help my writing:

The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage, or Fiction, by Erik Bork. This book is about how the idea is at the core of all writing.

Blog2Book, by Cathy Fyock. This book tells a blogger how to take their blog posts and turn them into a book. I’m not sure that will be the case for me. I write about too many different topics.

*Blog2Book: Repurposing Content to Discover the Book You’ve Already Written*, by Cathy Fyock

Since my last blog post

I enjoyed the discussions my blog post sparked last week. I’ll get off my soapbox now and let everyone calm down. Just don’t forget to keep you eyes and ears open for future developments as we try to keep our right to read.

I’ve also gotten back to work on a Christian devotional book I’m writing. The tentative title is I Need The Light: 26 Devotionals to Help You Through Winter. I hope to have it out by the fall of 2024.

Just when I thought I was getting the ramifications from Windstream’s data breach sorted out, last week I received a letter telling me that all my personal and medical data had potentially been compromised in a data breach at MOVEit and Maximus, a company that stores Medicare records. It took them two months to let the specific Medicare patients know. I guess I need to just accept it as part of life in the 21^st century.

Until my next blog post

Keep reading everything you want to read. I hope you hurried through my blog post today because you have a book you’re eager to return to. I’m listening to The Paris Agent, by Kelly Rimmer.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter by visiting https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com. Thank you!

Make time for friends and family. They won’t always be here.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

The Other Books I Read (or Meant to Read) in June 2023

June turned out to be a strange month of reading for me. If my blog post last week didn’t convince you of that, just wait until you read today’s post.

Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang

I heard R.F. Kuang interviewed about her new novel on “Friends and Fiction” on Facebook on May 24, 2023 – the same night Lee Smith was a guest. The New York Times called it, “a blistering satire about publishing.”

This novel might appeal more to writers than “normal” readers. It’s about two young women who barely know one another. One is an outrageously successful author, while the other on is living hand to mouth. When the successful writer chokes to death, the other writer steals her unfinished manuscript and gets it published under her name. No one will be the wiser… or will they?

One of the threads throughout the book is racism. Not the usual way we tend to think of racism: white versus black. The racism running through this book is white versus Asian.

There was an unexpected twist at the end of the book.

I Will Find You, by Harlan Coben

It had been a while since I’d read a Harlan Coben novel, so I decided to give his new one a try. I listened to it on CD. The nine discs last just a little more than 10 hours, so I was able to set aside time to listen to one disc per day.

In this novel, David Burroughs is wrongly imprisoned for killing his three-year-old son. But did his son really die? After five years in prison, David is determined to find his son.

Time Management for Writers, by Sandra Gerth

I needed this! I have all the time in the world, and yet I don’t seem to get anything accomplished. This little gem of a book gave me some practical suggestions and a systematic way to organize my time. I read it the first week in June, so I’ve had almost month to work out some new scheduling ideas. I say “almost a month” because I spent five days in Georgia to attend the wedding of one of my great-nieces.

The book addresses such time killers as email and social media and recommended that those things only be checked twice a day. It suggested “bundling” similar tasks such as working on the content for several blogs on the same day, selecting the photographs to illustrate those posts another time or day, and scheduling the blogs another time.

I’ve always given myself goals for when to complete certain tasks involved in writing a book or short story, but this book was a strong reminder that I need to be serious about those “deadlines” and be accountable to someone else for meeting those goals.

If you feel overwhelmed, this book might help you even if you aren’t a writer.

Grow Your Own Herbs: The 40 Best Culinary Varieties for Home Gardens, by Susan Belsinger and Arthur O. Tucker

This is a book I checked out from the public library to look for some specific information I need for the historical novel I’m writing. I decided to include it in today’s blog post because some of my readers might be interested in the book.

I you have any interest in growing herbs and using them in your kitchen, I recommend this book. It contains detailed information for growing, harvesting, and using 40 herbs. It includes recipes for herb butters, pastes, oils, and vinegar infusions.

The 180-page section about those 40 herbs is beautifully illustrated and organized in a way that makes it easy to find specific information you’re looking for. It made me wish I could grow all 40 of them! Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a green thumb when it comes to growing herbs.

Three books I won’t elaborate on because I read them for research purposes:

The Ultimate Guide to Old-Fashioned Country Skills, edited by Abigail R. Gehring

Edible Paradise: How to Grow Herbs, Flowers, Veggies and Fruit in Any Space, by Vera Greutink

How to Write a Series: A Guide to Series Types and Structure plus Troubleshooting Tips and Marketing Tactics, by Sara Rosett (Kindle) – This was a second reading of this book. I read it the first time in December 2021 and wrote about it in my January 3, 2022 blog post, Books Read in December 2021.

Books I didn’t finish reading in June and why:

Loyalty, by Jodi Picoult

I made the mistake of requesting this novel on CD from the public library. I eagerly popped the first disc into my CD player and settled back to enjoy another Jodi Picoult novel. Unfortunately, right off the bat, the narrator in his Italian accent (which should have been – and maybe was – a good match for a story set in Sicily) immediately read a list of the characters in the book along with their occupations or how they were related to the other characters.

After listening to a seemingly endless cast of characters whose names I’d never be able to understand or remember, I stopped the CD before getting to the first chapter.

I should have counted the characters. I’m guessing there must have been 20 or so.

Reading the novel might be easier than listening to it, but I don’t plan to try.

The Castle Keepers, by Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan

This book is a collection of three novellas written by Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan. When I first read about the book, I was under the conception that each author wrote one novella, and perhaps that’s true. My surprise, upon getting the book from the public library was to learn that it is not revealed which author wrote which novella in the collection.

The book follows one family. The first novella takes place in 1870. The second novella is set in 1917, and the last one is set in 1945. Most of the reviews I read mentioned that the first two novellas were better than the third one.

Due to the small print and my attention being pulled to historical research, I ended up returning this book to the public library unread. Maybe I can give it another try at a later date.

The Lost English Girl, by Julia Kelly and The Midwife of Auschwitz, by Anna Stuart

I returned these two historical novels to the public library after realizing I wasn’t going to have time to read them, even though the Julia Kelly book was large print. Maybe another time will work for me to read and enjoy them.

Since my last blog post

I was able to send out my Janet Morrison Books July 2023 Newsletter after overcoming some technical issues. I hope you received your issue via email. If you have subscribed, please visit http://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and click on the “subscribe” button. As a bonus, you’ll receive a downloadable copy of “Slip Sliding Away: A Southern Historical Short Story” I enjoyed writing.

Yardwork keeps calling my name, but with the heat index of around 100 to 106 degrees F. nearly every day, I have to pick and choose the time of day and length of time I work. Progress has been at a snail’s pace.

I’ve been working on several historical short stories.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read – one that will whisk you away from the stresses in your life, entertain you, educate you, and give you a new perspective. I’m reading Cradles of the Reich, an historical novel about part of Hitler’s plan for creating a master race, by Jennifer Coburn.

Spend time with friends and family. Remember the treasure they are, even if they don’t agree with you about politics.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

The Other Two Books I Read in May 2023

I love the months in which I get to read so many books that it takes me more than one blog post to tell about them! May was one of those months. Today’s post is about the last two books I read in May. I hope at least one of them will appeal to you.

One Thought Scares Me, by Richard Dreyfuss

In One Thought Scares Me, Richard Dreyfuss presents his thoughts about how democracy has been eroded in the United States by the removal of the study of government (or civics) in our public schools. He pinpoints this quiet removal as happening 50 years ago, so it was after I graduated from high school.

I remember hearing a few years ago that in North Carolina the high school American History curriculum would begin with the Presidency of George Washington. I’ve wondered since then how the Presidency of George Washington would make any sense to a student who didn’t know that it followed an American Revolution.

If an American knows nothing about the Declaration of Independence – why it was written, who wrote it, when it was written, who we were declaring our independence from — and most importantly, how the signers of it risked their very lives by signing it – then they will not know what political conditions the early American settlers lived under.

If an American knows nothing about the American Revolution – why it happened, when it happened, who we were rebelling against, etc., then that American will not value what it means to be an American citizen. If they don’t know what those who came before us suffered through just to gain the right to vote, they will not value their right to vote. They will feel no obligation to vote.

If an American knows nothing about the Bill of Rights – why those ten rights were spelled out in the United States Constitution and what they are – then they won’t know when a US President or the US Congress or their State Legislature is taking away one or more of those rights.

If an American knows nothing about US history, they won’t know that July 4^th is more than just a day off from work when you eat burgers and hotdogs and shoot off fireworks.

In order to be a good citizen of the United States of America, you must know the history of the country. As Mr. Dreyfuss points out in his book, it was the system of public education in the United States in the early 1800s that made it possible for every child to learn to read and write. It made it possible for every child to learn the Pledge of Allegiance, to learn about colonial times, to learn about the American Revolution, to learn about the ugliness of slavery, to learn about the Civil War, and to learn about all the wars American have fought around the world in the name of freedom.

My two-cents’ worth: If you take that out of the public schools – and if you disrespect public education and public school educators the way the North Carolina General Assembly continues to do – then you lose the level playing field on which our country was built and you lose what binds us together as a nation.

Seeking the Historical Cook: Exploring Eighteenth-Century Southern Foodways, by Kay K. Moss

Reading this book after taking the Open Hearth Cooking Class at Hart Square Village on May 20 was very beneficial. The hands-on class was invaluable to me in writing historical fiction, and the book made a lot more sense to me having had the class.

*Seeking the Historical Cook*, by Kay K. Moss

The book covers how to interpret historical “receipts” as recipes were called in the American Colonial Era, and the importance of incorporating an 18^th century mindset when using the old recipes. Ms. Moss and her books are a goldmine for anyone doing research on frontier life in the Carolinas.

This book is illustrated and very detailed in cooking instructions, including the importance of getting the hot coals just right and judging the heart, cooking/baking time, and always having hot water on-hand.

Cyberspace fiasco since my last blog post

To say it was a frustrating week would be an understatement. My email service was disrupted for about 24 hours Tuesday into Wednesday. My Facebook account was hacked on Thursday. My LinkedIn account was hacked on Saturday. My Evernote account was hacked on Sunday.

Would be writers like me are told we must have a vast social media presence if we want to ever get published. We must have followers in the thousands and tens of thousands.

After what I’ve been through over the last few days, I’ve decided to remove myself from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Evernote. Each of those accounts had unique passwords. It bothers me that hackers can take control of my stuff without any problem; however, when I try to get an account back I must provide all sorts of documentation to prove that I am me. Life is short. I don’t foresee ever having time again for Facebook, LinkedIn, or Evernote. I’ll miss some things about Facebook, but the other two won’t be missed at all. Just for good measure, I’ll no longer be on Twitter either. It was a hassle anyway. I won’t miss it a bit.

If not having 40,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. means I’ll never get my novels published, I guess that’s the price I’ll pay.

If you receive notification via Facebook when I’ve posted a blog, you’ll no longer receive those notifications because as of last Thursday, I have no control over my Facebook account. In fact, you won’t be notified about today’s post. Someone else, apparently in Beijing, has control of my account now. Facebook indicated it would take them 48 hours to verify that I am Janet Morrison. It’s been longer than that, so I guess they’re still just playing games with the hacker in Beijing. I regret that I didn’t get to tell my acquaintances on Facebook goodbye.

My blog is protected through a whole different server, etc., so I plan to continue to blog every week and treasure the lifeline it has become.

I envy Harper Lee and her manual typewriter. She got to just hide away in Alabama and write To Kill a Mockingbird with no worries about cyberspace. There’s something appealing about that era.

Speaking of birds… the three neighborhood cats must have miserable home lives because they want to stay in our yard all the time stalking our wild birds. In my spare time last week, I had to construct a barricade to try to prevent the cats from getting to the nest of baby Carolina Wrens in the hanging basket on my porch.

Thank you for the feedback I continue to get since posting To Write or Not To Write Historical Short Stories? What do you think? on May 29. All opinions are welcome!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have at least one good novel or non-fiction book to entertain and educate you.

With the smoke from the wildfires in Canada dissipating, we on the east coast of the US look forward to clear skies and some sunshine.

In case you’re planning a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, or the Blue Ridge Mountains this year, be sure to pick up a copy (paperback or for Kindle) of my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I packed as much natural history and human history into the postcard descriptions as Arcadia Publishing would allow. I think you’ll find it entertaining and painlessly educational.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine. Believe me… I know my life — even with all my cyberspace problems — is easy compared to their suffering. I truly know that.

Janet

Three Books I Read in May 2023

I’ve already blogged about two of the books I read in May (The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass on May 8 and Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Walker, Ph.D. on May 22.) That leaves me five more books to blog about today and next Monday.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a book reviewer. I just enjoy sharing my thoughts and takeaways from some of the books I read. In doing so, I hope I’ll introduce you to a book or two you’d like to read.

The Soulmate, by Sally Hepworth

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a fan of Sally Hepworth’s novels. She’s one author from whom I eagerly await her next release. Of course, then I’m sad because I know I’ll have to wait perhaps a year for her next book.

I listened to The Soulmate on CD. Pippa, Gabe, and their two young daughters live on a cliff on the coast of Australia. Their backyard turns out to be a popular place for people to commit suicide, but Gabe has a gift for “talking people down.” But one day a woman is teetering at the edge of cliff and things go very, very wrong.

Who is the woman? Did she jump or did Gabe push her?

Over the course of the book, you learn how some of the characters know each other, unbeknownst to Pippa. Bipolar Disorder is a contributing factor in why one character behaves the way he does.

It is a story of loyalty, trust, turning a blind eye, what can happen when we aren’t honest with those we love, and how you can’t be responsible for a loved one’s actions – no matter how much you love them.

Downsizing for Dummies, by Ralph R. Roberts

Don’t laugh. If you’re fortunate to live long enough and accumulate enough stuff, this could happen to you. I read this book with my niece and nephew in mind. Someday they’re probably going to be left to pick up my pieces, and I want to make that task as painless and quick as possible.

This book helps you evaluate your current situation and brainstorm about what kind of future you’d like to have if given that choice. Sometimes an illness or event can throw the best laid plans to the wind, but it’s best to have a plan in mind and make as many preparations as possible for the last phase of your life.

Readers of my blog will remember that I went through a decluttering phase last year. I had good intentions of continuing that process, but I gradually lost my enthusiasm. Hopefully, reading this book will be the impetus I need to get back on track getting rid of the things I no longer need – the things my niece and nephew shouldn’t have to deal with when I’m gone or incapacitated.

The book recommends that you take one room – or one closet – at a time and evaluate each item. Have separate boxes for “throw away,” “donate,” “sell,” and “give away.” Everything else (which theoretically will be very few things) fall into the “keep” category. They should be organized and put back in the closet or room.

I know… easier said than done. I was raised by parents who were young adults during The Great Depression, so I grew up with the mantra, “Don’t throw anything away because you never know when you might need it.” It was more an unspoken rather than a verbalized way of life, and it’s difficult to stop such old habits.

Downsizing for Dummies is really a common-sense book. It also contains some basic information about wills, trusts, and how long certain documents should be saved or how some of them can be scanned and stored in electronic form.

Secret Lives, by Mark de Castrique

This is a spy thrilled by North Carolina author Mark de Castrique. In Secret Lives, Ethel Crestwater operates and boarding house that caters to government agents. One of her boarders, Jonathan, is murdered in her front yard.

Since 75-year-old Ethel has a background in spying, she jumps right in to solve the crime. Her sidekick is her double-cousin, Jesse, who attends college. His expertise is computers.

It turns out Bitcoins are involved and there’s a lot more going on than murder. No one is without suspicion. There are red herrings and it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Mr. de Castrique masterfully weaves the story and ties up all the loose ends.

Since my last blog post

In last Monday’s blog post, I asked for feedback about the possibility of my writing short stories about some of the characters in my planned historical novels. I appreciate all the feedback I received. It gave me some things to think about as I proceed with my plans. Thank you to each of you who responded on my blog and on Facebook.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have lots of good books to read!

Spring weather is finally here in North Carolina! Enjoy the season, wherever you are.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

A Wake-Up Call: Let’s Talk about Sleep!

Does this sound like an odd topic for a blog about my journey as a reader and a writer? Please keep reading.

Just as reading The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass, prompted me to dedicate an entire blog post to that one book a couple of weeks ago Taking a look at The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass, I’ve since read a book that deserves its on post: Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Walker, Ph.D.

*Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams*, by Matthew Walker, Ph.D.

This is a fascinating book! Who wants to read about sleep? We all should. Most of us don’t get it right. I’ll just hit on some of the highlights or items I found most interesting – or frightening – in the book.

Studies have proven that humans need eight hours of sleep a day. The last two hours of our sleep is when our brains get a memory boost. When we jump start our day by getting up after just six hours of sleep, our concentration and physical limits suffer. Getting less than six hours of sleep is equivalent of going without sleep for 24 hours.

Dr. Walker states, “You do not know how sleep-deprived you are when you are sleep deprived.” Driving while sleep-deprived is as dangerous – or even more dangerous – than driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Falling asleep at the wheel for two seconds at 30 mph, your vehicle can completely change lanes. An alcohol-impaired driver’s reactions are slow, but a sleeping driver has no reaction.

Dr. Walker says we should not fool ourselves into thinking we can force ourselves to stay awake while driving by turning up the music or opening a car window. Those – and all other such coping practices we’ve probably all used more times than we want to admit – are all myths.

He says we are also only kidding ourselves when we think we can “catch up” on our sleep on the weekend. If we’ve lost sleep during the week, it takes more than three nights of eights of sleep for our brain to get back to the level of performance it had early in the week.

Although professional athletes team decision-makers can be told how important it is for players to get eight hours of sleep a day in order to be at peak physical and mental performance, few athletes get the sleep they need. Furthermore, getting adequate sleep after a game is even more important than it is prior to a competition because sleep is necessary for a body to recover from the toll a game takes on a body.

Also, Dr. Walker says that getting adequate sleep for several nights or a week prior to getting an influenza vaccine is necessary for a person to get the full immune benefits from the shot.

The second category of findings that grabbed my attention is that a lack of sleep is fast being recognized as a key factor in whether a person will develop Alzheimer’s Disease. He cautions that sleep is not a “magic bullet” against Alzheimer’s Disease, but there are some interesting associations.

A study found that those people with the most amyloid deposits in the frontal part of the brain also had the least deep end-Rem sleep and, therefore, had the least sleep state in which new memories are cemented.

The lymphatic system sanitizes the brain during sleep. Amyloid protein is removed – as well as tau – in this process which takes place in the last two hours of an eight-hour sleep cycle. Amyloid and tau are associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. This becomes a vicious cycle if you’re not getting enough deep sleep: more amyloid and tau build up leads to Alzheimer’s Disease, which leads to more amyloid and tau buildup, which leads to worsening of Alzheimer’s Disease, etc.

Dr. Walker addresses those individuals who claim they can get along well – even perfectly – on as little as four or five hours of sleep a day. He says they are only fooling themselves. He points out that US President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher both made such claims. They both ended up with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The book also talks about sleep and its relation to cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. He says, “Sleep is the bedrock for health.” Sleeping less than six hours a day increases one’s chances of heart trouble by 400%.

The third area of study explained in the book that struck a chord with me was the section about melatonin, electric lights, LED lights, and the short-spectrum blue lights given off by our electronic devices.

The advent of the electric light bulb enabled humans to change night into day in many respects. By doing so, we’ve forced our naturally-made melatonin (which signals our bodies that it’s time to start winding down because it’s getting dark and it’s time to go to sleep) to be delayed by several hours.

Dr. Walker warns of the harm looking at an electronic tablet late at night is doing more damage to our sleep patterns than we realize. If we look at a tablet until 11:00 pm and then go to bed, our natural melatonin might not kick in for two or three more hours instead of when it should have kicked in – say around nine or ten o’clock.

Have I gotten your attention?

I hope I have hit on some things that made you stop and think. Do you get adequate sleep?

I don’t. I haven’t had a night of restorative sleep since I became ill with chronic fatigue syndrome in 1987. My circadian rhythm is way out of rhythm. I paid for a number of appointments with a sleep specialist a few years ago. Dr. Walker’s book reiterates everything she told me. She told me to dim the lights for 90 minutes before going to bed, to keep my distance from a TV during that time, and to not under any circumstances use the computer or my tablet before going to bed.

The instructions Dr. Daley gave me were tough, but they worked. Eventually, after working on my bad habits for months, I was able to usually go to sleep by 1:00 a.m. instead of 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. I gradually fell back into old habits, though, and now I rarely fall asleep before 2:00 a.m. It’s a daily battle for me to fall asleep. Once I’m asleep, it’s equally as difficult to wake up.

Listening to Dr. Walker’s book – parts of it several times – has reminded me about the damage I’m doing to my health – to my brain, heart, and other organs – in the short term and in the long term.

It won’t be easy, but I must once again train myself to stop sabotaging my health.

I don’t expect or even aspire to ever being someone who goes to bed by 10:00 p.m. so I can wake up refreshed by 7:00 a.m. My physical maladies will never allow me to have restful sleep, but some of my late-night habits aren’t helping matters.

I need to get back to the light dimming practices, etc. that Dr. Daley recommended so I’ll at least have a chance to get eight hours of sleep every day.

Since my last blog post

Being a writer of historical fiction gives me excuses to do things I wouldn’t otherwise do. If I’m going to have characters in my 18^th century novels cooking in a fireplace, I need to know what that was like. I spent the day on Saturday at Hart Square Village near Vale, North Carolina, learning how to cook over an open fire in an 1800s kitchen (which wasn’t easy after only three hours of sleep!).

If you want to hear about my adventure, sign up for my newsletter by visiting my website (https://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com) and clicking on the “Subscribe” button. I’ll write about Saturday’s experience in my Janet Morrison Books Newsletter in July. It was quite am enjoyable day, but I was happy to come home that afternoon to my electric kitchen appliances!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a fascinating book to read. Please consider reading Dr. Walker’s book, if you tend to not get a full eight hours of sleep every night.

Make time for friends and family – and sleep!

Remember the brave people of Ukraine.

Janet

Taking a look at The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass

Once in a while I come across a book that hits on so many points of importance that I decide to devote an entire blog post to it. The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens, by Richard Haass, falls into that category.

*The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens*, by Richard Haass

Dr. Haass is president of the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations. A diplomat and policymaker, he served in The Pentagon, State Department, and White House under four presidents – Democrats and Republicans.

Here’s a quote from the book jacket: “As Richard Haass says, ‘We get the government we deserve. Getting the one we need, however, is up to us.’ The Bill of Obligations gives citizens across the political spectrum a plan of action to achieve it.”

In the chapter titled “Rights and Their Limits,” Dr. Haass states that the aim of his book “… is to focus on another, often overlooked dimension of citizenship. I am speaking here of obligations, of what citizens owe one another and the country,” and not the rights of individuals. The book focuses on what citizens should do, not what they are required to do.

Dr. Haass draws a distinction between responsibilities and obligations. Responsibilities can be shirked. He says, “What makes obligations so important is that the ability of American democracy to endure and deliver what it can and should to its citizens depends on their being put into practice.”

He points out that, “Placing obligations at the core of citizenship is necessary because the protection and promotion of political and economic rights inevitably lead to disagreements.” He likens obligations fueling a democracy to the gasoline that fuels an engine.

Dr. Haass maintains that democracy in the US “has come to focus almost exclusively on perceived rights and is breaking down as a result.”

This book was being written during our time of transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, and the “peaceful transition of Power” enjoyed by the US for more than 200 years was in question. He wrote, “What we don’t yet know is whether what happened in late 2020 and early 2021 was an aberration or a precedent.”

Although some Americans have predicted that we’re heading for a second civil war, Dr. Haass is of the opinion that the more likely scenario is something similar to “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland where paramilitary groups target public places frequented by those people they oppose. Unlike a civil war, such violence has no set beginning and no set end because no one is in charge.

Dr. Haass reminds us that democracy is difficult. It requires informed participation from its citizens. From its leaders “it asks for good faith and restraint, and a willingness to put the collective interest before politics, party, or personal gain.”

My take on that

In my opinion, we’ve lost all of that. Too many people refuse to watch the news on TV “because it’s all bad” and few people read a newspaper now or seek out alternative news sources such as National Public Radio. Too many people say they aren’t interested in politics. It’s too easy to just say all politicians and government employees are bad people or lazy.

I’ve worked in the business world and in the government. It was my experience that government employees were more dedicated and conscientious than the ones I worked with in the business world. Let’s just stop jumping on the bandwagon of throwing everyone and everything associated with our democracy “under the bus.”

Back to Dr. Haass’ book

Dr. Haass writes about how technology has changed politics in an important way. It happened without our even being aware. Whereas political parties used to have some control over who ran for office, now anyone with enough money and technical communications savvy can run for office.

Extremists can rally vocal followers and spread their views (and their lies) through social media in ways unheard of or imagined just a couple of decades ago. The person with the loudest voice gets the attention, even if that person holds narrow or extreme views.

The book talks about how, like me, the author grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. We were taught in school that America was “a melting pot.” More and more, though, Dr. Haass says instead of a melting pot, we’re “a loose collection of separate pots” now. We live in “Red” states or “Blue” states, and few live in “Purple” states. There are divisions on every turn.

He goes on to write about history, values, and obligations not being taught in school.

The second part of Dr. Haass’ book addresses what he calls The Bill of Obligations. He writes about what he means by each one, but I’ll just list them for you here:

Be Informed
Get Involved
Stay Open to Compromise
Remain Civil
Reject Violence
Value Norms
Promote the Common Good
Respect Government Service
Support the Teaching of Civics
Put Country First

Dr. Haass’ Conclusion

Quoting from the “Conclusion” chapter of the book: “The central argument of this book is that American democracy will endure only if obligations join rights at the core of a widely shared understanding of citizenship.” It won’t happen overnight, but the rewards will be reaped years from now.

Dr. Haass proposes that we turn our attention to making the ten obligations a priority because all the “hot button” issues vying for our attention will not be solved or resolved if they aren’t debated in a vibrant democracy.

In the end, Dr. Haass sounds the alarm: “The reality that January 6, and the subsequent revelations about efforts to impound voting machines and discount legally cast ballots, has failed to shock the body politic into its senses, has failed to stir us into action to protect and preserve this democracy, challenges the conventional wisdom that crises are automatic precursors of change. We get the government and the country we deserve. Getting the one we need, however, is up to us.”

My Conclusions

Regardless of your political leanings, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to read The Bill of Obligations. There’s much food for thought in this small book. My hope is that reading it will prompt each of us in the US to be better citizens and more-informed about our democracy.

For the most part, I agree with Dr. Haass’ Bill of Obligations. I’m not as optimistic as he is, though. I recently said something to a university sophomore about January 6. She didn’t know what I was talking about!

Since my last blog post

I’ve been diagnosed as having bronchitis and asthma. Instead of sending out my newsletter on Monday, I finally got it together and emailed to my subscribers on Thursday. I’ve fallen woefully behind in reading the posts by the bloggers I follow.

My illness forced me to miss an author event by John Hart. I didn’t think Mr. Hart should have to compete with my hacking and coughing.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read.

Don’t take good health and supportive friends and family for granted.

Remember the brave people of Ukraine.

Thank you for dropping by my blog.

Janet

Some of the Books I Read in April 2023

April was a busy month, but I found time to read a variety of books. As is my habit, I’ll take the opportunity of the first Monday in May to blog about what I read in April. I hope you’ll find a book or two of interest.

Time’s Undoing, by Cheryl A. Head

This new novel alternates between the mysterious death of Robert Lee Harrington in 1929 and his journalist great-granddaughter’s persistent search for answers in 2019. I don’t usually enjoy novels written in alternating timelines, but this one worked.

Mr. Harrington is a master craftsman in carpentry in Birmingham, Alabama in 1929. A Black man, he is seen as too flamboyant by the white population. He takes pride in his work and his nice car. He presses his luck and, when he is in the wrong place at the wrong time, things go terribly wrong.

Harrington’s great-granddaughter, Meghan McKenzie, comes along 90 years later. She’s a reporter for the Detroit Free Press. In conjunction with working on a Black Lives Matter report, Ms. McKenzie decides to go to Birmingham to try to uncover the details of her great-grandfather’s death.

The danger McKenzie is in escalates the closer she gets to the ugly truth.

To be honest, I bristled two or three times when McKenzie made blanket statements about white southerners. I was, in fact, tempted early on to stop reading the book; however, I’m glad I stuck with it. Perspective is everything, and I can’t expect the young black reporter from Detroit to see things the way I do.

In fact, it would be unrealistic. I think it’s human nature for us to make blanket statements about people who don’t look like we look or who live in different regions (or countries) from where we live. Assumptions are made about the South and white southerners. Likewise, southerners make assumptions about people who live in other parts of the country.

The deeper I got into the novel, the more I was drawn into the characters and the story. I’m not a fast reader, but I read the second half of the book in two days because I couldn’t wait to see what McKenzie would find out and if she would survive to tell her great-grandfather’s story.

Code Name Sapphire, by Pam Jenoff

In this historical novel, Pam Jenoff pulls bits and pieces from World War II history in Europe and weaves a story that will keep you on the edge3 of your seat.

Micheline heads the fictitious Sapphire Line in the resistance in Belgium. The network, whose mission is to get downed Allied airmen safely o9ut of German-occupied Belgium, is loosely based on or inspired by such real operations as the Comet Line.

Micheline’s brother, Matteo, is heavily involved in the Sapphire Line. He is still in love with a woman from his past. Will they reconnect even during the war?

Hannah is a Jew who escaped from Nazi-occupied Belgium once, but the ship she is on with other refugees is turned away from the harbor in Havana. Is she returned to Belgium? Does she work with the Sapphire Line? Does she make Matteo forget about his long-lost love?

Lily is Hannah’s cousin. Lily is the only family Hannah has to turn to for help while she tries to figure out how to escape to America.

But, as in all good fiction, nothing goes as planned. Everything that can go wrong seems to go wrong.

Who will betray friends or relatives? Who will survive? You just might be surprised!

The Last Carolina Girl, by Meagan Church

The author of this novel is an editor I found last October on Reedsy.com. Being from North Carolina, the title grabbed my attention. I pre-ordered the book to help support this author. The book was released on March 7, 2023, but I didn’t get a chance to read it until April.

(Rule #1 for supporting a new book: Review it as soon as it is released to boost sales and attention for the book. The first 30 days after a book’s release is the most important time to support it and its author as far as the Amazon algorithms are concerned.) My apologies to Meagan Church for missing this window of opportunity. I really need to do better.

Back to the book… Leah Payne is a 14-year-old orphan from Supply in Brunswick County, North Carolina. The neighborhood couple who take her in try to do the best thing for her… or do they? Arrangements are made and she is taken to Matthews in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. She dreams of a foster family there who will love her, perhaps even provide for her a bed and bedroom of her own.

But when she arrives in Matthews in 1936, she doesn’t receive the welcome she is expecting.

How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World’s Favorite Literary Form, by Thomas C. Foster

How to Read Novels Like a Professor, by Thomas C. Foster

The title intrigued me. As I read the first four chapters, I took some notes. There were a number of succinct statements about writing.

There was insight about how important the first sentence, first page, and first chapter are if an author wants to snag the interest of a reader.

The author set forth some humorous “laws” of writing, including “The Law of Bogus Locales,” “The Law of Look Who’s Talking,” and “The Law of Narrative Unreliability.”

Another example is “The Law of the Conservation of Character” which the author explained as “Thou shalt not burden the punter with needless character development.” He went on to translate that as follows: “If fiction writers are any good, they only tell you as much as you absolutely need to know.”

By the time I’d read the first half of the book, I found myself skipping pages. I decided it’s just possible that I don’t want to read novels like a professor. I want to read them as a reader.

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, by Michelle Obama

I listened to this book on CD. It was read by the author, which made it extra enjoyable. This is a book of common sense and encouragement. Mrs. Obama talks about her childhood and how her parents instilled in her and her brother the merit in hard work and the value of a dollar. They instilled in the two children the value of standing up for yourself and your beliefs. She talks about the value of friendships and family. Those are the important things in life. She talks about always trying her best and often being criticized and misconstrued.

People who don’t approve of President and Mrs. Obama probably wouldn’t like this book, but they probably wouldn’t bother to read it. That would be their loss. I found the content of the book to be honest and uplifting. Hearing Mrs. Obama read it herself was a bonus.

Other books I read in April

I read Natural Color, by Sasha Duerras part of my research so I can write authentic historical fiction. I might have the main character in The Heirloom know a bit about using items in nature to dye fibers, yarn, or fabric.

Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novels, by Rayne Hall struck a chord with me. If you’re writing a novel, too, then you might want to take a look at this book. In a nutshell, it takes you through a step-by-step model to assess the kind of book you’re writing. Then you brainstorm for ideas of a short story or multiple short stories you can write that have a connection to your novel. By publishing those short stories, you not only introduce your potential novel readers to your style of writing and your genre, you can also introduce them to one or more of the characters in your novel. It really got the gears in my head turning!

How to Find Book Reviewers: How to Get Reviews the Easy Way, by Werner Stejskal gave me some ideas for finding book reviewers I’ve not stumbled upon yet. I tend to shy away from book titles that include the word “easy,” but I decided to read this one.

Book Review Banzai: The Unknown Author’s Ultimate Guide to Getting Amazon Reviews, by Jason Ladd, Julie Gwinn, and Tom Morkes. Are you picking up on a pattern here? Book reviews on Amazon are extremely important, especially for authors just arriving on the literary scene. (Hint, Hint!)

Since my last blog post

Amid some fairly substantial computer problems, my sister and I took a trip to beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. I wrote all about it in my May newsletter. A highlight for me was visiting Hart Square Village in Vale, North Carolina. The village is a source of inspiration for my historical fiction writing.

That’s just a little of what you’re missing if you haven’t subscribed to my mailing list/newsletter. Here’s the link to my website where you can subscribe: https://janetmorrisonbooks.com/subscribe/. I plan to send out an e-newsletter every other month.

Until my next blog post

I’ll try to do a better job of writing book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.com.

I hope you have a good book to read. Perhaps one of the books I read last month has piqued your interest.

Wherever you live, you’re probably experiencing a change of seasons. Here in North Carolina, we’re entering my favorite time of the year – seasonal allergies and all!

Make time for friends, family, and a hobby.

Remember the brave people of Ukraine.

Thank you for dropping by my blog.

Janet

What I Read in March 2023 & My Thoughts about Book Banning

After reading three good historical novels in February, I was disappointed that I didn’t get to read as much in March. That’s just the way it goes. As I try to do every month when I blog about the books I read the previous month, I repeat that I am not a book reviewer. I merely like to share with you what I read. Perhaps your interest will be piqued and you’ll decide to read some of the books I’ve enjoyed.

The Girl From the Channel Islands, by Jenny Lecoat

I listened to this historical novel on CD borrowed from the public library. I enjoy listening to a disc late at night, even though I have to deal with an occasional scratch on the disc which causes me to miss bits of the story.

Hedy Bercu, the protagonist in this novel, flees Austria in 1938 to escape the Nazis. She thinks she’ll be safe in Great Britain’s Channel Islands but, as World War II drags on and the islands are occupied by Germany, Hedy lives in constant fear that the wrong people will discover that she is Jewish.

The author, Jenny Lecoat, was born in the Channel Islands 16 years after some members of her family were deported by the Nazis and taken to concentration camps due to their resistance activities. This is Ms. Lecoat’s debut novel. I look forward to reading whatever she has in store for us next.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Although Banned Books Weeks is six months away, the increasing attacks on books in the United States prompted me to reread Harper Lee’s masterpiece. Instead of reading it in printed form this time, I decided to listen to Sissy Spacek’s performing of it on CD. I haven’t quite finished it, but I decided to include it in today’s post so The Girl From the Channel Islands wouldn’t have to stand alone.

It baffles me why people in 2023 want to ban To Kill a Mockingbird from school and public library shelves because it portrays the discrimination black people suffered in the 1920s or 1930s and, because at the same time, it portrays a white lawyer defending a black man who has been wrongfully arrested and charged.

I am against all book banning. One only needs to look at what happened in Germany in the 1930s to see what the results are.

If you don’t want your child to read a certain book, that’s your prerogative; however, you don’t have the right to dictate what anyone other than yourself and your children read.

Just because you are offended by a word in a book doesn’t make it a bad book. If you think you can erase the history of slavery, prejudice, and civil war in the United States by removing those references from books, you are mistaken.

If you think by removing sex education from school curriculum you will end all teen pregnancies, you’re only fooling yourself.

People who are afraid of knowledge and try to force their fears on the masses are the most dangerous people in the world.

Since my last blog post

I’ve tried to start overcoming the toll the challenges of the last eight months have taken on my limited energy. Getting my two local history books published and working toward the publication of a family cookbook have been fun, challenging, frustrating, draining, and rewarding — all at the same time. April 25 will mark the 36^th anniversary of when I first became ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Please don’t laugh. It’s a real illness. I have pushed myself too much since last July to accomplish some long-term dreams to get my local history writings published, and now I’m paying the price.

I’ll continue to push myself because that’s what I do and I don’t know how to live otherwise; however, in the coming weeks I’ll try to be a little kinder to myself and take some time to smell the roses.

Until my next blog post

I’ll start preparing for my Author Meet & Greet scheduled for April 15 at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, North Carolina.

I’ll reevaluate the family cookbook my sister and I have compiled. I’ve encountered a problem in the formatting for a paperback edition, so it might just be an e-book. That would be disappointing.

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’ve purchased Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 1 and Book 2, I hope you’re enjoying them.

If you’ve subscribed to my newsletter and, therefore, downloaded a free copy of my southern historical short story, “Slip Sliding Away,” I hope you’ve enjoyed that small sample of my fiction writing.

Remember the three children and three adults murdered in that private school in Nashville, Tennessee. Remember how your local, state, and national politicians vote on assault-style weapons designed for war when the next election rolls around.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

Janet's Writing Blog

Category: What I’m reading

The Wide Range of Books I Read in September 2023

Four Books I Read in August 2023

Books I Read in July 2023

The Other Books I Read (or Meant to Read) in June 2023

The Other Two Books I Read in May 2023

Three Books I Read in May 2023

A Wake-Up Call: Let’s Talk about Sleep!

Taking a look at The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass

Some of the Books I Read in April 2023

What I Read in March 2023 & My Thoughts about Book Banning

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