History, Real Life, and Faith
I grew up in a secular family for whom Christmas was an event featuring a holiday scene across the mantlepiece, a tree hauled into the house on my father’s birthday and Coke in the stocking found leaning across the hearth Christmas morning. When we got older, we attended a perfunctory church service on Christmas Eve, joined a big party at…
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Great books read in 2013
Choosing books for gift giving can be tricky. “Oh, look,” my teenage niece said. “Aunt Michelle gave me a book and a movie. What a surprise.” I looked at her and smiled as pleasantly as I could despite my hurt. I had given a lot of thought to what book and movie she would enjoy. Apparently I guessed wrong. I…
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Who knew writing could be done by real paper? I was playing on the floor in Bruce Zike’s bedroom when I learned that “real” people wrote for publication. Real people in the sense of the neighbor’s mom getting what I –15 years later–learned was called a “by-line” in a magazine. Tracy ran in waving the magazine for us to admire….
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Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum was the first book I ever owned. I found it recently and ran my hands down the well-loved cover, remembering. It was the first book in my personal book collection, I received Ozma of Oz as a gift for my seventh birthday, along with Nancy Drew #2, The Hidden Staircase. I gave away all…
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How to cull books from your house.