Category Archives: Non Fiction

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 63)

Posted on June 11, 2021 by bseat

Mary Jekyl is strangely unaffected when her guardian dies. When her parents died when she was a child, she was left in the care of her guardian  for whom she felt very little affection. Now in her twenties, with her … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery/Detective, Prize winner, Series, Suspense, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Is that a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything by David Bellos and One Hundred Frogs by Hiroaki Sato (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 61)

Posted on May 28, 2021 by bseat

As a translator I am fascinated by how words, phrases and texts morph from one language to another. For example there is a famous haiku poem by the Japanese poet Basho about a pond, a frog, and the noise of … Continue reading →

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Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 54

Posted on April 2, 2021 by bseat

If you are a fan of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, you will be intrigued by this riff on a theme by P. D. James. This is definitely “fan fiction”  and P. D. James’ homage to this literary gem contains … Continue reading →

Posted in book to movie, Books to Read During a Pandemic, Detective novel, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Mystery/Detective, Romance, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 49)

Posted on February 26, 2021 by bseat

This was a hard book to read. It is one woman’s account of sexual assault and rape at an elite boarding school in New England. In it Crawford tries to answer the question, Why Now? which seems to be asked … Continue reading →

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Thirst by Mary Oliver (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 42)

Posted on January 8, 2021 by bseat

What better way to start the New Year then to settle in and read some poems by Mary Oliver! I have begun to appreciate her poetry more deeply as the years go by. She is a chronicler of the human … Continue reading →

Posted in Books to Read During a Pandemic, Poetry, Spiritual | 1 Comment

Braiding Sweetgrass By Robin Wall Kimmerer (Books to Read During a Pandemic, Part 31)

Posted on October 23, 2020 by bseat

I’m not sure I would have ever picked this book up on my own but a friend told me that it was as important to her as the Bible and had changed her life. With a recommendation like that it … Continue reading →

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The Map of Knowledge by Violet Moller

Posted on January 10, 2020 by bseat

I have been sick since Christmas Day with a terrible hacking cold and cough. Yesterday, after being sick and tired of being sick and tired, I declared myself well and tried to get back to my normal schedule. Today I … Continue reading →

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The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

Posted on December 6, 2019 by bseat

In 1973, Oleg Gordievsky, a Soviet intelligence agent became a double agent working for the British intelligence service, MI6.  Gordievsky was an unlikely spy since his parents were both KGB agents and he had lived a fairly affluent life with … Continue reading →

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The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic That Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics by Stephen Coss

Posted on November 15, 2019 by bseat

I love history when original documents are used to tell the story, letting us see what people were thinking, saying and letting us see how those thoughts played out in their actions. In The Fever of 1721, Coss does just … Continue reading →

Posted in American History, History, Non Fiction | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Thousand Mornings: Poems by Mary Oliver

Posted on May 3, 2019 by bseat

I am not really a poetry person, or at least I say that to myself, but if a Mary Oliver book of poems shows up in my life, I devour them.  That is what happened this last weekend when I … Continue reading →

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