Caring Lessons: A Review

January 5, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

I ordered Lois Hoitenga Roelofs’ book, Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor’s Journey of Faith and Self, after having been a fan of her blog for several years. Lois writes with candour about her life challenges, and on the blog in particular, about her journey through her husband’s terminal cancer. It is the candour with which […]

“Telling Sonny”: A Review

January 24, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

When nineteen-year-old Faby attends the annual Vaudeville Show in her small town, she is hoping to escape to the drudgery of day-to-day life in the Gauthier household, where chores are watched over by the critical eye of Maman and Maman Aurore. The year is 1924, the setting small town Vermont, USA, and even though she’s […]

“Prince of Tides” Timeless

August 1, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

I picked up the audio version for free; downloaded it ages ago, thinking one day I’d give it a listen, but was hesitant. I knew a movie had been made of Pat Conroy’s novel, but I hadn’t seen that either. Then I visited South Carolina, and it’s peculiar landscape intrigued me, and when a friend […]

Morton’s “The Lake House” Masterful

June 11, 2017.Reading time 1 minute.

Kate Morton has mastered the art of writing a timeless novel: a compelling setting, well-developed characters, the weaving together of unforgettable storylines, and flawless description. The Lake House is a delicious read, the kind of book you don’t want to put down. The Lake House centers around a beautiful estate abandoned under tragic circumstances: a mystery […]

Inspired by Goldfish

April 20, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

Occasionally, I come across a book that I deem worthy of sharing (well, worthy in my humble estimation). Please understand that as most of my day is spent in the horizontal position, I typically have three to five books on the go at any time. Most of what I read does not merit attention here, […]

Tale of Kidnapping Inspirational

June 13, 2016.Reading time 1 minute.

Amanda Lindhout, along with Sara Corbett, has written a riveting tale of her kidnapping and captivity during a trip to Somalia. I first became interested in Lindhout’s story when I caught a glimpse of an interview on a television program. How, I wondered, does someone survive such a horrendous experience? A House in the Sky, […]

Discord

Does illness have a voice,and if so; is it melancholy,or dark and dank, divulgingdeepest despair, or revealinga vileness of nature? Discord creeps along my veins,disrupts muscles, systems failingunder the oppression –“Stay strong,” friends counsel,cannot hear the gathering storm,feel the heaviness cloaking me. I am not myself, but then;who am I? Is disease a mutationof the […]

Save Us

Discharge the gun –protection a vesselthrough which our depthsare undefined…adrift Fear is a burrowerwears a false crownbirths losstrusts danger Hearts beg,amid this trigger-readinessfor a guardian – unafraidto court this meaningless Futility unchecked –to study productive optionsunimaginable in the current state of chaos on repeat. (Art my own)

I Am Willow

These bones, they saywill finish me – too brittleto withstand the race But I am Willowrecollection wispymy dance defiant Porous as a sea spongesoaking up each daymettle despite the rattle (Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)