Category Archives: books
Mary Stewart’s First Novel
Mary Stewart was a lecturer in English at Durham University when she wrote her first book in the 1950s. She was prompted to finally take the leap and write a book after an ectopic pregnancy nearly killed her and led … Continue reading
A Month in the Country
Elegiac, a term I associate with high school literature classes, came to mind as I was reading the beautiful A Month in the Country, a novella by English author J.L. Carr which was published in 1980. Carr, like many authors, … Continue reading
My Increasing Sci-Fi Skepticism
I overindulged on “literature” in recent months. In August 2025, I read Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-winning The Bridge of San Luis Rey and in September I followed that up with his ponderous National Book Award-winning The Eighth Day. I used a … Continue reading
Crystal Caves and Moon-Spinners
Mary Stewart was a British novelist, born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow in 1916. She taught in grade schools and lectured part-time at Durham University before moving to Scotland with her husband in 1956. After nearly dying from an ectopic pregnancy … Continue reading
My Cultural Ignorance
There are several cultural touchstones I remain rather ignorant of, despite countless references to them throughout my six decades of existence. Peter Pan, for example. As a child, I ate plenty of his peanut butter, saw the animated Tinker Bell … Continue reading
Meador Manor 