Tag Archives: Books

My First Book!

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When I told my husband I was dedicating my book to him, he said that I should dedicate it to our dog Ziva. She logged a lot of hours with me while I wrote.

In February 2027, my first book, a collection of short stories, will be published by Cornerstone Press, which is run by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Yay! (Imagine an emoji of happy, dancing feet here.)

I spent five years working on my collection of short stories. Every time I submitted a story to a journal or a contest, I sent a bio. In each bio I started writing: She is currently working on a collection of short stories. Because I wrote this in my bios, I kept writing short stories. After all, I didn’t want people to think my words were fluff. For me writing and submitting to journals was scary enough, but the idea of getting a book published was scarier. So, every time I wrote the words: She is currently working on a collection of short stories, I eased my way through my fears. Putting it in words over and over made it less intimidating and eventually kind of like saying, Yeah, I’m going to get my nails done on Saturday.

I also told myself if I finished enough stories to have a book-length collection, then I would have met my goal. I had done what I said I would do — write a collection. That didn’t mean the stories had to be published. Right? For me, the idea of getting published was terrifying. I worried about everything. Will people like my stories? Will anyone read my book? Will I have book signings and be the only one there? Will anyone buy my book? Will people like me? What if I mess up when signing someone’s book? Can I use an erasable pen? I waffled so much over whether or not to submit my short story collection to publishers that I could have become my own Waffle House franchise.

At the end of 2023, I had enough stories, but not enough courage. Then I discovered the Iowa Short Fiction Award and the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction sponsored by the University of Georgia Press. These contests are for emerging authors. I entered both of them. I didn’t believe I stood a chance of winning anything, and that made submitting my stories to them less nerve-wracking. But I took each entry seriously. I read all my stories out loud and silently, again and again. I had my readers rank which ten stories they believed were the strongest so I could place them at the beginning, middle, and end of my collection. I didn’t win anything in either contest. But after I sent my collection off to the Iowa contest, I started writing in my bios: She recently completed her first short story collection and is querying publishers.

After receiving rejections from the Iowa and Georgia presses, I waffled some more. I think I might have driven a few people crazy with my waffling. And I’m so grateful that none of them told me to shut up and go away.

I was still waffling away, when I attended the Wisconsin Writers Association Conference in October 2024. While I was there, a few things happened that gave me a shove. First, I met Lan Samantha Chang, a wonderful writer who is also the director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She was one of the guest speakers, and she talked about the scariness of writing and putting one’s work out into the world. And I thought, If Chang, an accomplished writer, can be scared, I can be scared. Next, I listened to a panel of three publishers speak about their presses and submission processes. Afterward, I introduced myself to the publisher of Cornerstone Press. I told him I enjoyed listening to him and the rest of the publishers. Then I said the words, “I have a collection of short stories that I’m going to submit to Cornerstone Press.” To which he said, “I look forward to reading them.”

I had done it. I had said the words out loud. At that point I knew I would have to submit my collection because I didn’t want the publisher to think my words were fluff.

I’m still scared of all that other stuff, but I’m going to take it one fear at a time. I can handle one fear at a time.

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Acknowledgments

I didn’t write my collection of stories in vacuum. I owe a lot of gratitude to so many people and organizations.

I want to thank everyone who spent any amount of time reading my stories and giving me feedback. You were always helpful.

I want to thank the people who follow my blog and would read my stories when I posted a link to where they had been published. Your positive comments meant the world to me.

I want to thank the following organizations: Lake Superior Writers, Red Oak Writing, Wisconsin Writers Association, and Write On, Door County. These organizations were a lifeline during COVID. They pivoted to Zoom classes and gatherings that gave me and others a place to connect and be writers. They are all wonderful organizations for writers who want to learn more about their craft and spend time with other writers.

I want to thank all the writers, famous and not famous, whose works I have read and who have inspired me to be a better writer. There are so many talented writers, most of whom will never be household names.

Some Short Stories that I Read in 2024 and Loved

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I write short stories, so I read a lot of short stories. Lots and lots of short stories. Many of which I enjoy immensely. Some stories fade from memory after a few weeks. Others resonate with me for months, while some haunt me for years.

I’ve selected nine stories by five different authors that I read in 2024. I chose these nine out of the dozens I’ve read because as 2025 starts, I still think about these stories. I’ll be doing the dishes, or walking the dog, or standing in line at the grocery store, and one of these stories will pop into my head. These stories have stayed with me, even months after reading them. I’ve listed them in alphabetical order by author. There is no way I can list them in order of preference because each story is both unique and powerful, with beautiful prose, captivating plots, and intriguing characters. Each story is wonderful for its own reasons, making me say, “Gee, I wish I’d written that!” Best of all, these stories give readers plenty to contemplate.

[Click on the authors’ names to learn more about them and their books.]

Two stories from Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Lan Samantha Chang (25th Anniversary Edition, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2023)

1. “San” is a story about broken dreams and abandonment, and the struggle to survive both. The story is narrated by Caroline, whose parents emigrated from Taiwan before she was born. She tells the story of her father’s inability to claim his piece of the American dream, eventually causing him to desert his family. Caroline recounts the day she watched her father leave, taking her umbrella with him, never to return: “The umbrella had been a present from him. Now I stood and watched it go, bright and ill-fated like so many of his promises.” With stunning metaphors and beautiful prose, Chang creates a shifting setting and vivid characters that tell an ageless story in a new way.

2. “The Unforgetting” is the story of Ming and Sansan Hwang and their young son, Charles, who have emigrated from China and settled in Iowa. They speak Chinese in their home until one day when Charles’s fourth-grade teacher explains that their son’s English vocabulary is below average. The teacher suggests the family speaks only English at home. His parents follow the teacher’s advice, and a rift grows between Charles and his parents. Ming and Sansan never master English, making it difficult for them to express their thoughts and emotions with Charles, who, at the same time, forgets most of his Chinese: “Since they did not test [Charles], Ming never knew how long it took for all of those words to be forgotten.” Language is how people understand their worlds. Chang’s story explores how the stripping of one’s native language is more than a loss of vocabulary.

A story from The Effects of Urban Renewal on Mid-Century America and Other Crime Stories by Jeff Esterholm (Cornerstone Press, 2023)

1. “Long Ago on a Sunday in June” is the story of Patrick, who is almost fifteen. He wakes in the early morning hours on a Sunday to deliver newspapers. In the first paragraph, we learn Patrick won’t be coming home afterward because his body has been found in a field. The rest of the story is told as a flashback. We follow Patrick as he eats his breakfast and begins his paper route. We learn about Patrick and his dreams: “He wanted to get into Mr. Bukoski’s art class when he entered Port Nicollet High in September. That was a given.” He has a crush on his friend’s sister, and he wants a job at a pizza joint. We follow Patrick on the last day of his very ordinary life, and because we know how the story ends, and because Esterholm’s prose is both richly layered and nuanced, we are devastated for the life Patrick will never live.

Two stories from Close Call by Kim Suhr (Cornerstone Press, 2024)

1. “Play-School” is the story of four elementary-aged children who play a game of school. Young Mary plays the teacher, delivering lessons in addition and subtraction. During one of her lessons, she interrupts herself, lowers her voice, and pretends to be the principal as she announces, “It is time to begin our lockdown drill.” Told through the eyes of Willie, a first grader, “Play-School” explores the topic of school shootings and lockdown drills from the point of view of the children. (There are no adults in this story.) Suhr’s use of a child’s point of view, along with her realistic portrayal of elementary-aged children, creates a wallop in a short space. “Play-School” deservedly won first place in the 2024 Jade Ring Contest sponsored by Wisconsin Writers Association.

2. “Eradicated” is a dystopian tale set in the future where artistic creativity, now labeled a disease, needs to be eradicated, a goal that is nearly complete when we meet Dr. Bells, a scientist. Wishing to observe creative artists before the last of them dies out, the doctor visits an artists’ colony where creative people, who are considered to have disturbed minds, have been contained after being extracted from society. He wants “to hang out with people and ask, ‘What’s your medium?’ And say things like, ‘That’s so derivative.'” The themes in “Eradicated” are both timely and timeless. Marvelously written and exquisitely paced, Suhr’s story serves as a cautionary tale against intolerance and mindless conformity.

Two stories from Sweetland: New and Selected Stories by Will Weaver (Borealis Books, 2006)

1.“Flax Seed” is the story of a grandfather named Helmer who turns his farm over to his grandson, Kenny. With a handshake, Helmer states the terms of their deal: “Two-thirds, one-third. And no Sunday farming.” Kenny promises. He decides to plant flax, something his grandfather never grew. Farming is difficult. There is a time to sow, and a time to harvest. There is too much rain or too little. Too much heat or not enough. There are pests and diseases, rising and falling prices. There is often a race against time. For Helmer there is God. For Kenny there is the hope of flax and making good as a farmer. Helmer and his God; Kenny and his flax. And a difficult year. It’s a haunting story. Amen.

2. “A Gravestone of Wheat” is the story of Olaf who has loved Inge for forty-five years. They have farmed the land together and raised their son, Einar. They have welcomed grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When Inge dies, Olaf plans to bury her on their farm as Inge wished. But the law has changed: “‘You can’t bury your wife here on the farm,’ the sheriff said. ‘That’s the law.'” Olaf must decide if he will break the law and bury Inge on the farm or if he will bury her in town in the Greenacre Cemetery, knowing she despised the town. Inge has been his devoted wife for forty-five years. As Olaf ponders his choices, he recalls his first meeting with Inge and their unusual courtship, and readers are treated to a beautiful, but pragmatic love story. It’s a wonderful piece of historical fiction.

Two stories from The Path of Totality by Marie Zhuikov (Cornerstone Press, to be released February 2025) To pre-order Zhuikov’s book, click here.

1. “The Path of Totality” is the story of Marjorie and Justin, a young married couple, who travel from Medford, Oregon, to Salem, Oregon, to see the total eclipse of the sun. Caught up in a grief that both unites and divides them, the couple each experience the eclipse differently. Marjorie, along with other spectators, sees it all, astounded as the moon covers the sun. “But to Justin, the sun still shone as whole and bright as ever.” With eloquent prose, rich imagery, and well-crafted dialogue, Zhuikov’s story, told from the young husband’s perspective, is spellbinding. From a craft perspective, Zhuikov’s story reminds us that nature and natural events in our world can be powerful metaphors for human experiences.

2. “Bog Boy: A Northern Minnesota Romance” is set in rural Minnesota, where sixteen-year-old Natalie works at the Sax-Zim Bog, a nature preserve. On a spring day, while leading a birding tour, Natalie discovers a mummified teenage boy in the bog, whose remains are determined to be two thousand years old. The well-preserved teenager, with high cheekbones and beautiful hair, is handsome, and Natalie falls in love with him as only a teenage girl can – completely, blindly, devotedly. Because she cannot be without him, she brings the bog boy home to live with her and her father. Darkly humorous, “Bog Boy” combines the realm of speculative fiction with thought-provoking satire that made me laugh out loud at times. I still smile when I think about the story.

There Was Magic in the Air Last Night

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When I returned home from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a mystical moonscape greeted me.

Last night I went to see a high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Student actors dressed in colorful, eclectic, whimsical costumes, creating shimmering visions on the stage. They recited Shakespeare’s verse, never stumbling over their words. As the love potion delivered by Puck caused chaos and confusion, the energetic actors made their way on and off the stage, delivering humorous lines, catching the audience up in laughter. All of this on a stage decorated with cut-out trees so enchanting in their color changes, they almost stole the show.

During the quieter moments of the performance. I thought about the many high school and college plays I have seen over the years. All of those young people working together to create a moment of magic on a stage. A moment that would never be the same as the performance that came before, or the one that would come next. I thought about the long hours drama students spend rehearsing, creating sets, lighting the performance, making costumes. How they pass their time together, forging friendships and romances, talking about life and their dreams. Cracking inside jokes that only they understand, the bond of a shared experience. I thought about how young they are, with their whole lives ahead of them. I thought about how once these young thespians leave high school or college, they might never act upon a stage again.

Then I thought about Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which I recently read and loved. Tom Lake is a story within a story. Lara Nelson, now in her fifties, owns a cherry orchard with her husband. Set in 2020 during the COVID lockdown, Lara’s three adult daughters are staying at the farm with their parents. Because of the pandemic, the family of five works the cherry farm without the usual hired help. Picking cherries is time-consuming, monotonous work. To pass the time, Lara, in a series of flashbacks, recounts the story of her summer in Tom Lake, where as a young woman she performed in a summer stock production of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. Even though Patchett’s novel is set during COVID, it’s not about the pandemic–at all. It’s a beautifully written, heart-wrenching coming of age story.

Last night as I watched the young actors perform, I wondered about their coming-of-age stories. I thought about my own coming-of-age stories.

And that is what good literature does. It slumbers in a corner of your brain, until something in your present world nudges it, and it lives once again in your imagination, giving meaning to both the world that is your life and the world of make believe.

Nellie “Bly” on Assignment with Me — Something Published, “Creating Holiday Traditions with Books”

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Nellie “Bly” ponders an important question regarding investigative journalism: “Isn’t it time for lunch?”

On October 10, my grand-dog Nellie, whom I like to refer to as Nellie “Bly,” went on assignment with me. I was working on an article for Northern Wilds magazine. Our mission was to interview one bookstore owner in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and one bookstore manager in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and to take photos. Nellie Bly was game. (Although, if she had been given a choice, she would have rather chased small game instead of facts.)

Going on a reporting job with a dog is fun, but it requires more time. We were gone for over six hours. In addition to doing interviews and snapping photos, our assignment included four walks, a lunch break, and a supper break.

Nellie waited in the van while I did the hard-boiled investigative work inside the bookstores, asking the managers about the history of each bookstore and which books they anticipated would be hot for the holidays. Good investigative journalism means I had to ask the tough questions too, such as “What is your favorite holiday book? and “Do you have any holiday traditions involving books?” Of course, in the name of gathering evidence, I bought some books at each store.

Nellie got paid in food and treats. However, when I ate my Happy Meal for lunch, she made it clear that she wanted to exchange her bowl of dried kibble for my cheeseburger. And when I had my six-inch sub for supper, she again made it clear she wanted to swap her bowl of kibble for my sandwich. There were no trades. I told her life in the field as a reporter is filled with sacrifices.

Perhaps, if this article goes over well, it will lead to a TV series, where I travel the country, reporting on independent bookstores, asking probing questions about each bookstore’s origins and what’s selling well, all while spending my writing paycheck on books. Maybe Nellie Bly would like to be my assistant. We could travel in a RV with a driver so I could read and she could look out the window. I can hear Nellie now — trying to negotiate a better meal deal and asking for top billing in the credits. With her good looks, she would be the star of the show in no time anyway.

[To read my article click here: Northern Wilds, pages 14-15.]

Book Reivew: Two States of Single: Essays on Family, Love, and Living Solo by Julie A. Jacob, Revisited

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[I reviewed Two States of Single for Wisconsin Writers Association (WWA) almost a year ago. Julie Jacob’s book is a collection of memoir essays. I loved this book the first time around. In October 2024, I met Julie at the WWA writer’s conference in La Crosse. I was an excited fan. It was fun to meet someone whose book gave me such pleasure. When I returned home from the conference, I reread Julie’s book. I’m happy to say, I loved it just as much the second time around, even though I knew how each essay ended. So I’m posting my review that was posted on the WWA website.]

Two States of Single: Essays on Family, Love, and Living Solo by Julie A. Jacob is a collection of well-crafted, engaging essays. In her opening essay, “Anything You Could Want,” readers meet Jacob’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, sister, and parents as she recounts the parties her mom and dad hosted when she was a child and living in southern Wisconsin. With humor and tender nostalgia, Jacob describes her parents working together as a team to provide a bounty of food and love for the guests who would soon arrive. In this essay, Jacob recognizes a credo by which her family lived: “They knew that life was filled with bumps so they enjoyed themselves while they could.” This theme threads its way throughout her book.

Jacob’s essays continue to follow the arc of her life as she describes her years in Chicago; a daring adventure in Brazil; joining sports clubs for young professionals; buying her own condo, then later on a house; taking a chance on love; caring for her aging parents; and losing her parents. Throughout Jacob hopes to marry and have children, but as the years slip by, neither marriage nor children happen for her. However, her desire to find a soulmate does not drive the book. Instead, what shines through in Jacob’s essays are her decisions to live in the present and to explore new roads rather than waiting for something that may never happen.

Vivid writing and crisp dialogue breathe life into Jacob’s essays. Readers will feel they know the people and places she writes about. Her essays are more than just good stories. They resonate because of Jacob’s ability to convey why each story matters, both to her and to her readers. In memoir writing a writer is supposed to do more than tell an anecdote. The essay needs to answer the question, “So why should I, the reader, care about this?” Jacob’s essays impact readers because as she writes about her past, she answers that question every time. As readers discover why each of these moments are important in Jacob’s life, they are given the gift of being able to do the same with the significant events in their lives.

By the time I finished Jacob’s collection of essays, I found myself longing to meet with a group of fellow readers, sip a good latte, and discuss Jacob’s essays. Her book would make a wonderful nonfiction read for a book club.  Because married or single, male or female, we all have stories and insights to share about our choices, careers, loves, family, sorrows, and joys.

A Mini Five-Pack of Book Reviews: Peter Geye, Matt Goldman, Alfred Lansing, Richard Osman, Kurt Vonnegut

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Ever have someone tell you to keep your head down? I interpret that to mean I should put my head in a book. And sometimes a book is the best place to be. I’ve been hanging out in a lot of books lately.

The Ski Jumpers by Peter Geye. I read The Ski Jumpers because I read The Lighthouse Road and Safe from the Sea, both beautifully written novels. Geye writes stories with brooding, flawed characters who are self-reliant and tough, yet vulnerable, which makes me like them and root for them. The vivid landscapes in Geye’s novels become a character that his protagonists must work with and sometimes fight against. In The Ski Jumpers family secrets gather like dust bunnies hiding in the dark, under a heavy, nearly immovable antiquated piece of furniture. Because each family member knows only a part of their family’s secrets, misconceptions develop and resentments grow. Pops Bargaard loves his wife, Bett, but she struggles with her own demons, one of which is her inability to love both of her sons. She dotes on Anton while despising Johannes “Jon.” Pops, an accomplished ski jumper in his youth, introduces his sons to the sport. Ski jumping becomes an escape for Pops and his sons. And as the years go by, ski jumping becomes what Pops and his sons talk about when they are still hiding secrets, when they aren’t ready to talk about their pain, when they are holding on to happier times. One of the joys in Geye’s novel is his detailed, vivid descriptions of ski jumping, which fly off the page, taking me along, letting me ski jump with Johannes and Anton. At some point while reading Geye’s book, I skipped to the “Acknowledgments,” and as I had come to believe, I found that he grew up ski jumping, which explained how he could write so intimately about it.

Still Waters by Matt Goldman. I read Still Waters because I’ve read three of Goldman’s Nils Shapiro detective novels: Gone to Dust, Broken Ice, and The Shallows, and enjoyed them all. Still Waters is one of Goldman’s stand-alone novels. It’s a murder mystery, but one that is solved with the help of ordinary people. Siblings Liv and Gabe, who are estranged, must reunite for their older brother Mack’s funeral in their rural northern Minnesota hometown. Mack’s death has been ruled a medical event, but Liv and Gabe receive emails from their dead brother saying he was murdered. While Liv and Gabe try to make sense of Mack’s email and uncover the truth about his death, someone else dies, and it’s clearly murder. Liv and Gabe discover mysterious letters in a box that belonged to their deceased mother, and they suspect the letters hold the key to Mack’s death and the second murder. This smartly woven mystery with multiple theories and a number of potential suspects kept me guessing. Plus, I could read it before I went to bed and still drift off to sleep without checking under the bed. (I like mysteries without psychopathic serial killers.) Goldman’s mystery does have some scary moments, but only enough to make the heart race a little.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. I read Endurance by Lansing because I like reading about shipwrecks. (Click here for proof.) The Endurance isn’t wrecked on a shoal or reef, she isn’t tossed over by a violent storm, and she isn’t irreparably wounded in battle. Instead, she has purposefully sailed into the Weddell Sea filled with ice floes, looking for a place to land on Antarctica. She is stalled by the ice, which sandwiches her in a death grip, squeezing and squeezing until she groans, and parts of her snap like toothpicks. After becoming unseaworthy, her crew have no choice but to abandon her and their mission to be the first to cross the width of Antarctica using sled dogs. Now the twenty-eight men must survive the beyond-bitter cold, the howling winds, and the snow and rain while hoping to rescue themselves. When Alfred Lansing wrote this book, he had access to the daily journals kept by some of the men, and he was able to interview some of the survivors. Lansing took great care to write an accurate and descriptive account of one of the greatest survival stories, and his book is a tribute to the human ability to put one foot in front of the other and to cling to hope. When Endurance was published in 1959, it was a critical success, but not a commercial one. By the time the book became a commercial success in 1986, Lansing was dead. If you read this book curl up with a blanket and a cup of something hot! This book chilled me to the bone!

The Bullet that Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery by Richard Osman. I read this book because I read the first two books in the Osman’s series, and they were fun, fun, fun. These murder mysteries are a treat. They are cozy but do have some un-cozy scenes. (And yay! No serial killers, which are so overdone.) Most of the main characters live in a retirement home in the English countryside. While they participate in some of the traditional retirement activities, they have one that’s unusual — they meet on Thursdays to look at cold cases that haven’t been solved. The unsolved murders somehow become entangled in a new murder case, which then also involves the police. One of the characters, Elizabeth, is a former MI-6 agent, and as it turns out, it’s not easy for her to give up the thrills of spying and sleuthing. Her fellow retirees join in the criminal-case-cracking adventures. This mystery series earns top kudos from me for its characters, its dialogue, and its plots. Most of the characters are senior citizens, but that doesn’t mean they have checked out of life. The older characters in the book are presented as people, who all have the same hopes, dreams, desires, and brains as the younger characters, even if the older ones do occasionally battle aches and pains. Osman’s snappy dialogue creates characters that are witty and quick thinking, conversations often drip with verbal irony and humorous understatements. The criminal characters are well-developed, too. They are brilliant and devious, but, of course, never a match for the Thursday Murder Club. While you could read these books out of sequence, I suggest they are best read in order.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I read this book because I walked into Apostle Islands Booksellers and saw it prominently displayed on a shelf. I’ve had people say to me, “Have you read Slaughterhouse-Five? No? Well, you should!” I’ve read articles where writers suggest to their readers, “If you haven’t read Slaughterhouse-Five, you should!” And there it was — Vonnegut’s book — on a shelf, looking at me, waiting for me, so I bought it. Slaughterhouse-Five is described as an antiwar book focused on the firebombing of Dresden in 1945. It follows Billy Pilgrim, a WWII veteran, who time travels from his old age to Dresden, to his wedding day, to life with his family, to a veteran’s hospital, to a planet in outer space, to his youth, like a pinball pinging across a fantasy-themed pinball game. I’m not listing Billy Pilgrim’s time travels in the necessarily correct order; besides, as the story unfolds, Billy travels back and forth among these places in time. But Vonnegut clearly had a plan, and as I read the book, it not only made sense to me, it all worked seamlessly. I never felt like I was being yanked around. A book like Slaughterhouse-Five is hard to explain in words. I like it for its satire, its experimentation, its ambiguity and clarity, and its themes. I like Vonnegut’s simple, but powerful sentences. Slaughterhouse-Five is often spoken of as anti-war novel, and that theme runs through it. However, Vonnegut’s slim novel is thematically rich, and there is much more being said than war is terrible. As I read the novel, I sometimes thought about “The Swimmer” by John Cheever. Raymond Carver’s short stories also came to mind.

Time to go keep my head down in a book. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is waiting for me.

Book Review: The Ponies at the Edge of the World: A Story of Hope and Belonging in Shetland by Catherine Munro

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Why did I read this book?

Next year I’m going to Shetland. I’ve been learning as much as I can about the group of islands, which are so far north of Scotland that most maps represent Shetland with an arrow that points north and the words to Shetland. And you have to take their word for it that it’s up there, beyond the edge of the map.

I bought Shetland: Your Essential Travel Guide (2024) by Laurie Goodlad. Her travel guide has a section titled “What to Read before You Arrive” with a list of fiction and nonfiction books. I chose Catherine Munro’s Ponies at the Edge of the World (2022) because where I grew up, we lived next to a farmer who had a small herd of American Shetland ponies, a cross between Shetland ponies and other horses. My sisters and I spent hours petting those ponies and feeding them tall grasses. The farmer who owned them taught us which grasses his ponies liked and how to hold our hands flat while the ponies nibbled their treats from our palms so our fingers wouldn’t get chomped.

What is this book about?

Catherine Munro is an anthropologist who specializes in human-animal relationships. She spent a year in Shetland to study the relationship between humans and Shetland ponies for her PhD. She interviewed people who spent their lives raising and taking care of Shetland ponies. For some Shetlanders, the tradition of caring for the ponies goes back generations.

While Munro’s book focuses on the relationship between Shetland ponies and people, she also describes some of the astonishing wildlife and the mystical landscapes that make the Shetland Islands one of the most unique and beautiful places on earth. She also brings to life the pragmatic and reserved but warm-hearted and community-minded people who live in Shetland.

What did I love about this book?

In her book, Munro describes why human-animal relationships are so important. The bond between the Shetland ponies and the people who raise them, care for them, and love them is fascinating. Shetland ponies developed over thousands of years, adapting to the climate and the terrain of Shetland. These small, thick-coated, hardy ponies became the perfect workmates for crofters who worked the land. Munro talks about the concerns for the survival of Shetland ponies as a distinct breed. She asks us to think about the importance of animals, to see them as our equals, and to understand that a respectful relationship with animals is essential for the survival of all species, including people.

Yesterday I read a blogger’s post stating that the Slender-billed Curlew has been officially declared extinct by scientists, a stark and sad announcement. To read the blog, click here. We need to do better for our earth and the plants and animals that inhabit it.

[You can follow Catherine Munro on Instagram at catherine_m_munro.]

Pumpkin Bundt Cake from the Blog “In Diane’s Kitchen”

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If you like pumpkin, this cake is yummy!

Yesterday I made a pumpkin bundt cake from scratch. I discovered the recipe on the blog In Diane’s Kitchen. I’m proving a point to Betty Crocker.

On Tuesday I called Betty Crocker. Well, not a real Betty Crocker because she doesn’t exist. Instead, I talked to a representative in the General Mills customer care department. I lodged a complaint because Betty Crocker cake mixes have shrunk — again.

For most of my life, cake mixes were 18.25 ounces. I have some great cake recipes that call for an 18.25-ounce cake mix and build from there, like a decadent chocolate rum cake and a tasty pistachio cake. So about ten years ago when the cake companies dropped the mixes to 15.25 ounces, I wasn’t happy. At the time, I called Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines to complain. (Unlike Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines was a real person, but he died in 1959.) Neither company cared that I was concerned my cake recipes could become obsolete — 15.25 was their new standard. They weren’t rude, not at all. They were apologetic and sympathetic, but I could read between the lines — I could like it or lump it. (The phrase customer care is an oxymoron.) Fortunately, my cake recipes still worked with the 15.25-ounce size.

But last week I discovered there has been another shrinkage. Betty’s cake mixes are now 13.25 ounces. So far Duncan Hines is still weighing in at 15.25 ounces, as is Pillsbury. When I called Betty Crocker’s consumer care department on Tuesday, I told them I would no longer buy their cake mixes. I explained that I wasn’t about to experiment by using a cake mix that is 5 ounces less than the amount called for in the recipe. I further explained that if other companies followed suit, I would make all my cakes from scratch because I have some good recipes. The customer care representative was sympathetic and kept saying, “I’m sorry about that.” She said she would pass my concerns along. But I know nothing will change, except in the future when the cake mix loses more weight.

You can google to find out how much extra flour and other ingredients, like baking soda, to add to the prepared mix. But go ahead and call me “my father’s daughter” on this one: I’m not buying a product then adding what the company should have added in order to make up the difference. One website suggested buying two boxes of cake mix, and adding six tablespoons from the second box to the first box. Then I was to seal up the leftover cake mix and save it to use for other cakes. AS IF!

So yesterday to prove my point to Betty Crocker, I made a pumpkin bundt cake — from scratch. Because I follow the blog In Diane’s Kitchen, the recipe landed in my email a couple of weeks ago. Pumpkin mixed with a dash of cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground ginger makes this cake taste like a slice of autumn. It has the consistency of a pound cake, which pairs well with coffee. And, in my experience, baking a pound cake is more forgiving than baking a regular cake.

Some thoughts to keep in mind if you make this cake:

  1. Diane recommends eating the cake with vanilla ice cream. I’d go with a creamy vanilla custard. However, this recipe calls for three sticks of butter and six eggs, so I skipped the ice cream. I’ve never baked a cake recipe that called for six eggs. This reminded me of one of my all-time favorite novels City of Thieves by David Benioff. Set in Russia in WWII, the two main characters in the novel have been arrested and are to be executed. However, a powerful Soviet colonel promises to pardon them if they can find a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake. There is war and famine, but the colonel wants his daughter to have an elegant wedding and a big cake, and so an epic quest for a dozen eggs begins. And this bundt cake? That might serve twelve people at the most? It gets six eggs!
  2. The recipe Diane shared says to spray the bundt pan with cooking oil. I used Baker’s Joy. When it was time to remove the cake from the pan, it came out like a dream.
  3. Diane noted that while the recipe said to bake for 60 minutes, she needed to bake the cake for 64 minutes. So did I, but I started with 60 minutes.

I will make this cake again. It was worth the extra time and effort. Besides while I made the cake, I listened to A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder, the second book in Dianne Freeman’s Countess of Harleigh Mystery series.

[To read my review of Freeman’s first book in the series, click here.]

Book Reviews: The Brampton Witch Murders by Ellis Blackwood and A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman

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Ziva (l) and Nellie (r), my two favorite dogs, share a seat on a bookstore run.

The winds howl, trees drop leaves, and squirrels, in a frenzy, bury seeds. Halloween decorations are coming down, and Christmas decorations are going up. I wear my down coat and knit hat and sometimes my mittens when walking my dog. It’s the perfect season to enjoy cozy mysteries. I like to tuck them between the more serious books I read.

I enjoy a good cozy mystery, as long as it’s not too cozy. There has to be some close calls, some murder, and some despicable characters. But there also has to be some humor, some quirky characters, and it has to be tame enough to read or listen to before bedtime. Of course, the line between a cozy and a not-so-cozy mystery is subjective, but I know where my line is when I read one.

I have recently discovered two cozy historical mystery series, both set in England, that I like well enough to read the next book in each series.

A Samuel Pepys Mystery: The Brampton Witch Murders by Ellis Blackwood

The Brampton Witch Murders is the first book in the Samuel Pepys Mystery series. It’s set in 1666 in England. Samuel Pepys runs an investigating agency in London. He has two inquisitors, Abigail Harcourt and Jacob Standish, who work for him. Pepys learns that his sister, Paulina, has been accused of witchcraft, and Simon Hopkins, a devious, zealous witch hunter has been sent to prosecute her. Pepys dispatches Abigail and Jacob to the village of Brampton, where they are to gather evidence to prove that the charges of witchcraft against Paulina and her friend are false. To complicate matters Paulina and her friend are accused of using witchcraft to commit murder.

[Note: The term inquisitors threw me at first because it made me think of an inquisition. I had to re-read the first few pages to understand that Abigail and Jacob were called inquisitors because it was their job to question other characters in order to uncover facts and evidence that would prove Paulina and the other women in the story were being falsely accused of witchery.]

Why did I like this book?

I liked the historical setting and subject matter of this cozy mystery. It’s scary how many characters in the story are willing to believe in Simon Hopkins and his accusations of witchery against the female characters without any proof. While men were sometimes found guilty and executed as witches, it was mostly women who were convicted and executed. Makes you wonder.

This is a fast-paced story and a quick, easy read. Because the book is small and a lot of the chapters are short, I kept it in my purse, so I could read it should I become stuck somewhere waiting for something or someone. The characters are interesting, the dialogue is good, and there are enough plot twists to keep readers engaged and guessing. And while it’s not thick with historical description, I still felt like I was in another time and place. Its themes of hysteria, greed, zealousness, and small-minded thinking are timeless.

A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder (A Countess of Harleigh Mystery) by Dianne Freeman

Set in 1899, A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder is the first book in Dianne Freeman’s series featuring Francis Wynn.

As a young naive woman, Frances was a wealthy American with an ample dowry. In a Downton Abbey move, she married Reggie, an aristocrat with a large crumbling manor and a shrinking bank account. Unlike the marriage between Cora and Robert Crawley, romance does not blossom between Frances and Reggie. After nine years of marriage, Frances’s philandering husband dies of a heart attack while in bed with his mistress. There is a cover-up because scandal among the British upper class is to be avoided at all costs. After a year of mourning, Frances leases a house in London and packs up her daughter and her possessions. She is determined to start a new life.

But life becomes complicated for Frances. A Metropolitan police officer shows up at her new home to inform her that the police are investigating Reggie’s death as a possible murder, and she is a suspect. Her brother-in-law has filed a suit against her and her bank account is frozen. Her sister arrives from America for her first London season. And, someone is stealing expensive items at society parties. On the upside, Frances’s next-door neighbor is handsome, intelligent, and helpful. Joining together, Frances and her friends, along with the Metropolitan police officer, work to solve the mystery of Reggie’s death and the rash of thefts at society gatherings.

Why did I like this book?

Freeman’s book is delightful. It’s narrated by the main character, Frances, who is witty, self-effacing, intelligent, unflappable, and perfectly charming. I enjoyed keeping company with her as she traded her widow’s clothes for amateur sleuthing.

With an undercurrent of humor humming through its pages, Freeman’s book gently pokes fun at the upper crust of British society in 1899. Embracing the bravado and the stiff-upper-lip mindset of the British upper class, Frances, her friends, and the police follow certain protocols and unspoken rules revered by Britain’s high society, even while solving serious crimes like murder and theft. (The rich do live in a different realm of reality, whether it be 1899 or 2024.) Freeman delivers a good mystery with an ending I didn’t see coming, except in hindsight.

I listened to this book on my library app. Sara Zimmerman reads this cozy mystery, expertly giving voice to a wide array of characters. I particularly felt her keep-calm-and-carry-on voice was ideal for the character Frances. I’m already listening to the second book in Freeman’s series.

Book Review: Backyard Almanac: 365 Days of Northern Nature by Larry Weber, 2022

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If you buy the book, make sure you get the one with the green cover, the photo edition. Released in 2022, it’s the newest edition.

Why did I buy this book?

This book was recommended by Gwen, the manager of Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, Minnesota, one of my favorite bookstores. (Although, I have to say any independent bookstore I go into becomes one of my favorites! And, once I’m inside a bookstore, I don’t like to leave.)

What is this book about?

Backyard Almanac: 365 Days of Northern Nature covers plants, insects, and animals that can be found in northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. One day and one page at a time, readers can learn about birds, butterflies, mosses, mushrooms, berries, wild flowers, amphibians, and trees, among other amazing plants and creatures.

What do I love about this book?

I started reading this book on October 10 because that is when I bought it. I read one page a day, so today I will read the entry for November 6, titled “Jiggly Jelly Fungi of Fall.” I love that I can read about nature one page a day, and it only takes a few minutes. It satisfies my urge to learn about the natural world around me, and it leaves me with time to read other books.

Each page is beautifully laid out. Larry Weber writes clear, concise descriptions with interesting details about each plant, insect, or animal. Photographer Sparky Stensaas provides beautiful photographs and informative captions. And illustrator Judy Gibbs’s enchanting sketches grace every page. It’s fascinating how much life can be found on the forest floor, in low-growing vegetation, and in trees if a person knows where to look.

At the end of each month’s section, is a blank page where a person can record notes about nature. An index at the back of the book makes it easy to look up entries. Because of the book’s thick, glossy, high-quality paper, the photographs are sharp with great color reproduction. Also, the book is heavy — good for doing some arm-toning reps, which I actually do if no one is watching.

What makes this book important?

The more people understand about nature and its interconnectedness, the more they will respect and treasure all of its plants, insects, and animals.