Archive for January 2021
Book review: The Nanny
I enjoyed this novel told through multiple narrators, with its Gothic elements and an engaging backstory that slowly reveals itself as the novel progresses. Laura Holt fled England, her privileged life and her titled parents as soon as she could, eventually settling half a world away in California. But tragedy and financial woes force her…
Read MoreSkyscraper tourism : New York’s Freedom Tower
For any who follow my site, you’ll know my family and I are big skyscraper fans. I’m always attracted to skyscrapers, and have visited many of the major skyscrapers around the world. I grew up with New York’s twin towers, and went to enjoy views from the observation deck numerous times – including a few…
Read MoreAuthor Mark Tedesco’s love affair with Rome
As an unabashed Italophile myself, one who is lucky enough to have called Rome home for over 20 years, I was bound to be fascinated by a newly released book entitled She Seduced Me: A Love Affair with Rome, written by American author Mark Tedesco. Here’s a bit of background about the book: “I resisted,…
Read MoreGdańsk’s not-to-be-missed Solidarność Museum
There is lots to see in Gdańsk, Poland. This trip looms large in our minds since it is the last international trip we took before the era of Corona lockdowns last year, and so we often found ourselves returning to idyllic life when international travel was the norm. Although the city offers numerous attractions to…
Read MoreBook review: Half a World Away
Loved, loved, loved this book. So pleased it was my first novel of 2021, and that I discovered author Mike Gayle through this highly enjoyable tale. The cover blurb says it best : Same city. Different streets. Same mother. Different lives. The story of Kerry Hayes and Noah Martineau is the story of fate, the…
Read MoreA stroll through Wheeling, West Virginia’s Woodsdale–Edgewood neighborhood
In my last post, I wrote about my visit to Wheeling, West Virginia. In addition to seeing the center of the city and having dinner with a panoramic view of the Ohio River and the coal barges passing by, we also took a nice stroll through the Woodsdale-Edgewood historic district. This district is on the…
Read MoreAnother year, another Goodreads Challenge
In 2020, I truly took my Goodreads Reading Challenge down to the wire – only reaching my goal of the 45 novels I’d set out for myself in a more optimistic January of 2020 on the next-to-last-day of 2020. Even so, it was still a nice feeling to have met my goal. I love the…
Read MorePassing through Wheeling, West Virginia
This past summer, my son and I stopped off in Wheeling, West Virginia during a driving trip. We arrived in the afternoon, and took a walk around downtown before stopping for dinner. Wheeling, located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, was originally settled as a township in the state of Virginia. It is here…
Read MoreHappy 2021!!
Were we in need of a new start. And a new year. As a history nerd, I’ve always loved the post-World War I era, so one year ago I was thoroughly bamboozled by the glamour of the year 2020 – the chance to ring in the new roaring 20s. The Jazz Age. Flappers. The economic…
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