Mad Honey (2022)By Jennifer Finney Boylan and Jodi PicoultI’m just going to say it, I didn’t really like this book. Two great novelists joined forces to write what felt like a soap opera. One was…

The Dog Starsby Peter HellerI had a little trouble getting into this book for two reasons: 1) the writing style and 2) there’s a dog… and he’s old. I almost couldn’t read it because I…

Before We Were Yoursby Lisa WingateI started 2022 with my favorite genre: heartbreaking historical fiction. This book weaves the (shocking) true story of children ripped from their homes during the Great Depression and placed into…

This Tender Landby William Kent KruegerThis historical fiction novel is so well written that it not only tells of the sad (poverty of the Great Depression) and shameful (Native American boarding schools) reality of the…

Christmas 2016 - Denver As the holiday season crept upon us this dreadful year of 2020, I wondered how my family might find the holiday spirit in such a spiritless year. We’re being asked to…

It was the summer of '16. I was young and restless… when I look back now, that summer seemed to last forever…those were the best days of my life. Oh, whoops, I got distracted. It…

The coast rhododendron is Washington’s state flower and while I wholeheartedly agree they are worthy of this fine distinction, it behooves me to mention the rhododendron is actually of the shrub genius, in that it…

As the biggest and brightest full moon of 2020 snuck her way over the horizon and floated into the atmosphere above our beloved Salish Sea, I stepped onto our back deck to watch as the…

I’ve been using the word overwhelmed to describe my emotional experience throughout this COVID pandemic. Overwhelmed by its ominous presence; overwhelmed by its ease of contagion; overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of those infected. But…