Respect the Weather — As with many places, over the past few months the East Coast has been experiencing fluctuating temperatures due to climate change. One day the temperature is almost 50F and the next it is down to 30F. It’s confusing for people, let alone wildlife. Skunks have ventured out prematurely and the…

The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman — **THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS** I found this short novel while browsing the library’s new book section. It is a creative imagining of magic as the ‘true’ medical science where students spend years in academia to test and refine magical cures. In the book’s world, being a Doctor of Medicine is…

Pathways and Cutbacks — I attended a workshop about how to approach seasonal cleanup in native plant gardens. This is a big issue for ecologically focused gardeners who are creating native plant and pollinator gardens. In the suburbs, it seems like the more natural you go, the more likely a chemical green lawn-owning neighbor…

Book Review — **SPOILER ALERT! THIS BOOK REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS** I began reading the Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante after watching the HBO adaption of the first book, My Brilliant Friend. With HBO no longer in my budget, I picked up the books to continue following the saga of Elena and Lila, two…

How to Tell the Difference — On the East Coast, the holidays are filled with ‘Amaryllis’ bulb kits to give as gifts or to decorate homes. The blossoms are fantastically large and showy in color, from the palest pink to deep scarlet. But did you know these magnificent blooms are not true Amaryllis flowers, but rather…

A Memoir — **REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS** This was my first Joan Didion book and I went in knowing next to nothing about her life. It was nice to approach a book with no knowledge other than what the book summary provided. During reading, I gave no head nods or had any thoughts like…

It’s Not Supposed to Be Tidy — One of the biggest challenges in pollinator gardening is convincing people that a healthy garden is not supposed to look like a formal, tidy garden, especially in winter. All those hibernating perennials and dead flower stalks offer crucial shelter for beneficial insects and food for winter birds. In most suburbs…

Historical to Dystopian to Literary Fiction — I read almost 70 books this year! Looking through the titles, it was difficult to choose the top ten and even more difficult to rank them. It’s time to say goodbye to 2022 and look forward to a new year filled with newly published books, as well as, classics. Plus…

Historical Fiction — **THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS** I read this book easily over a weekend, because the short chapters are fast-paced and engrossing. The events in the book move quickly and keep the reader guessing through all four-hundred pages. I was rarely certain about the fate of the main characters. While the book…