Harry Truman Day, that is.  My favorite modern president and the only modern president to not have a college degree, Harry Truman was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri.  He was a selfless son who returned to the family farm to help his parents, a soldier in World War I, an unsuccessful haberdasher, and […]

Where would we be without our pooches and kitties? In a very dismal place, that’s where. Our critters are our friends, companions, walking buddies, and alarm clocks. Sure, there are the gusts of fur that drift through our homes and the occasional chewed earbud cord to vex us, but studies show that having pets can […]

When life seems too hard, and I want to snivel like the mope that I am, I buck myself up with thoughts of Meriwether Lewis and Ernest Shackleton. That’s right, these two legendary explorers and survivors of expedition-related disaster have been my inspiration, and can be yours, too! You must, however,  commit to a rigorous […]

It’s that official time of year to celebrate Earth, the spectacular spinning ball of gases, rocks, and minerals which we call home.  Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 of each year.  According to earthday.org, this celebratory tradition was originally conceived in 1970 by a man named Gaylord Nelson.  Nelson was a Wisconsin U.S. Senator […]

Supernatural horror and historical fiction may sound like an unlikely combination.  But The Terror, by Dan Simmons, is a brooding, bone-crunching thriller and a complex survival tale. Based on the events of the lost Franklin Expedition of the 1840s, which sought the elusive Northwest Passage in the Arctic, The Terror tells the story of the HMS Erebus and […]

Whodunit heaven, that is.  I like them hard-boiled and full of creeps, weirdos, and cruds, and Crimson Lake, by Candice Fox, is the ideal pick. Ted Conkaffey, a former cop, accused but not convicted of the brutal rape and attempted murder of a young girl, has been released from prison due to insufficient evidence.  Broken […]

In the The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn, Anna Fox is in desperate trouble, although she doesn’t seem to know it yet. Separated from her husband and child and mortally afraid to leave her house, she spends too much time drinking Merlot and mixing up her medications. She keeps close tabs on her neighbors, […]

Can you feel it? Spring is, in fact, springing! Green things are growing, and the air is tingling with warmth.  It’s time for us to crawl out of our winter dens, rub our eyes, and stare wide-eyed at the sun-dappled world around us. If you’re feeling the urge to wander outside and partake in one […]