Lori's Book Loft

Search This Blog

About
Book Reviews
Authors
Bookish Life
Bookstores
Books to Film
Poetry
Disclosure

Showing posts with the label The Frightful Verses

View all

Posts

The Frightful Verses Francisco A. Ojeda

on April 24, 2018

Francisco A. Ojeda The Frightful Verses

+

WELCOME TO MY BOOK LOFT

I'm Lori, a lifelong reader, and the person behind Lori's Book Loft. Here you'll find book reviews, conversations with authors, bookstores worth visiting, books being adapted for film, and the occasional story about why a particular book found its way into my hands.

TRANSLATE

POPULAR THIS WEEK

Why I’m Reading What the Dog Saw

I spent the better part of the summer watching documentaries. There’s something about the way a documentary gathers little pieces—people, places, events, memories, and bits of history—and brings them together to tell a larger story that I find fascinating. I’ve realized that I really enjoy stories that make me curious about the world and send me down an unexpected path. That same curiosity is probably what led me to What the Dog Saw . This summer, I made it to a new bookstore and, naturally, spent some time wandering the shelves. I also stopped at a few book sales and came home with several older books. I love finding books this way. You never quite know what is going to catch your attention. One of those books was What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. I'll admit that the title was what initially pulled me in. At the time, we were mourning the loss of our beloved dog, Buddy , who was nearly sixteen years old. Seeing the word Dog on the cover was enough to make me pick it up...

Beyond Goose and Maverick: Discovering the Real Top Gun

When I wasn’t watching documentaries this summer, I seemed to find myself rewatching Top Gun: Maverick. More than once. Okay… probably more times than I should admit. There is just something about this movie that clicks with me. It has the action, the incredible flying scenes, the music, and that wonderful bit of nostalgia that comes with seeing familiar characters again. But I think what really keeps bringing me back is the story underneath all of it. I love the idea that sometimes you can't simply follow the book. The mission in Top Gun: Maverick requires the pilots to draw on everything they have learned—their training, knowledge, experience, and instincts—and then figure out a way to do something that hasn't been done before. They have to trust what they know, trust each other, and find a new way to reach the target and come home. There is something about that that resonates with me. Maybe because life is often like that. We collect experiences along the way, and eventually...

A Sentence That Made Me Stop in Straw Shoes

One of the things I love about communicating with authors through email is that you just never know what might land in your inbox. Sometimes an email leads to a conversation, and sometimes it leads to a book you might never have discovered otherwise. That is how Straw Shoes found its way to me. I received an email from Mathias B Freese asking if I would like to read his book and reminding me that he is not getting any younger. Mathias is 86. Of course, I told him I would love to read it. I also told him that I had just heard about a 91-year-old man who had finished the Appalachian Trail, so I was hopeful that perhaps Mathias still had another book in him. He sent me a PDF of Straw Shoes , and I opened it. I even emailed him back to tell him I was beginning the book. There is something I really enjoy about that little connection between an author and a reader. A book can begin as an email and, a few minutes later, you are holding someone's words in your hands. I started readin...

Birdbrains: A Book That Reminded Me to Look Closer

Earlier this year, I received a PDF copy of Birdbrains: A Lyrical Guide to Washington State Birds from Raven Chronicles Press via Shannon O’Grady. I have to admit, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first opened it. I love books that bring together different pieces of a story, and this one immediately caught my attention because it isn't simply a book about birds. It is a collection of poetry, stories, observations, artwork, and facts that encourages you to look a little closer at the birds we so often take for granted. Birdbrains is a 314-page anthology featuring 107 species of birds from Washington State, along with other species from across the United States and around the world. It was edited by Washington State poet Susan Rich, with original pen-and-ink sumi-e paintings by artist Hiroko Seki and bird facts and notes from Stephanie Delaney. But what really makes this book interesting is the collection of voices inside it. Ninety-eight poets and writers contributed ...

What Stayed With Me After Ham’s Heaven

I don't think we can look at the early days of space exploration without understanding how much courage, curiosity, and determination went into figuring out whether humans could actually survive in space. I have to admit, when I first picked up this book about Ham, I wasn’t sure how I’d get through the story. Before Ham, there were rhesus monkeys known as Albert I through IV. These monkeys were part of Project Albert, which aimed to study the effects of space travel on living organisms. None of them survived. Reading that part of the story is important. It shows that the risks were already known. By the time Ham came along, there had already been loss, and the people involved in the space program had learned some lessons from those earlier attempts. That stayed with me as I continued reading about Ham. There was already a history behind what he was being asked to do. Before he was Ham, he was simply known as Number 65 . Captured in Cameroon in 1957, he became o...

FROM THE ARCHIVES

June 201748
July 201728
August 201716
September 20177
October 20174
November 201717
December 201724
January 20185
February 20187
March 201827

April 201818
May 201818
June 201810
July 201834
August 20188
September 20189
October 201824
November 201812
December 201815
January 20198
February 20193
March 20196
April 20195
May 20196
June 20193
July 20198
August 201911
September 20194
October 20194
November 20192
December 201916
January 20204
February 20209
March 20209
April 20207
May 20203
June 20205
July 20208
August 202013
September 20207
October 20204
November 20204
December 20201
January 20212
February 20214
March 202116
April 20214
May 20211
June 20213
July 20215
August 20215
September 20214
October 20211
November 20219
December 20211
January 20221
March 202213
April 202220
May 20225
June 20223
August 20225
September 202218
October 202213
November 20227
December 20227
January 20237
February 202313
March 20238
April 20239
May 20239
June 20231
July 20233
August 20233
September 202311
October 20231
November 20231
December 20239
January 20245
February 202413
March 202418
April 20241
May 20241
June 20245
July 20241
August 20241
September 20241
October 20241
November 20241
December 202416
January 202510
February 20252
March 20255
May 20251
June 20251
September 20254
October 20251
November 20251
January 20266
February 20269
March 20263
April 20264
July 20263
August 20261
September 20265

Show more Show less

LET'S TALK BOOKS

lorisbookloft@gmail.com

Powered by Blogger