Lori's Book Loft

Search This Blog

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

Showing posts with the label Vali Benson

View all

Posts

Blood and Silver Vali Benson

Posted by Lori on April 19, 2023

+

0

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

TRANSLATE

WELCOME TO MY BOOK LOFT I’m a lifelong reader and the person behind Lori’s Book Loft.

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

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...

Just to the Right of the Stove by Elisabeth Horan

Yesterday, Isabelle Kenyon, contacted me to tell me about Elisabeth Horan's book inspired by Sylvia Plath , which explores links between writers, mothers, and mental health. I was induced to sadness when the title, Just to the Right of the Stove , popped out at me. The title was definitely well thought out - noting the deeper meaning of this literary work released by Twist in Time Press of Philadelphia. Isolation seemed prone to repeat itself throughout Plath's life's work as did ineffable self-appraisal. Overcome by profound hopelessness, it is plausible things became raw and exposed, deterring a catalyst for Plath's own healing. It's reported i n the early morning hours of 1963, she frenzied to write as if the variables had an impact on survival time. Fast forward fifty eight-years and Horan's versus flow and conjure images that are both abstract and real. In reading her words, defective & so alive, I witness an unsatisfied longing ...

CURRENTLY READING

LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2026

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 20264

Show more Show less

LET'S TALK BOOKS

lorisbookloft@gmail.com

Powered by Blogger