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Lori's Book Loft

Lori's Book Loft

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Post-Traumatic Thriving The Art, Science & Stories of Resilence by Randall Bell, Ph.D.

on June 09, 2023

Ph.D. Post-Traumatic Thriving Post-Traumatic Thriving The Art Science & Stories of Resilence. Randall Bell

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May 2023 Reads and Porch Poodles

on May 31, 2023

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The Mitzi Clark Series by Grace Mirchandani

on May 27, 2023

Grace Mirchandani The Mitzi Clark Series

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The Wraith Cycle T.R. Thompson

on May 25, 2023

The Wraith Cycle. T.R. Thompson

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Calling Bullsh*t on Busy: A Practical Guide to Ditching the Time Management Myth and Quickly Achieving Your Goals by Andrew Mellen

on May 25, 2023

Calling Bullsh*t on Busy: A Practical Guide to Ditching the Time Management Myth and Quickly Achieving Your Goals. Andrew Mellen

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10,000 Startups: Legal Strategies For Startup Success Roger Royse

on May 13, 2023

000 Startups: Legal Strategies For Startup Success 10 Roger Royse

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Cristobal Bull Chris Corbett with illustration by Richard Galvao

on May 08, 2023

Chris Corbett Cristobal Bull Richard Galvao

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The Sparkly Bun by Keith Stoeckeler and Lana Lee

on May 04, 2023

Keith Stoeckeler Lana Lee The Sparkly Bun

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The Tooting Rabbit and the Enchanted Forest, Chaz Wendling, Kathrine Gutkovskiy

on May 03, 2023

Chaz Wendling Kathrine Gutkovskiy The Tooting Rabbit and the Enchanted For est

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Damon Lembi in the Author Spotlight

on May 02, 2023

Damon Lembi Damon Lembi in the Author Spotlight Learnit

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April 2023 Reads and Birding

on April 30, 2023

April 2023 Reads

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A Different Frame of Mind: Living a Full Life with Traumatic Brain Injury Lois Jean Thomas

on April 29, 2023

A Different Frame of Mind: Living a Full Life with Traumatic Brain Injury Lois Jean Thomas TBI Traumatic Brain Injury

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Library Book Sales

on April 27, 2023

Library Book Sales

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Beside Lake Beautiful William A. Quayle

on April 25, 2023

Beside Lake Beautiful Great Lakes William A. Quayle

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Railroad to the Moon Ron Garan

on April 23, 2023

Astronaut nasa Railroad to the Moon Ron Garan The Armstrong Air & Space Museum

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Blood and Silver Vali Benson

on April 19, 2023

Blood and Silver Tombstone Arizona Vali Benson

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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.

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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

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