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Lori's Book Loft

Lori's Book Loft

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On Wahoo Reef Tim W. Jackson

on May 17, 2024

On Wahoo Reef Tim W. Jackson

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James Whitcomb Riley and William Somerset Maugham

on April 06, 2024

Clara Vawter James Whitcomb Riley John Wiliam Vawter William Somerset Maugham

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March 2024 Reads and Appreciation of Emergency Response Providers

on March 31, 2024

March 2024 Wrap Up

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Night Elie Wiesel

on March 24, 2024

Eliezer Wiesel Night

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The Colonel and the Bee Patrick Canning

on March 23, 2024

Patrick Canning The Colonel and the Bee

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Where We Belong The Museum of Forgotten Memories Anstey Harris

on March 22, 2024

Anstey Harris The Museum of Forgotten Memories Where We Belong

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Parent Imperfect Paul Lamb

on March 15, 2024

Parent Imperfect Paul Lamb

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Bookish Habits Discussion

on March 14, 2024

Bookish Habits booklover Bookreview books Bookworm

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Teacher Man Fank McCourt

on March 11, 2024

Fank McCourt Teacher Man

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Seeking the Lord A 30 Day Start to Your Journey Keon Lindsey

on March 08, 2024

Keon Lindsey Seeking the Lord A 30 Day Start to Your Journey

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Actionable Life Skills for Young Adults: 11 Powerful Steps to Achieve Financial Independence and Kick-start Your Road to Successful Adulthood Maya Shine

on March 07, 2024

Actionable Life Skills for Young Adults: 11 Powerful Steps to Achieve Financial Independence and Kick-start Your Road to Successful Adulthood Maya Shine

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Storytelling with Charts Sam Schreim

on March 07, 2024

Sam Schreim Storytelling with Charts

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Let Me Tell You About Jasper Dana Perino

on March 07, 2024

Dana Perino Let Me Tell You About Jasper

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Two Paperbacks by Frank McCourt and Elie Wiesel

on March 03, 2024

Elie Wiesel Frank McCourt Holocaust Night Teacher Man

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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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