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Interior of a spaceship with a metallic robot looking at a hologram of a human. Text: National Science Fiction Day

It’s National Science Fiction Day!

(Image by Enrique from Pixabay) Just as residents of San Francisco warn “Don’t call it Frisco,” I have it on good authority that true science fiction fans insist “Don’t call it sci-fi.” The first science fiction I remember being enthralled by was the original Star Trek TV show (1966-1969). Later, with the advent of cable television, I discovered […]

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A stack of 3 closed books (left); an open notebook with a pen on top (right). Title: The Best Books I Read in 2023

The Best Books I Read in 2023

I was very picky about the books I chose to read this year. As a result, I read a lot of good books—so many that putting together this list was an agonizing process. In past years, I’ve kept my best books list to a total of 15, usually a top ten list plus five honorable

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The Basket Boats of Vietnam

During the French colonial period in Vietnam, authorities exacted a tax on boats. So the people of the fishing villages got creative: “These aren’t boats. They’re baskets.” We saw these boats all over the beaches around Da Nang. Sometimes they were upright, as here, but often they were inverted to provide a waterproof covering for

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A small ocean cruise ship on the water, with green hills and a snow-covered mountain peak in the background.

We’re Off to Sail the Seas Again!

We went traveling between June 8th and July 9th. And now we’re about to leave home again. Normally we wouldn’t be taking major trips this close together, but the current exploration is the last of our postponed then rescheduled trips from the COVID-19 times. This time we’ll be gone for three months on an itinerary

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Discussion

What Do You Remember About Your Childhood Reading?

Or, The Power of Enchantment How much do you remember about reading in early childhood? I ask because I’m always bemused when I see other peoples’ statements about learning to read at age 3 or 4 and remembering the very moment they realized they could make sense of the squiggles on the page. I ask

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A small ocean cruise ship on the water, with green hills and a snow-covered mountain peak in the background.

Setting Off to Sail the Seas!

After having two cruises canceled during the time of COVID-19, my husband and I are finally sailing off to enjoy retirement for a month. I don’t expect to be posting much during that time because internet access is severely limited while at sea. I do expect to read a lot around our bouts of sightseeing,

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Rectangular flag with stripes of rainbow colors

Celebrate Pride Month!

Resources Pride Month—June 2023 Happy Pride Landing page for Lit Hub’s articles 7 Children’s Books That Celebrate Pride Ten LGBTQ+ Authors on the Books That Taught Them Celebrating Pride “LGBTQ+ Books to Discover the Voices, Stories, and Power of Pride” From publisher Harper Collins The Lesser-Known Novel of the 1950s That Presaged Queer Liberation “Cat

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Earth photographed from space

Celebrate Earth Day!

Related Post: Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22 since 1970 to encourage people to protect the environment. Test your knowledge of environmental protection and learn about programs like The Canopy Project and issues like sustainable fashion by clicking here: Earth Day 2023 And you can celebrate with reading by checking out this article:

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Historic photo: black and white image of a crowd of women suffragettes dressed in white marching on a city street lined by men in dark suits.

5 Memoirs to Read for International Women’s Day

(Feature Image: From the [U.S.] National Archives catalog; National Archives Identifier: 593556) Related Post: Here are memoirs by five strong women with whom to celebrate. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd Sue Monk Kidd was an established Christian inspirational writer when an incident involving her teenage daughter called her to question

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