What should we have for dinner? -- from the Introduction to The Onmivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan...

Maeve Binchy  (1939 - 2012) was an Irish author who wrote 16 novels and several collections of short stories.  Every now and again I ...

Three years after her husband's sudden, accidental death,  Maureen Hovenkotter decided to retire from her job as a Senator's aid...

There's a necklace in my office, a string of glass beads. -- Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan. This is the second in a mystery series...

I should know as well as anyone; life can be completely changed, for good or not so good, in one breath.  It is in the present moment that...

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted i...

"Terroir" means "taste of the place" and is a popular concept among wine enthusiasts. In American Terroir: Savoring ...

Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in...

Maybe those opportunities were there if I took the time to recognize them, reach out and grasp them.  Maybe it just required getting off t...

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted ...

I've been a little distracted from my books lately, and particularly slow with the book reviews. My mind has been busy thinking -- and ...

OK, so here I am, Lee Morris, opening the doors and windows to gusts of life and early death. -- Decider by Dick Francis . Dick Franci...

To paraphrase Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, the first step in my journey of 25,000 miles was a year of prayerful refl...

"If it is not economically viable, it's not terroir.  It's ego gratification." -- American Terroir: Savoring the Flav...

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it...

I do not much like the songs of Edith Piaf, the boulevards of Baron Haussman, the furniture of Louis XIV, the sound of Gertrude Stein, t...

  I first got to know Oscar Livingstone in fairly humdrum circumstances. -- A Friend from England by Anita Brookner. That makes me want ...

  The Rebel Angels is the first in Roberson Davies "Cornish Trilogy" of books with a connection to eccentric art collector Fran...

Milan Pelouch is an 80-year-old mushroom hunter who, in his charming guide, How to Find Morels (subtitled Even as Others are Coming Back ...

McVarish always reminds me of the fairy-tale about the girl out of whose mouth a toad leapt whenever she spoke.  He could say more nasty...

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted i...

The day he found the body, Mickey Dade woke up under a tree on Mt. Tamalpias.  -- Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart . That's a great ...

My neighbor Paul has a field that grows great carrots. -- American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Row...

"Parlabane is back." -- The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies.  That is not an opening sentence likely, standing alone, to d...

It's finally, kind of Summer and it is time for me to see if I've made any progress on my lists.  This is the third of my quarterl...