the words and worlds of John Robinson
The skin around the boy’s neck was bruised to black from the tightness of the iron collar. His eyes bulged and he had to open his mouth wide to capture a breath. Three poles were fastened to the collar, long enough so the men who held them were out of reach should the boy try …
We're four months into 2020 and...well...Happy Quarantine! I had intended to start a monthly book suggestion column way back there in January, but, as you can see, it didn't happen. What better time to start than during the recent plague? What better novel to start with than Stewart O'Nan's A Prayer For The Dying? Don't …
Continue reading "Book of the Month, April: A Prayer For The Dying"
And now the conclusion of my favorite books from this past decade. Again, these are in no particular order, except for the number one spot. Be sure to check out Part One. 10. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (2018) by David Grann In the 1920s, the richest people …
My list of books to be read is somewhat extensive, and most of the books are older. Of the books I did read that were published in this swiftly ending decade, these are the ones I liked the best. I by no means read everything published, and I’m sure there are some I have overlooked …
“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.” -Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury I have always loved autumn. It’s my favorite season. The leaves turn wonderful colors, the heat of summer is tempered, if we’re lucky, and, of course, there’s Halloween. What’s not to love about Halloween, am I …
The night his father died, Jeff Olliet's lungs were full of the same crepe myrtle and Spanish moss that teased his nose now in the full swelter of day. He leaned on the tree, listening to the congregation in the church singing about the sweet by and by as the river accompanied their chorus. He …
The decision to lance the boil on his face didn’t scare Gerry. Why visit a doctor and pay good money for something he could easily do? Holding his knife (the one with the coon hound on the grip-- his nicest, cleanest pocket knife), he readied himself for the first slice into the ping-pong sized protuberance. …
September of 1934 was a busy month. One million textile workers went on strike in the United States on the first. Evangeline Booth was the first woman to be elected General of the Salvation Army on the third. On the fifth, the 8th Nuremberg Rally opened in Nazi Germany. On September nineteenth, the same day …
When I was sixteen (which is further in the past than I care to admit), I went through a phase in which I intended to read all the books that people said I shouldn't read. To this day I'm not quite sure who those people were or why they wanted to monitor my to be …
1 It was a cold November afternoon, the sky grey and heavy with clouds. The park was practically empty except for the little girl dressed in her warm winter best on the swings. She propelled herself through the air, knowing full well she was supposed to go straight home from school once the final bell …
Curio Macabre 