You can’t live in Portland and not know about Ursula LeGuin. A few years ago she and Margaret Atwood shared the stage at Portland Arts and Lectures, a conversation I still remember several years later. It’s inexplicable then that until this effort, I had read only one of her books: Lavinia. This is largely because I generally don’t seek out science fiction; I usually wait for it to find me. I was struck by her remarks at the National Book Awards in December and realized […]
can tidying up really be this much fun?
I heard an interview of Kondo a few days before Christmas, and a day later saw this little book in my favorite bookstore. As I leafed through it, a headline popped out at me: “Storage experts are hoarders.” I liked this book immediately. Kondo describes her obsession as a child to clean up at home. (I was not this type of child) She was always trying to throw things away, including her family’s belongings which did not go over well. She found herself always beginning […]
No Change Please, we’re British
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is very British, in a good way. Major Pettigrew, an elderly widower, lives in Edgecombe St. Mary. It’s a small town full of small minded people. Tradition is cherished; outsiders are shunned. Pettigrew is a retired military man, values king and country, good manners and British traditions. He treasures two military rifles passed down from his father who had been in the colonial army, one of which he owns, the other is held by his brother. He golfs. Widows and spinsters […]
Solving the Mystery of Edwin Drood is dangerous stuff
The Edwin Drood Murders is a great escape. Imagine a little town in the Northwest corner of Oregon, nestled up to Astoria, called Dickens Junction. The town’s founder set up this village to recreate the look and feel of Dickens novels. Of course it doesn’t include the tenements, poor citizens and horrible air quality of 19th century London, rather it substitutes Dickens for Disney in creating a cozy little tourist town. This is the second of Christopher Lord’s Dickens Junction mysteries, the first: The Christmas […]