September is one of those transitional months. When it begins, the weather is still hot. By the last week, leaves are beginning to change color. The Anglo-Saxons called this month Gerst monath, Barley Month. It was the month for harvesting barley which was processed into a malt barley used in brewing beer. The name September
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LAST OF THE SUMMER READS
Throughout the summer I’ve highlighted books I enjoyed reading. It’s the last week of August, and today is the final installment of Summer Reads for 2018. I don’t know if the books under discussion have been to your taste. They’re all books I enjoyed with historical fiction and literary fiction the most represented genres. The
Women’s Equality Day
FEMINISM: THE FIRST WAVE The fight for women’s equality in the United States began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Advocates worked tirelessly circulating petitions, holding rallies and conventions, and marching in public parades. In this parade, 20,000 women marched in New York City, many of them wearing white as a symbol of purity.
SUMMER READS: Women’s Fiction by Carolyn Brown
It’s the middle of August. It’s hot and often humid. A time when a hammock looks pretty good. This portrait of a woman doing her correspondence while sitting in a hammock under the trees is a cooling view. Perhaps there’s a breeze. What if, instead of dutifully looking through her letters, the woman reclined with
Back to School
Hawaii Public Schools start today, so it seems appropriate to look at how school days have changed over the past one hundred years or so. For example, there is a popular list of Rules for Teachers dated 1915 that makes me wonder why anyone took up the profession. Note the assumption that teaching was a
SUMMER READS: Two Novels of Forgotten Women
THE HANDFASTED WIFE It’s 1065 and Edith Swanneck is worried, because “These days everyone talked of how important a church wedding was, a priest listening to vows exchanged in the church porch and then blessing the marriage.” [Handfasted Wife, Chapter 1] Edith Swanneck didn’t stand on the church porch with her husband Harold Godwinson. They
THE BENEFITS OF TRAVEL
Above the earth in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia. What could be more magical? No stress. No sense of routine. Heightened senses in an unfamiliar reality. It’s a perfect vacation activity, but not something you can do on a four day break from work. Vacation travel raises suspicions. Once upon a time, the average
SUMMER READS: Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton & Patsy Jefferson Randolph
We see Alexander Hamilton every time we take out a ten dollar bill. Our first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton believed in a strong central government led by the executive branch, established the national debt as a means of developing international credit, and built the Bank of the United States. Alone among the Founding Fathers,
LIVING SMALL
Once upon a time, most people lived small, but they weren’t necessarily happy about it. This one room cottage is part of the Ulster Folk Museum in Northern Ireland. It looks charming with its thatched roof and graveled pathway. Inside we see a sitting/sleeping area next to the fire, with kitchen materials close to hand.
SUMMER READS: TWO BEACH BOOKS ABOUT BEGINNERS
Changing up the reading list a little with two novels about families and growing up. Officially the genre is called coming-of-age, and though it specifically refers to the transition from youth to adulthood, I don’t think it’s a process that’s ever complete. Both of these novels are engaging, and good vacation reading. MATCHMAKING FOR
HAPPINESS
Summer is a happy time for me, but I suspect that’s my preconceived attitude. I want summer to be happy, because it contains so many things I like. Happiness is an elusive concept. We all want to be happy, but we don’t define happiness in the same way, which makes becoming “happy” a bit tricky.
SUMMER READS: TWO NOVELS BY SUJATA MASSEY
Good historical fiction takes the reader into an authentic world where the story is presented against the backdrop of actual customs and material culture, for example, food as it is eaten and prepared or family customs such as purdah, the seclusion of women within the household. When there’s also a mystery involved, it becomes more
WRITERLY CATS
Cats, readers, and writers just seem to go together. Before Big Box Bookstores and long before Amazon, cats used to be frequent residents in independent bookstores. Alas, the opportunity to scratch kitty ears at the cash register is gone, but readers still cuddle up with cats, as do writers. MARK TWAIN, American humorist, was particularly
Summer Reads: Two Novels by Rosamunde Pilcher
If you’re one of the many viewers of Poldark, this coastline may look familiar. It’s Lelant Engine, near Pendeen in Cornwall. Cornwall, a peninsula in South West England surrounded by the English Channel and Celtic Sea, is noted for its scenery and beaches. Tourism is an important part of the economy. Poldark, based on the
BEACH TIME
Since 1991 Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, better known as Dr. Beach, has released a list of America’s Best Beaches on Memorial Day Weekend. This year, first place honors went to Kapalua Bay Beach on Maui. Hapuna Beach State Park on the Big Island was also on the list, in eighth place. Hawai`i isn’t the only
THE LEGEND OF `ŌHI`A AND LEHUA
In the midst of an on-going eruption from Kīlauea Volcano, it’s hard to avoid thinking about Goddess Pele who makes her home in the volcano. There are many stories about Pele who is viewed both as a beautiful young woman and an old hag. She appears on roadways, hitches rides, and disappears. Pele is a