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I prefer my history lessons with a healthy dose of make-believe. Historical fiction gives me the chance to experience the past through the lives of characters I really care about. Done well, it can transport you to a bygone time and place, recreating the sights, sounds, and smells of the past. I love the endless opportunities this genre provides for learning about the events that have shaped our world. Here are six new novels that are full of historical detail, each breathing new life into a distinct slice of history.

Continue Reading "Highly Anticipated Historical Fiction" →

I have always loved fashion. Sometime circa 1979 I started ripping out photos from Teen Magazine and Seventeen Magazine and hanging them on my closet door for inspiration. I still have a huge box of clippings that I can't bring myself to throw out.  

Looking back through them is walk down memory lane and while my taste has evolved, it's interesting how many of my preferences have remained consistent. Short hair? Yes. Sweater dress with matching tights? Yes (though maybe not white ones). Cute gold ballet flats?  Yes please!  High school sophmore to 46 year old woman, my go to uniform has remained remarkably the same. 

Continue Reading "On the pursuit of free fashion and personal style" →

Several years ago I realized that if I read 50 books a year, then I had enough cultural credit built up to also watch as much TV as I wanted. What I then realized, in this flurry of flatscreen love, was that TV…had gotten pretty darn wonderful. Great acting, fantastic stories, and the time to really explore characters and their worlds to an extent the multiplex will never match.

Continue Reading "Ten TV shows that celebrate the small screen" →

Doing it all is realistically not an option. But I've found these four books tremendously helpful in giving it a shot.

Read on for (at least a small measure of) happiness, financial peace, parental well-being and post-feminist soothing. 

Continue Reading "4 “practical” picks for the wannabe Wonder Woman" →

Oscar season is here. Every year I try to watch as many of the movies that received major nominations as I can. So I have quite a viewing queue to get through before the 86th Academy Awards show airs on March 2. This year I have a pretty long reading list too, since more than half of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture began as books.

Continue Reading "Our Oscars reading list" →