Lesa's Book Critiques: The Forgotten Book Club by Kate Storey

 Lesa's Book Critiques: The Forgotten Book Club by Kate Storey

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach:   Reviewed by Kristin Sally Holt was thirteen-years-old when she lost one of the most important people in her life, her big sister Kathy...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman: Reviewed by Kristin Ash and Edi have been best friends for 42 years. From feeding the nursery school class Venus flytrap together, to ma...

Six Years Later

This has been a very tough day...... six years ago today Sandi came home her final time just after six in the evening. It was the beginning of hospice ... and the beginning of the end. I did not want her here as I was very afraid of what was coming and not being able to care for her as she needed and deserved. That turned out to be the reality as after about a week they lost pain control and she suffered horribly before lapsing into unconsciousness those last few days. It was hell for her and for us too.

Sandi, on the other hand, did not want to die in the hospital. She desperately wanted to be at home here with us. I agreed as that was what she wanted and there was no way I could tell her no. In a sense she is still here as her urn sits here in the den.

I wish for so much that can't be......and I miss her so much. Every day is hard....some are worse than others....and then there are days like today. I turn 62 Monday and she is not here to tell me not to be grumpy about another birthday and to have fun.

Then we have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and her birthday in January. What should be a great time of year is instead a hard, painful slog. Six years later, nothing has changed. At least she is not here to watch me slowly get sicker as what little I inherited vanishes like sand through the hourglass.

The Guardian: Novelist Jesmyn Ward: ‘Losing my partner almost made me stop writing’ Emma Brockes

 The Guardian: Novelist Jesmyn Ward: ‘Losing my partner almost made me stop writing’ Emma Brockes

Lesa's Book Critiques: ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD BY PATRICK BRINGLEY

 Lesa's Book Critiques: ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD BY PATRICK BRINGLEY

Lesa's Book Reviews: ON FIRE ISLAND BY JANE L. ROSEN

 Lesa's Book Reviews: ON FIRE ISLAND BY JANE L. ROSEN

Lesa's Book Critiques: THE SECRET GARDEN OF YANAGI INN BY AMBER A. LOGAN

 Lesa's Book Critiques: THE SECRET GARDEN OF YANAGI INN BY AMBER A. LOGAN

Lesa's Book Critiques: DEATH ON A WINTER STROLL BY FRANCINE MATHEWS

 Lesa's Book Critiques: DEATH ON A WINTER STROLL BY FRANCINE MATHEWS

Lesa's Book Critiques: IN LOVE: A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND LOSS BY AMY BLOOM

 Lesa's Book Critiques: IN LOVE: A MEMOIR OF LOVE AND LOSS BY AMY BLOOM

Euro Crime Review: When Marnie Was There by Joan G Robinson

 Euro Crime Review: When Marnie Was There by Joan G Robinson

The Creative Independent: On creating work while living with chronic pain

 The Creative Independent: On creating work while living with chronic pain

Lesa's Book Critiques: THE READING LIST BY SARA NISHA ADAMS

 Lesa's Book Critiques: THE READING LIST BY SARA NISHA ADAMS

Lesa's Book Critiques: PACK UP THE MOON BY KRISTAN HIGGINS

 Lesa's Book Critiques: PACK UP THE MOON BY KRISTAN HIGGINS

Lesa's Book Critiques: WHEN HARRY MET MINNIE BY MARTHA TEICHNER

 Lesa's Book Critiques: WHEN HARRY MET MINNIE BY MARTHA TEICHNER

Lesa's Book Critiques: Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Lesa Holstine

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change by Lesa Holstine 

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Cleo: The Small Black Cat Who Helped Heal a Fami...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Cleo: The Small Black Cat Who Helped Heal a Fami...: Reviewed by Jeanne I have reviewed Cleo before; I love all of Helen Brown’s books but this one holds a special place in my hea...

WGA West: When Your Only Weapon Is Inaction by Dennis Palumbo

WGA West: When Your Only Weapon Is Inaction by Dennis Palumbo

In the piece, Dennis Palumbo talks about how the pandemic is a background hum in all of our lives. Since 2017, grief has been the background roar of my life. Losing my Mom in January was bad and meant I was parentless though it was not unexpected at her age and with her medical issues.I had known her time was limited. I also knew by that fall that another horrible event was on my immediate horizon.  Losing Sandi that December after a six year plus fight against the god damn cancer was not unexpected.  I thought I was ready. I was so very wrong. Grief has been a background roar in my life ever since. The pandemic hum is not helping that as my primary way of coping, escaping to the library and bookstores, has not been an option. I am not a therapist and certainly do not play one on tv, but, as he points out in his piece, turning the television off does help. The piece resonated with me and I suspect it will for many of you as well. 

Lesa's Book Critiques: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Lesa's Book Critiques: Beach Read by Emily Henry

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Findi...

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Findi...: Reviewed by Jeanne As a twenty year old college student in Italy, Tembi Locke was infatuated with the country, the art, and w...