Category Archives: book review

June 5, 2022 · 8:47 am

New review (glowing)on Running with the Horses

I’m thrilled to share this glowing review with you:

The wide-ranging destinations — and atmospheres — of this latest literary journey of Arlene Bice’s were already inviting to me as I embarked on this book. I knew from previous experience that her memoir journeys always include what attracts and fascinates me: history, culture, human nature, discovery, synchronicity and, most especially, the mysterious and mystical.

The varied experience that has shaped her life, which she has approached with an open heart, gives her the gift of observing and listening with a kind and respectful wonder. This delighted curiosity helps immerse me in scenes and imparts a wonderful sense of place that feels both real and timeless.

I savored the vicarious travel here on several continents — destinations like Ireland and Australia, the Canadian wilderness, along with the down-to-earth perspective from bus rides with the locals to the ruins of Tulum, Mexico, or the landscapes of Tahiti.

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Filed under book review, horse racing, Ireland, European travel, Australia, Cairns horse racing,, travel

May 14, 2022 · 5:22 am

Review on Amazon for Running with the Horses

Review from Love to Learn: What a funny and poignant read. I thoroughly enjoyed stepping into Bice’s shoes and experiencing her highs and lows with her husband. It brought back great memories of going to the track with my husband in my youth. Going down memory lane with her was a real treat.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Love to Learn. I’m so happy you enjoyed the memories from one part of my life!

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Filed under book review, Bordentown, horse racing, humor, Ireland, European travel, Australia, Cairns horse racing,, Memoir, New book release, psychic phenomena, reflection

September 18, 2018 · 11:50 am

RANDOM EVENTS TEND TO CLUSTER-Judy Wieder -a Lisa Hagan Literary book

Sorry, I read it on my Kindle so I have no cover picture.
Another memoir that is interesting, unusual the way it’s laid out: her life up against major attention-getting, earth shattering events since the ‘60s. RANDOM EVENTS TEND TO CLUSTER by Judy Wieder is a Lisa Hagen Literary book that kept me riveted, opened me to lifestyles different from my own and struggles far from my own. Which means I learned a lot of new information about life from a writer who lived her life very different from my own.
I’d not heard of Judy Wieder but was intrigued by the title and I do love memoirs. So I jumped in and was rewarded by good writing, a deep pull on my emotions, a re-visit to major events I remember reading about, and a reminder of some personal struggles I survived, too.
This memoir is all about being a writer and the path it took her on. I loved it and recommend it to anyone who likes reading the adventures of others. It brought a lot of memories back to me, to

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Filed under book review, women's stories, writing, WRITING MEMOIR

August 24, 2018 · 9:58 am

SYNCHRONICITY & REINCARNATION?


Synchronicity pops up often in my life, as it did a few days ago. A friend handed me a book, Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic by Robert L. Snow that her daughter told her to give to me. I was pleasantly surprised as I recognized the title and author’s name. In 2012 he spoke at the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, VA where I was attending a past-life regression seminar. I was impressed with his story but had limited funds for buying books, so I didn’t get his that day.
As I read his story it brought his appearance back to me. He was a police captain for 30 years in Indianapolis, IN who, on a dare, experienced a past life regression with Dr. Griffith. As his career must suggest, he believed in facts, only facts; the here and now, certainly no New-Age stuff, even after his session.
It was difficult for him to accept that he once lived in the 1800s as an extremely successful artist, J. Carroll Beckwith. Yet the experience rolled around in the back of his mind until he started doing some research to disprove what happened to him once and for all. Except that it didn’t disprove it. Instead it proved that he once lived as the artist.

Being an artist, I had been impressed by his story enough to do some research of my own and found a few of his paintings online. His most famous portrait of The Lady in Red was featured in one of my art books. Even though I had learned some bits about reincarnation when I heard him speak, I learned even more by reading his full story in the book. I especially enjoyed his wrap-up at the end where he says how the experience has opened his mind to learn so much more about life and the afterlife.

I loved his book! Taking the day off from a computer who was sassing back at me in the way of not doing what I wanted it to do, I finished reading the book in one day. When I emailed Lisa, thanking her, not knowing why she chose to send it to me, but happy that she did.
Well, she didn’t. She sent it to my friend Arlene and it got to me by mistake! Or by synchronicity!

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January 23, 2018 · 1:36 pm

HAVE I TOLD YOU? Ellie Newbauer

DSCF4686have i told you

HAVE I TOLD YOU? . . .Ellie Newbauer
Book Signing . . .January 24, Rosemont Winery 1 – 3 pm. Light refreshment served. Wines available for purchase. 1050 Blackridge Rd, La Crosse, VA 23950 A book to be read slowly to savor all the sage comments that are what Ellie does best. Her words zero in on exactly what you want and need to hear. It’s a bedside book and one to slip into your pocket to take with you. Let her thoughts sink into your heart, mind, and soul. I highly recommend this for yourself and as a gift for a dear friend.

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Filed under book review, books, booksigning, winery

November 21, 2017 · 10:48 am

THE MUNICH GIRL BY PHYLLIS EDGERLY RING –REVISITED


It’s been more than a year since I first read The Munich Girl and loved it so much that I waited a whole year to have my book discussion group share in the experience. A list of books set in place was to be read first. It was worth the wait. We particularly discussed the many relationships in the book. The intricacies of a friendship, even one that is only renewed every four years and holds secrets, can be a delicate situation. It certainly was with Peggy and Eva. We recognized that the story was well researched with Eva coming across clearly, bringing out Hitler’s intimate relationship in the process.
The discussion also spread to our political situation today with many comparisons made about what we, as Americans, are facing today. We talked about the effect the leader of a country has on certain people that apply his damaged way of thinking to allow them to bully and brutalize others.
We talked about how the women of today have so much more power and the avenue to use it than in the 30s and 40s. Hopefully, more women will go into the political arena and truly change our country for the better. We spoke of how the brave women of today will no longer tolerate sexual coercion from powerful men and put shame on the shoulders of those who have taken advantage of their power.
The story brought us into ‘what if’ speculations. What if Peggy had known earlier of who Eva’s secret ‘man’ was or what if Peggy had made a different choice about staying in Germany or moving to America.
Finally we listened to Ellie who was a newly married 17 years old, soon-to-be-a-mother whose husband left to fight in WWII. She stated that communication was not what it is today. Much of the events happening at the time were not known to the general public in our country. What she had to deal with was daily existence and keeping a household together until her husband came home.
Many thanks to Phyllis Edgerly Ring for flushing out this story of the people who did not support Hitler, of relationships, recovery after a war, sacrifices made, and for revealing the life of Eva Braun.

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Filed under American History, book review, fiction, women, women's stories, WWII

August 7, 2017 · 9:13 pm

I LIKED MY LIFE BY by Abby Fabiaschi a book review

FICTION: Maddy chose to be a stay-at-home mom instead of having a business career. She’s good at it and is revered for her wisdom, positive thinking, and generosity. At times she feels as though her husband and daughter take her efforts for granted. When she leaps off the roof of the library where she volunteers, the town is shocked. Her husband Brady and daughter Eve wonder what they have done to make Maddy do such a thing. Maddy doesn’t quite leave them. She watches from above and tries to guide them toward happiness by choosing Rory to fill her place. This is a riveting story full of wisdom about life, death, and love. Highly recommend it!

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August 2, 2017 · 10:48 am

MY HUSBAND IS GAY, a woman’s guide to surviving the crisis by Carol Grever- book review

To learn after 30 years of marriage that your husband is gay must have been a devastating revelation for the author.  She writes of it in order to help other women that may face the same situation. She shares with us her loneliness and sadness, shock, and disorientation she experienced.  She struggled through, eventually sorted out her own life, talked with others in the same situation and managed to return to being  a wholesome, happy woman. This is a good book to read to understand the lives of others, especially when they are so different than our own.  I highly recommend it!

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August 1, 2017 · 8:02 am

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY by Patricia H-F Moore- BOOK REVIEW

tomorrow day

This memoir of a young girl, surviving the blitz of London during WWII, the death of her father, Illness, and poverty gives insight to another time and another life. She gets a chance to convalesce in the beautiful Alps of Switzerland. She faces people she has never met in a country she’s never been to, and doesn’t have a clue about the language they are speaking. This gentle and touching story gives the reader a something a bit different from the usual WW II memoirs. Her life is redirected, opening vast opportunities to her in later life by a couple whose generosity is very welcome. It’s wonderful to read about good people doing good things in life that benefit others.

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July 31, 2017 · 11:26 am

TETCH (Admirable Women Series Book 4) by Maryann Myers – Book Review

This fictional story of Tetch will introduce newcomers to the world of animal communicators, and reacquaint those that already know about these wonderful people. Tetch uses her special gift to help horses, often thoroughbreds, that are being abused, usually for some idiots to greedily line their own pockets at the expense of a horse’s health and welfare.
When a thoroughbred horse is stolen before he can be auctioned off, Tetch is on the top of the suspect list. But, she has friends who sympathize and will help out in a pinch. This is a story full of the workings going on behind the scene that are just as exciting as the plot itself. It’s great for city slickers to step into the country to see what is going on there!

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