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Mary Ronan Drew
Spokane, WA, USA
I can read and knit simultaneously
Interests: knitting, gardening, wagner, reading, walking
Recent Activity
Inspector Diamond is exceptionally well done. I've been reading slowly through the series not wanting to face the prospect that one day my time with the inspector would be over. But as you point out, they are the sort of thing that deserves re-reading. So . . .
Toggle Commented Nov 11, 2019 on Peter Lovesey - Inspector Diamond books at Random Jottings
Meritocracy and Nature vs Nurture
We have today a vast and increasing gap in wealth and status. How do we fix this, if it can be fixed at all short of revolution and starting all over? Daniel Markovits in his new book, The Meritocracy Trap,... Continue reading
Posted Oct 24, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Renaissance
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Of late the Drews have been watching The Great Courses' series about Western Civilization and now the Renaissance. Jennifer McNabb, a professor from Western Illinois University, presents an overview of the years from 1300 to 1600 and talks in some... Continue reading
Posted Oct 11, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Alienated America
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"If church is the largest and most important institution of civil society, and it is the wellspring of most of the rest of civil society, then the retreat of churches in America is the erosion of civil society in America.... Continue reading
Posted Sep 10, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Lady in the Lake
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Laura Lippmann has done it again, with her most recent novel, Lady in the Lake. The narrative moves from the main character, Maddie Schwartz, to a cop, a missing woman, a jewelry store clerk, and others. A complex way to... Continue reading
Posted Aug 31, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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To be saved
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved... Continue reading
Posted Aug 9, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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A Newfoundland Dog
"Newfoundland dogs are good to save children from drowning, but you must have a pond of water handy and a child, or else there will be no profit in boarding a Newfoundland." Josh Billings Continue reading
Posted Aug 6, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Clothes
" . . . she was having a violent reaction against beautiful clothes and the slavery they impose on one, her experience being that once one had got them they took one in hand and gave one no peace until... Continue reading
Posted Jul 22, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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This book is splendid. I was reading it only yesterday.
Toggle Commented Jul 14, 2019 on Thought for the day at Cornflower Books
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What to Read When
The Washington Post has put together a list of books their reviewers recommend you read. According to your age. For example, they suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar when you are a year old. Excellent choice. When you are eight it's... Continue reading
Posted Jul 2, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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The Regency Years
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I have a new book which looks lively and filled with information about what the author calls the most significant years in English history, the Regency, 1811-1820. The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love,... Continue reading
Posted Jun 4, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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How to Read
A recommendation from novelist, Ben Dolnik from today's New York Times. Continue reading
Posted May 5, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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The hysteria of a polarized society, France 1894
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The Dreyfus Affair. I have always thought I knew what it was about. Someone was stealing secrets from the French military and handing them over to the Germans. A note incriminating its author was found in a wastebasket by a... Continue reading
Posted Apr 19, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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The Power Broker
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In 1974 Robert Caro published this monumental (1426 pages) biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker. This is the man who held New York City in his grip for 40 years. Caro has written a history of the city and... Continue reading
Posted Apr 14, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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The Hound of Heaven
This was quoted on the episode of Morse we were watching last night. The Hound of Heaven By Francis Thompson I FLED Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I... Continue reading
Posted Apr 6, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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SHAM
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"If you're reading a book, folks, it ain't self-help. It's help." This is George Carlin on self-help and self-actualization. Steve Salerno, in this book about the hoax that is self-help, suggests people should stop fooling themselves and avoid ". .... Continue reading
Posted Mar 29, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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I always thought the Limberlost was a mountainside in Colorado until I actually read the book and found it was a swamp in Indiana. And I loved the book and all the butterflies. Did you know that it is a sequel to Freckles, another book with some of the same characters? The swamp was nearly gone when people made an effort to save it and bring some of it back and I believe they have been successful. I, too, have downloaded The Keeper of the Bees.
Toggle Commented Mar 18, 2019 on Recent reading at Random Jottings
Lenten Reading
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This year's Lenten reading is WHC Frend's The Rise of Christianity. I bought it when it was first published in 1984 and I read it in 1987. I think it's time to read it again. So far I'm being remind... Continue reading
Posted Mar 7, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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A Whopper
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The Annotated Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant is a whopper, 1152 pages. The footnotes more than double the amount of text. But there's so much I don't know about Grant and his presidency and this is such an easy way... Continue reading
Posted Feb 12, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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What Is It About Nero Wolfe . . .
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I'm having trouble tearing myself away from Nero Wolfe novels. I've read five of them in less than a week. Now I find another blogger is also a Rex Stout fan, the Trollopian Eve Fisher whose blog is Sleuth Sayers.... Continue reading
Posted Feb 2, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Fer-de-lance
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I've discovered Rex Stout. Rediscovered him. Some years ago we used to watch the TV show with Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin. Santa gave Wilhelm a set of the DVDs from the 2001 TV show and the stories are just... Continue reading
Posted Jan 28, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Bella Figura
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At her blog, Random Jottings, Elaine has declared this book, Bella Figura, by Kamin Mohammadi to be her favorite of all she read in 2018. So how was I to resist? The library had it, I requested it, it came,... Continue reading
Posted Jan 20, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Maryslibrary is 13 years old!
Back in January of 2006 I started my blog at the instigation of some friends back in the DC area who said they wanted to be able to keep up with what I had been reading. So I listed some... Continue reading
Posted Jan 17, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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A Spider in the Cup
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We all have our favorite detectives. One of mine is Barbara Cleverly's Joe Sandilands, veteran of the Great War and pretty high up in Scotland Yard for his age. The first books are set immediately post-World War I with Joe... Continue reading
Posted Jan 13, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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Kardemumma Skorpor
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In mid-November I ordered some Swedish kardemumma skopor, cardamom cookies, and I've been waiting for them more or less patiently. They didn't arrive until this week, well after our New Year's Eve in Stockholm celebration. I've been eating them for... Continue reading
Posted Jan 9, 2019 at MarysLibrary
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