Literary Excursions

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Karen — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 14:43:31 +0000

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald was the pick I got for the Classics Club Spin #43. This is the next selection for me to read in my chronological reading of Fitzgerald’s works. In this story, we have Anthony Patch. Anthony is filled with ambitions; he has ideas and ideals. But he is …

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I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

Karen — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:09:57 +0000

I have sat with this book since finishing it, struggling to know how to write about it. The writing is well done itself. The story is compelling. The atmosphere bleak and haunting. Set in a near future United States, this novel centers around Rainy. Rainy is an aspiring musician and his wife is a lover …

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The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

Karen — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

The Mysterious Mr. Quin is a collection of short stories written by Agatha Christie. We have two characters that show up in each of them: Mr. Satterthwaite and you guessed it, Mr. Quin. I think I knew that this was a short story collection before picking it up; but then I must have forgotten that …

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CC Spin #43 Spot Goes to…..

Karen — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 20:43:33 +0000

The Classics Club Lucky Spin Number is: My list of 20 books for this spin: So the winner is The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. We have until March 29, 2026 to read the book chosen. Honestly, I’m kind of glad this got picked because I have been putting this one off. I’m …

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The LLL Diaries #1

Karen — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:49:41 +0000

Now that it’s February, I’m diving into my self-education program I’m calling The LLL Diaries. I’ve created a page to house all my posts for this and you can find that HERE as well as in the menu at the top of my blog. In January I decided to get a head start on my …

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CC Spin #43

Karen — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:50:19 +0000

It’s time for a Classics Club Spin and this one is Spin #43. To play along, you post a list of 20 books from your classics list before Sunday, February 8th. You can click HERE to see my Classics TBR that I pull from. On February 8th, Classics Club will post a number between 1 …

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A Look Back at My 2025 Reading Year

Karen — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 15:43:44 +0000

I’ve finished compiling all my stats for my 2025 reading year; and I am pretty happy with my reading year overall. I started the year off with a bang by having 3 five star reads in January, along with a 4.5 star read and two four star reads. I consider 3.5 stars and above a …

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A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

Karen — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 23:14:23 +0000

Each January, I try to prioritize reading a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro as I slowly work my way through all the novels he has written. This month, my choice was A Pale View of Hills. This is the first novel Ishiguro wrote and I was impressed with his debut work. His masterful writing we see …

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Sipsworth By Simon Van Booy

Karen — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 18:53:47 +0000

“Helen Cartwright was old with her life broken in ways she could not have foreseen.” ~ Sipsworth (p. 3) After both her husband and son passed, Helen decides to move back to the village where she lived as a child. She just wants to live out what’s left of her life unnoticed and alone with …

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The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Karen — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 18:43:42 +0000

I first read The Snow Child back in 2017 and was mesmerized by it. The story utterly swept me away. Then in 2021, I read it again. Would this story hold up to multiple readings? And the answer to that was – yes! The mix of magical realism and reality mold together perfectly in this …

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