Recent Comments
Leanne on The book hangover Sonia Lal on You can’t teach an old d… Balade Haute Provenc… on Memories of the Provence
Category Archives: Non-Fiction
The Big Freeze
Hundreds line up along English Bay for the annual Polar Bear Swim, skin smarting from the cold. Ice floes are breaking up along the shore and fat drops of freezing rain crust over the seams of swimsuits and swim caps. … Continue reading
The ballots are in, the die is cast
In spite of the teeth-wrenching cold, the line up to the polling office snakes around the block. Huddled in faux furs and double-breasted overcoats, fedoras at a rakish angle, the voters stamp their T-strap booties, feverishly waiting to drop their … Continue reading
The night of the living dead
They creep up from their wooden coffins, creaking and clanking bones, rotten teeth bared in a hideous grin, eye sockets lit up from within their skull in a ghostly blue light. Emerging from below the dank earth, sniffing of maggots … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Fiction
Tagged books, creepy, death, drugs, fear, food, Haiti, Halloween, living dead, medicines, reading, Wade Davis, zombies
Leave a comment
Treasure island
I was scrambling across the rocks, eyes trained to the ground, looking for sand dollars, when I made out the pale imprint of what looked like a human palm creeping up against the cave wall. Fat drops of water were … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Fiction, Travelogue
Tagged books, cultures, exotic, exploring, food, gems, histories, jewelery, reading, traveling, treasure
Leave a comment
Hit the road jack
I’m terrified of sunrises. The thought of stumbling bleary-eyed and foggy-brained into the cold dampness of early morning dew is enough to make me burrow my nose into my pillowcase and fall back to sleep. So, when the clanking night … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Coming-of-age, Memoir, Travelogue
Tagged book, Cheryl Strayed, food, hiking, Oregon, Pacific Coast Trail, Pacific Northwest, PCT, reading, trails, wild, wilderness
Leave a comment
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks: or can you?
In the early 30s, the vast majority of Americans never brushed their teeth. In fact, their mouths were so rotten that poor dental hygiene was turning into a national security risk, according to journalist Charles Duhigg. Today, new moms scrub … Continue reading
True stories from the Titanic
In the wee hours of April 14, 1912, in the icy blankness of the Atlantic, the cruise liner Titanic crashed into an iceberg. Its hull ripped apart, its engines flooded with water, the vessel foundered near the shores of Nova … Continue reading
Posted in Non-Fiction, Short Story
Tagged books, disaster, food, reading, shipwreck, survivors, Titanic
Leave a comment
Russian rivalry
Heavy boots crunch down the lonely royal purple crocus peeking from the icy crust. Rattled breath fogs up the air, betraying tension and blank fear. At the count of ten, the 2 combatants face each other across the meadow, slush … Continue reading
On the trail of the tiger
The fresh trail of blood glistens in the thick snow under the chilly glow of the full moon. The hunter sinks thigh deep in the wet crust, scrambling up the embankment after his prey. The frigid air cuts through his … Continue reading
The sweet taste of Paris
Raucuous laughter, perky bobs, husky jazz, clinking glasses, popping champagne bottles, eyes wet with cigarette smoke and joie de vivre. Parisian cafes in the roaring 20s were a magnet for aspiring writers and American expats: the striped awnings along Boul … Continue reading
Posted in Memoir
Tagged 20s, author, book, food, Hadley Richardson, Hemingway, literature, love, marriage, Paris, parties, reading, writer
Leave a comment
The Foodie Reader 