Welcome!
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading at least one book. I devour them, make time for them, hunt for bargains, and love to talk with other readers like you.
When I was trying to sum up my favorite 2016 reads, I realized I read mostly in three categories: books I learn from, books I use to relax, and books that are about resisting patriarchy, racism, and the status quo. So, that’s how I’m organizing my blog posts here. (I hope you’ll check out my favorite 2017 reads also.)
I’m also the author of the Amazon best-selling Kick Pain in the Kitchen, about how to find holistic pain relief.
Find me at Goodreads and on the Litsy app as BarbaraTheBibliophage!
Book Review: Be Your Own Superhero: A Road Map to Resilience When Faced with Chronic Dis-ease by Barbara Appelbaum
Barbara Appelbaum has lived through, and with, some significant challenges in her life. Diagnosed with MS in her early forties, she’s taken an integrative approach to treating the disease. She also made some huge life changes in response to her diagnosis, including...
Book Review: Leave Me by Gayle Forman
Gayle Forman captures the overwhelm of managing life and acute illness in her novel Leave Me. The protagonist Maribeth Klein is a 40-something mom of twins when she has a heart attack. Like many women, Maribeth has no idea her heart is in acute distress. She keeps...
Book Review: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
In Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman takes readers to the worlds of Asgard, Midgard, and Jotunheim. It’s a fun romp with gods, giants, and dwarves. If you’ve watched the recent Marvel Comics movies, you’re familiar with the names Odin, Thor, and Loki. And Freya’s name has...
Book Review: A Higher Loyalty by James Comey
Former FBI Director James Comey tells his side of the story in A Higher Loyalty. Plus, he details the big cases that he was part of before the whole Trump White House debacle. He’s a surprisingly good writer, and I enjoyed this book. In addition to the investigations,...
Book Review: Americanah by Chimimanda Ngoszi Adichie
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie portrays two Nigerian young people through the pivotal years of teens and twenties. But it’s much more than a coming of age story. It’s more of a “coming into your full self” kind of story, especially because it includes so many...
Book Review: The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clementine Wamariya
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story Of War and What Came After from Clemantine Wamariya is the moving memoir of a Rwandan refugee. In truth, it’s the story of Wamariya, her sister Claire, and a variety of other family members. But it’s told by Wamariya, who was...
Book Review: Keep Marching: How Every Woman Can Take Action and Change Our World by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
If you’re looking for concrete ideas about everyday activism, read Keep Marching: How Every Woman Can Take Action and Change Our World by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. The author breaks down today’s most critical human rights issues, and provides an action plan. Keep...
Book Review: The King of Bones and Ashes by J.D. Horn
J.D. Horn begins a new series with The King of Bones and Ashes. Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, Horn introduces us to the Marin family, young, old, and not entirely alive. This is definitely an atmospheric, Southern gothic-tinged fantasy. The Marins are part of the...
Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
I sped through Less by Andrew Sean Greer, like a six year old ripping open a birthday present. It made me smile, laugh, groan, and get a bit misty with tears. Greer deserves the Pulitzer for effortlessly mixing humor, pathos, and adventure. Arthur Less is guileless,...
Book Review: ‘Round Midnight by Laura McBride
Laura McBride weaves the stories of four women together in her novel, ‘Round Midnight. It’s cathartic and intensely character-driven. And just what my book group needs to make a scintillating discussion. The story starts with June, who’s a rebellious young woman in...
Book Review: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Laura Ingalls Wilder deserves a tome like the one Caroline Fraser has written about her. But Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder is about much more than one women. And I found both pros and cons in the book for just that reason. While it never...
Book Review: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Freshwater is a unique debut novel from Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi. It’s gives us magical realism without colonialism, using Nigerian and Igbo perspectives. Primary among these is the idea of obanje, which is an Igbo spirit that floats through mother’s wombs before...
Book Review and Interview: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Be sure to read to the end of this review for an interview with one of the author's research sources—my friend Carla, who's a real-life flight attendant. I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian since Midwives was published in 1998. While I may‘ve missed some of his books...
Book Review: Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
I’ll admit to a fascination with the concept of resilience, so I grabbed up the Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) of the latest book from Rick Hanson, Ph.D. The full title is long and descriptive: Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness....
Book Review: I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
Reading I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon is a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You start with the edges and work your way back towards the middle. Lawhon tells the first-person narrative of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, but mixes it in with a third-person...
Book Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate, Book 2)
Book Two of the Parasol Protectorate, Changeless, is a romp in a supernatural steampunk world. Like the first book, it features Alexia Tarrabotti who is now Lady Alexia Maccon. She’s a preternatural, which means that if she touches a supernatural they will be human...
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I will definitely recommend Kick Pain in the Kitchen to my patients: Those who are looking to avoid pharmaceutical treatment and those who want to combine western medicine with alternative therapies.
Jane A. Swartz
ARNP, MSN, Rheumatology Nurse Practitioner
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