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, 2018, 2019, and 2020 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!
Wendi Aarons — I’m Wearing Tunics Now (Audiobook Review)
Wendi Aarons is a blogger, humorist, mom, and unabashed woman over 50. The recently published memoir, I’m Wearing Tunics Now: On Growing Older, Better, and a Hell of a Lot Louder, is an excursion into her Austin, Texas, life. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny, especially...
Dark Celebrations by Calvin Demmer
I read Dark Celebrations during the Halloween spooky season, but Calvin Demmer’s flash fiction collection is appropriate for horror fans to celebrate all year long. He takes typical holidays and events and turns them into extraordinary—and gory—celebrations. Honestly,...
Ruth Emmie Lang — The Wilderwomen
Ruth Emmie Lang explores family relationships with a solid dose of magical realism in her new book, The Wilderwomen. It’s a sweet and engaging exploration of sisterhood and the complications inherent in mother-daughter connections. Lang’s primary voices are two...
Two Months of Witches
Books about witches are the perfect fit for fall. I dusted off my copies of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series and embarked on a two-month project. Then I read a brand-new book from Megan Giddings with a unique and thought-provoking witchy premise. Combining all...
Prince Lestat by Anne Rice (Vampire Chronicles #11)
Lestat de Lioncourt, arguably the world’s most famous fictional vampire, deals with turmoil among his kindred in Prince Lestat, the eleventh entry into Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Because of her death last year, it’s a sentimental choice for me. Rice centers the...
Bianca Marais — The Witches of Moonshyne Manor (Book Review)
Bianca Marais creates a feminist witch story for the 21st century in The Witches of Moonshyne Manor. It’s about a group of 80-something witches trying to reverse events from thirty years ago. And they’re also trying to save their property from being bought by a bunch...
Sara Gruen — At the Water’s Edge (Book Review)
At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen is tepid historical fiction with unlikable characters in this fish out of water novel. Three feckless and privileged young Americans travel to a village in the Scottish Highlands to find the Loch Ness monster. Because of the journey,...
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan (Book Review)
Mad Honey is a compulsively readable novel by two of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. It’s about two single moms in small-town Adams, New Hampshire, and their high school-age kids. Olivia is a beekeeper and entrepreneur. Her son Asher is...
Keri Blakinger — Corrections in Ink (Book Review)
Keri Blakinger tells her harrowing story about addiction to drugs and disordered eating in her memoir, Corrections in Ink. She lands in prison and reconstructs her experience from scribbled journals kept on purloined paper that miraculously survived the cruelty of...
Freaky and Spooky — Two Autumn Book Choices
Autumn is upon us, and it’s time for some freaky and spooky reading. I started early with two mysterious books ideal for the spooky season. They share an unexpected pairing element, but I’ll let you find out for yourself. No spoilers here! The House Across the Lake by...
Surviving Storms — Mark Nepo (Book Review)
Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity is Mark Nepo’s latest book of essays. His approach is both as a spiritual teacher and as a student of life. Nepo is also a poet and philosopher. So, when you blend all these elements, you sense his writing...
Qian Julie Wang — Beautiful Country (Book Review)
Qian Julie Wang (王乾) crafts a poignant immigrant memoir in her 2021 book Beautiful Country. She and her parents emigrated to the New York City metro area from China. Wang discusses her early school experiences, one with a more diverse student population than others....
Babel by R. F. Kuang (Book Review)
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution, is precisely what I expect from writer and historian R. F. Kuang. It’s complex and highly literate. Plus, the struggle between colonizers and those they oppress is at its...
Thomas Fisher — The Emergency (Book Review)
Thomas Fisher wears many hats in his new book, The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER. He’s a writer, physician, and commentator. All in all, he blends the various roles well and creates a compelling narrative. But I found it more...
Chinua Achebe — Things Fall Apart (Book Review)
The late writer Chinua Achebe originally published his remarkable book, Things Fall Apart, in 1959. That it still lands on “best books ever” lists is a testament to its lasting effect on readers. Late to the party, I just read it for the first time this year. The book...
Rebecca Woolf — All of This (Book Review)
Rebecca Woolf creates a complex yet vulnerable tale in All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire. How do these two topics intertwine, you ask? And Woolf answers this question in spades. Her marriage was far from perfect, but they stayed together. Then doctors diagnose...
Bookshop.Org Affiliate
Purchase My Book
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
Find Me on these Book-Related Sites
Recent Comments