Penny J. Johnson's Blog, page 24

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Five Stars I loved Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. But, it wasn’t the train-wreck plot and flawed characters that kept me reading. It was one character and how she reminded me of someone dear to me. Perhaps those are why books become more meaningful to us. Because we see real people. Because we may […]

Forgotten: Writing Lapse

The other day, my mom asked if she might use a poem I wrote for a devotional she presented when she started as a trustee for our alma mater. I said, of course. After all, I had written it at her request. But, the title she mentioned, which did sound familiar, was for a poem […]

Forgotten: Captured Images

Before social media and Smartphones, I often forgot to bring my camera on vacations. If I did remember pack one, I forgot to bring it on our daily excursions. If I did remember to bring it on our daily excursions, I forgot to use it. I preferred to write about my experiences and relied on […]

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

Four Stars A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier follows the life of a single career woman living between WWI and WWII. It’s a unique story in that it describes specifics about embroidery, bell ringing, societal expectations, and cultural shifts while connecting them through the main character. While the book is well-written, it isn’t a fast […]

Cords: A Braided Essay

I love mentoring young writers. As a home educator and published writer, I’ve had several opportunities to read and teach young people through classes and one-on-one. But, sometimes in the course of lending my expertise, I learn about a new technique. Such was the case last week while I was providing a critique for one […]

Cords: Broken Chords and Ties that Bind

I started taking piano lessons in November. This has been a bucket-list item of mine for several years. From ages six to eleven, I gained an elemental knowledge of piano from my maternal grandmother. I retained knowledge of treble clef because I started playing the violin. As a violist, I move fluidly between the treble […]

The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites

Five Stars The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites tells the generational story of a Jewish family’s survival from patriotic heroism in WWI, during social and political changes in Europe, through heart-rending loss and separation in WWII, and into an era of unexpected reunions. The link to all they endure is a silver music box […]

Heirlooms: What We Share

As I’ve studied my genealogy, I’ve learned more than the names and dates of births, weddings, and deaths. Certainly, I’ve heard about relational ties between individuals, which will be a future topic to explore. More intriguing to me are the contributions my ancestors have made and how those skills have been passed on to me. […]

Heirlooms: What We Keep

As I write this blog post, I am sitting at my grandmother’s desk. I didn’t inherit it from her originally. My cousin did because it matched the bedroom set from my grandmother’s youth. But, she wanted me to have it. She thought it might inspire me to write. It has. Many items in my office […]

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout

Four Stars I found the character sketches and development intriguing in the book Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout. As with other books by Strout, all the characters possess flaws that shape the community and affect the lives of the other characters. I think the spiritual aspects of this book interested me most and contrasted […]