tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119195672026-02-21T16:00:30.460-05:00musings and fumblings from a poet of social change, remarks upon the landscape, praise for the effortless endurance of simplicity, interspersed with recipes, illustrations, and dry humorsusannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-13094995814430816332026-02-21T14:58:00.004-05:002026-02-21T16:00:30.434-05:00

    On a rainy Saturday, it's nice to occupy oneself with making a savory but simple soup to warm the cockles and perhaps use up some things in the fridge. Here's an attempt to do just that.Winter Vegetable SoupIngredients:3 c. beef broth + 1/2 c. water1/2 c chopped onion1 stalk celery with greens, chopped1/2 c. chopped or diced carrots2 Tbsp olive oil2 tsp fines herbes, 1/2 tsp ground

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0Virginia, USA37.4315734 -78.656894211.70970687665416 -113.8131442 63.153439923345836 -43.500644199999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-73836972313089694752026-01-03T16:55:00.009-05:002026-01-03T16:55:50.819-05:00

Beautifully, lyrically written tale centering around the boy-who-grows-into-a-man, Asa, who never allowed his unusual physical appearance take the place of his soul, an insatiable thirst for learning, or the integrity by which he steers through a life of hard work, following dreams that a lesser person would have abandoned as impossible. The reader easily slips into the nineteenth century to

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-24316834284366157272025-12-10T13:08:00.001-05:002025-12-10T13:08:27.035-05:00

If I could give six stars to this remarkable text, I would. The author has written an engaging, thorough, and minutely researched chronicle of the fight to grant emancipation to the enslaved population in mid nineteenth century America. Full of quoted primary source material in the form of letters, newspaper articles, diaries, and other authentic pieces of history, yet the writing never wavers,

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-19947732938747643932025-12-02T21:28:00.000-05:002025-12-02T21:28:33.752-05:00

 Oof. Two things. Two things you have to know about this book, before you get very far into it: 1. Kathy is dead. She never saw 2017, she died in the 90s. 2. Kathy wrote a lot of prose using cut-outs from other people's works. There is an index in the back of the book, it contains pertinent references from Kathy's, and other people's, actual writings. It helps if you look at it from time

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-43467693884266024302025-11-03T23:53:00.003-05:002025-11-03T23:53:16.397-05:00

From 2005 to early 2014 I lived part-time, sometimes full-time, at the Borough Plantation in Stateburg, South Carolina, two doors up the hill from the home inhabited by the black man who owned nearly the most humans as property in the state of South Carolina, William Ellison and his family. This is one of the black slaveholders upon whom the character of Nathaniel William is based in Burn Down

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-91513010835063479542025-10-20T15:57:00.004-05:002025-10-20T15:57:57.830-05:00

Phenomenal read. Matt Bondurant (full disclosure - a wide swath of my family tree lies in Franklin County and includes Bondurants, so he's likely a third or fourth cousin) has taken the torch flung by Ron Rash, Lee Smith, and Charles Frazier, and carried it aloft into the literary stratosphere. There is a way to write gritty, human-centered prose without the grit and gore overtaking the message,

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-57091453581673539252025-09-16T16:34:00.002-05:002025-09-16T16:34:39.007-05:00

he hears the wind ruffling the pines, soaring up the mountainside tossing the chickens over the fence and into the dog's breakfast. cock and hen alike had always clucked cheekily between the roughened boards, refusing to share even a daily ovum, quibbling merrily over the the latest bug. fateful diligence spared them not and it came to pass, in an instant, that they were merrily consumed by

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-31478752343757907272025-06-17T09:07:00.000-05:002025-06-17T09:07:15.282-05:00

My god, what a history, sorely needed at a time like this. In carefully, explicitly documented detail, the author lays out the horrifying, inexorable journey the American government took to Imperialist conquest of people who were seen by a white-centric public as lesser, undeserving of equitable freedoms or self-determination and stripping human dignity and life itself from tens of thousands

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-26889910982813472632025-01-05T21:51:00.002-05:002025-01-05T21:51:30.061-05:00

Cats as praxis. Because of course. About 3/4 of the way thru this, I realized that while the author may not realize it, her story is anarchy at work, and shows why this is the only way anything meaningful has ever been accomplished. With practical hard work and attention to doing what she could, every single day, the author built a beautiful new life for herself amidst responding to the needs

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-64726857824600452852025-01-05T21:41:00.001-05:002025-01-05T21:41:19.813-05:00

I enjoyed reading about the author’s fascinating studies of rare methods, practices, and customs all around the world. The author spends several days or longer with each location or group, fully immersed in the culture. He eats, sleeps, and when invited, attempts to practice some cultural customs of these local practitioners of special craftsmanship. Authenticity and respect for the people

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-52082120523204498732024-12-08T10:23:00.011-05:002024-12-08T10:30:57.641-05:00

Oh, this book. I am so glad to see Mr Grisham turn his writerly talents to this desperately important issue. Coupled with the lived experience of Mr McCloskey, these stories, alternately told by each author, spring from the page directly into the heart of the reader. The criminal justice system has always been a travesty, and it isn’t getting better. The efforts of the folk who work for Mr

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-90552778274871535192024-11-07T19:08:00.002-05:002024-11-07T19:08:15.515-05:00

One of the most important books out there for readers who actually want to understand how and why the US was founded on the principles of separation between church and state. America was never meant to be a “Christian” nation - a fact that has been obscured with outright lies with increasing fervor over the past forty years. Magnificently researched and well-written, I consider this required

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-48426234514509291202024-04-08T13:57:00.000-05:002024-04-08T13:57:33.770-05:00

Interesting emotional romp thru the centuries. The ending was a bit of a let down, but otherwise the story is very good. The reason I say the ending was a bit disappointing is because it feels as if the author expended all of her energy writing the book until the last 50 pages or so, and then rushed through to get it finished. Where for most of the book we get exquisite detail about situations

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-11343324285681514962024-04-05T15:00:00.003-05:002024-04-05T18:04:42.928-05:00

I found this gem that can be watched for free on the YouTubes: The Legend of Billie Jean Now, if you haven't watched this movie recently, or heaven forbid you never heard of this movie, run, don't walk, and WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. This movie has aged incredibly well. In the day, I don't think certain people took it seriously. But if you were a traumatized young woman, and there were a lot more of

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-78875042386886377642024-04-02T16:37:00.002-05:002024-04-02T16:40:11.660-05:00

A sweet coming-of-age story about a young girl who experiences some of the things we all do growing up, and some very unusual things indeed. Greta and her best friend Lotti share a deep bond of friendship, and are joined by their creative friend Astrid in navigating some of the trials and tribulations of middle school - social events, homework, and boys. They feel the thrills of being noticed by

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-61175688308839403272024-01-04T14:52:00.008-05:002024-01-04T14:52:56.158-05:00

The Salt Bairns by Cynthia Tidrick My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of THE SALT BAIRNS and have to say, it was one of the most meaningful and insightful fiction reads I've been privileged to find in a very long time. Cynthia Tidrick has constructed a magical world, full of shadows and vice, and yet the colors and characters within the narrative surround each

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-43810298550545130812023-08-11T13:16:00.001-05:002023-08-11T13:16:04.479-05:00

Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury by Drew Gilpin Faust My rating: 4 of 5 stars Parts of this book seemed like a mirror to my own past, even though I am at least ten years younger than the author. However, I did grow up in Virginia and the attitudes and experiences she describes are so familiar that I could hear them in my head as I read the words. Her writing could have been just as

Susannah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13599873853464387718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-21261040404768518902023-07-12T13:36:00.002-05:002023-07-12T13:38:00.082-05:00

Five Rules for Tomorrow's Cities: Design in an Age of Urban Migration, Demographic Change, and a Disappearing Middle Class by Patrick M. Condon My rating: 3 of 5 stars I participated in a workshop of Dr Condon's back in 2020, and purchased a copy of his book as a result. Although his ideas, radical they may be, seem to be based in common sense, in my opinion he

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-566751577403601952023-04-19T20:03:00.001-05:002023-04-19T20:03:25.505-05:00

The Snow Hare by Paula Lichtarowicz My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a magnificent story. Generally, I shy away from stories about people during war, especially if it seems there may be character death. I’m easily triggered by famine, torture, and painful things involving children, so I was a bit anxious from other descriptions and reviews, and as I read, there were

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-21988612092988854212023-04-03T09:08:00.002-05:002023-04-03T09:08:21.580-05:00

I absolutely loved this book. It was written with a clarity and authenticity that is simply too rare these days. Winifred Bright lives with her father in the cemetery where he works, among quiet tree-lined paths, headstones, and ghosts - real and perceived. When her 16th birthday plans don't quite go over as planned, she encounters an actual spirit in the cemetery, who leads her on an inner

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-69623699994979918112023-02-23T15:45:00.003-05:002023-02-23T15:45:30.881-05:00

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was definitely a needed read, for me at least, at this time. So much to worry about. So much to consider and sometimes it seems so overwhelming.But Goodall's calm, reasoned, considered responses to the interview questions that became this book and the format it is written in bring the reader into her

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-36944480662914992522022-09-19T10:20:00.003-05:002022-09-19T10:22:28.859-05:00

Evening in Byzantium by Irwin Shaw My rating: 5 of 5 stars A writer's book, Evening in Byzantium is an excellent story. In spite of what others have said, this work provides an elucidating window into the turbulent yet laconic past, to a time when, even as now, people thumb their noses at good advice, and act out against their own interests. Highest recommendations. View all my reviews

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-77351593604017328112020-12-01T15:12:00.004-05:002022-05-17T10:44:57.374-05:00

 LATE, LATE IN THE EVENING, by the British philosopher Stephen Grant, is a beautiful book, a fast-moving but thoughtful and thought-provoking read. Imprisoned for his writings, the poet Gabriel Dorfman is allowed out on a sort of work-release program, and becomes the chauffeur to an influential party boss on his wealthy estate. The Britain of this story has become a fascist totalitarian

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-48246279717107633972018-06-17T17:19:00.000-05:002018-06-17T17:19:19.124-05:00

Potager by Georgeanne Brennan A gloriously lovely book, full of recipes and ideas, illustrated with lush photographs of provincial gardens and simply prepared foods. Will keep it handy in the kitchen for inspiration when not feeling excited about the cooking ;) View all my reviews

susannah eaneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15692505605582396364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11919567.post-3276054417214530552017-06-03T17:24:00.001-05:002017-06-03T17:24:12.437-05:00

Susannah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13599873853464387718noreply@blogger.com0