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Book Reviews: October 2018

November 8, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

October Book Reviews: Whew! I’m late to my own book review party! If you’ve been waiting to hear about my latest reads, I apologize for such ridiculous tardiness.

The books I read in October 2018 found me hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, digging mussels on the Carolina shore, swallowing fire with a circus sideshow, and praying for truth on Alabama’s Death Row. In Scotland, I slipped into the supernatural world, one typically obscured from mere mortals.

My five October reads included three memoir, one best-selling fiction, and one middle-grade fantasy.

Not included: 1/2 of a gigantic thriller.

I hate to admit this but I spent an inordinate amount of time reading The Stand (Complete and Uncut Version) by Stephen King, and I haven’t finished (so it isn’t included here other than as a pitiful confession). Yep, I read over 600 out of 1,153 pages before putting it aside. Even though The Stand is ranked #1 Suspense and Thriller on Amazon and I LOVE Stephen King, I simply had too many other books calling to me… Does this ever happen to you?

Maybe I’ll finish it in November?

Anyway, keep reading to find out about the books I finished and highly endorse.Continue Reading

Chicken Fagioli Soup

November 6, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

Chicken Fagioli Soup hits the spot on a chilly, drizzly fall day. And yesterday, that was our weather here in Northwest Arkansas. It was perfect for writing and reading, but a girl’s gotta eat, too. So I whipped up a batch of fagioli soup using ingredients on hand.

I think this would be amazing made with leftover grilled-on-the-Green-Egg Italian sausage, but it was mighty good (and a bit lighter) made with spinach and feta chicken sausage. I used Applegate Organic brand.

(By the way, fagioli means pasta and beans.)Continue Reading

Sunday Letter: 11.04.18

November 4, 2018 By Talya Tate Boerner

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

Greetings from Overland Park, Kansas, a place I’ve not visited in twenty years, not since I had a different life. On Thursday, my friend Gail and I drove up for the Johnson County Writers Conference, a two-day event held at the Johnson County Public Library. If gold stars were handed out for writer conferences, I’d give this one five shiny ones. I leave inspired, encouraged, filled with so many ideas to implement, websites to visit, and word loops to study that I can barely concentrate on penning this Sunday Letter…

The thing about roads trips and writer conferences— the best ones shove me out of my routine and fling open my mind.

I didn’t realize how much creative shoving and flinging I needed.

But first…
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