Mysteries make good reading. Some are perfect for an afternoon at the beach, and some challenge your logical expertise. A third group absorbs you thoroughly, solving the mystery by a slow unraveling of the characters’ inner life. For me, this is the group that is memorable, for they open new areas of the human soul. […]
My apologies to anyone trying to read my blog in the last couple of weeks. We were having technical difficulties and it took a while to solve them. Also, I’ve been off to writer conventions—The Pacific Northwest Writers Association in Seattle and the Chanticleer Reviews in Bellingham—getting refueled. My own latest book, Home Fires, was […]
Fifty years after the Civil Rights movement, race has once again hit the first page in the form of riots and police violence. But this time the Wall Street Journal of August 25th,”In Ferguson, Multiracial Neighborhoods Defy Image of Strife.” stressed the multiracial peace that characterizes many neighborhoods in Ferguson Missouri. And today, multiracial […]
Earlier in this series of blogs, I talked of the rewards of reading novels whose characters are swept up in the crises and “hot topics” of our times. In the discussion, I sympathized with readers who find topics such as the Holocaust and race done to death and given to ideological preaching. I recommended […]
Last week I talked about the disadvantages of fencing yourself into reading categories such as “mystery,” “romance,” etc. and about the rewards of reaching beyond those walls to find books that sweep readers into characters lives and move them to a different perception of the world or themselves. I discussed my own writing and reading […]
As another of a series of reviews on the rewards of reading “reality” or”serious” fiction, let me introduce Eleanor Brown’s New York Times bestseller, The Weird Sisters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “We came home because we were failures.” So Eleanor Brown opens her debut novel of three sisters, born in a college town of a father immersed […]
We’ve been talking, in recent blogs, about the rewards of reading novels. I discussed my own preference for stories about characters involved in our culture’s current dilemmas, but my recent reading reminds me that stories of the past bring to life issues that never grow old. The book I’ll talk about today, Melanie Benjamin’s Alice I […]
In last week’s blog I talked about the power of the novel to carry us into other lives and change our perspective on our own. I also talked about my own preference for characters confronting the crises of contemporary life. Laurie Frankel’s novel, Goodbye For Now, is an excellent example of both. You will […]
From Downton Abbey to Dallas, from The Sopranos to Days of Our Lives, family sagas keep us thirsting for the next chapter. Maybe it is to escape our own lives, but I don’t think so. I think it is to escape the loneliness of our own crises, to recognize them in the lives of others—after […]
The short story is enjoying a resurgence, and it’s no wonder it’s been rediscovered in these days of fractured time. I’ve always loved them and admired authors who can take a moment of life and distill it into its essence. Here are a couple of collections I recommend to you. They are very different, but […]
Many thanks to author, Mary Trimble for her review of my upcoming novel Home Fires, below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Judith Kirscht’s Home Fires is a noteworthy and timely novel dealing with a family gone awry. Myra and Derek Benning and their teenage children, Peter and Susan, appear to live a privileged life. Susan has a few social […]
Many thanks to the Deborah Previte of the Bookish Dame for this review just published at her review site, The Bookish Libraria: http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-inheritors-by-judith-kischtclass.html THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS : This is the story of a girl who inherits the house that belonged to her grandfather and mother. Once she does, she finds pieces […]
Judith Kirscht lives and works in the beautiful Puget Sound area. She is the author of four published works of fiction with more to come soon!
