I quit my bookseller’s job yesterday. Let me say up front that I loved working at my local Barnes & Noble. I learned a lot and not just about books and store operations. It introduced me to books I would never have read. What’s more, working with young people helped me better understand things like…
Barb’s Recommended Reads
Much of this short month was taken up with reading Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photographer by Arthur Lubow as I was doing research. Takes a while to read 752 pages. Fortunately, I also managed to squeeze in some really fun reads as well. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: Viewers…
Retro Cocktail Friday!
A Few Thoughts on Biographical Fiction
One of the hottest trends in historical fiction right now is biographical fiction, particularly of unsung females in history. Readers, if Goodreads and Amazon are to believed, love them. Me? I’m on the fence. There have been a few books that have blown me away (looking at you Island Queen), but for the most part,…
Behind the Scenes of my WIP: The Silver Factory
A look at the inspiration and historical research behind my latest work The Silver Factory In 1963, artist Andy Warhol visited a haircutting party held at an apartment decked out in silver spray paint and aluminum foil. (Shiny silver being a favorite in amphetamine culture.) Warhol was so taken with the crazy décor – that…
Barb’s Recommended Reads
With the holidays finally behind me, I jumped back on the reading bandwagon this month, and thanks to a couple storms and a well-placed vacation, managed to read several titles. This month’s reviews feature three very different fiction books, one recommended non-fiction title and one DNF (with a big caveat). Note: If you are interested…
Retro Cocktail Recipe of the Month
Writing The In Crowd has had me immersed in midcentury culture, and nothing epitomized the 50s and early 60s like the classic cocktail. Since I love a good cocktail as much as the next person, I thought that each month, I would share a recipe for you all to try at home. Note: Drink responsibly….
Chill the F— Out
Two weeks into the new year, and already I’m falling behind. This blog was supposed to be up this morning. I’m going to take a deep breath, however and not stress out over one late blog post. After all, I’m pretty sure the ten people who read this blog won’t mind. More importantly, I’m going…
The Great Northeast Blackout of 1965
On November 9, 1965, the 80,000 square miles of the northeastern United States went dark. It began at 5:16 when a surge in in electrical demand tripped a relay switch at a power station near Niagara Falls. Cut off from their supply, power lines up and down the Eastern seaboard slowly drained to a stop….
Top Reads of 2021
Since it’s the first week of January, I thought I would kick off the New Year by putting a bow on 2021. From January through December, I read 35-40 books. (Truth be told, a lot were research books which I forgot to write down.) Not as many as some, but a healthy amount. I’m hoping…