Recent Posts
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Girl on Fire: Quiz creates laughs in the newsroom
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, January 16, 2014] I took a quiz my coworker Sarah Brown suggested to me, titled “How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk,” (the URL is http://tiny.cc/dialectquiz) through the New York Times. And, of course, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the choices the questions offer. For example, […]
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Book Review: Broken Harbor by Tana French
Title: Broken Harbor Author: Tana French Published: 2012 Publisher: Penguin Group Pages: 450 From: Barnes and Noble Every so often, someone comes along who knows the insides and outsides of her genre so magnificently, it’s hard to understand just how her mind works to create such writing. For me, Tana French is that author. And, […]
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Girl on Fire: New year, new resolutions
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, January 2, 2014] As so many other people have done, I’ve set several resolutions for the new year. This year, I’m focusing on fitness, finances and writing. It seems to be a constant battle for me to lose those few extra pounds. I love working out. Even though jogging […]
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Girl on Fire: How literature opens doors to opportunity
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, December 19, 2013] For the past few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of my time playing video games. But, recently, I decided to finish a few books I’d started more than a year ago. I’m glad I did, because I realized just how much I missed reading books […]
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Book Review: After by Francine Prose
Title: After Author: Francine Prose Published: 2003 Publisher: HarperCollins Pages: 330 From: Barnes and Noble This novel by young adult writer Francine Prose is very similar in theme to Todd Strasser’s novel The Wave. Where Strasser’s novel looks at a social experiment based on the actions of the Nazis, Prose’s novel looks at the actions […]
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Book Reviews, Harrison, Kathryn
Book Review: The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison
Title: The Kiss Author: Kathryn Harrison Published: 1997 Publisher: Random House Pages: 207 From: Drake Public Library While I was reading Kathryn Harrison’s disturbing memoir, The Kiss, I was also reading several other books. Those books were a lifesaver. They broke up the dark themes woven throughout the memoir I picked up at a local […]
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Girl on Fire: Acknowledging first responders
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, December 5, 2013] As someone who was on the outside of anything news— and emergency—related until recently, I am still somewhat stuck on the outside looking in. And, this past week is no exception. My boyfriend Russ Finehout and I were on the way back to Creston from a […]
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Girl on Fire: Determination to reach long-term fitness goals
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, November 21, 2013] Thanks to coworker Brooke McIntosh and newsroom discussion, there is a health and fitness competition in the newsroom. I’m glad we have this competition. Already, having an in-house competition has helped me get on track before Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts roll around. My goal for Thanksgiving […]
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Book Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Title: Allegiant Author: Veronica Roth Published: 2013 Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books Pages: 544 From: Barnes and Noble What I’ve failed to give author Veronica Roth credit for in previous reviews is her ability to delve into the human mind and seek out a person’s character, then be able to show that character to her readers. […]
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Girl on Fire: Art on the brain
[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, November 7, 2013] With the help of my friend and coworker Sarah Brown, I got into an artsy mindset and made a piece of crayon art Sunday. Crayon art is really easy. Hot glue crayons to a canvas and melt the colorful wax with a hair dryer. The hot […]
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