Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Before I get to my review, I need to report that reality has struck and I've shifted my launch date back to August 25. With luck, I can actually get all the parts together by then! Why does every book take at least a long as the last? You'd think I'd get the system down and be faster at this!   Now, on to today's feature: a great book I got for Xmas, about the first botanists to run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, collecting botanical samples all the way!   Title : Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon Author: Melissa L. Sevigny  Publication Info: WW Norton, 2023. 290 pages in paperback. Source: Xmas gift  Publisher's Blurb: In the summer of 1938, botanists Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter set off down the Colorado River, accompanied by an ambitious expedition leader and three amateur boatmen. With its churning rapids, sheer cliffs, and boat-shattering boulders, the Colorado was famed as the mo...

A few weeks ago a friend came to visit, and I outfitted us both with backpacking gear (yes, I can fully gear up at least one extra person, if they can fit the same size pack I do) for an overnight hike in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness (Washington). Our goal: Pratt Lake, about 6 miles in from the Talapus Lake Trailhead. Why? Because sleeping in the mountains is not only the best way to get good light for photos (weather permitting, which it didn't really), but is just good for the soul. We packed light for a fast overnight, which keeps it more fun. I didn't think there would be great photo ops, and decided to take only my cell phone, not the "real" camera (also left the camera because it looked like it could rain on us). I am pleased with how well the photos came out.   We waited to leave home until after the morning commute, so had lunch at the trailhead and started hiking after noon.  Pete Possum, raring for another adventure.  Less than 2 miles of easy climbing took u...

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the chance to review another of Lena Gregory's fun mysteries!     Rocky Road to Murder (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) Cozy Mystery 6th in Series Setting – New York Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gemma Halliday Publishing (July 1, 2025) Number of Pages – 220 Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F7MV3JW5 From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty summer murder mystery… Danika Delaney is thrilled that her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, has gotten a catering contract for the biggest party of the season, the Rutherford Manor Fourth of July gala. She’ll be providing desserts for the party as well as attending the exclusive event on Eastern Long Island. However her path to the gala quickly becomes a rocky road… Dani arrives at the event, only to find the gala’s hostess, Cressida Rutherford, dead! What’s worse, one of Dani’s signature parfaits sits next to the dead woman, with what looks like peanuts in it—a food Cressida is...

I've been heading to the mountains to hike one day most weeks this spring and summer, and as the snow retreated from the mountains, they got more interesting and I started taking some photos (those winter hikes in the low foothills mostly don't have much of photographic interest to me). I have here a few shots from several hikes I've done in the last six weeks. Sometimes I carried a camera, sometimes just my phone. Granite Lake A fairly well-graded hike of just over 8 miles RT, with a 2300' gain. I did this May 30. We started early, so the light was dim enough on the way in to use a slow shutter speed for some smooth water photos.   Lake Angeles & Hurricane Ridge The next weekend, I headed to the Olympic Peninsula and did the very popular hike to Lake Angeles. Being free to do these hikes on weekdays makes them a lot more enjoyable. This one was just over 7 miles and 2400' of climbing. I never saw such pale banana slugs before.  After hiking to the lake, I felt ...

I was chatting with a couple of young women the other day, and used the words "writing" and "work" in the same sentence. That got a reaction from one (another word geek) as she said something like, "but writing's fun!" Thus this brief meditation on how fun writing is and sometimes isn't. Because while I can't think of anything I'd rather do, work-wise, there are times in the process when writing is, in fact, a great deal like work. I've been editing  Edited Out for what feels like ages, which might explain why just now I'm not thinking writing is the most fun work ever. Having spent two whole days just contemplating my shortcomings with regards to comma usage, I find myself wondering if I even know English well enough to write (note: it is my native language and really, I do. But commas!). I figure it takes me about 6 weeks to draft a novel, and 6 months to revise it. Then I am astonished, every single time, to realize it takes anot...

My June Pride reviews have spilled over into July! Here's another good MG book I read, about a lot more than just being non-binary, but that's part of the character. I think I like it best when the LGBTQ+ issues are balanced with other issues any kid might relate to. P.S. I'm out hiking, but I will return visits and comments!    Title: Just Shy of Ordinary Author: A. J. Sass. Read by P. J. Morgan Publication info: Little, Brown Young Readers, 2024. 7 hours. (Original hardback by Little, Brown, 2024, 384 pages). Source: Library Publisher's Blurb (via Goodreads): Thirteen-year-old Shai is an expert problem-solver. There’s never been something they couldn’t research and figure out on their own. But there’s one thing Shai hasn’t been able to logic their way through: picking at the hair on their arms.       Ever since their mom lost her job, the two had to move in with family friends, and the world went into pandemic lockdown, Shai’s been unable to control...

This it the last post about my trip to Utah back in April. But no fear--summer outings have commenced, so I'm not without photos to share! On the last morning of the trip, I got up extra early and headed out solo. No one else wanted to tackle a hike advertised as nearly 10 miles (it was actually barely 9), and I wanted to go fast and early both to beat the heat and crowds, and to have time to make some mileage toward home afterwards. The start of the trail. I believe I was the 5th or 6th car in the parking lot when I started hiking about sunrise. I hadn't gone far before I met two parties coming back, presumably from a very early hike to the Hickman Natural Bridge (less than a mile each way). After that, I saw no one for a very long time. Just the way I like it. Me for the distant goal, something I never had time or will to do before.   A little further on I reached the Hickman Bridge overlook, and enjoyed seeing the bridge for once with no people around it. Look carefully to s...