Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

 ... To the Grand Canyon, that is. Time for the spring desert trip, and a return to the big hole in the ground. Just for fun, here are a few books I've read about the Canyon, some of which you might enjoy. Oddly, I don't seem to have reviewed many of them. The Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher. An absolute classic, the account of the first person to walk the length of the Canyon, below the rim. The Promise of the Grand Canyon: John Wesley Powell's Perilous Journey and his Vision for the American West. John F. Ross.  A good account of Powell's journey and a thought-provoking look at his all-too-accurate assessment of the ability of the western lands to sustain agriculture. The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons. John Wesley Powell. The man's own account of the trip.   The Emerald Mile. Kevin Fedarko. The story of 3 crazy river guides and the fastest trip ever through the Canyon, on the waters of the 1983 flood. Also tells about that flo...

The Mystery Blogger Award was given to me by Jemima Pett in mid-June. I don't usually do these things, and I'm only half doing this. That is, I won't be tagging others to receive the award, not because I don't think the blogs I follow are super (because many of them are), but because it feels too much like a chain letter. But since Jemima tagged me, I'm going to answer her questions and I'll toss out some of my own for you to answer in the comments!   The Rules Rule 1: Put the award logo/image on your blog. See above. Rule 2: List the rules. … here…. Rule 3: Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog. Thank you, Jemima Pett .  I really appreciate the kind thoughts and kind words, not to mention your constant support of my blog and my books. Rule 4: Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well. About the creator: Okoto Enigma’s blog The creator’s name, Enigma, means mystery , thus the title of the Mystery Blogger Award. Rule ...

After watching Jemima Pett do it for a year or two, I decided it's time for me to jump on the bandwagon with The Bookshelf Gargoyle's Fiction in 50 challenge . That's a complete story, in exactly 50 words, written to a prompt he provides for each month. Posting is the last week of the month, and I'm targeting Mondays of the last week. This is my first attempt, so go easy on me--it's harder than it looks! Moving with the Times Innovation can be hard on the tradition-bound. I’m really trying, though, to get used to reading the new way. My son says anyone can do it. It’s easy, he says. But it’s not easy, rapping him over the knuckles with one of the new-fangled books. My old scrolls are better. ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2017 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated!

Lately, I've found myself  not finishing some books, and while I don't like to write reviews of books I haven't finished, I thought it might be useful to talk about why I let them go. I'll say right here: it's not always because they are bad books. In fact, it's usually just because they aren't the right books and the right time. That said, here are a couple of books I let expire, and (to the best of my ability to suss out) the reasons why. The Road to Little Dribbling , by Bill Bryson Yup, that's right: I DNF'd a book by the famously witty Bill Bryson. As a matter of fact, this didn't totally surprise me. I had a love-hate relationship with A Walk in the Woods (yes, he made me laugh, but he also made me want to throw the book across the room with his lack of knowledge and planning, utter ignorance of good hiker etiquette and Leave No Trace principals, etc.). I enjoyed his book about Australia, but then when I read the one on the US, I found tha...