Rite of Fancy

A short summary of Goodbye, Mr. Chips: The life and times of an English school teacher.

Questions to ponder while reading Goodbye, Mr. Chips: Have you ever thought about your impact?
How does your life's review read?
My thoughts about Goodbye, Mr. Chips: Heartwarming and bittersweet.
Life does not need to be dramatic to be well-lived.
I hope I can review my life as well.

A short summary of Bird Box: Don't look now. You'll never guess what's out there.

Questions to ponder while reading Bird Box: Is there anything scarier than the unknown?
Would you have peeked?
My thoughts about Bird Box: Scared me!
Surprised me!
Satisfied me!

A short summary of Forgotten Bones: Solving crimes with schizophrenia.

Questions to ponder while reading Forgotten Bones: What do you know about mental illnesses?
Do you believe in ghosts?
My thoughts about Forgotten Bones: Crime-fighting with a paranormal twist.
A different mix of elements.
Some books are literary and some (like this one) are just fun.

Dear Henry,

I really need to get busy getting my camper van together because, in addition to checking out Southern Arkansas and looking into the Museum for the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo, I want to take a road trip to the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston.

Oddly enough, I am not all that interested in the books at this library, but rather, the three-story stained-glass globe within it.

The globe is called the Mapparium, and it opened in 1935.  The structure is comprised of 608 stained glass panels and because it is a globe it doesn't suffer from Mercator projection, so all of the countries are true representations. The globe room also provides "whisper acoustics" and even the smallest sound will carry across the structure.

Of course, the globe is obsolete and was almost immediately after it opened.  There were initial plans to update the panels as boundaries changed but by 1960 it was decided that the Mapparium was a work of art and needed to be pre…

A short summary of The Secrets of Lost Stones: Tying up the loose ends of a tragedy.

Questions to ponder while reading The Secrets of Lost Stones: Where do you go when you have nowhere to go?
How has the past haunted you?
My thoughts about The Secrets of Lost Stones: An easy book to engage in. With easy characters to love
An easy book to enjoy.

A short summary of The Island of Dr. Moreau:
The science that separates man from beast.

Questions to ponder while reading The Island of Dr. Moreau: What makes us human?
Can science go too far?
My thoughts about The Island of Dr. Moreau: Very disturbing.
Very savage.
Very hard to put down.

A short summary of Marie Antoinette: The life and times of France's last queen.

Questions to ponder while reading Marie Antoinette: Have you ever wanted to be the queen?
How do revolutions begin?
My thoughts about Marie Antoinette:  A conversational look into a misunderstood queen.
Sympathetic and easy to read.
I love a good history book.