Learning Strategies

Recent Posts - page 9

• We solve murders.

  By ljd42 on November 21, 2024

  

  Richard Osman reassures us: “Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim remain immortal.” I do feel reassured (despite the absence of the Oxford comma). I think. The issue, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, is that Osman’s new mystery novel does not… Read More ›

• A close-up view of Neighborhood #1, Center City

  By ljd42 on November 17, 2024

  

  As you know, if you’ve been following this blog, the semi-fictional Rose City is the locale of the model railroad that I’ve been constructing with the assistance of my friend Meredith. You may also recall that there are nine named… Read More ›

• Math for English Majors

  By ljd42 on November 14, 2024

  

  No, I was never an English major (although my mom was). I wasn’t even a math major (although I taught math for decades). But, as a linguistics major, I had entwining connections with both English and math, as linguistics intersects… Read More ›

• Developing the new development

  By ljd42 on November 11, 2024

  

  As we discussed last month, a new development is in store for Rose City: Rose City’s wealthiest real estate developer, J. Elon Mark Jorgensen — who happens to be the mayor’s brother-in-law, but that of course is just a coincidence… Read More ›

• “We need a little Xanax.”

  By ljd42 on November 7, 2024

  Click to listen.

• Says Who?

  By ljd42 on November 4, 2024

  

  My mom would have hated this book; I loved it. My dad, as a psychiatrist, would have had some thoughts about this family disagreement — but he would have kept quiet about it. (Apparently that’s the role of a Jewish… Read More ›

• Another Day’s Pain

  By ljd42 on November 2, 2024

  

  Two very different mysteries: K. C. Constantine’s Another Day’s Pain is quite a contrast to Maria DiRico’s The Witless Protection Program, which I recently reviewed. As Constantine’s mystery is dark, serious, and grim, it might seem strange when I say… Read More ›

• The Witless Protection Program

  By ljd42 on October 30, 2024

  

  As you can see in the cover image below, the publisher claims that The Witless Protection Program was written by Maria DiRico, even though we all know that it was written by Ellen Byron. This, of course, must be because… Read More ›

• RIP Flicka, 2006–2024.

  By ljd42 on October 25, 2024

  

  She was a very good cat, 🐈‍⬛😢 She always brought along her extra toes and her stripy nose.

• I can see clearly now…

  By ljd42 on October 22, 2024

  

  No, not the famous song from the ’70s! In this case I mean it literally: I have just completed going through cataract and glaucoma surgeries in both eyes (a month apart), and the world looks different. Even though the surgeries… Read More ›

• All nine neighborhoods

  By ljd42 on October 20, 2024

  

  So here’s the thing about neighborhoods. In some cities, neighborhoods have official names, and precise boundaries, and even signs telling you which neighborhood you’re in — often with the name of the mayor attached (you might wonder why that’s done,… Read More ›

• The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

  By ljd42 on October 16, 2024

  

  What a deceptive cover! Take a look: You can see immediately that this is the new Poirot novel by Agatha Christie, right? But how is that possible? Was it just recently discovered, lurking in a file cabinet somewhere? Well, no…. Read More ›

• A new development

  By ljd42 on October 13, 2024

  

  Rose City’s wealthiest real estate developer, J. Elon Mark Jorgensen — who happens to be the mayor’s brother-in-law, but that of course is just a coincidence — has proposed building a new development of ranch-style tract houses on a piece… Read More ›

• “You can’t possibly be asking me to read an entire book!” he exclaimed.

  By ljd42 on October 10, 2024

  

  At his public high school, [this first-year student at an Ivy League university] had never been required to read an entire book. He had been assigned excerpts, poetry, and news articles, but not a single book cover to cover. That… Read More ›

• Never Saw Me Coming

  By ljd42 on October 7, 2024

  

  This fast-paced novel by Vera Kurian will hold your attention from beginning to end. Never Saw Me Coming falls clearly into the psychological thriller subcategory of the mystery genre, although it has aspects of the traditional mystery as well. Without… Read More ›

• This song is for you, Donald.

  By ljd42 on October 5, 2024

• Santa

  By ljd42 on October 2, 2024

  

  So here I was at CVS, waiting patiently to pick up a prescription, right behind a mother and child, when I heard the kid (maybe four years old or so) exclaim: Mama, mama, look, look! Santa is black! I looked… Read More ›

• The house under construction: the final phase

  By ljd42 on September 28, 2024

  

  The “house under construction” kit for my model railroad is finally completed! I remind you that that does not mean that the house is fully constructed, just that Meredith has completed it up to the snapshot in time provided by… Read More ›

• Thank you, Atrius, for making everyone feel welcome!

  By ljd42 on September 25, 2024

  

  On entering the Chestnut Hill branch of Atrius Health, I see this sign as I’m about to enter Visual Services: And I do in fact feel welcome! It still looks a little blurry to me, but that might be because… Read More ›

• Same Difference (Copperman)

  By ljd42 on September 19, 2024

  

  Same Difference is apparently a popular title with contemporary authors (or at least their publishers), as you will conclude if you search for books with that title in various catalogs. The novel by E.J. Copperman is the one being reviewed… Read More ›

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